Creating the best melee setup in Terraria involves selecting the right combination of weapons, armor, accessories, and buffs. As the game progresses from early to late stages, your melee setup will evolve significantly. Here’s a breakdown of optimal melee setups for each phase of the game, ensuring you deal maximum damage and have robust defenses.

Pre-Hardmode Melee Setup

• Armor:
  • Molten Armor: The best pre-Hardmode melee armor, providing the highest defense and a 17% melee damage bonus. Crafted with Hellstone Bars from the Underworld.
• Weapons:
  • Night’s Edge: One of the strongest pre-Hardmode swords, crafted from Muramasa, Blade of Grass, Fiery Greatsword, and either Blood Butcherer or Light’s Bane.
  • Sunfury: A powerful flail with good knockback, found in Shadow Chests in the Underworld.
• Accessories:
  • Feral Claws: Increases melee speed.
  • Hermes Boots (or variants): Increases movement speed, crucial for dodging and engaging enemies.
  • Obsidian Shield: Provides immunity to knockback and fire blocks, crafted from an Obsidian Skull and Cobalt Shield.
• Buffs:
  • Ironskin Potion: Increases defense.
  • Regeneration Potion: Increases health regeneration.
  • Swiftness Potion: Increases movement speed.

Hardmode Melee Setup

• Early Hardmode Armor:
  • Adamantite or Titanium Armor: Choose the melee helmet variant for increased melee damage and critical strike chance.
• Mid-Hardmode Weapons:
  • Amarok: A yoyo obtained from any enemy in the Snow Biome during Hardmode, inflicts the Frostburn debuff.
  • Ice Sickle: Drops from Corrupt Slimes, Slimelings, and other Corruption enemies during Hardmode. Has a projectile that can go through walls.
• Accessories:
  • Warrior Emblem: Increases melee damage by 15%.
  • Mechanical Glove: Increases melee knockback and 12% increased melee damage and speed.
  • Wings: Essential for mobility and dodging.
• Late Hardmode Armor:
  • Turtle Armor: High defense and causes attackers to take damage; crafted from Turtle Shells and Chlorophyte Bars.
• Late Hardmode Weapons:
  • Terra Blade: One of the strongest melee weapons pre-Moon Lord, crafted from various swords throughout the game.
  • Flairon: Drops from Duke Fishron, provides excellent damage with a boomerang-like effect.

Endgame Melee Setup

• Armor:
  • Solar Flare Armor: The ultimate melee armor, providing massive defense, melee bonuses, and a shield that can block occasional damage.
• Weapons:
  • Meowmere: Possibly the strongest melee weapon, dropped by Moon Lord. Fires cat projectiles that bounce and explode.
  • Star Wrath: Also dropped by Moon Lord, projects stars from the sky on swing.
• Accessories:
  • Celestial Shell: Transforms the user at night or underwater for various stat boosts.
  • Fire Gauntlet: Upgrades from the Mechanical Glove, increases melee knockback and inflicts fire damage on attack.
  • Yoyo Bag (if using yoyos): Increases yoyo range and damage, allows two yoyos at once.
• Buffs:
  • Endurance Potion: Reduces damage taken by 10%.
  • Wrath Potion: Increases damage dealt by 10%.
• Utility Items:
  • Rod of Discord: Offers instant teleportation, invaluable for dodging in tight situations.

This setup guide provides a comprehensive approach to building your melee character in Terraria. The key is to adjust your gear and accessories based on the enemies you’re facing and the phase of the game you’re in. By endgame, with the right combinations, you’ll be equipped to take on the toughest of Terraria’s challenges.