PC What is the weakest class in your opinion, as of the release of 1.4?

I'm slightly confused about what you're trying to say, but I'll try to answer anyway.

Movement speed is a useless stat. There is no need to mass produce Well Fed and Swiftness to have high amounts of it all times, because it doesn't do much. But even if it was a very useful stat, you could have both melee gear and buffs like Well Fed and Swiftness, because they do stack. Assuming we're talking about boss fights, grappling works on platforms, and not only moves you quickly away from the boss, but also propels you in the grapple direction if you jump at the last second. Also, why does it matter that dashing is only restricted to a couple of things before Plantera? The Shield of Cthulhu is available close to the start of game, and can be used to get immunity frames. Crystal Assassin Armour has lots of other boosts beyond dashing. Also most bosses are fought above the surface, which removes the need to manoeuvre around blocks and inclines. Movement speed only has a momentary effect when you start running away from something, and continuously running away only works for the Eye of Cthulhu, King Slime and the Wall of Flesh. For every other boss, you'll be using double jumps, Rocket Boots or Wings to avoid them, which are not affected by movement speed.
It isn't a useless stat and comes nowhere close to being a useless stat. If I so wished I could call any stat useless with enough meta deduction. I am not the person who was making a case that Well Fed and Swiftness were consumable buffs you should have to replace any "need" for other movement speed buffs, that was the previous responder. Though Well Fed is absolutely worth having for the other various buffs it provides (including melee stat bonuses). Remember, I have never been making a case that movement speed is a stat that you are sacrificing or prioritising over other variables, in fact, I've actively been making the case that it's a mechanic that's passively integrated into a variety of melee buffing gear and consumables. I was never exclusively talking about boss fights at all, but even then grappling does not supplant regular movement, it can potentially bolster it with the correct timing but you need to do it when appropriate, direct it correctly, propel off of it, and have the correct range. It's a triggered mechanic that only works close to a block or platform, movement speed is always active with even the slightest movement. Dashing is not a universal mechanic, I don't know where the prevailing opinion that a stat is useless because other mechanics also have an effect on the concept came from, but throwing them away because they aren't the most blatant deciding factors late-game is wasteful.

The Shield of Cthulu is more or less another general accessory that still benefits melee the most, even the minor defense boost and dash mechanic has synergy with both the usual Melee stat layout and the usual playstyle. Though again, the dash isn't exceptional and has a notable delay and fall-off when finished, and getting immunity frames requires particular timing as well because if done too soon/late on colliding with an enemy you may end up taking even more damage than you otherwise would. I am not talking exclusively about bossing, not am I saying that dashing isn't useful. I'm saying that dashing does not replace movement speed, as it is a triggered and directed mechanic that applies to only some gear, and doesn't often come equipped with other ancillary bonuses. Crystal Assassin Armour is an exception to that but it's not a particularly great armour set either, as classes are one of the times specificity is better, which is what it lacks in addition to having low defense. Unless your entire world is a flat line of blocks and platforms than movement speed will always be relevant as maintaining constant momentum in all directions during many of these fights (like the EoC and WoF) is by no means a guarantee. Collision with just about anything will kill your max speed, at which point having a wide variety of movement options (including movement speed, which is never a trade-off stat after the very start of the game) is very useful.
 
There is no objectively useless stat, but you have to consider what you’re giving up in order to add to that stat instead of something else. Which means there is a general worst stat and a best stat. I’d say, overall, movement speed *is* the worst stat, because its niche is rather small and unimportant. If you reforged all your accessories to Quick, you’d have quite a decent amount of accelaration in either direction and ground movement speed on Asphalt, which sounds decent. But then you consider that the 28% movespeed could have just as easily been a 28% extra damage, crit chance or defense bonus, or even melee speed, all of which would definitely have been much more beneficial overall.

This is where @Rgmemo makes a good point - in Melee builds, you get this accelaration + ground speed boost added on for free rather than having to sacrifice resources or equipment to profit off of them.

Although I do have to disagree that it helps Melee much if at all. A dash *does* replace it easily, because even though there’s a small delay, it instantly brings you up to a bit above full speed and lets you turn around much quicker than just holding the opposite direction even with the accelaration boosts of movespeed. And because its role is limited specifically to speeding up slightly quicker or running faster on asphalt, there’s really not much of a reason for anyone to capitalize into movement speed.
 
The Shield of Cthulu is more or less another general accessory that still benefits melee the most, even the minor defense boost and dash mechanic has synergy with both the usual Melee stat layout and the usual playstyle. Though again, the dash isn't exceptional and has a notable delay and fall-off when finished, and getting immunity frames requires particular timing as well because if done too soon/late on colliding with an enemy you may end up taking even more damage than you otherwise would.
It does not benefit Melee the most, It's absolutely incredible when used for dodging attacks by dashing away from your enemy and keeping your distance, which only really hurts Summoner and some Melee weapons. Dashing has more purposes than closing distance, you can use it to create distance for avoiding projectiles as well.
Which stats that melee has is it benefitting, genuinely curious? It's so helpful for letting you avoid damage entirely that defense isn't really a concern unless you're trying to attack with it, and movement speed is also doing nothing with it because you just used your dash to hit top speed instantly and everything is capped so the movement speed was effectively canceled by it completely.
It only falls off when finished if you use Wings (which actually make your movement less nimble because it gives a hard cap on your aerial speed and reduces your upwards acceleration in exchange for great air time, I was skeptical about unequipping wings and then tried it and was blown away by how good my mobility managed to be without them while using Bundle of Balloons and Frog Leg with Spectre Boots as backup, to the point that certain hardmode bosses actually become easier without wings, two examples I know for certain being Queen Slime and the Twins. Wings are absolutely not useless (imagine doing Destroyer or Plantera without them, for example) but they actually aren't the best for everything, despite popular belief.) Even if you are using wings, the change of direction is what allows you to avoid damage, with dash speed/length only really mattering if you were cutting it extremely close.
I don't use it's immunity frames outside of prehardmode so I can't really comment on that aspect unfortunately.
Crystal Assassin Armour is an exception to that but it's not a particularly great armour set either, as classes are one of the times specificity is better, which is what it lacks in addition to having low defense.
In every difficulty above Expert, Defense actually falls off and becomes less relevant in hardmode (due to everything scaling multiplicatively compared to normal mode, which defense was balanced around, while defense is stuck in it's additive flat damage) so it's not really a weakness to have little of it anymore unless you're doing some niche facetanking builds. Also, classes being strongest on their own is an incredibly common misconception. You can very easily throw 3 minions on any class for free and it's usually more beneficial to spend that one last accessory slot you don't know what to do with on buffing them than your main weapon. Also, mage actually has a few "fire and forget" projectiles (nimbus rod, rainbow gun, magnet sphere, golden shower, etc.) which is a non-summoner case of being extremely easy to slap on other classes for almost no cost. Finally, take into consideration that speccing equally into summoner/ranger is so ridiculously powerful that you can shred most bosses to pieces and stunlock the entire screen during a Solar Eclipse using only early hardmode gear.
 
Wings are absolutely not useless (imagine doing Destroyer or Plantera without them, for example) but they actually aren't the best for everything, despite popular belief.)
Wings are far from nessary with the destroyer, if you have a decent platform above the ground and use featherfall potions. In fact I'd say its the easiest mech boss to do wingless.
Wings are also far from nessesary for plantera, last time I beat her I didn't use wings and I didn't even struggle much.

Often I don't use wings until post plant, That's when hover wings become available that can replace the need for a dash.
 
It does not benefit Melee the most, It's absolutely incredible when used for dodging attacks by dashing away from your enemy and keeping your distance, which only really hurts Summoner and some Melee weapons. Dashing has more purposes than closing distance, you can use it to create distance for avoiding projectiles as well.
Which stats that melee has is it benefitting, genuinely curious? It's so helpful for letting you avoid damage entirely that defense isn't really a concern unless you're trying to attack with it, and movement speed is also doing nothing with it because you just used your dash to hit top speed instantly and everything is capped so the movement speed was effectively canceled by it completely.
It only falls off when finished if you use Wings (which actually make your movement less nimble because it gives a hard cap on your aerial speed and reduces your upwards acceleration in exchange for great air time, I was skeptical about unequipping wings and then tried it and was blown away by how good my mobility managed to be without them while using Bundle of Balloons and Frog Leg with Spectre Boots as backup, to the point that certain hardmode bosses actually become easier without wings, two examples I know for certain being Queen Slime and the Twins. Wings are absolutely not useless (imagine doing Destroyer or Plantera without them, for example) but they actually aren't the best for everything, despite popular belief.) Even if you are using wings, the change of direction is what allows you to avoid damage, with dash speed/length only really mattering if you were cutting it extremely close.
I don't use it's immunity frames outside of prehardmode so I can't really comment on that aspect unfortunately.
It does benefit Melee the most. Dashing is most useful when a boss is within a reasonable proximity to you as it allows you to stafe around it much more easily, so when you're closer to it, essentially. If you're deliberately kiting and keeping distance from a boss then dashing won't have any impact on it as you'll already be at or around max speed most of the time and the delay after the dash doesn't even allow for any notable boost diagonally. Melee is a class that maximises damage by being closer to the enemy, even if it doesn't have to be within close-range to do so. Other classes like Ranger even have late-game gimmicks that actively punish movement.
As previously stated, it benefits Melee indirectly since dashing is a mechanic that accommodates Melee the most, and if you ever do get hit for any reason then stacking defense with the only class that can do so most easily means you're taking damage that isn't particularly notable. Who says you just used a dash? Even on a completely flat bridge (let alone terrain with various elevations and slopes) there is a notable boost in acceleration diagonally with movement speed buffs, which are much more easily controlled, not manually triggered, and they appear on more items that aren't sacrificing other accessory slots (it's worth mentioning I was never saying someone should use the Aglet or Anklet of Wind in place of better accessories).
As for your paragraph about wings, I didn't actually mention them (and they're a universal accessory type), so don't care much for discussing their viability when I'm focusing on Melee having the best mobility amongst classes.
In every difficulty above Expert, Defense actually falls off and becomes less relevant in hardmode (due to everything scaling multiplicatively compared to normal mode, which defense was balanced around, while defense is stuck in it's additive flat damage) so it's not really a weakness to have little of it anymore unless you're doing some niche facetanking builds. Also, classes being strongest on their own is an incredibly common misconception. You can very easily throw 3 minions on any class for free and it's usually more beneficial to spend that one last accessory slot you don't know what to do with on buffing them than your main weapon. Also, mage actually has a few "fire and forget" projectiles (nimbus rod, rainbow gun, magnet sphere, golden shower, etc.) which is a non-summoner case of being extremely easy to slap on other classes for almost no cost. Finally, take into consideration that speccing equally into summoner/ranger is so ridiculously powerful that you can shred most bosses to pieces and stunlock the entire screen during a Solar Eclipse using only early hardmode gear.
Having little defense is a huge weakness unless you very infrequently get hit. One of the first traits I noticed in my Summoner playthrough was that I was taking similar damage on regular Master Mode to my Melee playthrough on FtW Master Mode, as in the lack of defense made it incredibly squishy and attacks like the Destroyer's lasers that barely surpass 7 damage on my Melee character were now taking notable chunks off my health, meaning I had to adopt a more mobile and active approach to the fight, and this was with a Summoner who had Warding on various accessories to boot. Saying you can have three minions for free isn't entirely true, the second slot is locked behind a placeable item in the Dungeon (which you need to be smart about to get before Skeletron), and a temporary potion buff which I honestly never found worth using in my Summoner playthrough, let alone non-Summoner playthroughs. I did use the Bewitching Table, leaving me with two minions, but with a lack of specification into Summoning they don't do much damage, nor are they bolstered by whips. But, hybrid gear is a trade-off anyway, whereas every class has access to the Bewitching Table and first minion slot, so they aren't necessarily equivocal. As for the "fire and forget" projectiles, they also don't do much without Mage mana reserves and damage boosts, particularly as if you're doing some manner of hybrid class, most of them will need to be actively recast, by which point you could've done the same amount of damage or greater with a pure class with infinitely less micro-management. The Nimbus Rod is one of the few examples I've used of another class weapon being useful outside of that class, but only really for the Destroyer, and because it dropped during the fight from the Angry Nimbus. I'd like to know what combination exactly can shred the entire screen during a Solar Eclipse with early hardmode gear, as Ranged is capable of doing that anyway as far as I'm aware through the use of the correct guns and ammo types. I've been able to clean out those events with a Drippler Crippler even.
 
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It does benefit Melee the most. Dashing is most useful when a boss is within a reasonable proximity to you as it allows you to stafe around it much more easily, so when you're closer to it, essentially. If you're deliberately kiting and keeping distance from a boss then dashing won't have any impact on it as you'll already be at or around max speed most of the time and the delay after the dash doesn't even allow for any notable boost diagonally. Melee is a class that maximises damage by being closer to the enemy, even if it doesn't have to be within close-range to do so. Other classes like Ranger even have late-game gimmicks that actively punish movement.
As previously stated, it benefits Melee indirectly since dashing is a mechanic that accommodates Melee the most, and if you ever do get hit for any reason then stacking defense with the only class that can do so most easily means you're taking damage that isn't particularly notable. Who says you just used a dash? Even on a completely flat bridge (let alone terrain with various elevations and slopes) there is a notable boost in acceleration diagonally with movement speed buffs, which are much more easily controlled, not manually triggered, and they appear on more items that aren't sacrificing other accessory slots (it's worth mentioning I was never saying someone should use the Aglet or Anklet of Wind in place of better accessories).
As for your paragraph about wings, I didn't actually mention them (and they're a universal accessory type), so don't care much for discussing their viability when I'm focusing on Melee having the best mobility amongst classes.
If you’re continuously running in one direction, dashes can be use to momentarily propel you at higher speeds in the direction you’re going, which increases the distance between you and the boss or its projectiles. Also, why would you be moving diagonally on a flat bridge? Also, it seems that you’re assuming that Ranger and Mage lose DPS when they get closer, which is not true at all. If using a bow, your DPS could increase instead, because the arrows can hit more accurately which means more arrows hitting.
 
If you’re continuously running in one direction, dashes can be use to momentarily propel you at higher speeds in the direction you’re going, which increases the distance between you and the boss or its projectiles. Also, why would you be moving diagonally on a flat bridge? Also, it seems that you’re assuming that Ranger and Mage lose DPS when they get closer, which is not true at all. If using a bow, your DPS could increase instead, because the arrows can hit more accurately which means more arrows hitting.
The delay and drop-off from beginning the dash to regaining mobility in control (and the cooldown) compensates for the momentary speed boost you get after a dash, particularly on the ground. The dash can be useful in the air for dodging certain projectiles and dropping vertically, but at that point you're not really talking about kiting anymore. Why wouldn't you be moving diagonally on a bridge? If you're keeping distance from a boss then you're mainly heading either left or right while firing back at them, using some vertical movement to avoid attacks while you're at it. You aren't going to fly vertically directly into space and then work diagonally from there, that would almost guarantee you get hit multiple times. I didn't say much about DPS, as obviously it increases closer to the target, but as far as the class mechanics, strategies and defense is concerned, you won't benefit more from hugging the boss than Melee would in comparison.
 
First: I don't understand that much about stats or anything like this, im saying what i gain for experience, and i assume that you're talking about movement speed as the speed on foot.

I would fly vertically on a brigde, to fly over the boss and escape some attacks, movement speed isn't useless, i agree, But* increasing it isn't necessary or worth, mobility is way better than movement speed. For instance, I don't buff speed, and when i do, it doesn't affect my perfomance in boss fight or exploring, you can indeed say that meele is speedier, but this doesn't change that much, I would choose wings and dash instead of speed boost. You can classify meele as the fastest but it isn't a BIG thing, is like the number of times that you rang the bell on minecraft. You rang the most, but it doesn't matter that much.
I would rather see which has the most dps, range, versatility, etc. And the class that have less than the others will be the weakest. (Of couse movement speed would matter that much on the results)

And about the dash, it is one of the best features, a quick dodge from anything or skip death. You gain more *mobility from the dash, it doesn't neutralize movement speed, but it almost do it, same for the wings, ballons, or anything about mobility.

Again, im a dumb person so dont think that everything is correct, just my opinion.
(Also idk what I meant on the 2nd paragraph)
 
I would say Melee is the worst class. Its "decent" until post plantera but is by far the most boring class to play (In my opinion)
 
I don't think there is any worst class simply because I've played all four and enjoyed them all equally each class has its pros and cons like melee having high defense but being close range, ranger having high crit damage but being limited by ammo conservation, mages having high raw DPS but essentially being a glass cannon, and summoner being great for crowd control and attack speed but being fragile compared to other classes
 
I think that all of the classes are fairly balanced out, but id have to go with mage
If I’ve insulted your favorite class, its not because I dont like it, but because every class has their flaws and strengths, and know I’ve posted this with experience with every class.

This is before any major bosses like the evil boss or skeletron
Melee is good at this stage of the game as it has a wide range of equipment and can deal a decent amount of DPS, but lacks in range. This does have exceptions, as the enchanted sword and ice blade deal crazy amounts of damage at a very long range for the stage it’s in
Ranged is very good at the start, having less weapons than melee, but making it up in damage and being able to stay a good distance away while attacking, and having the ammunition feature, it can get even more powerful with frost burn arrows and such
Mage is weak at the start, lacking armor, weapons, and has very limited mana. This used to be one of the most powerfull classes at this stage purely because the water bolt was insane at melting early bosses. But with the water bolt now being unobtainable at this stage without encountering a dungeon guardian, its power level has dropped
Summoner is perhaps even more weak than the mage class, having a pitiful amount of weapons that deal little damage. Although they introduced whips in 1.4 its still noticeably weaker in this stage than melee and ranger.
snapthorn can inflict poison, counts as melee, and gives attack speed, so its viable fore multi classing

After skeletron and queen bee, but still before the wall of flesh
Melee is still good here getting a few more good weapons and getting some armor sets that give a good defense stat, starting the viability of tank builds, and a few accessories that give a good buffs. It’s dps grows steadily over this phase, and gets some good ranged attacks
Ranger falls behind melee during this stage, even though it will continuously have a good amount of DPS than most other classes, and a decent amount of defense, it dosn’t get to powerful at this stage
Mage starts to catch up here, getting more weapons and mana, but its armor is lacking. It also receives a steady stream of mana potions boosting their DPS
Summoners become absolutely broken at this stage, unlocking the obsidian armor set, in my opinion the best armour set until late Hardmode, surpassing hallowed armor and its dodge. It’s synergy with spinal tap lets it deal by far the most damage, and even if its defense stat is low, it as phenomenal range with the boost to whip size from obsidian armor

That one part of the game where every regular enemy feels like a mini-boss
Before any of the mech bosses and duke fishron
Melee is very good at this stage, because it has a high defense, which other classes struggle with, being squishy and dying easily to the tougher enemies. It has average damage and is still lacking range with some of its weapons. That being said, accessories become more relevant at this stage and melee has many great accessories to help them with that.
Ranger is decent at this stage, being able to keep a distance and have high enough defense to be able to withstand a few hits. Has good DPS, and can use many different ammunition types with various good weapons, such as the legendary Daedalous storm bow, that in combination with clorophyte arrows can blast through the mech bosses and plantera
Mage catches up here, starting to be quite powerful, and gains a wide variety of weapons and accessories, and starts to get armor with more impactful stat boosts. Another big thing is being able to use upgraded mana potions at their leisure
Summoner continues being powerfull at this stage, with it amount of weapons accessible multiplied, and receives the biggest buff from wings being able to not take those massive hits because it’s very squishy with its low defense. The accessories it receives are fairly good too, being able to add minion slots.

Right before the Moon Lord, after golem and fishron
Melee is quite powerful, and has life-gain via vampire knives. Has some struggles against a few difficult bosses, but continues to deal a decent amount of damage and have a massive defense stat. Most of its weapons have range, and a lot of useful abilities.
Ranger is very powerful here as well, and it deals a high amount of damage, along with a decent defense stat. All of its weapons are able to hit at far range and is quite effective at taking out bosses. But is lacking at the situational due to most weapons doing the same few things
Mage is very powerful here dealing a massive amount of damage and being having most attacks track enemies. Is squishy though, but can easily keep their distance from heavy hitting bosses.
Summoner is a little weaker than the other classes because of lack of constant damage and defense, but has great range with some whips and summons, and can shred bosses when the full force of the army on them.

Post moon lord, with all equipment available
Melee was my first playthrough, and i have fond memories of it. It’s very reliable throughout the entire game, deal good dps and can take hits, which makes it very beginner friendly. That along with the fact that there are so many melee weapons to choose from, it can fit almost any playstyle. The zenith is a bit grindy to get, but is extremely rewarding and deals massive damage with nearly infinite range
Ranger is a wild card, played right it can decimate bosses at a distance, and ammunition makes it able to do a variety of cool things. My favorite class, i find it really fun to play, and the feeling of sniping something moving or faraway with a bow just makes you feel cool. The rocket launchers are something I haven’t touched other that the grenade launcher, because i like my world intact. The accessories for this class are really fun to play around with, and it has a few interesting weapons
Mage is a confusing class, but can deal great damage in any situation. It’s uncommon to see more than 3 weapons that do the same thing, making it suitable for many different builds and many different playstyles. It’s constantly squishy though and is a lot more fun playing multiplayer with a melee backing you up. The weapons could be a little easier to acquire in my opinion
Summoner is tricky to place, it makes you fell extremely powerful after you get through the slow start. It has by far the least amount of weapons, even with the whips. 1.4 made this class a little too good though, because if you’re willing to go out of your way to get these, they’re a little grindy, but can tear bosses to shreds with ease. For some players, master mode skeletron feels impossible pre-hardmode, but with imp staff, snapthorn and obsidian armor, you can utterly annihilate him
 
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