Terraria is full of interesting and sometimes wacky items, and the Drax is no different. This Hardmode tool has been in the game for a long time and has become just another item on the list of iconic items in Terraria.

Like every item in Terraria, there are all sorts of weird trivia, facts, and gritty stats about the Drax. Here’s a rundown of every detail we could find about it.

7 The Drax Is A Drill And Axe Combo

The Drax is a combination of both a Pickaxe (Drill) and an Axe. It has 200 percent mining power and 110 percent axe power. To put the axe into a sort of ramshackle tier list, those numbers put it around the same level as the Pickaxe Axe, the Shroomite Digging Claw, and the Picksaw.

In terms of its axe capabilities, it’s a bit on the weaker side, tying up with the Pickaxe Axe for 110 percent axe power. In fact, the Drax and Pickaxe Axe are very similar, the only differences being the Drax is faster and the Pickaxe Axe has a greater range.

6 The Drax Was Introduced In Terraria 1.1

That’s right — the Drax was introduced way back in 2011 alongside the 1.1 Hardmode update, an update that also introduced the Wall of Flesh and the Mechanical Bosses to the game. 1.1 was a huge update — the biggest one…until 1.2 came out a few years later.

When it was introduced, the Drax was not called “The Drax” but instead called the Hamdrax. This is because it had the functionality of an axe, hammer, and pickaxe all in one. Its name was later modified when the hammer was changed primarily to a mining tool.

5 You Craft The Drax With Hallowed Bars And Souls

The Drax is crafted with 18 Hallowed Bars, a Soul of Fright, a Soul of Might, and a Soul of Sight. Those are the souls dropped by each of the Mechanical Bosses (check out our boss progression guide for some tips on how to take these guys down) which means you cannot craft a Drax until you’ve defeated them all.

Back when the Hamdrax (or Drax) was first released, it was much harder to craft: it required a Chainsaw and Drill of each Hardmode ore type, plus five of each of the Souls. It’s clear that the overall power creep of items and tools in Terraria necessitated a change to how difficult the Drax was to craft.

4 The Drax Can Be Used As A Weapon

As an early hardmode tool, the Drax is actually pretty effective as a weapon. It has a rapid attack speed (pretty much constant), fairly high damage at 35, and extremely low knockback. This makes it useful in very specific combat situations.

Like what, you ask? During a Pirate Invasion, for example, where there are lots of low-level mobs swarming all over you. Set up with the Drax in a small enclosed area and let rip with the Drill. Basically, it’s like operating a drill-driven Golden Toilet farm.

3 The Best Modifiers For The Drax Are Godly And Demonic

Because the Drax is technically considered a melee weapon, the best modifiers from the Tinkerer are Godly and Demonic. Both these stats boost the overall average damage, turning what is a pretty decent weapon into a great pre-Plantera weapon and tool.

Out of the two, you probably want to aim for Demonic rather than Godly. One of the biggest benefits of the Drax is its low knockback, and if you stack it with Godly, that knockback will go up by 15 percent. Godly is also way more expensive.

2 You Can Mine Every Block In The Game, Except Lizahrd Bricks

The Drax may be capable of mining almost every block in the game, but it can’t be used to mine through Lizahrd Bricks. You need a Picksaw or greater to be able to do that. The Picksaw is a pickaxe that is only dropped by the Golem, which is the boss inside the Jungle temple. This boss is right up there with the hardest bosses in Terraria.

This isn’t the case on the now largely-defunct 3DS version of Terraria. In that version of the game, you could find the Drax in Shadow Chests in the Underworld. You could basically mine every pre-Hardmode block straight away, including Chlorophyte in the Jungle. It made killing the Mechanical Bosses much easier.

1 The Specific Stats For The Drax

Here’s a rundown of the specific stats on the Drax:

Only the Picksaw, Vortex Pickaxe, Nebula Pickaxe, Solar Flare Pickaxe, and Stardust Pickaxe have better stats than the Drax.

So, should you pick up the Pickaxe Axe or the Drax? Well, in terms of pure mining, the Pickaxe Axe is slightly better: it has better modifiers for mining speed and has a faster tool speed than the Drax.

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