In-depth Hardmode weapon tier list

I actually really like all the Betsy drops after 1.4.1.

I’d argue Aerial Bane is worthy of S and possibly even S+. Even if not that high, it’s definitely worth more than B+. It’s hard to aim, but because of the sextuple shot and 1.5x damage in a strike, it deals an absolutely insane amount of damage in a shot and has one of the best pre-ML DPS values of any weapon. When you add in Ranged armor, ammo with good damage and a well rounded accessory build, the thing’s damage in a single shot easily enters multiple thousands, and although I haven’t pulled this off myself people claim to be able to four-shot Moon Lord’s eyes with it. The point I’m making is that this thing’s DPS and damage per shot more than make up for its lack of range, and I don’t think B+ is fair to it.

Sky Dragon’s Fury is a pretty spicy weapon too - and I’ll add that it’s also decent (but not perfect) for the pillars due to the area of effect. It definitely deserves the same rank as the Flying Dragon, but maybe not higher than it.

Rgmemo said:
(which I might've given it before the electrospheres were able to inflict ichor),
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Pretty sure it doesn’t. Are you sure you weren’t using an Ichor Flask?
 
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Baconfry said:
Terra Blade: S+
An absolute monster of a weapon. The beam alone deals more DPS than many other weapons can hope to achieve, and you also have the blade itself to swat down anything foolish enough to approach you. With Beetle Scale armor, the Terra Blade is almost as strong as the Coin Gun with Platinum Coins when fighting at close distances. (Use Hallowed Mask, Monk's Shirt, and Squire's Greaves when not fighting at close distances.) One slight downside is that it's trickier to aim than the Seedler, but that won't stop it from being your best option for mowing down bosses and everything else. There were times in Terraria's development history when the Terra Blade might not have been worth the hype. This is not one of those times.

.............DPS: #####
Crowd control: ####
......Accuracy: ###
.....Disruption: #####
..........Safety: ####

....Availability: ###
Crafted from True Excalibur, True Night's Edge, Broken Hero Sword
Best prefix: Legendary $$$$$$$$
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although I love the Terrablade and even post moon endgame use it for the nostalgia of a terraria era long lost. it technically does not fit the definition of S tier as it is soon upgraded a couple of bosses after you get it.
 
I Like Cats said:
although I love the Terrablade and even post moon endgame use it for the nostalgia of a terraria era long lost. it technically does not fit the definition of S tier as it is soon upgraded a couple of bosses after you get it.
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I personally used the thing until the Pillars and found it befter than Influx Waver. Things’ buff was enormous. Of course, Influx Waver isn’t objectively worse because it gets more DPS against single targets, but Terra Blade’s stronger sword and more accuracy and pierce was enough for me to find it better. It’s very much a subjective thing.

Also considering that Terra Blade is immediately post-Plant while Influx Waver is post-Martian and A, and they have about the same strength and A is appropriate for Waver, I’d say that S tier is fine Terra Blade for how long its power stays relevant.
 
whoneedsnamestbh said:
I personally used the thing until the Pillars and found it befter than Influx Waver. Things’ buff was enormous. Of course, Influx Waver isn’t objectively worse because it gets more DPS against single targets, but Terra Blade’s stronger sword and more accuracy and pierce was enough for me to find it better. It’s very much a subjective thing.

Also considering that Terra Blade is immediately post-Plant while Influx Waver is post-Martian and A, and they have about the same strength and A is appropriate for Waver, I’d say that S tier is fine Terra Blade for how long its power stays relevant.
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really? i always just took the vortex pillar down with a flying dragon, and then spammed my way to victory with the phantasm. honestly because the flying dragon and influx waver are like the very next steps after killing planterra/golem (unless you are doing a rushed playthrew) i mostly use that sword TO GET those swords. also you can and normally do get the terrablade before killing planterra because of how long you re in the underground jungle looking for the bulb
 
I Like Cats said:
really? i always just took the vortex pillar down with a flying dragon, and then spammed my way to victory with the phantasm. honestly because the flying dragon and influx waver are like the very next steps after killing planterra/golem (unless you are doing a rushed playthrew) i mostly use that sword TO GET those swords. also you can and normally do get the terrablade before killing planterra because of how long you re in the underground jungle looking for the bulb
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Did you even read the 1.4.1 changelog?
 
I Like Cats said:
really? i always just took the vortex pillar down with a flying dragon, and then spammed my way to victory with the phantasm. honestly because the flying dragon and influx waver are like the very next steps after killing planterra/golem (unless you are doing a rushed playthrew) i mostly use that sword TO GET those swords. also you can and normally do get the terrablade before killing planterra because of how long you re in the underground jungle looking for the bulb
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Not sure if you’re up to date on the content, but Terra Blade was both moved to post-Plantera and buffed enormously. Thing easily competes with Flying Dragon and Influx Waver in strength, and comes slightly earlier. Its damage was increased by 20, its projectile damage now deals 1.5x base damage, and it’s faster. If you’re on PC, I definitely recommend giving it another shot.
 
Influx waver always felt overatted Imo, its shoot speed is so slow its really awkward trying to hit fast bosses with it, and even if it does hit there's a chance the secondary projectiles don't and influx waiver needs all 3 blades to hit to get good dps. Sure you could increase its shoot speed with melee speed, but it doesn't gain dps from melee speed so I'd rather just use a more acurrate weapon and focus on damage. I find this to be the worst martian madness weapon.

Oh but wait! It's better than a pre plantera weapon!! Yeah most weapons look good if you compare it to something 2-3 tiers ago lol. No one tries to compare megashark to xenopopper. No one complained chloro shotbow was worse than tsunami. No one called magic harp bad for not being as good as shadowbeam staff(they called it bad for different reasons).
 
qwerty3.14 said:
Influx waver always felt overatted Imo, its shoot speed is so slow its really awkward trying to hit fast bosses with it, and even if it does hit there's a chance the secondary projectiles don't and influx waiver needs all 3 blades to hit to get good dps. Sure you could increase its shoot speed with melee speed, but it doesn't gain dps from melee speed so I'd rather just use a more acurrate weapon and focus on damage. I find this to be the worst martian madness weapon.

Oh but wait! It's better than a pre plantera weapon!! Yeah most weapons look good if you compare it to something 2-3 tiers ago lol. No one tries to compare megashark to xenopopper. No one complained chloro shotbow was worse than tsunami. No one called magic harp bad for not being as good as shadowbeam staff(they called it bad for different reasons).
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It’s got Sky Fracture syndrome where you need to lead your shots by like four miles. If you do land your shots, its single target DPS beats out Terra Blade because of the returning slashes that should always hit at least once on average, but like I said one of the reasons I prefer Terra Blade is for its accuracy. E: Which I guess only proves your point: it’s a martian weapon has to compete with an eclipse weapon.
 
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The Terra blade is the best pre-lunar sword. (You may prefer Flying Dragon in some situations, mainly for block piercing, Seedler/Hatchet/SotC if you dont like to aim)
Use it with about +50% total melee speed boost. This is the only sword that fires beams faster with higher melee speed.
Slightly beats even the Solar Eruption vs Moon lord, wipes the floor with the Influx Waver vs fast/small enemies. Check that on ML core (while moving) or EoL if there are any doubts.
With beetle Scale mail in close range, it is almost equal to the Starlight. With Dark Harvest buff, close range, it is the absolute best pre-lunar DPS in events.
(except Terraprisma of course, if possible)

On mobile, yes it is indeed not as good. Less speed, less projectile damage. But obtainable pre-Plantera.

Influx is the worst out of three (Terra, Dragon, Influx). Not bad, but overrated as hell. I think that it should be more stable with its teleporting blades to compete

The Sky dragons fury is on par with the Solar Eruption vs lunar events,worse a bit vs ML, but it makes sense

As for the Aerial bane – it does insane damage, but it is slightly harder to obtain than Tsunami. Laxks the ammo versatility. Good vs Moon Lord, but the Phantasm is obtainable at that point.
If we consider it as an endgame bow – it loses to the Phantasm, mainly because of no luminite arrows avaliable. As an endless bow it loses to Eventide – the latter cannot be reflected (solar pillar) and easier to use (personally for me*)

So recommenadions:
Terra blade: as is, S+
Influx Waver : as is, os A- possibly
Sky Dragons Fury: buff to A+
Flying Dragon: buff to A+ (not S, because its main feature is block piercing, so it is outclassed pretty quickly by the Solar Eruption)

I tested them all for my own tier list and responsible for the results

Stynger should be nerfed to A as well, the nail gun does more dps and is slightly earlier (buff to A). Only during OOA the Stynger doed take the lead, but who needs it vs Snowman Cannon/ Eventide?
Electrosphere launcher could be buffed to A probably, its damage is crazy – but not user-friendly, the Snowman Cannon is a more balanced choice overall

*Edit: be cautious using Flying Dragon vs solar pillar. It can be reflected and do a lot of damage (almost like Meowmere)
Again – the Terra blade is for you, especially on flat surface. Almost the same projectile damage (172 vs 180), but faster, more range, and cannot be reflected.
Influx's teleporting blades do not always appear, but they are unreflectable too
 
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AngryNimbus said:
As for the Aerial bane – it does insane damage, but it is slightly harder to obtain than Tsunami. Laxks the ammo versatility. Good vs Moon Lord, but the Phantasm is obtainable at that point.
If we consider it as an endgame bow – it loses to the Phantasm, mainly because of no luminite arrows avaliable. As an endless bow it loses to Eventide – the latter cannot be reflected (solar pillar) and easier to use (personally for me*)
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I don't think aerial bane should be S tier for these reasons, however B+ feels too low. Sure it's a somewhat awkward mid range weapon with high dps, but you know what else is? The razorpine, that thing got A+.


AngryNimbus said:
Influx Waver : as is, os A- possibly
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I think influx waiver could be lowered to B.
If I'm fighting a fast moving boss I'd rather use a xenopopper with chloro bullets.
If a boss is slow enough to where I can get all the blades to hit then they're slow enough to where I'll load my xenopopper with crystal bullets.

While we're talking about xenopopper I'll add that I find it strange that vortex beater is a full tier above it. With both guns reforged to unreal (vBeater can't benifit from speed reforges) vortex beater with chloro bullets has roughly 20% more dps than the xenopopper but comes at a later progression tier.
Going from tsunami to phantasm is a much bigger jump in power.
 
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qwerty3.14 said:
I don't think aerial bane should be S tier for these reasons, however B+ feels too low. Sure it's a somewhat awkward mid range weapon with high dps, but you know what else is? The razorpine, that thing got A+.



I think influx waiver could be lowered to B.
If I'm fighting a fast moving boss I'd rather use a xenopopper with chloro bullets.
If a boss is slow enough to where I can get all the blades to hit then they're slow enough to where I'll load my xenopopper with crystal bullets.

While we're talking about xenopopper I'll add that I find it strange that vortex beater is a full tier above it. With both guns reforged to unreal vortex beater with chloro bullets has roughly 20% more dps than the xenopopper but comes at a later progression tier.
Going from tsunami to phantasm is a much bigger jump in power.
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A for Aerial Bane, sure not S

Razorpine is A+ because it is among the best in terms of magic-only weapons — nothing rivals with it vs single targets
(ok, laser machinegun kind of does, but spin-up makes it less effective with spectre burst damage and mana-regen potions only)

Aerial bane is outperformed by Eventide vs OOA and Tsunami vs any single-target
Only in the PM wave 15 it is the best
So it is weak for A+ in archer sub-class.
Easier obtainable and overall better weapons exist.
And no use for defuffing.

Influx by itself is still pretty strong, mine is A- because it is possibe to deal with the majority enemies well with this weapon-only
B is also fair for influx, agreed, because, there is no niche for Influx. Too late in progression. Events? Terra, Dragon are better. Fast aerial fights? Possessed hatchet is more reliable. Seedler is also better. Enclosed spaces? Terra and SotC.
OOA? Terra. Possibly seedler for Betsy.

Xenopopper + chlorophyte are better compared with the snowman cannon, inside the ranger class. But if you are not restricted to one class (melee) and have a decent ranged gear, than why not

Edit: vortex beater is way better with any other type of ammo (not chlorophyte) – homing rocket, higher base dmg. With xenopopper is sometimes impossiple to aim properly at all
 
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AngryNimbus said:
Aerial bane is outperformed by Eventide vs OOA and Tsunami vs any single-target
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It's already been established that eventide and tsunami are S+, I'd rather compare it to A tier weapons to see if it belongs there.


AngryNimbus said:
Xenopopper + chlorophyte are better compared with the snowman cannon, inside the ranger class. But if you are not restricted to one class (melee) and have a decent ranged gear, than why not
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Well snowman cannon is S tier no arguing with that.
I also think that xenopopper is in an approriate tier.
I don't think being from a different class makes a weapon immune to comparisons, you can easily switch your class to better take advantage of a better weapon.

On its own Influx waiver is a bossing weapon that can't be used against certain bosses, that's pretty bad.
 
qwerty3.14 said:
It's already been established that eventide and tsunami are S+, I'd rather compare it to A tier weapons to see if it belongs there.



Well snowman cannon is S tier no arguing with that.
I also think that xenopopper is in an approriate tier.
I don't think being from a different class makes a weapon immune to comparisons, you can easily switch your class to better take advantage of a better weapon.

On its own Influx waiver is a bossing weapon that can't be used against certain bosses, that's pretty bad.
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So, do we agree that on average Influx is B+ and Aerial Bane is A?
I dont know what it is fair to compare against Aerial bane)) No A tier bows at this stage. Stake launcher? Insane lined-crowd DPS vs insane aerial DPS? A tier for Aerial bane than, because it is about as effective but slightly later

I also wanted to talk about Paladins Hammer. It is not that good.
1) Small range. You can extend that with high melee speed, but you'll end up crippling Terra blade's ranged abilities (overspeeding it, <7 frames), decrease general projectile damage for Seedler, SotC and Vampire Knives.
So either optimize all these weapons or (not and) Paladins Hammer only
Not worth it.
2)And even when Paladins Hammer is maxed out, its DPS is lower than that of Vampire Knives vs single-target
Crowd control is still a problem because of range (for a primarily crowd weapon)
3)Flower pow (A-) is better against crowds and overall mobbing. Does not require insane melee speed to offset poor range

What do you think about that thing? Mine is in B--, almost C
 
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i know availability has no effect on the ranking, but if i made this tier list it would definitly be in for cases like the palidin hammer, its a rare drop from a rare enemy that is terrible for reasons above
 
AngryNimbus said:
So, do we agree that on average Influx is B+ and Aerial Bane is A?

I also wanted to talk about Paladins Hammer. It is not that good.
1) Small range. You can extend that with high melee speed, but you'll end up crippling Terra blade's ranged abilities (overspeeding it, <7 frames), decrease general projectile damage for Seedler, SotC and Vampire Knives.
So either optimize all these weapons or (not and) Paladins Hammer only
Not worth it.
2)And even when Paladins Hammer is maxed out, its DPS is even lower than that of Vampire Knives vs single-target
Crowd control is still a problem because of range (for a primarily crowd weapon)

What do you think about that thing? Mine is in B--, almost C
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It’s not an S tier weapon, but it sure as hell isn’t C either.

Paladin’s Hammer really needs autoswing to work, but when you have it it becomes great, like many other boomerangs.

The thing isn’t notable for its range, it’s notable for its speed and ability to smash clusters. With autoswing, get near the group of enemies spamming the hammer and hit them repeatedly with the hammer, with almost no chance of missing your shots. You get very high DPS due to its speed and base damage, and it’s one of few examples of a short range weapon that benefits from its high knockback: it lets you run through the crowds spamming the hammer and basically just play snowplow.

In DPS, it’s roughly the same as Terra Blade beams when you give it autoswing. I’d argue that with more piercing against tight clusters, and and its knockback and immediate accuracy making it highly spammy, but not having a blade or much range as Terra Blade, it’s around the same in ability for crowds. It’s worth noting that range matters way less for crowds than for bosses, especially the Martians or earlier phases of the Moons.
Considering that and how it can’t be used for bosses like Terra Blade, I’d put it in A- / B+. B- or C feels way too harsh.

Also Vampire Knives may get more DPS if you land every single knife, but that’s not realistic. Vampire Knives have a spread the size of Neptune, and you usually only hit once or twice per swing. Even at close range, it’s only realistic to land about half of the shots. It’s one reason Vampire Knives aren’t regarded for their DPS.
 
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