Introduction
This guide will cover everything you need to know when engaging in combat with enemies, bosses, or even a fellow survivor playing with you. What tools/weapons to use, how much damage they deal, and strategies to fighting. If you currently are stuck on easy, constantly losing on night 6 when that Gronk comes up from behind you while your forging and goes choppy choppy, then here's the guide for you. You can go from being the victim to being the one going choppy choppy on Gronk when he is not looking.
Weapon Characteristics
Tools
Likely, you will be stuck with a wooden axe, pickaxe, or even a rock on night of day 0 (unless you find better tools or quickly craft better ones.) But which one should you use to defend yourself? Well, obviously use an axe or pickaxe over a rock. Here's the difference between an axe and a pickaxe:
Axe:
-Less damage than Pickaxes
-Shorter cooldown than Pickaxes
Pickaxe:
-Slightly higher damage than Axes
-Longer cooldown than Axes
I almost always choose the pickaxe over the axe as it does more damage and always deals critical hits on specific mobs.
Swords
Once you get your hands on a sword, I'd recommend using that to fight instead (unless your pickaxe/axe is made of a stronger material. An adamantite pickaxe is definitely better than a steel sword.) Swords generally deal slightly more or the same damage and have significantly faster cooldowns than an axe or pickaxe of the same material. The better the sword, the more the damage.
In case you were wondering, the Obamium Sword does less damage than Gronk's Sword, Chunky Hammer, and Nightblade, but does more damage than the Adamantite Sword.
Bow and Arrows
Bows are useful for attacking enemies from a distance, especially when you are low on health or simply do not want to take any damage. They are also useful for attacking flying mobs. In addition, they generally deal more damage than an iron or gold sword with flint arrows.
As far as I know, using a birch bow or an oak bow will not change the damage of each arrow as long as the arrows being used in both bows are the same type of arrow. Better bows simply increase the distance that the arrow flies. The actual arrow determines the damage.
How to Shoot the Bow
I've seen many people asking about how to actually use a bow, and I also asked this question at one point. In your inventory, there is a square next to your armor that has an arrow icon on it. Place your arrows into that square, and then equip your bow. Hold down left click (or whatever your key bindings is set to for attacking) and then release. How long you hold down will determine how far and how much damage the arrow deals.
Rare Weapons
Rare weapons are weapons that can only be crafted with special materials dropped from bosses or enemies. They are the best weapons in the game.
Chunky Hammer:
-Made from a Hammer Shaft and Chunky Ore (smelted into Chunky Bars,) which are both sometimes dropped from only Big Chunk.
Gronk's Sword:
-Made from a Blade, a Sword Hilt, and Dark Oak Wood, which are all sometimes dropped by Gronk, but Dark Oak Wood can also be harvested from Dark Oak Trees.
-The entire sword can also be a possible drop from Gronk.
Night Blade:
-Made from Obamium Ore (Smelted into Obamium Bars ), a Night Shard (Dropped by Guardian), and Dark Oak Wood.
-Second best melee weapon in the game.
Wyvern Sword (I don't know the exact name):
-Made from Wyvern Claw and Oak Wood.
-No information. I have never gotten a Wyvern claw before. If you guys know any stats about the sword please let me know in the comments.
Chief's Spear:
-Made from Spear Head and Dark Oak Wood.
-Best melee weapon in the game.
Ancient Bow:
-Made from Ancient Bone (dropped by goblins and Gronk), and Rope.
-Shoots 3 arrows at once
-Shoots farther than any other bow
-Best bow in the game
Elemental Arrows:
-Made from Dark Oak Wood and Fireballs, Lightningballs, or Waterballs (dropped by Fire Daves, Lightning Daves, and Water Daves)
-Best arrows in the game
Fun fact: Coal (and other items of the like) can actually damage cows and enemies. However, it usually does 0 damage and rarely does 1 or 2 damage.
Damage Statistics
-Please note that all of these numbers are estimates. Nothing is exact. I've determined these numbers by recording damages and averaging. I did not count critical hits nor the hits that destroyed the object.
-All reload numbers revolve around the rock. A rock's reload is 1. Anything below 1 is faster reload. I am pretty sure nothing in the game has a longer reload than the rock, so no reload number will exceed 1.
-All mob damages were collected by attacking cows (except for Rare Weapons, which were used on Gronks). I think you do the same damage no matter what you are attacking, but I'm not sure.
-All tree damages and rock damages were collected by hitting regular trees and regular rocks.
-All items were tested with no power-ups on creative mode, normal.
Rocks and Ores:
*Rock
Cow damage average: 10
Tree damage average: 10.6
Reload: 1
*Iron, Mithril, Adamantite, Gold, Obamium (raw or smelted)
Cow damage average: no specific average, but usually 0 (can still do 1 and 2)
Tree damage average: no specific average, but usually 0 (can still do 1 and 2)
Reload: 1
*Coal
Cow damage average: No specific average, but usually 0 (can still do 1 and 2)
Reload: 0.75
*Flint
Cow damage average: No specific average, but usually 0 (can still do 1 and 2)
Reload: 0.5
Axes:
*Wood
Cow damage average: 11.5
Tree damage average: 16
Reload: 0.75
*Steel
Cow damage average: 14.1
Tree damage average: 20.1
Reload: 0.75
*Gold
Cow damage average: 11.5
Tree damage average: 16
Reload: 0.4 (approx.)
*Mithril
Cow damage average: 21
Tree damage average: 26.3
Reload: 0.5
*Adamantite
Cow damage range: average: 34.2
Tree damage range: average: 35.5
Reload: 0.5
Pickaxes:
*Wood
Average rock damage: 13.88
Average cow damage: 15.25 (Probably not actually this high, since generally pickaxes do more damage to rocks than cows.(If they do any higher damage at all))
Reload: 1
*Gold
Average rock damage: 22.3
Average cow damage: 14.9
Reload: 0.7
*Steel
Average rock damage: 20.11
Average cow damage: 20.8
Reload: 0.75
*Mithril
Average rock damage: 22.11
Average cow damage: ~25
Reload: 0.75
*Adamantite
Average rock damage: 33
Average cow damage: 28.89
Reload: 0.75
Swords:
*Gold
Average damage: 12.25
Reload: 0.3
*Steel
Average damage: 19.25
Reload: 0.35
*Mithril
Average damage: 24.22
Reload: 0.35
*Adamantite
Average damage: 36
Reload: 0.35
*Obamium
Average damage: 52.75
Reload: 0.35
Bow and Arrows:
All arrow statistics were gathered with no power-ups, a wooden bow, and each arrow was fired after full wind-up. Cows and Gronks were used to gather statistics.
*Flint Arrow
Average damage: 20.25
-Still working on this-
Rare Weapons:
Note: I did not use cows for these weapons, since many of the hits one-shot them. All of the recorded hits would be too small and the average damage would not be accurate. These numbers were gathered by attacking Gronks.
*Ancient Bone
Average damage: 11.7
Reload: 0.75
*Blade
-Currently working on this-
It is very similar to bone if not the same.
*Gronk's Sword
Average damage: 93.69
Reload: 0.35
*Chunky Hammer
Average damage: ~100 (Need more info; I died when trying to get numbers)
Reload: 0.75
*Nightblade
Average damage: 110.6
Reload: 0.35
*Chief's Spear
Average damage: 125.35
Reload: 0.75
With all that being said, the Nightblade is the best weapon in the game. It does less damage than the Spear, but has a higher damage per second.
Enemy Characteristics
Standard Mobs
Cow:
-Slow, unharmful, and ugly.
-You can use any weapon to kill them...
-Drops raw meat.
Goblin:
-Not very dangerous; but can be if there are lots of them.
-Has melee attack and ranged attack.
-Best weapons to use against are pickaxes or swords.
-Occasionally drops wood and gold ore, and rarely drops a sword hilt, a blade, an ancient bone, and I think can actually drop an entire Gronk Sword. I might be wrong there though.
Dave:
-Not very dangerous, but attacks by retreating and charging.
-Has only a melee attack that doesn't do much damage.
-Best weapons to use against are any except bows, since they are hard to hit.
Stone Golems:
-Dangerous with powerful melee attacks and ranged attacks.
-Slow
-Best weapon to use against is pickaxe, as it will always deal critical damage. However, Obamium sword and better weapons deal more damage than an Adamantite pickaxe. If you have juice power-ups though, using a pickaxe would be the better option since every hit will be a critical.
-Drops stone and occasionally flint and iron.
Wolf:
-Dangerous melee attacks
-Very fast and can quickly overwhelm a player
-Best weapon to use against is sword because of the short cooldown and quick attacks.
-Occasionally drops wolf skin and rarely drops wolf claw.
Wyvern:
-Dangerous ranged attacks, which are shooting fire balls.
-They fly
-Best weapon to use against is bow and arrows.
-I think arrows will deflect the fire balls, like they do for elemental daves.
-Occasionally drops gold bars, and rarely drops a wyvern claw.
Elemental Daves:
-Dangerous ranged attacks, which are shooting fire/lightning/water balls.
-Slower than a regular Dave
-Usually spawn in pairs (but not always)
-Best weapons to use against are swords or bow and arrows
-Arrows will deflect the projectiles that Elemental Daves shoot at you.
-Occasionally drops mushrooms and fire/water/lighting balls.
Woodmen:
-Passive and only attack if you attack or provoke them
-As fast as you when you sprint
-Best weapons to use against are any
-If you attack 1, then all of them will become hostile. Beware, as then can overwhelm you with how fast they are.
-They also attack you if you open the Chief's chest.
-Occasionally drops iron bars
-Note: Woodmen spawn when you get within a certain distance of their village. If you leave the radius of their village, they will despawn, no matter where they are. So, if you are being chased by a bunch of woodmen, just get as far away from the village as possible, and they will despawn once you get far away, even if they are on your tail.
Big Chunk:-Slow
-Best weapon to use against is pickaxe, as it will always deal critical damage.
-Drops Chunkium Ore and Hammer shaft occasionally for crafting armor and the Chunky Hammer.
Attacks:
-Big Chunk will swing his bat backwards, and then sweep it in front of him. Stand below or behind him to avoid.
-Big Chunk will lift his arm, pulling the bat backwards, and then slam it down in front of him, spawning a boulder targeted for you. Stand below or behind him to avoid and don't stand still.
-Big Chunk will bend down for a couple seconds, and then leap into the air, spawning 3 boulders as he hits the ground. Get away from him, as him landing on you will deal tons of damage. Then simply jump over the boulders and get away from other objects, as the rocks will deal splash damage.
Gronk:-Fast
-There is no specific weapon that is best against Gronk.
-Drops fir, oak, and dark oak wood, and occasionally an ancient bone, a sword hilt, a blade, and/or Gronk's Sword.
Attacks:
-Gronk will raise both swords into the air, and then begin slicing in front of him with both swords very quickly. Get behind him to avoid.
-Gronk will raise both swords into the air as they start glowing blue. He will then slam both swords onto the ground, sending out 5 blue projectiles on the ground. Get away from Gronk and jump over the projectiles to avoid. Beware of his swords coming down onto you as well, as it does tremendous amounts of damage.
-Gronk will pull back one sword and then throw it at you, followed by the other sword shortly after. Run sideways around Gronk to avoid, OR hug him to avoid (the swords won't hit you if you are close enough to him. Beware as this does not always work if you are positioned incorrectly.)
Guardian:-Fast
-There is no specific weapon that is best against Guardian.
-Occasionally drops night shard. Colored Guardians will always drop a gem
Attacks:
-Guardian will swipe both hands at you very quickly without warning. To avoid, always attack Guardian while running in a circle around him.
-Guardian will fly into the air, and then will slam back to the ground, creating a red indicator on the ground. This indicator will be placed where Guardian thinks you will be in 2 seconds. Once the 2 seconds is over, a giant crystal will spike out of the ground where the indicator is. Quickly change directions of your walking when Guardian hits the ground to avoid the crystal, and get away from Guardian to avoid the slam.
-Guardian will start glowing brighter for a few seconds before he unleashes a laser that is locked onto you. Build a wall in front of you, get behind a tree, or get behind a statue to avoid. Some also say that with enough crimson daggers, you can continue to attack him during the laser, regaining health faster than you lose health.
Chief: -Fast
-Best weapon to use against is any (as far as I know).
-Drops fir, oak, or dark oak wood, and occasionally drops spear head.
Attacks:
-Chief will raise his spear and aim it at you for a second, then launch it in your direction. This is faster than Gronk's sword throw, so make lots of distance between you and Chief to avoid, or hide behind something. Jump as soon as he releases his spear.
-Chief will pull is spear back and swing it at you. Run backwards to avoid.
-Chief will bring his spear backwards and turn his body, then start spinning, damaging you if you're close. Run backwards to avoid.
-Chief will prepare to jump as a red indicator shows up where he's going to land. He will then jump and smash down onto where the target was. Get away from the red target to avoid.
Bob:
-Fast
-Best weapon to use against Bob is bow and arrows
Attacks:
-Bob will shoot fireballs at you as he is flying over his boat. Where they will hit is indicated with a red target on the boat. Avoid the target to avoid the fireballs.
-Bob will come down to the boat and smash both arms onto the boat. Get away from his arms to avoid.
-Bob will breathe fire onto the boat. Run away from the fire or jump off the boat to avoid.
-Bob will send fireballs down onto the ship (and if I remember right, they are also indicated with a red target.) Avoid the target to avoid the fireballs, or jump off the ship.
-Bob will sweep his arms across the entire length of the boat. Jump over him or jump off the boat to avoid.
How To Fight Mobs
Techniques
When attacking any enemy, circle them (or circle the group of enemies) while continuously attacking them. This makes it harder for them to hit you. If they are going to hit you with a ranged attack, make some distance between you and them and run sideways around them. Jumping is generally a bad idea, unless they have already thrown the projectile and you are dodging it. When you are in the air, it is hard to control your movement. If you have lots of jetpacks, jumping is worse of an idea. If the enemy can shoot another projectile at you before you hit the ground, they can usually hit you fairly easily unless you are going very fast.
Use the proper weapons for certain enemies. Use a pickaxe if there are little chunkies in the army of mobs your attacking, since you always do critical damage to them. Not only that, but any other enemy you hit will also receive a critical hit as long as that swing hit a chunk as well. Juice power-ups also will increase your attack speed when that happens.
Bosses
When fighting a boss, don't circle them unless there's multiple and you have to keep moving. Instead, wait for them to make an attack. Once you avoid the attack, run up to them and start hitting them. Just before their next attack starts, run backwards and prepare for the attack. Bosses give you about 2 or 3 seconds after every attack for you to attack them.
If you have a lot of jetpacks and frogs, jumping is actually a good idea when attacking Big Chunk. Especially if you have Wings of Glory power-ups. Try to jump onto Big Chunk's head to avoid lots of his attacks and get plenty of free hits. However, don't make the mistake that I make and run out of stamina or run out of jumps. I've had several times I do that and then hit the ground as soon as Big Chunk is finishing his jump maneuver, and I'm met face to face with Big Chunk's feet, as well as some giant boulders. I've lost several Muck runs this way.
When attacking Bob at the very end of the game, use a bow and arrows to deal damage to him while he is flying. Use a sword once he comes down to the boat. You can jump off of the boat and swim to the ladder that is underneath of Bob, and start attacking his stomach without having to worry about Bob's attacks. Fireballs will not hit you and he cannot breathe fire onto you. WARNING! When he sweeps across the boat, if you accidentally move up too much, he will hit you. I found this out the hard way on Gamer and he one-shot me. When he sweeps across the boat, slide down the ladder a little bit or get off of the ladder completely if you want to play it safe.
Battling Large Groups Of Enemies
Rule 1: NEVER STOP MOVING
Stopping for just a couple seconds to move something from your inventory to your hot bar can be the end of your run. One time, I was attacking a giant army of enemies. My fingers slipped for just 2 seconds (not joking, it was literally 2 seconds) and I was obliterated by three Gronks.
If you survive until about day 8 or so, you will have large armies of mobs coming after you every night, and will likely have at least one boss every night from then on. This can be overwhelming, but if you know what you are doing, you can easily defeat them all.
Which Weapon?
If you have a rare melee weapon, just use that. Don't overthink it. Sometimes, though, a pickaxe is a better option. If there is a Big Chunk or Rock Golem in the army you are fighting, you will always deal critical damage to all mobs you hit, as long as with each swing, you are hitting a Big Chunk or a Rock Golem. This will give critical damage to every other enemy you hit.
Setting Targets
You should be targeting specific enemies when battling. Don't attack the golems if there is a Guardian right behind you. However, bosses are not always your first target. Here's your top priority of who to get rid of when battling:
1. Elemental Daves/Wyverns.
These will be constantly shooting fireballs at you, dealing a significant amount of damage with each hit. In addition, they generally don't take too long to destroy. I always take care of these guys before dealing with any bosses. If there are Guardians attacking you, listen for the laser wind-up when attacking elemental daves, and build a wall/get behind a tree/or get behind other enemies.
2. Guardians
The constant crystals coming from the ground and occasional laser attacks can kill you very quickly if you're not paying attention. Take care of these right after getting rid of Elemental Daves and wyverns.
3. Gronks and/or Chiefs
These are less of a threat, but can instantly kill you with their ranged attack. They are fairly easy to predict and avoid though, so this won't be too hard.
4. Big Chunk
Big Chunk is not actually that big of a problem. Just don't run under him while he is jumping into the air.
And from there on, you can attack the rest how you wish.
By the Time Night Comes, I'm Still Fighting Mobs From Last Night
This means you don't have enough power-ups. If you are unable to recover and are always attacking enemies, then you'll need to collect more power-ups next run. Try not to run away from mobs, as it will only get worse the longer the night progresses. Destroy mobs as quickly as possible when they spawn, especially bosses. Having another boss spawn before the first was destroyed can get out of hand very quickly. If necessary, open chests while you are in combat with enemies.
-Still adding to this section-
Battle Statues
What are Battle Statues?
All around the map, you'll see various statues everywhere. What are these for? Besides the one statue of a person with their arms out, all of the statues are ways to summon mobs. Why would you want to summon mobs? Well, beating the statue rewards you with a random power-up.
Big Chunk, Gronk, Guardian, and Chief Statues
The statues of each boss will simply look like that boss respectively. If you start the battle, that boss will spawn right there, but in Buff form. This means they are bigger, have more health, and (I think) deal more damage. When you defeat them, they drop a power-up plus any regular drops from that boss. Guardian statues will always drop a colored gem, which is required to beat the game.
You can actually start battles super early in the game if you know what you are doing. Bosses always drop blue power-ups or better, so it's a good way to get some occasional legendary power-ups. You can defeat a Big Chunk with simply a wooden pickaxe and nothing else. It's easier in Normal or Easy difficulty, but very much possible on Gamer, as long as you time your jumps correctly.
Battle Totems
The prism statues spawn 3 random enemies of the same type, all in Buff form. Each enemy will drop their respective drops, and when all 3 are destroyed, the prism will turn into any power-up (white, blue, or yellow). WARNING! There is a chance that it will spawn 3 buff bosses! In this case, the bosses will each drop a power-up when destroyed and the prism will also give a power-up, so 4 power-ups in total.
How do I avoid getting 3 bosses from a totem?
If you are on easy, you will get mobs like Golem, Dave, and Stone Golems from day 1-4 or so. After that, you could start seeing Wolves, Elemental Daves, and Wyverns spawn. On higher difficulties, they will spawn in earlier days. Gamer can spawn wolves on day 0. If a boss has spawned naturally in your world, start taking caution when using totems. The longer you survive, the higher chance you have of spawning 3 bosses. I recommend only using totems for the first few days, so complete as many as you can.
However, maybe you like getting 3 bosses. In my opinion, getting 3 big chunks is the best possibility you could get, as long as you have some frog power-ups.
The End
Thanks for reading this guide. Take these tips and start defeating bosses on day 0! If there are any errors in the guide please note that in the comments.
Hey, now that you know how to fight enemies, take these skills to help you speed run Muck! Here's a guide I made for speed running Muck: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2555400454
Not currently being updated.
Last updated: 6/8/2022
(DD/MM/YYYY)
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2551730663
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