Prepare to embark on an unforgettable journey through Terraria’s pre-Hardmode phase armed with the ultimate arsenal of weapons. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll unveil the best pre-Hardmode weapons in Terraria, ensuring you’re fully equipped to conquer every challenge that comes your way.
From devastating blades to precise bows, awe-inspiring spells, and powerful companions, we’ve got you covered. Get ready to unleash your inner warrior and leave a trail of defeated enemies in your wake!
Best Pre-Hardmode Weapons By Damage Type
We have split the categories into:
This makes it so that all weapons have their way of getting in and that all classes are showcased equally. That said, there are more than 500 unique weapons in the game, so finding the “best of the best” will still be a matter of perspective.
We have gathered the best weapons that suit multiple of the following criteria:
- Ease of use
- Availability
- Utility
- Performance
Best Pre-Hardmode Melee Weapons
These weapons are classified to be primarily used for close combat, but some of them can have special effects that can hit enemies further away.
Enchanted Sword
The Enchanted Sword is a legendary weapon found in hidden underground shrines or inside Gold Chests. It releases a powerful energy beam when used, obliterating anything in its path. Its fast attack speed and wide swing arc make it an indispensable weapon for close-quarters and mid-ranged combat.
This weapon can be obtained as soon as you load in your world and can carry you all the way into Hardmode. As a bonus, there’s a small chance that you can get the Terragrim.
Although the Terragrim boasts incredibly fast attack speeds, it requires you to be close to the enemy at all times. This makes the Enchanted Sword a better and more consistent weapon.
Night’s Edge
Forged from the essence of the Jungle, Evil, Dungeon, and Underworld biomes, the Night’s Edge is a powerful sword. It’s crafted as a combination of the Blood Butcherer/Light’s Bane, Muramasa, Blade of Grass, and the Volcano.
This weapon was buffed in the recent 1.4.4 update which made changes to greatsword balancing. This made the already powerful Night’s Edge even more of a formidable beast.
The Night’s Edge has a wide range on its own when swung. But what makes it better is it has a secondary swing that arcs in front of you and circles around to your back. This makes it have an exceptional range, despite not having a projectile like the Enchanted Sword.
Sunfury
Born from the fiery depths of the Underworld, crafted with Hellstone Bars, the Sunfury is a weapon that harnesses the power of fire. Its ability to attack both close and afar makes it a formidable choice against both single targets and groups.
The Sunfury can fend off enemies that approach you, dealing damage every tick they’re in contact with the flail. Holding down the attack button will make it spin indefinitely around you, protecting you at close range.
In addition to that, the flail sets enemies on fire with a debuff that deals 4 damage per second for 3 seconds with a 25% chance to proc.
Hive-Five
Yoyos are one of the other types of melee weapons in the game and the latest yoyo ever added since version 1.3.0.1. The Hive-Five is a unique pre-hardmode yoyo in that it’s the only one that shoots out projectiles before the Wall of Flesh. This weapon allows you to knock enemies back with pinpoint precision and allows you to fight enemies at a farther distance than a sword.
The extra bees that this weapon fires provide extra knockback which can help with controlling the tides of battle. This weapon pairs well with the Hive Pack accessory which drops from Expert Mode Queen Bee.
Dark Lance
The Dark Lance is a spear-type weapon found in Shadow Chests in the Underworld. The weapon features a high attack speed with a powerful piercing strike. This allows you to stab up to 3 enemies in a row which is perfect crowd control in the later stages of pre-hardmode.
The great thing about this weapon is that it’s fairly easy to obtain as soon as you get the Shadow key from the Gold Chests in the Dungeon. This also allows you to fight the Hungry which is spawned frequently by the Wall of Flesh.
Best Pre-Hardmode Ranged Weapons
These weapons are classified to be used primarily at a distance. They include weapons such as throwables, bows, guns, and the like.
Beenade
The Beenade is a direct upgrade to the Grenades from the Demolitionist. They are crafted with drops from the Queen Bee boss and are sometimes dropped as themselves. Don’t be fooled by its simplicity, as this weapon packs a punch.
Each throw releases 15-25 bees which hit for 12-13 damage each. The bees only vanish after piercing an enemy once, bouncing off of blocks three times, contact with water/lava, or after 10 seconds have passed.
No matter which class you choose, the Beenade is an excellent choice, as it can completely defeat the Wall of Flesh with ease.
Quad-Barrel Shotgun
The Quad-Barrel Shotgun is an early-game weapon that is obtainable once you get access to the Arms Dealer NPC. Once the Arms Dealer moves into your town and Skeletron has been defeated, surround the area with gravestones and turn the biome into a Graveyard. The NPC will now give you access to this immensely powerful ranged weapon.
The weapon shoots a total of 8 bullets with a large spread, doing massive damage if all of them connect. This makes it a great choice for mid-ranged combat, allowing you to shred enemies to nothing very quickly.
The Bee’s Knees
Nature itself becomes your ally with the Bee’s Knees, a bow crafted from the essence of bees. As you draw back the string and release, swarms of bees are summoned, attacking your enemies relentlessly. The stingers of these tiny creatures pierce through the defenses of your foes, inflicting continuous damage.
This weapon transforms regular wooden arrows into a stream of bees that work similarly to the Beenade. This, in comparison, allows for more pinpoint accuracy since you’re shooting the arrow straight as opposed to throwing the Beenade from an arc.
Star Cannon
The Star Cannon is a post-Evil Boss weapon that is made with the Meteorite that crashes in the world after beating either the Brain of Cthulhu or the Eater of Worlds. This weapon fires Fallen Stars as ammunition which may cause it to be a costly weapon.
This weapon fires stars that travel in a straight line and pierces an unlimited amount of enemies. This is especially effective against worms or segmented enemies and for fighting the Wall of Flesh. The piercing effect would go through both the Hungry and the Wall of Flesh tentacles making the fight way easier.
Minishark
The Minishark is one of the most beloved guns in pre-hardmode Terraria. It is a rapid-firing weapon that has a very high damage output, so long as all the shots hit. It is also very easy to get as the only thing you’d need to get is 35 gold and it’s all yours.
The fast-firing weapon allows it to be very effective with special ammunition. The best ammo at this time would be the Meteor Shot since it pierces and bounces, making it great for 1v1 and multi-target fights. Another great ammunition for it is the Party Shot which is just like regular Musket Balls but with more raw damage.
Best Pre-Hardmode Magic Weapons
These are weapons that are classified as creating projectiles with various ranges of effects. The projectiles can either be bouncing water missiles, air blades that home in on enemies, and so much more.
Weather Pain
Terraria’s collaboration with Don’t Starve has opened doors to a variety of new weapons and equipment. One of them is the magic staff, the Weather Pain. This staff shoots out a Hurlnado that homes in on enemies.
The Weather Pain is great for the Old One’s Army, invasion events, and mob farming as the Hurlnado will last for 9.5 seconds or until it pierces 14 enemies. In addition to this, the damage it does penetrates 10 points of armor, allowing it to be useful for bosses such as the Wall of Flesh. The downside is that it can only have one Hurlnado out at any given time.
Gray Zapinator
While this weapon can be a pain to get due to its RNG reliance, it deserves a spot on our list for a special reason. This magic gun shoots a projectile that switches effects as soon as it hits an enemy.
Each time the Gray Zapinator beams hit, it triggers a special effect that ranges from increased knockback to dealing 10x the damage. The randomness of the projectile enables it to destroy a boss in milliseconds.
As a bonus, using the Meteor Armor with this gun reduces the mana cost of it to zero, allowing you to use it multiple times without worrying about mana economy.
Water Bolt
The Water Bolt is a household name when it comes to the best Terraria pre-hardmode weapons. You can find it inside the Dungeon on bookshelves which you would have to break to get. An easy way to find them would be to look for blue books with a yellow stripe.
This weapon bounces multiple times and pierces enemies which allows it to shine in closed and confined spaces. If used with a proper arena setup, you can destroy bosses with ease.
Pair this with mana accessories and you’ll be set even until Queen Slime in Hardmode.
Demon Scythe
The Demon Scythe is a weapon you can get very early, so long as you can kill the Demon or Voodoo Demon effectively. Once you get to the Underworld, you’ll find it very easy to get one or two of these weapons while farming for the Guide Voodoo Doll.
The weapon fires a static projectile that slowly accelerates in the direction you aimed it. The projectile only disappears after hitting the same enemy 5 times or after passing 5 enemies. Aside from the rather high mana cost, it’s a great weapon for all scenarios.
Bee Gun
The Bee Gun is a drop from the Queen Bee boss found in the deep Jungle biome. This magic weapon shoots a swarm of bees using your own mana. The bees fired from this projectile work similarly to the other bee effects in the list. The only difference is that it fires continuously as compared to the other bee weapons that burst fire.
The swarm will always chase the nearest enemy to it at the point of spawning. Using accessories such as the Shark Tooth Necklace and the Hive Pack improves the damage of each individual bee fired by the magical weapon.
Best Pre-Hardmode Summoning Weapons
These weapons are categorized as either whips, staves, or sentries. Summon anything from baby slimes to Stardust dragons with this weapon class.
Spinal Tap
The Spinal Tap is a post-Skeletron item that is easily crafted with bones and cobwebs. Although the recipe is very cheap, the amount of utility this weapon provides is great. This weapon best pairs with summoning items although it can be used on its own.
Enemies targeted by this whip will receive 7 more damage from minions. This damage can be further increased with the use of the Obsidian Armor causing it to reach one of the higher limits in weapon damage in pre-hardmode.
This whip can also pierce through multiple enemies, losing 10% of its damage with each successive enemy hit.
Imp Staff
Hellstone bars are the last tier of ore in pre-hardmode. Finding enough of them is the only thing you need to make an Imp Staff. These are the strongest summon minions you can get at this point in the game and it pairs extremely well with the Spinal Tap and Snapthorn whips.
Each imp summon follows a target and shoots fireballs at a steady rate. This allows you to use other weapons to continuously deal damage or to use whips to add effects to your minions.
This pairs well with the Bee Armor since it adds additional minion slots for you to use.
Ballista Rod
Fighting the Old One’s Army will give you multiple choices for both armor and summon sentries. These sentry weapons are exceptionally useful for setting up boss arenas as a “set and forget” kind of thing.
One of the more accurate weapons in this case is the Ballista Rod. The projectiles from this sentry weapon shoot straight and pierce a few enemies, making it effective for invasions and boss arenas.
This weapon pairs well with whips that add effects such as the Firecracker as it fires at a consistent rate. With proper practice, this can also be effective against the Wall of Flesh, so long as you know how to replace it every few meters.
Snapthorn
The Snapthorn is a whip created from crafting Jungle Spores, Vines, and Stingers found in the Jungle biome. As with the Demon Scythe, you can get this weapon very early as you’ll only need to be able to farm the Hornets without dying.
This weapon lashes a whip upon usage which deals moderate damage to multiple enemies while also giving you a 12% attack speed buff. Summons and sentries will automatically target the last enemy it touches which increases damage done by 6 points. Each swing has a one-in-five chance of causing poison to the target.
Vampire Frog Staff
The Vampire Frog Staff is a very powerful minion-summoning item that can be acquired during a Blood Moon event. During the Blood Moon, you can start fishing in any body of water to spawn a Zombie Merman or Wandering Eye fish that both drop the item commonly.
The minions that appear are very agile and can consistently deal damage to enemies on the ground. Due to the fact that they deal damage through physical contact, they deal damage per tick to any enemies touching them. That said, they can easily get stuck between blocks, so having a backup weapon would be a fair choice.
Conclusion
As we’ve mentioned early in this list, these are our best Terraria pre-hardmode weapons, according to the criteria that we’ve set. There are plenty of other weapons which you may find that better suits your play style. So comment down below: which weapons would you include in your tier list? Cheers!
