There is a veritable smorgasbord of items to play around with in Terraria, and almost all of them can be further personalized to your play style through modifiers. There's a 75 percent chance that weapons and accessories will be created with a random modifier, though ones spawned in the world or given by NPCs (such as Angler rewards) will never be modified.
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If you ever needed another reason to become best buddies with your Goblin Tinkerer, here is a list of some of the best modifiers to aim for when spending your platinum reforging.
Updated August 22, 2022 by Rosa Baumgartl: Though some modifiers clearly stand head and shoulders above the rest, there are some cheaper adaptions that insist on handicapping one stat for the sake of another. It would be naive to assume that there aren't times when sacrificing one thing to increase another is justifiable, especially if you're strapped for cash. Here are a few more modifiers that will do in a pinch.
13 Bulky
If you're more worried about keeping the bad guys away from you, then a great big melee weapon with +10 percent knockback is the choice for you. The Bulky modifier may slow down your attacks, but with an increase in its size there is a +10 percent chance of it hitting its mark.
The weapon will also appear bigger on screen, with modifiers such as Massive increasing the visual size by 18 percent. The damage goes up too, if a Whip, Sword, or any tool has the Bulky prefix, by +10 percent. Bigger weapons are definitely better.
12 Taboo
In the early game when players are still scooping up Fallen Stars to increase their mana pool, a modifier like Taboo might be too costly for its benefits. But later on, when Mana Potions are plentiful and specialist armor has been donned, something like a +10 percent increase in mana cost can be negligible when platinum is tight.
Weapons that produce magic damage or summon minions can have the Taboo modifier, which will boost them with +10 percent speed and knockback. When summoning aid it's not a bad option, as usually those weapons will only need to be used once per fight, while your minions retain those boons indefinitely.
11 Nasty
A modifier which can be added to most common weapons, including magic, ranged and summoning, is Nasty, though it isn't all that nasty at all. It's another adjective that gives up knockback in order to increase damage overall.
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The +5 percent damage, +10 percent speed, and +2 percent critical strike only need to be supplemented by good armor or movement speed in order to make up for the -10 percent knockback. Gaining a vantage point over enemies while using a Nasty ranged weapon completely negates the downside, while keeping some money out of the Goblin Tinkerer's pockets.
10 Godly/Demonic
There are many 'sets' of modifiers that can be applied to specific kinds of items in the game. Universal modifiers, as the name suggests, can change the stats of all weapons, and are the only set that affects things such as Yoyos and Spears. The reason Godly and Demonic are in the same entry is because their only difference is a +15 percent knockback from Godly, which is often considered a dump stat in this game.
As such, these modifiers are treated interchangeably, providing any weapon with a +15 percent to damage and +5 percent critical strike chance. These changes can increase the coin value of your weapon by up to 111 percent, so you might want to sell any Godly spares you have.
9 Unreal
If your weapon of choice is ranged like a Bow, Repeater, or Launcher then the modifier you want to shell out for is Unreal. And it really is unreal, adding a hoard of improvements such as +15 percent damage, +10 percent speed, +5 percent critical strike chance, +10 percent velocity, and +15 percent knockback.
If you wanted to sell this god-tier weapon, the mod alone would add 209 percent value to it. Unfortunately, as Guns don't cause knockback, this modifier can't be added to any of them. You'd be better off aiming for Rapid, which increases speed by 15 percent and velocity by ten percent, with no effect on damage.
8 Mythical
When it comes to more magical damage-dealers things get complicated. Summoning weapons can create a dangerous little friend (or nine) to fight in your stead, and you can use Whips to increase their damage, which sounds a bit fishy... But the Mythical modifier doesn't affect Whips, or anything that drains less than three mana per use, or weapons that don't cause any knockback. Suddenly the options seem much more limited.
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But, most magical Guns, Wands and Staffs of Summoning can receive this mod, which increases damage and knockback by 15 percent, increases speed by ten percent, critical strike chance goes up by five percent and mana cost is lowered by ten percent. Check to see if your weapon is one of the lucky few before spending hours reforging it.
7 Ruthless
If you're trying to get ahead as a summoner early game then your weapon might not use much mana. This could include items such as the Finch Staff, which is found in Living Wood Chests, and Abigail's Flower (from Don't Starve Together) which spawns next to grave markers.
In this case, it's worth aiming for the Ruthless mod, which reduces knockback by ten percent (summoned creatures tend not to cause much anyway) but increases all minions' damage by 18 percent. This buff is worth a lot when you're just starting out after the Goblin Army has been defeated.
6 Light
You might have never considered modifying Tools, because why would you when there are so many actual weapons to play with? There aren't many mods that can be applied to Hammers, Axes, and Pickaxes, so it's pretty easy to make them Light. This reduces knockback (oh no!), but increases resource collection by a whopping 15 percent. Consuming a Mining Potion ups your speed by 25 percent, and stacks with the tool's buff.
Mine through that pesky Hellstone quicker than ever before, and get out before the Imps find you.
5 Menacing
It's not only weapons that can be modified, the accessories that provide the player with helpful boosts such as flight, debuff immunity and water breathing can be reforged even better. There are a lot fewer mods for accessories, and can be divided into six sets: Damage, Crit Chance, Defense, Movement, Melee Speed, and Mana.
Menacing is the top of the damage set, granting the player +4 percent to any damage they do. These stack with other weapon and accessory mods, so do your research to maximize your priority stats.
4 Quick
Sometimes, the only thing left to do is run away. You've expended all your fancy potions, there are no more Holy arrows left, and you're down to your last heart. With the Quick modifier on any accessory your movement speed increases by four percent, which is nothing to shake a stick at when you're in an emergency. It all stacks!
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Some boss fights require constant movement, so have some of your favorite Boots reforged to be Quick, and maybe throw it on your Wings too.
3 Warding
All 19 of the accessory mods are positive, unlike those that can be attached to weapons. But things like Music Boxes and Voodoo Dolls can't be reforged by the Goblin Tinkerer, so you may as well just throw them into the lava ocean in the Underworld.
But first, get +4 defense added to everything you own, and equip them appropriately. Putting an accessory in a vanity slot (in the middle column) won't provide your character with anything, except a snazzy outfit. Double check before entering a boss battle, or you might find that your Warding Hurricane in a Bottle isn't quite what you'd hoped.
2 Lucky
The best modifier for Critical Strike Chance is Lucky, which can be put on any accessory. This adds a four percent increase in the likelihood any damage you do is a critical strike, dealing the maximum amount your weapon can do.
This applies to any minions you've summoned too, and with things like the Pygmy Necklace, full armor sets of Tiki, Spooky, Stardust, Spider, Forbidden, Obsidian, and Bee, the number of minions can go up to nine of the same type. That's a lot of damage!
1 Legendary
It does what it says on the tin, this modifier is the ultimate set of stat boosts available to melee weapons in Terraria. Unfortunately, Spears, Flails, and Yoyos are left out of this one, with the exception of the Terrarian, which as expected, is a bit special. This mod adds all the goodies you could want: +15 percent damage and knockback, +10 percent size and speed, and +5 percent critical strike chance. If you plan to main the melee class for your playthrough, then make sure your favorite stabbing stick has the Legendary modifier.
The Terrarian, however, is a Yoyo that can get the Legendary buff, but it's a bit different. At its base the Terrarian does 190 damage, reaches 25 tiles, and can spin in the air infinitely. You will need to defeat the Moon Lord first, but after that anything is easy peasy. When the Terrarian is Legendary, it gains 17 percent damage, 17 percent knockback, and eight percent critical strike chance. As size and speed can't be changed on a Yoyo, it makes sense that this end game item would have its own version of the buff.
Next: Terraria: Complete Guide And Walkthrough
