Welcome to the updated "A Guide to Endgame Terraria PvP" guide. I'd like to share some words with you before we begin:

This guide will not be like the first, as I’m shifting the focus to a purely educational basis, as this is a more proper tone for a topic that I myself have multiple years worth of knowledge about. I have abandoned past mindsets of what is or isn’t “broken”, or “who the guide is intended for”, and I wish for this guide to be widely available to players that sport a broad range of skill sets.

For those of you that are new to this guide and this subject as well, please note that this is not the first time I've wrote about this. I know those of you who have actually seen the original guide must be confused as to why I even made this in the first place instead of updating the original. And for that, I have several answers that I hope covers everything that you're wondering:

1.) This was a stylistic choice. I wanted to update the visuals, overhaul the fundamental properties such as sectioning, wording, etc., and introduce new categories/sections completely. If I were to change the original, I would get rid of the majority of the work that I did beforehand which I am not willing to do in the slightest.

2.) I hope to reach a new audience this way. With the upbringing of the Journey's End update, Terraria has seen yet another massive influx of new players and I wish to capitalize off of this to get more people interested in this aspect of the game. Is it selfish? Sure. But, in my opinion, it's all worth it.

3.) I want to bring on more people to this project to diversify our opinions on the matters of this subject and to greater fact check the information that we're providing to you to make sure it's nearly 99% accurate.

4.) Since the original work was completed, my best friend and co-writer of the original, Adiemus, has, unfortunately, passed away. I want the original guide to live on in his name to immortalize his passion for this community and the player-versus-player mechanics in this game as an homage to his dedication and effort. Anything less would be a slap in the face to all he's done for me as a friend and as a peer. He meant the world to me, so I want to treasure the time I've spent with him.

If you haven't read the original guide, I highly recommend that you check it out regardless of its now legacy content. There are a plethora of different builds from the original that didn't make the cut to this guide for the sake of a focus shift. You can check it out here.

So, without further ado, let's begin.

Most of the game's mechanics are entirely flipped on their heads whenever you have "enabled PvP!" in Terraria. Before you jump headfirst into the lion's cage, you'll need your bearings and you'll definitely need your whip. Literally.

• Critical Hits: Critical hits have no effects/cannot occur when you hit another player while you both have PvP enabled. If you notice that you're hitting critical hits despite this, that is simply a visual bug that only you can see. If you pay attention, you'll notice that you're still hitting the same threshold of damage that you would normally. But don't fret if this happens to a specific weapon in your loadout only, this has no affect on actual gameplay and/or any specific category of weapon. Just make sure that you don't spec into critical strike chance with your build.

• Homing Attributes: Any projectile that inherently tracks to an enemy will not work on players in PvP. They will always track to any nearby monsters. Always, even when you're not aiming at them. In fact, some weapons might even do a complete turn from where you're aiming in order to hit a monster that's on your screen. So be weary of your options if they're capable of homing in an environment in which monsters can spawn. Try opting for a higher velocity, non-tracking weapon instead.

• Debuffs: Thanks to the Journey's End update, most debuffs in the game actually work when you use them on players now. While previously, you could not inflict them through any means whatsoever minus a few exceptions. There are still a select few caveats to this, so here's a table to better help you digest this:

If the debuff was applicable, I left out all of the options that wouldn't inflict the debuff that I found during testing. If it wasn't applicable, I still left in how you would inflict it so the table would be more clean. Options that are able to be inflicted yet can't be prevented are recommended and you should use those over any of the others listed. If I had to pick which one you used in case of a Flask, for example, I would 100% recommend that you use Flask of Ichor. You reduce your opponent's defense by 15 which makes all of your attacks stronger, it makes them glow for easier aiming, and it lasts for around 15 seconds. Which is one of the highest infliction times in the game (excluding outliers like the flamethrowers, of course) compared to something like Confused that only applies for 2 seconds.

• Invincibility Frames: Invincibility frames (commonly referred to as i-frames) are a core mechanic in Terraria which is relatively important for PvP. Invincibility frames are very short periods of invulnerability that activate after you get hit or respawn. This is true for both PvP and PvE/PvM. Many weapons are faster than the game's invincibility frames, so they won't hit at the speed of the weapon and will instead hit after each length of invincibility ends causing a drop in damage-per-second (DPS). For PvP specifically, there was a change in 1.3 which unintentionally caused invincibility frames to be much longer than they were in 1.2 and prior. Due to this, a lot of weapons had an even more significant drop in DPS in PvP which rendered them as weaker options. This was part of why weapons such as the Sniper Rifle were so effective: they could hit for high damage without losing on potential DPS since their speed was slightly slower than the length of the invincibility frames. Thankfully, however, this issue was patched after the Journey's End update. All invincibility frames in PvP are now capped at 80 frames long, which is roughly 0.13 seconds or 130 milliseconds. Some weapons (including 1.4 additions) still bypass i-frames despite this change such as the Terra Blade and a few others. Unfortunately though, with this fix, derivatives such as the Cross Necklace and its upgrades no longer increase the length of your invincibility frames in PvP and any effects you do feel are 100% placebo. This was found written in the coded invincibility frames for the game. Nevertheless, there is still one exception to this change. For more information, please see the "Dodging" section of this guide.

Important to note: some prominent servers have a plugin/feature which reduces the amount of immunity frames universally. This makes some weapons a lot more viable like high fire rate guns, bows, magic weapons, and melee weapons such as the Paladin's Hammer. So, depending on the server you're playing on and accounting for the differences in immunity frame timers, this knowledge can be crucial to dealing more damage and avoiding a quick death.

Life regeneration and healing are essential to your survival in long-winded fights. If you can learn to stall and play the time, you'll always end up on top as a reward for playing your hit points if you're safe.

Shiny Stone[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Shiny Stone is one of the most basic beneficial tactics of stalling and requires little to no effort. All you need to do is find a spot on the map/in the arena and stand still. If you're smart about it, you'll pair this with a stealth ability such as using an Invisibility Potion, holding the Psycho Knife, or double-tapping your ability key to activate your stealth with Vortex Armor. Here's a little tip: if you want to be practically invisible, pair this with Shadow Dye on all of your armor and accessories. Thanks to the Journey's End update, you can no longer see the names of people who are invisible by hovering your mouse over them and with all Shadow Dye equipped, you won't even be able to see yourself.

Despite these positives, the Shiny Stone also comes with a downside, as most things do. The GIF above shows you the animation that displays on your character whenever you're under its effects making it so that you can never truly be invisible while using this accessory in trade for its incredibly high regeneration bonus. Also, while Journey's End made it so that you can truly become invisible to other players, they changed the way that vanity accessory slots work rendering this accessory almost useless if you can't use it correctly.

To counteract the change to vanity accessory slots (you can no longer place an accessory that doesn't have an appearance in these slots) simply keep this in your inventory and swap to it whenever you need to use it. Be careful, though. You're more-likely-than-not to get caught with your pants down.

Charm of Myths[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Charm of Myths reduces your Potion Sickness duration from 1 minute to 45 seconds. Luckily, Charm of Myths is displayed and can be worn in your vanity accessory slots. So you can continue to use it by putting it in one of your slots and swapping to and from it whenever you need to use a Healing Potion. The same cannot be said for the Philosopher's Stone, unfortunately. Due to the aforementioned 1.4 changes, be sure to place this in a vanity slot next to another item that can be displayed as vanity to be able to swap between them quickly by right-clicking the accessory in the vanity slot opposite. If not, switching to this accessory is not required in the slightest. It's there to benefit those that are diligent enough to be able to use it mid-battle at the sacrifice of disengaging and being unable to fight back for a split second. Over time, those seconds will add up, so be weary of your usage of this accessory.

Life Regeneration Swap Armor

This ties greatly into Shiny Stone and is most effective when paired with it. While both the Squire's Great Helm and the Valhalla Knight's Breastplate were nerfed in terms of their individual life regeneration speed, if you consider the new buff to all of the pieces of the Solar Armor set (gives each piece an increase to your life regeneration speed) and add the Solar Leggings to the mix, you'll pretty much arrive as close as you're going to get to what their original power was initially. You could also exclusively use these as your regeneration option if you want to be completely invisible without Shiny Stone giving your spot away. Simply keep these three armor pieces in your inventory at all times and swap to them when needed.

With the introduction of the Luck stat in Journey's End, there's a new solution to a problem that we never really had and is essentially just another waste of a buff slot. Nothing more and nothing less. Although no one seems to bat an eye towards it, it actually does affect something important: your damage. And yes, this still applies in PvP as well.

Luck, in summation and for all intents and purposes of this guide, is just another factor in the Defense and Damage equation that is ran whenever you attempt to cause damage to something. This is expanded on more later.

Lucky[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The Lucky buff gives you greater odds -- or luck -- depending on how much of your potion effect you've used up. So the more of it you have, the more lucky you are. The less of it you have, the less lucky you are. With the Lucky buff, your returns are completely beneficial for as long as you have the buff active.

The buff can be obtained from either of these three potions below with buff duration being the only difference between them. The Greater Luck Potion is the best as it lasts the longest.


This is what the game looks for to find your total luck. Keep in mind that luck is recomputed each frame and starts at 0.


We are, by no means, claiming to be mathematicians nor do most of us know anything about coding. If you want to skip all of this unnecessary math, simply go to the next section in the guide. Here's what we could piece together:

Damage dealt is always set to at least 1. Nothing can go below this except for the Paladin's Shield and its upgrades on occasion, but assuming that mostly everything in the game will at least take/deal 1 damage is a liberty that is virtually given as long as we don't include that one exception. So, we will be ignoring the Paladin's Shield buff.

This is also assuming that your weapon's damage has already been calculated with your accessories and their prefixes, weapon modifiers, and armor bonuses to arrive at this total. Not the base amount of damage your weapon does without those which is different in terms of game mechanics. To find your weapon's true damage (which we will refer to as WeaponDamage), you must first calculate all of those additional effects.

When a player does damage to another player in PvP, it is, to generalize, the same as attacking anything else despite the differences between mob and player in terms of how it occurs.

To arrive at the final equation, we first need to understand how damage range affects how much damage your weapon is doing. More likely than not, your weapon will not do its displayed damage whenever you hover over it. And this is entirely intentional. Which I'm sure you've noticed before. You see, your outgoing damage is multiplied by a random factor between 0.85 and 1.15. The damage is always rounded to the nearest whole number. And, funnily enough, this is before luck is even considered.


The product of a damage range will be called "Damage" henceforth, as shown above. After this, you factor in world difficulty (explained below) and damage reduction.


Make sure that you express damage reduction percentage as its equivalent value. Finally, we need to consider Luck. Thanks to the Official Terraria Wiki, we were able to deduce relatively how this works. And I quote:



So, from this, we can gather:


If your luck is negative, and a random number roll yields a number lower than your luck, then the above formula is repeated, and the smaller of the two is set as your damage.

If your luck is positive, and a random number roll yields a number higher than your luck, then the above formula is repeated, and the greater of the two is set as your damage.

In short words, the more extreme your luck value the higher the chance your damage deviation will be rerolled and set to a better or worse result.

Then, we can add what we learned earlier as a conclusion:


Ultimately, it's more unnecessary random-number-generator-determined mechanics that should frankly stay out of damage calculation altogether. Being given a means to have a higher chance at getting a rare drop is great. More over-complicated math which dilutes player understanding and makes it so you're more likely to do less damage without its positive effects is not. Luck does not belong in accordance to this aspect of the game and its involvement should honestly be reconsidered.

Defense is the most unnecessary and necessary stat pool in the entire game: i.e., you need it, but too much or too little with especially low damage creates either a stalemate between you and the other person (depending on how you use it) or gets you torn to shreds in mere seconds. It's an all or nothing ordeal. Especially depending on what class you play. Otherwise you're giving up damage that you could use to kill someone with low defense instantly for the same returns you would receive against someone with a meta loadout.

As briefly hinted at above, Defense scales with the current world difficulty. And it directly affects you in PvP as well, even if seemingly unintended by the developers. This functions as follows:



This is to compensate for the increased damage and amount of hit points every monster and boss has in the higher tier difficulties. But what about the "unintended" part? Well, you see: all damage is applied as if it's PvM/PvE and is only changed to the PvP Defense modifier after you take the actual damage. So, to put that into perspective: the actual PvP Defense modifier doesn't matter and the Defense calculation is a bit misleading because PvP is actually dependent on world difficulty just like PvM/PvE.

Usually, you would think that if Defense is stronger in a world difficulty like Master mode you would get more out of abusing the stat then playing towards your damage. And with the correct cards, you would be technically right according to the math. But surviving the most hits means more than just Defense. This may sound contradictory, but there's an explanation.

If you want to survive the most hits possible, Defense is not the only factor, as we have learned. You use Endurance as well. Otherwise, you'd just be wasting potentially higher damage on a stat that quite literally makes itself better for you automatically depending on what world difficulty you're playing on.

Being a tank is strong, yes. The prospect of using a tank build progressively gets more tantalizing as Defense's effectiveness increases with difficulty. And if you find yourself taking stupid amounts of damage for either:

A.) A lack of movement skill. Both physically and technically.

B.) Your opponent loves to spam projectiles to work in chip damage whenever they can.

C.) Someone has inflicted Ichor on you.

Then using a tank build is the right call. With the meta shift happening thanks to the news that debuffs now properly work in PvP, it might actually be worth using with how much damage you'd now do normally if you can manage to get something like Ichor off.

Therefore, one of the most surefire ways to beat someone using a tank build is to use a normal, high damage build coupled with an Ichor-inflicting weapon/combo. Specifically, a sword like the Terra Blade that can bypass immunity frames paired with an Ichor Flask or using the Golden Shower then quickly swapping to a Sniper Rifle.

But remember, if you want to use Defense effectively, do not use Defense alone.

There are two different ways that you can play as a tank in this game. You either brute force damage and be aggressive or you play passively. However, in a game like Terraria, you're never really rewarded for rushing the enemy down with, let's say, a sword unless you've caught them off guard or you're trying to finish them off. Otherwise, you'll most likely end up getting killed. The most effective, popular, and practical way to play a tank in PvP is to play as passive as possible so you can capitalize the most off of your opponent's lesser damage returns.

Here's how to do that:

Beetle Shell Armor[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Set Bonus: Beetle Endurance[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Beetle Shell armor is a no-brainer for someone experienced who's trying to keep as much distance as possible. Despite the fact that Solar armor was buffed in the Journey's End update, it still retains the same maximum increase to your Endurance while your set bonus, Solar Blaze, is active. Even though it does not diminish anymore across its tiers, it's still 15% less than Beetle Endurance's maximum increase. Solar armor is definitely the better choice for someone playing with a meta loadout that's more likely to be aggressive than someone using Beetle Shell armor because its Endurance benefits were implemented into the armor piece's bonuses as well outside of the buff. Meaning you can still retain some of its benefits even while the buff is not active. That is the only caveat to Beetle Shell armor: if you're going to use it, you need to make sure that people won't be able to get close enough to you to completely break your Beetle Endurance. It entirely depends on keeping the buff active on its highest tier for the majority of the time otherwise it's frankly useless. Which makes it more useful in duels and less effective against large groups of people.

Frozen Shield[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Worm Scarf[terraria.gamepedia.com]

With this set of armor, these accessories, and an Endurance Potion alone you gain nearly 60% damage reduction (59.85%). And that's before Frozen Turtle Shell even activates when it sky-rockets to almost 74% (73.6%) assuming that you still have Beetle Endurance at tier three when it does. To give you an example of how strong this is, that's enough to tank a single hit from the Dungeon Guardian who does 1000 to 2000 damage per hit. And we still haven't even factored in Defense yet.

Blocking is quite the particular mechanic because it's exclusive to two weapons: the Brand of the Inferno and the Sergeant United Shield. It needs situational requirements for either of them to even be useful in PvP at all.

Unfortunately, you can't parry with either of them to completely nullify damage in PvP. Not even on melee attacks. Which means you can't activate the Striking Moment buff that increases their damage by 500%. Even if you go out of the way to parry a mob, you can't use the buff on other players. And rightfully so. They'd one-shot anyone they hit if they were capable of doing so.

Here's how to take advantage of it.

Sergeant United Shield[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The Sergeant United Shield is the better option of the two because it can be thrown as a projectile and you can block with it without having a shield equipped as long you don't throw it beforehand. In the case that you do have a shield equipped, you can block regardless of if the projectile is out or not.

When you block, you gain 20 defense. If you have low defense and you block to increase it, it won't give you as great of an effect if you were to use it at a higher defense. For example: if you were using a build with only 60 defense and you were to block, your total defense will increase to 80. Yet you would still die in around 4 Sniper Rifle shots whereas someone who is wearing Solar armor with 100 defense would die in 6 shots normally and 7 shots blocking. So this is really only a viable option for someone on the cusp of reaching a damage threshold with their build. Plus, it's time spent that you could be using to dodge or fight back. It may decrease the damage you take, but not enough to reduce how fast you're going to die unless you experiment with it to figure that out yourself.

We often bring into question the ethics of using an item or armor set to be able to dodge in PvP. More often than not, these items will be banned from the servers you play on because of how good they are. And with the buff the Brain of Confusion received in the Journey’s End update (which is positive for PvE/PvM), this issue has only been worsened.

Dodging, in Terraria, does not refer to a movement mechanic or skill. Dodging is a chance to completely nullify damage that you took according to a random number generator that grants you an increased amount of immunity frames afterwards. This can only be achieved through each of the following:

Brain of Confusion[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Black Belt[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Dodging chance works additively in Terraria now that there are two accessories that give you a dodge which aren't upgrades of each other. In fact, they work completely separately. Hence why they are additive. An easy way to tell this is while both accessories give you a dodge, either of the dodge animations can play when you get hit.

Whenever you're hit with one of these accessories on, the game will use a random number generator to decide whether or not you dodged the attack. Brain of Confusion has a 1 in 6 chance to dodge an attack while Black Belt, as well as its upgrade: Master Ninja Gear, have a 1 in 12 chance. That's technically a 1 in 4 chance to dodge each attack; the highest chance to be rewarded with a full-damage dodge in the history of the game. Yet we haven't even gotten to touch on the reworked Hallowed armor.

Hallowed Armor[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Set Bonus: Holy Protection[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Out of all the helmet options for Hallowed armor, the Mask gives the highest defense. The other helmets from this set provide too little.

For those of you that are unaware, Hallowed armor was changed so that it now has a rebranded version of Titanium armor's former Shadow Dodge with its new set bonus. It does the same thing as Shadow Dodge use to do: if you hit an enemy, you gain the Holy Protection buff which lets you dodge the next attack during a time frame of 30 seconds. Holy Protection will stay active until you eventually get hit and trigger the cooldown for another 30 seconds afterwards. This is a 100% dodge chance that takes priority over your other dodging accessories. So needless to say, it can get insanely ridiculous if you're lucky enough.


A perfect example of just how strong dodging can be, this video by YouTube content creator and influencer ChippyGaming showcases the new Empress of Light boss' enraged form.

If you can inflict all damage to her during the daytime and beat her, she will drop the new best summon staff in the game: the Terraprisma. However, the boss does around 25,000+ damage a hit.

Knowing this, Chippy goes into the fight prepared to cheese it using a combination of the aforementioned to survive and dodge a whopping 6 hits (not counting the time he got hit by a Flying Fish of course) in his first full fight followed by 4 dodges in a cutaway clip that we can assume that he got hit in before the cut began.

Suffice to say, Chippy would not have completed this fight without crutching on these dodge mechanics.

And yes, this is a call out to Chippy to complete this boss fight without using Brain of Confusion, Black Belt/Master Ninja Gear, or a complete set of Hallowed armor. While I love James and am a long time supporter of all of his work, I would be more than happy to go back on what I just said if he can make me eat my own words. After which, I would of course link that video at the end of this highlighted portion.

If he can prove me wrong, however, is up to you. So, please. Let him know.

As mentioned prior in the “Technicalities” section of this guide, the Cross Necklace and Star Veil are accessories that revolve entirely around how invincibility frames function.

Cross Necklace[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Cross Necklace and its upgrade the Star Veil both fulfill the same role when it comes to extending your immunity frames. Pick whichever one you prefer stylistically, etc., because they don't stack. The only thing that they will stack with are the dodges in PvE/PvM. Hence why it's under this section. But they no longer work in PvP.

Thanks to the fix in the Journey's End update, the amount of immunity frames that you receive after being hit in PvP is capped at 80 frames (roughly 0.13 seconds/130 milliseconds). This was ultimately a fantastic decision to implement into the game after the 1.3 bug that shared immunity frame length between PvE/PvM and PvP which was literally 0.55 seconds longer. Even if it means making Cross Necklace and Star Veil useless in PvP. It truly brought the game to a slow crawl instead of the fast-paced sweat bath we were used to. Weapons completely fell out of the meta and everyone would rather run away with a Sniper Rifle and Beetle armor than challenge you.

The only way to get around this change is to perform a dodge. The code lists nothing special that happens to dodge length when you're specifically hit in PvP, so we can assume that it remains the same with its own individual timer of 0.68 seconds: the former default immunity frame length.

If you want to counter this, use a sword like the Terra Blade or Influx Waver that can bypass immunity frames and pray that they don't dodge.

Advanced movement is the key to unlocking your ability to its maximum potential. Movement has an essential set of tactics that you must master if you want to exceed as a player. In PvP, we utilize a select group of items combined with dashes, a grappling hook, and activating mounts to fully capitalize on our sparring space in ways that may seem strange to you at first. But over time, you'll come to appreciate these preparations that you're taking now instead of later on down the road.

Lunar Hook[terraria.gamepedia.com]

As of the Journey's End update, the Lunar Hook is the new best grappling hook in the game. Its abrupt and uncalled-for succession to the late Bat Hook's former role was a balancing change made to further reward in-game progression. While having one hook is easier to adjust with than four (having more than one makes it so you have to jump before you can change direction), this was definitely a welcome change because the best hook is now viably obtainable as it can be crafted instead of being spawned/edited in or pulled from Goodie Bags only available during the Halloween event. Additionally, the Lunar Hook is now statistically better than both versions of the Bat Hook in terms of velocity and reach. This is your bread and butter for all things movement: you need skill with this to excel at everything else later. Definitely start learning this first.

Slimy Saddle[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The Slimy Saddle is a peculiar piece of equipment that takes a level of understanding to use properly. Think of it as both a balloon and an anvil: the two extremes of vertical space manipulation. A balloon will rise all the way past the stratosphere but has to be released from its chain to the ground first while an anvil falls fast with the force of a bullet but does ultimately nothing on the ground. With the Slimy Saddle, you go up and down. That is all. Your dash is for going left and right. Sure, you can use your dash close to the ground and then use your slime mount to bounce down and up again, but its main function is to bring you down fast on default and make you go high when you dash into its summon and hold your up key with the Featherfall buff active. These are called Sliming and Slimerocketing respectively, but Sliming is also the generalized term. There are a lot of things you can do with this mount, but use it sensibly and with precaution because spamming it or staying on it longer than you should can be the difference between a win and a loss.

Celestial Starboard[terraria.gamepedia.com]

It wouldn't be a Movement section without discussing the best movement option in the game. Celestial Starboard is like the things that you've read about above, but fifty times better, requires less thought to use, and has a skill ceiling so low that if you jumped, you'd probably hit it from ground level. Basically, if you want to go 84 mph, hold down to activate the hover then try moving left or right. Want to go to space in the matter of a split second? Jump and hold up. While this is exaggerating to an extent, it feels just like this whenever you're using it plus it's incredibly easy to learn. And yeah, the "84 mph" bit wasn't a lie either. Expect this to be banned on most major servers.

Soaring Insignia[terraria.gamepedia.com]

When used with certain wings, the Soaring Insignia can eliminate the concern of flight time all together while making wings better in general. Not only does it grant infinite flight time for your wings, but it also gives you additional speed whenever you are flying, running, or falling as well as an increase to the acceleration of your wing speed and jump height (similarly to the Frog Leg). If you have a slot to spare, Soaring Insignia is definitely worth it for those of you looking to maximize the potential of your movement capabilities or reap the benefits of its infinite flight bonus. Especially when paired with the Celestial Starboard, it's a seemingly inseparable combo that'll have you feeling incomplete once you get use to its ridiculous speed and have to do without it.

Mechanical Cart[terraria.gamepedia.com]

This is your horizontal Slimy Saddle: it functions with the same type of caveats. To use this, if at all, you first need to see where you're going to be using it.

This is referred to in the PvP world as a "Cart Dash Rail." Known as your figurative guard rails with a niche that's as circumstantial as you might think it is, these allow you to grapple onto them for dodging techniques without having your momentum interrupted and are there for you to propel yourself forward with your mine cart. While this may sound difficult, it will come second nature to you once you've mastered it. However, just as you can choose to learn Japanese even though you've been putting it off for like a year, doesn't mean you have to know it. But in Rome, do as the Romans do. If your arena has these, take advantage of them. The term "Cart Dash" is as literal as you might think it is, but you need to be using the Mechanical Cart before you begin. The trick behind what makes a cart dash so good is that it immediately starts you at full speed when you enter the mine cart. To do this, simply dash into the rails and mount as soon as you come in contact with them. This is made ten times easier if you have a mouse with buttons on the side of it for easy activation. There's also a technique called "Reverse Cart Dashing" in which you do that but you change direction at the same time as you mount. You don't have to know these, like I mentioned before, but I highly recommend that you at least try to learn it.

For this next part, I'd like to welcome Loginx as our guest writer: an experienced PvP veteran and close friend that's here to share his two cents on some of the more advanced techniques of mounting.

Gelatinous Pillion[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The Gelatinous Pillion behaves just like the Slimy Saddle, but with a twist. This mount is equipped with Slimy Saddle's high vertical acceleration and feels as if the player's buffed with Featherfall even without it. Think of the balloon and the anvil we mentioned earlier except the anvil has wings (and yes that's literally how it feels: like you're fighting between opposite forces) and instead of a balloon it's a rocket. This is the best way one can describe the Pillion's maneuverability. Pillion is a great substitute to Slimy Saddle because of it's upward acceleration, therefore not needing Featherfall if you only want to propel yourself vertically. If you rely a lot on the Slimy Saddle's fall speed, then this mount is definitely not for you. It's horribly slow at accelerating downwards and it takes about 1-to-2 seconds to achieve its maximum speed. Which is a huge contrast to Slimy Saddle as it's almost immediate. If you're a beginner, this shouldn't be your go-to option as its vertical speed will easily overwhelm you and its anvil-like handling can feel very unnatural at times. After all, it's a jet-powered anvil: it goes up pretty fast, even when stationary. The real problem is horizontal speed, so try hooking onto something before igniting its thrusters.

Pogo Stick[terraria.gamepedia.com]

So far the mounts were pretty straight forward, but there hasn't been anything quite like the Pogo Stick yet. It's one of the most (if not the most) difficult mounts to master and is guaranteed to provide a challenge to even the most skilled player. The Pogo Stick is very peculiar given it carries your horizontal momentum and doesn't slow down its velocity. Although this is its main strength, it has quite the habit of bringing you to a grinding halt and spontaneously stopping. All you have to do is hit the slightest tip of an unhammered block and you're not going anywhere. It works extremely well with Cart Dashing given the nature of it despite being very tricky to get right. Dashing works too but hooking is preferred as it utilizes acceleration more effectively. Trying to perform anything other than hooking while the mount's parked will prove to be uneffective unless you're buffed with Featherfall which will lead you pretty far away with either of the two. However, without Featherfall, it literally feels like you're steering a loaded semi-truck: that being painstakingly heavy. The Pogo Stick is a vessel for potential momentum transfers, but the mount won't go anywhere unless pulled by something else. Even with all of these challenges, it'll feel as natural as Slimy Saddle when you start to build up experience with it. But, again, using Featherfall is a must to allow you to enjoy all of its features. Pogo Stick shouldn't be at the top of your priorities, however, considering how much you need to know about it to get it to work. Overall, it's a solid middle ground for anyone looking to give it a try.

Full credit for this video goes to @Shiki#8239, also known as Kojiro on Discord.

Originally posted by Blanc:

"You'll really only need to know how to do #1/2, maybe #3, maybe an alteration of #5, #7, and #8
Basically, Hooking, Slime Rocketing, and Cart Dashing, and even then, Cart Dashing is not a necessary tactic, nor is slime rocketing :^)"

Even if it's now outdated, make sure to come back to this video if you need to see any of those again. It never hurts to check, nor does it hurt to have help with things like these.

Without making use of the potion and food system in Terraria, you would be putting yourself at a statistical disadvantage. Here's what you should use.


All of these are completely positive and there should be no reason as to why you're not using them. With the change to debuffs in the Journey's End update and the change to the whip weapon archetype in 1.4.1, Obsidian Skin is now a required buff because of how many items can inflict the "On Fire!" debuff. Some of those items include both the Flamethrower and the Elf Melter: both of which can apply up to a 50 second debuff timer. If you ask us, you're better safe than sorry unless you want to use an Ankh Shield. Lucky is also a no-brainer because of the changes to damage calculation. See the "Luck & Damage Calculation" section above.


Out of all of these, Featherfall and Tipsy are the ones we recommend the most to you. Some melee weapons are some of the strongest weapons in the game, but only use a food that gives you Tipsy if you have high defense as well. It's not worth the loss otherwise. Featherfall is an asset that can allow you to launch yourself to space with a slime mount and control your fall speed to grant you another option to dodge attacks. But if you want to use it is entirely up to you. There are definitely people in the PvP community that excel without the Featherfall buff. And who knows? Maybe you could be one of them too. However, you should only tackle it after you've learned the basics of movement.

With the addition of whips in the Journey's End update, Summoner has quickly risen to one of the most formidable classes in the game by far. Whips give you a new option for short-range burst damage at the likes of which you've never seen and open up a world of possibilities with their mechanics and quirks.

If that wasn't enough already, with a major buff in 1.4.1, whips hit harder and from farther away than they ever have. Not only that, there's even a new option that allows you to virtually get rid of all of the downsides whips had before.

Max Damage Summoner Set

A great way to capitalize off of your new arsenal, you can never go wrong with a little extra damage. Whips are fantastic, but don't let them overshadow everything else that this class offers. With this combination of armor pieces, you'll be able to dish out as much damage as possible without having to completely specialize into whips specifically. This will give you a base defense of 50, so you must compensate for the trade-off of dealing high damage by designating accessory slots for a few defense increasing accessories. Add in a mix of Warding accessories with a few Menacing, and you're ready to go. As always, though, make sure that you're factoring in the benefits from your buffs. Remember, Iron Skin provides an additional 8 defense.

Obsidian Armor[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Set Bonus[terraria.gamepedia.com]

This was the most unexpected change to come out of the entirety of the 1.4.1 update. Surely we all thought that it was going to be an update that just added some vanity sets and new achievements? Nevertheless, this quickly became one of the most abusable, and therefore, the greatest armor sets in the history of the game. With a nerf no-where in sight, this armor set takes the already powerful whip weapon archetype and dials it up to eleven. It completely gets rid of the disadvantages of using a whip: that being their speed and range. And it gives you a substantial damage bonus as well as the cherry on top. Obsidian armor is the perfect armor set in the game for whips and allows you to spam them as your main weapon like you've never seen before. It's actually ridiculous. For example, the Kaleidoscope (the best whip in the game) has a base range of 34. But with Obsidian armor, that's extended to approximately 50 tiles. That's nearly half of your entire screen from where you're standing! That being said, you definitely have to make up for the lack of defense. With a 15 base defense stat, you'd be one-shotted by practically everything in the game if you didn't spec into defense. A full build can be found in the "Meta Equipment" section.

Berserker's Glove[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Don't let the fact that this was designed for the Warrior class deceive you: this is one of the best summoner accessories in the game. While there is no damage benefit, the power comes in the ability to auto-swing your whip. Despite dealing Summon damage, whips benefit from attributes such as melee attack speed and flask buffs. Not only that, they even gain more range if they have additional velocity. More on that later. With a high defense bonus, it would be wise if you added this to your summoner build.

Papyrus Scarab[terraria.gamepedia.com]

With this accessory, you get the same damage increase that you would for using the Summoner Emblem with the added benefit of an extra minion slot. You can't go wrong with using this.

Rainbow Crystal Staff[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Despite the damage nerf this weapon received in the Journey’s End update, the Rainbow Crystal Staff is still a powerful tool for Summoners. Rather than being universally viable, it now only retains the majority of its previous strengths when paired with the intended class. As the main point it got hit during the nerf was the attack stat, making summoner damage buffs all the more important. While it no longer hits as hard as some of the other sentries that do contact damage, this is the only one that can float. For those of you that are unaware, the point of a sentry in PvP is to either set up a trap for an unsuspecting victim or to hit people through walls with it. With the ability to suspend it in midair, this opens up more screen space for you to take advantage of and it makes it more likely for people to accidentally walk into it. Thankfully, though, because of the nerf, Rainbow Crystal Staff is less likely to be banned on select servers. So, hopefully, you no longer have to substitute it for alternatives.

Stardust Dragon Staff[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The common theme between options like these (i.e., summon and sentry staffs) is that they have to do contact damage. Without it, they are quite literally useless in every aspect in PvP because otherwise they can't do damage at all. While it is definitely debatable if you should use this, as it takes up a buff slot, the Stardust Dragon Staff is recommendable for Summoners because of the amount of times it can hit someone when they come in contact with it, its raw length, and its uncanny ability to serve as a more mobile pseudo-sentry. The Stardust Dragon can hit up to 10 times per second and each segment of it does damage if you come in contact with it. Even if you go completely into damage, you'll still end up with a decent amount of minion slots. So why not make use of them? Add a Summoning Potion and you're ready to go. Don't let its low damage fool you, this thing will shred you if it catches you off-guard. Especially if you don't have a shield on. The only downside (if you're okay with it using one of your buff slots) is having to re-summon it in every time you die. On another note: if you're really trying to go for it with this, you can swap to high damage armor and accessories before you summon it so that you can do the highest amount of damage possible. That's just how summons work.

Kaleidoscope[terraria.gamepedia.com]

The Kaleidoscope is now one of the most infamous weapons in the game after its introduction in the Journey’s End update. Not only did it overshadow every other whip in the game, it felt as if it was overshadowing every other weapon in the game. The versatility and power of this whip is nothing to be scoffed at because it can rip you apart if someone knows how to take advantage of this multicolored menace. Looking at the base damage, the Kaleidoscope is only five points under the Sniper Rifle due to the 15 point damage buff (165 to 180) in version 1.4.1. And you can spam it with Obsidian armor from over 50 tiles away. Yeeeeah that's balancing in action right there. To understand it fully, however, we must first go over how whips work.



As mentioned in the section prior, whips are one of the most unique weapon archetypes to be introduced to Terraria. They are affected by a multitude of different stats, which makes them not only one of the best weapon archetypes in the game, but some of the most fun and interesting things to test and write about as well.

The following stats and/or items will affect any weapon of the whip archetype:

• Velocity: Formerly the role of the speed stat for whips, any increase to a whip's range is an increase to its velocity and vice versa. This change was seemingly made to make way for the buff to the new Obsidian armor set bonus which allows whips to not only be fast, but have high range as well. Previously, you had to have one or the other. Unfortunately, to take advantage of this at all, you have to spawn/edit in a whip with a prefix that affects a weapons velocity. The best of such being the Unreal and Hasty modifiers.
  
  
• Auto swing: As of the 1.4.1 update, any upgrades of the Feral Claws, such as the Mechanical Glove or Berserker’s Glove, now have the perk of granting any melee weapon auto-swing. Surprisingly, despite not being a melee weapon, whips are included as well. One might think this could have been a developer oversight, but it would have been patched out by now if that were the case.
  
  
• Melee speed: Just like the ability to be automatically swung, this is yet another melee-exclusive stat that also affects whips as well. Anything that provides a bonus to melee speed will be applied to your whip and therefore increase its attack speed. This is most prevalent when paired with auto swing and Violent accessories.
  
  
• Flasks: Another benefit to whips is the ability to apply flask-based debuffs as of the 1.4.1 update. An ichor-imbued whip can drop your opponent’s defenses, while a cursed flame-imbued whip can deal major damage over time, forcing your opponent to monitor their health carefully should they be hit by it. If you truly want to leave your foes asunder, it would be wise to take full advantage of this fantastic addition to the game.

Suffice to say, there are a plethora of different ways that you can build your whip. But only you can decide what that "best" way truly is. You can find a more inclusive graph with screenshots as evidence for the image above here[cdn.discordapp.com].

As a Mage, you have a variety of different tools that you can use to your advantage to take control of the field. From fantastic area of effect weapons to weapons that can potentially one shot, there are no shortage of options from you to choose from.

Max Damage Mage Set

When it comes to being a Mage in this game, there's only so much that you can do about your defense. 90% of the time, you're forced to be a glass cannon if you use any split of armor whatsoever because all defense for Mages goes straight to the chestplate and no where else. So, no, there aren't any options that provide one less magic damage percent than the Chlorophyte Headgear with its astounding 7 defense. On the other hand, if you want a higher defense option for your helmet that still provides some increased magic damage, I'd definitely recommend the Spectre Mask. Since its buff in 1.4.1, it's actually become a solid option now. Otherwise, you either have to embrace the glass cannon and go straight for damage or at least attempt to balance it out with your accessories. You can do this by making them Warding and maybe using a Hero's Shield, etc.

With the Chlorophyte Headgear as your helmet option, your total defense would be 42 before adding any accessories. With the Spectre Mask, on the other hand, your total defense would be 53. Because weapons are starting to hit for higher, and higher damage, I would choose the Spectre Mask over the Chlorophyte Headgear. An additional 11 defense from the armor alone is nothing to scoff at, even if it means losing 6% damage. Especially playing on a vanilla server where aspects like damage aren't managed. If you want raw damage, though, definitely choose the Chlorophyte Headgear. Just keep in mind how fast you'll die, though.

Celestial Emblem[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Celestial Emblem has always been a fantastic option for Mages. It provides you with the same damage you'd receive from a Sorcerer Emblem with the added benefit of an increased pickup range for mana stars. What's not to like here?

Mana Cloak[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Ever since Star Cloak and its upgrades received a buff in 1.4.1, all of them have been insanely good options for PvP. Surprising, isn't it? Bet you'd never have thought that 3 years ago, would you? Anyways, all jokes aside, this is a fantastic accessory. Not only do the falling stars do insane damage now, but they can be picked up similarly to Mana Stars. It’s like Magic Cuffs, but better. However, during testing, we noticed that other people (that aren't on your team) can pick these up as well. But, for the majority of the time, you'll pick it up before they do if you're on the ground. It's still an insanely good option regardless. On another note, the aforementioned "insane damage" is no joke. Like all of the Star Cloak upgrades, each star now does 200 damage on base. Even if the Mana Cloak doesn't provide you with the Honey buff like the Bee cloak, it still holds its own. Especially when you consider the extent of its benefits for anyone using a magic weapon. Definitely use this.

Charged Blaster Cannon[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Ever since the massive buff this weapon received both in Journey’s End and in 1.4.1, the Charged Blaster Cannon has earned its place as one of the best weapons in the game, hands down. This thing hits like a truck on its second charge phase and it quite honestly feels like a "Legal" replacement for the Nebula Blaze thanks to their similar abilities. Legal meaning that it doesn’t run as much of a risk of being banned on most prominent servers, however it isn’t a 100% guarantee this will be available due to the Charged Blaster Cannon’s admirable strength. It can do upwards of 300 damage with a second-charge attack even on someone using a meta build. This weapon is definitely worth your time to check out.

Blizzard Staff[terraria.gamepedia.com]

If we're still on the subject of quote on quote 'legality', then this is your budget Lunar Flare that doesn't go through walls and isn't likely to be banned on most servers. To properly use a rain weapon, you have to spam it when nobody is on your screen, spam it if someone is above you, spam it to take off someone's set bonus like Solar Blaze or Beetle Endurance- spam, spam, spam. The purpose of this weapon is to be spammed. Blizzard Staff does an amazing job at controlling areas and there are a multitude of different ways you can use it. All around, even if it does next-to-no damage, this is a fantastic choice for your hotbar.

Betsy's Wrath[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Even before its base damage was massively buffed in 1.4.1, Betsy's Wrath was already good. You want to use this like a reverse Blizzard Staff: rain down projectiles below you instead of above. However, it could also function the same as Blizzard Staff if you're out in the open. Unfortunately, as mentioned in the "Technicalities" section of this guide, its debuff does not get applied in PvP. Which, in this case, is a good thing because it takes off 40 defense. We already have Ichor and that's bad enough as it is. Could you imagine if this worked too? It would make you shiver. Anyway, this could totally earn a place on your hotbar even if you're not a Mage.

Staff of Earth[terraria.gamepedia.com]

In addition to its absolutely gorgeous sprite change, the Staff of Earth was buffed in the Journey's End update. And, funnily enough, it actually matches its tooltip now because it really does summon a powerful boulder. This is a fantastic switch-up weapon that can be used incredibly effectively in tight spaces and square arenas. Not only that, but with its now high damage, you can use it regularly as well. Just keep the arch of the boulder in mind. Furthermore, you can also ricochet the projectile off of walls. This is a great weapon that you should definitely give a try.

As a Ranger, your job is to attempt to pick people off from the shadows or run around guns blazing. Being one of the least complicated classes in the game, all you have to do is shoot at people when you see them and sometimes account for bullet velocity (which is a skill you learn over time with experience anyway).

Max Damage Ranger Set

This is your standard, run-of-the-mill, max-damage-increase-from-armor combination of pieces that allows you to make the most out of the space around you without being a hindrance to your overall mobility. This gives you a defense stat of 57, which is kind of low, but it's nothing an Iron Skin, a shield, and maybe a few Warding accessories can't fix. All in all, this is a great set for Rangers. But it's nothing special.

Vortex Armor[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Set Bonus[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Vortex armor, on the other hand, has a degree of subtlety that comes with using it. This isn't really meant for free-for-all, but more so for duels. Don't get me wrong, you can still snipe people from a good spot in free-for-all and do just fine -- especially since the change added in the Journey's End update that made it so you can no longer see player names by hovering over their character while they're invisible -- but you'd be better off using the build I mentioned above. When you're using Vortex armor, you don't want to always be in stealth otherwise you're going to get caught with your pants down sooner or later. Stealth should be used as an on-demand increase to damage whenever you're trying to scope someone out with a Sniper Rifle per se; like a pop-in-and-pop-out sort of deal. Movement means too much in this game, so if you're going to use Vortex armor at all: use it as a start-of-the-round primer to make it easier to kill someone later on. And this can be done with weapons other than the Sniper Rifle, definitely. That was just an example given. Always remember to use stealth only when it's beneficial to you.

Ranger Emblem[terraria.gamepedia.com]

This is the only Ranger accessory that provides a damage boost as high as this. Sadly, there is nothing comparable to the Ranger Emblem in terms of a raw percentage increase. Despite this, it is significant, and most definitely worth using if Ranger is your preferred class.

Avenger Emblem[terraria.gamepedia.com]

While this isn't actually a Ranger-exclusive accessory, the Avenger Emblem is the only other "Ranger" accessory in the game that gives you more than a 10% increase to damage. Sure, you could argue that it doesn't make much of a difference. And you would be right on that one, but what if you wanted to use some other weapons as well? This time, it really isn't worth it to use anything other than this. So why not use it anyway?

Recon Scope[terraria.gamepedia.com]

In PvP this is basically just the Sniper Scope, but with a longer tooltip and a different sprite. Aggro-reducing effects have absolutely no effect in PvP unless you're talking about sweet-talking someone in the text chat. All jokes aside, this is one of those accessories that only provides a 10% increase to ranged damage that I mentioned above. The only thing special that this offers you is the ability to scope in and out with weapons that aren't the Sniper Rifle. And hey, if you want to snipe someone with an S.D.M.G. from across the map, be our guest. There's nothing stopping you.

Sniper Rifle[terraria.gamepedia.com]

As one of the most versatile, most used, and most powerful additions to the game, the Sniper Rifle definitely isn't called the 'best weapon in the game' through general consensus for a lack of reason. With equipment factored in, this thing can dish out some insane damage. It offers the safety of its scope on default so you can engage someone from virtually any distance. After you break someone's set bonus (i.e., Solar Blaze or Beetle Endurance) you can destroy someone with almost one shot if you're lucky enough. Not only that, the Sniper Rifle is easy to use with high velocity ammo (especially with High Velocity Bullets) as it makes the gun feel like it's almost hit-scan as well. While we may no longer be in its prime when immunity frames were unintentionally longer, it is easy to see why the Sniper Rifle still reigns supreme as the King of PvP by a long-shot. Literally.

Stake Launcher[terraria.gamepedia.com]

With Stake Launcher's buff in 1.4.1, it's been on a fast-rise to stardom as the high fire rate ranged weapon to use. In the buff, they decreased the use time from 26 to 12: more than half the previous use time. Having around a 12 use time is close to the sweet spot for high fire rate weapons as it's not fast enough to the point where it's hitting a ton of ghost bullets during immunity frames (which is especially horrible against high ping/desynced players) but not so slow that you're missing opportunities to do higher DPS. While it isn't as bad as something like S.D.M.G., for example, you'll definitely still see ghost bullets from time to time. But don't let that discourage you from using this. It does 75 base damage, which is only 10 less than its competitor S.D.M.G., but it can be affected by an Archery Potion as well. This increases both its damage and velocity by 20% bringing it up to around 90 damage instead of 75. This thing can put out some great sustained damage, has the ability to zoom using a Sniper Scope but is also affected by Magic Quiver, and you don't have to worry about what ammo is the best for it because it only uses Stakes. With that, you can use whatever you want for your Sniper Rifle without feeling like a different ammo type might be better for a gun like this. Thanks to its buff, this is seriously one of the best options in the game now.

Celebration Mk2[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Even as one of the newest options in this guide, the Celebration Mk2 doesn't disappoint. With its unparalleled blast radius, fast fire rate, and competent damage, the Celebration Mk2 is the new king of crowd and area control. Easily able to lock down multiple places at a time, its sheer randomness makes it a real threat to be reckoned with as it can tear through your set bonuses like paper leaving you as an easy cleanup. This could outright replace both your Blizzard Staff and your Betsy's Wrath, but if the server you're playing on allows it is a mystery on its own.

Elf Melter[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Want to figure out who's not using an Obsidian Skin Potion? Whip this bad boy out when it's dryer than a towel on a clothesline in Arizona and make your opponents feel the wrath of your 50 seconds of literal, scorching hell. If you want to become a debuff master, this is your weapon. Switch to it when they're close, give them a nice, balanced 50 second debuff, and look like an idiot if they're using an Obsidian Skin Potion or if they run into water. All in all, thanks to its buff in the Journey's End update, there's never been more of a reason to set your arena ablaze like the arsonist we all know you are.

Tsunami[terraria.gamepedia.com]

As the former, undisputed mother-of-all bows in terms of PvP, after its nerf in 1.4.1, Tsunami is but a shadow of its former self. Now primarily used to inflict debuffs, Tsunami offers a controllable burst on a decent scale that's sure to catch people off guard if you're not using a weapon to fulfill its role already. While it sounds like it was murdered, it really wasn't that bad of a nerf. It more-so brought it in-line with the other options for bows. Other than being a debuff machine, this could also serve as your area-of-effect weapon with Holy Arrows. Though the potency of those have also been adjusted severely as well. Tsunami is a good all-arounder that is a welcome addition to anyone's arsenal.

Before someone blows a gasket in the comments section, please note that these are simply just recommendations. These are not the be-all-end-all and I'm sure you could find a use for almost every type of ammo. You can find a list of all ammo types on the wiki here[terraria.gamepedia.com].

Note: Ammo damage actually affects your weapon's damage upon further inspection. When the game runs the damage calculation for ranged weapons that use ammo, it uses the sum of the weapon's damage and the ammo's damage. So, funnily enough, by that logic (for those of you that can take advantage of this) there's nothing that explicitly states that adding a prefix to ammo doesn't affect the outcome. We have no proof that this affects velocity or anything like that, but what really matters would be doing the most damage possible. You can accomplish this by giving your ammo the "Ruthless" prefix. As disgusting as that may sound, there are a select group of items that the game doesn't account ammo damage for. Those being Vortex Beater, Phantom Phoenix, Celebration Mk2, and Phantasm. Therefore, technically speaking, the best ammo in the game would be the Luminite Bullet, Venom Arrow, Crystal Dart, and Mini Nuke I. However, when you go to choose which ammo you'd like to use for your weapon, consider what that ammo does in terms of its speed and/or special effects before you think about damage. While it may be tempting, you stand to gain about as much as you would even if it didn't matter.

High Velocity Bullet[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Like its name implies, this bullet has the highest velocity out of all of the other options in the game. Except, it doesn't. Well, apparently, the thing that makes the difference in speed is the "Velocity Multiplier" stat. Not its actual velocity. So, if you had asked any of us, you'd think it should be named the 'High Velocity Multiplier Bullet' too. Think of it as a train picking up speed; a bullet train, rather. Instead of being like an unsavory pun, this is actually worth your time. An easy way to distinguish a high velocity multiplier bullet is to look at its trail. If it's a thick, short line, it has low velocity multiplier. If it's a thin, long line, it has a high velocity multiplier. Or you could just tell by how fast it goes. Shocker. This is great for pretty much every gun but is especially useful for the Sniper Rifle.

Cursed Bullet[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Wow, it's a debuff bullet! Wonder what you're suppose to use it for...

Ichor Bullet[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Wow, it's a debuff bullet! Wonder what you're suppose to use it for...

Luminite Arrow[terraria.gamepedia.com]

During testing, there was no conclusive evidence that proved that this is 100% better or worse than the Venom Arrow (in terms of speed) even if it has a higher initial velocity at 4.3. Going off of our previous logic, we can assume that an ammo projectile's true speed is ultimately determined by its velocity multiplier. With that in mind, both the Luminite and Venom Arrow are virtually equal in that regard at a 2x velocity multiplier. Considering that the Venom Arrow cannot inflict its debuff on a player, the afterimage effect from the Luminite Arrow is arguably more worth it. And wow! Even the Jester's Arrow, Ichor Arrow, and Chlorophyte Arrow all have the same velocity multiplier as well! Surprise, they're all practically the same and the comparison made between those two could be said for any of those for any specific reason. The Luminite and Venom Arrow are simply the most popular. But which one you choose to use or which is the best is ultimately up to you.

Cursed Arrow[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Wow, it's a debuff arrow! Wonder what you're suppose to use it for...

Ichor Arrow[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Wow, it's a debuff arrow! Wonder what you're suppose to use it for...

Holy Arrow[terraria.gamepedia.com]

This has the capability to transform your bow into an area-of-effect, rain-style weapon that you can use as a Ranger's substitute (or substitute in general) for any weapon that also fulfills the same purpose. The only difference is that the stars that come after the arrows make an impact will always go to where the arrow landed. Even through tiles. Need there be any more of an explanation? Spam, spam, spam, spam.

Mini Nuke I[terraria.gamepedia.com]

This is the best rocket for you to use simply in terms of blast radius and damage. So why not just use it anyway? Please note, the ability to destroy tiles or not doesn't affect your weapon at all. Also, no, the Cluster Rocket isn't that useful in PvP. Not that it matters considering that there are barely any weapons that use the actual rockets anyway.

In all seriousness, you can make the most out of pretty much every type of ammo here. Even the ones that were jokingly just two sentences long. When you write almost 16,000 words for a single project that takes hours of testing and days of writing, you'd probably do something similar too.

With a Warrior's setup, you're arguably using some of the best armor in the game. Known for being able to sustain high amounts of damage with little flack, the Warrior is all-around one of the best classes for PvP. Some of its weapons outright bypass immunity frames completely when you're close enough and most of them are known for being the easiest to use in the entire game.

Solar Flare armor[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Solar Blaze[terraria.gamepedia.com]

As the highest defense pure armor set in the game, there is little reason for you to not be using this set for PvP. It's just all-around that good. The utility of its damage reduction knows no boundaries. Thanks to the buff it received in the Journey's End update, not only does it carry the maximum percentage of its damage reduction (30%) for all tiers of the Solar Blaze buff, but some of that damage reduction was redistributed to the armor's standalone stats as well. So even if your set bonus isn't active, you'll still be receiving around 10% of that additional benefit. Furthermore, its life regeneration benefits are nothing to look over either. Combine this armor set with a Regeneration Potion, maybe a Campfire and a Heart Lantern nearby, as well as the change to the Honey Comb accessory and its upgrades that grants you the Honey buff whenever you're damaged (specifically the Bee Cloak) and you'll be regenerating your health so consistently that you'll hardly notice any debuffs you get inflicted with. Unless, of course, that debuff is Ichor. Plus, with the aforementioned Bee Cloak and the damage Solar Blaze does, your opponents better be weary of trying to hit you up close otherwise they'll go down with you too. If there were ever an armor set better than this one, you'd better check your thermometer because it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.

Max Damage Warrior Set

Although this is far from Solar armor in terms of what you should look for as a Warrior, this combination of pieces can hold its own. With the buffs to several prominent melee weapons in 1.4.1, this is now the time to make the most out of this combination. Other than that, there's nothing really special about it. If you want your melee weapons to do the most damage possible, then this is the set for you.

Fire Gauntlet[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Thanks to its buff in the 1.4.1 update, Fire Gauntlet now provides you with the same damage and attack speed bonus as the Mechanical Glove. Although it offers no real additional benefits as its debuff can't be applied in PvP, the fire that is produced emits light particles and can make it easier to see yourself as well as the people you hit with your melee weapons. So it's purely cosmetic in choice. The melee damage and speed, auto swing ability, and the increase in size for certain melee weapons are all welcome benefits and really help you build on the class.

Celestial Shell[terraria.gamepedia.com]

You'd assume that this is all-around a fantastic accessory, but its actually at the front of a fair bit of controversy and disagreement. While Celestial Shell is without a shadow of a doubt an accessory worth a slot for, there comes a point when it's practically the same as the Celestial Stone with a few added caveats. This one, unlike the Celestial Stone, gives you buffs whenever you enter water or it turns night. While the latter may not be a problem on a server that doesn't have a day and night cycle, that is yet another reason for you to not use it. What makes this a melee accessory is what the Wolf buff does for you. Without it, it wouldn't be much of an upgrade at all. Especially since you can no longer stack Moon/Sun Stone upgrades. But you also have to consider the maximum amount of buffs and debuffs you can have at a time as well: 22. With the recommended buffs listed above factored in, that's already 9 of your slots gone. Add in your mount as well, 10. With half of the optional buffs, 15. You'd only have 7 slots left and that's not counting any of the 5 debuffs you can be inflicted with simultaneously nor any of the environmental buffs like Campfires either. If you gain a new buff/debuff, it pushes your first one out in favor of it. Is it really worth it to give up a buff slot for either of the two? Honestly, no. Especially considering that the Merfolk buff makes you move slower in liquid than the Flipper buff. However, if you use a Water Walking potion you can get around this. All of that for some tiny benefits only at night? Maybe you can make it work, but it can only go so far.

Daybreak[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Even as one of the most prominent weapons in all of Terraria PvP, Daybreak's buff in 1.4.1 was nothing short of a welcome change to the weapon. Especially regarding your technical philosophies when using the weapon. Daybreak now explodes when it comes into contact with a tile or upon expiring in midair. Previously, Daybreak was limited to the lengths of its actual projectile. Now, with this change, it makes an already easy-to-use weapon into an even easier weapon. This is a great pick-up weapon if you're just starting off thanks to its high damage, fast use time, and the slight learning curve it possesses because of its projectile arch after a certain distance. It's also great as Sniper training wheels.

Terra Blade[terraria.gamepedia.com]

As yet another case of déjà vu, the Terra Blade was already increasingly strong prior to the 1.4.1 update thanks to its ability to bypass immunity frames: a unique trait only attributed to a select arsenal of weapons in this game. However, thanks to its buff, its become an even better weapon than it has ever been before. In the past, it use to have competition with the Influx Waver because of the Influx Waver's higher damage and the fact that it could also bypass immunity frames as well. Now, because one of the main points the Terra Blade was hit on was its damage, the Terra Blade completely blows the Influx Waver out of the water in virtually every aspect. In your PvP kit, you'll always need a weapon that can back you up in the short-range department at all times. And the Terra Blade never fails to live up to expectations.

Flying Dragon[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Now considered one of the best weapons in the game, the buff to the Flying Dragon in the 1.4.1 update was something that nobody really expected. This thing was already incredibly good thanks to its ability to travel through walls with its projectile, but now it's seemingly blown everyone's expectations away. With the buff literally doubling its damage and making it do 100% of its original attack power beforehand whenever it passes through walls, there's more than enough reason to pick this thing up. It use to be used explicitly for doing chip damage through walls, and now one could even argue that it's better than the buffed Terra Blade. Needless to say, Flying Dragon has completely replaced Influx Waver as the new front of the "damage over swing speed" debate in terms of the best sword. Regardless, even if you're also using the Terra Blade, the Flying Dragon is well worth a spot on your hotbar.

Terrarian[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Despite its similar damage count compared to something like Flying Dragon, the Terrarian is a problem child that you'll more-often-than-not run into with either some server-sided balancing changes or even an outright ban. The Terrarian can be used in a vast array of ways deeming it one of the most versatile melee weapons in the game. If not, one of the most versatile weapons in the game. It can go around walls, bait people into its high-damage projectiles, be used as an aggressive clean-up, or even as your main CQC alternative. If not for its inherently high damage, maybe the extent of the issues people have with this weapon will start and stop at how to actually pronounce it. Teh-RARE-e-in? Tuh-RAR-e-in? Shouldn't it be Teh-RARE-e-in because that's how you pronounce "Terrarium"? Even with a mockingly-fake English accent that's been ingrained into your conscience, this yoyo still puts out numbers like you've never seen before from the likes of a terrible joke.

Note: Any weapon under any of the "Weapons" sections can also be considered "Meta." These are in no particular order.

Charged Blaster Cannon[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Daybreak[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Sniper Rifle[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Kaleidoscope[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Blizzard Staff[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Celebration Mk2[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Betsy's Wrath[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Flying Dragon[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Terra Blade[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Stake Launcher[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Paladin's Hammer[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Heat Ray[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Ballista Staff[terraria.gamepedia.com]

Stellar Tune[terraria.gamepedia.com]

It's been a while, huh? Nearly 2 years since the original guide was released. During that time, a lot has happened. "A lot" that I pray to God would never happen to someone else again, but I've grown from these personal experiences and they've shaped me into the person I am today. So, no, I wouldn't go back in time. Sure, we all have things that we'd want to change, but do you realize the consequences of your actions if you were to do something like that? You'd have to relive everything all over again. And to me, that's not worth it. I've gotten over what's happened, but every once in a while I feel a little stab of pain as a reminder. Out of respect, I'm not here to belittle myself for holding onto the past: sometimes, you need to reflect to grow and this is my reflection. All of it. So, as much as it hurts to say this, this is goodbye. I know some of you voice your concerns out of kindness by trying to help me forget, but -- especially when dealing with a subject like this -- it's the only thing I can think about. I'm here to say "Let's not forget." Because, to forget is to not "remember." And even if I've moved on, it never hurts to think about the good times that we used to share. Especially considering that this guide was posted (October 24th) so close to his birthday (October 25th).

With that out of the way, I apologize for putting a damper on the mood. But this obviously means a lot to me, so I had to get it out there.

I would like to personally thank everyone that has helped me with the development of this project. It's come a long way since the original and each and every one of you helped rid me of my doubts and rise to the occasion. A full list of everyone that helped in the making of this guide can be found below.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, hopefully learn from it, and help spread my love for Terraria PvP. Without you, I don't know what I'd do with myself. This truly means the world to me and I've loved watching relationships blossom from what you've done with our creation.

If you've enjoyed what you've seen, please make sure to Rate, Favorite, Award, and share this guide. It only takes a second and by doing it, you're helping an innumerable amount of people such as yourself more readily find this information. Thank you again, and stay safe.

All art and images, including the thumbnail and graphical elements, were made with assets from Re-Logic's Terraria. By using their likeness, we are not claiming to be associated with Re-Logic and/or their subsidiaries, partners, or fellow developers/studios. As such, any and all information must be taken with a grain of salt. Any usage of the graphics must provide proper credit to the original owner, but sharing is encouraged. Failure to comply with these conditions will be met with proper course of action. However, this only applies if you imply that you are the owner of such properties or do not provide proper credit when due (i.e., if someone asks you or if you share them on a social media platform other than Discord or any other messaging application). Express this liberty at will. A link to the guide will do just fine.

Note: I let all of my lovely contributors say whatever they wanted (like it couldn't ever go bad. My friends? Noooo, they're saints) in this portion of the guide as a final 'oorah' to express to them how truly thankful I was for their assistance going into this project. These are not my words.

versace: Tester

Originally posted by versace:

Hey my name is Logan and I think feet are pretty cool.

Instagram - @nakamaza[www.instagram.com]
Twitter - @BASEDFEETGOD

BlueBomb: Tester

Originally posted by BlueBomb:

I'm bluebomb follow @Bluebomb_ if you're horny like me. Also try tomatoes with bread.

Siam: Editor

Originally posted by Siam:

I'm Siam, some call me Eris, and I don't have any social media for you to follow. Make sure you toast the bread you put tomatoes on first.

Everii: Editor, Tester

Originally posted by Everii:

Nid yw'r Gymraeg yn iaith go iawn
Gwnaethoch beiriant cyfieithu hwn
@Everii

quake: Editor, Fact-checking, Suggestions, Tester

Originally posted by quake:

Resident (un)funnyman doing all the game code digging.
Mister programmer, maker of a server you might be able to use this guide on when it gets released ;))))
twitter: @bartico6
server: https://terraria.gg/

Monetokuzuma: Suggestions, Mock-ups

Originally posted by Monetokuzuma:

Resident funnyman no longer interested in digging
https://mobile.twitter.com/monetokuzuma

Loginx: Guest Author

Originally posted by Loginx:

Rise from the flames below
The blade provides supreme control with powers unknown
Hidden from evil to preserve its flame
Now is the time to carry out its fate

Special thanks to the Official Terraria Wiki[terraria.gamepedia.com] for providing us with a platform to easily access information about this game. While some information didn't originate from their sources, we are thankful to them regardless.