The Goblin Army is an event that can be fought once a Shadow Orb/Crimson Heart is smashed or a Goblin Battle Standard is used. The event consists of goblin-like enemies. Once initiated, the event will continue until enough enemies are defeated.
The Event[]
Pre-Hardmode[]
The event enemies consists of Goblin Peons,
Goblin Thieves,
Goblin Sorcerers,
Goblin Archers, and
Goblin Warriors. Each enemy does what its name describes (except thieves and peons). The enemies can also break down doors to attack NPCs, stressing the player. When an enemy is defeated, it can drop
Spiky Balls and the
Harpoon.
Hardmode[]
In Hardmode, a new enemy, the Goblin Summoner
, can spawn. This enemy attacks by conjuring Shadowflame Apparations and Chaos Balls. Defeating the Summoner can result in it dropping the
Shadowflame Knife
, Shadowflame Bow
, or the Shadowflame Hex Doll
.
Preparation[]
General Tips[]
This content is transcluded from Guide:Practical tips § Combat.
- Boss battles can be won or lost before the battle ever starts. Choose your equipment and have it ready; find and/or make potions and placed buffs;
use the highest-tier food you have available; set up an arena appropriate to the boss; learn the strategies for the boss you're facing. - Prepare your Boss-fighting arena with adequate lighting,
Campfires and
Heart Lanterns for health regeneration, and
Stars in Bottles for mana regeneration if you use magic.
Bast Statues
will provide a significant defensive boost.Garden Gnomes
and (if underground) proper torch placementwill reduce damage taken and increase damage dealt due to the luck. Note Torch God's Favor helps with this.Honey pools can also be used for extra health regeneration.
Sunflowers provide the Happy! buff to players within a 50-tile radius, which grants a +10% movement speed bonus and 17% reduction in enemy spawn rate.
- Always carry around a stack of the highest-tier healing potion available, as relying only on natural Health Regeneration is not a good idea. Depending on the game stage, this can include items such as Mushrooms or Honeyfins. On the
PC,
Console,
Mobile, and
tModLoader versions, Restoration Potions are healing potions with a shorter cooldown.
- Likewise carry mana potions, if you use Magic.
- The
Strange Brew
is also an option, but its weak healing effect will trigger the Potion Sickness cooldown as well as Mana Sickness. On theOld-gen console version,
Windows Phone version,
Old Chinese version, Nintendo
version, and
tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, Restoration Potions can save a slot, but will likewise trigger both cooldowns.
- It is suggested to build houses for the
Dryad and the
Nurse NPCs in your arena. The former casts the
Dryad's Blessing
buff, which increases your defense and provides you with a thorns-like effect, while the latter can heal and remove debuffs instantly, at the cost of somecoins.
- Bosses are displayed on the Minimap: Follow the boss's icon to track it when you're struggling to find it. You can identify the boss icons by checking their respective wiki pages.
- Once you have freed the
Mechanic in the Dungeon, you can use
Wire to enhance your arena with
Traps and helpful
Heart and
Star Statues. The former helps to damage the enemies, though be careful to set them up correctly in order not to hurt yourself during the battle. The latter will spawn heart and star pickups, respectively. Connect these devices to
timers.
- It may be useful to summon and kill the Eye of Cthulhu or King Slime before summoning any harder boss in order to spawn an extra one-use pool of Hearts. Note that this will prevent any Heart Statues from spawning new Hearts.
- Remember to use the
Sharpening Station
,Ammo Box
,Crystal Ball,
Bewitching Table
, andSlice of Cake
before you go to explore or battle bosses/invasions. These will give boosts that are useful to take, with the first four being class-specific. They giveSharpened
,Ammo Box
,Clairvoyance,
Bewitched
, andSugar Rush
, respectively.
Terrain Preparation[]
Due to the Mechanic likely not being available and most enemies are grounded, a simple lava pit with a thin layer of lava is ideal. The lava should just thick enough to burn the enemies but not drops. Once hardmode is entered and the
Goblin Tinkerer found, raise the lava levels so it burns copper coins but not silver. Don't worry about the spiky balls as you can buy them and there are better sources of damage. Make sure there are Town NPC's nearby if you wish to perform this strategy or the goblins will not spawn, and be wary of
Goblin Sorcerers and the
Goblin Summoner
. You can also add a roof in order to hang the relative Banner.
Gearing Up[]
Armor[]
Pre-Hardmode[]
Crimson Armor should be used due to many armors being unavailable.
Shadow Armor can also be used if one prefers mobility over defense.
- A mage can use the
Wizard Set with the
Meteor Leggings for magic damage.
- The
Meteor Armor is also useful for mages.
- After the player has defeated Queen Bee, Summoners can use
Bee Armor
.
Hardmode[]
Palladium Armor can be used with the corresponding head piece for regeneration.
Orichalcum Armor can be used with the corresponding head piece for crowd control.
Titanium Armor gives the most defense and should be used with the corresponding head piece.
- If one does not mind hybrid sets, warriors and rangers should use the
Frost Breastplate,
Forbidden Treads
, and their correspondingAdamantite Head piece.
- A mage can use the
Wizard Set with the
Forbidden Treads
, however, this is very frail. Otherwise, a wizard should useAdamantite armor if the other sets are unavailable.
- A summoner should use
Spider Armor
with theForbidden Treads
. Summon all your minions with Spider armor, then switch to the Treads for one more.
Weapons[]
Pre-Hardmode[]
For Melee Users[]
- the
Enchanted Sword is useful as it has high damage for its obtainment and shoots a projectile. If it is unavailable, the
Blood Butcherer can be used. If in a corruption world, the
Phaseblade should be used, as it has more range and is only slightly slower than the
Light's Bane.
- The
Code 1
is useful for dealing damage while under cover. If it has not been obtained, theAmazon
is a good backup. - As the goblins come in mass hordes, the
Swordfish or
The Rotted Fork can be used for piercing multiple enemies.
- The
Thorn Chakram is useful for dealing with pesky Sorcerers and Archers from a distance.
- The
Ball O' Hurt or
The Meatball can be used to disrupt enemy lines. On the
PC version,
Console version,
Mobile version, and
tModLoader version, they can also be swung around to easily block attacks by Sorcerers.
For Ranged Users[]
- The best bows available are the
Demon Bow and the
Tendon Bow. However, if Queen Bee Has been defeated,
The Bee's Knees
is an excellent option. - The
Minishark should be used due to its rapid rate of fire. The
Star Cannon is also useful due to its high damage.
For Magic Users[]
- The
Ruby Staff or
Diamond Staff are the best gem staves, but the
Vilethorn is useful for piercing damage and the
Crimson Rod can be used for damaging passing goblins.
- The
Space Gun is useful due to its rapid rate of fire.
- The
Water Bolt is useful for piercing damage.
For Summoners[]
Options are limited before Hardmode:
- The
Slime Staff is rare and weak, but will at least allow attacking from shelter.
- After the player has defeated Queen Bee, the
Hornet Staff
is quite useful. - The
Imp Staff
is even more powerful, but requires a dangerous trip down to the Underworld.
For Throwers
Some Beenades can be used for crowd control.
Spiky Balls are also a strong choice for crowd control.
Normal Grenades can be used if you have a large quantity of them.
Using Frost Daggerfish can also be useful.
Hardmode[]
For Melee Users[]
- the
Titanium Sword is useful as it has high damage. If it is unavailable, the
Adamantite Sword can be used. The
Ice Sickle is also useful.
- The
Amarok
is useful due to theFrostburn Debuff.
- The
Adamantite Glaive and the
Titanium Trident are good piercing weapons.
- The
Flying Knife
is useful for dealing with the Goblin Summoner as it can be controlled. - The
Dao of Pow can be used to disrupt enemy lines due to the
Confused Debuff (although some goblins are immune).
- The
Shadowflame Knife
is very useful if one can acquire it during the event.
For Ranged Users[]
- The
Marrow and the
Ice Bow (with
Cursed Arrows or
Venom Arrows), and the
Daedalus Stormbow
(withHoly Arrows) are all good bows. Even the
Hellwing Bow
(with theEndless Quiver
) is still useful due to its infinite pierce. - The
Adamantite Repeater and
Titanium Repeater (with the
Endless Quiver
) can be used if one has not obtained them. - The
Clockwork Assault Rifle (with
Crystal Bullets or
Ichor Bullets), the
Onyx Blaster
(withIchor Bullets), the
Phoenix Blaster, the
Star Cannon, and the
Uzi (with the
Endless Musket Pouch
) are excellent choices. TheMegashark (with the
Endless Musket Pouch
) is even better if you've beaten The Destroyer. - The
Dart Rifle
/Dart Pistol
and theToxikarp
are great for debuffs. UseIchor Darts
for the Summoner,Cursed Darts
for singular enemies, andCrystal Darts
for crowds. TheFlamethrower is also good if one has beaten Skeletron Prime.
For Magic Users[]
- The
Flower of Frost is useful for debuffs. The
Flower of Fire is a weaker version. The
Life Drain
is great against crowds, while theClinger Staff
is useful for barriers. TheNimbus Rod can be used for damage for passerby. The
Frost Staff is also good.
- The
Golden Shower, the
Cursed Flames, and the
Crystal Storm are all good weapons for debuffs and rapid damage respectively. The
Demon Scythe can be used for close combat.
- The
Sky Fracture
is a very powerful weapon and can decimate the goblin forces. However, it requires aMagic Missile, which the player may not have. The
Medusa Head
can kill multiple goblins at once fully charged. However, it is a rare drop fromMedusas
. TheSpirit Flame
is also good. TheCrystal Serpent
is good against crowds. TheUnholy Trident is a good weapon, but it is dropped by deadly
Red Devils.
For Summoners[]
- The
Spider Staff
is available early, and a solid improvement over the Pre-Hardmode options, especially with the spiders' ability to latch onto Summoners (putting walls behind your arena can make the spiders more mobile). Later staffs such as thePirate Staff
are also good. - For sentries, one should use the
Queen Spider Staff
as it is the best one available.
Potions[]
- Any food that gives the
Well Fed buff gives minor stat buffs to everything. Good ones are the
Bowl of Soup,
Christmas Pudding
, andPumpkin Pie.
Ironskin Potions,
Endurance Potions and
Regeneration Potions will help tremendously with survivability.
Swiftness Potions will aid in your dodging.
Ammo Reservation Potions and
Archery Potions are good for rangers.
Magic Power Potions and
Mana Regeneration Potions are must have for mages.
- If you already have a minion, a
Summoning Potion lets you bring an extra one to the fight.
Rage Potions or
Wrath Potions are useful for almost all classes.
Accessories[]
Pre-Hardmode[]
- Any
Cloud in a Bottle-like item is great for jump boosts. If you can, combine them with a
Shiny Red Balloon.
Hermes Boots are a great option, due to the speed increase.
- A
Band of Regeneration can help with healing. It's best to put it in the Vanity Accessories slot until you need to heal.
- An
Anklet of the Wind can help with evasion. An
Aglet is easier to find, but doesn't work as well.
- A
Frog Leg will give you improved jumping abilities, including increased height and automatic jumping but it can only be found by fishing, with an incredibly rare 1:500 chance to get it.
- If you're playing in Expert Mode, the the Shield of Cthulhu is a great choice for quick evasion and extra damage.
- If you've found the
Goblin Tinkerer,
Hermes Boots, an
Anklet of the Wind, an
Aglet, and purchased
Rocket Boots, you can make
Lightning Boots, or, if you have
Frostspark Boots. If you have
Lava Waders, you can make
Terraspark Boots
, which is even better, although only possible on thePC version,
Console version,
Mobile version, and
tModLoader version.
- The
Shark Tooth Necklace
is a very good increase to DPS, especially on Expert Mode. - If you are going for a melee approach, the
Magma Stone is a slight increase to your DPS.
- The
Worm Scarf
will dramatically reduce damage.
Hardmode[]
Wings are extremely useful in hardmode.
- Mobility accessories such as the
Shield of Cthulhu
orFrog Leg are very useful as well.
- Damage increasing accessories such as any Emblem, the
Mechanical or
Fire Gauntlet and
Magic Quiver are always a good choice.
- Variants of the
Cobalt Shield and
Cross Necklace can prevent hits.
Magic Cuffs are still good for regaining Mana.
Strategies[]
- It is recommended that you build a sky base to keep your
NPCs from ground troops.