There are an extensive number of Terraria armor sets on offer, and you might even want to collect a bunch of different sets as your circumstances change in-game, as you battle various enemies and bosses. But which are the best? That’s where we come in. We’ve put together an extensive armor progression guide that can take you all the way to hardmode, as well as our top picks for the best Terraria armor later in the game.
If you’re just getting started with Terraria, we have a list of Terraria NPCs, which includes how to find them and keep them happy, as well as how to get yourself a pair of Terraria wings. Because who doesn’t like a good old pair of wings?
Let’s dive into our Terraria armor guide.
Terraria Armor Progression
In Terraria, progression is defined by you gaining access to new weapons, accessories, and armor. Armor is very important in combat, as it mitigates damage taken, and can boost your damage output, so choosing the right set is important. Here, we’ve outlined the best Terraria armor for each class, to help you progress through the game up to hardmode.
The main purpose of armor in the earlygame is to simply boost your defence. While some give you a better defence boost, they are expensive to make and your valuable resources are sometimes better saved. Try to aim for easy-to-craft armor that offers the highest defence until you get your paws on a proper set. Here are some good pieces to get your feet off the ground. As you get closer to hardmode, the armor set bonuses become more valuable based on your class and playstyle.
All classes
| Head | Chest | Legs | Description |
| Mining helmet or Ultrabright helmet |
Flinx fur coat | Jungle pants | +1% cap, 5% summon, and 8% defence. Good all-around set for exploring |
| Gladiator helmet | Gladiator breastplate | Gladiator leggings | +16 defence. This set provides high defence, as well as knockback immunity, and can be farmed from a Hoplite Statue near a natural wire trap, so is essentially free |
| Mining helmet or Ultrabright helmet |
Mining shirt | Mining pants | +3 defence. Gives you a 30% increase in mining speed, but has a low drop rate from undead miners |
| Pumpkin helmet | Pumpkin breastplate | Pumpkin leggings | +10% damage and +7 defence. Strong set that can be obtained before defeating a boss in the Halloween season |
| Cactus helmet | Cactus breatplate | Cactus leggings | +3 defence. Can be obtained early game, and repels enemies on contact |
| Crimson helmet | Crimson scalemail | Crimson greaves | +6% damage, +19 defence, health regeneration. This is a classless set for late pre-hardmode, and can be used to regenerate health while exploring – especially when standing still outside of combat |
Melee
| Head | Chest | Legs | Description |
| Ancient shadow helmet | Gi | Ancient shadow greaves | +5% damage, +5% crit, +16 defence. This set is optimal early game, but is tough to get as Ancient shadow armour only has a 0.19% drop rate, and comes from the Eater of Souls. If you’re struggling to get it, just wear a Gi and hike your defence as much as possible using the other slots |
| Molten helmet | Molten breastplate | Molten greaves | +17% damage, +7% crit, +25 defence. Maximizes melee damage and provides substantial fire resistance. |
Ranged
| Head | Chest | Legs | Description |
| Fossil helmet | Gi | Fossil greaves | +5% damage, 13% crit, +12 defence. |
| Necro helmet | Necro breastplate | Necro greaves | +15% damage, +10% crit, +19 defence. |
Magic
| Head | Chest | Legs | Description |
| Wizard hat | Mystic robe | Jungle pants | +11% damage, 22% crit, 12 defence. This set will snag you some great magic bonuses, but you’ll need to have a lucky streak to get the mystic robe from the travelling merchant. |
| Wizard hat | Diamond robe | Jungle pants | +5% damage, +16% crit, +13 defence. Though the diamond robe isn’t as strong as the mystic robe, you won’t need to rely on luck to obtain it. |
| Wizard hat | Mystic robe | Meteor leggings | +20% damage, +16% crit, +11 defence |
| Wizard hat | Diamond robe | Jungle pants | +5% samafe, 16% crit, 13 defence. Feel free to swap pieces with the above set to increase your mana economy |
| Meteor helmet | Meteor suit | Meteor leggings | +27% damage, _16 defence. Eliminates mana cost from space gun and gray zapinator |
Summon
| Head | Chest | Legs | Description |
| Magic hat | Flinx fur coat | Jungle pants | +6% damage, 12% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence. |
| Fossil helmet | Flinx fur coat | Fossil greaves | +8% crit, +1 cap, +5% summon, +9 defence |
| Ancient shadow helmet | Flinx fur coat | Ancient shadow greaves | +1 cap, +5% summon, +13 defence. This is as close to optimal as you can get, as the melee speed bonus will benefit your whip |
| Obsidian outlaw hat | Obsidian longcoat | Obsidian pants | +1 cap, +31% summon, +15 defence. Provides 50% range bonus and +35% speed bonus to whips |
| Bee headgear | Bee breastplate | Bee greaves | +2 cap, +23% summon, +13 defence. Provides great bonus to minion capacity, but isn’t as strong as the obsidian set |
What is the best Terraria armor?
So you’ve got yourself up to the tippety top, and now you need to work out which is the best armor for you. Well, as always, this question is pretty open depending on what you’re looking for. Here, we’ve put together our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, along with their buffs and what materials are needed to craft them.
Best Terraria melee armor
When it comes to melee, you want to focus on high defense and strength, so we recommend the solar flare armor.
| Armor set | Description | Materials required |
| Solar flare | +22% melee damage, +17% crit, +15% movement and attack speed. This set increases the likelihood that enemies will attack you, as well as giving you a special shield which can be consumed in order to dash into enemies and damage them | 45 solar fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafted at the ancient manipulator |
Best Terraria ranged armor
Ranged fighters, of course, need to focus on increasing the damage of their ranged attacks and putting distance between themselves and the enemy. We recommend you use the vortex armor.
| Armor set | Description | Materials required |
| Vortex | +36% ranged damage, +27% increased crit, +10% movement speed, +25% chance to consume no ammo. This set also allows you to go into stealth mode, increasing your ranged ability and making it less likely you’ll be targeted, though you’ll trade off some movement speed. | 45 vortex fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator |
Best Terraria summoner armor
Summoners have the unique ability to bring in minions to fight for them, so the best armor for them is the stardust armor, which focuses on buffing their little friends.
| Armor set | Description | Materials required |
| Stardust | +66% minion damage, +5 minion capacity. This set gives you the ability to spawn a stardust guardian, which can be set down like a turret | 45 stardust fragments, 36 luminate bars. Crafted at ancient manipulator |
Best Terraria magic armor
Naturally, mages focus on lighting up the world with their wide range of spells, so upping your magic damage and decreasing your mana consumption is the best way forward. Therefore, we recommend the nebula armor.
| Armor set | Description | Materials required |
| Nebula | +36% magic damage, 16% crit, +60 max mana, -15% mana consumption. This set gives you a chance to spawn buffs when hurting an enemy. Blue boosts your mana regen, orange boosts your health regen, and pink boosts your damage | 45 nebula fragments, 36 luminite bars. Crafter at ancient manipulator |
How can I get Terraria armor polish?
Terraria armor polish is an accessory in hardmode which provides you with immunity to the broken armor debuff. It is also one of the ingredients you need to make the armor bracing, which is required to craft an ankh charm, which in turn can be used to make an ankh shield. Armor polish drops from blue armored bones and armored skeletons, but only has a 1-2% drop rate.
And that’s everything on Terraria armor progression up to hardmode, our top picks for the best Terraria armor in each class, and how to snag yourself Terraria armor polish. While you’re here, why not check out our best mobile RPGs or our Stardew Valley characters guide to find something new to play?