Be honest. Though swords, guns, wands, and staves are the most efficient ways of raising your DPS in Terraria, they're all a bit... boring. After enough playthroughs of grabbing the Starfury and trying for early Demon Scythes, you can't be blamed for wanting a bit more variety from your weapons. Luckily, even the strangest weapon types can be viable in the fight against Cthulu.
One of the hardest weapons to master is the spear, which trades the arc of the broadsword for a straightforward lunge. Although spears require a bit more precise aiming and timing, they reward you with the ability to hit enemies inside of walls and strike multiple times with a single blow.
10 Mythril Halberd
Mythril is the second tier of Hardmode ores, fairly easy to get after the defeat of the Wall of Flesh. Though Cobalt and Palladium spears are technically decent for starting off, you're safer just going after a tier two spear – it's better for facing the newer, and more difficult enemies Hardmode introduces.
Even if it doesn't have any special abilities, the Mythril Halberd has a pretty good range for its class. When it comes to early Hardmode farming, that range helps a lot in helping you avoid getting overrun by hordes of enemies.
9 Orichalcum Halberd
The Orichalcum Halberd is the alternate ore version of the Mythril Halberd, being about as easy to get as its sibling in the overall progression; the main things that separate it from its counterpart are the slightly higher damage and shorter overall reach.
This halberd does leave the Orichalcum Halberd as the superior weapon of the two, but the difference in performance is negligible due to the upgrade you'll be getting once you spawn more desirable ores. It's not worth changing worlds just to get an Orichalcum Halberd, but it's good to know that you'll be having a slightly easier time if your world has Orichalcum.
8 Adamantite Glaive
The Adamantite Glaive is made of tier-three Hardmode ore, simply improving the stats of its predecessors while being longer overall. This additional range makes it the go-to pick if you're planning to fight any of the Mechanical Bosses – the Destroyer is particularly weak to the multi-hit potential of tier-three spears.
Given its superior length, the Adamantite Glaive provides additional safety when traveling through both evil biomes and the Hallow, as all three are populated with enemies that love to hide inside the walls; no matter the distance, they won't be able to hide any longer.
7 Titanium Trident
The Titanium Trident is the alternate ore version of the Adamantite Glaive, offering a higher base damage and faster use time than its counterpart. Though it's technically considered a Trident, it doesn't give any boosts to underwater mobility like the vanilla Trident.
Whether to change worlds to get a Titanium Trident is a question actually worth asking, as tier-three spears are the most versatile of the class before defeating any of the Mechanical Bosses; if you get stuck trying to beat them with an Adamantite Glaive, it might just be worth getting that extra damage to improve your chances.
6 Gungnir
After you've beaten the Mechanical Bosses, you will gain access to Hallowed Bars for use in crafting a number of items. Gungnir is one such item, being one of the easiest spears you can get in the transition to Mid-Hardmode.
Gungnir might look like it has a smaller reach than prior spears, but it actually emits a bit of light that extends its range by a decent bit. With this additional range, it stands as a pure upgrade to the Hardmode ore spears that comes before it.
5 Ghastly Glaive
Though the Ghastly Glaive has a lower damage stat than Gungnir, it's actually more powerful thanks to the multiple effects it bears. The first effect makes the head of the spear wobble, affording it a slightly larger hurtbox; the second effect spawns a yellow dragon ghost that damages enemies in a straight line before it disappears.
Since the Ogre that drops this weapon spawns in the second tier of the Old One's Army event, it can be obtained after beating just one Mechanical Boss. But beware, the Ogre is quite tough. It's still well worth it to take him down for a weapon that can rush you towards Mid-Hardmode.
4 Chlorophyte Partisan
The Chlorophyte Partisan is less of an upgrade to the Ghastly Glaive and more of a side-grade: it's a bit stronger damage-wise, but loses some of the crowd control power that the Ghastly Glaive offers. What keeps it relevant, however, is that it spawns its own spore projectile at the peak of its thrust.
Where the Ghastly Glaive requires an enemy to be hit to spawn its projectile, the Chlorophyte Partisan releases its spores no matter what; this means that it can effectively damage enemies on the other side of a wall, making it a superior farming item.
3 Mushroom Spear
The Mushroom Spear is a direct upgrade to the Chlorophyte Partisan, spawning multiple floating mushroom projectiles along its path – this allows you to hit through walls with greater efficacy because you cover a large space and thus don't have to reposition nearly as often.
The Mushroom Spear also does significantly more damage than the Chlorophyte Partisan, which is surprising considering that it's possible to get after defeating just one Mechanical Boss. All it takes to obtain it is the surface Glowing Mushroom biome that spawns the Truffle NPC, making it great for rushing through the Hardmode boss progression.
2 Obsidian Swordfish
The Obsidian Swordfish has the second-highest damage of all available spears in the game, with the downside that it also has the shortest range. This spear does great against most bosses if your movement is particularly good, but otherwise, it might be a little hard to justify using it when longer spears can offer a much lower skill floor for slightly less damage.
Even if you don't use it for bosses, it can be obtained so early in Hardmode that it works well for most normal enemies. Since it does demand a certain level of mobility, you should be sure that you're using the most defensive armor possible while it's your main weapon.
1 North Pole
The North Pole is the best spear in the game, boasting superior damage, a projectile that shoots falling hurtboxes along its arc, and a melee range that allows solid defensive play. If you're planning on doing a spears-only playthrough, this is what you'll have to bring if you want any hope of beating the Moon Lord.
The North Pole is locked to Post-Plantera, requiring you to beat the Ice Queen in the Frost Moon event – once you've unlocked it, it becomes your best option for single-target fighting, crowd control, and boss elimination, only failing at attacking enemies through walls.