The melee build in Terraria is a classic choice. Since the game was released, it's been a staple in the community and the go-to way to play for many people. The prospect of getting up close and personal with the various enemies you'll face can sound daunting at first, especially if you're an experienced player who knows how dangerous enemies can be.

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There are plenty of ways to prevail, some more optimized than others, but all of them are viable so long as you're having fun. Spears, swords, and axes are just a few weapon types that will be examined when creating the best melee build in Terraria.

Updated October 28, 2023 by Roland Martinez: Terraria has yet to stop its content additions so the ideal build changes from time to time as new things are added. Many of the melee weapons and items have gone through a variety of balance changes and tweaks as time has gone on. That being said, the melee builds of today are different from builds in 2018 for example. New players are always playing the game for the first time, so it's important to have an up-to-date and comprehensive idea of what the ideal melee class looks like.

Fundamentals Of A Melee Build

Terraria Player Sitting In A Surface Wooden And Stone Walls House

Throughout your progression through Terraria 1.4, an effective melee user will focus on high defense and plenty of maneuverability. Defense is important, so you won't take too much damage while attacking up close. Meanwhile, maneuverability is important, so it's easier to dodge attacks and make a quick getaway if needed. Naturally, you'll want to maximize damage output, but having a healthy balance of defense and offense is vital.

Early Game

terraria jungle temple

Though your Copper Shortsword might be what you rely on to kill those first slimes, you'll want to upgrade as soon as possible. The most immediate upgrade available is a Wooden Broadsword that deals 7 damage per hit versus the Shortsword's 5 damage. If you're willing to venture out of spawn a bit, you can also opt for a Cactus Sword that deals 10 damage per hit. The only problem is that it requires you to head to the desert, which can be dangerous early on due to the vultures that spawn there.

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Once you start mining, you'll want to get Platinum armor, which can be difficult to obtain but is well worth it in the long run. Gold is an acceptable alternative if it's easier to obtain. Eventually, you'll upgrade but for now, it will provide good defense against your foes. It's also a good setup for your first boss fight: the Eye of Cthulhu, a flying eyeball that can be very deadly for the unprepared.

High defense from the Platinum armor combined with accessories like the Hermes Boots and the Cloud In A Bottle to enable quick movement. It's good to note that there's an NPC available who can change the attributes of your accessories and weapons. He's the Goblin Tinkerer and can be found underground after completing a goblin invasion. The goblin invasion event is a random event that occurs after defeating a boss, so be on the lookout for him when spelunking.

Pre-Hardmode And The Underground Jungle

terraria jungle cave

Before heading to the underworld, there's a useful weapon to be procured from the Underground Jungle after defeating the optional Queen Bee boss. Upon reaching the sub-surface ecosystem, you'll find the oversized bee's home with relative ease considering it looks like a giant yellow mass.

To start the fight, just break the larva inside the hive and get ready to dodge. Her moveset is a lot of horizontal dash attacks with the occasional pause. During the fight she'll spawn bees while hovering. The miniscule bugs can quickly drain your health if you let too many of them attack you so get rid of them while dealing as much damage as possible during the pauses. After defeating the Queen, there's a 33 percent chance she drops the weapon we're looking for: the Bee Keeper. The Bee Keeper is a sword that spawns in bees that swarm an enemy when hitting them, which lends a large amount of DPS. It'll also be very helpful in the upcoming boss fight.

Optional Pre-Underworld

Terraria Player Fighting Eater Of Worlds In The Corruption Surface Biome Beside A Dungeon Style Building

For experienced and skilled players, this next step is completely optional and is just to make the underworld a bit safer to grab materials in. To make our adventure in the underworld a bit easier, you'll want to grab a set of either Shadow/Crimtane armor. Only one can be obtained since the materials required to craft the sets are dependent on your world's evil biome. To craft, you'll have to fight one of the optional Corruption/Crimson bosses a few times to obtain the necessary materials.

Underworld And The Wall Of Flesh

Underworld Bridge

Molten Armor is the best possible melee build armor for Pre-Hardmode and our next goal before fighting the Wall of Flesh. It's crafted with 45 Hellstone bars and 45 Obsidian. That's a total of 135 Hellstone you need to mine from the Underworld. It can be a real pain if it's your first time mining for the fiery ore, but the most optimal way is by using an Obsidian Skin potion to be able to dive under the lava pool surfaces and mine as much Hellstone as possible. It's important to note that you'll require a Hellforge to craft those Hellstone bars. They're relatively easy to find in the various tower structures littering the underworld.

As of the 1.4 update, the Molten Armor has received some changes in terms of its melee capabilities. The Molten Helmet provides a boost to critical damage chance, the Breastplate boosts overall damage, and the Leggings boost your attack speed. The Molten set also grants immunity to the 'On Fire!' debuff which is going to play a big part in the upcoming battle.

For a Wall of Flesh arena, build a line of stone blocks that continues for a good while. This step is important because, unlike the other bosses, the Wall of Flesh spans the entire Y-axis of the underworld. It's impossible to escape the fight, and it's not possible to get behind the abomination, so you'll be walking backward while swinging.

Using the Bee Keeper's bees should make quick work of the Hungries that spawn from the meat monster. After dispatching the Hungries, they'll focus on the main wall itself and should deal adequate damage to the large health pool. After a lot of healing, more bees, and a lot of stress, the monster will fall, and you'll be thrust into Hardmode.

Weapons

Bee Keeper, Starfury

Armor

Molten Armor

Accessories

Feral Claws, Cloud in a Bottle, Magma Stone

Total Armor Stats

25 defense, +10 percent increased melee damage, +7 percent melee speed, +7 percent melee critical strike chance

Early Hardmode And The Mechanical Bosses

terraria hardmode hallowed

Hardmode comes with new enemies, new ore, and most importantly, new weapons. The beginning will be very dangerous since the only way to get the new ores to spawn is through smashing demon altars with the Pwnhammer that you picked up from the Wall of Flesh. It should be noted that despite there being 6 ores that can spawn after smashing an altar, only a combination of three will spawn.

For example: Cobalt, Orichalcum, and Titanium. After smashing some altars, head underground and mine enough ore until you can craft an Orichalcum/Mythril pickaxe. Don't worry about crafting the armor until you obtain Titanium/Adamantite.

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The Most Fun Classes To Use In TerrariaAfter beefing up your defense, you'll want to craft the weapon you want from the respective ore. Farming the Wall of Flesh is the way to get a great accessory called the Warrior Emblem which increases melee damage by a whopping 15 percent. You can also head underground in the Corruption/Crimson to farm the Mimics that spawn to get some powerful accessories and other weapon choices.

Weapons

Fetid Baghnakhs, Titanium/Adamantite weapon, Ice Sickle

Armor

Frost Armor

Accessories

Berserker's Glove, Warrior Emblem, Fire Gauntlet

Total Armor Stats

43 Defense, +26 percent melee damage, +11 percent melee and ranged crit chance, +8 percent movement speed, +10 percent melee speed

It's best to get these items before your fight with the Mechanical Bosses to avoid getting stuck due to not being strong enough. With proper preparation and these items, the bosses will be a breeze.

Plantera Hardmode Melee Build

Terraria Plantera Boss Fight

At this stage in the game, a melee build has a lot of weapons and armor up for grabs. You can also get your hands on some awesome weapons, like the True Night's Edge.

Turtle Armor and Chlorophyte Armor will also provide the defense you need to survive these big boss battles, while also offering some useful melee modifiers. Turtle Armor, as the name might suggest, is perfect for turtling: attackers take double damage and all incoming damage is reduced by fifteen percent. Chlorophyte Armor summons a Crystal Leaf above your head that occasionally fires a smaller leaf that deals up to 100 damage.

Weapons

True Night's Edge, Chlorophyte Partisan, Flairon

Armor

Chlorophyte Armor

Accessories

Warrior Emblem, Mechanical Glove, Fire Gauntlet, Flame Wings

Total Armor Stats

51 Defense, 5% increased damage, 7% increased critical strike chance, 8% increased critical strike chance, 5% increased movement speed, 16% increased melee damage, 6% increased melee critical strike chance

Golem Hardmode Melee Build

terraria the destroyer boss fight

Defeating Plantera opens up the Hardmode dungeon, as well as the Pumpkin Moon and Frost Moon events. This means you'll get access to a bunch of new melee items to perfect your build. Some of the best weapons include the Terra Blade or the Paladin's Hammer.

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You'll probably still be rocking either Chlorophyte or Turtle Armor at this point, and these armor sets work just fine for taking down the Golem. The accessories stay pretty much the same, except now you can include the Frozen Shield if you complete the Frost Moon event. To maximize damage, reroll the traits of your accessories to Menacing for a four percent damage increase. When you put on all of the accessories, it adds up to 20 percent bonus damage.

Weapons

Terra Blade, Paladin's Hammer

Armor

Chlorophyte Armor

Accessories

Warrior Emblem, Mechanical Glove, Frozen Shield, Flame Wings

Total Armor Stats

51 Defense, 5% increased damage, 7% increased critical strike chance, 8% increased critical strike chance, 5% increased movement speed, 16% increased melee damage, 6% increased melee critical strike chance

Lunar Events And Moon Lord Melee Build

terraria lunar events hardmode

This is the stage of the game where your melee build starts to get extremely strong. Powerful endgame weapons, like the Zenith, are the crowning glory of an endgame Terraria melee build.

Upgrade your armor to Beetle Armor, and later Solar Flare armor, and you'll be at the height of your power. Even in the endgame, the melee accessories are essentially the same, with the Ankh Shield, Mechanical Glove, Solar Wings, Fire Gauntlet, and Warrior Emblem all making an appearance.

The ideal endgame Terraria melee build will include:

Weapons

Zenith or Daybreak

Armor

Solar Flare Armor

Accessories

Ankh Shield, Warrior Emblem, Solar Wings, Mechanical Glove, Fire Gauntlet

Total Armor Stats

78 Defense, +26 percent melee crit chance, +29 percent melee damage, +15 percent melee speed, +15 percent movement speed, and +3 HP/sec

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