The hammer is an oft-overlooked utility in Terraria, often being the last thought after weapons, pickaxes, and even axes – it's so unthought of that in the late-game, the tools with the highest Hammer Power are from the Hamaxe class, completely phasing out standard hammers from progression.
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But despite the lack of love for hammers, they should still hold a special place in your heart, as their niche usage can make your world a safer and more beautiful place – if you've ever had to clear the walls that form a Spider Cave biome, then you know this better than anyone.
10 Tungsten Hammer - Your First Goal
The Tungsten Hammer is the first hammer you might intentionally shoot for, as it rests midway through the upper half of possible Hammer Powers at 50 percent. While not the best hammer on this list, the Tungsten Hammer is a tried and true early-game hammer that outperforms its alternate-ore sibling, the Silver Hammer.
Since Tungsten is one of the more common ores in the game, obtaining the Tungsten Hammer isn't resource intensive, so you won't have to choose between it and other essential tools on your road to the Wall of Flesh.
9 Gold Hammer - The Natural Upgrade
The Gold Hammer is the logical next step up from the Tungsten and Silver Hammers, being a hammer that you might obtain once you've begun approaching the mid-game – this is due to the fact that you'll be unlikely to craft it until you've collected enough materials to fill the rest of your inventory with gold-based items.
Boasting a Hammer Power of 55 Percent, the Gold Hammer does its job reasonably well and is worth upgrading to from lower tiers of hammers – the improved Hammer Power comes with a faster swing speed, meaning that you'll still be protected if you get attacked while using it.
8 The Breaker - Corruption Combat
The Breaker is the Corruption version of the next tier of hammers – strangely it has the same Hammer Power as the Gold Hammer despite being made of a significantly tougher material. Regardless, The Breaker is worth moving up to for its ability to function as a weapon.
Related: Terraria: Best Pre-Hardmode Weapons
It isn't suggested to use The Breaker as your primary damage dealer, because there are much better weapons available to you by the time you can craft it – the damage it can do is high enough, though, that you won't have to panic search for something to defend yourself with if attacked while building.
7 Flesh Grinder - Crimson Combat
The Flesh Grinder is the Crimson equivalent of The Breaker, sharing both its Hammer Power and proficiency in battle. The main thing that separates it from its Corruption counterpart is its faster swing speed, which allows it some more wiggle room if used for combat.
The consequence of the improved swing speed is supposed to be a slightly decreased damage output, but the difference is so small that the Flesh Grinder ends up the superior weapon all while sharing similar hammer stats across the board. It isn't impressive enough, though, to warrant consciously switching to a Crimson-infected world.
6 Platinum Hammer - Paradoxical Power
Surprisingly, the Platinum Hammer manages to outperform the higher-tier hammers from the Corruption and Crimson – despite being a counterpart of the Gold Hammer, this tool offers a staggering Hammer Power of 59 Percent.
This fact alone makes it the best craftable pre-Hardmode hammer, especially given that it's easier and more resource efficient to obtain than both The Breaker and the Flesh Grinder – if you don't need a hammer that can carry itself in combat, the Platinum Hammer is a fine pick that'll save your Demonite and Crimtane for armor and weapons.
5 Rockfish - A Fish-Hammer Hybrid
The Rockfish is the best pre-Hardmode hammer, possessing a Hammer Power of 70 percent as well as combat damage comparable to The Breaker – this allows it to compete with the significantly more difficult-to-obtain Molten Hamaxe, which is only able to stay relevant due to its function as an axe.
Related: Terraria: Best Fishing Rods
Since the Rockfish is obtainable through fishing, it requires less exploring to get than any hammer that comes close to its ability. If you need a good early-game hammer, it can be relatively easy to fish up at the Cavern layer of the world; otherwise, it might be better to go through the hammer's standard progression, as you're likely to obtain other useful items in the process.
4 Pwnhammer - Enter Hardmode
The Pwnhammer is a guaranteed drop from the Wall of Flesh, meaning that regardless of the hammers you end up making in the early game, you'll be obtaining this tier as soon as you enter Hardmode – it's even possible to have only made a wooden hammer up to this point, though your base's appearance is likely to suffer for it.
This hammer is the first one able to destroy Demon and Crimson altars, spawning new ores in the world that are imperative to your development throughout Hardmode. The Pwnhammer does its job as a hammer well otherwise, outclassing even the Rockfish with a Hammer Power of 80 percent.
3 Hammush - A Strange Improvement
The Hammush is a hammer obtained from the Truffle, an NPC who lives in surface-level Glowing Mushroom biomes – it takes quite a bit of effort to get this item, but given that it's only surpassed by the Chlorophyte hammers and highest-tier Hamaxes in the game, it's well worth it.
While the increase from the Pwnhammer's Hammer Power is only five percent, the Hammush is interesting due to its ability to spawn floating mushroom projectiles with every swing; these translucent toadstools can hit through walls, making this hammer a great way to deal with threats that are too risky to meet face-to-face.
2 Chlorophyte Warhammer - Strength And Power
You need to defeat all the Mechanical Bosses if you even want the chance to obtain Chlorophyte, so it makes perfect sense that it would be near the very top of the regular hammers available to you.
Like the Crimson and Corruption hammers from pre-Hardmode, the Chlorophyte Warhammer is built to work as both a hammer and a weapon, being relatively competitive with all the available pre-Golem weapons. The big issue is that it's only slightly faster than the Hammush, causing it to feel like a very small upgrade in the long run.
1 Chlorophyte Jackhammer - Speed And Power
Outside the Hamaxe class of tools, the Chlorophyte Jackhammer has both the highest Hammer Power and the fastest level of execution in the game. At the expense of its range, this machine performs its duties in a manner similar to a drill or chainsaw, able to destroy and change tiles through direct contact rather than several separate swings.
This level of performance leaves it unprotected while building, though, as its hitbox during operation is too small to consistently block breakable projectiles or deter flying enemies – its knockback is also relatively low, so even if you do hit with it, you won't be getting much time to switch to your main weapon.
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