Weapons are offensive tools that are mainly used to inflict damage. In Terraria, weapons have a variety of qualities. Tools can also inflict damage but weapons are generally more effective. Weapons can be crafted out of many materials, but some can only be found or bought. All weapons do one of four damage types: Melee, Ranged, Magic or Summon. Players start the game with a set of copper weapons and tools.
Swords
- Main article: Swords
(
Xbox 360 
PS3 
Mobile only).
Shortswords are a low-tier genre of weapon most commonly seen at the beginning of the game. This is so because they are far outclassed by broadswords in nearly every way possible, namely range and power.
Broadswords are one of the most common weapons. They usually have a fast or medium strike speed, as well as a medium attack range and knock back. All broadswords are craftable, with the exception of the Muramasa, which is found only in Dungeon Chests, the Breaker Blade, which is only dropped by the Wall of Flesh, and the Starfury, which is commonly found on Floating Islands.
Some notable broadswords are: Terra Blade, True Night's Edge, True Excalibur, Frostbrand, Death Sickle, and Tizona
Spears
- Main article: Spears
Weapons made for stabbing, are generally slower and slightly less powerful than swords, but have a longer reach. You can find Spears in chests or craft them with post-hardmode ores. Spears have the powerful ability to inflict multiple damage to all enemies they hit in a single swing (meaning after hitting an enemy, the spear does not stop, so it's useful for fighting a pack of enemies). They can also be aimed in the direction of the mouse when clicked.
Some notable spears are:Mushroom Spear, Chlorophyte Partisan, Gungnir, Adamantite Glaive, Mythril Halberd, North Pole, Dark Lance and Tonbogiri ( Xbox 360 PS3 Mobile ).
Thrown Weapons
- Main article: Thrown Weapons
These weapons are thrown at enemies to inflict damage. They deal moderate amounts of damage and typically have a fast or very fast attack speed. There are 2 types of thrown weapons: returning and non-returning. Melee damage varients are returning weapons such as Flamarangs and Light Discs will return to the player after being thrown, usually in an arc-shaped motion.
Some notable thrown weapons are: Possessed Hatchet, Light Disc, Flamarang, Bananarang, Thorn Chakram, Paladin's Hammer and Vampire Knives.
Flails
- Main article: Flails
Flails are medium to long ranged weapons that will deal damage to all enemies hit (similar to spears) making them good for groups of enemies. Due to their slow speed, Flails are not very good against fast enemies or when enemies are attacking from many different directions.
Some notable flails are: Dao of Pow, Flairon, Flower Pow
Chain Weapons
Chain Weapons all have five things in common: they all deal melee damage, they all shoot a projectile outward toward where the player clicks, they are not affected by gravity (with the exception of the Harpoon) and they all return to the character upon hitting a target or solid surface, on top of all having continual fire without need of clicking multiple times. These latter two being said, players can easily get high DPS by simply holding the attack button down while remaining close to a target.
Some notable chain weapons are: Chain Knife, KO Cannon, Golem Fist
Yo-Yos
- Main article: Yo-Yos
Yo-Yos act similarly to flails in the sense that they are comprised of a handle chained to a thrown projectile. However, unlike flails, Yo-Yos are not effected by gravity, follow the player's cursor, and generally have a much longer range. Yo-Yos can be useful for crowd control because they are easy to aim and have high DPS.
One effective strategy for Yo-Yos is to find a spot where enemies can't reach the player and use the yo-yo's superior range to pick them off.
Some notable Yo-Yos are: the Artery, the Cascade, and the Terrarian
Guns
- Main article: Guns
Guns are weapons that consume ammunition such as Musket Balls, Meteor Shot, Silver Bullets, Cursed Bullets and Crystal Bullets, or in the case of the Star Cannon, Fallen Stars. These weapons can be obtained by breaking Shadow Orbs/Pulsating Hearts, crafting them, finding them in Chests, or purchasing them from the Arms Dealer (requires a Gun first). Guns that use Rockets as ammo are the Rocket Launcher, the Snowman Cannon, the Grenade Launcher and the Proximity Mine Launcher.
Some notable guns are: Megashark, Star Cannon, Rocket Launcher, Coin Gun
Bows
- Main article: Bows
Bows are weapons which fire either Wooden Arrows, Flaming Arrows, Unholy Arrows, Hellfire Arrows, Jester's Arrows, Holy Arrows or Cursed Arrows. They typically do more damage than swords made of the same material, but come at the expense of being slower, less effective at close range, and the dependency on ammo.
Hardmode ores will build Repeaters instead of bows. Repeaters have the capability of auto-fire and generally shoot faster than bows.
Some notable bows are: Pulse Bow, Vulcan Repeater ( Xbox 360 PS3 Mobile only), Stake Launcher, Tsunami
Thrown
- Main article: Thrown Weapons
Like the Melee weapons above, these weapons are thrown at enemies to inflict damage; however, they are consumed upon use, not returning to the player, with some chance of being able to be picked up again. They deal small amounts of damage and typically have a fast or very fast attack speed.
Some notable thrown weapons are: Shuriken, Throwing Knife, Poisoned Knife, Spiky Ball, Holy Water, Unholy Water, Bone
- Main article: Spells
Magic Weapons like the Aqua Scepter include a collection of very versatile weapons that all consume mana upon use. It's recommended that each player have at least one Magic Weapon due to some having very high efficiency and damage rates in combination with other weapons. There are staff weapons and spells alone, but they both function in the same way.
Some notable Magic Weapons are: Rainbow Gun, Rainbow Rod, Shadowbeam Staff, Magical Harp, Razorblade Typhoon
- Main article: Summoning Weapons
Summon (or summoning) Weapons are weapons that deal indirect damage. Instead of damaging enemies, these weapons summon a minion that deals damage to enemies. All summoning weapons require magic to spawn minions. There are two kinds of minions; mobile or stationary. Stationary minions act as turrets attacking enemies who come close. Mobile minions follow the player and attack any enemy within a certain range!
Most notable Summon Weapons are: Staff of the Frost Hydra, Terraprisma, Pygmy Staff, Raven Staff, Tempest Staff
