Before you start chopping down trees and slaying slimes in Terraria, it’s a good idea to pick a class. In Terraria, world-eating bosses and even lowly zombies are unconquerable without the right gear. So choosing a class early on will give you more time to collect the class-specific gear and accessories you need. There are four main classes in Terraria. There’s Melee, Ranged, Mage, and Summoner. Each of these classes has a unique playstyle. This guide will help you decide which class to pick while also giving you a list of each class’s best gear.
Melee class
The Melee class is the most basic in Terraria. Melee classes are characterized by their use of swords, spears, yoyos, or boomerangs. With this class, you will want to equip yourself with mobility items such as grappling hooks to allow you to get into melee range of enemies. Melee classes won’t need to focus on Mana, making them an easy beginner class.
Early game
This is the gear recommended before you fight your first major boss.
- Armor – Ancient Shadow
- Weapon – Enchanted Sword
- Accessories:
- Shark Tooth Necklace
- Feral Claws
- Band of Regeneration
- Cloud in a Bottle
- Hermes Boots
Melee attack speed is boosted by the Ancient Shadow Armor Set, and the Enchanted Sword is a fantastic early combo option with ranged and melee abilities.
Mid Game
This is before you fight the Plantera boss. Focus on farming the jungle biomes as they give you great loot.
- Armor – Turtle Set
- Weapon – True Knight’s Edge
- Accessories:
- Mechanical Glove
- Avenger Emblem
- Ankh Shield
- Frostspark Boots
- Frozen Wings
All defense stats are buffed by the Turtle Armor Set, and True Knight’s Edge is the perfect combo weapon with a bit of ranged ability thrown in.
End game
This will be your ideal setup. This gear is acquired from beating the hardest foes in the game.
- Armor – Solar Flare Set
- Weapon – Meowmere
- Accessories:
- Fire Gauntlet
- Ankh Shield
- Solar Wings
- Celestial Shell
- Master Ninja Gear
All incoming damage is reduced by this phenomenal armor, and Meowmere is the highest damage output and strongest knockback melee weapon in the game.
Mage class
A mage relies heavily on Magicka and benefits from any gear that increases magic damage. Be on the lookout for fallen stars as these can be used to upgrade your maximum Mana Pool.
Early game
- Armor – Meteor Set
- Weapon – Space Gun
- Accessories:
- Magnet Flower
- Band of Regeneration
- Band of Mana Regeneration
- Cloud in a Bottle
- Shiny Red Balloon
The Meteor Set buffs all magic and the Space Gun is great for the early game with a high damage output and speedy autofire.
Mid game
- Armor – Chlorophyte Set
- Weapon – Rainbow Rod
- Accessories:
- Magnet Flower
- Frozen Wings
- Mana Flower
- Frostspark Boots
- Sorcerer Emblem
The Chlorophte Armor Set greatly buffs magic and adds a few bonuses to boot, while the Rainbow rod is a fast casting weapon with controlled projectiles.
Late Game
- Armor – Nebula Set
- Weapon – Lunar Flare
- Accessories:
- Crystal Ball
- Sorcerer Emblem
- Ankh Shield
- Master Ninja Gear
- Stardust Wings
The biggest upgrade from the midgame setup is the Nebula armor. This armor increases your mana, magic damage, and magic critical strike.
Ranger class
Rangers like to keep their distance and do not pump out as much burst damage as melee or magic builds. What they do have, however, is consistent damage that is useful in every boss fight. Be sure to collect bullets everywhere you can, as you don’t want to run out of ammo during a heated battle.
Early game
- Armor – Fossil Set
- Weapon – Tendon Bow
- Accessories:
- Shark Tooth Necklace
- Flying Carpet
- Band of Regeneration
- Cloud in a Bottle
- Hermes Boots
The Fossil Armor Set buffs all ammo damage and the Tendon Bow is the highest damage output ranged weapon with cheap ammo for this early point.
Mid game
- Armor – Huntress’ Jerkin
- Weapon – Megashark
- Accessories:
- Magic Quiver
- Avenger Emblem
- Shield of Cthulhu
- Frozen Wings
- Frostspark boots
Huntress’ Jerkin gives all of your ammo even more of a boost, and Megashark has a super high fire rate with a 50% chance of not consuming any ammo.
Late game
- Armor -Vortex Armor
- Weapon – S.D.M.G.
- Accessories:
- Magic Quiver
- Sniper Scope
- Celestial Shell
- Master Ninja Gear
- Destroyer Emblem
Vortex Armor is great because it boosts ranged weapons and attacks when in stealth mode. S.D.M.G., on the other hand, fires with a 50% chance of no ammo being consumed.
Summoner Class
Summoner is technically a secondary class, so not that many people are aware of it or bother with it. However, summoning minions is a perfectly legitimate way of defeating bosses and enemies. Minions can do a lot for you, as these builds demonstrate.
Early game
- Armor – Flinx Fur Coat
- Weapon – Flinx Staff
- Accessory – Hermes Boots
The Flinx Fur Coat buffs minion damage, while the Flinx Staff is the fastest of the early game minions you can get. The Hermes Boots speed up your movement and help you avoid damage.
Mid game
- Armor -Obsidian Set
- Weapon – Sanguine Staff
- Accessory – Pygmy Necklace
The Obsidian Armor Set is, at this point, the best set for minion damage, and the Sanguine Staff is a strong minion with even stronger tracking. The Pygmy Necklace is incredible because it has a +1 minion effect, buffing everything about your minion.
Late game
- Armor – Stardust Set
- Weapon – Ballista Staff
- Accessory – Celestial Shell
The Stardust Armor Set has a colossal minion buff on it and the Ballista Staff is a high-damage sentry summon. The Celestial Shell Accessory buffs all stats plus minion knockback and speed.
Terraria offers over 4,000 different items, so any build can be tweaked to fit your specific needs. Try not to stray too far from this list as the late game bosses can be insanely difficult on higher settings.
