Best Pre-Hardmode Weapons in Terraria (2024)

When you're playing Terraria, you're probably already struggling against the random bats that kill you in one shot, bosses that seem to do half your health in one hit and everything that would be way more manageable if you only had a better weapon to take it all out.

That's what this list is for, showing you the best weapons you can get before the Wall of Flesh, two for each class. These are mostly based on DPS, but factors like ease of obtaining, ammunition, and ease of use will all come into play in the rankings.

9 General - Explosives

Tactical Destruction.

Before getting into the list proper, there's one category of "weapons" that shouldn't go unmentioned: explosives. While Grenades technically count as ranged weapons and get buffs from ranger armor, Bombs and Dynamite are classless, but still do an absolute truckload of damage.

The speedrun strategy for Wall of Flesh is getting a ton of money, heading straight to Hell, making a small bridge of solid blocks and then blowing it up with Dynamite. The same can be said for the Destroyer, Eater of Worlds and others. These are difficult to use, but rewarding.

8 Summoner - Imp Staff

Here By Default.

First off on this list is, unfortunately, the best summon you can get before the Wall of Flesh. Obtained by mining Hellstone with a Demonite or Deathbringer pickaxe, the Imp Staff will shoot out a beam of fire at enemies every second or so, which does a decent amount of damage.

The only issue with this summon is that it deals damage way too sparsely with no piercing potential. This means you might want something like the Hornet Staff or Vampire Frog instead, but overall this is the highest-damaging and most useful summon at this phase of the game.

7 Summoner - Spinal Tap

Bone-Chillingly Good Whip.

See Also

Soulmask Guide: Everything You Need to KnowHow do you summon the desert elemental?

Once again on the summoner pill, there's the Spinal Tap, a whip that functions significantly better than the Imp Staff, and is a necessity if you want to be doing a decent amount of damage to the Wall of Flesh. Snapthorn is acceptable, but Spinal Tap is excellent and whips can be awesome in games.

The only drawback to this is that it's a bit of a pain to get, being locked behind the dungeon and forcing you to slay a substantial sum of skeletons, and getting a ton of cobwebs on top of that. Once you've got both, though, this makes for the perfect companion to the Imp Staff.

6 Magic - Demon Scythe

Slow But Sick(le).

If you're running a Mage build, the weapon you can most easily find in the same place you'd be fighting the Wall of Flesh just so happens to be one of the best weapons against it. It might seem slow at first (and it is), but it does plenty of damage with piercing to boot.

The main drawbacks of this weapon are its high mana cost and slow fire rate, but the damage it does is more than enough to compensate, and it'll do more than trying to damage the Wall with a Thunder Zapper and hoping any shots get past the Hungry.

5 Ranger - Star Cannon

Star Power Comes At A Price.

Now for the back-pocket weapon, which technically has the highest DPS in pre-hardmode, coming at the highest cost. The Star Cannon is made from Meteorite and uses Fallen Stars as ammunition, and while that might not sound too bad, you'll find you run out of them fast.

You can compensate for this by using an Ammo Box and Ammo Reservation Potion, but just collecting a large amount of stars in the first place is a pain. Unless you want to build an AFK farm for these, this should be a last resort to take off a big chunk of the Wall's health.

4 Ranger - Hellwing Bow

A Flock-Ton Of Damage.

• Base Damage: 22
• Use Time: 13
• Best Ammo: Wooden Arrows

Now for the real choice for rangers: it was a toss-up between the Hellwing Bow and Minishark, but realistically, the Hellwing Bow is going to damage more of the Hungry at once, plus it has the ability to hit all segments of the Wall of Flesh simultaneously, as long as you use wooden arrows.

The only downside to this bow is obtaining it, because you need the Shadow Key from the dungeon and then you need to find Shadow Chests in hell. Overall, though, with high base damage, slow-moving piercing projectiles, and numerous bats being shot out at once, this bow is awesome.

3 Melee - Cascade

A Breakaway Hit.

Back at the items that drop randomly from enemies in Hell, we have the Yo-Yo, Cascade. There isn't too much to say about this -- it's just a solid Yo-Yo that does good damage, sets things on fire, has decent range and is easy to obtain since you're already in the Underworld.

The only drawback to this one is the same for every Yo-Yo; for one, they're easier to use on a PC, and secondly, you need to build around them specifically, with things like string or counterweights taking up precious accessory slots that could be for movement or general damage. Either way, though, this is always a solid option.

2 Magic - Water Bolt

Endless Piercing Potential.

Finally, the GOAT of pre-1.4 playthroughs, Water Bolt is a good Mage option that used to be obtainable from the start of the game, but sadly, now you have to actually fight Skeletron to get it 99% of the time. Still, once you're in the dungeon, it's practically free and it's incredible.

Water Bolt fires a slow-moving ball of water that bounces off walls and pierces a ton of enemies, making it easy to aim at the ceiling, send a bunch of these toward the Wall of Flesh and shred through all the Hungry. This gets even better with a Demon Scythe, but it's great on its own.

1 Melee - Night's Edge

Hard To Get, Great To Use.

Finally, we get to one of the most iconic Terraria weapons in general, which would never have made it on this list if it weren't for 1.4.4. The Night's Edge is a pain to obtain, requiring the Muramasa from the Dungeon, your Evil Biome's sword, the Volcano from Hell and the Blade of Grass from the Jungle, but it's worth it.

The Night's Edge has way more range than you'd expect, hits like a truck, and can shred enemies' health bars like it's nothing, being useful even in Hardmode. While obtaining it is a massive process, it's worth doing since unlike the Star Cannon, you'll always have access to this awesome sword.

Terraria

Platform(s)

PC, PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Switch, Vita, iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, 3DS, Stadia

Released

May 16, 2011

Developer(s)

Re-Logic

Publisher(s)

505 Games

Genre(s)

Action, Adventure, Sandbox

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary

ESRB

T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Cartoon Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol

How Long To Beat

100 Hours

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