Which Boss is the Most Helpful Toward Progression?

Kaladin78

Eye of Cthulhu
In your opinion, what is the most helpful boss toward progression? Judge them by how far the gear from that boss can carry you. For instance, light's bane carrying you past WoF. I'll start, Plantera. I used weapons from the dungeon past Duke Fishron.
 
Not sure if it’s fair to name Plantera here, since half of all late hardmode content is locked behind it anyways, and the only exceptionally good weapons dropped by Plantera itself are the Seedler, Venus Magnum (only on mobile), and Pygmy Staff (only because of the options it unlocks at the Witch Doctor). Naming bosses like Plantera, Golem, Skeletron, and the Wall of Flesh might be unfair here, because not only are they helpful towards progression, they’re mandatory for progression.

Among optional bosses, I’d say that Queen Bee and Duke Fishron offer the strongest equipment for pre-hardmode and hardmode, respectively. Martian Saucer and Hallowed/Corrupt/Crimson Mimic (kind of like a boss?) come in at a close third.

I would have named the final tier of the Old One’s Army among my top choices, except it doesn’t technically require you to beat a boss. Valhalla Knight Armor really is that good.
 
Not sure if it’s fair to name Plantera here, since half of all late hardmode content is locked behind it anyways, and the only exceptionally good weapons dropped by Plantera itself are the Seedler, Venus Magnum (only on mobile), and Pygmy Staff (only because of the options it unlocks at the Witch Doctor). Naming bosses like Plantera, Golem, Skeletron, and the Wall of Flesh might be unfair here, because not only are they helpful towards progression, they’re mandatory for progression.

Among optional bosses, I’d say that Queen Bee and Duke Fishron offer the strongest equipment for pre-hardmode and hardmode, respectively. Martian Saucer and Hallowed/Corrupt/Crimson Mimic (kind of like a boss?) come in at a close third...
Well, If we're naming optional bosses, Ice queen's gear is really good.
 
The twins

I mean, souls of sight can craft a ton of useful things
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Not sure if it’s fair to name Plantera here, since half of all late hardmode content is locked behind it anyways, and the only exceptionally good weapons dropped by Plantera itself are the Seedler, Venus Magnum (only on mobile), and Pygmy Staff (only because of the options it unlocks at the Witch Doctor). Naming bosses like Plantera, Golem, Skeletron, and the Wall of Flesh might be unfair here, because not only are they helpful towards progression, they’re mandatory for progression.

Among optional bosses, I’d say that Queen Bee and Duke Fishron offer the strongest equipment for pre-hardmode and hardmode, respectively. Martian Saucer and Hallowed/Corrupt/Crimson Mimic (kind of like a boss?) come in at a close third.

I would have named the final tier of the Old One’s Army among my top choices, except it doesn’t technically require you to beat a boss. Valhalla Knight Armor really is that good.
Skeletron is optional on mobile/old console/3ds
 
For pre-hardmode I'd say Skeletron. It unlocks the dungeon with a lot of good loot.
For Hardmode, Plantera once more because of Dungeon.
 
Eye of Cthulhu (for the Dryad and many other stuff), Skeletron (for the dungeon and other stuff), Wall of Flesh (for Hardmode), and Plantera (Expanded Dungeon, Witch Doctor selling more items, Lihzahrd access,...).
 

As stated before, Skeletron, WoF, Plantera and Golem is pretty much very important. (Skeletron - Dungeon, WoF - HM, Plantera - Crap ton of stuff, also Golem, Golem - Lunatic Cultist)

I'd say EoW/BoC for pre-HM because of the helpful armor in their tier (Shadow Armor and Crimson Armor, which might be irreplaceable until Molten).
For HM, Duke Fishron can give you OP stuff before the Pillars (Flairon - Melee, Bubble Gun - Mage, Tsunami - Ranged). Pumpking can give you the Horseman's Blade. Ice Queen for the Blizzard Staff. Don't forget the Cosmic Car Key from the Saucer.


(Just trying [justify] for now)
 
Strictly speaking in a progression sense, WoF as it is the gateway to hardmode and all the goodies that come with it.

In a more personal progression sense, it's a toss-up between BoC and Duke Fishron. BoC gives you Tissue Samples, essential for crafting the Crimson armour. (I like using Crimson armour as vanity.) Fishron gives you Fishron Wings, my preferred wings. The Flairon that Fishron drops can also be helpful in events.
 
The twins

I mean, souls of sight can craft a ton of useful things
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Skeletron is optional on mobile/old console/3ds

Skeletron is always optional, is it not?
You don't NEED anything from the dungeon to play the rest of the game. It might even be a certain Challenge, since you can't get a Cobalt, and therefore, Obsidian, or Ankh Shield, or a Shadow Key, so no Underworld Shadow Chest loot either. AFAIK, The game would still be possible to beat, just fairly annoying. So "No Dungeon Loot ever" could be a Terraria playthrough challenge. (you also would be unable to get Pally Hammers or Hardmode Dungeon Caster weapons, or Ectoplasm.... I suppose that means no Pumpkin/Frost moon either, not that you could beat them without Lunar Event items, or Dungeon Weapons, and by the time you get to the Lunar Events, they're useless. Also, no Biome Chests.... Interesting.)

It doesn't even seem to really affect the Cultists and the Sigil to spawn the Lunatic Cultist and start the Lunar Events, nothing about it says "Skeletron must be Defeated" for it to work. (I've never tried this though.)
____

As for my answer, I think the question is unfair. As has been pointed out already, most of the bosses in the game are important. I'd say Fishron, since he drops amazing items.
 
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Skeletron is always optional, is it not?
You don't NEED anything from the dungeon to play the rest of the game. It might even be a certain Challenge, since you can't get a Cobalt, and therefore, Obsidian, or Ankh Shield, or a Shadow Key, so no Underworld Shadow Chest loot either. AFAIK, The game would still be possible to beat, just fairly annoying. So "No Dungeon Loot ever" could be a Terraria playthrough challenge. (you also would be unable to get Pally Hammers or Hardmode Dungeon Caster weapons, or Ectoplasm.... I suppose that means no Pumpkin/Frost moon either, not that you could beat them without Lunar Event items, or Dungeon Weapons, and by the time you get to the Lunar Events, they're useless. Also, no Biome Chests.... Interesting.)

It doesn't even seem to really affect the Cultists and the Sigil to spawn the Lunatic Cultist and start the Lunar Events, nothing about it says "Skeletron must be Defeated" for it to work. (I've never tried this though.)
____

As for my answer, I think the question is unfair. As has been pointed out already, most of the bosses in the game are important. I'd say Fishron, since he drops amazing items.
The old man takes spawn priority over the cultists, so the cultists won’t spawn until Skeletron is defeated. Since the lunar events aren’t on Mobile, 3ds, and old gen consoles, killing Skeletron isn’t required.
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What do you mean by that?
Mean by what?
 
The old man takes spawn priority over the cultists, so the cultists won’t spawn until Skeletron is defeated. Since the lunar events aren’t on Mobile, 3ds, and old gen consoles, killing Skeletron isn’t required.

Have you confirmed that? The wiki fails to mention that on Skeletron's page, the Old Man's page, the Lunatic Cultist's page, the Cultists page, or the Mysterious Tablet's page. If you have confirmed it, tModLoader and Mod free, the Wiki ought to be updated with this information.

And the Cultists page is rather thorough in listing things that prevents their spawn, this should be one, if it's true.
 
Have you confirmed that? The wiki fails to mention that on Skeletron's page, the Old Man's page, the Lunatic Cultist's page, the Cultists page, or the Mysterious Tablet's page. If you have confirmed it, tModLoader and Mod free, the Wiki ought to be updated with this information.
The wiki isn’t an official source of information on Terraria, since anybody can edit it.
 
The wiki isn’t an official source of information on Terraria, since anybody can edit it.
It's still pretty good. There are Moderators that check to make sure they aren't trolled, and add "Citation Needed" tags if a statement has yet to be proved, and has reference sources sometimes.
 
It's still pretty good. There are Moderators that check to make sure they aren't trolled, and add "Citation Needed" tags if a statement has yet to be proved, and has reference sources sometimes.
TCF is a better source of information.

If I can find enough time, I’ll test it myself.
 
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