What is the Best Starter Armor in Terraria?
The best starter armor in Terraria isn’t about chasing the most powerful set right out of the gate, it’s about practicality and progression. Instead of focusing on a single “best” armor, understand that your initial armor will be temporary. The truly optimal approach is to utilize readily available resources to craft armor that will protect you just enough to begin your Terrarian journey and gather better materials. With that understanding, the best initial armor sets are those that are easy to craft and offer early-game protection which are primarily Ebonwood, Shadewood, or the standard Wooden armor. These armors provide a modest defense boost, giving you the edge against early enemies, allowing you to safely explore the world, gather resources and prepare for the next step. These sets are designed to be quickly replaced, so focus on crafting them quickly to get you started, not for long-term use.
Early Game Armor Progression: A Practical Guide
Why Not Aim for the Best Immediately?
Terraria is a game of gradual progression. Trying to get top-tier armor early is unrealistic and inefficient. Early on, your primary focus should be on resource gathering, exploration, and understanding the core mechanics of the game. Focusing on obtaining resources to make tools and equipment should be your first goal, armor will come shortly after.
The Initial Armor Sets
- Wooden Armor: The most basic of the bunch, crafted from Wood, which is plentiful. This offers very minimal protection but is extremely easy to acquire. You’ll quickly outgrow it. It serves the purpose of getting you off the ground running with a minimal amount of effort.
- Ebonwood/Shadewood Armor: Crafted from Ebonwood or Shadewood (found in Corruption or Crimson biomes, respectively), these offer slightly better stats than wooden armor, without an overwhelming amount of effort. These armors serve as good alternatives to the basic wooden armor, providing that extra bit of defense as you explore.
These basic armors are extremely cost-effective and are very easy to obtain when starting out in Terraria. They are crucial in providing you with some defense as you gather the materials needed for the next tier of armors.
Moving Beyond Basic Armor
After gathering resources and exploring, your focus should shift to crafting more substantial armor such as:
- Iron or Lead Armor: These are the first “real” armor sets available and offer a significant increase in defense compared to wooden-based armor. Both are crafted from their respective ores mined underground and should be one of your next goals after obtaining basic wood armor.
- Tungsten or Silver Armor: Similar to Iron or Lead, Tungsten or Silver offers a slight upgrade in stats. These can be a direct replacement for Iron or Lead if you happen to find the resources, it is not necessary to craft all of these armors if you find a better ore.
- Gold or Platinum Armor: Crafted from Gold or Platinum ore, these armor sets are another step up in defense, making it easier to take on early bosses, explore tougher biomes, and increase your survivability against harder enemies.
The Importance of Prioritization
The best starter strategy is to prioritize getting enough defense to survive early exploration. This means:
- Craft a Wooden, Ebonwood, or Shadewood set immediately.
- Start mining for Iron, Lead, Tungsten, Silver, Gold or Platinum ores.
- Craft an Iron or Lead, or their direct upgrade armor sets ASAP.
Don’t waste too much time on the most basic armors. Instead, focus on quickly upgrading to Iron, Lead, Tungsten, or Silver, followed by Gold or Platinum to gain a crucial edge. These steps ensure a smooth, efficient progression through the early game.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What is the best armor for early game Terraria Reddit suggests?
Reddit often highlights the practicality of starting with Wooden, Ebonwood, or Shadewood armor and quickly progressing to Iron/Lead, Tungsten/Silver, then Gold/Platinum armor. It’s all about efficiency and availability of resources. Reddit also agrees that Molten armor is the best armor for the pre-hardmode phase and it is recommended to obtain before fighting the Wall of Flesh.
2. What is the best pre-Hardmode melee armor?
While armor choices will vary depending on your play style, most players find that Molten armor crafted from Hellstone and Obsidian is the best pre-Hardmode melee armor. It offers high defense and a melee damage boost.
3. What is the best range armor in Terraria?
Shroomite Armor is considered the best armor for ranged attackers. However, this is a late-game set obtained in hardmode, not a starter armor, focus on Iron, Lead or Tungsten/Silver to start, and eventually Gold/Platinum, and then Crimson/Shadow armor before hardmode for ranged.
4. What is the best early game mage armor in Terraria?
Mystic Robe, Magical Hat, and Jungle Pants is considered the best combo for mages pre-hardmode due to the mana and offensive bonuses, despite the low defense. However, starting with basic armor is still important. For early Hardmode, Adamantite armor is a very solid choice.
5. Is Jungle or Meteor armor better?
Meteor armor is better offensively, and Jungle armor offers more mana and crit chance. These are not starter armors, and you should be using gold or platinum before either of these.
6. What is the best sword for early Terraria?
You begin with a Copper Shortsword, but crafting a Wooden Sword immediately is recommended. Then a Cactus Sword from the desert is a great early option.
7. What armor is better than Adamantite in Terraria?
In Expert Mode, Crystal Assassin armor can be more effective than Adamantite due to its increased mobility and the freed up accessory slot.
8. Can armor break in Terraria?
No, armor itself cannot break. However, a debuff called Broken Armor halves your defense. This can be prevented by equipping Armor Polish, Armor Bracing, or an Ankh Shield or Ankh Charm.
9. What is the best pet in Terraria?
The “best” pet is subjective, but popular options include the Alien Skater, Baby Ogre, Destroyer-Lite, Eater of Worms, and Everscream Sapling due to their unique appearance and fun factor.
10. What is the best Axe in Terraria?
The Axe of Regrowth is considered one of the best axes due to its speed and power. It is obtained through the Staff of Regrowth.
11. What are the best early game mounts in Terraria?
The Bee mount, obtained from the Queen Bee, is considered a great early-game mount.
12. How do you get the Space Gun?
The Space Gun is crafted by combining 20 Meteorite Bars (60 Meteorite) at an Anvil.
13. Is Ancient Cobalt armor better than Jungle armor?
Ancient Cobalt armor shares identical stats with Jungle armor and can be mixed and matched with Jungle armor while retaining the set bonus.
14. What are the 4 swords used to make the Night’s Edge?
The 4 swords that make up the Night’s Edge are: The Blade of Grass, Muramasa, Volcano, and the Blood Butcherer or Light’s Bane.
15. How do you get Hallowed Bars?
Hallowed Bars are dropped by the three mechanical bosses: The Twins, The Destroyer, and Skeletron Prime.
Final Thoughts
Starting your Terraria adventure with the right armor, especially in the initial hours, is crucial for your survival. Focus on the basics: craft Ebonwood, Shadewood, or wooden armor to get started, then quickly upgrade to Iron/Lead, Tungsten/Silver and then Gold/Platinum to make early exploration safer and easier. Remember, the initial armor sets are temporary tools to help you get to your real goals. As you progress, you’ll gain access to more powerful armor sets tailored to different playstyles. So, start simple, explore, and have fun.