
If you are playing Terraria 1.4 and want to try the sommoner in the game, this guide was created to give you a quick start about how to play summoner, let’s check it out.
How does a Summoner work?
The Summoner is a character whose strength lies within the minions they summon to fight by their side, instead of in the overrated endgame weapons that everyone else uses. So step aside, solar-clad, cat-throwing players; there’s a new sheriff in town.
Anyway, the Summoner works highly different from the rest of the Terrarians. For instance, their main damage output does not come necessarily from themselves, but from the minions they summon. This allows for more flexible fighting, especially from a distance, while safely barricaded, or more infamously, for AFK farming. A skilled Summoner utilizes their minions as a way to let them focus on dodging attacks while the minions fight for you, and as such, this class is a good way to help one recognize boss patterns and improve their survival skills.
You are also able to use any weapon you desire without being locked behind a certain class that requires a certain weapon to be used for full effect. This way, you can add onto your minions’ DPS with your own, or assist them with various debuffs.
As well, dying is a little more punishing than most characters. When a Summoner dies, all of his/her summons disappear, and have to be re-summoned when respawning. This doesn’t bode well for the Summoner, especially if in the middle of an invasion like a Solar Eclipse or Pirate Invasion, where enemies can just spawn-camp you. With other characters, you can just keep fighting, maybe pop a potion or two and you’re set.
On top of this, the Summoner has generally the lowest defense compared to the rest of the classes. This usually makes the Summoner quite squishy and you’ll want to avoid as much damage as you can. However, this is made up for by the fact that you’ll have the best area control in the game; with the right terrain, a large amount of minions and several sentries, you can cover an entire screen and more with sheer firepower.
Plus, most minions cannot deal critical hits. Meaning, you’d have to reforge accessories to Warding or Menacing, for more defense or plain attack power, respectively.
Also keep in mind that you can summon multiple minions with just one summoning weapon, assuming you have minion cap bonuses. There’s no real point in making more than one of the same summoning weapon for yourself.
When you summon a minion, a buff icon featuring the minion you summoned appears in the top-left along with any other buffs. A summoned minion lasts forever and cannot die, unless the buff is cancelled; either by right-clicking the buff, summoning another minion that breaks the minion cap and causes a previous one to vanish, removing cap bonuses, leaving the world, or by dying. Some minions can also despawn if they stray too far above the top of the map; keep this in mind when in the space layer. In the lategame, having too many (over 22) buffs at once can cause others to disappear, meaning a minion can just straight-up vanish in the heat of battle. Frost Moons can go very wrong due to this…
Without any summoning armor, buffs or accessories, you can only have one minion following you at a time. If you have spare minion bonuses from summoning armor and the like, it is possible to have different kinds of minions out at once. I encourage you to form a party with variety, and see which combinations of minions work well for you in specific parts of the game. Though, as you progress, you’ll want to fill all your minion slots with one kind of minion for especially difficult/endgame situations (exempli gratia, Stardust Dragon).
If you are too far from a minion and they have trouble catching up to you, whether they’re stuck behind a wall or similar, they will fly towards you at a fast rate, bypassing any obstacles. Activating Rocket or Spectre Boots (but not wings for some reason) will also cause any stuck minion to fly back to you. Some minions have their own ways of movement; some just run around on the ground, others fly, and the Spider minion in particular can climb background walls. A handful can move through blocks on their own, but only the Stardust Dragon can detect enemies through walls.
And if you haven’t figured it out already, the minions automatically target and attack any enemy in their sight. This includes enemies off your screen, making minions an awesome way to protect you from harm. Oftentimes they can travel far from you to kill whatever enemy they’ve spotted, sometimes even going offscreen. Furthermore, they can serve as a method of protection when in a dark cave or at night, where it would be difficult for other Terrarians to notice the approaching enemy.
As of 1.3.4, you can right-click near an enemy while holding a summon staff, and your following minions will target it, if it’s within reach.
Also, just because your minions are fighting for you doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be wise to assist them. Personally I used a combination of melee and magic weapons when attacking enemies beside my minions. Once I had obtained the Crimson Key, the Vampire Knives were very beneficial to me. In Hardmode, even Tiki Armor doesn’t have as much defense as Shroomite, Turtle, Beetle and even Spectre Armor with the Mask. Heck, out of all the endgame armors, Stardust Armor has the absolute lowest defense. So if you’re making a Summoner, hope for a Crimson world, because the Vampire Knives will be a huge help in the game. It’s not as bad in Pre-Hardmode, because for the most part defense isn’t important once you have any armor set, and the minions were very powerful, each one making the game just a bit easier for me.
Alternatively, a Corruption world will be valuable because of the availability of Ebonkoi, a vital ingredient in the Wrath Potion which your minions will greatly appreciate.
Do keep in mind though, that by the time you beat the game, the Vampire Knives will no longer be necessary for several reasons, one of which being that you’ll be doing so much damage that almost nothing can touch you. Just remember; defense isn’t everything. Playing the Summoner will be sure to sharpen your dodging and preparation skills.
Meet the Minions (Pre-Hardmode)
Here I will give a semi-brief list of the items that summon minions for you, by order of game progression. Each one is different from the rest, though obviously some are more powerful than others. Most summoning weapons use 10 Mana, other than the sentry rods which use 5, the sentry staves which use 15, and the Frost Hydra which uses 20.
The iconic Slime Staff is the weakest of the summoning weapons, and ironically the rarest. It’s the rarest dropped weapon in the entire game, actually, having a 0.01%, or 1 in 10,000 chance of being dropped by most Slimes or Slimed Zombies (0.014% chance in Expert Mode). However, as of 1.3, Pinkies have an increased chance of dropping the Slime Staff, at 1% (1.4% in Expert Mode). Sand Slimes in particular have a 0.013% or 1 in 8,000 (0.018% or 1 in 5,600 in Expert) chance of dropping it. As said earlier, it’s so rare that a lot of people don’t go farming for it. Plus, its summon damage of 8 just doesn’t seem worth the effort. Although, if you are blessed with one early on in the game, that’s pure fate right there. The Baby Slime it summons attacks by jumping into the enemy’s hitbox, dealing rapid damage. Although, it becomes next to useless in Hardmode when it’s doing a rapid 1 damage. Plus, it attacks fast enough that most of your weapon shots will miss because of the enemy’s brief invulnerability from being hit so often. If you had it early enough, though, it would be a huge load off your back. Since starting characters have to fight enemies up close, the Baby Slime will take care of any enemy nearby with little trouble. Once I had even seen my Baby Slime take out a flying Harpy. And yes, it can jump very, very high.
The Finch Staff is a new face in the minion family, added with the Journey’s End update. It can be found inside Living Wood Chests under Living Trees, which may or may not spawn in the world depending on your worldgen RNG. Alternatively, a Finch Staff always spawns as a starting weapon on a fresh Journey Mode character. When used, a little bird’s nest will spawn on your head, along with the Finch minion itself. It will remain nesting on your head until it’s shaken off (such as going up on a minecart rail) or if it detects nearby enemies, in which case it will fly at them somewhat clumsily, even through walls if it has to, dealing 7 summon damage. This makes it the weakest of the summons, but most definitely the easiest one to reasonably obtain.
This little bird will be the start of many gestating Summoners for years to come, before they’re ready to leave the nest.
On the contrary, the Vampire Frog Staff is rather shy around many people, as one must go through a lot of effort to obtain it earlygame. It is dropped by Wandering Eye Fish or Zombie Mermen, at an approximate 4.17% chance. The aforementioned monsters can only be found while fishing during a Blood Moon, where they may jump out and ambush whoever brought them out of the bloody depths. Due to the toughness of these monsters (especially at higher difficulties), as well as how much the stars need to align, coming across this staff is seldom an easy task. The Vampire Frog itself deals 11 summon damage, via hopping towards an enemy and performing a short-range piercing attack with its tongue, licking everything in its path. Being amphibious, it’s also capable of swimming through water or even launching itself sky high in pursuit of its prey. An adorable companion, though one might be able to obtain any other Pre-Hardmode staff in much less time…
The Hornet Staff is crafted with 14 Bee Wax at an Anvil, and is often a player’s first step into the world of summoning. The Bee Wax needed is dropped by the Queen Bee, meaning you would likely have mid-tier Pre-Hardmode equipment by the time you obtain it. Its summon damage is 9, only one more than the Slime Staff, but the Hornet it summons fires projectiles just like the enemy Hornet would. As well, the stingers can inflict the Poisoned debuff to enemies, making this flying critter a very nifty partner to have by your side. Ironically, just like many other of the Queen’s drops, the Hornets are also good for farming the Queen Bee, as they chase her down and even go right next to her when she’s above you. The Queen is also affected by the Poisoned debuff.
The Imp Staff is obtained by taking 17 Heckstone Bars to an Anvil (Yes, I just said that). It is technically obtainable as soon as you have a Nightmare or Deathbringer Pickaxe or better, but the Underworld’s enemies will be sure to give you a hard time until you have sufficient gear to survive its dangers. This staff summons a Fire Imp to shoot a straight line of fireballs at mobs. Yes, a Fire Imp. Those annoying little dutchnuggets can finally be on your side for once. The main differences being, the summoned Imp cannot fire through walls, but it can fly. Their projectiles fly faster than the Hornet’s stingers, and can set enemies on fire, which can help light up dark areas while beating the snot out of your enemies. The Imps are also a beast at farming bosses like the Eater of Worlds or the Brain of Cthulhu, as their multiple parts can easily be set ablaze by the Imps’ fireballs. Plus, its summon damage of 17 makes it almost twice as powerful as the Hornet Staff.
Meet the Minions (Hardmode)

Spiders take up 3/4ths of one minion slot, meaning you could summon 5 Spiders if you only have 4 minion slots, for example. Wearing Stardust Armor or having other items that increase minion slots will subsequently increase the number of Spiders you can have more than normal; though it’s not entirely recommended to mostly use Spiders, since Spider attacks count as piercing, meaning only so many of them can affect an enemy at once before the extra Spiders become obsolete.



The Pygmy Staff is arguably the most important summoning weapon in Hardmode, as having it in your inventory allows the Witch Doctor NPC to sell you numerous summon-related items such as accessories and the Tiki Armor set. The Pygmy minions have variant skins.

The Raven Staff is an uncommon drop from Pumpking, the most powerful enemy in the Pumpkin Moon event. The drop rate increases as you approach Wave 15, and the highest drop percentage the Raven Staff can get is 14.29%. This staff summons Ravens that fly around you, and chase enemies by flying into their hitbox and dealing 55 summon damage. When summoning multiple Ravens, it looks as if a spooky flock is roaming over you, and when they swarm enemies, the results are murderous.
The Tempest Staff is one of the most efficient killing machines in the world of summoning, clocking in at 50 summon damage. It drops from the dreaded Duke Fishron at a 1/5 chance. The Tempest Staff summons a freaking Sharknado to follow you around, and it can phase through walls. When it spots an enemy, it fires purple and blue Sharkrons from its watery tornado, which splatter upon hitting a target. The tornado itself also causes damage when touching an enemy, and it even damages critters, so be wary of this when you’re searching for critters or Truffle Worms with your Bug Net. Six or more Sharknadoes can easily tear up almost any boss all on their own, although you would have to dodge the boss’s attacks or heal accordingly to make sure you don’t die. It has high DPS when used in great numbers and is greatly useful when taking on the Pumpkin and Frost Moons.
Meet the Minions (Hardmode part 2)
We all thought the Tempest Staff was top dog. We’re only just getting into the monsters.
The Xeno Staff is an 11.11% drop from a Martian Saucer, the strongest enemy in the Martian Madness event. It summons a small UFO to fly around you in a similar manner to the Hornet, only it flies faster and can teleport to enemies when attacking with its lasers. Its summon damage of 36 makes it appear weaker than the Tempest Staff, but its rate of fire is nearly twice as fast as the Sharknadoes, and its attack is extremely accurate. A decent few blocks of headroom must be above the enemy for the UFO to properly attack, since it always strikes from above. A fleet of these can absolutely melt many enemies within seconds.
The Stardust Cell Staff is crafted with 18 Stardust Fragments at the Ancient Manipulator, which is only dropped by the Lunatic Cultist. It summons a little blue and yellow Star Cell to follow you around. It deals 60 summon damage, making it stronger than the Tempest Staff. The Cells can teleport to faraway enemies, and their primary form of attack is by launching smaller versions of themselves that latch onto enemies, dealing the same amount of damage as the staff itself at the moment of impact. However, the smaller Cells cause the Celled debuff, which damages enemies over time for 10 damage per tick. Up to 10 smaller Cells can be attached to a single enemy, effectively draining their health away to nothing. Additionally, when you are attacking an enemy, the Cells can fire their own shots at the enemy you’re striking without interrupting their regular attack pattern, essentially helping both of you take down strong foes and encouraging teamwork, if you want to see it that way.
Lastly, the Stardust Dragon Staff is a true behemoth of a summoning weapon that’s crafted at the Ancient Manipulator with 18 Stardust Fragments, just like the Stardust Cell Staff. As a matter of fact, it’s so unique and wondrous that it can hardly be considered your state-of-the-art minion. When initially summoned, a medium-sized Chinese/serpent-like Dragon will begin to circle around you, occasionally hovering over you. But using the Staff again does not summon another Dragon; instead, each use increases the length of the Dragon’s body, making it larger and able to hit a larger group of enemies, which it attacks by charging and circling into their hitbox like a super fast worm. Thus, a larger Dragon deals far more DPS than a smaller one, especially since its damage increases as it lengthens. Each segment is able to deal its own damage, allowing the Dragon to either hit multiple enemies, or totally shred larger enemies with more health. However, summoning a max-size Dragon would allow you to summon no more minions, leaving the Dragon as your only buddy. It targets enemies through tiles as well, as it passes through all walls effortlessly.
Having lower damage than the Stardust Cell Staff, 40, one would wonder which of the two would be better. I have found that the Dragon can only focus on one enemy at a time, making it especially useful on bosses. On the other hand, the Cells can only attach up to 10 smaller replicas of themselves to one enemy, and therefore are better against crowds since multiple enemies can be taken on at once. The DPS of the Cells increases nicely when you’re all focused on one target. With the right buffs, however, a Dragon with 9 or 10 stages can easily dish out 400 to 1,000 damage per hit, and at a very fast rate. Also, the Dragon looks somewhat like a souped-up version of the Frost Hydra, so that’s always cool.
Sentry Minions
There’s a large handful of summoning weapons that summon “sentry” minions. These types of minions stay placed at the mouse’s pointer location upon summoning, and fire at any enemies that come within range. They remain there for two minutes before disappearing, and do not count towards your current minion capacity, while still inflicting summon damage.
As of 1.3.4, sentry minions have a cap of 1, so you cannot have multiple sentries in play by default. There are accessories and armor sets to supplement this and increase the cap, however. If you have a bonus to the sentry cap, you can summon more than one of the same kind or different kinds at once.
Ground sentries will be summoned at the ground or platforms below your pointer; when the blocks below them are broken, they will fall down until they land on another surface.
Since turrets, like other minions, are summoned at the mouse’s pointer, you can summon them on the other side of walls and they can clear out rooms in places such as caves, while you hide in safety. They can also be used for area control, such as during invasions. These minions will stay stationary and will not follow you, regardless of how far you stray from them.

The Staff of the Frost Hydra deals a powerful 100 summon damage at base, twice that of the Tempest Staff’s. However, because it is a “turret” minion, it remains stationary and has a less rapid rate of fire. This weapon summons a Frost Hydra that spits icy bolts at enemies for very high damage and decent knockback. It is definitely a huge help when dealing with the Pumpkin and Frost Moons, or Solar Eclipses. With good modifiers, accessories, and summoning armor with high damage, the Frost Hydra can easily deal 200 damage per hit. This staff is very difficult to obtain if you’re not lucky, as it is found in the locked Frozen Chest within the Dungeon. You will need a Frozen Key, which drops from enemies in the Hardmode Tundra biome at a 1/2,500 chance. Additionally, the chest cannot be opened until Plantera is defeated.
The Lunar Portal Staff has an 11.11% chance of being dropped by the final boss of the game, the Moon Lord. This weapon summons a void of sorts that fires a very long sweeping laser at any enemy within its 60-tile range, similar to the Moon Lord’s deathray attack and the skill the Vortex Pillar uses to defend itself. It deals 50 summon damage, which would make it seem weaker than the Frost Hydra, but its laser hits multiple enemies, and because it knocks them back a little, this allows the enemes to be hit multiple times with each laser. It can be summoned in the air, making it excellent against just about every kind of enemy, including bosses. Only problem is, it doesn’t detect enemies through blocks, and its laser doesn’t fire through blocks either. Regardless, this is one of the best minion staves you can get.
Finally, the Rainbow Crystal Staff is also dropped by the Moon Lord at the same percentage as the Lunar Portal Staff. When used, it summons a floating Rainbow Crystal that looks somewhat similar to the Last Prism which glows in different colors slightly. When an enemy comes within its range, it will begin shimmering extremely radiant, fabulous beams of light in many colors. The beams themselves don’t attack enemies, but rather the star-shaped points at the end. They will spin and glow before bursting, which deals 80 summon damage to enemies in the blast, knocking them back strongly. The Crystal can easily hit large targets and it shreds through crowds, and sometimes the lights can go through walls.
Sentry Minions (Tower Defense)
Many of the sentry-style minions are earned through playing the Old One’s Army event. These sentries, however, work differently from the others. When bought, they cannot be used normally until the Old One’s Army has been defeated. But while fighting the Old One’s Army, the tower defense sentries ignore the sentry capacity and can be placed as many times as desired. However, they cost 10 Etherian Mana to place down (Etherian Mana is dropped by enemies during the invasion).
Perhaps the most peculiar thing about the tower defense sentries is that they come in three tiers according to the currently-unlocked tier of the Old One’s Army. These tiers are: Rod, Cane, and Staff, in that order. When you’re first able to fight the invasion, at Tier 1, only the Rods will be available. Subsequently, the Canes and Staves will unlock at Tier 2 and Tier 3 respectively. Tiers will become unlocked according to game progression in the current world; Tier 1 is always available, Tier 2 is unlocked after defeating a mechanical boss, and Tier 3 is unlocked after defeating the Golem.
Obviously, Rods are the weakest of the lot, Canes are stronger than Rods, and Staves are stronger than Canes. Rods can be bought from the Tavernkeep for 5 Defender Medals; Canes are worth 25, and Staves are worth 100. Rods use 5 Mana, Canes use 10, and Staves use 15.
Below I will list all of these weapons alongside their base summon damage values.
Ballista:Rod: 27
Cane: 67
Staff: 140
Ballistas are massive, powerful crossbows that fire large bolts that pierce through enemies, dealing high damage. These bolts are affected by gravity after a certain distance and are slow to reload. The Ballistas can aim in almost any direction to fire at enemies, similar to the Frost Hydra. The projectiles’ piercing ignores enemy invincibility frames, and the Ballistas fire immediately after being summoned if there’s an enemy in range. These are great crowd-control weapons that will prove valuable during invasions, especially Old One’s Army.
Flameburst:Rod: 17
Cane: 42
Staff: 88
The Flameburst staves summon a turret that shoots fireballs that fly at a decently high velocity. They launch slightly faster than Ballistas, and explode upon impact with an enemy, dealing damage in an area and setting enemies ablaze. This tower works well alongside a player with the Huntress set effect. However, Flameburst turrets mostly fire in a straight line, and have trouble shooting at enemies directly above them.
Explosive Trap:Rod: 24
Cane: 59
Staff: 126
Not to be confused with the Explosives item that can be uncommonly found underground. When summoned, Explosive Traps appear as an orange landmine on the ground. When enemies draw close, the mine explodes, dealing high damage in an area. The cool part is that the mine stays there and continues to detonate for the duration of its lifetime. Its recharge time is similar to the Flameburst, but can be shortened with full Huntress-type Armor. This sentry works best with ground enemies, though its explosion can reach high enough to hit a flying foe if it’s low enough.
Lightning Aura:Rod: 4
Cane: 11
Staff: 34
Lightning Aura staves summon a device at the ground with two components; one sitting on the ground and one in the air, producing an electrical field in a circle shape. This creates a field of electricity that damages enemies as they walk through, making it a bit of a support/defensive weapon that isn’t for direct combat. Summoning it over key areas or around yourself can prove to be useful. The damage is generally low, but it’s the fastest-hitting turret in the game, if you don’t count the Lunar Portal’s multiple hits per laser. It also has the capability to ignore enemy defense, by adding half of an enemy’s defense to its damage. The damage listed in the in-game tooltip tends to be around triple the actual damage due to this strange mechanic, for some reason. The electrical field stops when the rim hits a block, making it a better idea to set it on an open surface (Or better yet, on a small platform in the air so it generates a full circle). The floating orb will need to have sight of the enemy in order to deal damage to it. When summoned in a tight space that’s below the field’s maximum height of 10 blocks, the floating component will be limited to the ceiling, creating a much smaller field that’s nearly useless.
Summoner’s Whips
The Summoner class allows for great versatility in weapon choice, as your minions will be doing most of the work. It is wise to carry some sort of sidearm or backup weapon, in case something gets too close or if you need extra damage. As of 1.4, Summoners get their own weapon type, the Whip, which will scale off summon damage.
Whips are a type of weapon subclass, added in the Journey’s End update. This is a special type of weapon that acts like a melee weapon, lashing out a large whip that deals damage to enemies in its line of sight. Whips can pierce multiple enemies per swing, with the damage output lessening with each additional enemy hit. These weapons inherit specific melee-weapon effects such as attack speed, among other things. For example, the Titan Glove and its upgrades are capable of making whips autoswing, like other melee weapons.
Attacking an enemy with a whip will mark that enemy as if you right-clicked with a summon staff, causing your minions to focus their attacks on it. Perhaps the most interesting feature about whips is the tooltip that lists “summon tag damage”. This means that, for a short period after being struck, an enemy will take additional damage from the minions attacking it. This allows for some epic damage combos when you and your minions are working together.
This section will be updated further after we have some time exploring the new additions.
Leather Whip:
14 Summon damage
4 Summon tag damage
The first of the whip family, the Leather Whip is sold by the Zoologist NPC for 15 gold, after completing 15% of the Bestiary. This is a basic whip with not many special effects other than the targeting ability and tag damage addon that all whips share. Regardless, a weapon of this range, especially if earned early enough, can prove especially helpful. Those who play “pure” Summoner might appreciate this. But if you’ve filled out 15% of the Bestiary, you’re probably capable of getting the next whip in progression.
Snapthorn:
18 Summon damage
6 Summon tag damage
The Snapthorn is crafted at an Anvil using 12 Stingers, 3 Vines, and 3 Jungle Spores. This is the only other whip available in Pre-Hardmode, but it definitely pulls its weight when used correctly. On top of the other features of a whip, the Snapthorn also inflicts Poisoned onto its targets; in addition, each strike briefly increases your melee attack speed, allowing subsequent uses of this weapon to hit faster. This whip is particularly good at focusing down a single target with high HP, despite the AoE capability.

40 Summon damageThe Firecracker has a 12.5% (25% on Expert Mode) chance to drop from the Wall of Flesh. This whip doesn’t feature a summon tag damage value, but instead marks struck enemies with “blazing energy”. When blazing enemies are attacked by minions, the energy will explode, dealing additional damage. This is a great way to dish out additional area DPS in early Hardmode, which you’ll definitely want to take advantage of while you try to climb the power ladder.

50 Summon damageThis delicious whip is crafted with 8 of each Souls of Night and Light, and a Frost Core (dropped by Ice Golems) at a Mythril Anvil. When striking enemies with it, a snowflake minion will spawn at the location of the enemy and attack with its small amount of DPS. It only lasts 2 seconds, but subsequent hits with the whip will refresh the snowflake’s lifetime. The snowflake is also capable of flying through walls to pursue enemies, sometimes flying back and forth between them.

55 Summon damage
9 Summon tag damage
For the Summoner who likes banking into melee build shenanigans, the Durendal is quite a reasonable choice. It is crafted with 12 Hallowed Bars at a Mythril Anvil. It’s a more basic whip that features a melee attack speed buff when attacking enemies, much like the Snapthorn, on top of a decent summon tag damage value. Though, if you prefer having additional area control and flexibility, the Cool Whip might be more up your ally.
(Working in progress, Not finished yet)
Summoner’s Mounts
A select few mounts are actually summon weapons in disguise. The damage values on these mounts actually increase as you wear equipment that grants additional summon damage. If you decide to play a ‘pure Summoner’ that doesn’t use weapons, these mounts may prove beneficial to your means of protecting yourself in combat.
The Slimy Saddle has a 25% chance to be dropped from King Slime (and has a 50% chance of being obtained from his Expert Mode Treasure Bag). This is a mount item that lets you ride on a large Blue Slime. It’s able to jump much higher and faster than you, allowing it to scale cliffs with ease. It falls at a very fast speed, can lessen fall damage, and float on the surface of water. When you jump on an enemy with the Slime mount, they take 40 damage by default, though this damage is usually a bit less depending on the enemy’s defense. This is much easier to obtain than the Slime Staff, making it usually the first minion a player will encounter. Since this mount’s jump speed is so fast, its falling speed is faster than normal, making this mount a surprisingly good tool for falling downward quickly to avoid certain boss attacks, even in the lategame.
The Blessed Apple has a 2.5% chance (3.33% in Expert) of dropping from a Unicorn, a Hallow enemy. It summons a rideable Unicorn that can double jump, and it runs faster than most running boots. The Unicorn takes a couple seconds to build up speed without any interruptions; after a certain point, it will create a cloud of sparkles and begin sprinting, allowing it to impale any enemies it touches for 80 base damage. While dashing, the Unicorn reaches a top speed of 61 MPH, and gains a 1/10-second invulnerability when touching enemies, allowing you to ram through many enemies unscathed, but usually if the enemy dies in the process. This mount is ideal for those who use a long skybridge for travel or for charging through weak enemies; although Asphalt Blocks don’t affect the Unicorn’s speed.
The Ancient Horn is a 2% drop from Basilisks, which are dangerous Hardmode enemies in the Underground Desert. It allows you to ride a Basilisk that can double jump and deals 90 base damage, making it stronger than the Unicorn. Despite that the Basilisk can only run at 41 MPH, it needs to be traveling at least 10 MPH in order to deal damage, a much lesser windup time than the Unicorn. The Basilisk mount is much better suited for battle than the Unicorn because of how easy it is to hit enemies during the ride. The Unicorn takes too much time charging in order to be effective.
Just like the Unicorn, when the Basilisk lands a hit on an enemy, you gain 1/10th of a second of invulnerability. This allows you to knock down weak enemies without being touched, or, if you like having fun, bully worm enemies.
Additionally, when at least 27 feet underground, the Basilisk gives off a faint red glow.
Summoner’s Armor
At a few points in the game, you’ll have access to armor that benefits the Summoner, increasing your max number of minions and your minions’ damage. Summoning armor generally doesn’t have a whole lot of defense, but the fact that you can safely take out enemies from a distance with your minions’ DPS makes up for that.
Along the course of the game, most of the main Summoner armors are few and far between, so you would have to play large portions of the game without upgrading your armor.
Bee Armor:
- 13 Defense
- +2 Minion capacity
- +23% Minion damage
Bee Armor is the first summoning armor set, and is the only one obtainable before Hardmode. It requires a total of 30 Bee Wax to be crafted at an Anvil (8 for the headgear, 12 for the chestplate, and 10 for the greaves). Because this is the first summoning armor, you would be playing the game for a good while until finally reaching the Queen Bee, who drops the aforementioned Bee Wax. As well, you would be playing another good while until obtaining the next armor set up on the list.
Spider Armor:
- 20 Defense
- +3 Minion capacity
- +30% Minion damage
The Spider Armor can be obtained immediately after activating Hardmode. The full set requires 36 Spider Fangs (8 for the mask, 16 for the chestplate and 12 for the greaves), crafted at an Anvil. As it gives a bonus to both the minion cap and damage, it can go a long way in Hardmode. There are four appendages extending from behind the chestplate. If you’re wearing wings, the extra legs will likely cover it until you start flying, at which point the wings replace the appendages and show its flying animation.
Forbidden Armor:
- 26 Defense
- +2 Minion capacity
- +15% Minion damage
- +15% Magic damage
- +80 Mana
- Grants the ability to summon sand tornadoes by double-tapping Down
Perhaps one of the most peculiar Hardmode armors, the Forbidden Armor acts as a hybrid armor for both Mages and Summoners. The set is fully crafted with 3 Forbidden Fragments and 46 Adamantite or Titanium Bars (1/16 for the mask, 1/20 for the robes, 1/10 for the treads). Forbidden Fragments are dropped by Sand Elementals, rare Hardmode enemies that only spawn during a sandstorm. This essentially makes the Forbidden Armor a counterpart to the Frost Armor, which is a hybrid melee/ranged armor exclusive to the Hardmode blizzard. Forbidden Armor is an excellent choice if you don’t rely on your minions too much and prefer to use a wide arsenal of magic weapons.
When the full set is worn, a gold relic called the Forbidden Sign will float behind you, similar to the Stardust Guardian. When you double-tap your Down key, an Ancient Storm will be conjured on the ground below your cursor if it’s within your line of sight, at the cost of 20 Mana. The sandnado deals a rapid base damage of 25 to any enemies that pass through it, and lasts for around 15 seconds. Summoning another tornado or hitting enemies enough times with it will also cause it to despawn more quickly. The sandnado deals summon damage and is interestingly one of the only sources of summon damage capable of achieving critical hits.
Tiki Armor:
- 35 Defense
- +4 Minion capacity
- +30% Minion damage
Each piece of the Tiki Armor can be bought from the Witch Doctor, but only if you have the Pygmy Staff in your inventory. That means that Plantera has to be defeated. Each piece is worth 50 gold coins, totalling a hefty 1 platinum and 50 gold. It is very much worth it though, as the boost in defense and the extra minion is definitely helpful in the long run, as it keeps you alive much longer. It has the same damage percentage as the Spider Armor, but with the extra minion, that damage is technically indirectly boosted.
Spooky Armor:
- 30 Defense
- +4 Minion capacity
- +58% Minion damage
- +20% Movement speed
Spooky Armor is currently the strongest wood-based armor in the game, and can only be obtained from the Spooky Wood in the Pumpkin Moon event. Crafted at a Work Bench, the helmet requires 200 Spooky Wood, the chestplate requires 300 and the leggings require 250. In total, a whopping 750 Spooky Wood is needed, but that’s honestly not a whole lot, as Pumpkin Moon enemies drop it in large quantities. A successful run can net you well over a thousand.
Stardust Armor:
- 38 Defense
- +5 Minion capacity
- +66% Minion damage
- Summons a Stardust Guardian to fight alongside you
The legendary Stardust Armor is the ultimate summoning armor, being only obtainable after you have defeated the Moon Lord several times. Basically you have to beat the game. The full set requires an expensive 36 Luminite Bars and 45 Stardust Fragments (8/10 for the helmet, 16/20 for the plate, and 12/15 for the leggings) using the Ancient Manipulator. Upon wearing the full set with no vanity items covering the armor, you will shimmer brightly with an effect that’s much nicer than the Spooky Armor’s pulsing effect. This effect remains even when the armor is dyed, allowing for many epic looking combinations. Regardless of whether or not you’re wearing vanity items, this armor also glows white, almost like an infinite Shine Potion. Although it is not directly stated, the leggings and plate increase your minion cap by 2, while the helmet increases the cap by 1.
This armor’s set effect calls forth the Stardust Guardian, which doesn’t count towards your minion cap, to have your back at all times. However, it doesn’t attack on its own, unlike all the other minions; instead, you can direct it to a location by pointing your cursor somewhere over a block and double-tapping your Down key. The Guardian will move to that location and remain stationary there until you hold Down or move far away. When enemies come near the Guardian, he will activate an explosion of a small radius, damaging every enemy inside it. This will cause the enemies to go after him instead of you. Since minions can’t be damaged by anything, this is a great help, especially during invasions. Unfortunately, the Guardian’s damage is only about 20 at base, which is abysmal. The Guardian is also affected by pet dyes, so you might have some fun with that.
From what I have learned from a commenter as well as running my own tests, minions summoned with the Spooky Armor will keep their respective damage upon the initial summon. Meaning, if you were to quickly swap each piece with the Tiki Armor, such as by right-clicking it, you would be able to keep the first few minions’ damage, while still being allowed to summon the extra dude with the Tiki Armor’s slightly lower damage. In this way, you are able to keep all the damage boosts from the Spooky Armor while having the increased defense and extra minion of the Tiki Armor (more information on that in the ‘Prefixes’ section).
Summoner’s Armor (Sentry-based)
With the 1.3.4 update, Summoners now have a massive arsenal at their disposal. With the Dungeon Defenders 2 crossover event, many new items have become available. To access most of this content, you must buy them from the Tavernkeep, an NPC who specializes in trading through a specific currency called Defender Medals.
There are a total of eight Dungeon Defenders-themed armor sets… and they’re all for Summoners. The catch is that they mostly specialize in sentry minions, which aren’t the traditional minions that follow you.
Additionally, the armors are not specifically built only around minions, unlike the Spider and Tiki armors for example. They also include a vast array of other stats that players may find useful. These sets could be helpful for those who seek a balance between different classes of damage, or are curious about the world of summoning but aren’t quite ready to give up all of their other power. This also encourages players to fight alongside their minions just like the Forbidden Armor, though these are most useful during the Old One’s Army invasion.The following four armor sets cost 75 Defender Medals each, so 25 per piece. Medals are earned from fighting the Old One’s Army. The armor sets in this section must be bought from the Tavernkeep who sells everything you need to get the invasion started. He will start selling the armors after one mechanical boss has been defeated.
Squire Armor:
- 58 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- Increased life regeneration
- +30% Minion damage
- +15% Melee damage
- +20% Melee critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Ballistas pierce more enemies and shoot faster when you take damage
A summoning armor with a lot of melee benefits. This set encourages you to use the Ballista weapons during invasions. When you take damage, you gain the Ballista Panic buff for 5 seconds; your currently-placed Ballistas will fire faster at enemies in a brief panic.
Apprentice Armor:
- 32 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- +30% Minion damage
- +10% Magic damage
- -10% Mana usage
- +20% Movement speed (Incorrect in-game, it actually provides +20% magic crit chance)
- Additional Flameburst field of view and range
Apprentice Armor is similar to Forbidden Armor in that they are magic/summoning armor sets. However, they key differences are that: Apprentice Armor provides more defense, more minion damage, and reduced Mana costs, compared to Forbidden’s additional Mana and evenly-split magic and summon damage. The set specializes in Flameburst-type weapons which ought to be handy for enemy clusters.
Huntress Armor:
- 36 Defense
- +30% Minion damage
- +20% Ranged damage
- +10% Ranged critical strike chance
- +20% Movement Speed
- Explosive Traps recharge faster and oil enemies
This set is a blend of Summoner and Ranger armor, and it’s viable for Rangers who control areas with sentries. Huntress Armor can work well in situations where you need reliable crowd control while you go for a bigger enemy like a boss during an event. Since Explosive Trap sentries aren’t effective unless an enemy walks near them, the set effect makes them much more valuable and makes up for their slow recharge. When oiled, enemies will take more damage over time from fire-based debuffs such as On Fire, Frostburn, and Shadowflame.
Monk Armor:
- 46 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- +30% Minion damage
- +20% Melee damage
- +20% Melee speed
- +10% Melee critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Lightning Auras can now deal criticals and attack faster
Monk Armor is a nifty set that works as a fast, hard-hitting attacker. It’s a melee set that relies on swift strikes, which works well with the new spears in 1.3.4. The Monk specializes in Lightning Auras; since each Lightning Aura can cover a wide area with a fast hitting, critically-damaging field, the Monk can become a formidable force on the battlefield.
The next four armors are unlocked after defeating the Golem, and can be bought for 225 Defender Medals per set; 75 per piece. Very expensive, but they can prove highly useful since they’re optimized to tackle invasions.
Valhalla Knight Armor:
- 68 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Minion damage
- Greatly increased life regeneration
- +20% Melee critical strike chance
- +30% Movement speed
- Ballistas pierce more enemies and shoot faster when you take damage
Valhalla Knight Armor is an upgrade to Squire Armor, with the exception of the missing attack bonus. This is currently the highest summoning armor in terms of defense and it also makes a great armor for tanks. Upon taking damage, you’ll gain the Ballista Panic buff for 5 seconds, just like the Squire Armor, allowing your increased number of Ballistas to knock down everything in their way.
Dark Artist Armor:
- 42 Defense
- +3 Sentry Capacity
- +60% Minion damage
- +25% Magic damage
- +25% Magic critical strike chance
- Additional Flameburst field of view and range
The Dark Artist set specializes in high magic damage and critical hits, along with powerful Flamebursts. A player as a Dark Artist can keep safe with a group of Flamebursts that fire at enemies with fast shots from long distances, while the player utilizes their own enhanced magic abilities to blow everything down. The set provides no additional Mana or reduced Mana costs however, so you’ll probably have to make up for that with accessories, Mana potions, Mana regeneration, or weapon reforges that reduce Mana costs.
Red Riding Armor:
- 48 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Minion damage
- +25% Ranged damage
- +10% Ranged critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Explosive Traps recharge faster and oil enemies
A direct upgrade to Huntress Armor, Red Riding Armor is an excellent choice for defensive Rangers. Since Rangers are supposed to hit fast and hard, the increased damage and crit chance are much appreciated. As usual, the respective sentry, the Explosive Trap, is enhanced to be more viable. Explosive Traps work well with this setup too; most Rangers will find themselves in the air, shooting at bosses, while the Explosive Traps take care of lesser enemies on the ground.
Shinobi Infiltrator Armor:
- 54 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Minion damage
- +20% Melee damage
- +20% Melee speed
- +20% Melee critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Lightning Aura can now deal criticals and attacks faster
Shinobi Infiltrator Armor doesn’t have too many differences from the Monk set, except for more minion damage, sentry capacity, critical strike chance, and defense. They’re all relatively even, allowing for fairly high stats across the board. This armor set is meant for swift, up-front attackers, and is good enough to rival both Hallowed and Spooky Armor at the same time (despite the set applying to sentries instead of traditional minions). Like the Monk, Shinobi Infiltrator specializes in Lightning Auras, allowing them to potentially create an arena out of Lightning Auras that they can fight inside or use as a defense, leaving no enemy safe.
Summoning Buffs
Well let’s be honest, every summoning item is useful in its own right. So I’ll just be throwing in all the items that benefit a Summoner that don’t belong in the weapons, armor, or accessories category.
The Summoning Potion allows you to summon an extra minion for 6 minutes, which can be very useful for boss fight preparations. To brew one, you need a Bottled Water, one Moonglow and one Variegated Lardfish at an alchemy station, meaning you would have to take up fishing to make a steady supply of these. The fish can be caught in the Underground Jungle’s lakes.
The Bewitching Table is an essential item released with the 1.3 update. When placed, you may right-click it to receive a buff that increases your minion cap by one for 10 minutes. It functions much like the Crystal Ball and Ammo Box. The Table is found in the Dungeon and functions as a table for valid housing. It’s also sold by the Witch Doctor for 10 gold when the Wizard is present. I recommend always having a Bewitching Table in your inventory if you’re a Summoner. It’s good for non-Summoners too, as having a little extra DPS is good for just about everyone; unless it’s a quick piercing minion that may interrupt your attacks. The Bewitching Table is like a free Summoning Potion, and the two stack as well.
Any item with the Well Fed buff slightly increases all your stats, on top of providing additional health regeneration in Expert Mode. Among these stats are a 5% overall damage increase, which affects minions as well, and an additional 50% minion knockback. The best of these items is the Pumpkin Pie, which lasts for 45 minutes and is made with 10 Pumpkins at a Furnace. Pumpkin Seeds can be bought from the Dryad for 2 and a half silver coins each, and planted on grass to eventually grow pumpkins. Each fully grown seed can yield far more than one pumpkin when harvested, though. Other items with this buff include Cooked Fish, Bowl of Soup, Bacon and many other consumables.
I recommend the Well Fed buff for any and/or all boss encounters.
The Wrath Potion is brewed with one Bottled Water, Ebonkoi, and Deathweed. Because the Ebonkoi is a fish exclusive to the Corruption biome, it normally cannot be caught in Crimson worlds unless you were to build your own Corruption using materials brought in from a Corruption world. The Wrath Potion increases all damage by 10% for 4 minutes; because this also applies to minions, it is recommended to use this just before the start of a major battle, and then summon your minions so that they receive this damage boost. Even after the potion wears off, the minions keep the extra damage indefinitely, until they are despawned.
Accessories
A wide number of accessories in Terraria can provide a good help to Summoners, some of which are made purely for them. It’s always been difficult for me to choose a correct loadout of accessories, which is why I always keep some in my inventory in case I need to switch them out.
I usually find myself always having my Wings equipped at all times (with the exception of performing the ultimate loadout), since I often have to travel across my world for whatever reason. I used to have Frostspark Boots equipped, but eventually I replaced them with another accessory that benefits summoning.
The Squire Shield (and any other shield for that matter) can be used with the Brand of the Inferno (also dropped by Ogres) to parry attacks and grant you the Striking Moment buff for a couple of seconds, which powers up your next melee attack by 500%.
The Necromantic Scroll can be dropped from the Mourning Wood during the Pumpkin Moon. Its drop rate increases as you advance in the Pumpkin Moon, the highest being 20%. It increases your max number of minions by one and increases minion damage by 10%. It can be combined with the Hercules Beetle at the Tinkerer’s Workshop to create the Papyrus Scarab.
After being crafted, the Papyrus Scarab gives a bonus of one extra minion, 15% more minion damage and increases minion knockback. Essentially, this is a Hercules Beetle with an added space to the minion cap. It is possible to have a Hercules Beetle, Necromantic Scroll and Papyrus Scarab equipped all at once, increasing your max minions by 2, damage by 40% and knockback by, well, a lot. This item is a must-have for any dedicated Summoner.
And now, I shall mention a few accessories that can also help Summoners, but are not necessarily exclusive to minion bonuses.
The Avenger Emblem increases your total damage by 12%. It can be made by taking any Emblem and combining it with 5 Souls of Sight, Might and Fright. The Avenger Emblem gives a pure damage boost overall, meaning minions can also benefit from this. While the Destroyer Emblem is considered better with its 10% damage increase and +8% critical strike chance, it would mostly affect your own attacks. Minions cannot deal critical hits.
The Sun Stone and Moon Stone are essentially equal to the Celestial Stone in terms of stat increases; however, they only function during the day or night, respectfully. The Celestial Stone keeps those stat increases regardless of the time of day. The Moon Stone is an uncommon drop from Vampires during a Solar Eclipse, with a 1% drop rate, while the Sun Stone drops from the Golem at a 12.5% chance.
The Celestial Stone is created by combining a Sun Stone and a Moon Stone at the Tinkerer’s Workshop. It increases all your stats, including +10% melee speed, 2% critical strike chance, +1 HP per second of life regeneration, 4 defense, 15% mining speed, 50% minion knockback and 10% damage. As this is a pure damage increase, this also applies to minions. Many late-game characters prefer to use this item, as its overall stat increase helps in almost every situation. It can also be combined with the Moon Shell to create the Celestial Shell.
The Celestial Shell is an item that is made by combining the Celestial Stone and Moon Shell at the Tinkerer’s Workshop, and it retains the abilities of both items. This requires you to have obtained the Sun Stone, Moon Stone, Neptune’s Shell, and Moon Charm. The Neptune’s Shell is no longer craftable, and instead is dropped from the Creature from the Deep, an enemy from the Solar Eclipse, at a 2% chance (3% on Expert). Moon Charms are dropped from Werewolves, which only spawn at night during a full moon in Hardmode, at a 1.67% chance. The Celestial Shell is a highly helpful item when fighting in the ocean, since you’ll be able to transform into a merfolk when entering water, and swim very quickly.
I also give a special shoutout to the Demon Heart. While not an accessory on its own, consuming it allows you to gain a sixth accessory slot. This allows for a lot of powerful accessory combinations, and is a huge help to all characters, not just Summoners. This item can only be obtained from the Wall of Flesh’s Treasure Bag on Expert Mode. You won’t gain any more Demon Hearts after you’ve used it, and you can’t use more than one. You also can’t use your sixth accessory slot on normal mode worlds. The Demon Heart is required in order to perform the ultimate summoning loadout, so if you plan to make a Summoner, perhaps you wanna try Expert Mode while you’re at it.
Not all loadouts are going to work for everyone, so feel free to switch these around as you progress through the game. Like I said earlier, I had Frostspark Boots only temporarily, and the Butterfly Wings never even moved from its spot until I obtained the Fishron Wings much, much later. But if you were to fill up your five/six slots with nothing but summoning accessories, you’d be a nearly unstoppable minion master.
A very important tip when it comes to Summoner items: the Witch Doctor is your best friend! (And the Goblin Tinkerer if you wanna perfect your setup)(Has anyone else noticed he’s holding a Pygmy Staff?)
That’s all we are sharing today in Terraria 1.4 Summoner Guide (How to Play, Armor, Mounts, Buffs & Accessories), this guide is not finished and it will be updated ASAP, if there are anything you want to add please feel free to leave a comment below and we’ll see you soon.
Credit to Kascin and Gard
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But what about the Summoner?
One day I decided to start fresh with a new character and world; only this time, I was going to focus on summoning items, armor and accessories. I wanted to see how using these overlooked items would affect the line of gameplay. In many of my first playthroughs, it was second nature to gain a Gold Broadsword, a Light's Bane/Blood Butcherer, and work my way up to Night's Edge. I couldn't go anywhere without Meteor Armor with the Space Gun, I couldn't enter Hardmode without a full set of Molten Armor. How much gameplay would be changed if I concentrated on being a Summoner?
I would soon find out.
And soon, so shall you.
This is what the Summoner is capable of. If you seek to attain this power, read on. The knowledge of the Summoner beckons.
A good number of people in the Terraria community saw a lot of potential in the summoning mechanics, myself included. I just didn't pay a lot of attention to it because there wasn't a lot to it at the time. Then in 1.2.4, the Summoner class expanded dynamically, adding in far more summoning items and armors, some of which were even accessible before Hardmode (Despite the Slime Staff being obtainable before Hardmode, it's so rare that most people don't even bother looking for it).
At last in 1.3, the Summoner was made an official class with the introduction of the Summoner Emblem, its own Celestial Tower, and of course, more minions.
In 1.3.3, the Forbidden Armor and Basilisk mount were made available, giving Summoners more options in early Hardmode. In 1.3.4, many new sentry minions and 8 new Summoner-style armor sets were introduced to commemorate the Dungeon Defenders 2 crossover.
And in 1.4, the Summoner went through some substantial changes, including the ability for minions to update their damage dynamically instead of upon summoning, leading to the removal of the damage loadout strategy many used to use. To supplement this, whips were added as a way for Summoners to deal direct damage as well as synergize more with their minions. Several new minions were added at various points of progression, several older ones got buffed, and Hallowed Armor was given a Summoner helmet.
In 1.4.1, a few new Pre-Hardmode Summoner items were introduced, including more varieties of armor as well as the craftable Flinx Staff.
Anyway, the Summoner works highly different from the rest of the Terrarians. For instance, their main damage output does not come necessarily from themselves, but from the minions they summon. This allows for more flexible fighting, especially from a distance, while safely barricaded, or more infamously, for AFK farming. A skilled Summoner utilizes their minions as a way to let them focus on dodging attacks while the minions fight for you, and as such, this class is a good way to help one recognize boss patterns and improve their survival skills.
You are also able to use any weapon you desire without being locked behind a certain class that requires a certain weapon to be used for full effect. This way, you can add onto your minions' DPS with your own, or assist them with various debuffs or whips.
As well, dying is a little more punishing than most characters. When a Summoner dies, all of his/her summons disappear, and have to be re-summoned when respawning. This doesn't bode well for the Summoner, especially if in the middle of an invasion like a Solar Eclipse or Pirate Invasion, where enemies can just spawn-camp you. With other characters, you can just keep fighting, maybe pop a potion or two and you're set.
On top of this, the Summoner has generally the lowest defense compared to the rest of the classes. This usually makes the Summoner quite squishy and you'll want to avoid as much damage as you can. However, this is made up for by the fact that you'll have the best area control in the game; with the right terrain, a large amount of minions and several sentries, you can cover an entire screen and more with sheer firepower.
Plus, most minions cannot deal critical hits. Meaning, you'd have to reforge accessories to Warding or Menacing, for more defense or plain attack power, respectively.
Also keep in mind that you can summon multiple minions with just one summoning weapon, assuming you have minion cap bonuses. There's no real point in making more than one of the same summoning weapon for yourself.
When you summon a minion, a buff icon featuring the minion you summoned appears in the top-left along with any other buffs. A summoned minion lasts forever and cannot die, unless the buff is cancelled; either by right-clicking the buff, summoning another minion that breaks the minion cap and causes a previous one to vanish, removing cap bonuses, leaving the world, or by dying. Some minions can also despawn if they stray too far above the top of the map; keep this in mind when in the space layer. In the lategame, having too many (over 22) buffs at once can cause others to disappear, meaning a minion can just straight-up vanish in the heat of battle. Frost Moons can go very wrong due to this...
Without any summoning armor, buffs or accessories, you can only have one minion following you at a time. If you have spare minion bonuses from summoning armor and the like, it is possible to have different kinds of minions out at once. I encourage you to form a party with variety, and see which combinations of minions work well for you in specific parts of the game. Though, as you progress, you'll want to fill all your minion slots with one kind of minion for especially difficult/endgame situations (exempli gratia, Stardust Dragon).
If you are too far from a minion and they have trouble catching up to you, whether they're stuck behind a wall or similar, they will fly towards you at a fast rate, bypassing any obstacles. Activating Rocket or Spectre Boots (but not wings for some reason) will also cause any stuck minion to fly back to you. Some minions have their own ways of movement; some just run around on the ground, others fly, and the Spider minion in particular can climb background walls. A handful can move through blocks on their own, but only a select few can detect enemies through walls.
And if you haven't figured it out already, the minions automatically target and attack any enemy in their sight. This includes enemies off your screen, making minions an awesome way to protect you from harm. Oftentimes they can travel far from you to kill whatever enemy they've spotted, sometimes even going offscreen. Furthermore, they can serve as a method of protection when in a dark cave or at night, where it would be difficult for other Terrarians to notice the approaching enemy.
As of 1.3.4, you can right-click near an enemy while holding a summon staff, and your following minions will target it, if it's within reach.
Also, just because your minions are fighting for you doesn't mean it wouldn't be wise to assist them. Personally I used a combination of melee and magic weapons when attacking enemies beside my minions. Once I had obtained the Crimson Key, the Vampire Knives were very beneficial to me. In Hardmode, even Tiki Armor doesn't have as much defense as Shroomite, Turtle, Beetle and even Spectre Armor with the Mask. Heck, out of all the endgame armors, Stardust Armor has the absolute lowest defense. So if you're making a Summoner, consider a Crimson world, because the Vampire Knives will be a huge help in the game. It's not as bad in Pre-Hardmode, because for the most part defense isn't important once you have any armor set, and the minions were very powerful, each one making the game just a bit easier for me.
Alternatively, a Corruption world will be valuable because of the availability of Ebonkoi, a vital ingredient in the Wrath Potion which your minions will greatly appreciate.
Do keep in mind though, that by the time you beat the game, the Vampire Knives will no longer be necessary for several reasons, one of which being that you'll be doing so much damage that almost nothing can touch you. Just remember; defense isn't everything. Playing the Summoner will be sure to sharpen your dodging and preparation skills.
If you don't feel like farming for it or just wanna have some fun, the Slime Staff can be purchased from the Princess NPC for 10 gold, but only if playing on the "celebrationmk10" joke seed. Note that the Princess is actually a starting NPC in that world. Who would've thought.
This little bird will be the start of many gestating Summoners for years to come, before they're ready to leave the nest.
It's important to note that enemy defense cannot be reduced/ignored below 0, making armor penetration builds useless against squishier enemies. But hey, at least they'll always have 0 defense.
This staff has a 50% chance to be dropped by Dreadnautilus (100% on Expert/Master), a miniboss that can be fished up during a Blood Moon at any point in Hardmode. While obtaining this staff is quite difficult, I guarantee it has the potential to carry. It deals 35 summon damage and conjures red Sanguine Bats that never leave your side; unless they charge forth to attack your foes. When the Bats successfully kill their prey, they immediately teleport back to your side, only to lunge out again to assault another target. Their attacks are scarily on-point even against fast targets, and their damage adds up fast in numbers, rendering them one of the most reliable minions in the entire game. It's a perfect damage dealer without all the shortcomings of inaccuracy or having to catch up to you half the time. Remilia fans rejoice.
The Tiger summoned by this staff only has 41 summon damage, but each use of the staff increases the damage of the Tiger (by 40% of the base damage) instead of summoning multiple. Each use also takes up a minion slot, similarly to the Stardust Dragon; except the Tiger can only take up 9 slots maximum. The first three stages of the Tiger will appear as a baby, while stages 4-6 are an adult, with stages 7-9 being an adult with cool golden armor.
The Tiger attacks by performing a super fast homing attack towards enemies, bypassing walls if it needs to, followed by rapid damage as the Tiger attempts to stay on the opponent's hitbox. Then it will either return to your side or zoom to the next target at a breakneck pace, with a short cooldown between homing attacks; this cooldown is reduced with each growth stage. However, if your minion cap is maxed out, multiple further uses of the staff cause the Tiger to home in on any enemies in range immediately. Good kitty.
Having lower damage than the Stardust Cell Staff, 40, one would wonder which of the two would be better. I have found that the Dragon can only focus on one enemy at a time, making it especially useful on bosses. On the other hand, the Cells can only attach up to 10 smaller replicas of themselves to one enemy, and therefore are better against crowds since multiple enemies can be taken on at once. The DPS of the Cells increases nicely when you're all focused on one target. With the right buffs, however, a Dragon with 9 or 10 stages can easily dish out 400 to 1,000 damage per hit, and at a very fast rate. Also, the Dragon looks somewhat like a souped-up version of the Frost Hydra, so that's always cool.
This weapon can only be obtained if you fight and kill the Empress of Light during the day; all damage dealt must be during daytime. The Empress is enraged during the day, meaning all of her attacks WILL oneshot you. This makes her one of the biggest challenges a Summoner can face.
Are you up for it?
As of 1.3.4, sentry minions have a cap of 1, so you cannot have multiple sentries in play by default. There are accessories and armor sets to supplement this and increase the cap, however. If you have a bonus to the sentry cap, you can summon more than one of the same kind or different kinds at once.
Ground sentries will be summoned at the ground or platforms below your pointer; when the blocks below them are broken, they will fall down until they land on another surface.
Since turrets, like other minions, are summoned at the mouse's pointer, you can summon them on the other side of walls and they can clear out rooms in places such as caves, while you hide in safety. They can also be used for area control, such as during invasions. These minions will stay stationary and will not follow you, regardless of how far you stray from them.
Perhaps the most peculiar thing about the tower defense sentries is that they come in three tiers according to the currently-unlocked tier of the Old One's Army. These tiers are: Rod, Cane, and Staff, in that order. When you're first able to fight the invasion, at Tier 1, only the Rods will be available. Subsequently, the Canes and Staves will unlock at Tier 2 and Tier 3 respectively. Tiers will become unlocked according to game progression in the current world; Tier 1 is always available, Tier 2 is unlocked after defeating a mechanical boss, and Tier 3 is unlocked after defeating the Golem.
Obviously, Rods are the weakest of the lot, Canes are stronger than Rods, and Staves are stronger than Canes. Rods can be bought from the Tavernkeep for 5 Defender Medals; Canes are worth 25, and Staves are worth 100. Rods use 5 Mana, Canes use 10, and Staves use 15.
Below I will list all of these weapons alongside their base summon damage values.
Ballista:
Ballistae are massive, powerful crossbows that fire large bolts that pierce through enemies, dealing high damage. These bolts are affected by gravity after a certain distance and are slow to reload. The Ballistae can aim in almost any direction to fire at enemies, similar to the Frost Hydra. The projectiles' piercing ignores enemy invincibility frames, and the Ballistae fire immediately after being summoned if there's an enemy in range. These are great crowd-control weapons that will prove valuable during invasions, especially Old One's Army.
Flameburst:
The Flameburst staves summon a turret that shoots fireballs that fly at a decently high velocity. They launch slightly faster than Ballistae, and explode upon impact with an enemy, dealing damage in an area and setting enemies ablaze. This tower works well alongside a player with the Huntress set effect. However, Flameburst turrets mostly fire in a straight line, and have trouble shooting at enemies directly above them.
Explosive Trap:
Not to be confused with the Explosives item that can be uncommonly found underground. When summoned, Explosive Traps appear as an orange landmine on the ground. When enemies draw close, the mine explodes, dealing high damage in an area. The cool part is that the mine stays there and continues to detonate for the duration of its lifetime. Its recharge time is similar to the Flameburst, but can be shortened with full Huntress-type Armor. This sentry works best with ground enemies, though its explosion can reach high enough to hit a flying foe if it's low enough.
Lightning Aura:
Lightning Aura staves summon a device at the ground with two components; one sitting on the ground and one in the air, producing an electrical field in a circle shape. This creates a field of electricity that damages enemies as they walk through, making it a bit of a support/defensive weapon that isn't for direct combat. Summoning it over key areas or around yourself can prove to be useful. The damage is generally low, but it's the fastest-hitting turret in the game, if you don't count the Lunar Portal's multiple hits per laser. It also has the capability to ignore enemy defense, by adding half of an enemy's defense to its damage. The damage listed in the in-game tooltip tends to be around triple the actual damage due to this strange mechanic, for some reason. The electrical field stops when the rim hits a block, making it a better idea to set it on an open surface (Or better yet, on a small platform in the air so it generates a full circle). The floating orb will need to have sight of the enemy in order to deal damage to it. When summoned in a tight space that's below the field's maximum height of 10 blocks, the floating component will be limited to the ceiling, creating a much smaller field that's nearly useless.
Attacking an enemy with a whip will mark that enemy as if you right-clicked with a summon staff, causing your minions to focus their attacks on it. Perhaps the most interesting feature about whips is the tooltip that lists "summon tag damage". This means that, for 4 seconds after being struck, an enemy will take additional damage from the minions attacking it. This allows for some epic damage combos when you and your minions are working together.
Whips are capable of receiving the same reforges as swords, meaning they can receive the Legendary modifier. As of 1.4.1, faster whips are no longer bugged to have shorter range, so Legendary is the best modifier.
14 Summon damage
4 Summon tag damage
The first of the whip family, the Leather Whip is sold by the Zoologist NPC for 15 gold, after completing 10% of the Bestiary. This is a basic whip with not many special effects other than the targeting ability and tag damage addon that all whips share. Regardless, a weapon of this range, especially if earned early enough, can prove especially helpful. Those who play "pure" Summoner might appreciate this.
18 Summon damage
6 Summon tag damage
The Snapthorn is crafted at an Anvil using 12 Stingers, 3 Vines, and 3 Jungle Spores, and it definitely pulls its weight when used correctly. On top of the other features of a whip, the Snapthorn also inflicts Poisoned onto its targets; in addition, each strike briefly increases your melee attack speed, allowing subsequent uses of this weapon to hit faster. This whip is particularly good at focusing down a single target with high HP, despite the AoE capability.
29 Summon damage
7 Summon tag damage
Suffers less from piercing damage dropoffs
The Spinal Tap is crafted at a Work Bench with 90 Bones and 55 Cobwebs, placing this whip at Skeletron-tier. The final whip in Pre-Hardmode, this weapon can prove useful against crowds, as it has slightly less damage reduction from hitting multiple enemies compared to other whips, at 15% damage falloff per enemy struck in a single swing. This is your answer to the Wall of Flesh.
40 Summon damage
The Firecracker has a 12.5% (25% on Expert Mode) chance to drop from the Wall of Flesh. This whip is able to set enemies on fire; it doesn't feature a summon tag damage value, but instead marks struck enemies with "blazing energy". When blazing enemies are attacked by minions, the energy will explode, dealing additional damage equal to 2.75x the damage dealt by the minion. This is a great way to dish out additional DPS in early-to-mid Hardmode, which you'll definitely want to take advantage of while you try to climb the power ladder.
50 Summon damage
This delicious whip is crafted with 8 of each Souls of Night and Light, and a Frost Core (dropped by Ice Golems) at a Mythril Anvil. When striking enemies with it, a snowflake minion will spawn at the location of the enemy and attack with its small amount of DPS (usually about 10 damage per hit) which ignores 30 enemy defense. It only lasts 2 seconds, but subsequent hits with the whip will refresh the snowflake's lifetime. The snowflake is also capable of flying through walls to pursue enemies, sometimes flying back and forth between them. Also, the whip inflicts Frostburn on hit.
55 Summon damage
9 Summon tag damage
For the Summoner who likes banking into melee build shenanigans, the Durendal is quite a reasonable choice. It is crafted with 12 Hallowed Bars at a Mythril Anvil. It's a more basic whip that features a melee attack speed buff when attacking enemies, much like the Snapthorn, on top of a decent summon tag damage value. Though, if you prefer having additional area control and flexibility, the Cool Whip might be more up your ally.
180 Summon damage
5 Summon tag damage
5% Summon tag critical strike chance
"Hey, you know what we should add as a Summoner weapon?"
"What?"
"A freaking Morning Star."
The Morning Star is dropped by the various Armored Bones in the post-Plantera Dungeon, at a 0.5% chance (1% on Expert Mode). This is quite the jump in power from earlier whips; while it is the slowest whip of the bunch, it has incredible damage and very high knockback, which most whips have very little of. Despite the low tag damage value, the Morning Star is capable of allowing minions to critically strike focused enemies. At long last. And along with all that, this whip is a solid enough weapon on its own, allowing you to dispose of anything foolish enough to get too close.
100 Summon damage
This rad looking scythe-whip is dropped by Pumpking, the toughest enemy in the Pumpkin Moon event, at the same rate as all his other drops. Attacking enemies with it grants you a bit of attack speed just like the Durendal and Snapthorn. Additionally, enemies will be marked with "dark energy"; minions who attack afflicted enemies will cause that energy to jump towards nearby enemies, zapping them for about 10 damage, ignoring 50 enemy defense. This damage is unaffacted by your own attack power, making this whip consistently useful for crowds. It synergizes best with fast minions like the UFOs as a result.
180 Summon damage
20 Summon tag damage
10% Summon tag critical strike chance
The ultimate whip in the game. The Kaleidoscope has a 1 in 4 chance to be obtained from the Empress of Light boss. The added summon tag damage and crit chance will hand a lot of power to your minions. Do you want a Stardust Dragon that can crit? Do you like rainbows? If yes, make this whip your goal. It's very straightforward but it gets the job done.
Just like the Unicorn, when the Basilisk lands a hit on an enemy, you gain 1/10th of a second of invulnerability. This allows you to knock down weak enemies without being touched, or, if you like having fun, bully worm enemies.
Additionally, when at least 27 feet underground, the Basilisk gives off a faint red glow.
On top of all this, you will look extremely fabulous riding on this mount.
Along the course of the game, most of the main Summoner armors are few and far between, so you would have to play large portions of the game without upgrading your armor. Man I love 1.4.
Flinx Fur Coat:
- 1 Defense
- +1 Minion capacity
- +5% Summon damage
Obsidian Armor:
- 15 Defense
- +1 Minion capacity
- +31% Summon damage
- +35% Whip speed
- +50% Whip range
Bee Armor:
- 13 Defense
- +2 Minion capacity
- +23% Summon damage
Wizard Hat:
- 4 Defense
- +5% Magic damage
- +1 Minion capacity... if playing on the Celebrationmk10 world
...But for some ungodly reason, if you're playing on a world with the "celebrationmk10" seed, the Wizard Hat in particular gets an extra minion slot. I haven't the foggiest idea why this random detail was added, but it's a Summoner item now, so into the guide it goes.
I'm so confused.
Spider Armor:
- 20 Defense
- +3 Minion capacity
- +28% Summon damage
Forbidden Armor:
- 26 Defense
- +2 Minion capacity
- +25% Summon damage
- +25% Magic damage
- +80 Mana
- Grants the ability to summon sand tornadoes by double-tapping Down
When the full set is worn, a gold relic called the Forbidden Sign will float behind you, similar to the Stardust Guardian. When you double-tap your Down key, an Ancient Storm will be conjured on the ground below your cursor if it's within your line of sight, at the cost of 20 Mana. The sandnado deals a rapid base damage of 20 to any enemies that pass through it, and lasts for around 15 seconds. Summoning another tornado or hitting enemies enough times with it will also cause it to despawn more quickly.
The sandnado's damage is affected by both magic and summon damage boosts, and is interestingly one of the only sources of summon damage capable of achieving critical hits; this is because the sandnado is affected by your magic critical strike chance.
Hallowed Armor:
- 27 Defense
- +3 Minion capacity
- +17% Summon damage (7% of which is total damage)
- +7% Critical strike chance
- +8% Movement speed
- Holy Protection
Tiki Armor:
- 35 Defense
- +4 Minion capacity
- +30% Summon damage
Spooky Armor:
- 30 Defense
- +4 Minion capacity
- +58% Summon damage
- +20% Movement speed
Stardust Armor:
- 38 Defense
- +5 Minion capacity
- +66% Summon damage
- Summons a Stardust Guardian to fight alongside you
This armor's set effect calls forth the Stardust Guardian, which doesn't count towards your minion cap, to have your back at all times. When an enemy comes within 30 blocks of you, the Guardian will fly towards it, bypassing any obstacles, and beats the crud out of it Jojo-style for daring to threaten your safety. Most enemies will get squashed by his punches rather quickly, but if you're close enough to a boss, the Guardian won't cease punching until either you move far away or until the boss is dead. The Guardian is also affected by pet dyes, so you might have some fun with that.
There are a total of eight Dungeon Defenders-themed armor sets... and they're all for Summoners. The catch is that they mostly specialize in sentry minions, which aren't the traditional minions that follow you.
Additionally, the armors are not specifically built only around minions, unlike the Spider and Tiki armors for example. They also include a vast array of other stats that players may find useful. These sets could be helpful for those who seek a balance between different classes of damage, or are curious about the world of summoning but aren't quite ready to give up all of their other power. This also encourages players to fight alongside their minions just like the Forbidden Armor, though these are most useful during the Old One's Army invasion.
The following four armor sets cost 75 Defender Medals each, so 25 per piece. Medals are earned from fighting the Old One's Army. The armor sets in this section must be bought from the Tavernkeep who sells everything you need to get the invasion started. He will start selling the armors after one mechanical boss has been defeated.
Squire Armor:
- 58 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- +2 HP per second of life regeneration
- +30% Summon damage
- +15% Melee damage
- +15% Melee critical strike chance
- +15% Movement speed
- Ballistae pierce more enemies and shoot faster when you take damage
Apprentice Armor:
- 32 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- +30% Summon damage
- +20% Magic damage
- -10% Mana usage
- +20% Magic critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Additional Flameburst field of view and range
Huntress Armor:
- 36 Defense
- +30% Summon damage
- +20% Ranged damage
- +10% Ranged critical strike chance
- +20% Movement Speed
- +10% Chance to not consume ammo
- Explosive Traps recharge faster and oil enemies
Monk Armor:
- 46 Defense
- +2 Sentry capacity
- +30% Summon damage
- +20% Melee damage
- +20% Melee speed
- +15% Melee critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Lightning Auras can now deal criticals and attack faster
Valhalla Knight Armor:
- 68 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Summon damage
- +10% Melee damage
- +4 HP per second of life regeneration
- +20% Melee critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- Ballistae pierce more enemies and shoot faster when you take damage
Dark Artist Armor:
- 42 Defense
- +3 Sentry Capacity
- +60% Summon damage
- +25% Magic damage
- +25% Magic critical strike chance
- +20% Movement Speed
- -15% Mana usage
- Additional Flameburst field of view and range
Red Riding Armor:
- 48 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Summon damage
- +25% Ranged damage
- +20% Ranged critical strike chance
- +20% Movement speed
- +20% Chance to not consume ammo
- Explosive Traps recharge faster and oil enemies
Shinobi Infiltrator Armor:
- 54 Defense
- +3 Sentry capacity
- +60% Summon damage
- +20% Melee damage
- +20% Melee speed
- +25% Melee critical strike chance
- +30% Movement speed
- Lightning Aura can now deal criticals and attacks faster
I recommend the Well Fed buffs for any and/or all boss encounters.
...Or does it?
In actuality, it increases armor penetration by 12 only while you're holding a melee weapon. Are you picking up what I'm putting down? This means that minions can benefit from this buff; but since you have to hold a melee weapon (whips don't count, sadly), this is a very niche strategy. But still, a strategy nonetheless.
I usually find myself always having my Wings equipped at all times, since I often have to travel across my world for whatever reason. On one of my characters, I used to have Frostspark Boots equipped, but eventually I replaced them with another accessory that benefits summoning.
The Squire Shield (and any other shield for that matter) can be used with the Brand of the Inferno (also dropped by Ogres) to parry attacks and grant you the Striking Moment buff for a couple of seconds, which quintuples the power of your next melee attack.
And now, I shall mention a few accessories that can also help Summoners, but are not necessarily exclusive to minion bonuses.
Not all loadouts are going to work for everyone, so feel free to switch these around as you progress through the game.
A very important tip when it comes to Summoner items: the Witch Doctor is your best friend! (And the Goblin Tinkerer if you wanna perfect your setup)
- Pose reference photos
- Honeywell zone valve
- Dark hallway paint ideas
- Eye doctor estes park
- 2015 challenger hood pins
1.4 Summoner Minion, Whip & Armor In-Depth Tier List
With all of these changes and major buffs in mind, this skyrocketed Summoner's viability to the point it's now arguably the best class in the game after Tank Melee (Defense is broken). This also has to do with Ranger as a whole being nerfed, but my point stands. Even though Summoner is reallystrong now and has multiple deep playstyles, I see too many people act like they are well experienced with 1.4 Summoner and recommend the wrong options to newer players (Like using Blade Staff with Firecracker, or suggesting Optic Staff over Blade/Sanguine).
Somewhat based on Baconfry's hardmode weapon tier list(but with different colors), I will give a grade to all of Summoner's options from minions to whips to armor sets (I won't include sentries though, because I've never used sentries and know next to nothing about them, and most of them aren't really impactful or too useful from what I saw No Stardust Armor either, that's Post-Moon Lord). But first, the mindset/rules I will rank the options in the list with:
- For minions specifically, mainly their DPS in practice, taking AI and other potential annoyances into account (if there's any). Also taking account defensive benefits such as having good AI that responds to regular mobs fast, being capable of stunlocking mobs and generally how good they are at protecting the player from threats as a whole.
- For whips specifically, their range, standalone DPS, what they bring to the table for supporting/buffing and also how many viable minions they pair with in general.
- For armors specifically, their stats obviously. But also how useful their set bonus is if they have one, and how good the armor set is for mixing armors (Forbidden Robes and Treads are good example).
- For ALL options in general, their general availability and if grinding for them is worth the effort if needed. Also taking competition into account and for how long and how many tiers the option stays relevant & viable relative to other options through the game.
Now for what grades mean:
S rank:Essential options to consider, these options carry Summoner and most of them are somewhat overpowered for Terraria's standards in general.
A rank:Options that are great during pre-Hardmode but simply aren't insane like much of the Hardmode options. Or options that are just as good as S-tier options their peak, but either get replaced quickly and/or are very hard to obtain. Or options that are arguably just as good as S-tier options, but come later on and are perhaps not worth switching to.
B rank: Options that are relatively mediocre for Summoner standards but still might have one or two uses. Or options that are what you'd want to pick as Summoner but are simply obtained at a point where Summoner isn't at its strongest (Early pre-Hardmode for example).
C rank:Poor options that are most likely not worth paying attention toward if you want to optimize your Summoner playthrough. But if you want to challenge yourself, options here can make a playthrough more challenging without being TOO annoyingly weak & clunky.
D rank:Avoid
There will also be another rating indicating my "confidence" with an option: 5/5 means I'm perfectly experienced with the option and know just about everything there is to know, and nearly everything I'll say is facts I know are true. 1/5 means I pretty much never used the option and have limited knowledge of it, I might make assumptions and should be taken with a grain of salt in those cases.
Last thing to note: Whip Stacking. You can use multiple whips to stack their effects. For example, you can combine Leather Whip (4 Summon Tag damage) and Snapthorn (6 Summon Tag damage) to get 10 Summon Tag damage, that's higher than Durendal! It gets especially potent once more powerful whips like Durendal, Firecracker (Setup other whips to speed up melee speed and get more explosions) and Dark Harvest are obtained. It involves micro'ing and switching between multiple weapons often and can be difficult, but it's worth it and this technique will be taken into account significantly in the list. Anyway, let's get to the list already.
Minions




It would have been S-tier, however it is relatively difficult to obtain (12.5% drop from a miniboss during Blood Moon that needs fishing). Lastly, it's particularly useful when you just reached Hardmode, as it can easily hit multiple enemies and deal high damage with whips especially if you rush Ichor Flask (Black Recluses have 40 defense, which is high).





The closest it gets to having a flaw is its competition with Blade Staff (more on that soon), but as a whole it can easily be used all the way to the Lunar pillars or Terrarprisma, although there are rivaling or slightly better options Post-Plantera and Post-Golem like Blade Staff, Desert Tiger Staff, maybe Raven Staff and Xeno Staff (half of which are difficult to obtain and/or have less reliable AI). Another neat thing with the Sanguine Staff is that while at very close-range (or simply when an enemy is on top of you), the bats' attack will hit the same multiple times, leading to significantly higher damage. However, if you're thinking of a facetanking strategy involving Summoner, Blade Staff performs better in that aspect (again more on that soon).

The most unique minion, in general one of the most unique weapons in the whole game. Because of its very fast attack speed but extremely low base damage, it pairs extremely well with Summon Tag damage. As a whole, its damage output depends on what whips the player uses and how skilled they are at whip stacking. Up to three or even fourdifferent Summon Tag whips can be juggled at once to bring Blade Staff to its limit. With Durendal and on good hands, its damage output is on par with Sanguine Staff with Firecracker, Durendal and Spider Armor. DPS aside, where Blade Staff shines even more is actually survivability, for two reasons.
First and directly, the Blade Staff's AI is perfectly consistent and will respond to threats instantly (even faster than Sanguine Staff does), and will proceed to utterly stunlock anything that isn't immune to knockback. It will even keep enemies stuck in midair.Whether it's a Giant Tortoise spinning at you or a Bone Lee dashing toward you, the blades will interrupt & stunlock them. More situationally, its idle animation also acts as a shield since its hitbox is always active, for example being able to block Dark Caster projectiles when one is shooting at you from above. The second reason Blade Staff is so beneficial for survivability is its base damage. Almost all of its damage comes from Armor Penetration and Summon Tag damage, percentage bonuses barely contribute to it at all. Whips do benefit from percentage bonuses, however until Post-Plantera whips, Blade Staff & Summon Tag are your main source of DPS against bosses. So where am I getting at here? With this in mind, you can reforge all of your accessories to Warding and also equip Hallowed Armor. Your overall damage output will hardly be lower at all, but your survivability and amount of mistakes you can make will skyrocket.
Let's look at my video comparing Blade Staff with Sanguine Staff for a minute.With Full Menacing and Spider Armor, both Blade Staff & Sanguine Staff kill Expert Plantera in 27.5 seconds. However, with Full Warding and Hallowed Armor, Blade Staff kills Expert Plantera in 31 seconds, while Sanguine does it in 35 seconds. It's a significant difference and an example of how much better Blade Staff fares with defensive builds compared to almost all other weapons in the game. In general, the Blade Staff + Warding Hallowed combo has an amazing balance of damage and survivability, and is one of the most dominant "setups" in the entire games, taking all progression points/tiers into account. A different strategy using Blade Staff that is also just as good is Titanium Facetank. This may lean toward Melee a bit, but Melee/Summoner hybrid is extremely powerful through most of Hardmode. Since the Titanium Armor set bonus creates a damage-dealing shard everytime you hit an enemy, Blade Staff pairs fantastically well with it. This lets you facetank most Hardmode bosses even in Master mode, mainly Destroyer and Plantera. If one goes with this strategy, Blade Staff will be just as dominant in pre-Mech as it is pre-Plantera in general.
When it comes to weaknesses, Blade Staff's damage output is overall outclassed by Sanguine Staff in pre-Mech (excluding Titanium Facetank) since Durendal isn't obtainable until one mech has been defeated. It may also be less viable against Nighttime Empress of Light, as in that fight your best option is Morning Star which gives a relatively low amount of Summon Tag Damage. Spinal Tap and Snapthorn are not viable options because of their short range, and Dark Harvest has no Summon Tag damage at all. It will immediately come back just as dominant once Kaleidoscope is obtained thanks to its high Summon Tag damage: excluding Post-Golem minions, it's arguably the best minion to use against Daytime Empress of Light as long as you have Kaleidoscope. Even then, Xeno Staff is only slightly better and is difficult to obtain, while Dragon/Cell are endgame weapons. Even though Blade Staff peaks at pre-Plantera, it's still one of the best minions through pre-Golem and post-Golem, and the only competition it has involves using armors that lack in survivability to maximize damage, as their damage output would suffer significantly otherwise.
To end it all, it's also useful for a couple of other tasks. Dungeon Guardian DPS, Lucky Coin if you manage to get that and also instantly killing Prismatic Lacewings for easy EoL summoning with no risk of wasting any summons. By the way, make a sky rail if you struggle with Queen Slime.



Additionally, there are time where the tiger gives up and goes into "return mode" in a similar manner as Xeno Staff, which hurts its performance further when it happen. Boss fights are not where Desert Tiger Staff shines, but against regular enemies. A "technique" that I call the "Pounce spam", simply keep re-summoning the tiger repetitively and it will go crazy, going after everything on your screen at very fast speed while in ball form. This is extremely powerful in the Hardmode dungeon especially, and in the Pumpkin Moon the tiger can freely maul Mourning Woods and other enemies without issues. But as a whole, I feel like the Desert Tiger Staff is overrated based on everything I've seen, mainly against Empress of Light.





Reason it's not ranked S+ is because it's obtained near the end of the game, its AI is again inconsistent and it's also bad against crowds, clumsily going after one enemy at time. Compared to Stardust Cell Staff, cells are more consistent against Empress of Light while having around the same damage output, but dragon is still most likely better against Moon Lord since it excels at hugging Moon Lord's weak points and eating its health bar.

With the way I'm describing Stardust Cell Staff, I sound like I believe it's overall slightly better than the Stardust Dragon Staff, and I do believe it's debatably the case! I still rank it S though because it comes very late into the game, but it's not too far from being S+.

Whips




Where Firecracker peaks however is post-Cultist, thanks to Stardust Dragon Staff. Since the dragon deals hundreds of damage each hit, Firecracker's explosions will reach around 700+ damage with Obsidian armor and I believe 1000+ with Spooky Armor. Though Obsidian Armor is recommended over Spooky Armor for this purpose, mainly for Empress of Light. Either way, from pre-Mech to Post-Cultist the Firecracker remains a dominant weapon for nearly all of Hardmode. That said, it can be challenging to use as it requires constant whipping to keep up the DPS, the middling range makes it a riskier option than Summon Tag whips since those effects last for several seconds. Furthermore, it needs a good amount of percentage damage bonuses from armors & accessories to bring out its potential, and combined with the fact you'll want to use it with mainly Obsidian Armor, a Firecracker user will naturally be a glass cannon and can easily die from mistakes in boss fights or when trapped against underground mobs.





Armors(Excluding Old One's Army armor sets)


Its weakest (but still solid) points are probably Skeletron (since Snapthorn is weak) and Nighttime Empress of Light. It's hard to explain, but both Desert Tiger and Morning Star are options that don't dominate their tier like earlier Hardmode options did. They are relatively minor upgrades if not sidegrades, when other classes get significantly bigger upgrades in term of weapons. Even then, as I said, Obsidian Armor remains strong forever and doesn't ever need to be replaced (unless you want to change playstyle), which saves up a significant amount of time & resources. Of course, I'm not going to ignore the elephant in the room: Its survivability is really bad. Hardmode onwards, its 15 defense is low even for Summoner standards and makes you a true glass cannon. However, the positives greatly outweigh the negatives, and on the hands of a skilled player the Obsidian Armor lets them kill all enemies with ease, whether it's big clumps of regular enemies or bosses. Just be ready to have a more frustrating experience in the Underground and Hardmode Dungeon.



Does Pure Summoner deal more damage? Should you just drink mana potions instead of resorting to whips when low on mana? Is Sanguine/Firecracker or Blade/Durendal better for damage output, taking into the account the fact that Summon Tag damage makes the latter deal increased damage for longer? No matter what though, you'll be dealing a good amount of damage at the least and the armor is good for mixing with other armor pieces. Forbidden Robes & Treads each give +40 max mana, +10% damage to magic or summon and +1 max minion, which is a ton.

Until Post-Plantera whips, Blade Staff & Summon Tag are your main source of DPS against bosses. So where am I getting at here? With this in mind, you can reforge all of your accessories to Warding and also equip Hallowed Armor. Your overall damage output will hardly be lower at all, but your survivability and amount of mistakes you can make will skyrocket.
Let's look at my video comparing Blade Staff with Sanguine Staff for a minute. With Full Menacing and Spider Armor, both Blade Staff & Sanguine Staff kill Expert Plantera in 27.5 seconds. However, with Full Warding and Hallowed Armor, Blade Staff kills Expert Plantera in 31 seconds, while Sanguine does it in 35 seconds. It's a significant difference and an example of how much better Blade Staff fares with defensive builds compared to almost all other weapons in the game. In general, the Blade Staff + Warding Hallowed combo has an amazing balance of damage and survivability, and is one of the most dominant "setups" in the entire games, taking all progression points/tiers into account.Click to expand...
In short, when used to its full potential, the Hallowed Armor provides an amazing balance of offense and defense, allowing you to make more mistakes in boss fights and generally fare significantly better in the Underground Jungle & Hardmode Dungeon all things considered. Holy Protection combined with Blade Staff stunlocking enemies and also running full Armored/Warding on accessories, I don't remember the last time I died with this setup. It stays strong for the rest of the game, as later summons like Xeno Staff and Stardust Cell Staff also perform well with Summon Tag.



Sours: https://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/1-4-summoner-minion-whip-armor-in-depth-tier-list.105645/
Terraria: Best Summoner Build In Terraria 1.4
Quick Links
Terraria's Summoner class has always been a strange one. It didn't get much love until the 1.4 Journey's End update, but with the introduction of Whips and other new summoning items, it is, at last, a viable build to tackle Terraria with.
RELATED: 13 Games You Should Play If You Like Terraria
Playing as a Summoner poses a unique challenge but offers plenty of advantages over the other classes. It also has a couple of downsides, mostly that it's tricky to play in the early game. This guide will cover how to complete the Summoner build in Terraria, from your first steps to sending your swarm of minions right at the Moon Lord's big smug space-face.
Updated July 13th by Harry Alston:We're updating this Summoner build guide to include more info ahead of the 1.4 console release date for Terraria. The guide has been restructured to be easier to follow, as well as with some extra info about the best summoner weapons, armor, and playstyles you can expect with all the new 1.4 buffs for the class.
Summoner Build Fundamentals
Playing as a Summoner means you might die. A lot. This is because Summoners typically have low defensive stats but incredible damage output. You are a glass cannon in pretty much every way.
Like the other classes, the Summoner really comes into its own during the latter stages of Hardmode, but there are still ways to tackle enemies and defeat bosses throughout Terraria. It's not always easy, but a fun challenge to try out if you're an experienced Terrarian.
Early Game Summoner Build
The very early stages of Terraria are mostly based on what you manage to find on your spelunking trips. A mixed approach is usually recommended, with any armor or weapons you find that can get you through the first bosses and more challenging biomes.
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That being said, the Summoner class does have a few options thanks to the 1.4 update, including the Finch Staff and Leather Whip. Armor at this point is usually Cactus Armor, later upgraded to armor crafted from the early ores, like Gold and Platinum. No accessories for Summoners yet, so go for something simple like a Cloud in a Bottle and Hermes Boots.
An early game summoner build might look like this:
- Finch Staff, Leather Whip
- Gold Armor, Platinum Armor, Jungle Armor
- Cloud in a Bottle, Hermes Boots, Lucky Horseshoe
Pre-Hardmode And The Wall Of Flesh Boss Fight
Up until 1.4, Summoners were pretty useless at this stage of the game. Thanks to the addition of the Spinal Tap whip (crafted from Cobwebs and Bones) and the Obsidian Armor (crafted from, you guessed it, Obsidian), the Summoner is now a viable option to take down the Wall of Flesh.
There are also a few more options for weapons, such as the Hornet Staff (dropped from the Queen Bee), the Vampire Frog Staff, and the Imp Staff. You might also go for the Bee Armor which increases minion damage by ten percent. There's one essential accessory at this stage: the Pygmy Necklace. You can purchase this from the Witch Doctor at night. It provides one extra minion slot.
A pre-Hardmode Summer build should include:
- Hornet Staff, Spinal Tap, Imp Staff (other options for weapons are available)
- Bee Armor, Obsidian Armor
- Feral Claws, Pygmy Necklace, and other accessories of choice
The best weapon for a Summoner build that is transitioning it Hardmode? It has to be the Imp Staff paired with the Spinal Tap.
Early Hardmode Summoner Build
At this stage of the game, choosing a set build is the best route to take. The Summoner build has quite a few options with early Hardmode weapons such as the powerful Blade Staff and the skin-crawling Spider Staff. We recommend the Blade Staff. It is dropped by the Queen Slime as of 1.4 with a 33.33 percent chance to drop.
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Likewise, the Summoner has access to some class-specific armor sets, such as the Spider Armor and Forbidden Armor. The Obsidian Armor is a good introductory armor to see you through the first steps into Hardmode. The Wall of Flesh can also drop the Summoner Emblem, a crucial accessory for the class.
Spider Armor is crafted from 36 Spider Fangs and will increase the number of minions you can have by three, as well as providing a boost to minion damage.
Forbidden Armor is crated with Forbidden Fragments and either Titanium or Adamantite Bars. The Mask, Robes, and Treads all provide a mild boost to minion damage and the number of minions you can spawn.
An early Hardmode summoner build should look like this:
- Cool Whip, Spinal Tap, Blade Staff, Spider Staff
- Spider Armor, Forbidden Armor, Obsidian Armor
- Summoner Emblem, Pygmy Necklace, Berserker's Glove
Plantera Hardmode Summoner Build
The defeat of the mechanical bosses opens up new avenues for the Summoner class. The Hallowed Armor is a fantastic choice to flesh out your Summoner build, as it will increase the set number of minions by two. Craft the Hood first, as this increases minions by one and minion damage by ten percent.
Hallowed Armor is crafted with Hallowed Bars, which are dropped by the Mechanical Bosses. It's one of the best sets of summoner armor you can wear pre-Plantera. You just need to craft the Hood and all the other pieces of armor are standard.
Your Summoner build will likely make use of the same weapons as with the mechanical bosses, particularly the Blade Staff. This is usually the most recommended summoner weapon for this stage of the game, although you can experiment with the Ballista Rod (summons a static Sentry to assist you), Lightning Aura Cane, or the classic Queen Spider Staff.
Here's a good Summoner build for taking on Plantera:
- Blade Staff (other weapons are available)
- Hallowed Armor, Spider Armor, Squire Armor (for a sentry build)
- Summoner Emblem, Berserker's Glove, Pygmy Necklace
Golem Hardmode Summoner Build
Defeating Plantera opens a world of possibility for the Summoner build. There are some new weapons available thanks to the Frost Moon and Pumpkin Moon events, such as the Raven Staff and Staff of the Frost Hydra. You can also get your hands on a new whip, the Dark Harvest.
The Raven Staff is one of the best Hardmode summoning weapons to have before you face the Golem. It summons a raven that hunts enemies down. The Staff is dropped by the Pumpking during the Pumpkin Moon event, and its best modifier is Ruthless.
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Likewise, it's time to upgrade your armor. The Spooky Armor or Tiki Armor are recommended since they both offer advantages to the Summoner build. You should also get your hands on a Necromantic Scroll or Papyrus Scarab. This is where you'll really start to understand the power of the build.
Spooky Armor is the second-best set of summoning armor in the entire game and can be crafted from Spooky Wood earned during the Pumpkin Moon event. It is very close to Tiki Power in what it offers, but you can deal more minion damage with the Spooky Armor with every new minion you spawn. The more minions, the more damage it deals.
A Golem Hardmode summoner build should include:
- Blade Staff, Raven Staff, Dark Harvest (other weapons are available to experiment with)
- Spooky Armor, Tiki Armor
- Summoner Emblem, Papyrus Scarab, Necromantic Scroll, Pygmy Necklace
Lunar Events and Moon Lord Summoner Build
Congratulations, you've reached the endgame of Terraria with a Summoner build. The latter stages of Terraria have some great options to complete your build, including the powerful Xeno Staff and Stardust Dragon Staff.
Spooky Armor holds up well until the very end of the game when you can upgrade to Stardust Armor to round everything off. The accessories stay widely the same (with the Pygmy Necklace and your scrolls) but can be complemented by other endgame accessories like the Celestial Shell.
Stardust Armor is the BEST Summoner armor in the entire game, available once you've defeated Moon Lord. It takes 36 Luminite Bars to craft (that's 144 Luminite in total) and 45 Stardust Fragments. As Moon Lord is basically the end of content, the Stardust Armor is suited to late-game PVP content.
This is the ideal endgame Summoner build:
- Stardust Dragon Staff, Xeno Staff (there are a couple of other options, too)
- Stardust Armor, Spooky Armor
- Papyrus Scarab, Necromantic Scroll, Pygmy Necklace
Check out our other Terraria 1.4 build guides here:
NEXT: The 10 Best Pickaxes & Swords In Terraria
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About The AuthorHarry Alston is a writer based in the UK. He was once number one in the world on Call of Duty: Black Ops and now spends his days chasing that past glory.
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