The first few hours of your Terraria playthrough can be rough, what with a mere copper sword and a few torches to keep you busy. As you progress through the game and find yourself in Hardmode, you’ll start to find an overwhelming amount of cool-looking loot. The real question is which ones are worth using, especially for endgame when it’s time to go up against Moon Lord?
Of all the tools and weapons you can use in the game, swords and pickaxes come number one. You’ll want the best pickaxe so that you can acquire the strongest ore and mine more quickly. You’ll also want the best sword available to complete the game itself with ease when it comes to bosses. There are many swords and pickaxes with similar stats, but only a handful of them will get you to the finish line and beyond. Only a few of these drops you find will be the best pickaxes and best swords in Terraria.
Update on December 20, 2021, by William Quick: Terraria remains one of the most popular multiplayer crafting and survival games both on console and PC. Updates and DLC have been released to expand its universe with new areas, enemies, items, tools, and weapons. With such a huge selection, it’s best to know what to look for especially if you’re planning on taking on Hardmode.
Sword: Terrablade
The Terrablade is an expensive weapon that is crafted by combining multiple different swords together, creating the ultimate sword as result. It’s one of the most prolific in the fanbase because it does 115 damage with a heavy knockback and can be swung at high speed. These are all qualities you want in a fight to be able to protect yourself.
On mobile and console, the damage is reduced to only 95, but the speed and knockback are still worth it in the long run. On PC, it’s crafted by combining the True Night’s Edge, True Excalibur, and Broken Hero Sword. On console, you only need the first two to create a Terrablade.
Pickaxe: Pickaxe Axe
When your world first enters Hardmode by defeating all the first main bosses, the Pickaxe Axe will be one of the four pickaxes you can acquire that will be able to mine the newly spawned ore, Chlorophyte. It has the third-highest pickaxe rate of all pickaxes.
Out of the four first pickaxes, you can get that mine Chlorophyte, only two of them come with axe power as well. The Pickaxe Axe is one of them, with 110 axe power. This is a two in one piece that’s fast and does 35 base damage in swings. This pickaxe is crafted by combining one Soul of Fright, Might, and Sight, and 18 Hallowed bars.
Sword: Brand Of The Inferno
The Brand of The Inferno is a sword that doesn’t deal 200 epic base damage as you would like, but because its rate of swinging is so quick, you end up doing 200 damage anyway. It comes in at 85 damage on PC and mobile and 44 damage on console versions.
This sword has a strong knockback and is dropped by the Ogre during the Old One’s Army event. This event can only be triggered by using Eternia Crystals purchased by the Tavernkeep NPC. The sword also lights people on fire.
Pickaxe: Spectre Pickaxe
Of the four starting Hardmode pickaxes that can take on Chlorophyte, the Spectre Pickaxe has the most block range. This means you can mine from farther away while standing in one area. It’s two times as much as the Shroomite and Chlorophyte axe and three times as much as the Pickaxe Axe, which has no added range.
It has 32 base damage and is crafted by using 18 Spectre ore bars at a Mythril or Orichalcum anvil. Spectre bars are crafted by combining Chlorophyte bars and Ectoplasm together at a forge. Ectoplasm is a drop from Dungeon Spirits, new Hardmode dungeon enemies.
Pickaxe: Influx Waver
The Influx Waver is fourth on the list for the highest damage swords in Terraria. It has average knockback but shoots fast projectiles at 110 damage per hit. This is a sword that can only be dropped by Martin Saucers.
This is an enemy that only spawns during an event called Martion Madness - a Hardmode event triggered by meeting a random alien in the sky.
Pickaxe: Orichalcum Pickaxe
The Orichalcum pickaxe is the first great pickaxe you can acquire after defeating the Wall of Flesh. After the Wall of Flesh is gone and you break some Corruption/Crimson altars, you’ll need meteor and hellstone tools to start mining the newest and strongest ore that’s been created in your lands.
One of those new ores is either Orichalcum or Mythril, by chance. The Orichalcum pickaxe comes at around 165 percent pickaxe power, whereas the Mythril pickaxe’s power is only 150 percent max.
Sword: Starlight
Once your world is in hard mode, you’ll have a new biome called the Hallow. There are multiple optional bosses in the Hallow, one of them being the Empress of Light who has a chance to drop the Starlight sword.
Though there are plenty of better swords that do over 90 damage, the Starlight has a speed of 18 and a critical hit chance of 14 percent. With damage buffs, this sword may perform better than your later game weapons.
Pickaxe: Titanium Pickaxe
Titanium pickaxe is the next best thing after Orichalcum. There is the Adamantite pickaxe coming at 180 percent power, but that can be skipped altogether. Both Adamantite and Titanium are only slightly better than Orichalcum before you’re able to make the big jump to 200 percent pickaxe power.
The only difference between the three is that the Titanium one does 27 damage over Orichalcum’s 17 and Adamantite’s 20, all while still having the same speed but slightly more pickaxe power.
Sword: Chlorophyte Claymore
Chlorophyte is one of the strongest ores you can mine in the game, being only second strongest on the list. It needs 200 percent pickaxe power to mine and is the first weapon you may find yourself acquiring that does over 40 damage if you haven’t beaten the Empress of Light yet.
The claymore you’re able to craft from Chlorophyte ore has around 95 base damage, not counting any accessories that bump up your melee damage. It does normal melee hits as well as launches a green orb for additional damage.
Pickaxe: Shroomite Digging Claw
There are multiple other pickaxe options that have 200 percent power from Chlorophyte to the Pickaxe Axe. The difference here is that the Shroomite Digging Claw has way more damage and knockback for the same pickaxe power.
This digging claw is crafted by combining Glowing Mushrooms with Chlorophyte bars using the machine Autohammer to make Shroomite bars. This machine can only be purchased by the Truffle NPC after Plantera is killed.
Sword: Star Wrath
This is an extremely powerful late-game weapon, dropped by the last boss in the game, Moon Lord. Its base damage is 110 but upon using it it will cast star projectiles that home in on your enemies for 220 damage.
With this weapon, you won’t even have to break a sweat, just sit back and let the projectiles do the work.
Pickaxe: Picksaw
The Picksaw has a chance of being dropped by the Golem boss inside the underground jungle. It has an additional axe power of 125 percent and does 34 damage. Who doesn’t like a two or three-in-one tool? You mostly find yourself fighting and mining rather than chopping down lots of trees anyway. With the additional axe power and damage, you can leave the normal axe at home.
This pickaxe is the first pickaxe you can get that will mine every block known in the game. Since it’s a drop from the Golem boss, you can only get this after Plantera is killed. The Picksaw is the second best pickaxe you can get in Terraria.
Sword: Flying Dragon - 180 Damage
The use time of this bad boy is 25 meaning that it is the fastest high-damage weapon in the game. It shoots projectiles, but unlike the Star Wrath, they won’t do as much as your base damage unless you aim really well.
You have to go out of your way to seek the Flying Dragon sword as it’s a drop from the Old One’s Army event and not from a mandatory boss fight.
Pickaxe: The Luminite Pickaxes
These are the strongest and best pickaxes in Terraria. They are crafted using Luminite bars that can only be found as loot after beating the last boss, Moon lord. There are four different versions for each Lunar event but they all have the exact same stats.
So whichever one you want is up to aesthetics alone! The Luminite pickaxes also do 80 melee damage so you won’t have to worry about cave creatures bothering you as you mine.
Sword: Meowmere - 200 Damage
The most epic sword any gamer has ever known. So iconic that fans have tried multiple times to recreate a real version of it as well as versions in other games like Minecraft. This is a kawaii kitty sword that does the highest damage possible.
It has projectiles that ricochet like crazy and decapitate foes at your behest. Meowmere is a very rare drop from Moon Lord himself and can be combined, along with other greatswords, to create the sword Zenith.
Pickaxe: Mythril Pickaxe
Of all the minerals that exist in the fantasy universe, Mythril is one that has come up more than a few times. Frequently discussed as a miracle metal, it can be crafted in Terraria as long as you have a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil and enough Mythril Bars.
Though it’s leaning towards the lower end of Hardmode pickaxes that you’d like to rely on, it has high fast and use speed to compensate. Once you go past this version, pickaxes will rise in power as a result of some of their stats dropping into the single digits.
Sword: Keybrand Sword
A not-so-subtle nod to Kingdom Hearts, this sword allows you to wield the power of the Keyblade in the world of Terraria. It exists only in Hardmode after the boss Plantera has been defeated. It comes with strong knockback and fast attacking to keep multiple foes away efficiently.
You’ll need to comb Plantera’s dungeon in hopes of getting one of the several Bones type enemies to drop it. It’s really effective at finishing off foes since it gains power against injured or weakened enemies.
Pickaxe: Chlorophyte Pickaxe
When the mineral Chlorophyte was discovered, it became a goal to gather as much of it as possible and see what could be made. It has proven to be a very useful material in terms of crafting a pickaxe that has a lot of power and long reach to boot.
It has the strength to break through any block except for Lihzahrd Bricks but gets boosted from any active bonuses. Simply get together enough Chlorophyte Bars and this tool will be yours.
Sword: True Night’s Edge Sword - 105 Damage
Sometimes there is potential for a sword to become even more than its current state. By combining your Night’s Edge with either a Broken Hero Sword (consoles) or 20 Souls Of Fright, Might, and Sight (PC), it will transform into the True Night’s Edge.
This blade may have average speed stats but makes up for it with decent damage and a projectile attack that has a very short cooldown time which comes in handy when using auto-swing.
