Do Weapons or Tools Break in Terraria?

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If you’re coming to Terraria from another sandbox game like Minecraft, you’re probably used to the idea that few things are permanent. Between explosive creepers capable of damaging your houses, the fact that all your items drop when you die in Minecraft, and the general wear and tear your weapons and tools suffer, you start to look for these trends in similar games.

While Terraria does have explosive items and the occasional enemy that can damage some of your construction, the structures you build are usually quite safe from harm once you’ve finished them.

But what about your equipment? Can weapons and tools actually break in Terraria?

Weapons and tools do not take damage or break in unmodded Terraria, allowing you to use them limitlessly for as long as you want. This protection extends to your armor and other equipment as well, eliminating the need for repairs.

Terraria Zenith weapon
Imagine having to track down materials to complete repairs on the Zenith, a melee weapon made up of 10 separate swords. That’d be an absolute nightmare.

For those who enjoy the survival aspect of games like Minecraft, I can understand Terraria feeling “dumbed down”, or “too easy” because of this core difference in gameplay. There’s no denying this makes many aspects of Terraria considerably easier by comparison, though there are still elements of Terraria that are far from simple to achieve.

Having played both games, I find that I really appreciate Terraria’s willingness to let you explore at your own pace, allowing you to spend more of your time mining rare materials and exploring caverns instead of retrieving all of your possessions every time you die and constantly looking over your shoulder for creepers.

You’ll still have to go back for money when you die though, so there’s still going to be some backtracking no matter which sandbox game you decide to play.

Occasionally, however, you’ll come across a weapon or tool that says it’s broken. While this would appear to defy everything I’ve just told you, there’s actually a simple explanation behind this potential discrepancy.

Can Weapons Break in Terraria?

Weapons in Terraria do not have a durability mechanic, but you still might craft or come across one in the wild with the “broken” modifier. While this might suggest that the weapon in question is unusable, that’s far from the case.

A broken weapon or tool simply does 30% less damage and has 20% less knockback than one with no modifier at all. This certainly makes it less effective, but has no effect on your gameplay beyond that.

The same is also true for all other negative modifiers, such as slow, sluggish, damaged, or shoddy. The item’s description will tell you what penalties its modifier has inflicted upon your new acquisition, but won’t prevent you from using it to your heart’s content.

That said, I’d take any weapon or tool with a negative modifier to the Goblin Tinkerer to reforge it. Fortunately, weapons and tools with negative modifiers are less expensive to reforge than weapons with no modifier or a positive modifier, and there’s no limit to how many times an item can be reforged.

This means that even if a terrible or dull weapon happens to become broken when reforging, you can simply pay a little more money to the Goblin Tinkerer to have him try reforging it again.

For those who have defeated Plantera, you might come across one final broken item – the Broken Hero Sword. This is not a weapon at all, but a crafting material, and it has no other uses beyond crafting the following items:

  • Terra Blade
  • Terra Toilet
  • True Excalibur (Modded or older versions of the game only)
  • True Night’s Edge (Modded or older versions of the game only)

Does Armor Have Durability in Terraria?

Much like your weapons and tools, armor does not have a durability mechanic in Terraria. You can fight bosses, swim through lava, drown yourself in the ocean, or blow yourself up with a trap, and your armor will still be there when you respawn, ready to take on whatever punishment you expose it do while exploring.

Unlike weapons, tools, and accessories, armor also cannot have a modifier. This means the Goblin Tinkerer cannot reforge it, and you’ll never craft or come across any piece of armor that appears to be “broken”.

You can, however, receive a debuff called Broken Armor. While this won’t have an effect on your armor items, it does reduce your defense by half. Enemies capable of giving this debuff are:

  • Armored Skeletons (2 minutes, 4 in Expert mode)
  • Blue Armored Bones (10 seconds, 20 in Expert mode)
  • Brain of Cthulhu (16.25 seconds, 32.5 in Expert mode)
  • Creeper (16.25 seconds, 32.5 in Expert mode)

Definitely not pleasant, but certainly better than having to rebuy your equipment or run back to the nearest anvil to fix it!

Do Any Tools in Terraria Have Durability?

Nope! If you’re looking for items in Terraria that have any sort of limited lifespan, you’ll be looking at consumables like food, potions, or ammunition. All of these are also plentiful and easy to acquire, so you don’t have to feel bad about using them while exploring or during longer boss fights.

This really allows Terraria to place its emphasis on creative construction, crafting, and exploration, giving you a relaxing game experience full of things to discover. Perfect for unwinding on your own after a long day or collaborating with a group of friends on the same server, and ideal for those looking to minimize interruptions while adventuring.

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