Terraria’s combat revolves around fantasy-themed weapons, until you discover the modern munitions. I’ve created this short list of the best guns in Terraria for you to use in different situations. These are all weapons that I have used in my long time of play, with some of them existing since the game’s release in 2011.
Best Guns in Terraria by Progression
| Best Pre-Hardmode Single-Target | Minishark |
| Best Hardmode Single-Target | S.D.M.G. |
| Best Pre-Hardmode Crowd Control | Quad-Barrel Shotgun |
| Best Hardmode Crowd Control | Vortex Beater |
There are a multitude of gun types in Terraria, including handguns, rifles, shotguns, launchers, and more. That said, there are also some fantasy guns mixed into the fray as well. We’ve made a conclusive list that shows off each gun that’s viable at every point of the game.
We’re starting off with pre-Hardmode guns all the way to the Moon Lord’s arsenal. As of version 1.4.4, there are 25 guns in the game. Our list features the top 8 that can guarantee your safety in your Terraria journey.
Minishark
- Damage – 6
- Fastest “machine gun” in pre-Hardmode
The Minishark is your best gun in Terraria when it comes to overall stopping power in pre-Hardmode. The weapon itself is available as soon as you get the Arms Dealer to move in. This would require you to have a valid empty NPC home while also having a gun in your inventory.
The quickest way to get this would be to smash a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart in your world’s evil biome and the first one will always drop either the Musket or The Undertaker respectively. As ridiculous as this gun looks, its firepower makes up for it very well.
Snowball Cannon
- Damage – 10
- Fires snowballs as bullets
The Snowball Cannon is one of the most iconic early-game guns available to you. This weapon is easily found inside Frozen Chests in the Ice biome and inside Frozen and Boreal Crates (loot from ice fishing). This weapon is well-sought due to it only using snow as bullets.
If you’re conserving money for other purchases, like the Minishark for example, not having to buy any ammo is a godsend. This weapon is also extremely useful for single targets, but not so much for groups of enemies. Don’t worry about running out of snow, it’s highly unlikely for you to use it all up.
Quad-Barrel Shotgun
- Damage – 14
- Four shotguns for the price of one
The Quad-Barrel Shotgun is one of our newer additions to this list. This weapon was added in version 1.4 as an exclusive weapon in the brand-new Graveyard biome. This weapon may seem fictitious, but it’s based on a real-life weapon. That said, the damage this weapon does is definitively real.
This weapon is extremely useful when you get access to Meteorite after defeating your world’s evil boss. The Meteor Shots that you can craft from this ore make up for the weapon’s inaccuracy by providing a safety net with the bullet pierce and bounce. This weapon is great if you use it in the Wall of Flesh arena.
Onyx Blaster
- Damage – 24
- Fires 4 normal bullets and a dark projectile per shot
The Onyx Blaster is a direct upgrade from the Shotgun purchased from the Arms Dealer after the Wall of Flesh is defeated. Once you have your Hardmode anvil, all you need is Dark Shards from the evil Desert and Souls of Night from the underground evil biomes. This weapon is more accurate than the Quad-Barrel Shotgun and also does more damage per pellet.
Overall, you should get this weapon as soon as you can since it doesn’t require you to defeat any Mechanical Boss. This weapon is great for crowd control, but if you’re looking for more single-target damage, check out our next item on this list.
Megashark
- Damage – 25
- Remember the Minishark? This is its older brother!
The Megashark is one of the best guns in Terraria. This is obtainable as soon as you can defeat the Destroyer, which can easily be done with the Onyx Blaster. What the blaster lacks in single-target, the Megashark can easily complement. This gun can easily last until post-Golem.
If you want to utilize it to its best potential, you can pair it up with Ichor Bullets or the Golden Shower. For extra damage, you can also use the Shark Tooth Necklace for armor penetration. Since it consumes plenty of ammo, it’s also good to pair with the Endless Musket Pouch.
Chain Gun
- Damage – 36
- Mana cost – 10
- Summons a UFO minion to fight for you
The Chain Gun is the fastest-firing weapon (not just guns) in all of Terraria. It can be obtained as a boss drop from Santa-NK1 and can be used until the end of the game. This is an exceptional upgrade to the Megashark, although not as accurate in terms of bullet spread.
This gun pairs well with Chlorophyte bullets as it has an innate 50% reduced ammo consumption built-in. I recommend you keep the Endless Musket Pouch for regular use as this weapon consumes a lot of ammo even with the ammo usage reduction buff. Overall, a very strong gun.
S.D.M.G.
- Damage – 85
- Megashark’s and Minishark’s big daddy
The S.D.M.G., or Space Dolphin Machine Gun, is a crossover weapon from the Edge of Space. This weapon is considered a direct upgrade from the Megashark but does not use it as a crafting ingredient. It is closely comparable to the Chain Gun but is more accurate.
Since this weapon drops after Moon Lord is defeated, there is not much use for the weapon unless you play modded Terraria. It does better DPS than the Chain Gun and can also use different bullet types since it has a tight bullet spread. The dolphin makes it very cute, though.
Vortex Beater
- Damage – 50 (bullets), 70 (rockets)
- Fires explosive rockets at fixed intervals
The Vortex Beater is a Celestial Pillar weapon that can be obtained from the Vortex Pillar fragments. This weapon can be crafted just before Moon Lord, which means it has some use in vanilla as compared to the S.D.M.G. that drops after the boss fight. The weapon is the final craftable ranged gun in the game.
This gun fires similarly to the Gatligator but with a tighter bullet spread. The pellets shot from this spread at a 25-degree angle making it benefit well from Chlorophyte Bullets. The rocket, however, is already homing on its own and does not use rockets for ammo.
If you have any guns that did not make the list, tell us in the comments below!
Need help finding the best equipment for the Ranger Class? Click here for our loadout recommendations and here for ranged accessories!
