Welcome to Zuzukorn’s melee progression guide for Terraria 1.4! Whether you’re new to the melee playstyle or just looking for a smoother experience, this guide walks you through a recommended journey—covering gear, boss order, and strategies that help avoid roadblocks while keeping your damage high and your survival higher.
Let’s begin the journey, from humble wood armor to the mighty Zenith.
Getting Started: Basic Exploration & Early Weapons
Start like every Terraria run—chop trees, build valid housing (walls, light source, table, and chair), and gear up with wood armor and a wooden sword. From here:
- Explore the surface during the day.
- Go underground at night to gather ore, gems, cobwebs, and chests.
- If you find a mace, congratulations! It’s an excellent early weapon. Add 99 torches to craft the Flaming Mace.
- Mine enough iron and gold/platinum for tools and basic armor.
- Gather life crystals to raise your health.
- With 15 gems, craft a Gem Hook to drastically improve mobility.
Climbing claws and shoe spikes from surface chests add further mobility. Consider exploring:
- Underground ice biome: for the Ice Blade (solid range and projectile).
- Underground jungle: for the Amazon Yo-Yo, a strong early melee choice.
First Boss Area: Crimson/Corruption & Crafting Upgrades
Next, dive into your evil biome (Crimson or Corruption):
- Use bombs from the Demolitionist to reach Shadow Orbs (Corruption) or Crimson Hearts.
- Corruption: Find the Ball O’ Hurt.
- Crimson: Look for the Rotted Fork.
Destroying three orbs/hearts summons your evil biome’s boss. Even if you don’t win, collect Demonite/Crimtane and Shadow Scales/Tissue Samples to craft the Nightmare Pickaxe.
The Underworld & Hellstone Gear
Now, dig straight down and build a hellevator using dynamite. Once in the Underworld:
- Drink an Obsidian Skin Potion.
- Mine Hellstone and collect a Hellforge.
- Smelt Hellstone Bars and craft the Molten Armor, the strongest pre-Hardmode melee armor.
- Also consider the Molten Pickaxe and Fiery Greatsword.
With Molten gear, clean up any bosses you’ve skipped:
- Eye of Cthulhu: Even easier with Amazon or Ice Blade.
- Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu: With Ball O’ Hurt, this is very manageable.
- Skeletron: Tough, but now doable—loot the dungeon for:
- Cobalt Shield
- Shadow Key
- Valor Yo-Yo or Blue Moon Flail
Return to the Underworld and open Shadow Chests to find the Sunfury, the strongest pre-Hardmode flail.
Wall of Flesh & Entering Hardmode
Build a long Underworld bridge using planter boxes (they survive lava slimes). Buff up and toss the Guide Voodoo Dollinto lava.
Wall of Flesh fight tips:
- Use Sunfury to thin out The Hungry.
- Push forward and bash the wall when space opens.
- Persistence wins here—don’t give up.
Defeating the Wall grants access to:
- Hardmode
- Warrior Emblem (+15% melee damage)
- Sixth accessory slot (Expert Mode)
Early Hardmode: Weapons, Armor, and Snow Biome Gear
Start by hunting the Amarok, a powerful Yo-Yo dropped by enemies in the snow biome. Summoning your evil biome’s boss in the snow biome is a clever farming strategy.
Also hunt for the Icicle in the Underground Snow biome—great projectile coverage.
Use the Pwnhammer to break Demon Altars/Crimson Altars in batches of three to spawn ores:
- Mine Cobalt/Palladium → Craft a pickaxe
- Mine Mithril/Orichalcum → Craft an anvil
- Craft new armor or gear if needed
During rain in the ice biome, look for the Ice Golem:
- Drops Ice Feather (wing component)
- Combine with Souls of Flight from Wyverns on sky islands to make Frozen Wings
Accessories & Mimic Drops
Hunt for Mimics underground:
- Farm Titan Glove, combine with Feral Claws → Power Glove
- Later upgrade to Mechanical Glove and then Fire Gauntlet (buffed in 1.4!)
For Yo-Yo mains:
- Visit underground Skeleton Merchants to buy:
- Yo-Yo Glove
- Counterweight
- String
- Combine for Yo-Yo Bag: range boost, double Yo-Yos, counterweights
Mechanical Bosses & Advanced Weapons
Take on the mechanical bosses:
- The Destroyer
- Use Amarok or Icicle with good arena setup
- Kill probes quickly to avoid overwhelm
- The Twins
- Amarok is great for DPS
- Flail fans can try Dao of Pow
- Skeletron Prime
After all three:
- Make Pickaxe Axe or Drax
- Upgrade Emblem if desired
- Craft Hallowed Armor (optional before or after bosses)
Upgrade Knight’s Edge into True Knight’s Edge using boss souls.
- Also create True Excalibur → combine both for Terra Blade
Jungle Upgrades: Turtle Armor & Chlorophyte
Head to the Jungle:
- Mine Chlorophyte Ore with your new pickaxe
- Craft Turtle Armor using Turtle Shells from giant tortoises (rare)
- Gather Life Fruit to hit 500 max HP
- Craft Butterfly Wings with Butterfly Dust from Moths
- Upgrade Hellforge to Titanium/Adamantite Forge
Plantera, Dungeon Gear, and Solar Eclipse
Once ready, find a Plantera Bulb and defeat her. Post-fight:
- Explore the dungeon for biome chest weapons
- Crimson: Vampire Knives (lifesteal)
- Corruption: Scourge of the Corruptor (homing projectiles)
Survive a Solar Eclipse:
- Defeat Mothron for:
- Eye of Cthulhu Yo-Yo (best pre-Moon Lord Yo-Yo)
- Broken Hero Sword → Combine with True swords for Terra Blade
Also farm Reapers for Death Sickle, a projectile weapon that pierces walls.
Golem, Martians, and Final Preparations
Defeat Golem in the Jungle Temple:
- Upgrade Turtle Armor to Beetle Armor
- Choose between offense or defense chestplate
Trigger Martian Invasion via Martian Probe:
- Fight the saucer—difficult but rewarding
- Possible loot: UFO Mount, Influx Waver (strong sword)
Farm dungeon Bone Lees for:
- Black Belt
- Combine with climbing gear → Master Ninja Gear (dash accessory)
Take down Duke Fishron or Empress of Light for better wings.
Lunar Events & Moon Lord
Defeat Lunatic Cultist, then prepare for the pillars. Take down:
- Solar Pillar first (hardest for melee)
- Camp edges to handle enemies slowly
- Collect Solar Fragments to craft:
- Solar Eruption (AoE flail)
- Daybreak (ranged projectile + damage over time)
Take down the remaining pillars, but leave one alive to build your arena:
- Asphalt bridge in the sky
- Reforge gear to Menacing (damage), Warding (defense), or Violent (melee speed)
- Stock up on Super Healing Potions
Summon Moon Lord by finishing off the final pillar:
- Use Daybreak on his middle eye
- Dodge Phantasmal Deathray
- Target the core when it opens
- Stay mobile, stay alive—victory will come
Congratulations, you’ve beaten Terraria as a melee warrior!
Post-Moon Lord: The Final Journey to Zenith
Your melee journey isn’t quite over—your next goal is the Zenith, the ultimate weapon. But until then, you’ve proven your mettle. Well done, hero of Terraria.
If you found this guide helpful, be sure to subscribe to Zuzukorn Games and follow along for more Terraria content. Until next time—have a great week ahead!
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