Vanilla Melee Class Progression Guide

Overview

Melee is Terraria's most beginner-friendly class with the highest defense and strong weapons at every stage. Early game is true close-range combat, but late game melee weapons fire projectiles, making it the most versatile class by endgame.

Pre-Boss

• Wooden Sword → Gold/Platinum Broadsword
• Enchanted Sword — found in sword shrines, excellent if you find one
• Blade of Grass — Jungle materials, solid early option
• Amazon (yoyo) — Jungle materials
• Starfury — found on Floating Islands, shoots stars

Pre-Wall of Flesh

• Night's Edge — crafted from 4 biome swords (Light's Bane/Blood Butcherer, Muramasa, Blade of Grass, Fiery Greatsword)
• Cascade — yoyo from Underworld, applies On Fire!
• Molten Armor — full set from Hellstone, highest pre-HM defense
• Sunfury — flail from Underworld chests
• Bee Keeper — Queen Bee drop, spawns bees on hit

Early Hardmode

• Amarok — Ice biome yoyo, early HM staple
• Shadowflame Knife — Goblin Army drop, fast and strong
• Fetid Baghnakhs — Crimson Mimic, insane close-range DPS
• Adamantite/Titanium Armor — first HM armor sets
• Daedalus Stormbow (technically ranged, but commonly used)

Mechanical Bosses

• Excalibur — Hallowed Bars, shoots projectiles
• Yelets — yoyo from Jungle/Underground in HM
• Hallowed Armor — mech boss bars, holy protection set bonus

Plantera and Beyond

• True Night's Edge — Night's Edge + Broken Hero Sword + Souls
• True Excalibur — Excalibur + Broken Hero Sword
• Terra Blade — True Night's Edge + True Excalibur (shoots projectiles!)
• Possessed Hatchet — Golem drop, homing thrown axe
• Influx Waver — Martian Madness, rapid projectile sword

Moon Lord

• Meowmere — highest base damage melee weapon, bouncing cat projectiles
• Terrarian — best yoyo in the game
• Star Wrath — shoots stars from the sky
• Solar Eruption — Solar Pillar, goes through walls
• Zenith — THE endgame weapon, combines 10 swords into the ultimate weapon
• Solar Flare Armor — highest defense, solar shield dash

Essential Accessories

• Warrior Emblem — +15% melee damage
• Fire Gauntlet — melee speed + fire damage
• Mechanical Glove — melee speed + knockback
• Yoyo Bag — essential for yoyo builds
• Celestial Shell — all-around stat boost

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