Melee only

[Karina]

Is it possible to "complete" terraria by using nothing but melee? If i remember correctly a lot of early game melee is trash.

[Puntato]

what? melee is the class with the most support for the entire game, and is what most people use anyway as their main weapon, as it's alot harder to get anything else (except a bow, i suppose).

so.. yes.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

nope

even with the max'd out melees you'll still get steamrolled when you get to the wall of flesh boss aka the boss you NEED ranged attacks to hit.

You can risk it getting closer but you'll most likely get hit. On expert and master mode you'll pretty much get KO'd if you don't keep your distance even with max potions and defenses.

Even the beam swords are pretty ♥♥♥♥ against the boss. Unlike other bosses you don't have unlimited time. You got from the start of the world to the edge of the world before you instantly die. Try teleporting behind the WoF same ♥♥♥♥. Escape is impossible without instantly dying.

There's just not enough damage to kill it / without being killed yourself. Not to mention all the smaller mobs that'll be attacking you from behind while you run.

[Karina]

Originally posted by Miss Keiki's Dragon Maid:

nope

even with the max'd out melees you'll still get steamrolled when you get to the wall of flesh boss aka the boss you NEED ranged attacks to hit.

You can risk it getting closer but you'll most likely get hit

By melee i dont not mean weapon that used in melee ranged but weapon that deal "melee" damage.

[Puntato]

Originally posted by Miss Keiki's Dragon Maid:

nope

even with the max'd out melees you'll still get steamrolled when you get to the wall of flesh boss aka the boss you NEED ranged attacks to hit.

You can risk it getting closer but you'll most likely get hit. On expert and master mode you'll pretty much get KO'd if you don't keep your distance even with max potions and defenses.

Even the beam swords are pretty ♥♥♥♥ against the boss.

its certainly possible though. Purist runs are the most common type of challenge run

[Paulo Minoso]

yeah meele goes a long way it can be from the most absurd op weapon to the most boring mediocre weapons like the keyblade

[RyonDK]

Zenith > melt everything around you.

[Wintermute]

I used to kill normal WoF with Flamarang. It's definitely possible, but not something I'd recommend.

[YetiChow]

Early game melee weapons include:

- spear/trident available from chests/water chests respectively

- boomerang (and now enchanted boomerang since you can just craft regular boomerang with a star)

- yo-yo + string (I mean if you have the cobwebs for the yo-yo itself you're gonna make the string too)

- potentially the Starfury, Ice Sword, Ice Boomerang, and Enchanted Sword (or if you're amazingly lucky, the Terragrim) depending on how easily you can navigate your world and how persistent you are at looking for these weapons.

These are all weapons which are available within the first few minutes of the game, with no crafting or boss-fighting or "hard" biome exploration required (the ice biome is relatively easy if you keep your wits about you, and you can skip over most of the difficult biomes on the way to the oceans if you play smart. Finding a sky island requires a bit of practice and a good amount of rope, finding a sword shrine is probably the hardest of all these but gives you amazing returns.)

And every single one of those weapons I've listed is an amazing early-game option. The spear, trident, and boomerangs can each lock down a single enemy (i.e. press them up against a wall and hold them there) or be used to defend a doorway or narrow tunnel with ease. The Ice Blade and Enchanted Sword both have a "melee projectile" and provide good light, making them outstanding weapons for exploring caves (leading to accessories, potions, better weapons, and of course ores.)

If you hit the jackpot and get a Terragrim... well, let me put it this way: I'm still using my Terragrim in post-plantera hardmode in my Master Mode "light RP" run where my character is spec'd as a ranger, not even a melee focussed character, because it's simply that good at holding back most enemies. I suspect it will be staying in hotbar slot 1 right up until I replace it with a Zenith (I'll be skipping Fetid Bagnahks because my RP/theme is being a monster hunter) since it's just so damn useful as a keep-away weapon in an emergency. Sure it no longer melts through stacks of enemies at a time, but there's only like 5 enemies I've come across that can push through its flurry attacks to make hitbox contact... it might as well be a forcefield as far as any other enemies are concerned.

And for all the old memes about the copper shortsword being the most OP weapon... honestly with the change to shortswords now that they can stab in any direction, they almost live up to that hype!

Playing a melee "pure class" character is all about knowing your ranges/reach, hitboxes, judging relative speeds, and keeping an eye out for where enemies can approach you from and where you can fall back to or chokepoint them. It's probably the most "active" play-style (although mage is a close second because of all the weapons to switch between, potions and mana to manage, and keeping control/aiming certain spells), but if all the early-game melee weapons feel like "trash" then you're doing something wrong. Using spears has always been a satisfying option for me, I know players who love the precision of yo-yos and all the tricks they can pull off, boomerangs combine the best parts of melee and ranger styles (i.e. good knockback and some cool tricks combined with good reach and the ability to pick out specific enemies within a crowd)... and like I said, the changes to shortswords make them much more interesting and compelling (and versatile!) All those auto-swinging "broadsword"-pattern swords and axes get pretty boring, and the end-game ones have to use gimmicks (projectiles, homing projectiles, ridiculous reach, and now with Zenith it's just straight-up area targeting like an AoE magic weapon)... I'd honestly say that personally I find the early-game phase of a melee character to be just as engaging as any other phase when I'm fully using the various options and not just relying on a single big-swinging sword to carry the day.

[Triploon]

I'm not gonna add another wall of text to this discussion so I'll keep it simple

If you can beat WoF and Destroyer with platinum shortsword, you can probably beat the game with only melee weapons

[Mirrabean]

use that sword from queen bee and run along a path with a roof for wall and make sure its made out of that ash stuff in hell

[Karina]

Getting close to a wall of flesh now. What should i kill this thing with? Yo-yo?

[YetiChow]

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

Getting close to a wall of flesh now. What should i kill this thing with? Yo-yo?

I'd say that a wide-swinging weapon (some kind of broadsword, axe, or such) will help in the early part of the fight when you need to clear a path to the eyes/mouth. After that, either a yoyo or spear will let you focus-fire on the eyes/mouth, Dark Lance would probably be my choice.

Boomerangs are always good utility weapons for a melee build too. I'd say that 2-3 weapons to switch between during the fight is about all you'll want to deal with; any more can be too much to worry about when you're also dodging and trying to keep the right distance. It may pay to bring a melee weapon with a good range for the final few seconds where the WoF speeds up, so that you can keep your distance while still doing damage.

Make sure you have a flask, potions, buffs... I'd probably take a minion or three (summon station + summon potion) as well just for that extra DPS. I'd say that your "build" (accessories etc.) and Hell Bridge/Arena preparation are probably at least as important as the weapons you're using for this fight if you plan to do it as a melee character -- WoF is going to be able to shoot you as well as keep you pressured AND throw minions at you, so you need to crank that DPS for when you get an opening.

[Karina]

Originally posted by YetiChow:

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

Getting close to a wall of flesh now. What should i kill this thing with? Yo-yo?

I'd say that a wide-swinging weapon (some kind of broadsword, axe, or such) will help in the early part of the fight when you need to clear a path to the eyes/mouth. After that, either a yoyo or spear will let you focus-fire on the eyes/mouth, Dark Lance would probably be my choice.

Boomerangs are always good utility weapons for a melee build too. I'd say that 2-3 weapons to switch between during the fight is about all you'll want to deal with; any more can be too much to worry about when you're also dodging and trying to keep the right distance. It may pay to bring a melee weapon with a good range for the final few seconds where the WoF speeds up, so that you can keep your distance while still doing damage.

Make sure you have a flask, potions, buffs... I'd probably take a minion or three (summon station + summon potion) as well just for that extra DPS. I'd say that your "build" (accessories etc.) and Hell Bridge/Arena preparation are probably at least as important as the weapons you're using for this fight if you plan to do it as a melee character -- WoF is going to be able to shoot you as well as keep you pressured AND throw minions at you, so you need to crank that DPS for when you get an opening.

Nights Edge, Dark Lance and Flamarang? Also have Sunfury.

Also- tried to make Nights Edge Legendary- no luck. Wasted like 3 platinum on reforging.

Also also- using minions will be a violation of Code of Chivalry. I can only use weapons that deal "melee" damage.

[YetiChow]

Originally posted by Esteban Failsmore:

Nights Edge, Dark Lance and Flamarang? Also have Sunfury.

Also- tried to make Nights Edge Legendary- no luck. Wasted like 3 platinum on reforging.

Also also- using minions will be a violation of Code of Chivalry. I can only use weapons that deal "melee" damage.

Sounds like you're as heavily equipped weapons-wise as you can be, then. I'd say bring all 4 weapons since they have different uses (Sunfury with the swinging mode could do huge damage at close range, but it's really a weapon of last resort... e.g. if a new wave of Hungry spawn around you and you need to clear them quickly)

It's probably not worth pushing for the reforge on Night's Edge because it drops off sharply in HM, and will probably just sit in a chest until you're ready to upgrade it to True for a Terrablade. It requires a Titan Glove to make it a reasonably viable weapon IMO, and that's a HM item... so by the time you've found a Titan Glove from a mimic you probably have a better sword anyway.

Definitely make sure you're taking advantage of flasks, potions, and everything else that you can use to crank your DPS up if "secondary" damage types are off the table -- WoF's whole gimmick is that it steamrolls you if you try to straight-up brawl it, so you'll need to be able to clear its minions and dump a bunch of damage early before skipping back to a safer distance and poking it from afar as it speeds up. Eventually it WILL out-pace you, so the key is to pile on the damage as it does so, and have the ability to lurch forwards (probably Shield of Cthulhu with maybe grappling tricks if you can use them in a way that won't make you stop moving) to stay just out of reach while you wear it down. There's no way to stay within melee range while also staying ahead of it AND dodging the lasers + minions, so pick 2 of those 3 and prepare some way to make up for the other one (either having a strong way to heal and lots of armour, or having a long-reaching melee weapon like boomerang and giving yourself plenty of time/space to wear the WoF down with that.)

[Karina]

Building long ass arena in underworld is pure hell. Monsters are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ tier and they respawn rate is insane. One thing 1.4 Terraria should haved improved is underworld.

Lava from lava slimes destroys placed bonfires and burns honey. Despressito.