Flails are weapons that are used in a limited ranged manner, and inflict melee damage. A flail consists of an object linked to the player by a chain, and divides into two types: thrown and launched.
Their best modifier is normally Godly or Demonic, both of which increase the average damage output by the same amount. The exception is flails found in chests, which have a chance of spawning with a Legendary modifier in Celebrationmk10 worlds.
Types
There are currently 15 different flails available in Terraria, 8 of which are Hardmode-exclusive. There are two types of flails: thrown and launched.
Thrown
Thrown flail in use.
Thrown flail in use.
On the 
Desktop version, 
Console version, and 
Mobile version, thrown flails have special mechanics unlike any other weapon. Holding down ⚒ Use / Attack will cause the flail to be rapidly swung around the player, dealing 60% of the flail's base damage (displayed in its tooltip). Letting go of ⚒ Use / Attack during this state will throw the flail in the direction of the cursor, dealing full base damage and piercing enemies infinitely.[1] After the flail is thrown, holding ⚒ Use / Attack again will cause the flail to suddenly drop to the ground and stay there, dealing half of the flail's base damage to enemies for as long as ⚒ Use / Attack is held.
On the 
Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DS
version versions, thrown flails have special physics that allow the player to swing them around continuously without refiring. When pressing ⚒ Use / Attack, thrown flails are heavily influenced by gravity, making them good weapon to attack from above with. However, by holding down ⚒ Use / Attack when throwing, the player can execute a more powerful throw, making the flail fly farther. Thrown flails will ricochet off walls, but pierce through multiple enemies on both their forward and return trips.
Launched
Launched flails lack the physics of thrown flails, cannot pierce, and cannot be swung around by holding the attack button. However, they make up for this by firing rapidly and being unaffected by gravity (except for the Anchor). This generally makes it easier to aim launched flails, particularly upwards, and grants them higher damage potential. Rather than smoothly stretching and then swinging back, a launched flail will extend at a fixed speed until it strikes a block or reaches its maximum length, and then retract at a slightly faster, fixed speed.
Most launched flails can auto-fire, which makes them extremely effective at short ranges. Enemies that are vulnerable to knockback can be pushed away easily, and enemies that are immune to knockback, like bosses, can be quickly dealt a large amount of damage by the rapidly-firing flail.
Notes
- Technically, the actual base damage of thrown flails is half value of the base damage listed on this wiki. The listed damage in the item tooltip is two times of the actual base damage. [2] For example, the Sunfury has a base damage of 64, while its actual base damage is 32.
- The Piranha Gun and the Harpoon are similar to launched flails, but inflict ranged damage.
- Thrown flails are not affected by the autoswing granted by Feral Claws and its upgrades, unless the flail reaches its maximum range and is automatically retracted.
Tips
- Thrown flails can be used to attack enemies on both sides of the player by throwing the flail without letting go of the ⚒ Use / Attack button, and heading in the opposite direction when the ball reaches its maximum distance and is about to return, which will make it go to the other side, where the process can be repeated. Furthermore, holding the button and not moving lets the ball part of the flail fall to the ground, where it will damage enemies who walk, fly, or burrow into it, which works exceptionally well against worms.
History
- Desktop 1.4.4:
- Knockback when spinning flails has been increased from 25% to 35% of normal knockback.
- Spinning flails now hit up to 4 times a second instead of 3 times a second. Flails which already hit 4 times a second have been increased to 5 times a second.
References
- ↑ Information taken from the Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method
Damage() in Terraria.Projectile.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
- ↑ Information taken from the Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, field
ToolTipDamageMultiplier in Terraria.ID.ItemID.Sets.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
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