Terraria Summoner Class Guide: Mastering Minions in Pre-Hardmode

The Summoner class in Terraria offers a unique playstyle, focusing on commanding minions to fight for you. While it might seem challenging to start, especially in Pre-Hardmode with limited gear, it’s entirely viable and incredibly rewarding. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to thrive as a Summoner in Terraria before Hardmode arrives, ensuring you’re well-prepared to unleash your minion army later on.

Pre-Hardmode Summoner Arsenal

Pre-Hardmode Summoner equipment is limited but essential for establishing your minion-based gameplay. Here are the key items you should aim to acquire:

Hornet Staff: A decent early-game summon weapon.
Slime Staff: Potentially obtainable early and surprisingly effective.
Imp Staff: A significant power spike and arguably the best Pre-Hardmode summon.
Bee Armor: The dedicated Pre-Hardmode armor set for Summoners.

Let’s delve into how to obtain these crucial items and make the most of them.

Surviving Your First Night as a Summoner

Starting as a Summoner requires a slightly different approach compared to other classes, especially during your first night. Direct combat is not your strength initially. Here’s how to survive and set yourself up for success:

Explore the Surface: Immediately upon spawning, explore the surface of your Terraria world. Open every chest you find and loot everything, even if it doesn’t seem immediately relevant to a Summoner build. Resources are key in the early game.
Resource Gathering: Mine any ores you come across – they will be vital for crafting essential tools and equipment.
Establish a Basic Shelter: Use a Recall Potion (if you found one in a chest) to return to your spawn point. Begin building a basic base a short distance from your initial spawn house. Construct at least three rooms to house the Guide, Nurse, and Merchant NPCs as they spawn. These NPCs will be crucial for progression.
Merchant and Nurse NPCs: If it’s still daytime, wait for the Merchant to spawn once you have 50 silver coins. If night falls, open chests and place one or two to store non-essential items, especially weapons from other classes that you won’t be using as a pure Summoner.
Early Purchases: Once the Merchant () or Nurse () spawns, sell unwanted items to gather gold. Aim to get at least 1 gold coin to purchase a Piggy Bank from the Merchant. Store your coins in the Piggy Bank to prevent losing them upon death.
Crafting Essentials: Craft a Work Bench and then a Furnace. Gather wood, stone, and surface-level resources if needed. Smelt ores and craft essential equipment like a pickaxe and axe to speed up resource gathering. Craft basic armor if you have extra ores, but don’t worry about set bonuses yet – your goal is the Bee Armor.
Wait for Daybreak: Focus on preparation and crafting during your first night. Wait for day to break to begin your journey towards obtaining Summoner-specific gear.

Obtaining the Slime Staff: Patience and Farming

Once daytime arrives, your first Summoner weapon target is the Slime Staff. It summons a Baby Slime minion to fight for you. While its damage is low, it’s your first step into commanding minions.

The Slime Staff has a low drop rate, ranging from 1 in 7,000 to 1 in 10,000 from Blue Slimes and other colored slimes. Farming is necessary, and here are two methods:

Method 1: Slime Statue Farm (Active Farming)

Find a Slime Statue: Explore underground caverns, especially in the Jungle biome, for a Slime Statue. It resembles a stone trophy with a slime sculpture.
Dart Trap Setup: Locate a dart trap in the caverns. Remove the dart trap and place the Slime Statue in its original location.
Pressure Plate and Enclosure: Find the pressure plate that triggered the dart trap. Build a small enclosure above it, just large enough for you to stand in. Jump inside this enclosure. When slimes start spawning, the statue is working.
Lava Trap Construction: Build an 8-block long and 3-block wide box to the left or right of the Slime Statue.
Lava Acquisition: Obtain a bucket and travel deep into the caverns until you find a lava pit. Collect lava with the bucket.
Lava Placement: Return to your Slime Statue farm and carefully place a thin layer of lava in the box beside the statue. Ensure the lava layer is thin enough that it won’t destroy item drops.
Active Farming: Jump on the pressure plate repeatedly, spawning slimes. The slimes will hop into the lava and die, hopefully dropping the Slime Staff. Continue until you obtain the staff.

Positive Effects of Slime Statue Farm:

More efficient farming compared to the second option due to guaranteed slime spawns.

Negative Effects of Slime Statue Farm:

Slime Statues can be challenging to find.
Actively jumping can be tedious, especially on PC where excessive spacebar use can be tiring.

Method 2: Open-Roof Slime Farm (AFK Farming)

Build a Wide Room: Construct a room of your desired size with an open roof and walls high enough to prevent slimes from hopping out.
Lava Box: Similar to Method 1, create a box and fill it with a thin layer of lava that won’t burn item drops.
Platform and AFK: Build a platform above the open roof of the room and stand there.
Water Candle (Optional): For increased slime spawn rates, especially during the day, venture into the Dungeon and obtain a Water Candle. Place it near your AFK platform in your farm.
AFK during Daytime: Slimes spawn more frequently during the day. AFK on your platform during the daytime to passively farm for the Slime Staff.

Positive Effects of Open-Roof Slime Farm:

Easy to set up, no Slime Statue required.
Can also farm other mobs that spawn in the area.

Negative Effects of Open-Roof Slime Farm:

Slime spawn rates decrease at night, slowing down farming if you AFK overnight.

The Imp Staff Guide: Power from the Underworld

While the Slime Staff is a starting point, the Imp Staff is a significant upgrade and is arguably the strongest Pre-Hardmode summon weapon. It summons an Imp minion that throws fireballs.

Obtaining the Imp Staff requires Hellstone, mined in the Underworld (Hell). Hellstone requires at least a pickaxe with 65% pickaxe power or higher to mine. Here’s how to get it early as a Summoner:

Merchant and Bug Net: Ensure the Merchant has spawned in your town. Purchase a Bug Net from him.
Fishing Rod: Obtain a fishing rod. You can craft a Wooden Fishing Pole, find a Fiberglass Fishing Pole in chests, or obtain the Sitting Duck Fishing Pole from the Traveling Merchant.
Bait: Catch bait using the Bug Net by destroying grass or finding worms, especially during rain.
Ocean Fishing: Go to either ocean biome at the edges of your world. Build a platform over the ocean and fish until you catch a Reaver Shark. This pickaxe has enough power to mine Hellstone and early Hardmode ores. Also, gather a stack of Water Buckets.
Journey to the Underworld: There are two common early ways to reach the Underworld:
- Deep Cave Exploration: Explore deep caverns, with the Jungle biome often being the most efficient route downwards.
- Hellevator: Dig a straight vertical shaft (a “Hellevator”) downwards. When you reach lava, look for cave systems that connect to the Underworld.
Obsidian Mining (If Necessary): In both Underworld entry methods, you will likely encounter lava. To navigate lava safely and mine Obsidian (sometimes needed for crafting), dispense water buckets onto lava to solidify it into Obsidian.
Hellstone Mining: Once in the Underworld, mine as much Hellstone as possible. Be cautious: Hellstone releases lava when mined. Either place blocks beside the Hellstone before mining or use an Obsidian Skin Potion for lava immunity.
Hellforge Acquisition: Steal a Hellforge from one of the Ruined Houses in the Underworld. You’ll need this to craft Hellstone Bars.
Craft Imp Staff: Return to your base using a Magic Mirror or Recall Potion. Place the Hellforge and craft Hellstone Bars. With enough Hellstone Bars, craft the Imp Staff.

Merchant: Your Early Game Ally

The Merchant NPC is invaluable in the early game, especially for Summoners.

Gel and Torches/Potions: If you’ve been fighting slimes, you’ll likely have Gel. Craft torches or Lesser Healing Potions with Gel and other materials.
Essential Equipment: The Merchant sells better pickaxes and the crucial Piggy Bank for coin storage.
Money Management: Sell miscellaneous items to the Merchant to earn money. Store your earnings in the Piggy Bank. This prevents coin loss on death and helps you save for later purchases like Tiki Armor in Hardmode.
Bug Net Purchase: Buy the Bug Net for catching bait, which is essential for fishing and obtaining the Reaver Shark pickaxe, a key step towards getting the Imp Staff.

Exploring the Caverns: Resource Gathering

Exploring caverns is essential for general progression and especially helpful for Summoners.

Ore Mining: Mine all ores you find in caverns to upgrade your tools and potentially craft armor. Iron/Lead ore is particularly useful for Ironskin Potions.
Chest Loot: Loot every chest in caverns and take the chests with you. Cavern chests often contain useful accessories and potions.
Life Crystals: Caverns are a primary source of Life Crystals, needed to increase your maximum health.
Minecart Tracks: If you find minecart tracks, follow them! They often lead to valuable locations and resources.
Underground Houses: Explore underground houses for potential accessories and potion ingredients.
Pots and Coin Portals: Break pots in caverns for a chance to spawn a Coin Portal. Coin Portals are very beneficial for Summoners, as it’s often a resource-intensive class.

Exploring the Jungle: Seeds and Bee Hives

The Jungle biome can be challenging early on, but it contains essential items for Summoners.

Staff of Regrowth: Search Jungle Chests for the Staff of Regrowth. This tool is crucial for efficient alchemy and potion crafting.
Hermes Boots: Jungle Chests can also contain Hermes Boots, increasing your movement speed.
Potions and Miscellaneous Items: Jungle Chests can contain various helpful potions and items like the Umbrella.
Fishing Pool: Find or create a large pool of water in the Jungle for fishing. Fishing plays a significant role for Summoners later. Build platforms above the pool to avoid knockback from Jungle enemies.
Seed Collection: Gather Moonglow Seeds, Jungle Grass Seeds, and Mud blocks to start a herb farm for potion ingredients.
Bee Hive Location: Search for Bee Hives in the Jungle. Locate a hive entrance that allows you to enter without immediately triggering the Queen Bee boss fight.

Preparing for the Queen Bee Boss Fight

The Queen Bee is a crucial boss to defeat in Pre-Hardmode, especially for Summoners, as she drops Bee Wax used to craft Bee Armor, the Summoner set for this stage of the game.

Bee Hive Arena: Once you find a Bee Hive, carefully open an accessible area inside or build an arena outside the hive. If building inside, be extremely careful not to accidentally break the larva and summon the Queen Bee prematurely.
Arena Setup: Create two layers of platforms inside or outside the hive to provide maneuverability during the fight. Place a Campfire in the arena for increased life regeneration. If outside the hive, collect Honey with a bucket and place a 2-block wide, 1-block high honey pool for the Honey buff (increased life regeneration).
Health and Gear: Gather Life Crystals to increase your health to at least 190-200 HP (or ideally, 400 HP for a safer fight). Upgrade your pickaxe by mining more ores.
Optional Bezoar Farm: Consider building an early Bezoar farm in the Jungle (if you are playing a version prior to 1.2, this would be a Stinger farm). Bezoars are used to craft the Ankh Shield later, and Jungle enemies are a good source of Stingers.
Bee Armor Goal: Your primary goal from the Queen Bee fight is Bee Wax to craft Bee Armor.

Summoner Potions: Buffs for Minion Mastery

Potions are vital for all classes in Terraria, and Summoners benefit greatly from specific potions.

Summoner Potion: Increases your maximum minion slots. This is crucial for boss fights and general combat, especially early on when you have limited minion capacity.
Ironskin Potion: Provides a significant defense boost (+8 defense). Essential for Summoners who lack defense, especially before obtaining dedicated armor sets. Useful even in the endgame.
Mana Regeneration Potion: Summoning minions consumes mana. Mana Regeneration Potions help ensure you have sufficient mana to summon minions during combat, especially during boss fights.
Lesser/Healing Potions: Standard healing potions for general use and boss fights. Lesser Healing Potions restore 50 health, while Healing Potions restore more and are better suited for boss encounters.
Regeneration Potion: Increases life regeneration, synergizing well with Campfires and Heart Lanterns to offset the Summoner’s lower defense and help sustain damage during fights.

Killing the Queen Bee: Boss Fight Strategy

Now that you’re prepared, it’s time to fight the Queen Bee. If you have the Slime Staff and Summoner Potion, you have a good chance of success. The Queen Bee can be your first Pre-Hardmode boss, even before the Eye of Cthulhu, especially if you focus on Summoner gear early.

Buff Up: Before the fight, consume buff potions, including the Summoner Potion, Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, and any healing potions.
Destroy the Larva: Locate the Queen Bee larva inside the Bee Hive and destroy it to summon the boss.
Queen Bee Attack Patterns: The Queen Bee has two main attack patterns:
- Horizontal Charge: She flies horizontally across the arena, attempting to ram into you.
- Bee Barrage: She hovers above you and releases a swarm of bees and stingers downwards.
Dodging and Positioning:
- Dodge horizontal charges by jumping or using a grappling hook to quickly move vertically.
- Dodge bee and stinger attacks by staying to the side of her while she’s hovering above.
Minion Deployment: When the Queen Bee hovers above you, position yourself to the side and let your minions attack her. Focus on dodging her attacks while your minions deal damage.
Honey Buff (If Available): If you set up a honey pool in your arena, briefly step into it to gain the Honey buff for increased regeneration during the fight.
Bezoar (Highly Recommended): If you managed to obtain a Bezoar accessory, equip it. It grants immunity to poison, negating the Queen Bee’s poison stinger attacks.

Items to Obtain from Queen Bee:

Bee Wax: Essential for crafting Bee Armor.
Bee Gun (Semi-Summoner Weapon): While not a pure summon weapon, the Bee Gun can be helpful in early Hardmode transitions.
Honey Comb: Used in crafting various bee-themed items.

Post-Queen Bee Progression:

Craft the Hornet Staff first using Bee Wax. It inflicts poison, which the Queen Bee is not immune to (though you may skip this if you already have the Imp Staff). Craft and equip pieces of Bee Armor as you acquire more Bee Wax. The full Bee Armor set increases your minion capacity, allowing you to summon two minions, significantly boosting your damage output. Continue fighting the Queen Bee until you have a full set of Bee Armor.

With the Bee Armor and Imp Staff (or even Hornet Staff and Slime Staff), you’re well-equipped to continue your Summoner journey and prepare for the challenges of Hardmode!