Welcome to my second Terraria Expert Mode Progression Guide. In this guide I'll teach you what is, in my opinion, a nice way to progress through the game using the Mage class in Terraria.

As I got some requests on this one, I'll give it a go.

Keep in mind that I don't tend to play Mage too often, but it is a fun class with a lot of different weapons to try out! So remember: There's not just one way of playing the game, I'm just showing you my way here :)


This guide is aimed at players that want to try Expert difficulty
and want an easier time using Mage.

For this Guide we are gonna use a Corruption World.
It's gonna be easier for our Mage Progression.

For the reforges, you can choose between full damage or full defense. But don't try to balance it. It's better to just focus on one thing.

Nowadays, I like to go for DMG, but that's because I'm decent at dodging. If you want to have an easier time staying alive, go for +4 Defense in every accessory.

Starting out we are gonna get some wood first to make the Wooden Armor and a Wooden Sword. Basically, we can use any weapon at this point, but I like to use the Wooden Sword until I can find some weapons in a chest.
Also, you should make some houses for your NPCs.

The Wooden Armor has a Set Bonus (+1 defense). This is gonna be useful because in Expert mode you are going to get killed very easily, so its good to have some extra defense.

At the very beginning, your equipment should look like this:

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:
Just explore the surface and equip everything you can find, especially if it has some modifiers!


After your first day or two of exploration, you should start focussing on getting an upgrade in your armor and weapon because you are too weak to do anything now. What I like to do is go for any of the Gem Staves and any mineral armor like, for example, the Iron/Lead Armor or, even better, the Gold/Platinum Armor. (You dont need to specifically farm for these armors, but if you can get them, it is good for your defense)
We also want a Hook to boost our mobility! Any Gem Hook will do the trick.
You can find all the materials that you need mining under your base.

We are gonna need the following materials:
15 gems to make a Hook (It can be any of them, they all work for now)
Here is a link to the Wiki so you can check the crafting recipes: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Hooks

We also need 8 more Gems and some Mineral Bars to make a Staff
Here is a link to the wiki so you can check the recipes: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Gem_staves

Finally, we need 60 Bars of any Mineral to craft better armor.

Ok, so now your equipment should look like this:

Armor:
(This could be any Mineral Armor)

Main Weapon:
(This could be any Gem Staff)

Equipment:
(Hook)

And the rest should be filled with any other items that you can find.

Now you can easily explore your world, fill your equipment, find some Life Crystals to gain health and farm some Fallen Stars to craft Mana Crystals to maximize your Mana as soon as possible!

Ok so now that we have decent equipment to kill some stuff and don't get destroyed by every enemy we can prepare ourselves to kill our first boss: The Eater Of Worlds. Yeah you heard me... the EOW, we are not taking the Eye Of Cuthulu first, we are rushing the EOW :D

First of all we have to get inside the corruption and destroy
some Shadow Orbs until you get a Vilethorn
If you also find a Band of Starpower keep it! We are gonna need it later.
To destroy the Shadow Orbs we can use bombs to get to them. Since we still can't mine in the corruption. Also keep in mind that after every 3 orbs, the Eater of Worlds will spawn, so you are probably gonna die...
If you destroy every Orb and don't find the Vilethorn, don't worry! Just head up to the corruption in the other side of your world to search for more.

Once we have the Vilethorn it's a good idea to upgrade our armor to the Jungle Armor
Just head to the Underground Jungle and farm:

10 Stingers from the Hornets and the Jungle Slimes.
32 Jungle Spores (You´ll see them glowing)
And 2 Vines from the Man Eaters.

Once you have all the necesary stuff you can finally go for the EoW fight.
Your equiment should look something like this:

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:
(optional but a good choice!)

*Fill all the other equipment slots with any gear you have




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To fight the eater of worlds, make sure to have your mana close to the max (200)
and a minimum of 200 Health

You should also buy some Mana and Healing Potions from the Merchant, and craft some Regeneration and Ironskin potions. ( Link to potions here: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Potions )

Note: I won´t be explaining all the potions at every boss fight. I dont want to make this guide extremely long... Use the link to the wiki to do your own research on potions.

Once you are ready, craft 2 or 3 Fire Places to boost Health Regen and go to the corruption. Head down into the caves where you broke the Shadow Orbs, place the Fires and you can summon the EoW destroying more shadow orbs or if you already broke all of them you will need to summon the EoW using Worm Food (Link to the Wiki if you don't know how to craft it: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Worm_Food )

The main trick with this Boss is to avoid the Head that deals more damage and try to don't separete him in too many segments. Take your time and you will defeat him with no problem. If you get stuck between his body just use your Hook.

After defeating the EoW you will get a Treasure Bag, and when you open it you get a really nice item from this boss: The Worm Scarf which reduces damage taken by 17%!
Also you will have some Demonite Ore and Shadow Scales . Use the Ore to craft Demonite Bars and combine them with the Scales to upgrade your pickaxe to the Nightmare Pickaxe




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If you want, you can go for the King Slime now with the exact same loadout. It should be easy.

What we really want to do now is to wait for a Meteorite to land so we can go and farm the Mineral.
Just use your new Pickaxe to mine all the Meteorite and craft some Meteorite Bars We are gonna need 65 Bars to craft the Meteorite Armor and the Space Gun
The space gun combined with the Meteorite armor is an awesome combo, cause you don't need mana to use the gun!
This combo will also work with the Gray Zapinator This weapon is super strong against bosses. Unluckily, it is randomly sold by the Travelling Merchant. If you are lucky to find one, buy it without a doubt and use it instead of the Space Gun.

Now that you have your Meteor Set, we need to find some boots!
Any of the following will work the same cause we are gonna upgrade them later:
Hermes Boots (found in Underground an Cavern Chests)
Flurry Boots (found in underground and cavern snow biome chests)
Sailfish Boots (found in crates obtained from fishing)
Dunerider Boots (found in underground and cavern desert biome chests)


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With your new equipment this boss should be really easy, but we want to defeat it cause it will drop one of my favourite items, the Shield of Cthulu This shield will not only give you more defense, it also gives you a dash! and if you can master using this dash, it will boost your survival and mobility a lot!

for the EoC fight, your equipment should look like this:

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:




>>> You can change this one for another accessory when you use the Space Gun because you don't need mana when using that combo.

*Fill the other accessory slots with whatever you want

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Another easy boss. Using the Meteor combo, this fight should not be a big deal.
What you can do to make it a bit easier is to farm the Hornets to get the Bezoar Keep in mind that this item has 2% drop chance so it may take a while to get it, but it will really help with the poison from the Queen Bee.
Once you are ready go to the underground Jungle, find a hive and prepare the area to kill the Bee.

For this fight your equipment should look like this:

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Seccondary Weapon:


Equipment:






There's no item of interest from this fight for us. So we are gonna go for Skeletron now.
Try to max your health and also reforge everything to have the max posible damage or defense.


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Skeletron is probably gonna be the hardest boss in Pre-Hardmode.
So it's important to have a mobility accessory: a double jump. There are 3 options. From worst to best we have:

Cloud in a Bottle: can be found in Gold Chests in the Underground and Cavern layers.
Blizzard in a Bottle: can be found in Frozen Chests in the Ice biome
Sandstorm in a Bottle: found only inside Gold Chests within Pyramids

The 3 of them will work, but if you can get the Blizzard or the Sandstorm it would be so much easier to dodge Skeletron attacks.
Also you can upgrade these items if you find a Shiny Red Balloon inside a Skyware Chest in the Floating Islands. Use a Gravitation Potion to scout the sky and find the Islands. (this is optional, but it will boost your jump a lot making the Skeletron fight so much easier. I really recommend doing this)
If you find the Balloon, combine it with your double jump item in the Tinkerers Workshop to upgrade the item.

Once you have your double jump item, go to the Dungeon, build the arena (3 looooooooong rows of platforms with a good separation between them but not too much cause you want to be able to jump between them. Also place some campfires and heart lanterns) and fight Skeletron!

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:
/ / or if possible: / /




*Fill the last accesory with what ever you want! It is a good option to choose a damage accesory.


Now that we have access to the Dungeon we want to look for the Magic Missile , a Shadow Key and the Cobalt Shield (Optional) If you find the Shield, you can upgrade it to a Obsidian Shield Just craft a Obsidian Skull with 20 Obsidian and combine the Shield with the Skull at the TW (Tinkerers Workshop)

The Magic Missile is a very fun and useful weapon. If you want to use it instead of the Space Gun, it is a good option to use a Mana accessory like the following:

Magic Cuffs: increases maximum mana by 20 and restores mana when the wearer is damaged.
How to craft it: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Magic_Cuffs

Mana Flower: reduces mana usage by 8%, and auto-consumes mana potions in the player's inventory when needed. (I like this one and I use it most of the time as a mage)
How to craft it: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Mana_Flower

Now you can head down to the Underworld. This is where the Obsidian Shield comes in handy, cause you can avoid fire damage and also avoid getting knockbacked into the lava. Also you should bring Obsidian Skin Potions to mine some Hellstone and upgrade your pickaxe to a Molten Pickaxe
Find a Hellforge to upgrade your normal forge and use your Shadow Key to open Shadow Chests (you can find some good Magic Weapons here, but they are not essential)

The weapon that we are looking for is the Demon Scythe
This powerful weapon is gonna be our choice to defeat the Wall of Flesh. It may take a while to get it since its a 2.8% drop chance from Demons. Be patient, this is a really powerful weapon.

Finally its a very good option to upgrade your boots to the Lightning Boots
Heres how to do it: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Lightning_Boots

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Build a platform of at least 1000 blocs. If posible use Planter Boxes to avoid the lava from slimes. Get your potions ready and summon the last Pre-Hardmode Boss!

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:




*And a double Jump Item (any of the ones that I showed earlier)



Once you successfully defeat the WoF you will get the treasure bag. Inside the bag you are gonna find the Pwnhammer (to break the Altars in the corruption), the Demon Heart (used to increase your Equipment/accessory slots by 1!) and one of the four Emblems. We obviously want the Sorcerer Emblem but it's ok if you dont get this one. You can farm it if you want or just skip it and keep the Emblem that you´ve got to upgrade it later on.

Consume the Demon Heart and fill your extra accessory slot with the Emblem or the Obsidian Shield, or the Magic Cuffs. It's up to you.


Welcome to Hard Mode!
Are you ready to die a lot?
Your armor wont do much, your weapons wont do much either so you are gonna feel helpless...
But don't worry, I got you! We are gonna get some stuff so you have a chance to beat your enemies!

First of all you are gonna put the Witch Doctor NPC in a house in the Jungle Biome. During the night he is gonna sell you the Leaf Wings This will be an upgrade to your double jump accessory. Also you won't have to worry about fall damage.
More info about the Wings Progression in this guide:
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2362777994

Then you need a weapon that actually can do some damage to the Hard Mode enemies.
We have 2 good and easy to obtain weapons:

The Poison Staff
2.5% drop chance from Black Recluses (HardMode Spiders)
This weapon has decent damage especially at close/mid range and it's easy to get. Just go to the underground, find a Spider cave, lock yourself and use your Vilethorn to kill the spiders through the walls. Or leave a small gap and use the Magic Missile to kill the spiders.

The other option is the Crystal Serpent
This item must be fished in the Hallow Biome. To do this, craft a Fisher of Souls using Demonite Bars and also craft some Enchanted Nightcrawlers combining Worms with Fallen Stars
This weapon also has a decent damage, a bit lower than the Poison Staff but when it hits something it splashes! And it also has a better range.

It's up to you to decide which one you prefer. Most of the time I go for the Poison Staff since I get bored while fishing... But both weapons will work fine.

If you come across the Wizard NPC buy the Crystal Ball to boost your damage and a bunch of Greater Mana Potions

Also if you see a Mimic (the little chest enemy) try to kill them. They drop the Star Cloak and you can combine this item with your Mana Flower to make the Mana Cloak

Then break some Altars and progress through the Hard Mode ores till you have TIER 3 ores:
(Remember that you need to craft the Mythril/Orichalcum Anvil and the Adamantite / Titanium Forge)

TIER 1: /

TIER 2: /

TIER 3: /

You are gonna need 54 Adamantite Bars or 59 Titanium Bars to make our next Armor.

Any of this 2 will work against the next boss, so just craft the one that you have abailable:


(remember to craft the Mage Helmet: "Headgear" on the name)

You could also go for the Forbidden Armor... but in Expert mode, the farming is not worth it in my opinion. Anyway, here's the link to the wiki if you want to try this one: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Forbidden_armor

We are almost ready to go for our first Hard Mode Boss!
Just one item left: The Meteor Staff
This one is not that hard to craft:
20 Meteorite Bars (you already know how to get these)
10 Pixie Dust (Dropped from the Pixies in the Surface Hallow Biome)
10 Souls of Light (Dropped by most enemies killed in the Underground Hallow: in the Cavern layer)

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The strategy to take down the first Mech Boss is rather simple.
Find a flat location or make one. Make 3 rows of platforms with a decent separation between them. Place Some Campfires, Heart Lanters and Star in a Bottle Lanterns to have some buffs. Also light up your arena a bit. Get your potions ready and craft a Mechanical Worm to summon the boss.

This is the equipment you are gonna use:

Armor:
/

Main Weapon:


Equipment:







"Pro" Tip:
A good strategy to inflict huge damage at the start of the fight is to open the minimap and zoom it out. Then fly upwards for 2 seconds and when you are high in the air summon the boss. This will cause a spawning point for the Worm in the air and you are gonna see that spot on the mini map. Fly to that spot and attack the spawning location. This way you can inflict a huge amount of damage.

For the rest of the fight just be careful of the Probes cause they can be dangerous. But just fly high when you feel in danger and use your Meteor Staff to destroy this boss.



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Now that you defeated the Destroyer, you have access to the Hallowed Bars You need 54 bars to make the Hallowed Armor (farm the Destroyer fight if you need more Bars)
This armor is probably my favourite in the game because of the Holy Protection buff, which allows the player to dodge the next attack dealt by an enemy. You can probably beat the rest of the game using this Armor, but I will show some other options. Just keep in mind that this Armor is viable for the rest of your playthrough.

Another upgrade we can do is a wing upgrade.
Just go to the Underground Jungle, and kill Moths (they dont spawn very often) but they have a 50% chance of dropping Butterfly Dust Combine the dust with 20 Souls of Flight (dropped by the Wyverns in the sky) to craft the Butterfly Wings

Finally you want to get the Golden Shower This weapon is amazing because inflicts the Ichor debuff, which lowers the Defense of the enemies by 15!
Here is how you get this weapon:
#1: Craft a Graveyard biome close to the Dryad NPC, placing a lot of tombstones so she will sell you Crimson Seeds.
#2: Find an underground spot you don't mind corrupting with Crimson and put some dirt on the walls and put the seeds on the dirt.
#3: Wait until the Crimson corrupts the area so you can kill Ichor Stickers. They will drop Ichor farm 20 of it.
#4: Farm 20 Souls of Night in the underground Corruption or Crimson.
#5: Finally buy a Spell Tome from the Wizard NPC and craft the Golden Shower at a Bookcase.

Use the arena that you crafted earlier and the following equipment to take down the Twins:

Armor:


Main Weapon:
/

Secondary Weapon:


Equipment:







The strategy here is to focus Spazmatism (green eye) first with the Meteor Staff and finish him with the Crystal Serpent in his second phase. Then you can take down Retinazer with the Meteor Staff or the Crystal Serpent.
Not gonna lie, this is not an easy fight. You might have to try a couple of times.

Once you kill the Twins, use 15 Souls of Sight , 8 Souls of Night 20 Crystal Shards found in the Underground Hallow and 1 Harp buy it from the Wizard NPC shop.
Use these materials to craft the Magical Harp


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Using the Harp this should be an easy fight. Just avoid the head spin and you will be fine. You shouldn't have too much trouble using your wings and your dash. Be careful though cause if he catches you during the head spin you are gonna die.

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Secondary Weapon:


Equipment:

Ok, so the first Item that we are gonna craft after the Mechs, is the Pickaxe Axe using one of each Mech Boss Souls (Might, Sight and Fright) and 18 Hallowed Bars.

Then we are gonna craft the Avenger Emblem combining the Emblem that you got from the Wall of Felsh and 5 of each Souls from the Mechs.
Save this item cause we are gonna need it after Golem.

Ok, so now the important stuff. To face Plantera we want to upgrade our weapon.
To do this we need 14 Chlorophyte Bars Each bar is crafted with 5 Clorophyte Ores so you need 70 ores. If you find more, that's awesome! We are gonna use it later!
The Clorophyte is located in the underground jungle, so while you are there also look for Life Fruits to max your health to 500HP.

With the 14 Clorophyte Bars and the Poison Staff craft the Venom Staff
This is a very powerfull weapon that can probably carry you for the rest of the game!



_____________________________________________


This one should be easy. Just make your underground arena in the jungle and circle around her. The second phase is a bit harder but you should be fine.

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Seccondary Weapon:


Equipment:

<- If you want to farm for it, upgrade to the Frostspark Boots or Terraspark Boots (optional)

or form more damage
<- If you want to farm for it, upgrade to the Ankh Shield (optional)



Once Plantera is defeated you can go to the Dungeon to farm Ectoplasm (just kill enemies and sometimes a Spectre will appear, dropping Ectoplasm after you kill them)
Combining 1 Ectoplasm with 2 Clorophyte bars you can make Spectre Bars
Using 66 Spectre Bars you can craft the Spectre Armor

You have 2 Head piece options with this Armor:

The Hood: Reduces Magic damage by 40% and converts it to healing force
Magic damage done to enemies heals the player with lowest health

The Mask: Magic damage done will hurt extra nearby enemies
I recommend crafting both. Use the Mask and swap to the Hood when you are in danger or close to death.

If you want to have a longer dash ability with the plus of having a chance to dodge attacks we can upgrade our Shield of Cthulhu:
While you are in the Dungeon, Kill the Bone Lee until you get a Black Belt and a Tabi
Now combine Shoe Spikes with Climbing Claws to make the Tiger Climbing Gear Combine this item with the Black Belt and the Tabi to make the Master Ninja Gear
Some people prefer to stick with the Shield of Cthulhu. But I like the MNG.



Now you can farm the Frost Moon event (here's how to activate the event https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Naughty_Present ) and try to get the Razorpine from the Everscream mini boss. This weapon has a 5.18% drop chance.
You can also farm thsi mini boss to get the Festive Wings wich have a 1.11% drop chance. If you dont find these though its okay. Just craft the Spectre Wings combining 10 Spectre Bars with 20 Souls of Flight



__________________________________

Seriously? you need me to tell you how to kill Golem?
ok... here is the Equipment xD

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Secondary Weapon:


Equipment:
/
/





Try getting the Eye of the Golem drop to combine it with your Avenger Emblem and you will get the Destroyer Emblem to boost your damage and critical chance.

You can also farm the Golem to get the Picksaw

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Well this one is gonna be hard and take some practice, especially in the third phase when he is invisible. But if you manage to get his items you will be ready to face the final bosses of the game!
What we want is the Fishron Wings (10% drop chance) to dodge one of the Moon Lord attacks.
It also will be awesome to get the Razorblade Typhoon (20% drop chance) but we mainly want the Wings.

Make a platform above the sea on the right or left side of the map. Place some Fireplaces and Heart Lanterns. And then summon Duke using a Truffle Worm with any Fishing Rod (here's how to get the worms if you don't know how: https://terraria.fandom.com/wiki/Truffle_Worm )

Armor:
Use the Hood to increase survivability

Main Weapon:


Secondary Weapon:


Equipment:

/ (Highly recomend the MNG cause of the longer dash)
/




Once you have your new wings and your new weapon we can go directly to the next boss.


____________________________________________________________

Just build a simple arena with a row of platforms, campfires and heart lanterns, buff up with potions and kill the Cultist. It shouldn't be a problem with your new gear.

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Secondary Weapon:


Equipment:

/





The Cultist is gonna drop the Ancient Manipulator a crafting station that we need to make our last weapon!

But to craft this weapon we have to take down the Nebula Pilar first




Using the same gear from Duke Fishron, take down the Nebula Pilar first to get the Nebula Fragments use these in the Ancient Manipulator to craft the Nebula Blaze This will be our weapon to kill the Moon Lord.

Now take down 2 more Pilars but don't kill the last one.
First you have to make the Arena for the Final Boss.
Buy a Blend O Matic from the Steampunker NPC. Use the machine to craft Asphalt combining Stone with Gel

Make a long platform of Asphalt in the air. The Longer the better... at least 750 blocks (I usually go for 1500 or 2000 blocks). Prepare your Potions. I I recommend the following:
Regeneration, Swiftness, Ironskin, Lifeforce, Mana regeneration, Mana Power, Rage / Wrath.

When you are ready, take down the last Pilar and prepare to fight!

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When you kill the last Pilar, you have 1 minute before the MoonLord spawns. You can use this time to combine 1 of each Lunar Fragments with 4 GreaterHealing Potions to make some Super Healing Potions


Here's what I like to wear against him:

Armor:


Main Weapon:


Equipment:





<Offensive / <Defensive

The strategy is to run on the asphalt platform to one side trying to avoid attacks.
Be aware of the Death Ray... If you see this attack Fly above his head and change direction.
If you don't succed at the first try, don't worry, just kill the Cultist again and repeat the Lunar Events.
You can also craft a Celestial Sigil to summon him again using 20 of each Lunar Fragments



Congratulations!!! you have beaten the game :D
There is some awesome gear that you can farm to get now:

Use the Luminate to make Luminate Bars
Combine 36 bars with 45 Nebula Fragments to craft the Nebula Armor

You can get 2 awesome weapons from the Moon Lord, both with an 11,11% drop chance.
The Last Prism with one of the Highest DPS in the game
and the Lunar Flare a super fun weapon to destroy waves of enemies.

You are also gonna recieve an Expert exclusive drop from the ML. The Celestial Starboard you can replace your wings with this star.

That's all I have for you!

If you want a guide on Ranger Class here I have one:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2485025028

Hope you find this guide useful. If you do, consider giving it a good rating and adding it to Favourites!

Steam Awards are also very appreciated <3

Leave a comment if you want. I'll try to answer them all :)


Have a nice day!

jLg.