Pumpkin and Frost Moons Guide

AngryNimbus

Terrarian
The Pumpkin Moon and the Frost Moon are post-Plantera Hardmode events triggered by activating Pumpkin Moon Medallion and Naughty Present respectively. These events are very rewarding if you can successfully keep pace, providing large amounts of money and good weapons by the end of the night. The former consists of 15 waves, the latter has 20.

In general, pumpkin moon requires a strong piercing weapon, as even the strongest single-target options rapidly lose their efficiency on final waves.
Frost moon requires a good all-rounded weapon. On first waves (1-6) you may need a great crowd-control weapon, on waves from 7 to 16 add a single-target bossing weapon to that, and for the final wave you need the absolute best.

Terrain preparations:

As for terrain preparations, they require a 500 asphalt-block flat arena. I highly recommend building it in 1.4-generated desert, because it has no underground pockets and all spawned enemies will appear on the surface. Enemy teleporters, conveyor belts for loot etc. are always welcome.

However, I often see the major mistake, when people flooding their arenas with lava and various types of traps. It results in literal absence of damage from some piercing weapons (traps and lava occupy all damage frames). And they are really dangerous to player themselves, especially those from jungle temple.

Use stationary buffs, such as sharpening station (melee), ammo box (ranged), crystal ball and star in the bottle (magic), bewitching table (summon). For every class: campfires, heart lanterns, bast statues, garden gnomes, honey pools, slice of cake.
Use only the most profitable ones, there is a 22-status-effect limit.
Heart and star statues are almost useless, since all mobs and bosses drop hearts and mana stars, reaching the cap.

Weapons:
  • I’ll try to review weapons in a tierlist-way. Experience is based on Master mode, v1.4.3. This review applies to performance in these events only.
  • Only Pre-Lunar loot
  • All weapons have the same loadout for completing events within each class.
  • Abbreviations used: PM – Pumpkin Moon, FM – Frost Moon.
S tier: best choices available, effective against all enemies and dealing huge damage on wave 15+. Everyone knows that Pumpkin Moon is a great source of money – and you’ll be definitely able to become rich.

A tier: good options, take down most enemies with ease, but are overwhelmed by multiple bosses on late waves. Best single-target options are here.

B tier: allow you to reach middle waves, either decent single-target and weak for crowds or vice-versa.

C tier: you’ll likely receive your first drop with such weapons, but don’t expect more.

D tier is not listed here, these are not viable.

Terra blade: S+ Tier. The best melee choice available. Its projectiles are almost as default sniper rifle (HV bullets) but 3x faster. In my experience it also has a significant DPS boost with the sword itself. (Celestial shell, 3 gloves, all menacing). If you want some micromanagement, use it with dark harvest, beetle scale mail in true melee. I reached 17-20K DPS when facetanking wave 15 Pumpkings and Final Frost moon’s wave! Speaking of the Frost Moon, you should focus more on projectile damage. Do not forget your vampire knives + cross necklace and never, ever, do not underestimate the former legendary sword. It is insane. More info about speed/projectile builds in melee stategies section.

Vampire knives: S+ tier. It’s not about performance here. The absolutely best auxiliary weapon when imbued and sharpened, not only for melee. But here are the numbers, with all defence-ignoring buffs – FM wave 15, PM wave 15, but none of the bosses killed. Also provides high, stable healing in melee-summoner hybrid sets.

Seedler: A+ tier. Excellent for dealing burst damage, good for clearing crowds, easy to use. But primarily designed for single-targets, which prevents it from high DPS on Pumpkin Moon wave 15. Sword-only DPS for facetanking is clearly not enough. Detects off-screen foes. I reached FM wave 17, PM wave 15 just before the morning.

Scourge of the Corruptor: A+ tier. Unlike Seedler, it depends more from tiny eaters’ buildup. Requires direction change while fighting ice queens and pumpkings. First waves are trivial, just spam it against some surface. As seedler it is not an S tier, because of performance drop against multiple bosses. Again, like one green jungle sword – FM wave 17, PM wave 15 just before the morning.

Death sickle: B- tier. Viable only on first waves, later it lacks DPS. Crowd control is, as always, nice, but it takes ages to kill bosses compared to the seedler and top-end yoyos. Ice queens easily escape from projectiles. Results: PM wave 13, FM wave 12.

The Eye of Cthulhu: S- tier. Excellent single target damage with yoyo bag, allows to hit multiple, “stacked” bosses. But it’s impossible to attack offscreen while retreating, unlike Terra Blade. And is less effective in facetanking than Terra blade. It scored FM wave 17 (99% lol), PM well in 15.

Possessed Hatchet: B tier. Is an example of how a fast and homing single-target weapon with low-ish DPS (1300-1500) gets overwhelmed by large crowds. FM and PM are both on wave 14.

Paladins Hammer: A- tier. Here, at mostly multiple enemy events, it vastly outperforms possessed hatchet. But don’t let its high base damage fool you – single target DPS is even lower than that of Vampire Knives. (Compare: 1300-1500 DPS & 90 base dmg, 1600-2000 DPS & 29 base dmg). Has a somewhat low range. FM is only late 15, PM is decent 15.

North pole: A tier. Completely decimates grounded crowds. Entirely annihilates grounded bosses. But let me introduce its projectile cap! It makes it useless against fast-moving Ice Queens and sometimes pumpkings. Also, snowflakes’ trajectory depends on wind direction and speed, so the windy day is not the best event for this weapon. FM is early 17, PM well in 15.

Flairon (A+ tier) – slightly more DPS than Scourge and Seedler at the cost of effective range (bubbles pop shortly after launch). Land your first shot with the head itself (to defuff), then intentionally miss (to spawn more homing bubbles). Reached late wave 17 FM, final PM.

Influx Waver (S tier) – after more precise testing it turned out that huge single target DPS can make a difference even on multiple bosses. About the same as Terra blade in FM, slightly worse in PM. My main complaint about this weapon is that fast enemies escape its teleporting blades, but unlike Fishron and EoL, in these events this does not happen frequently. Reached both final waves, S tier, no doubts.

Flying Dragon (S tier) – has a bit higher theoretical DPS than Terra Blade. In practice, they are about the same, because Dragon has limited range, decreasing versatility a bit. Also, way less DPS while retreating. Nevertheless, final waves are possible and it deserves its S tier.

Sky Dragon's Fury (A+ tier) – great AoE effect, but lacks single-target damage a bit. Less range and damage than it's ranged counterpart, the Electrosphere Launcher. Great in PM, reached late wave 17 FM.

Flower Pow (B+ Tier) – crushes first waves in both events with its throw attack. Does pretty well against Santanks, Everscreams and Mourning Woods using drop attack. Against flying bosses use something else. Can outdamage the Paladins Hammer on PM wave 15 (thrown attack). Facetanking with spin attack is way less effective than with the Terra Blade or Influx Waver.

Razorblade Typhoon: S+ tier. The best magic weapon here, in my humble opinion. “Jack-of-all-trades, and the master that is second to none”. Dominates PM, around wave 19 in FM.

Nightglow: S- tier. Very handy, slightly better than typhoon on single-targets, but cannot handle groups of bosses with the same DPS. Significally less powerful in PM wave 15, and lesser piercing abilities allow it to reach still-good FM wave 17.

Stellar Tune: S tier. While I have no questions to ask about its damage against one single enemy, its auto-aiming nature can be annoying when multiple bosses are present. If small enemies are grouped together – use it. If the crowd is scattered – this weapon can’t focus itself when the character is moving. For comparison – wave 18 FM, 15 – PM. Does not interfere with the Rainbow gun.

Bat Scepter: A tier. (Since it synergizes with rainbow gun, can be also A+). Great single-target weapon. Rainbow is here to help with grounded crowds and bosses. It is almost not viable (as any single target weapon) against wave 15 of Pumpkin moon and 16+ of Frost moon (2 and more Queens). Reaches late wave 16 FM and 15 PM with rainbows.

Spectre Staff: A- tier. Does not synergize with rainbow gun and cannot provide occasional bursts or DPS, unlike Bat scepter. It is piercing, but even when it does pierce its 3 enemies, DPS is only marginally better than against one boss. In Pumpkin moon, its effective until the second Pumpking arrives. In Frost Moon – against single Ice Queens. Reaches early 15 wave FM and PM.

Venom Staff: B+ tier. The same experience against large bosses as Tactical Shotgun + HV bullets. In other words, good. However it is less versatile against small enemies, has difficulties with aiming. Use it on single bosses. Result – early wave 14 in PM.

Unholy Trident: B+ tier. Lacks a bit of single-target damage, but chews through weak enemies well. Use it on first waves of both Moons. Result: early wave 14 in PM too.

Life Drain: C tier. Despite being an early-HM weapon, these events show its full advantages – we are talking about game’s most dense crowds! And passive life regeneration is always nice. Switch to something else for 1 pumpking or mourning wood though. Also use it on first waves of both Moons.

Staff of Earth: A+ tier. Hits grounded enemies and bosses really hard. The only disadvantage – on waves 7-10, against 1 pumpking it’s not that good, only fine. On waves 14-15 it is again a powerful choice.
As for the Frost moon – Ice queens are too fast for that, so it is good up to wave 11. In waves 12-16, still effective against all grounded, later – not useful, needs to kill Queens faster.

Heat Ray: B+ tier. (A tier with rainbow gun). Basically the same thing as Bat Scepter, minus ability to flee – you’ll be unable to hit offscreen enemies reliably. Use up to wave 16 in Frost and 12-13 in Pumpkin moons.

Inferno Fork: C tier. Great during early waves and mediocre against Queens. Decent vs Pumpkings, even multiple, but not scattered. Viable until wave 11 in FM and 13-14 in PM. Really hard to aim against scattered enemies.

Resonance Scepter: A- tier. Once you’ve killed multiple defenseless Princesses, try to kill multiple brainless bosses. Raw DPS-performance is slightly better than Inferno fork, however in this case the weapon is highly spammable and instantly disruptve. Use with the spectre offensive armor vs everything flying. Reached wave late 15 FM and 15 PM. (Also nice against stacked Pumpkungs).

Wasp Gun: B+ tier. Surprisingly good on first FM waves and in the whole Pumpkin Moon event, but below-average against Ice Queens. With great crowd control capabilities and great Spectre Mask synergy it can match Bat Scepter in DPS against 4 or more ememies. At late PM stages, remains to be fairly effective and allows to retreat if something does wrong. Does not work with Rainbow Gun, however.

Razorpine: S- tier. It’s a beast against single bosses, even against two at once. Synergizes with rainbow gun. The only single target weapon that I can agree handles PM wave 15 with rainbow, and even reaches FM’s waves 18-19.

Blizzard Staff: S- tier. We are not underground and our targets are large (or groups are large). Therefore, it unleashes almost all potential, the results are great. Slightly outdamages Razorpine against flying bosses, not useless vs crowds. FM wave 19, PM wave 15.

Charged Blaster Cannon (S+ tier, full beam) – insanely effective against every crowd and above average in clearing out bosses. Walmart last prism (“last” and “prism” are operative words). Full beam pierces infinitely, but does not activate spectre healing bonus. Recharging can be a bit tedious, but the result is well worth it – wave 19 FM and over 20000 points in PM.

Betsy’s Wrath (S tier) – most of the time performs a bit worse than Razorpine. But it has some unique tricks. Firstly, it does splash damage, so its DPS skyrockets against dense crowds. Secondly, the main feature – it is the only source of Betsy’s Curse debuff. Minus 40 defence from every enemy (+20 flat damage). Or +700 DPS in the case of Razorpine. The extremely effective sidearm and powerful as a weapon itself. Reached wave 19 FM and completed PM.

Laser Machinegun (S- tier) – Like with other single-target magic weapons, it’ll inevitably be compared with the Razorpine. It turns out that the Machinegun has only one advantage – higher base damage. High burst damage (for those relying on mana regeneration potions) is impossible, consumes more mana, DPS is abot the same. Extra range and visible projectiles are nice, but it is not a better Razorpine, it is just an alternative. Reached late wave 18 FM. (also works with the Rainbow Gun)

Golden Shower: C+ tier. Why is it so low? Because now, at post-Plantera stage there are a ton of better options of inflicting Ichor. The best are – imbued Vampire Knives, Scourge of the Corruptor and Seedler. Knives will heal you immediately, Corruptor allows to spread debuffs at long distances + many enemies at once, and so does Seedler. Betsy’s Wrath of course, exists, but in this guide we do not have Lunar, OOA T3 and Martians loot. Possessed hatchet is also good for debuffing.

Piranha gun: B+ tier. Has a similar single DPS as Tactical Shotgun + Chlorophyte bullets. However, it does not consume chlorophyte and has an ability to damage stacked enemies (inside each other) – all at once. This makes it fairly good in Pumpkin moon on any wave, and viable vs. Ice queens. Use stealth before landing your shot, or swap your helmet to hallowed. FM ended on wave 15, PM is on 15 too. Please note, it makes you vulnerable to scattered crowds, especially Elf Copters.

Dart Pistol (Rifle): A- tier. They are so powerful in early-HM that are viable at this very stage! With cursed darts you will disrupt all pesky archers in frost moon during early waves. With ichor darts you will facetank Pumpkings at wave 15 and deal 10000 DPS. Against Ice Queens, it is a bit gimmicky. You need either attack in a close range when they stay at place. Ichor darts are the only option in this case, with their infinite-piercing/i-frame ignoring properties (when they haven't split yet). Example: View attachment Dart pistol.gif. During the Pumpkin Moon, making cursed flames raining (shoot horizontally, miss the dart itself) is a great srategy. The Dart Rifle is probably a bit better for this purpose. The result is wave 16 FM and PM wave 15.

Tsunami and Eventide: S+ tier. The best ranged combo. Tsunami and holy arrows against single bosses, Eventide + endless quiver otherwise. A ranged recipe of how to reach FM wave 20 and to farm tons of money in PM.

Electrosphere Launcher: S+ tier – if you can afford to sacrifice homing Snowman Cannon’s effect and have 10 spare mice and index fingers – that’s your choice, the best pre-Lunar launcher. Unmatched against grounded foes, almost reaches Tsunami + Holy level vs flying bosses. Tip: spam spheres in front of boss’ movement, like Death Sickle vs Plantera. Reached both final waves.

Aerial Bane: S+ tier – allows you to see stupendous DPS numbers in the Pumpkin Moon. Less user-friendly than other bows – range is short, spread is wide, no other arrow options. It is ineffective in early waves due to abovementioned reasons, and cannot sustain sufficient DPS against single flying Ice Queens in the Frost Moon. Tsunami and Eventide combo is better in Frost moon, but for the PM this bow is the champion. Scored early FM wave 19 and destroyed wave 15 pumpkin moon.

Chlorophyte Shotbow: A- tier. Good against single targets with holy arrows and so does against crowds. Wave 14 PM, early 15 FM – strangely enough.

Phantom Phoenix: A- tier. Slightly better than Shotbow in Pumpkin moon because of infinitely-piercing (and infinite at all, with endless arrows) phoenix. Wave late 14 PM, early 15 FM. Sacrifises some arrow power and harder to aim with low-velocity arrows.

Coin Gun + Gold coins: A- tier. Reached wave 17 FM. Costs about 20-24 platinum to use during the whole event (shroomite, ammo reservation, ammo box). Slightly stronger than the Chain gun, due to high per-hit damage. Journey Mode numbers. S+ tier on Journey Mode, you can duplicate platinum coins infinitely. Rivals with the SDMG and ichor bullets in this case. Use encumbering stone to prevent automatic coin converting.

Daedalus Stormbow: B- tier. Holy arrows work decently against large grounded mini-bosses, and that’s it. Chlorophyte arrows do vastly reduced damage after bounce, so total DPS lacks. Reached PM wave 14 (holy arrow).

Stake Launcher: S- tier. Extremely well-performing against crowds (almost as Eventide) and does reasonably well against single targets. Cheap ammo, counts as arrow-type for shroomite armor. Numbers: FM late 17 and total PM destruction.

Jack ’o Lantern Launcher: A tier. Splash damage is key to use it correctly, cheap ammo, does not hurt the player. A bit unreliable in long-range battles. PM wave 15, FM late 16.

Sniper Rifle: B+ tier. Actually amazing for lined-up crowds. Stealth makes this weapon to do critical damage over 1000 with a very high chance. Pierces 3 enemies by default. Unlike Tactical Shotgun and Chain Gun, enemies’ defense does not reduce overall DPS by much. Use crystal bullets against single bosses, shards hurt a lot.

Tactical Shotgun: B+ tier. It may seem that it is like more defense-reliable, less accurate but autofiring Sniper Rifle. Use with chlorophyte or HV bullets.

Super Star Shooter: B tier in Journey mode only, in reality use something else. Reaches PM final wave, but struggles after FM wave 11. Not enough single-target DPS and eats a lot of stars.

Stynger: A- tier. Slightly worse than Jack ’o Lantern launcher against bosses, but easier to aim. The main bolt has less radius of explosion, but extra projectiles compensate for that – if boss charges at you. As great as all launchers (even non-mk2 Celebration) on groups. PM wave 15, FM wave 16.

Snowman Cannon: S- tier. Absolutely devastating effect on crowds (excellent in Pumpkin Moon), and super-reliable against bosses. Single target DPS is just enough to call it “good”. As a result, shreds PM entirely, FM wave 17.

Chain Gun: B+ tier. Suffers from high defense the most. Does respectable damage when enemies are ichored, reliable with chlorophyte bullets vs single bosses (same for other guns). I hold the opinion that for crowd control HV bullets are more useful than explosive ones. Almost as expected: PM wave 15 (HV bullet), FM wave 16 (crystal-ichor combo).

Celebration: C+ tier. Heavily outclassed by both Stynger and Jack ’o Lantern launcher. Far from unusable on first waves though. Against Ice Queens and 1 Pumpking is below average. On later PM waves still shows some good numbers. Reached PM final wave (with almost no time left), early wave 15 in FM.

Candy Corn Rifle (B- tier) – great early wave crowd-control option. Loses efficiency on later PM waves and problematic to use against Ice Queens. Overall, performs about the same as Tactical shotgun and sniper rifle + HV. Reached wave 16 FM. If compared with Sniper+ Shotgun Combo, it is slightly better in PM and slightly worse versus Ice Queens. Very hard to aim Ice Queens comared to the classic guns.

Xenopopper (A+ tier) – less defense reliable and in practice less user-friendly version of the Chain gun. Of course, there is possible to get rid of this issue by using chlorophyte bullets. With any other type of ammo its accuracy depends on the speed of the fight. Chlorophyte, Crystal, HV bullets are recommended. Reached early wave 17 FM and PM final wave.

Blade staff: A- tier. As surprising as it may seem, it can deal some serious damage if combined with Ichor, Kaleidoscope, Betsy's Wrath. The reason is its unusual mechanics. You can achieve about 40 damage per-hit. This, with 10 blades amd automatic Kaleidoscope gives you good single DPS and a total lockdown vs crowds. Additively, you can use all-Warding setup, since all damage is fixed. Sometimes combining the combo with Dark Harvest is also worth it.
Reached wave late 17 FM and 15 PM. Wow!


Deadly sphere staff: B- tier. Seems to be fine against crowds, but below-average single-target damage holds it down, inferior to the tiger even on wave 15 with 6 pumpkings and spoky forest of trees underneath you. Synergizes *okay* with Firecracker. 700-900 single-target DPS boosted to about 1500. Below average against Ice Queens. Results are: late wave 14 in FM and FM final wave with Firecracker.

Sanguine staff: B+ tier, better with the Dark Harvest in PM. These bats have perfect tracking, this allows to clear first waves and 1 pumpking easily, but it’s clearly not enough for multiple bosses. Dark harvest significally boosts crowd-control capabilities, but mostly for weaker enemies and Pumpkings. Facetanking is not an option for pure summoner.

Desert tiger staff: S tier. Amazing against both single bosses and crowds with Firecracker. Even without one, it has powerful pounce attack that decimates crowds. Tip: recast it, as ballistas, it does powerful attacks instantly after summoning. With the combination of Firecracker and Kaleidoscope this crazy kitten thing reached FM wave 19 (early, less than 10%), PM wave 15, 12K points at the midnight.
***Efficiency of recasting varies. The more enemies and the denesier are the crowds – the better. Saves about 40 seconds in reaching PM wave 15, helps on FM waves 1-6.
Example of recast efficiency: View attachment Tiger recast.gif

Raven Staff (S- tier) – if Tiger’s short firecracker does not suit you, here is a decent option. Slightly worse in PM, but makes being close to Ice queens unnecessary. Synergizes well with Dark Harvest in PM, and FM waves 1-10. After wave 11 consider using Kaleidoscope. Total score – wave 18 (late) in the Frost moon, Wave 15 in the PM with 7-8K score at the midnight.

Tempest Staff (B- tier) – indeed worse than other Fishron drops. Not unusable, but there is no reason to use it over Ravens or Tiger. No especially good synergies with whips. The fact that it reached wave 17 FM exists only because of Kaleidoscope’s raw damage.

Xeno Staff (S tier) – one of the most accurate summons, on par with the Terraprisma. Perfectly combines with both Dark Harvest and Kaleidoscope. Total DPS is about on par with Ravens, but it is way more reliable and stable. Reached early wave 19 FM (late) with Kaleidoscope, Wave 15 in the PM with 6K score at the midnight.

Terraprisma: S+ tier. The absolute best. Why have you read all this if daytime Empress is killed? The Blades of the hallow’s tyrant scored well over both final waves. Use with 1 Fire Gauntlet, as it enables Kaleidoscope autoswing and empowers imbued & sharpened Vampire Knives.

Kaleidoscope (S tier) – the longest and the best whip in terms of damage. Also has the least piercing penalty. Since it adds tag damage, fast minions with relatively low base damage benefit from it the most. Best minions: Terraprisma, Xeno (especially), Ravens (good), Tiger (fine, because of 1000+ crits and whip’s damage and range itself). If you use melee autoswing accessory, using with the Dark Harvest is a good idea to combine their effects.

Dark Harvest (S tier) – the fastest whip in the game, gives “Harvest time, +50% attack speed” buff to itself, all other whips and melee weapons on hit. Its minion dark energy bonus is especially suitable on early FM waves and on any PM wave. Bonus’ damage is fixed, unlike Firecracker, so use it with the fastest attacking minion. Best minions: Xeno (especially), Ravens (good), Blade and Sanguine (effect show). If you use melee autoswing accessory, using with the Kaleidoscope is a good idea to combine their effects.

Firecracker (S tier) – is here to be combined with the Desert Tiger Staff and Deadly Spheres. Deals almost 3x base minions damage. 9-slot Tiger with Spooky set deals around 450-500 damage per hit, resulting in 1200-1400 of splash damage every Firecraker attack in this case. Significally boosts Deadly Spheres against single targets.

Any summon weapon, using bewitching table and summoning potion or sentry.

Rainbow Gun: A Tier. The horizontal rainbow-shaped support. Has infinite piercing, single-target DPS is about on par with Nimbus Rod. However, all grounded enemies we are to face have horizontal mobility. Result: all knockback-susceptible enemies are stunlocked, and immune enemies heavily damaged. There is one big major flaw – it occupies all enemies’ i-frames and everything that is in the rainbow is immune to your piercing weapons. Usable during all PM waves, FM – up to wave 16.
Tip: cast it horizontally, not in a random position, and directly below from high above in PM wave 15.

Nimbus Rod: A tier. The vertical cloud support. Also has a great DPS potential, accidentally damages flying mobs. The latter is useful in the Pumpkin Moon. Cast 2 clouds and lure multiple Pumpkings under the rain. Does very respectable damage during their 1 minute. In the Frost Moon, it is almost impossible to do so with Ice Queens (only during stationary attack – but here Magnet Sphere is better). All little grounded mobs are escaping too due to the lack of knockback. It is needed to make them stay still somehow. Effective on PM waves 7+, FM – up to wave 11.

Clinger Staff: B+ tier, A tier if combined with Nimbus. And here we have it! A wall, knocking all Fighter AI mobs back and debuffing them. It creates a huge, highly-dense crowd after a while. The most important – they are immobilized horizontally (stand on the other side of the wall). Cast clouds above it. This thing makes nimbuses effective on PM waves up to 7.

Magnet Sphere: B- tier, while its theoretical DPS is a bit low, it has a number of unique traits. Firstly, all abovementioned magic weapons are piercing and it is not. So no interferences with other projectiles whatsoever. Secondly, you don’t need strategically cast it, only in general directions – it detects enemies automatically.
Tip: If you use non-lasting weapon, there is a switching-time issue. You need about one second to cast Sphere to the right direction. Sphere lasts for 7 seconds and deals slightly less than 1000 DPS (Spectre offensive armor). Total damage dealt is about 7000 in ideal conditions. Typically, it is about 4000. So, if your primary weapon deals more than 4000 DPS it is not worth it. Result: effective on every wave, if you are sure that it does enough damage.
Nerfed from A tier beause of low detection range.

Armors, accessories and buffs:

Only S and A tiers for armors and accessories.

S tier: Extremely flexible in all situations. Allow certain strategies due to their sheer existence only.
A tier: Strong armor or accessory, with some flaws or requiring S tier accessory replacement.

Universal buffs:
Any tier 3 food (all stats are improved), Wrath potion (+10% damage), Rage potion (+10% critical strike chance), Lifeforce potion (+10% maximum HP), Heartreach potion (increased heart pickup range, very useful), Endurance potion (+10% flat damage reduction. Because of the buff limit, use this instead of ironskin potion (8 defence is almost equal to nothing here) and Regeneration potions are useful.
For the Frost Moon, Warmth Potion is a must, but it only reduces damage and does not prevent you from being frozen.

Universal accessories:
Celestial shell – S+ tier, grants all types of buffs for all classes. Melee has extra bonuses at night.

Star Veil – S tier, makes all facetanking strategies possible, increases the healing window for Vampire Knives and Spectre Armor.

Worm Scarf – S tier, all damage taken is multiplied by 0.83 after calculating defense score.

Brain of Confusion – S- tier, slightly less reliable than Worm Scarf, but compensates it with short 10% critical chance buff.

Master Ninja Gear – S tier, if mounts are used, A tier. Best dash ability and 11% chance to dodge attacks. Stacks with Brain of Confusion.

Destroyer Emblem – S tier, the best DPS boost after ranged-specific scopes.

Avenger Emblem – A tier, outclassed by class-specific accessories slightly.

Charm of Myths – A tier, requires getting rid of 1 damage accessory. Heartreach potion on bosses and lifesteal are more effective.

Frozen Shield – S tier. Outclasses Ankh, in Moons there is almost no Ankh-protectable debuffs, and 25% DR below 50% HP as a bonus. Also 2 more defence score, should they help.

Ankh Shield by itself is A-.

Shield of Cthulhu – A tier
, has inferior dash and no chance to dodge an attack. Unlike Fishron Battle, you will have hard time dodging such a large number of attacks using invincibility frames. But it is still a good dash ability.

Soaring Insignia (S tier) is a must for wings and boots, especially those with special abilities, like hovering (Hoverboard, Betsys Wings) or quick acceleration (Empress Wings). Grants infinite flight time and greatly increases mobility.

Wings and Mounts:
  • Fishron is S- tier, Empress is S if combined with the soaring insignia.
  • Steampunk, Spooky, Festive, Tattered Fairy are all A+ tier.
  • Beetle and Spectre are in A.
  • Hoverboard with the Soaring Insignia is S-, allowing infinite super-responsive horizontal movement. Betsy's wings are basically an upgraded version of this, it is even better (S tier). With this combinations, you won't lose much even without any dash ability.
In Expert and Master Modes, you may want to use flying mounts. Cute Fishron during the rain is the absolute best. Good otherwise. Also gains full acceleration and 15% damage bonus when you are under 50% HP. Bubble block strategy has one flaw – some projectiles (Bat Scepters’ bats) are destroyed. The Witch’s Broom and the Black Spot are decent (even in 1.4.1.2). If you have a platform line to compensate its flight height, Gelatinous Pillion is the most maneuverable mount (and allows some neat tricks on PM wave 15). You may swap your dash accessory in this case.
Cosmic Car Key is agile and responsive, but incompatible with bubble block strategy

Melee gear:
Note: the optimal Terra Blade speeds are: 7 frames or 5 frames. This is the only sword with such characteristics. The 7 frames speed is equal to the total +50% melee speed bonus from armor, buffs, accessories and modifier.
Use time of 8 – 3.75 profectiles/second
Use time of 7 – 4.25 projectiles/second = the best
Use time of 6 – 3.33 projectiles = the worst

Use time of 5 – 4 projectiles
Use time of 4 – 3.75 projectiles

Armor: The best is Beetle armor with scale mail. (A+ tier, facetanking is a bit dangerous). Hallowed armor (A tier, super useful buff if you dodge instead of tanking) is a honorable mention.

Accessories set 1: (speedy Terra Blade for facetanking, far-flying Paladins Hammer): Fire gauntlet, Mechanical glove, Berserkers glove. All Menacing or Lucky.

Accessories set 2: projectile damage (Ranged Terra Blade ,Vampire knives, Seedler, SotC, North Pole): Fire gauntlet, Warrior emblem, Destroyer emblem. All Menacing-only, for Vampire Knives’ and Seedler’s armor penetration.

Melee Buffs: Sharpening station. Tipsy, Ichor flask against bosses, Cursed flames flask (against first waves with seedler and SotC) – but I recommend simply casting clinger staff.

Debuffing: flasks. The best weapons are Vampire Knives, Scourge of the corruptor, Seedler.
Ranged gear:
Armor: Shroomite armor with respective helmets. (S tier, also use stealth on first waves).

Hallowed ranged armor (A- tier). Great set bonus and always active. But requires you to sacrifice a lot of DPS.

Accessories set 1 (bows): Molten Quiver or Magic Quiver (Great arrow velocity, +10% damage), sniper scope, recon scope, destroyer emblem. All Menacing, you don’t want to accidentally make your critical chance more than 100% (everything above 100% is useless).

Note: Do not stack quivers for bows. Only one is enough – all extra do not increase arrow velocity even further, Destroyer and Ranger emblems with scopes have higher DPS.

Accessories set 2 (guns, rockets): Sniper Scope, Recon scope, Destroyer Emblem, Ranger Emblem – the highest DPS, Eye of the Golem and Avenger Emblems are also good. All Menacing, for the same reasons.

Tips: Piranha Gun has an ability to preserve stealth stats when latched, even if you are moving. Stake Launcher uses arrow helmet. Stynger and Jack o’ Lantern Launcher both use rocket helmet.
For Dart Pistol and Rifle, Coin Gun use Shroomite armor + hallowed helmet. Candy Corn Rifle uses bullet helmet.

Ranged Buffs: Archery potion for bows, Ammo reservation potion for fast weapons, Ammo box.

Debuffing: any debuff-inflicting sidearm weaker than your primary weapon. Example: Dart Rifle + Ichor/Cursed Dart – for debuffing. Tsunami + Holy Arrows – as a main weapon.
Magic gear:
Armor: Spectre armor with both variants (S+ tier). The key is switching between them due to burst healing/damage. Hallowed mage armor (A+ tier). An honorable mention. Set bonus is nice as always, but in this case mages have lifesteal option for every weapon.

Spectre armor set bonuses + weapons synergies:
Mechanics:

Mask: 1500 burst DPS, then about 400 when stable, multipied by a crit chance (800 DPS at 100% crit).

It is on par with 2-slot desert tiger (roughly, depends on the situation), 3-slot ravens and more stable than sharknados. You can use both, anyway.

Hood: 80-normal (70 expert/master) HP burst healing, then 36-normal (30 expert/master) when stable. The same cap for Vampire Knives.

Weapons: (compared with hallowed mage helmet), with present/abscent crystal ball buff for equality in dmg+crit numbers.

Spectre staff, mask – excellent – provides about 30% dps boost from set bonus only (1500 vs 2000-2100) and bursts up to 3000 DPS for first couple of seconds.

Bat scepter, mask – excellent – this weapon tends to deal burst damage against bosses – spectre mask does the same! When bats are chasing fast bosses and build up a huge swarm – there is technically no damage and spectre bonus recharges its 1500 burst damage. It results in huge total burst of about 4000-4500 DPS when all bats ram into the enemy. Useful also against Empress of Light.

Rainbow rod, mask – excellent. Same as for Spectre staff. Here the DPS boost is about 40%. Makes Rainbow rod spamming viable even against EoL.

Razorpine, mask – good. Even with this it gives you about 10-15% dps boost and rapid healing with mask.

Wasp gun – excellent, especially with against single targets – boosts its dps by 50%! (900-1000 dps weapon, 500 mask). Against crowds, its spammy nature with mask bonus allows stunlock enemies even harder. Looks like “cobweb of death”.
Accessories: Mana flower and its upgrades (Arcane Flower, Magnet Flower, Mana Cuffs) or Celestial Cuffs (Mana Restoring), Celestial Emblem (+ 15% damage).

Buffs: Magic power potion (+20% magic damage), Mana Regeneration potion, Crystal ball (minor magic buffs), Star in a Bottle.

Debuffing ways: Betsy’s Wrath (-40 def), Golden Shower (Ichor, -15 def), Clinger staff (Cursed flames, -24 HP/s).
Summon gear:
Armor: Tiki armor (A tier) for the 1st PM tries. Then Spooky armor (S tier), Hallowed armor with Warding accessories for the Blade Staff.

Accessories: Pygmy Neklace (+1 minion slot), Papyrus Scarab (+10% damage, 1 slot), Necromantic Scroll (+15% damage, 1 slot, knockback), Hercules Beetle or Summoner Emblem (+15% damage).

Buffs: summoning potion, bewitching table (+2 minion slots total).

Debuffing ways: imbued whips.
Mixed class gear:
There are endless ways of mixing weapons in Terraria. Tavernkeep’s mixed-class sets are generally considered the most effective.

Melee: Shinobi Infiltrators Helmet, Monk chest (or Valhalla Knights Greaves for health regeneration). Use +2 sentry bonus and regular minions. Applicable for projectile Terra blade.

Ranged: Shroomite Helmets for high base/low ammo damage (like Nail gun) or Hallowed helmet for low base/high ammo damage (like Electrosphere launcher). Red Riding dress, Red Riding Leggings – the most damaging non-stealth set. Provides additional 3% crit strike bonus and 25% minion damage.

Mage: Dark Artists Robes, Dark Artists Leggings, Hallowed Headgear. This gives you +20% extra magic crit strike chance, boost to minion damage. Spectre Mask set bonus is equal to +500 flat DPS, decide what suits you more. Spectre armor also allows convenient swap-healing when needed.

Summon: any other class weapon used as main. For melee weapons amd whips Fire Gauntlet or Mechanical glove is recommended.

Best sentries: Explosive Trap staff, Ballista Staff, Staff of the Frost Hydra.

Best 2-3 slot minions: Desert Tiger, Xeno (with sharpened buff if your main weapon is melee and imbued), Ravens.

Best debuffing: Whips. Flasks. The best weapons are Vampire Knives, Scourge of the corruptor, Seedler. Betsy's Wrath, Golden Shower.
 
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Remember boys, if spectre armor isn't S+ we riot.

Just kidding, this list is pretty great. Keep it up, gonna be interesting to see the whole thing cuz I suck at those events and I need a guide like this
 
I also think Clinger staff and magnet sphere should get a mention. Clinger staff can keep you decently safe by sorting the first few waves, or keeping off weaker enemies while you focus on the mini-bosses, whilst magnet sphere doesn't trigger I-frames (I think, it shouldn't since it's single target) and is pretty much free damage on any wave. Nimbus rod is also nice, but it has no knockback and it is piercing which means I-frames appear. As far as other classes, Idk, haven't played them much.
 
I also think Clinger staff and magnet sphere should get a mention. Clinger staff can keep you decently safe by sorting the first few waves, or keeping off weaker enemies while you focus on the mini-bosses, whilst magnet sphere doesn't trigger I-frames (I think, it shouldn't since it's single target) and is pretty much free damage on any wave. Nimbus rod is also nice, but it has no knockback and it is piercing which means I-frames appear. As far as other classes, Idk, haven't played them much.
Maybe I should include rainbow, nimbus, clinger and magnet to general strategies – they are useful in all classes
 
Hey, I know this is a long shot but do you happen to have a terraprisma for sale? Dying to get one, and saw the thread mentioned it. Thanks!
 
Hey, I know this is a long shot but do you happen to have a terraprisma for sale? Dying to get one, and saw the thread mentioned it. Thanks!
I do, but Idk how to sale items) Havent played multiplayer

Update: Added auxiliary weapons section. The whole list is now more readable
New Terraprisma's description, a couple of tier-changes
 
Since you added post-golem stuff for melee,I suggest using the homing possesed hatchet.
Possessed Hatchet: B tier. Is an example of how a fast and homing single-target weapon with low-ish DPS (1300-1500) gets overwhelmed by large crowds. FM and PM are both on wave 14.

Its mediocre (in these events only)

If you are searching for a good homing weapon – Razorblade Typhoon, Nightglow, Snowman Cannon are all good
Piranha Gun can damage several enemies ot once – more dps too
For melee-only – seedler has a lot more dps (shards are semi-homing), Scourge of the corruptors' tiny eaters only deal more damage than the hatchet itself
 
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Possessed Hatchet: B tier. Is an example of how a fast and homing single-target weapon with low-ish DPS (1300-1500) gets overwhelmed by large crowds. FM and PM are both on wave 14.

Its mediocre (in these events only)

If you are searching for a good homing weapon – Razorblade Typhoon, Nightglow, Snowman Cannon are all good
Piranha Gun can damage several enemies ot once – more dps too
For melee-only – seedler has a lot more dps (shards are semi-homing), Scourge of the corruptors' tiny eaters only deal more damage than the hatchet itself
oh ok.Sorry,some of these guides get so big that I can't be bothered to read them :D
 
As for terrain preparations, they require a 500 asphalt-block flat arena. I highly recommend building it in 1.4-generated desert, because it has no underground pockets and all spawned enemies will appear on the surface. Enemy teleporters, conveyor belts for loot etc. are always welcome.

However, I often see the major mistake, when people flooding their arenas with lava and various types of traps. It results in literal absence of damage from your piercing weapons (traps and lava occupy all damage frames). And they are really dangerous to player themselves, especially those from jungle temple
Could someone just use lava for the enemies and use a high single target DPS weapon for the bosses? The bosses don't take lava damage.
 
Could someone just use lava for the enemies and use a high single target DPS weapon for the bosses? The bosses don't take lava damage.
Lava does less damage to enemies than even an accidental hit from every good piercing weapon, plus blocks all attacks from those, dangerous to players
Good single-target weapons are viable up to 16-17 FM wave.
In PM wave 13+ even Razorpine with its ~4500 single DPS is nothing compared to Terra Blade/Typhoon/Snowman Cannon/Eventide/Stake/Tiger+ Firecracker

Lava has 1 advantage – block mob spawn
 
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Update: Ranged-specific gear added. Now this guide is more user-friendly.
The next update will be huge and probably the last one, with magic and summon gear + new weapons
 
I honestly think golden shower shouldn't be considered a "universal" weapon, because, as you said, classes have other, better ways to apply ichor. Melee has flasks and ranged has bullets/darts, and summoner got flasks as well, meaning mages are the only ones who benefit from the golden shower, as they don't use swords, whips or guns/bows/dart weapons. I don't know if listing a utility weapon for a specific class would be fitting, but I feel like mages are the only ones who need golden shower now, and for them it's actually really good.
 
I honestly think golden shower shouldn't be considered a "universal" weapon, because, as you said, classes have other, better ways to apply ichor. Melee has flasks and ranged has bullets/darts, and summoner got flasks as well, meaning mages are the only ones who benefit from the golden shower, as they don't use swords, whips or guns/bows/dart weapons. I don't know if listing a utility weapon for a specific class would be fitting, but I feel like mages are the only ones who need golden shower now, and for them it's actually really good.
I actually find non magic weapons to be a better option for inflicting ichor even as a mage, since those don't use mana I can regerate some mana while inflicting ichor.
 
I actually find non magic weapons to be a better option for inflicting ichor even as a mage, since those don't use mana I can regerate some mana while inflicting ichor.

Sure, that works too. But what about people who like playing pure classes? Sure, there is the simple argument of "you don't have to", but some people like to stay true to their rank of mage, ranger etc. And for pure mages, golden shower is pretty much the only option. And since it has been decided that every other class has better ways of applying ichor, why not just move it to the mage section? Plus, vampire knifes are listed under melee, despite technically also being a universal weapon, usable by every other class.
 
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