There are over 60 different armor sets each offering increases to stats for weapons, attack speed, movement speed, and various other set bonuses achievable from equipping one set of armor. It is not recommended to mix and match different types of armor as the set bonuses typically outweigh the mix of stats you can receive from wearing armor pieces. Many set bonuses offer a bonus to the type of stat the armor provides, whereas some set bonuses will provide a unique effect. This list will attempt to compile some of the best armor you can find throughout different stages of Terraria.
Stardust Armor
For this list I wanted to cover armor that is not just endgame post Moon Lord armor, but the stardust armor for summoner’s is indisputably the strongest set of armor for summoners. The set bonus grants you a powerful summon that deals a large amount of damage rapidly and helps protect the user from any enemy that presents itself onto your screen. With every piece of the stardust armor on you unlock the set bonus, an armor rating of 38, a total of 5 extra summonable minions, and an increase of 66% minion damage.
The extra minion damage is the highest damage increase you can receive from armor for summoners and your damage per second is compounded by the stardust guardian you get to have indefinitely for simply having the whole set on. The stardust guardian alone can handle most hardmode enemies and coupled with the total of six minions you can summon, it is easy to defeat any boss or enemy in the game. You can make stardust armor with a total of 36 luminite bars and 45 stardust fragments at an ancient manipulator, meaning to make a full set of stardust armor you will need 144 luminite ore. Meaning you will most likely need to defeat the Moon Lord and the celestial pillars more than once.
Spectre Armor
Moving away from post Moon Lord armor, the spectre armor offers a unique set bonus that makes playing as a mage extremely volatile and dependent on your spell slinging prowess. This is an armor set that awards smart spell usage and managing your health bar. The spectre armor has two different set bonuses depending on which helmet you decide to wear. The mask will increase your damage by a lot as it will spawn orbs that home in on enemies when you deal magic damage. The mask is a safer option as it offers more defense and higher damage per second, but the hood offers a unique playstyle that is rewarding to play. The hood will change the set bonus to cut your magic damage by 40%. However, if you decide to go with the spectre hood, any magic damage you deal will heal you. This is to compensate for its lower overall defenses. The mask is a more solid option, whereas the hood offers a lifesteal effect for mages. Personally, I love the glass cannon build that the hood offers and healing effects are insane as potion healing requires a full minute between uses.
To make a set of spectre armor, with one helmet, you will need 54 spectre bars (27 ectoplasm and a total of 324 chlorophyte ore). To make both sets you will need 66 spectre bars (33 ectoplasm and 396 chlorophyte ore). The total armor bonus with the hood offers a meager 30 total armor rating and the mask offers 42 total armor. The mask will provide you with extra maximum mana, and the orbs from the set bonus will deal 50% of any damage you deal. It is a solid option, but I prefer the healing form the hood even with all of the detriments it comes with.
Beetle Armor
The beetle armor will provide you with one of the highest defense ratings available in the game, only outmatched by the solar flare armor post Moon Lord. The damage reduction from the shell variant of the beetle armor may even be higher than the solar flare armor as the shell armor can mitigate up to an additional 45% damage. Like the spectre armor the beetle armor has different set bonuses depending on which chestplate you choose to equip, the shell or the scale. The total armor stats of the shell provide you with 73 total armor rating, 5% melee critical strike chance, 11% melee damage, and 6% melee and movement speed. The scale is the more offensive variant that provides you with 61 armor rating, 8% melee critical strike chance, 14% melee damage, and 12% melee and movement speed.
Dealing damage with the scale will increase your attack speed by increments of 10% increasing to a maximum of 30%. The shell will slowly provide more beetles and each beetle that spawns will mitigate the damage of the next attack you take by increments of 15% for a maximum of 45% damage mitigation. You can craft beetle armor by combining 18 beetle husks with a full set of turtle armor. Meaning the entire set requires 18 beetle husks, 324 chlorophyte ore, and 3 turtle shells. Picking between the shell and the scale is down to preference, if you want to do more damage then consider the scale, whereas if you want to tank as much damage as possible the shell is the perfect set of armor for you.
Shroomite Armor
Finally we reach the shroomite armor set for rangers. Rangers have three different modes for shroomite armor for each type of ammunition available. The set bonuses are similar for all three helmet variants, but the bonuses to stats will change depending on whether you want an increase to arrow, bullet, or rocket damage. The set bonus will allow players to slowly enter stealth mode if they are not moving, granting an increase in stats of 60% damage, 10% critical strike chance, and 50% knockback while in full stealth in addition to the stats the armor provides. Shroomite armor will grant the player with a total of 51 armor rating; 1.15x rocket, bullet, or arrow damage depending on which one the player picks; 13% ranged damage for all ranged attacks, even the ones not covered by their respective helmet; 25% ranged critical strike chance; 20% chance not to consume ammo; and 12% movement speed increase.
To make a set of shroomite armor you will need 54 shroomite bars (810 glowing mushrooms and 270 chlorophyte ore) at an autohammer sold by the truffle NPC for 1 platinum coin. To unlock the truffle NPC you will need to make a glowing mushroom biome somewhere on the surface of your world and add a valid house to the biome for the truffle NPC to eventually move in. Which ammo type you pick depends solely upon which weapons you prefer using. Rockets are the most expensive option but offer the most bang for your buck, arrows being the most common ammunition available makes it a solid choice, and bullets have the benefit of traveling the fastest out of the ammo options. Best is subjective here and you ought to go with the piece of armor that benefits the type of ammunition you find yourself using more.
Moon Lord Legs
To round out this list, there is an interesting piece of armor equipment you can find in a specific seed of a world as an easter egg for the Journey’s End update. The Moon Lord legs are an interesting piece of equipment available at the very beginning of the game. This is an easter egg added by redigit as the community enjoyed joking about the final boss of the game’s absence of legs. The developers added the Moon Lord legs as an armor piece that does not have a full set, but provides benefits that are very useful at the early stage of the game. These legs provide an armor rating of 3, increase movement speed by 25%, and increase jump height by 7 feet.
If you enter the secret seed 05162020 a special world will generate. The game’s code refers to this world as a drunken world and there are many odd features and quirks found within this world. Any chests generated with this seed will have a 6.67% chance to have a pair of Moon Lord legs generated alongside the chests regular items. The seed is in reference to the release date of the final update of Terraria called Journey’s End. Many oddities come with this seed, for example, the party girl replacing the guide as the first NPC, the middle third of the underworld being completely filled with lava, and both evil biomes spawning on opposite sides of the world.
FAQs
Q. What does it mean if enemies are more/less likely to target you in Terraria?
Absolutely nothing if you are playing on single player. This effect is to encourage players to play in multiplayer servers with their friends and reinforce the idea of the trinity of MMOs (Tank, Healer, DPS). A player who is wearing melee armor will be focused by most enemies, and the player wearing ranger armor will be focused less often by most enemies. This can open some creative build opportunities that you may not try out in regular single player, as accessories such as the paladin’s shield become much more viable with other players to defend.
Q. What is the best piece of miscellaneous armor to obtain in Terraria?
By far the Moon Lord legs are the most beneficial piece of miscellaneous armor to work into early game builds of Terraria. It offers the most effects and comes with its own unique walking animation. The diving helmet can help you uncover some of the ocean’s treasures and the mining set allows you to dig mine shafts much faster than otherwise.
Q. What is the earliest set of armor beneficial for summoners in Terraria?
The earliest set of armor available for summoners is the bee armor. This requires defeating Queen Bee a few times, but allows summoners to summon more than one minion at a time. If you want a piece of armor that benefits summoners even earlier than that you can craft a flinx fur coat out of 10 silk, 8 flinx fur, and 8 gold/platinum bars at a loom.
