Different armor sets in Terraria.

Terraria: 10 Best Armor Sets and How to Get Them

Get the best armor set for any build.

Written by:
Avatar photo
Cate Belasco is a professional writer with a degree in Journalism. She loves playing Single-Player and Co-Op RPGs. She also enjoys writing game guides for VGKami, and has been published on Game Rant.

Reviewed by:
Avatar photo
Marshall is a seasoned writer and gaming enthusiast based in Tokyo. He's a prolific wordsmith with hundreds of articles featured on top-tier sites like Business Insider, How-To Geek, PCWorld, and Zapier. His writing has reached a massive audience with over 70 million readers!

Wearing the best armor set for your class is crucial in Terraria. Armor sets make progressing through the dangerous world of Terraria much easier by boosting your defensive and tactical capabilities. Here’s the best armor in the game.

Cactus Armor

Cactus Armor in Terraria.

The Cactus Armor is a great early-game armor set to get, regardless of your class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Cactus Helmet → +1 Defense
  • Cactus Breastplate → +1 Defense
  • Cactus Leggings → +1 Defense

Its Set Bonus grants +4 Defense with an added Thorns effect, which deals 15 Damage and knocks enemies back.

To craft the Cactus armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Cactus 20Work BenchCactus Helmet
Cactus 30Cactus Breastplate
Cactus 25Cactus Leggings

You can find Cactus plants in any Desert biome. You can use an Axe, Chainsaw, or Hamaxe to harvest the 75 Cactus you’ll need for the set.

Necro Armor

Necro Armor in Terraria.

The Necro Armor is a great post-Skeletron armor set for the Ranged class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Necro Helmet → +6 Defense and +5% Ranged Damage
  • Necro Breastplate → +7 Defense and +5% Ranged Damage
  • Necro Greaves → +6 Defense and +5% Ranged Damage

Its Set Bonus grants +19 Defense, +15% Ranged Damage, 10% Ranged Critical Strike Chance, and 20% Ammo Preservation. There’s an After-Image as you move, while there’s a Bone Crunch sound effect when hit.

To craft the Necro armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Bone 40
Cobweb 40
Work BenchNecro Helmet
Bone 60
Cobweb 50
Necro Breastplate
Bone 50
Cobweb 45
Necro Greaves

You can get Bones from the enemies in the Dungeon, namely: Angry Bones, Cursed Skull, Dragon Skull, and Dark Caster. As for the Cobwebs, you can commonly find them in Underground areas.

Meteor Armor

Meteor Armor in Terraria.

Meteor Armor is a great pre-Hardmode armor set for the Magic class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Meteor Helmet → +5 Defense and +9% Magic Damage
  • Meteor Suit → +6 Defense and +9% Magic Damage
  • Meter Leggings → +5 Defense and +9% Magic Damage

Its Set Bonus grants +16 Defense, +27% Magic Damage, and removes the Mana cost of Space Gun. It also emits flame particles as you move.

To craft the Meteor armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Meteorite Bar 10 (15 for Windows Phone and 3DS)Iron Anvil or
Lead Anvil
Meteor Helmet
Meteorite Bar 20 (25 for Windows Phone and 3DS)Meteor Suit
Meteorite Bar 15 (20 for Windows Phone and 3DS)Meteor Leggings

You can find Meteorites in Meotorite crash sites, which have a 50% spawn chance when you destroy a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart, then defeat Eater of the Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu around 12 AM to 4:30 AM.

A Meteorite will not strike down in an area of 35 tiles near an NPC or chest, or 50 tiles from either edge of the world. So if your world has a lot of chests, you don’t get a chance to see a single Meteorite crash site.

Bee Armor

Bee Armor in Terraria.

Bee Armor is a great pre-Hardmode armor set for the Summoner Class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Bee Headgear → +4 Defense, +4% Minion Damage, and +1 Minion Capacity
  • Bee Breastplate → +5 Defense, +4% Minion Damage, and +1 Minion Capacity
  • Bee Greaves → +4 Defense and +4% Minion Damage

Its Set Bonus grants +13 Defense, +2 Minion Capacity, and +23% Minion Damage.

To craft the Bee armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Bee Wax 8Iron Anvil or
Lead Anvil
Bee Headgear
Bee Wax 12Bee Breastplate
Bee Wax 10Bee Greaves

You can get up to 26 Bee Wax from the Queen Bee in the surface Jungle or Underground Jungle. But you’ll need 44 Bee Wax, so you have to kill her up to 3 times.

You can summon her by using an Abeemination anywhere in either Jungle biomes. Here’s how to craft one:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Honey Block 5
Stinger
Hive 5
Bottled Honey
By HandAbeemination
Honey Block 5
Stinger
Hive 5
Bottled Honey
Crispy Honey Block 3
Obsidian 2
Demon Altar or
Crimson Altar
Abeemination (3DS)

Molten Armor

Molten Armor in Terraria.

Molten Armor is a great armor set for the Melee class, as it has the highest defense than any armor set you can get in pre-Hardmode. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  •  Molten Helmet → +8 Defense and +7% Melee Critical Strike Chance
  • Molten Breastplate → +9 Defense and +7% Melee Damage
  • Molten Greaves → +8 Defense and +7% Melee Speed

Its Set Bonus grants +25 Defense, +17% Melee Damage, and +7% Melee Critical Strike Chance and Melee Speed. It also emits flame particles as you move.

To craft the Molten armor set, you the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Hellstone Bar 10Iron Anvil or
Lead Anvil
Molten Helmet
Hellstone Bar 20Molten Breastplate
Hellstone Bar 15Molten Greaves

You need 3 Hellstone and 1 Obsidian to craft a Hellstone Bar. You can mine Hellstones in the Underworld using a Nightmare or Deathbringer Pickaxe. As for Obsidian, you need to craft 20 Empty Buckets and fill them with water. Then find a lava pool, where you’ll pour the water into.

Crimson Armor

Crimson Armor in Terraria.

Crimson Armor is the best pre-Hardmode armor set, regardless of your class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Crimson Helmet → +6 Defense and +2% Damage
  • Crimson Scalemail → +7 Defense and +2% Damage
  • Crimson Greaves → +6 Defense and +2% Damage

Its Set Bonus grants +19 Defense, +6% Damage, and +1 HP Regen per pulse. It also emits red particles as you move.

To craft the Crimson armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Crimtane Bar 15
Tissue Sample 10
Iron Anvil or
Lead Anvil
Crimson Helmet
Crimtane Bar 25
Tissue Sample 20
Crimson Scalemail
Crimtane Bar 20
Tissue Sample 15
Crimson Greaves

You can find Crimtane Ores naturally in Crimson worlds. The Brain of Cthulhu and Eye of Cthulhu can give you up to 90 Crimtane Ores, which are more than enough for the set.

You can get up to five Tissue Samples from the 20 Creepers that spawn with the Brain of Cthulhu.

Vortex Armor

Vortex Armor in Terraria.

Vortex Armor is the best end-game armor set for the Ranged Class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Vortex Helmet → +14 Defense, +16% Ranged Damage, and +7% Ranged Critical Strike Chance
  • Vortex Breastplate → +28 Defense, +12% Ranged Damage and Ranged Critical Strike Chance, and +25% Ammo Preservation
  • Vortex Leggings → +20 Defense, +8% Ranged Damage and Ranged Critical Strike Chance, and +10% Movement Speed

Its Set Bonus grants +62 Defense, +36% Ranged Damage, +27% Ranged Critical Strike Chance, +25% Ammo Preservation, and +10% Movement Speed — plus you can go into Stealth Mode, which offers the following additional benefits:

  • Near-invisibility, even as you move
  • +80% Ranged Damage
  • +20% Ranged Critical Strike Chance

But your movement speed will be reduced by -33%.

To craft the Vortex armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Vortex Fragment 10
Luminite Bar 8
Ancient ManipulatorVortex Helmet
Vortex Fragment 20
Luminite Bar 16
Vortex Breastplate
Vortex Fragment 15
Luminite Bar 12
Vortex Leggings

You can get 12-60 Vortex Fragments from the Vortex Pillar during the Lunar Events. If you don’t get at least 45, you may have to fight the Vortex Pillar and Moon Lord 4 times. But you can also craft a Vortex Fragment, as you can see below:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Solar Fragment
Nebula Fragment
Stardust Fragment
Ancient ManipulatorVortex Fragment

As for the Luminate Bar, you can get up to 90 Luminites by defeating the Moon Lord.

Nebula Armor

Nebula Armor in Terraria.

Nebula Armor is the best end-game armor set for the Magic Class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Nebula Helmet → +14 Defense, +60 Mana, -15% Mana Consumption, and +7% Magic Damage and Critical Stike Chance
  • Nebula Breastplate → +18 Defense, and +9% Magic Damage and Critical Strike Chance
  • Nebula Leggings +14 Defense, and +10% Magic Damage and Movement Speed

Its Set Bonus grants +46 Defense, +60 Mana, -15% Mana Consumption, +26% Magic Damage, +16 Critical Chance, and +10% Movement Speed — plus there’s a Buff Booster spawn chance upon hitting enemies, as you can see below:

Buff BoosterDescription
Damage BoosterDamage Nebula → +15% Damage for 8 seconds.
Life BoosterLife Nebula → +24 HP in 8 seconds (3 HP per second).
Mana BoosterMana Nebula → +80 Mana in 8 seconds (10 Mana per second).

To craft the Nebula armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Nebula Fragment 10
Luminite Bar 8
Ancient ManipulatorNebula Helmet
Nebula Fragment 20
Luminite Bar 16
Nebula Breastplate
Nebula Fragment 15
Luminite Bar 12
Nebula Leggings

You can get 12-60 Nebula Fragments from the Nebula Pillar during the Lunar Events. You may have to fight the Nebula Pillar and Moon Lord 3 more times to get enough for the set. However, you can also craft a Nebula Fragment — here’s how:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Solar Fragment
Vortex Fragment
Stardust Fragment
Ancient ManipulatorNebula Fragment

You can get up to 90 Luminates from the Moon Lord to craft Luminite Bars.

Stardust Armor

Stardust Gear in Terraria.

Stardust Armor is the best end-game armor set for the Summoner Class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Stardust Helmet → +10 Defense, +1 Minion Capacity, and +22% Minion Damage
  • Stardust Plate → +16 Defense, +2 Minion Capacity, and +22% Minion Damage
  • Stardust Leggings → +12 Defense, +2 Minion Capacity, and +22% Minion Damage

Its Set Bonus grants +38 Defense, +5 Minion Capacity, and +66% Minion Damage — plus you can summon a Stadust Guardian to defend you.

To craft the Stardust armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Stardust Fragment 10
Luminite Bar 8
Ancient ManipulatorStardust Helmet
Stardust Fragment 20
Luminite Bar 16
Stardust Plate
Stardust Fragment 15
Luminite Bar 12
Stardust Leggings

You can get 12-60 Stardust Fragments from the Stardust Pillar during the Lunar Events. While getting enough got the set requires you to fight the Stardust Pillar and Moon Lord 3 more times. you have the option to craft one. The following is the crafting recipe for the Stardust Fragment:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Solar Fragment
Nebula Fragment
Vortex Fragment
Ancient ManipulatorStardust Fragment

Beating the Moon Lord can get you up to 90 Luminites.

Solar Flare Armor

Solar Flare Gear in Terraria.

Solar Flare Armor is the best end-game armor set for the Summoner Class. The following are the three pieces of the set:

  • Solar Flare Helmet → +24 Defense, +26% Melee Critical Strike Chance, and +1 HP Regen per second
  • Solar Flare Breastplate → +34 Defense, +29% Melee Damage, and +1 HP Regen per second
  • Solar Flare Leggings → +20 Defense, +15% Melee Speed and Movement Speed, and +1 HP Regen per second.

Its Set Bonus grants +78 Defense, +26% Melee Critical Strike Chance, +29% Melee Damage, +15% Melee Speed, 15% Movement Speed, and +3 HP Regen per second — plus +12% Damage Reduction and the special Dash attack.

To craft the Solar Flare armor set, you need the following items:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Solar Fragment
Luminite Bar
Ancient ManipulatorSolar Flare Helmet
Solar Fragment
Luminite Bar
Solar Flare Breastplate
Solar Fragment
Luminite Bar
Solar Flare Leggings

You can get 12-60 Solar Fragments from the Solar Pillar during the Lunar Events. You’ll need 45 Solar Fragments. If you get less, you’ll have to fight the Solar Pillar and Moon Lord 4 times. But you can craft one, with the crafting recipe below:

IngredientsCrafting StationResult
Stardust Fragment
Nebula Fragment
Vortex Fragment
Ancient ManipulatorSolar Fragment

As for the Luminite Bars, the Moon Lord drops up to 90 Luminites for you to craft those bars.