Swords first come to mind when players think of a fantasy weapon, and the selection of Swords in Terraria makes it the ideal starting weapon. With Swords in Terraria having quite a lot of special effects, there’s almost always a Sword for every situation. Moreover, being the basic weapon of the Melee Class means Swords facilitate high-powered close-quarters combat without a lot of complications.

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However, certain Swords do dominate Terraria gameplay when it comes to efficiency. When players pursue the entirety of Terraria’s offerings for the first time, the right Sword can secure victory against the game’s selection of powerful enemies. Just which Swords are must-haves for players who are still gearing up pre-Hardmode?

Updated May 15, 2024 by Rhenn Taguiam: With Update 1.4.5 of Terraria making significant changes to Banners and Kites as well as the addition of Roller Skates, fans of the sandbox RPG may be interested in starting a new playthrough to see just how far they can take the ever-evolving game in terms of their creativity and combat prowess. For fans who want a more straightforward RPG experience, perhaps using the Sword in Pre-Hardmode can be a decent refresher to the game’s mechanics.

As such, players who want to capitalize on their Pre-Hardmode adventures should equip themselves with the most efficient Swords, which include the large variant of a metal sword, a blade made out of grass, a sword grafted from an ant’s mandible, a sword of pure ice, and even a traditional Japanese armament.

20 Platinum Broadsword

16 Damage

Should Terraria players acquire enough Platinum Bars in their world, the Platinum Broadsword is a must-have due to its base 16 Damage. Its appearance is that of a sword with the silvery-blue sheen of platinum in the game, owing to both its namesake and the title’s straightforward crafting system. This doesn’t make the Platinum Broadsword any less deadly, however, especially since it can excel in the right hands.

The arcing motion of the Platinum Broadsword makes it ideal for attacking jumping and flying enemies, especially with its extended reach. This makes the Platinum Broadsword a more effective all-rounder, at least compared to base shortswords. Its faster speed also makes it more potent than the War Axe of the Night, despite its higher 20 Damage.

19 Mandible Blade

16 Damage

Players with a taste for a macabre may appreciate some of their first Pre-Hardmode gear to have a sense of fright in them. The Mandible Blade can strike fear in the hearts of opponents, especially with its rather imposing appearance. The weapon is a rare drop from Antlion Swarmers and Creepers, making the gear a worthwhile find and starting weapon in the game’s tougher challenges.

Stats-wise, the Mandible Blade is a practical choice for players in the early game, especially up until they can acquire the Blood Butcherer, Light’s Bane, or even the Candy Cane Sword. Despite its lack of special modifications, its special appearance alone could make the Mandible Blade worth keeping until players find a more suitable armament of choice.

18 Ice Blade

17 Damage

Players enjoying their Terraria playthrough may want to add an elemental flair to their overall experience. This is where the Ice Blade comes in, as its chilling appearance gives it a characteristically deadly allure. Its unique design makes it a decent early-game weapon for players, especially since its icy katana-esque look can give it a pristine appeal.

What makes the Ice Blade interesting is its projectile. While the projectile Ice Bolt itself doesn’t have any special properties, securing a guaranteed projectile with no mana cost every 0.9s means players can technically attack from both short and long-range. This can boost the survivability of early-game players, especially those who get overwhelmed by fighting many opponents at the same time.

17 Blade Of Grass

18 Damage

Playing on the pun of a literary description associated with grass, the Blade of Grass is quite literally stylized to look like a pile of grass made to look like a blade. However, its fancy appearance hides a potent weapon in early-game Terraria experiences, especially when taking into account its slate of bonuses. Appearances-wise, the Blade of Grass is among the largest swords in the game.

However, despite its melee nature, the weapon also has a nifty projectile. When swung, the Leaf Blade auto-targets enemies and hits with 20 Armor Penetration, 4 Damage, 4.5 Knockback, and even applies Poisoned. The constant release of projectiles alongside slashes makes the Blade of Grass effective in specific stages such as the Eater of the Worlds and Eye of Cthulhu.

16 Katana

18 Damage

Players may want their Summoner to boast a more familiar weapon while their Minions protect them. In this regard, the Katana might make a fine choice with its sleek but straightforward allure as a weapon commonly associated with dutiful samurai. Obtained only from the Traveling Merchant, one might mistake this weapon for a rather weak armament due to its ordinary appearance and meager 18 Damage.

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However, players shouldn’t underestimate the Katana’as plain appearance. As an early-game sword, the Katana boasts helpful stats for melee combatants: particularly a high 19% Critical Hit chance compared to the 4% that most other swords have. Its larger size can also accommodate both jumping and flying enemies, allowing players to knock them back just before they land a hit.

15 Bone Sword

19 Damage

Similar to the design motif of the Necromancer in Diablo 4, the Bone Sword isn’t merely a sword with an ordinary skeletal aesthetic. Instead, the early-game weapon boasts a skull for a guard and a gray overall hilt, extending into a rugged blade lining a hole in the middle.

Unlike other swords, the Bone Sword has less knockback and swings much slower. However, the weapon offsets this by packing more damage, giving players a more stylish option for their early-game Terraria adventures while they build toward more powerful weapons.

14 Candy Cane Sword

19 Damage

While the appearance of the Candy Cane Sword as that of a sword-shaped candy cane does add a bit of a violent twist to the Christmas ornament, the weapon makes for a perfect addition to players who want their characters to resemble protagonists of “totally not Christmas Films” that are still loved in the holidays.

Similar to other beginner-level weapons, the Candy Cane Sword doesn’t have any remarkable effects to enhance its inherent combat potential. However, its rather wide swing range does allow players to hit up to two opponents at once when side by side in melee range, allowing them to contend with early-game threats in a more colorful fashion.

13 Exotic Scimitar

20 Damage

Despite the Exotic Scimitar of Terraria gameplay looking nowhere near the more pristine Scimitars in Baldur’s Gate 3, its straightforward appearance does pack a punch in terms of its status as a Sword. Its Very Fast speed alongside decent Damage allows it to contend with most early-game foes, although it would do players good to find a higher-level sword to replace this with as they make progress in the game.

Thankfully, the Exotic Scimitar’s acquisition does allow players to pack enough damage potential to fight more than enough foes to collect crafting materials and access more upgraded weapon variants. Among early-game swords, the Exotic Scimitar may be able to become a player’s trusted companion.

12 Tentacle Spike

20 Damage

Players enjoying their Terraria experience who want characters to feel straight from a Lovecraftian game might appreciate Tentacle Spike. Taking the appearance of a tentacle with spikes protruding at the end, players may find the weapon resembling either a hammer or an odd toothbrush. Moreover, this odd aesthetic coincides with its unique effects.

Despite its averaging 20 Damage, Tentacle Spike comes with a projectile of the same name. These projectiles embed to enemies on hit, dealing 3 Damage per second over 9 Seconds. Moreover, this effect can be stacked up up to 5 Times, allowing players to inflict as much as 15 Damage every second should they embed all Spikes onto opponents.

11 Blood Butcherer

22 Damage

The deep red aesthetic of the Blood Butcherer in Terraria gameplay introduces quite the darker visuals to players who want a blood-themed weapon that appears in other games. At its core, the curved steel of the Blood Butcherer with hints of blood already implies a grittier design motif compared to other weapons. And when equipped, players can bring a bloody welcome to opponents who try to face them.

When hitting enemies, the Blood Butcherer gives opponents the Blood Butchered Debuff. This essentially forces enemies to emit spurts of blood that indicate losing 4 Health per second. This effect lasts for 9 Seconds, although the effect can be stacked up to 5 Times. This essentially allows players to deal as much as 20 Damage per second should all stacks take effect at the same time.

10 Enchanted Sword

23 Damage

Should players find an ornamental sword in stone, they should destroy it immediately for a chance to get the Enchanted Sword. Playing off the Excalibur in Arthurian legend, the Enchanted Sword makes for quite the hilarious appearance with its blue and red aesthetic that seems to resemble the traditional wizard hat.

This humorous visual detail aside, the Enchanted Sword is a potent early-game weapon upon acquisition, and may even contend with early-game Terraria bosses. Slashing with it can occasionally release an Enchanted Beam that dissipates after hitting a target. The Enchanted Sword’s multi-hit capabilities make it a decent weapon to carry while waiting for upgrades.

9 Muramasa

24 Damage

Named after the famous Japanese swordsmith, the Muramasa is one of the best pre-Hardmode Swords players can acquire in their Melee Class Terraria journey. Obtained after opening Golden Lock Boxes and Locked Golden Chest, this blue-bladed katana can become a player’s trusty companion with its fast attack speed.

This auto-swinging Sword emits blue light upon slashing. When this blade hits the enemy, a random slash will appear in the air and hit the target for another 50% Damage. Despite the blade’s weaker damage output, its attack speed and extra attacks can make it a fast boss killer or mob cleanser.

8 Starfury

25 Damage

The special appearances of the Azure Crate, Sky Crate, and Skyware Chest can hold the equally impressive Starfury. When players acquire this blade, they acquire a pink crystalline sword with a yellow guard, making this one of the prettier items in Terraria gameplay.

However, where the Starfury gets its name is through its inherent effects. Upon hitting an enemy, the Starfury occasionally forces a Starfury projectile to rain toward the cursor’s location. This light-emitting projectile hits for 150% Damage with a single pierce before dissipating. Its light properties make it great for scouting dark locations, making it a nifty companion when exploring pre-Hardmode settings.

7 Falcon Blade

25 Damage

When players look hard enough in Mythril Crates or Iron Crates in their Terraria gameplay, they may acquire the Falcon Blade. Boasting the appearance of an ordinary falchion, the Falcon Blade boasts decent speed for an ordinary weapon without any special effects. The blade does swing from an arc beginning in the back, making this ideal when players are surrounded by mobs in the early game before upgrading before the Golem boss fight.

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Despite its lack of unique attributes, the Falcon Blade may be a pre-Hardmode version of the Cutlass, a similarly functioning weapon. As with most Swords that don’t have any special properties, its best buff would be the Legendary Modifier which adds a massive boost to stats (15% Damage, 10% Speed, 5% Critical Strike Chance, 15% Knockback).

6 Phaseblade

26 Damage

With a player’s Terraria experience capable of taking them to different worlds and biomes, it’s no surprise that the sci-fi Phaseblade is based on the Lightsaber from Star Wars. With a Phaseblade’s color derived from the ore used to craft them, the Phaseblades may be considered the equivalent of Ore-based Gem Staves.

All Phaseblade colors have identical stats and don’t have any special effects, making them straightforwardly simple slashing weapons that could potentially contend with bosses. In turn, Phaseblades rely on buffs to improve their performance. Perhaps the most ideal Modifier for the Phaseblade is the Legendary Modifier, granting increases in Damage (15%), Speed (10%), Critical Strike Chance (5%), and Knockback (15%).

5 Bee Keeper

30 Damage

One of the more peculiar Swords players can acquire in their Terraria playthrough would be the Bee Keeper, predictably dropped by the Bee Queen. Taking on the appearance of a bee hilt with a purple blade, the Bee Keeper is surprisingly one of the few weapons players can continue using even during their early Hardmode encounters.

At its core, the Bee Keeper can summon one to two Bee Projectiles to enemies it’s struck, dealing a third of the sword’s base damage. These Bee Projectiles have homing capabilities on top of a 10-second unlimited piercing and three ricochets. Moreover, the weapon has a 90% chance to reverse enemy movement with Confused, making this Sword the only pre-Hardmode weapon capable of this debuff.

4 Purple Clubberfish

35 Damage

When players fish for long enough (and survive long enough) in the Corruption biome in their pre-Hardmode Terraria experience, they have a 10% chance of getting the Purple Clubberfish. Despite its rather ordinary appearance, the Purple Clubberfish’s 35 Damage makes it one of the most powerful pre-Hardmode Swords in the game, making it a must-have for players who want to fight with the likes of Plantera.

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However, the Purple Clubberfish doesn’t have any spectacular abilities. It swings in an arc that begins from the back, potentially hitting foes adjacent to the player across all sides. Given its straightforward damage capabilities, the Purple Clubberfish may benefit from the Legendary Modifier that grants +15% Damage, +10% Speed, +5% Critical Strike Chance, and +15% Knockback.

3 Bat Bat

36 Damage

All bats in a player’s session have a chance to drop the Bat Bat, which is quite literally a hilt with a large bat wing for a blade. Despite its simple appearance, the Bat Bat does one of the highest damage numbers in the game, allowing it to become a weapon of choice even in Terraria events.

Moreover, while the Bat Bat doesn’t have special debuffs, hitting with this blade will always restore 1 Health to the user. Despite the minuscule value of this pseudo-lifesteal, the frequency of slashes with this weapon could potentially provide a source of emergency healing.

2 Volcano

40 Damage

When players manage to create the Volcano from 20 x Hellstone Bars in a Crafting Station, they get one of the slowest but most damaging weapons in their Terraria experience. Boasting a reddish hilt with molten lava for a blade, Volcano is a manually-swung Sword that has a 50% chance of inflicting On Fire! to enemies, forcing them to lose 4 Health per second.

However, what makes Volcano especially dangerous is its potential to create explosions that deal 75% base damage to its target and all surrounding enemies. This time around, the explosion will always trigger On Fire! It’s due to the Volcano’s long reach that makes it quite the efficient crowd control weapon.

1 Night’s Edge

40 Damage

Formerly considered the most powerful Sword in Terraria gameplay, the Night’s Edge is currently the game’s strongest Sword (sans the 3DS version) before venturing into Hardmode. Its craftable nature means the Night’s Edge doesn’t necessarily need to drop from an opponent, although it does need some of pre-Hardmode’s toughest Swords as ingredients (Blade of Grass, Muramasa, Volcano, Blood Butcherer, or Light’s Bane).

When used, this purple katana follows an 8-like wave pattern, swinging forward and then backward. Each swing is followed up by a purple aura that mimics the same swing at a further range, making the Night’s Edge a decent short-to-mid-range weapon that hits both front and back.

Terraria

Platform(s)

PC , PS3 , PS4 , PS5 , Xbox 360 , Xbox One , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X , Switch , Vita , iOS , Android , macOS , Linux , 3DS , Stadia

Released

May 16, 2011

Developer(s)

Re-Logic

Genre(s)

Action , Adventure , Sandbox