Terraria armor guide (2024)

There are an extensivenumberof Terraria armorsets on offer, and you might even want to collect a bunch of different sets as your circ*mstances change in-game, as you battle various enemies and bosses.But which armor sets are the best? That’s where we come in, because we’ve put together an extensive armor progression guide that can take you all the way to hardmode, as well as our top picks for the best Terraria armor later in the game.

If you’re just getting started with Terraria, we have a list of Terraria NPCs, which includes how to find them and keep them happy, as well as how to unlock the elusive Terraria Dryad. Plus, you can get yourself a pair of Terraria wings. Because who doesn’t want a pair of wings?

So, let’s dive into our Terraria armor guide.

  • Armor progression
  • Best armor
  • Armor polish

Terraria Armor Progression

In Terraria, progression is defined by you gaining access to new weapons, accessories, and armor. Armor is very important in combat, as it mitigates damage taken, and can boost your damage output, so choosing the right set is important. However, it will depend on your play style and what you’re trying to achieve, so we’ve outlined the best Terraria armor sets for each class, to help you progress through the game up to hardmode.

The main purpose of armor in the early game is to simply boost your defence. While some give you a better defence boost, they are expensive to make and your valuable resources are sometimes better saved. Try to aim for easy-to-craft armor that offers the highest defence until you get your paws on a proper set. Here are some good pieces to get your feet off the ground. As you get closer to hardmode, the armor set bonuses become more valuable based on your class and playstyle.

All classes

HeadChestLegsDescription
Mining helmet
or
Ultrabright helmet
Flinx fur coatJungle pants+1% cap, 5% summon, and 8% defence. Good all-around set for exploring
Gladiator helmetGladiator breastplateGladiator leggings+16 defence. This set provides high defence, as well as knockback immunity, and can be farmed from a Hoplite Statue near a natural wire trap, so is essentially free
Mining helmet
or
Ultrabright helmet
Mining shirtMining pants+3 defence. Gives you a 30% increase in mining speed, but has a low drop rate from undead miners
Pumpkin helmetPumpkin breastplatePumpkin leggings+10% damage and +7 defence. Strong set that can be obtained before defeating a boss in the Halloween season
Cactus helmetCactus breatplateCactus leggings+3 defence. Can be obtained early game, and repels enemies on contact
Crimson helmetCrimson scalemailCrimson greaves+6% damage, +19 defence, health regeneration. This is a classless set for late pre-hardmode, and can be used to regenerate health while exploring – especially when standing still outside of combat

Melee

HeadChestLegsDescription
Ancient shadow helmetGiAncient shadow greaves+5% damage, +5% crit, +16 defence. This set is optimal early game, but is tough to get as Ancient shadow armour only has a 0.19% drop rate, and comes from the Eater of Souls. If you’re struggling to get it, just wear a Gi and hike your defence as much as possible using the other slots
Molten helmetMolten breastplateMolten greaves+17% damage, +7% crit, +25 defence. Maximizes melee damage and provides substantial fire resistance.

Ranged

HeadChestLegsDescription
Fossil helmetGiFossil greaves+5% damage, 13% crit, +12 defence.
Necro helmetNecro breastplateNecro greaves+15% damage, +10% crit, +19 defence.

Magic

HeadChestLegsDescription
Wizard hatMystic robeJungle pants+11% damage, 22% crit, 12 defence. This set will snag you some great magic bonuses, but you’ll need to have a lucky streak to get the mystic robe from the travelling merchant.
Wizard hatDiamond robeJungle pants+5% damage, +16% crit, +13 defence. Though the diamond robe isn’t as strong as the mystic robe, you won’t need to rely on luck to obtain it.
Wizard hatMystic robeMeteor leggings+20% damage, +16% crit, +11 defence
Wizard hatDiamond robeJungle pants+5% samafe, 16% crit, 13 defence. Feel free to swap pieces with the above set to increase your mana economy
Meteor helmetMeteor suitMeteor leggings+27% damage, _16 defence. Eliminates mana cost from space gun and gray zapinator

Summon

HeadChestLegsDescription
Magic hatFlinx fur coatJungle pants+6% damage, 12% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence.
Fossil helmetFlinx fur coatFossil greaves+8% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence
Ancient shadow helmetFlinx fur coatAncient shadow greaves+1 cap, +5% summon, +13 defence. This is as close to optimal as you can get, as the melee speed bonus will benefit your whip
Obsidian outlaw hatObsidian longcoatObsidian pants+1 cap, +31% summon, +15 defence. Provides 50% range bonus and +35% speed bonus to whips
Bee headgearBee breastplateBee greaves+2 cap, +23% summon, +13 defence. Provides great bonus to minion capacity, but isn’t as strong as the obsidian set

Terraria armor guide (2)

What is the best Terraria armor?

So you’ve got yourself up to the tippety top, and now you need to work out which is the best armor for you. Well, as always, this question is pretty open depending on what you’re looking for and how you intend to play the game with your newfound power. Here, we’ve put together our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, along with their buffs and what materials are needed to craft them.

Best Terraria melee armor

When it comes to melee, you want to focus on high defense and strength, so we recommend the solar flare armor.

Armor setDescriptionMaterials required
Solar flare+22% melee damage, +17% crit, +15% movement and attack speed. This set increases the likelihood that enemies will attack you, as well as giving you a special shield which can be consumed in order to dash into enemies and damage them45 solar fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafted at the ancient manipulator

Best Terraria ranged armor

Ranged fighters, of course, need to focus on increasing the damage of their ranged attacks and putting distance between themselves and the enemy. We recommend you use the vortex armor.

Armor setDescriptionMaterials required
Vortex+36% ranged damage, +27% increased crit, +10% movement speed, +25% chance to consume no ammo. This set also allows you to go into stealth mode, increasing your ranged ability and making it less likely you’ll be targeted, though you’ll trade off some movement speed.45 vortex fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator

Best Terraria summoner armor

Summoners have the unique ability to bring in minions to fight for them, so the best armor for them is the stardust armor, which focuses on buffing their little friends.

Armor setDescriptionMaterials required
Stardust+66% minion damage, +5 minion capacity. This set gives you the ability to spawn a stardust guardian, which can be set down like a turret45 stardust fragments, 36 luminate bars. Crafted at ancient manipulator

Best Terraria magic armor

Naturally, mages focus on lighting up the world with their wide range of spells, so upping your magic damage and decreasing your mana consumption is the best way forward. Therefore, we recommend the nebula armor.

Armor setDescriptionMaterials required
Nebula+36% magic damage, 16% crit, +60 max mana, -15% mana consumption. This set gives you a chance to spawn buffs when hurting an enemy. Blue boosts your mana regen, orange boosts your health regen, and pink boosts your damage45 nebula fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator

How can I get Terraria armor polish?

Terraria armor polish is an accessory in hardmode which provides you with immunity to the broken armor debuff. It is also one of the ingredients you need to make the armor bracing, which is required to craft an ankh charm, which in turn can be used to make an ankh shield. Armor polish drops from blue armored bones and armored skeletons, but only has a 1-2% drop rate.

And that’s everything on Terraria armor progression up to hardmode, our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, and how to snag yourself Terraria armor polish.If you’re looking for other armored games, check out our list of the best mobile soulslike games if you really want to test your mettle (or metal, even).

Terraria armor guide (2024)

FAQs

What is the best armor combination in Terraria? ›

The Solar Flare Armor is arguably the best armor set in the game for the Melee class. It's a high-defense armor set with bonuses focusing on attack and protection for optimal flexibility. Players must craft the Solar Flare Helmet, Solar Flare Breastplate, and Solar Flare Leggings to complete the armor set.

What armor comes after Adamantite in Terraria? ›

After Adamantium and titanium armor comes Frost armor made from either of those ores and a single frost core per armor piece. That will raise your melee and ranged damage. There is also the Forbidden armor set, with each piece requiring a Forbidden Fragment from any desert mob and bars of Adamantium or titanium.

What is the best armor for range in Terraria? ›

Arguably the best armor for the Ranger class in Terraria, the Vortex Armor has three main components: the Vortex Helmet, Vortex Breastplate, and Vortex Leggings. This armor set has some properties found in other armors already mentioned, such as the stealth mode of the Shroomite Armor.

What is the best armor for beginners in Terraria? ›

It's perfectly fine to wear Ebonwood armor, Shadewood armor, or other basic, easy-to-craft armors until you can get your hands on a real armor set like Iron armor Lead armor and platinum armor or Tungsten armor. Whatever you wear at the start of the game will be replaced very quickly.

What Armour has the best Defence in Terraria? ›

Maximum defense
  • Solar Flare Helmet or Hallowed Mask.
  • Solar Flare Breastplate.
  • Valhalla Knight's Greaves.
Jun 13, 2024

Is hallowed or adamantite armor better? ›

Melee players may not find it worth it to upgrade to Hallowed armor, as Adamantite armor has the same amount of defense (50) and higher raw damage increase. However, it could be worth crafting the Hallowed armor for the Holy Protection buff, if the player is going for a "tank style" of play.

Is palladium armor worth it? ›

While not the largest or quickest heal, it can be useful for the beginning of Hardmode, especially when used with ranged weapons, to safely regenerate from a distance. Despite having lower defense than Adamantite Armor, Palladium will usually be better at keeping you alive.

Is frost armor better than hallow? ›

For ranged users, this armor has slightly more defense than Hallowed armor with the Hallowed Helmet, however the damage bonuses are only equal to those from Mythril armor.

Is chlorophyte armor better than hallowed? ›

Chlorophyte armor is a Hardmode armor set available after defeating all three mechanical bosses. It can be considered a partial upgrade of Hallowed armor, granting more defense and being geared more towards high ranged and magic damage output.

What armor is better than solar flare Terraria? ›

The Beetle armor with the Beetle Scale Mail and full Beetle Might has over twice the offensive benefits of the Solar Flare armor (+44% melee damage and +42% melee speed for Beetle compared to merely +22% melee damage and +15% melee speed for Solar Flare armor).

What is the best armor and sword in Terraria? ›

Shadow and Molten Armor are recommended for Melee DPS in pre-Hardmode; Dragon and Chlorophyte for Hardmode. The Melee Class excels in close combat and focuses on tanking and dealing fierce damage with swords and spears.

What is the strongest summon armor in Terraria? ›

Best Armor for Summoners in Terraria. The Obsidian Armor, Bee Armor, and Stardust Armor sets are excellent for any Summoner in Terraria. These armors grant Summoners decent defense and survivability, despite falling short of better armor sets like the Solar Flare.

What is the best armor and weapons in Terraria Hardmode? ›

Melee users should use Molten armor and weapons like Night's Edge, Dark Lance, Sunfury or Cascade. Ranged users benefit from the Necro armor. The best weapons available for them are the Quad-Barrel Shotgun or Molten Fury. The Star Cannon is also powerful.

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