Shadowbeam Staff

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Shadowbeam Staff
  • Shadowbeam Staff item spriteold Shadowbeam Staff item sprite
Autofire
Stack digit 1.png
Statistics
Type
Damage80 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / 53 (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) (Magic)
Knockback3.25 (Weak)
Mana7
Critical chance4%
Use time15 (Very fast) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / 16 (Very fast) (Old-gen console and 3DS versions)
Velocity606 (effective)
TooltipCreates a shadow beam that bounces off walls
RarityRarity level: 8
Sell6 GC
Research1 required
Projectile created
  • Shadow Beam (friendly)
    Shadow Beam (friendly)
Obtained from Obtained from
Classic mode icon.png Classic
Expert mode icon.png Expert
Master mode icon.png Master
EntityQty.Rate
NecromancerNecromancer 1.pngNecromancer15% (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
2.5% (Old-gen console and 3DS versions)
9.75%
The Shadowbeam Staff in action.

The Shadowbeam Staff is a Hardmode, post-Plantera magic weapon that fires a thin purple beam which travels near-instantaneously to its maximum distance (112.5 tiles), bounces off blocks, is unaffected by gravity, and emits a moderate amount of light for its entire length, similar to the Necromancer's standard attack. The Shadowbeam Staff's beam can pierce an unlimited number of enemies, but for each enemy struck, the beam loses (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10% / (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 20% of its damage. Each enemy will only take damage once, regardless of how many times the beam bounces to hit them again. The Shadowbeam Staff has a 1/20 (5%) / 39/400 (9.75%) chance of being dropped by Necromancers in the post-Plantera Dungeon.

Its best modifier is Mythical.

Achievements

Achievement Robbing the Grave.png
Robbing the Grave • Obtain a rare treasure from a difficult monster in the dungeon.
Obtain a rare item from an enemy in the post-Plantera Dungeon. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Category: Explorer Explorer

Tips

  • The Shadowbeam Staff is very effective in the Dungeon or other enclosed underground areas, where the beam can ricochet multiple times and pin down targets. Its ability to quickly light up an entire room can also help in navigating these areas.
  • Due to its infinite piercing, it is useful against worm-type enemies like The Destroyer, but only the first few hits for each shot will do significant damage.
  • When fired against a hammered slope, the beam will hug the slope and follow it up, instead of ricocheting off. This can be used to create safe areas, e.g. for events, where the player can attack enemies without taking damage from them.

Trivia

  • The Shadowbeam Staff's beam does not instantly propagate. It actually takes just under three ticks[1] or 0.05 seconds to fully extend.[2]
  • The Shadowbeam Staff's beam is the fastest projectile in Terraria, as it has a base velocity of 606. This would be equivalent to 2,272.5 tiles per second or 4,987 km/h (3,099 mph).

History

  • Desktop 1.4.1:
    • Damage increased from 53 to 60.
    • Use time decreased from 16 to 15.
    • Damage reduction for each target hit reduced from 20% to 10%.
  • Desktop 1.2.0.3:
    • Damage decreased from 55 to 53.
    • Beams now have diminishing returns.
  1. A tick is a time unit countable by the software. Most of Terraria's updating logic happens every tick. A tick has the length of 1/60th of a second, hence there are 60 ticks in a second and 3600 ticks in a minute.
  2. The beam has 100 extraUpdates, so it updates 101 times per tick. It has a lifespan of 300 updates. This means the beam more precisely exists for 2.970 ticks or 0.0495 seconds.