Terraria armor guide (2024)

There are an extensivenumberof Terraria armorsets on offer, and you might even want to collect a bunch of different sets as your circ*mstances change in-game, as you battle various enemies and bosses.But which are the best? That’s where we come in. We’ve put together an extensive armor progression guide that can take you all the way to hardmode, as well as our top picks for the best Terraria armor later in the game.

If you’re just getting started with Terraria, we have a list of Terraria NPCs, which includes how to find them and keep them happy, as well as how to get yourself a pair of Terraria wings. Because who doesn’t like a good old pair of wings?

Let’s dive into our Terraria armor guide.

Armor progression
Best armor
Armor polish

Terraria Armor Progression

In Terraria, progression is defined by you gaining access to new weapons, accessories, and armor. Armor is very important in combat, as it mitigates damage taken, and can boost your damage output, so choosing the right set is important. Here, we’ve outlined the best Terraria armor for each class, to help you progress through the game up to hardmode.

The main purpose of armor in the earlygame is to simply boost your defence. While some give you a better defence boost, they are expensive to make and your valuable resources are sometimes better saved. Try to aim for easy-to-craft armor that offers the highest defence until you get your paws on a proper set. Here are some good pieces to get your feet off the ground. As you get closer to hardmode, the armor set bonuses become more valuable based on your class and playstyle.

All classes

Head	Chest	Legs	Description
Mining helmet or Ultrabright helmet	Flinx fur coat	Jungle pants	+1% cap, 5% summon, and 8% defence. Good all-around set for exploring
Gladiator helmet	Gladiator breastplate	Gladiator leggings	+16 defence. This set provides high defence, as well as knockback immunity, and can be farmed from a Hoplite Statue near a natural wire trap, so is essentially free
Mining helmet or Ultrabright helmet	Mining shirt	Mining pants	+3 defence. Gives you a 30% increase in mining speed, but has a low drop rate from undead miners
Pumpkin helmet	Pumpkin breastplate	Pumpkin leggings	+10% damage and +7 defence. Strong set that can be obtained before defeating a boss in the Halloween season
Cactus helmet	Cactus breatplate	Cactus leggings	+3 defence. Can be obtained early game, and repels enemies on contact
Crimson helmet	Crimson scalemail	Crimson greaves	+6% damage, +19 defence, health regeneration. This is a classless set for late pre-hardmode, and can be used to regenerate health while exploring – especially when standing still outside of combat

Melee

Head	Chest	Legs	Description
Ancient shadow helmet	Gi	Ancient shadow greaves	+5% damage, +5% crit, +16 defence. This set is optimal early game, but is tough to get as Ancient shadow armour only has a 0.19% drop rate, and comes from the Eater of Souls. If you’re struggling to get it, just wear a Gi and hike your defence as much as possible using the other slots
Molten helmet	Molten breastplate	Molten greaves	+17% damage, +7% crit, +25 defence. Maximizes melee damage and provides substantial fire resistance.

Ranged

Head	Chest	Legs	Description
Fossil helmet	Gi	Fossil greaves	+5% damage, 13% crit, +12 defence.
Necro helmet	Necro breastplate	Necro greaves	+15% damage, +10% crit, +19 defence.

Magic

Head	Chest	Legs	Description
Wizard hat	Mystic robe	Jungle pants	+11% damage, 22% crit, 12 defence. This set will snag you some great magic bonuses, but you’ll need to have a lucky streak to get the mystic robe from the travelling merchant.
Wizard hat	Diamond robe	Jungle pants	+5% damage, +16% crit, +13 defence. Though the diamond robe isn’t as strong as the mystic robe, you won’t need to rely on luck to obtain it.
Wizard hat	Mystic robe	Meteor leggings	+20% damage, +16% crit, +11 defence
Wizard hat	Diamond robe	Jungle pants	+5% samafe, 16% crit, 13 defence. Feel free to swap pieces with the above set to increase your mana economy
Meteor helmet	Meteor suit	Meteor leggings	+27% damage, _16 defence. Eliminates mana cost from space gun and gray zapinator

Summon

Head	Chest	Legs	Description
Magic hat	Flinx fur coat	Jungle pants	+6% damage, 12% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence.
Fossil helmet	Flinx fur coat	Fossil greaves	+8% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence
Ancient shadow helmet	Flinx fur coat	Ancient shadow greaves	+1 cap, +5% summon, +13 defence. This is as close to optimal as you can get, as the melee speed bonus will benefit your whip
Obsidian outlaw hat	Obsidian longcoat	Obsidian pants	+1 cap, +31% summon, +15 defence. Provides 50% range bonus and +35% speed bonus to whips
Bee headgear	Bee breastplate	Bee greaves	+2 cap, +23% summon, +13 defence. Provides great bonus to minion capacity, but isn’t as strong as the obsidian set

What is the best Terraria armor?

So you’ve got yourself up to the tippety top, and now you need to work out which is the best armor for you. Well, as always, this question is pretty open depending on what you’re looking for. Here, we’ve put together our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, along with their buffs and what materials are needed to craft them.

Best Terraria melee armor

When it comes to melee, you want to focus on high defense and strength, so we recommend the solar flare armor.

Armor set	Description	Materials required
Solar flare	+22% melee damage, +17% crit, +15% movement and attack speed. This set increases the likelihood that enemies will attack you, as well as giving you a special shield which can be consumed in order to dash into enemies and damage them	45 solar fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafted at the ancient manipulator

Best Terraria ranged armor

Ranged fighters, of course, need to focus on increasing the damage of their ranged attacks and putting distance between themselves and the enemy. We recommend you use the vortex armor.

Armor set	Description	Materials required
Vortex	+36% ranged damage, +27% increased crit, +10% movement speed, +25% chance to consume no ammo. This set also allows you to go into stealth mode, increasing your ranged ability and making it less likely you’ll be targeted, though you’ll trade off some movement speed.	45 vortex fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator

Best Terraria summoner armor

Summoners have the unique ability to bring in minions to fight for them, so the best armor for them is the stardust armor, which focuses on buffing their little friends.

Armor set	Description	Materials required
Stardust	+66% minion damage, +5 minion capacity. This set gives you the ability to spawn a stardust guardian, which can be set down like a turret	45 stardust fragments, 36 luminate bars. Crafted at ancient manipulator

Best Terraria magic armor

Naturally, mages focus on lighting up the world with their wide range of spells, so upping your magic damage and decreasing your mana consumption is the best way forward. Therefore, we recommend the nebula armor.

Armor set	Description	Materials required
Nebula	+36% magic damage, 16% crit, +60 max mana, -15% mana consumption. This set gives you a chance to spawn buffs when hurting an enemy. Blue boosts your mana regen, orange boosts your health regen, and pink boosts your damage	45 nebula fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator

How can I get Terraria armor polish?

Terraria armor polish is an accessory in hardmode which provides you with immunity to the broken armor debuff. It is also one of the ingredients you need to make the armor bracing, which is required to craft an ankh charm, which in turn can be used to make an ankh shield. Armor polish drops from blue armored bones and armored skeletons, but only has a 1-2% drop rate.

And that’s everything on Terraria armor progression up to hardmode, our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, and how to snag yourself Terraria armor polish. While you’re here, why not check out our best mobile RPGs or our Stardew Valley charactersguide to find something new to play?