Sandgun

Sandgun

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Statistics

Type	Weapon
Uses ammo	Sands
Damage	30 (Ranged)
Knockback	5 (Average)
Critical chance	4%
Use time	16 (Very fast)
Velocity	24 (not affected by ammo)
Tooltip	'This is a good idea!'
Rarity	02*
Sell	20 SC
Research	1 required

Projectiles created

• Sand Ball
  
• Ebonsand Ball
  
• Pearlsand Ball
  
• Crimsand Ball
  

Sounds

Use

• Internal Item ID: 266
• Internal Projectile ID: 42, 65, 68, 354

The Sandgun is a pre-Hardmode ranged weapon that uses Sand, Pearlsand, Ebonsand, or Crimsand as its ammunition, firing sand ball projectiles that are affected by gravity. After hitting an entity or object, if the hit location is not occupied, the sand ball will turn into the respective kind of Sand Block, otherwise it will disappear. When Pearlsand, Ebonsand, or Crimsand Blocks are used as ammo, the sand ball's base damage will be increased by 5, and it will be able to pierce an unlimited number of targets. All variants of Sand Blocks have the default damage value of −1, reducing the Sandgun's actual damage by 1.

Ammo		Damage
	Sand Block	29
	Pearlsand Block	34
	Ebonsand Block	34
	Crimsand Block	34

Its best modifier is Unreal.

Crafting

Recipes

Result	Ingredients	Crafting station
Sandgun	Illegal Gun Parts Antlion Mandible10 Topaz5	Furnace

Notes

The Sandgun in use. Note that the projectiles turn into Sand Blocks on hit, but do not when the hit location is already occupied.

• If the sand projectile lands on an already occupied tile, it will disappear, without turning into a Sand Block. If the projectile lands on a mid-air tile, it will turn into a falling sand ball. Just like a regular falling sand ball, it cannot land on various things, like Saplings and Minecart Tracks. Instead, the Sand Block will (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) turn into its item form / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) disappear.
  • (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) When the projectile lands on a statue, it will turn into a Sand Block and turn the statue into its item form.
• (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The Sandgun receives the specialized boosts from the Shroomite Helmet.

Tips

• The Sandgun can often create sandy messes, and can also block the player from being able to land another hit on an enemy. Using it to fight enemies can become difficult.
  • An effective way to utilize the Sandgun in an arena without creating a mess is to utilize a background object to destroy Sand Blocks or turn them into items, allowing for no sand build-up and easy sand recovery.
    • The best option for this is Minecart Tracks, which are cheap to craft and place faster than any other block. Torches or Coin Piles(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) are also options.
• The Sandgun is incredibly strong for when it can be obtained, falling just shy of the Handgun in raw damage and speed. However, the resulting Sand can impede the player if they miss enough shots. Consider using a Featherfall Potion and shooting downwards to avoid the falling sand.
  • With Ebonsand or Crimsand ammo, the Sandgun can deal 1 more damage than the Handgun with Meteor Shots in exchange for 1 slower use speed. If using this for exploration, however, be aware that the sand will spread evil biomes in Hardmode.
• The Sandgun is a good option against Skeletron and for exploring the Dungeon, with Dungeon Bricks preventing evil biome spread in Hardmode and getting similar damage to the Molten Fury with faster projectile speed and infinite piercing.
• Using the Sandgun to fight against the Wall of Flesh can be effective because the boss forces the player to continually move away, thus avoiding the resulting Sand. However, fallen Sand can disrupt placed stairs, meaning a hell bridge made of platforms might have to be repaired after the battle.
  • The piercing capability of biome Sand Blocks is also ideal for damaging the Hungry and the Wall of Flesh at the same time. If the Corruption or Crimson does not naturally affect a Desert in the world, Vile or Vicious Powder can be used to get ammo.
• While a regular Sand projectile can only hit one enemy, the falling sand ball generated by it will deal considerable damage to enemies it strikes as it falls.
• The Sandgun can function as a more reliable (albeit slower to spread) version of Thrown Water due to its ability to shoot sand of all types.
• The ability to place sand can be useful in blocking tunnels or filling lava-filled gaps from a distance.
• The Gravedigger's Shovel(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can synergize very well with the Sandgun. Both are obtainable at the start of the game with no prior requirements (other than to craft them). The Gravedigger's Shovel can dig up massive quantities of ammo for the Sandgun and allow for very quick and easy sand clean-up without relying on explosives or higher-tier pickaxes. However, it requires a Graveyard(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) mini-biome to be present, which may be difficult to obtain very early on for Hardcore characters.

Sand farming

On  Desktop,  Console, and  Mobile, the player can use shimmer to convert Ale bought from the Tavernkeep into Mugs, then into Glass, then finally into sand, 1 SC for every two Sand Blocks, once the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated. However, this only allows for buying pure sand; Ebonsand and Crimsand Blocks require spreading the Corruption or Crimson or using the Sandgun.

The Sandgun is affected by boosts that reduce ammo usage, allowing it to create more sand than what was used as ammo, which translates to "sand farming".

• For the actual multiplying of the sand, start with the Ammo Box and/or Ammo Reservation Potion, then add an armor that provides ammo conservation; see Ammo conservation below for more detail.
• Firing that much sand takes time; depending on how much sand is needed, extra potions ((Old-gen console version) or an extra visit to the Ammo Box) may be required. Due to rounding, the Unreal modifier provides the same use time as Rapid or Frenzying.
• (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The player can stand next to a Torch with a ceiling or wall handy above, and shoot the sand so that it hits the blocks and then falls onto the Torch. The falling sand will be itemized and immediately picked up, and all the player needs to do is hold down the ⚒ Use / Attack button (note that firing directly at the Torch will simply destroy the sand).
  • With Fossil armor, an Ammo Box, and no distractions, a player can just create a stack of 999 sand in the duration of an Ammo Reservation Potion.
  • This also applies to normal Antlions, which fire more slowly, but 2 Antlions can generate sand at the same speed as the Sandgun with one ammo conservation bonus. This sand will always be pure.
• (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Sand farming requires more labor, requiring letting the Sandgun pile up the sand and then mining it. Farming a full stack of sand will fill a large part of the screen, and will take the better part of a day.
  • It may be worthwhile to set up a high drop over a flat area, say 30×70 tiles, for easier collection.
  • For collection, a fast pickaxe is a must. See also the Mining speed page for details.
    • In pre-Hardmode, the best is the Bone Pickaxe for normal sand, or Molten Pickaxe for Ebonsand/Crimsand. Afterwards, use the Hardmode ore pickaxes, then swap to Shroomite Digging Claw post-Plantera.
    • Any of the Legendary, Deadly, Agile, Nasty, or Light modifiers will improve mining speed, while Light is best.
    • Any boost to mining speed will speed up the collection of sand, such as the Mining Potion, Mining armor, Sun/Moon/Celestial Stone/Celestial Shell, and the Well Fed buff.
    • Using Bombs or Dynamite to farm needed Sand can be less time-intensive, but expensive and less precise. Another option is to place Explosives beforehand, wire them to a safely distant trigger (e.g. a Switch), and then pile the sand up around the Explosives for a perfect blast.

Ammo conservation

Ammo conservation is key to farming sand. The higher the ammo conservation chance is, the better.

For purposes of maximizing ammo conservation, start with the Ammo Box and Ammo Reservation Potion, each of which give 20%, stacking with each other and with armor. The armor options are as follows:

• The only option pre-Hardmode is (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Fossil armor / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Necro armor (both 20%).
• In Hardmode, Cobalt armor (with Mask) or Mythril armor (with Hat) (both 20%).
• Adamantite armor (with Mask) improves that to 25%. (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) The Hallowed armor (with Helmet) also has the same stat.
• After defeating Plantera, the Shroomite Breastplate and Chlorophyte Helmet each give 20% as individual pieces, so combining them can beat any set bonus.
• After the endgame, the Vortex Breastplate (25% bonus) can replace the Shroomite Breastplate.

Trivia

• The Sandgun's sprite resembles the Illegal Gun Parts that are used to craft it.
  • This is because when the Sandgun was introduced, it was the only item to use Illegal Gun Parts in its recipe.
• The Sandgun is the only weapon crafted at a Furnace.
• Despite the large cost to obtain this weapon ((Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 20 GC / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 25 GC for Illegal Gun Parts, and getting 10 Antlion Mandibles can be tedious because of the low drop rate), its sell price is absurdly low (20 SC), reducing the potential cost that a player will need to get a good modifier.
• It is the only gun-styled weapon whose ammunition can be retrieved.
• The gun works with the same mechanics that the Antlion uses. This could be why Antlion Mandibles are used to craft the gun.
• Despite Amber being found exclusively in Desert biomes and having a much closer relation to sand, the Sandgun uses Topaz in its crafting recipe. This is likely because the Sandgun was introduced before Amber was.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.3.1: Sprite updated.

• Desktop 1.2.3: Can now fire Crimsand Blocks.

• Desktop 1.1:
  • Damage increased from 10 to 30.
  • Use time reduced from 19 to 15.
  • Can now fire Pearlsand and Ebonsand Block.

• Desktop 1.0.5: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console-Release: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile-Release: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.