Tl;dw (or if I wasn't clear): Anything with 8+ defense is bad for Minishark, and since all (applicable) bosses have more than 8 defense, Musket should be better in most cases. Many enemies (especially the hard ones that you actually care about lol) have close to 8 defense or more, meaning the Musket will do more damage (and for those below, it takes more ammo to kill them and the effect isn't too significant). Limited mobility in Pre-Hardmode means your small # of accessory slots (5 or 6) is already filled with utility and mobility items that are more important than a bit more damage over the Musket - so it's not too wise to use the Shark Tooth Necklace. You also can't bullet your way out of the problem. Silver Bullet is not buyable normally (unless you want to wait and spend tons of $ on it during a Blood Moon... why?) and Meteor Shot is post-BoC/EoW, where Molten Gear shits all over the Minishark. Minishark is very expensive compared to Musket or Undertaker, both to create, reforge, and operate. The spread of the Minishark is a serious problem even at medium distance. It'll miss demon eyes within striking range, while the Musket never misses. Musket also has 11% CC vs 4% (which is taken care of in the Desmos) It has worse reforges I'm looking at it as a pre-boss weapon (which it is). Idk if many of you want to grind 35 gold + reforges pre-boss but that's gonna be tedious lol. After EoC Tendon Bow makes a good alternative (see Desmos in description) and of course after BoC/EoW it's gonna be dead. This isnt even considering shotguns and stuff I know Minishark *can* carry you to WoF, but you probably should be using better things unless you're doing a Minishark only playthrough (e.g. ruclips.net/video/327TL3RP6d8/видео.html, rip ad32). My two cents. Feel free to use whatever. Good night its 1am
I find the high fire rate to be good for knocking back multiple enemies, and the lower damage makes missing a few shots less punishing than missing with the single shot guns
If you want knockback and lots of shots you can go for the boomstick its only downside is its limited range (obviously) but i would say it still does a lot more damage than minishark in most bossfights and scenarios
@@iami3rian394 goblin army is much easier with a bow and jester or unholy arrow, the same for bloodmoon. The only piercing bullet in prehardmode is meteor shots, which is expensive, and only pierce once. Unholy arrow pierce 5 enemies, jester unlimited, even flaming/frostburn arrow are good as they can set enemies on fire.
Currently doing a multiplayer run with my friend and I'm the ranger and i found out that paintball gun beats minishark in DPS if the minishark is using musket balls. It was pretty funny ngl
it may be mediocre today, but *damn* is it iconic and also consistent not consistent in its damage, but consistent in that not matter what version of terraria you play, it will always do what you expect from it, how you expect it. nothing more nothing less
And even nowadays it's still reliable, even with competition that outdoes it in terms of DPS, as it's high fire rate makes it easy to use, especially against bosses, whose large size mitigates the spread.
It's been overrated since launch, but the issue is that it USED to be better, relatively speaking. There weren't exactly other options, but it's (somehow) kept the reputation for being "incredible" when there's a dozen better weapons, and several for rangers specifically.
I typically use it just bc the high fire rate means missing shots is less punishing and I can focus on dodging, this however is not enough after skeletron where I can get phoenix blaster where the dps and fairly high fire rate makes it vastly better.
@@beeftips1628 Against enemies, yes. but against bosses, you're missing more shots with the minishark than you are with a slower firing weapon, so the higher fire rate doesn't really matter.
Its ability to stunlock higher speed enemies is invaluable imo. Take the antlion chargers you mentioned for example. The knockback on the musket is nowhere near enough to keep it at bay while the minishark can withhold 2 or even 3 given the right ammo and circumstances. By no means is it God tier, but it is quite good in my opinion.
because of this i find the mini shark to still certainly be good (for preboss) especially so on higher difficulties like ftw where good ttk isn't a privilege you have. to me it's essentially necessary, so i'm confused why it's even deemed bad
As someone who usually plays ranged, Phoenix Blaster is probably the best gun in pre hardmode, especially due to the fact that you can now enable auto swing on every weapon, making its main debuff obsolete.
This is EXACTLY why the minishark is my favourite weapon in the game. While it may not be the best, it just looks so cool and is very satisfying to use
I think it’s hilarious that you actually made a video about the minishark balance in modes like master and expert. I remember putting a comment on the other video about the mega shark being below average, but I never expected you to notice some of the comments people made about it and actually make a video about it. Mad respect bro. And that ending was really important too. Very well made video.
I’m glad higher difficulties are accounted for, because in normal mode a lot of enemies including the WoF eyes have 0 defense, which is the only time high fire rate isn’t punished (due to defense being a flat reduction per shot)
I agree that the minishark is outclassed by other options, but it's still pretty decent. A faster fire rate is better for general crowd control and mobbing. You're also usually gonna want to use shark tooth necklace in prehardmode anyways since it's one of the few accessories that increase damage. I also don't think most people will bother reforging an early game weapon, by the time you unlock the goblin tinker you'll probably already have better options. The musket and undertaker (boomstick too) are insanely good for how easy they are to get tho, they carry the early game.
I never felt minishark was that good, on normal difficulty it wasn't that bad but in higher difficulties it falls really low I still like to use it since it's cool af and has more consistent knockback from musket
Because of its status as a rapid-fire weapon, the minishark gets exponential boosts from crit modifiers and ammo's with higher damage than standard, as well as from armour piercing accessories as you mentioned. The minishark can quite easily become one of the highest single target damage weapons in pre-hardmode if you do put the work in to do so. Using musket balls is quite a poor choice for the minishark, it benefits massively off of the 2-3 extra damage found on alternatives like the meteor shot, silver bullet and party bullet also available. With Necro armour and minor damage buffs from accessories it can go up to 13~ damage per bullet, 6 more per hit to regular unbuffed musket balls. That and the aforementioned armour piercing accessories elevate this to an effective +5 damage per bullet. Not much for the musket or undertaker but WAY more for the minishark. You can use a combo of good ammo, faster fire+crit rate (Agile prefix), lucky accessories, sharktooth necklace (all this is pre-boss) and post boss, the stinger necklace and necro armour too. It's a lot of work but a setup like this will let you hit in the ballpark of 20-40 per bullet consistently with about a 33% crit rate. I've even fought queen bee with this on master (a boss fight the minishark notoriously sucks in due to her super high defence) and it does fine.
@Xeamless Well yeah, this is a way to maximise its effectiveness after killing 2 bosses and the goblin army. If you kill more bosses you get better options like the phoenix blaster, that's a given. The only thing I see outclassing it in its game stage is the sandgun.
if you're gonna go through the trouble of getting a gun, spawning the arms dealer and spending like 20 gold on it, why not go and get a boomstick........ it even upgrades in hardmode
You didn't account for how many shots you actually hit. Missing a shot with the musket tanks your dps since it shoots so slow, and with how fast some bosses move in master mode, you're going to miss.
tbh this only really applies to eoc in it's final dash spam phase, everything else moves predictably enough and/or has a big enough hitbox for your shots to pretty much always hit
The Minishark is mid, but there is more to a game than numbers and damage. Personally i use the minishark in my ranger playtroughs because i find it fun to use and consistent. The whole point of video games is to have fun and not to beat them as quickly as possible or make them so diffucult to the point where you are not having fun anymore.
I remember hearing from a friend once that "The minishark isn't that good with the Unreal modifier, and instead should be rapid or other that increases its speed" The thing is I actually did got it Unreal first try, and so while playing together, my happy ass was shouting _"Take that you filthy eye! Suffer the wrath of my weapon that does more damage but less DPS!"_ And yeah, as you can imagine it was super funny for everyone, still find it curious tho
@@YourAverageMop Ay u right, Unreal affects knockback and the Minishark doesn't get that, so it cannot possibly have it, must've been something else then... As for more speed, I do believe you can get it, but the wiki does state that isn't that much better so this story is extra wrong From me, for remembering it wrong, and from my friend because he didn't know for sure and just made something up. Guess this moment never stopped being dumb huh
the minishark literally can't get unreal, that's why you use rapid, cuz demonic gives a % increase on a weapon with super low damage, and that's pretty shit it's also why tthe minishark is bad in the first place, just get a boomstick instead 4head
@@YourAverageMop different gear is "meta" at different stages of the game (if you consider just using the most optimal weapon for your class sweaty enough to be "meta") But yeah, bows do tend to do much more damage with some exceptions
The virgin Minishark: receives 2 buffs (+20% dmg and +33% ammo saving), but no buffs since 1.06 and is mediocre The chad Star Cannon: gets its damage cut from 75 down to 55 (22% decrease), gets its firing rate decreased, increased, then decreased again (the initial value was not listed so idk if it has been nerfed in total), receives a tiny buff in 1.4.4, is still excellent for all mech bosses, hardmode goblins, pirates, and general spelunking. Star Cannon only needs 1 boss defeated too,
Probably the main advantage minishark has over all other pre-hm guns is its crowd control. With such high firerate it constantly knocks enemies back while being able to immediately start hitting another enemy if the one you were focusing on dies. The low damage per shot is actually a boon here, as you won't be wasting damage on a 2 hp enemy. And it's great for dealing with bats, which is every ranger players worst nightmare. I wouldn't suggest using it as a boss weapon, but for general exploration and invasions/events it will perform very well. Invasions are particularly good for it since you will more than make back the cost of ammo by the end of it.
This minishark is my favorite weapon for when I am teaching non-gamers to play Terraria. The high fire rate and spread result in relatively high damage without good aim, and also allow the highest knockback for multiple enemies of the early ranged weapons. Blood moon, jungle, goblin army, and Brain especially becomes waaayyy less stressful to newbies over a gold bow or a musket. Especially when splitting resources so armor and health are a bit lower than normal, the range and crowd control are a big comfort.
I'd argue the boomstick to be a better weapon to compare statistically to the minishark. To be quite frank, the boomstick has _always_ invalidated the existence of the minishark.
I think one thing the minishark does great is give the player a goal to work towards. And it gives you a feeling of feeling overpowered early on in the game. It doesnt have to do the best damage or be the best weapon, it just FEELS like a cool overpowered weapon.
During my master mode playthrough, the mini shark is pretty good against the eoc and king slime since those bosses hit hard when you're starting out. Although there is some better weapons later on, I feel that the speed is probably the main reason why I like using it.
In my playtrough of my first (mostly) ranger only (being the gun only) then I switch to Q-BS. It's not because of the damage issue, but because I wanna be like Doomguy when I'm doing stuff in the underworld (Boomstick is more accurate, but doesn't give the same energy as Q-BS). I'm gonna miss my Minishark, but don't worry, I get Megashark later on. Also my main Pre-Hm is Party Bullet for extra damage, knockback, and also confetti (I hate it when people says Party Girl is useless)
Man I still remember when the Minishark was like, the best thing, you get it and you were a monster to be fear...then you try to get the necro armor and that was like end game range set up. Ah the old days of Terraria.
After rewatching this video after 10 months later It is still funny to see time to time when people praise minishark like it still some messiah weapon of pre hardmode and cry how Re-Logic has failed them because minishark is not best weapon like it used to be
I find the minishark more consistent than the others. And it's much better with both shark teeth necklaces. You're also not gonna just be using regular bullets anyways, you're gonna be using meteor bullets. Crowd control machine.
The minishark I find it more useful for piles of enemies, but yeah, it shouldn't be that expensive considering it's not that necessary compared to other range weapons.
the minishark is a noob tube weapon. it is entirely designed to compliment an unexperienced combatants mindset. 1. the string of bullets it fires is much easier to use than the slow, semi-automatic musket or revolver. 2. if wasted, a few bullets will be much less of a loss using a minishark than an alternative 3. it is easier to correct your aim if your weapon fires faster. 4. the price, design, and class attract noobs 5. it can be purchased pre-boss and can carry you through WoF which is the time which people learn to play the game. if you have a little brother or an acquaintance whom is just getting into the game, you can easily throw this weapon at them and send them to the back while you fight the boss. They will take out smaller enemies with ease and may even add some additional dps. much better than them freaking out and dying when a bat comes close to them and they miss 3 times.
I like the minishark more than the musket because if you miss a bullet with the musket your damage is actually cero, but a the same time its harder to miss because of the musket having less spread, so idk
One use for it is stunlocking the brain in its second phase. As long as you keep on top of where it is, it cannot approach while being shot at by the minishark due to the constant knockback. Worth the gold? You decide
The boomstick is another gun that you can get at the same time as these 3 and id say personally I have multiple weapons ready for any fight. I agree that as a base weapon with stock musket balls it is mediocre but id say it has some of the best combo pairing with the boomstick. Having a smaller spread weapon for tracking like the mini shark where you dont have to line up every shot perfectly and the high dps for easy hits for when you have easier shots and your close. I agree that alone the mini shark is mid but id love to take a look at what the best ranged weapon combos are.
the problem with the musket or undertaker is that they're really hard to aim against fast moving enemies, which prehardmode is full of (queen bee, eoc etc.) whereas the faster firerate gives a more generous timeframe to attempt another shot, making it more reliable
It's a good weapons if you don't wanna aim too precisely or if you're against something that moves a lot (Like 2nd phase EoC). Pretty good for new players and when you're panicking. Ammo costs are a non Issue pre hardmode because ammo is super cheap. It's also one of the better feeling weapons in the game. It's much more fun to use the minishark than any bow or pre-hardmode weapon, so you could argue is the best at doing what it's supposed to be: Fun.
They should increase accuracy and velocity, and give it a natural 5 defense penetration, i don’t think the fire rate or damage need changing but making it super accurate and able to actually do a good amount of damage on higher difficulties because of the penetration would be great.
Hey I think you are wrong about normal enemies, with mini shark it is easier to get a single shot off as you shoot so many bullets and iince you hit an enemies once with it they freeze, then you can aim all your shots and essential stun lock up, with a musket or undertaker though you need to accurately hit every shot which is lot harder, especially with enemies such as hornets, for it to have a greater dps than the minishark, also unless I'm wrong about bullets which I might be, but from my understanding the damage is calculated as gun damage plus bullet damage, so considering minishark has a higher fire rate the bullet damage is more used, and if you use better bullets, such as meteor, silver or tungsten, then the difference between them and normal bullets is far higher with minishark as bullets are flat damage increases and minishark has a higher fire rate, increasing dps more, which might make it better for bosses, don't quote me on that though Edit: I checked on a graph I made an dthe bosses defence and here is what I found l, with better bullets and sharktooth necklace on King slime mega shark is better, on eye of cthulu undertaker is better although minishark is better than musket even without sharktooth necklace however In its second form EoC has 0 defence so mini shark is better there, on brain of cthulu undertakings best, on skeleton when all hands are destroyed (it looses health as hands are destroyed) eith sharktooth knecklace minishark is best, though its also best without when skeleton is spinning Not this is on masterminded I haven't checked on other modes also I forgot to remember crits so this might change
Skeleton loses defence when it loses its hands mb also the undertaker and minishark have the same crit chance even thought the musket has a little more iam excluding it because it is the worst option in nearly every situation.
completely agree. getting the money for it pre boss is very difficult and its usability falls after eoc. not to mention its upgrade, the megashark, faces a similar problem where the uzi is almost just as strong while being easier to obtain earlier.
Silver bullets are more expensive, and they only raise the defense bar by 1. Meteor Shot is post Brain/Eater, where Minishark is already outclassed by molten gear.
I agree, i used it in my first few playthroughs, but even in pre-hardmode there are a bunch of options that can surpass the minishark dmg, i usually go for the snowball gun or the bee bow when im playing ranged, which are easily obtainable.
I remember being annoyed the first time I bought a mini shark. I already had a boom stick, and after spending 30 gold I didn't like it anywhere near as much
Counterpoint: i have absolutely no idea what the meta is and have no interest in learning it because I get to use a funny fish gun that shoots real fast. The game's a lot more fun when you're a moron, just sayin.
this is nowhere near the meta the meta at this stage is summoner/ranged hybrid with 2/3 fossil and gi with max armor penetration blood rain bow/boomstick, and whipstacking with 2 frogs, using a musket over minishark isn't meta, is just an objectively better decision lol
@@Rubyllim what did i just say about not caring either? Objectivity is for nerds, and it prevents you from using 75% of the items in the game. Real gamers use whatever weapon is the most fun, and i have a funny fish gun.
Hey terrasteel, I think I found an issue with your weapons in real life series thing. As far as I know, you didn't account for time dilation, time passes around 60 times faster in terraria than our world, sp everything would actually travel 1/60 the speed counted in blocks per second
Having a mini shark and a minecart system can allowed me to get the bone key from the Dungeon Guardian in Pre Hard mode. But yes, apart from a Eye of Cthulhu and King Slime/Slime Rain and Goblin Invasion event, it does fall short compared to other weapons, because progression is natural. Maybe the reason it's also relevant though is because of the Mega shark requiring it? So it's kind of like a long term investment? You grow a personal attachment to it. And many don't farm for Uzi.
In my mastermode playthrough the only way I was able to beat the Brain of Cuthulu was using the Minishark. Especially in his last phase the additional knock back is basically required
Whenever I go for a ranger build, I just get cactus armor and speed into the crimson (I rarely ever get corruption from "random") and get the undertaker, then explore the jungle for the boomstick, which carries up to the wall of flesh though quad is also a nice upgrade
@@iTzHoksilaTo, curious, I don't remember if that option was added recently, I will check lately, but I know there's a mod who fix that, tmodloader will live forever in my heart.
I Used The Minishark In Every Playthrough Why Well Even It Struggles Against 8-9+ Defense Enemies I Use It To Fight Eoc Combined With The Boomstick In My Opinon Its Good Early Game But When Mid Pre-Hardmode Is Here After Eoc Is Going To Be A Struggle But I Give Myself A Challenge And I Usually Use It Until Pre Wall Of Flesh And Use The Reccomended Weapons For The Boss And It Needs A Huge Buff To Make The Minishark The Best Pre-Hardmode Range Weapons Or Atleast Top 6
Unbiased view from a Mage. I've used the Minishark a few times over the course of my playthroughs. It's damage was always less than desirable due to the enemies defense, as shown in this video. I still kept trying for it regardless whenever I chose ranger gear because it was reliable. It keeps smaller enemies at bay, practically stunlocking them into an early grave. I swapped over to something like the Tendon Bow + Jester Arrows whenever a boss wanted some but for a few enemies, the Minishark does it's job and it does it well enough. Plus, yeah, it's a minigun. I love feeling like Heavy. TL;DR: I've had good experiences with it but prefer other weapons for bosses and the such.
I think the big problem with the minishark is that it's just too expensive. If you consider when it becomes available, it's actually pretty appropriately stated -- it basically trades in potential DPS from the musket/undertaker with more consistent DPS (because missing matters less), and while it's definitely outclassed by the Boomstick, which is available earlier, the Boomstick is soft-walled by the difficulty of the early-game jungle (i.e. it's an intended progression skip for experienced players, rather than the intended player's-first-gun). But for new players it's difficult to scrape together 35 gold at this point in progression, which primes you with the expectation that it should be good, because you worked hard to obtain it, and it's at least good enough for it to not be immediately obvious that it was a bad investment. For experienced players, it's just too time consuming to obtain 35 gold before it's obsolete.
Accounting for the damage of silver/tungsten bullets would mean the musket has higher dps on enemies with 14 defense or higher. With musket balls, its only 8 defense or higher. This means that if the player can get silver/tungsten bullets before king slime(10 defense) or EoC(12 defense) the minishark is better for those bosses as well as any random enemies you might run into with low defense. With only musket balls considered though, this video is spot on.
I think the biggest use case the minishark has would be against Skeletron. Skeletron moves around a lot and can be a little hard to track if you aren't used to him, since it's one of the more chaotic fights of prehardmode, so the gun's traits punish you less for missing your shots which is very possible with the musket and boomstick. Skeletron has 0 defense, and your only real competition is the boomstick, giving you a higher risk higher damage option and a lower risk lower damage option. Certainly only having a niche against one boss isn't great, but it's better than some weapons.
One benefit however, at least with EoC, is that it can rapidly and more efficiently clear out the servants of cthulhu. The rapid fire rate also allows for knock back stuns, and it doesn’t punish a missed shot nearly as much as the musket.
I recently did a master mode playthrough and abandoned the minishark pretty much immediately after buying it. Then I switched to a summoner setup. Not even advanced bullets helped it. I also skipped the megashark in favor of the onyx blaster.
i definitely noticed this weapons has been feeling worse over time it used to be one of my favourite guns, but now i just never seem to get much done with it
Boomstick does better than minishark AND musket imo, musket is mostly a secondary weapon for long distance enemies and for mob grinding, while boomstick is awesome for close range enemies and bosses. Not to mention that boomstick got "buffed" with the autofire option they added. Minishark can still be viable if the enemy moves fast (like EoC's last phase on expert-master), but it doesn't really matter since boomstick can still do the job easily with its spread.
I know this isnt related to this video that much, but what texturepack do you use? I cant find it anywhere and it looks really good. And also now related to the video, when i get corruption, I usually just use the musket, but when i play crimson (which i like better) and have the undertaker i just get the minishark cuz the undertaker really isnt the best. I have no idea why i do that tho cuz the undertaker is worse, but its enough. I guess i just like overpreparing.
I've said this before, and I'll say this again the paintball gun is criminally underrated dropped from the painter with a 10% chance when killed, is a completely viable alternative that is overall *on par* with the minishark with musket balls dps wise, with both guns having the same effective rate of fire (7.5 shots per second) not only that, but it is a lot cheaper to acquire and upkeep due to not using any ammo at all, though coming at a cost of being a bit more annoying to acquire, requiring the repeated killing of an npc for up to or more than 10 times on average to get a drop granted, if money is not an issue, the minishark still performs better when used with either meteor shot or silver/tungsten bullets (or party bullets too if you want) though note that when playing on versions of terraria before 1.4.4 without the autofire feature, you will need a convenient autoclicker to maximise your damage output from the paintball gun, as it doesn't naturally have autofire like the minishark does all factors considered, in my opinion, both guns are roughly equivalent here's the stats paintball gun (no ammo needed) 12(1+0.11×2) = 14.64 per hit 3×60/24 = 7.5 hits per sec 14.64×7.5 = 109.8 base dps minishark (with musket balls) (7+6)(1+0.04×2) = 14.04 per hit 60/8 = 7.5 hits per sec 14.04×7.5 = 105.3 base dps minishark (with meteor shot) (8+6)(1+0.04×2) = 15.12+ per hit 60/8 = 7.5+ hits per sec 15.12×7.5 = 113.4+ base dps ※ dps in practice is significantly higher when against groups of enemies minishark (with silver/tungsten bullets) (9+6)(1+0.04×2) = 16.2 per hit 60/8 = 7.5 hits per sec 14.04×7.5 = 121.5 base dps tl;dr, paintball gun exists
I do agree that the minishark is not the best weapon you can get, especially considering the cost, but it also does have its uses, such as being a good option in multiplayer in the case of not being able to get a musket because the other player(s) eitger took all the orbs or took one and you dont get another and being able to craft the star cannon or megashark (which i still dont use)
A memorable experience is feeling awesome for the rapid fire then I used a musket because it noticed it was doing better against Skeletron. Perhaps this is the start of my love for precision weapons against spray and pray.
I only used it on my first ranger run. By the time that I even consider using it. I’d just already have a rolled demonic musket and even again the first time I even touch it is mech bosses. I use storm bow and onyx blaster for skeleton then super star cannon and storm bow for destroyer THEN I use the mini shark just to make a mega shark I use for twins. So I literally just never use it besides for crafting Edit: in fact I’ve used darts with ichor darts more than mini shark but that’s more a speed run route for me cause it’s kidna strong so I don’t do it much.
It feels like you are missing the point. Sure, it’s DPS isn’t the best; duh. But it’s high rate of fire combined with decent enough knockback makes it a wonderful primary weapon when simply exploring. Yes, a musket would kill the hornet quicker. But a mini shark would increase the space between the two of you, giving you either time to react to its shots, or simply continue exploring. requiring precision, do you? And the rate of fire makes it decent for bosses too. For the same reason that people like chlorophyte, it will hit. And if you start getting comboed by the EOC, or simply have to give focusing your full attention, you can rest assured that the ku shark will hit SOMETHING, more likely than not. Ok rant over :)
i think the argument you're making is precision/accuracy/chance to hit vs cost and damage. the problem is, i personally have difficulty justifying 35+ gold preboss for something you can just mindlessly right click with. if minishark was cheaper, like 10-15 gold, then id say it's an okay option. personally, boomstick for short range and tendon/demon bow for long range is the ideal preboss loadout. also, chlorophyte bullets are kind of overrated. but that's another debate for another day
While the numbers make a strong point against the Minishark, I believe one should consider the utility it provides - utility that the Musket and Undertaker don't provide nearly as well. The Minishark provides a constant stream of projectiles. For single targets, this generally doesn't mean much, but when it comes to swarms of smaller enemies, especially ones that are susceptible to knockback, this is a major bonus. Take a Hornet for example: Its high defence would easily allow a Musket to deal much higher damage, sure, but you're also going to be hitting it much less often due to the length between shots. This gives it ample opportunity to fire stingers at the player. On the other hand, if you use the Minishark, you're going to hit it with bullets frequently enough that it likely won't have a chance to fire a stinger, making the Minishark a less efficient, but much safer choice. Another example is the Eye of Cthulhu. The Musket and Minishark have very comparable damage for this boss, but the story changes once the Servants are considered. The Servents have very low base health, meaning the Minishark easily removes them with a single bullet, only wasting a little potential damage. The Musket, however, has to use an entire shot for each Servant - that's a lot of wasted potential damage. TL;DR: For single-target, knockback-immune enemies, the minishark is a bad option due to its low damage output, but for knockback-susceptible enemies or bosses with low-hp minions, the utility of a constant bullet stream makes the Minishark a strong option.
mfw i ignore knockback. Like, I'm not going to argue that it isn't worse dps wise than all three other pre-boss guns, but I don't need to do so to prove it's not mid, if you have to use the musket, a weapon universally agreed to be amazing to beat something, I'm pretty sure that puts it well over mid. Like, what, are you arguing it's on par with the enchanted boomerang? Are ore broadswords on the same footing? Even the diamond staff falls behind the minishark. on the topic of armor penetration, what are you using your accessory slots for that you can't throw on a necklace? for the first boss all you need is boots, and a frog leg, a bottle is also extremely useful, but that still leaves 2+ accessory slots free for whatever situational items you could want, what are you prioritizing? +5% move speed? Wall jumps??? Thinking is good, and I'm glad you're doing it, but this take is still too narrow, the minishark is either bad compared to ranged weapons, or good compared to all weapons, there isn't a scenario in which it's mediocre.
Great comments! I think the gun is more fun. And if you're bad at aiming, it gives more chances to hit the enemy .. at any rate, I find it faster to correct my aim.
The minishark has one advantadge over the musket and overtaker, and that is the reduced DPS penalty for missing shots, because it fires faster and more bullets are shot over the same time, every miss counts for less overall damage. Unfortunantly, this is only applicabel to King Slime and Eye of cuthulu, since Eater and Brain are both near impossible to miss, and so is wall o flesh, still, why use any of the three agenst wof? It is also better agenst a few scattered enemies for the same reason, however, since you dont need to dodge them as more, the effect is lessened.
I imagine the novelty of the minishark is the main reason people defend it so vehemently, it's up there with the Terra Blade in terms of how well-known it is but the Terra Blade also kinda sucked in pre-1.4.4? It was still cool but that beam width hampered its performance greatly I guess it does also _feel_ more powerful cause more hits means more damage, _r i g h t ?_ but clearly the arimathicas doesn't work out for the poor fish
boomstick can be obtained for free and does better damage anyway. not to say it doesn't share the armor problem (armor affects each shot 3 or 4 times as much effectively) but does WAY higher damage than other available options, as ammo damage also affects it 3-4 times, so with silver/tungsten rounds it kicks serious ass until the phoenix blaster.
You've been comparing the minishark with the musket but I don't like either because I feel like the boomstick is WAY better than them and it's arguably easier to get (with luck of course)
Well it’s a moot point anyway. If the Minishark sucks compared to the Musket, and the Boomstick is better than the Musket, it doesn’t really change anyway.
personally I think it's extremely fun on mobile. the hud gives you an aimbot button (think something along the lines of Z-targeting from the Legend of Zelda series) which makes weapons with fast fire rates incredibly fun to use as you know that so long as you hold down the fire button, you are shedding whatever was unfortunate enough to be targeted
I think the minishark is a pretty fun weapon to get early in the game, idk if its just me but the 35 gold doesnt really feel like a big grind to get, especially in expert or master where you get showered with money. As pre hardmode goes on tho you get so many better options that theres not really a reason to use it anymore so I just put it in a chest and forget about it until I can make the megashark.
yeah as soon you get the fenix blaster (the handgun too but you should be able to get the hellstone right after) you get a straight up upgreade to the minishark
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
Tl;dw (or if I wasn't clear):
Anything with 8+ defense is bad for Minishark, and since all (applicable) bosses have more than 8 defense, Musket should be better in most cases. Many enemies (especially the hard ones that you actually care about lol) have close to 8 defense or more, meaning the Musket will do more damage (and for those below, it takes more ammo to kill them and the effect isn't too significant).
Limited mobility in Pre-Hardmode means your small # of accessory slots (5 or 6) is already filled with utility and mobility items that are more important than a bit more damage over the Musket - so it's not too wise to use the Shark Tooth Necklace.
You also can't bullet your way out of the problem. Silver Bullet is not buyable normally (unless you want to wait and spend tons of $ on it during a Blood Moon... why?) and Meteor Shot is post-BoC/EoW, where Molten Gear shits all over the Minishark.
Minishark is very expensive compared to Musket or Undertaker, both to create, reforge, and operate.
The spread of the Minishark is a serious problem even at medium distance. It'll miss demon eyes within striking range, while the Musket never misses. Musket also has 11% CC vs 4% (which is taken care of in the Desmos)
It has worse reforges
I'm looking at it as a pre-boss weapon (which it is). Idk if many of you want to grind 35 gold + reforges pre-boss but that's gonna be tedious lol. After EoC Tendon Bow makes a good alternative (see Desmos in description) and of course after BoC/EoW it's gonna be dead.
This isnt even considering shotguns and stuff
I know Minishark *can* carry you to WoF, but you probably should be using better things unless you're doing a Minishark only playthrough (e.g. ruclips.net/video/327TL3RP6d8/видео.html, rip ad32).
My two cents. Feel free to use whatever. Good night its 1am
I just prefer to use the minishark for the nostalgia it brings.
I just skip this and go for Thorn Chakram pre boss as it is op if you know how to max it’s potential
@@Astro0_o imo paintball gun is better now because it is cheap plus does not consume amo. The dps and damage is the same as minishark.
Huh last time i checked ranged had 0 pre hm damage accesories
@@kittens0010 Armor piercing, which helps the Minishark
I find the high fire rate to be good for knocking back multiple enemies, and the lower damage makes missing a few shots less punishing than missing with the single shot guns
Yeah exactly this.
If you want knockback and lots of shots you can go for the boomstick its only downside is its limited range (obviously) but i would say it still does a lot more damage than minishark in most bossfights and scenarios
Or just get the boomstick
I'd argue it's actually _more_ punishing than single shot guns on a long-term scale because of the wasted recourses.
@@purplehaze2358 true, but the 33% chance to not consume ammo helps with the ammo management.
The only time I ever think of the mini shark in my ranger playthroughs is when crafting the mega shark
It's a solid choice for certain things. Blood moons and goblin armies, for example.
fact
@@iami3rian394unless you have meteor bullets, a bow is usually better for the goblins
@@iami3rian394 goblin army is much easier with a bow and jester or unholy arrow, the same for bloodmoon. The only piercing bullet in prehardmode is meteor shots, which is expensive, and only pierce once. Unholy arrow pierce 5 enemies, jester unlimited, even flaming/frostburn arrow are good as they can set enemies on fire.
is it not good for brain of cthulu's last 300~ odd HP?
Currently doing a multiplayer run with my friend and I'm the ranger and i found out that paintball gun beats minishark in DPS if the minishark is using musket balls. It was pretty funny ngl
Paintball gun is cracked and is why i always build a few pylons pre boss
@@azzix45 what do pylons have to do with getting the paintball gun
@@muffins901 The painter only moves in if you already have 8 npcs, pylons require you to get npcs
@@dweebpatrol you don't need pylons for npcs
@@OO-sq1cd Which is why I didn't say they do
it may be mediocre today, but *damn* is it iconic and also consistent
not consistent in its damage, but consistent in that not matter what version of terraria you play, it will always do what you expect from it, how you expect it. nothing more nothing less
An inspiration
And even nowadays it's still reliable, even with competition that outdoes it in terms of DPS, as it's high fire rate makes it easy to use, especially against bosses, whose large size mitigates the spread.
@@OhCrapI_He so basically it's a skill issue weapon
@@eater9494 people forget about auto lock on. It’s not even skill issue, it’s a stupidity issue
@@boxcart4533 that's only on mobile though
It's been overrated since launch, but the issue is that it USED to be better, relatively speaking. There weren't exactly other options, but it's (somehow) kept the reputation for being "incredible" when there's a dozen better weapons, and several for rangers specifically.
I typically use it just bc the high fire rate means missing shots is less punishing and I can focus on dodging, this however is not enough after skeletron where I can get phoenix blaster where the dps and fairly high fire rate makes it vastly better.
@@beeftips1628 Against enemies, yes. but against bosses, you're missing more shots with the minishark than you are with a slower firing weapon, so the higher fire rate doesn't really matter.
isnt the mini shark good vs the dungeon guardian since dmg doesent really matter vs him?
@Pipsa Possu why would you fight the DG with such a slow weapon
@@adjustedbrass7551 because its a goddamn shiny shark with a minigun up its butt. cool factor
Its ability to stunlock higher speed enemies is invaluable imo. Take the antlion chargers you mentioned for example. The knockback on the musket is nowhere near enough to keep it at bay while the minishark can withhold 2 or even 3 given the right ammo and circumstances. By no means is it God tier, but it is quite good in my opinion.
because of this i find the mini shark to still certainly be good (for preboss) especially so on higher difficulties like ftw where good ttk isn't a privilege you have. to me it's essentially necessary, so i'm confused why it's even deemed bad
Here's something funny: Calamity reduces Minishark's damage from 6 to 4.
But why 😂 It is already guite weak weapon, why do they nerf it even further?
@@miracle_truth5 calamity allergic to fun
a real terraria veteran would tell you that *ALL* 3 of these guns are mediocre and that you should go get yourself the boomstick asap.
As someone who usually plays ranged, Phoenix Blaster is probably the best gun in pre hardmode, especially due to the fact that you can now enable auto swing on every weapon, making its main debuff obsolete.
Agreed. I used the phoenix blaster on a recent ranger play through for the first and it destroyed the master wof
Yeah the phoenix blaster is my go to weapon when I'm playing ranged
...wow, the gun you get right before you leave pre hm is the "best"? 😂
star cannon is better if you have ammo for it
i personally like the minishark because of the feeling of progression while keeping the "same" weapon throughout the game, it just feels nice
This is EXACTLY why the minishark is my favourite weapon in the game.
While it may not be the best, it just looks so cool and is very satisfying to use
I think it’s hilarious that you actually made a video about the minishark balance in modes like master and expert. I remember putting a comment on the other video about the mega shark being below average, but I never expected you to notice some of the comments people made about it and actually make a video about it. Mad respect bro. And that ending was really important too. Very well made video.
I’m glad higher difficulties are accounted for, because in normal mode a lot of enemies including the WoF eyes have 0 defense, which is the only time high fire rate isn’t punished (due to defense being a flat reduction per shot)
I agree that the minishark is outclassed by other options, but it's still pretty decent. A faster fire rate is better for general crowd control and mobbing. You're also usually gonna want to use shark tooth necklace in prehardmode anyways since it's one of the few accessories that increase damage. I also don't think most people will bother reforging an early game weapon, by the time you unlock the goblin tinker you'll probably already have better options. The musket and undertaker (boomstick too) are insanely good for how easy they are to get tho, they carry the early game.
boomstick is literally pre boss and it carries every boss until wof
I never felt minishark was that good, on normal difficulty it wasn't that bad but in higher difficulties it falls really low
I still like to use it since it's cool af and has more consistent knockback from musket
Exactly why I use it too its just cool asf
Because of its status as a rapid-fire weapon, the minishark gets exponential boosts from crit modifiers and ammo's with higher damage than standard, as well as from armour piercing accessories as you mentioned. The minishark can quite easily become one of the highest single target damage weapons in pre-hardmode if you do put the work in to do so. Using musket balls is quite a poor choice for the minishark, it benefits massively off of the 2-3 extra damage found on alternatives like the meteor shot, silver bullet and party bullet also available. With Necro armour and minor damage buffs from accessories it can go up to 13~ damage per bullet, 6 more per hit to regular unbuffed musket balls. That and the aforementioned armour piercing accessories elevate this to an effective +5 damage per bullet. Not much for the musket or undertaker but WAY more for the minishark. You can use a combo of good ammo, faster fire+crit rate (Agile prefix), lucky accessories, sharktooth necklace (all this is pre-boss) and post boss, the stinger necklace and necro armour too. It's a lot of work but a setup like this will let you hit in the ballpark of 20-40 per bullet consistently with about a 33% crit rate. I've even fought queen bee with this on master (a boss fight the minishark notoriously sucks in due to her super high defence) and it does fine.
underrated comment
it does fine. Other options just outclass it
@Xeamless Well yeah, this is a way to maximise its effectiveness after killing 2 bosses and the goblin army. If you kill more bosses you get better options like the phoenix blaster, that's a given. The only thing I see outclassing it in its game stage is the sandgun.
if you're gonna go through the trouble of getting a gun, spawning the arms dealer and spending like 20 gold on it, why not go and get a boomstick........ it even upgrades in hardmode
You didn't account for how many shots you actually hit. Missing a shot with the musket tanks your dps since it shoots so slow, and with how fast some bosses move in master mode, you're going to miss.
Just aim bro
tbh this only really applies to eoc in it's final dash spam phase, everything else moves predictably enough and/or has a big enough hitbox for your shots to pretty much always hit
@@gainjinWhy not just beat the game?
@@kozolith2121 not if you're shit at aiming like me
yea but i find it easier to aim with musket..
The Minishark is mid, but there is more to a game than numbers and damage. Personally i use the minishark in my ranger playtroughs because i find it fun to use and consistent. The whole point of video games is to have fun and not to beat them as quickly as possible or make them so diffucult to the point where you are not having fun anymore.
That’s all well and good but completely irrelevant in a discussion about balance.
@@yakobsoulstorm5187 is relevance relevant when writing comments
@@moonl1314 Yes.
@@yakobsoulstorm5187 john geometry dash
@@moonl1314 sus
I remember hearing from a friend once that "The minishark isn't that good with the Unreal modifier, and instead should be rapid or other that increases its speed"
The thing is I actually did got it Unreal first try, and so while playing together, my happy ass was shouting _"Take that you filthy eye! Suffer the wrath of my weapon that does more damage but less DPS!"_
And yeah, as you can imagine it was super funny for everyone, still find it curious tho
The Minishark cannot gain Unreal or and fire-rate effecting modifiers, I believe.
@@YourAverageMop Ay u right, Unreal affects knockback and the Minishark doesn't get that, so it cannot possibly have it, must've been something else then...
As for more speed, I do believe you can get it, but the wiki does state that isn't that much better so this story is extra wrong
From me, for remembering it wrong, and from my friend because he didn't know for sure and just made something up.
Guess this moment never stopped being dumb huh
the minishark literally can't get unreal, that's why you use rapid, cuz demonic gives a % increase on a weapon with super low damage, and that's pretty shit
it's also why tthe minishark is bad in the first place, just get a boomstick instead 4head
@@Rubyllim I prefer not using guns at all, bows generally have higher DPS, but to each their own.
@@YourAverageMop different gear is "meta" at different stages of the game (if you consider just using the most optimal weapon for your class sweaty enough to be "meta")
But yeah, bows do tend to do much more damage with some exceptions
The virgin Minishark: receives 2 buffs (+20% dmg and +33% ammo saving), but no buffs since 1.06 and is mediocre
The chad Star Cannon: gets its damage cut from 75 down to 55 (22% decrease), gets its firing rate decreased, increased, then decreased again (the initial value was not listed so idk if it has been nerfed in total), receives a tiny buff in 1.4.4, is still excellent for all mech bosses, hardmode goblins, pirates, and general spelunking.
Star Cannon only needs 1 boss defeated too,
actually, star cannon's pre-boss due to gold chests holding meteor bars if they're close enough to the underworld
Probably the main advantage minishark has over all other pre-hm guns is its crowd control. With such high firerate it constantly knocks enemies back while being able to immediately start hitting another enemy if the one you were focusing on dies. The low damage per shot is actually a boon here, as you won't be wasting damage on a 2 hp enemy. And it's great for dealing with bats, which is every ranger players worst nightmare. I wouldn't suggest using it as a boss weapon, but for general exploration and invasions/events it will perform very well. Invasions are particularly good for it since you will more than make back the cost of ammo by the end of it.
jester arrows are much better in crowd control
It's a crafting material for really good weapons (Star Cannon, Megashark), which is the main reason I buy this thing.
I find the boomstick much more fun to use in pre-hardmode. I find shotguns in most games to be very satisfying to use.
Always use the broomstick on ranger, then onyx blaster, so fun
Tactical shotgun too
Now that all guns have auto fire, the mini shark’s main use now is what it turns into.
This minishark is my favorite weapon for when I am teaching non-gamers to play Terraria. The high fire rate and spread result in relatively high damage without good aim, and also allow the highest knockback for multiple enemies of the early ranged weapons. Blood moon, jungle, goblin army, and Brain especially becomes waaayyy less stressful to newbies over a gold bow or a musket. Especially when splitting resources so armor and health are a bit lower than normal, the range and crowd control are a big comfort.
I'd argue the boomstick to be a better weapon to compare statistically to the minishark. To be quite frank, the boomstick has _always_ invalidated the existence of the minishark.
I think one thing the minishark does great is give the player a goal to work towards. And it gives you a feeling of feeling overpowered early on in the game. It doesnt have to do the best damage or be the best weapon, it just FEELS like a cool overpowered weapon.
idk for me it feels like a terribly underpowered weapon and i would rather use literally anything else
It's just cool to have and satisfying to fire
What? 80% ain't subscribed?
Who's not subscribed, all my homies subscribed to Terrasteel
During my master mode playthrough, the mini shark is pretty good against the eoc and king slime since those bosses hit hard when you're starting out. Although there is some better weapons later on, I feel that the speed is probably the main reason why I like using it.
In my playtrough of my first (mostly) ranger only (being the gun only) then I switch to Q-BS. It's not because of the damage issue, but because I wanna be like Doomguy when I'm doing stuff in the underworld (Boomstick is more accurate, but doesn't give the same energy as Q-BS). I'm gonna miss my Minishark, but don't worry, I get Megashark later on. Also my main Pre-Hm is Party Bullet for extra damage, knockback, and also confetti (I hate it when people says Party Girl is useless)
Man I still remember when the Minishark was like, the best thing, you get it and you were a monster to be fear...then you try to get the necro armor and that was like end game range set up. Ah the old days of Terraria.
After rewatching this video after 10 months later
It is still funny to see time to time when people praise minishark like it still some messiah weapon of pre hardmode and cry how Re-Logic has failed them because minishark is not best weapon like it used to be
I find the minishark more consistent than the others. And it's much better with both shark teeth necklaces. You're also not gonna just be using regular bullets anyways, you're gonna be using meteor bullets. Crowd control machine.
I’m personally glad that the minishark is average. In my eyes it’s the jack of all trades and it should probably stay that way.
The minishark I find it more useful for piles of enemies, but yeah, it shouldn't be that expensive considering it's not that necessary compared to other range weapons.
the minishark is a noob tube weapon.
it is entirely designed to compliment an unexperienced combatants mindset.
1. the string of bullets it fires is much easier to use than the slow, semi-automatic musket or revolver.
2. if wasted, a few bullets will be much less of a loss using a minishark than an alternative
3. it is easier to correct your aim if your weapon fires faster.
4. the price, design, and class attract noobs
5. it can be purchased pre-boss and can carry you through WoF which is the time which people learn to play the game.
if you have a little brother or an acquaintance whom is just getting into the game, you can easily throw this weapon at them and send them to the back while you fight the boss. They will take out smaller enemies with ease and may even add some additional dps. much better than them freaking out and dying when a bat comes close to them and they miss 3 times.
I like the minishark more than the musket because if you miss a bullet with the musket your damage is actually cero, but a the same time its harder to miss because of the musket having less spread, so idk
One use for it is stunlocking the brain in its second phase. As long as you keep on top of where it is, it cannot approach while being shot at by the minishark due to the constant knockback. Worth the gold? You decide
The Minishark might be mediocre, but man it makes you feel badass when using it.
The boomstick is another gun that you can get at the same time as these 3 and id say personally I have multiple weapons ready for any fight. I agree that as a base weapon with stock musket balls it is mediocre but id say it has some of the best combo pairing with the boomstick. Having a smaller spread weapon for tracking like the mini shark where you dont have to line up every shot perfectly and the high dps for easy hits for when you have easier shots and your close. I agree that alone the mini shark is mid but id love to take a look at what the best ranged weapon combos are.
the problem with the musket or undertaker is that they're really hard to aim against fast moving enemies, which prehardmode is full of (queen bee, eoc etc.) whereas the faster firerate gives a more generous timeframe to attempt another shot, making it more reliable
And many bosses makes their minions. It could be hard if you aren't good at aiming.
meteor bullets
queen bee and eoc are literally the only fast moving ones, why'd you put an etc in there lmfao
yeah, but are you willing to spend that much gold just for that?
It's a good weapons if you don't wanna aim too precisely or if you're against something that moves a lot (Like 2nd phase EoC). Pretty good for new players and when you're panicking. Ammo costs are a non Issue pre hardmode because ammo is super cheap.
It's also one of the better feeling weapons in the game. It's much more fun to use the minishark than any bow or pre-hardmode weapon, so you could argue is the best at doing what it's supposed to be: Fun.
Realized this myself over the years. The goat of guns slowly using it's position over time
good opinion, valid points, but unfortunately, you forgot the main positive, and that’s that it’s half shark, half mini gun, completely awesome.
They should increase accuracy and velocity, and give it a natural 5 defense penetration, i don’t think the fire rate or damage need changing but making it super accurate and able to actually do a good amount of damage on higher difficulties because of the penetration would be great.
Hey I think you are wrong about normal enemies, with mini shark it is easier to get a single shot off as you shoot so many bullets and iince you hit an enemies once with it they freeze, then you can aim all your shots and essential stun lock up, with a musket or undertaker though you need to accurately hit every shot which is lot harder, especially with enemies such as hornets, for it to have a greater dps than the minishark, also unless I'm wrong about bullets which I might be, but from my understanding the damage is calculated as gun damage plus bullet damage, so considering minishark has a higher fire rate the bullet damage is more used, and if you use better bullets, such as meteor, silver or tungsten, then the difference between them and normal bullets is far higher with minishark as bullets are flat damage increases and minishark has a higher fire rate, increasing dps more, which might make it better for bosses, don't quote me on that though
Edit: I checked on a graph I made an dthe bosses defence and here is what I found l, with better bullets and sharktooth necklace on King slime mega shark is better, on eye of cthulu undertaker is better although minishark is better than musket even without sharktooth necklace however In its second form EoC has 0 defence so mini shark is better there, on brain of cthulu undertakings best, on skeleton when all hands are destroyed (it looses health as hands are destroyed) eith sharktooth knecklace minishark is best, though its also best without when skeleton is spinning
Not this is on masterminded I haven't checked on other modes also I forgot to remember crits so this might change
Yeah from my experience mini shark is better than musket
Skeleton loses defence when it loses its hands mb also the undertaker and minishark have the same crit chance even thought the musket has a little more iam excluding it because it is the worst option in nearly every situation.
How come you didn’t compare it to the boomstick? Imo thats the best pre boss gun
completely agree. getting the money for it pre boss is very difficult and its usability falls after eoc. not to mention its upgrade, the megashark, faces a similar problem where the uzi is almost just as strong while being easier to obtain earlier.
Something you didn't talk about is how it can utilize silver/tungsten and meteorite shots to increase its damage per second more than other guns.
Silver bullets are more expensive, and they only raise the defense bar by 1.
Meteor Shot is post Brain/Eater, where Minishark is already outclassed by molten gear.
I agree, i used it in my first few playthroughs, but even in pre-hardmode there are a bunch of options that can surpass the minishark dmg, i usually go for the snowball gun or the bee bow when im playing ranged, which are easily obtainable.
Solid argument. But you still probably angered 80% of the comunity
I remember being annoyed the first time I bought a mini shark. I already had a boom stick, and after spending 30 gold I didn't like it anywhere near as much
Counterpoint: i have absolutely no idea what the meta is and have no interest in learning it because I get to use a funny fish gun that shoots real fast.
The game's a lot more fun when you're a moron, just sayin.
this is nowhere near the meta
the meta at this stage is summoner/ranged hybrid with 2/3 fossil and gi with max armor penetration blood rain bow/boomstick, and whipstacking with 2 frogs, using a musket over minishark isn't meta, is just an objectively better decision lol
@@Rubyllim what did i just say about not caring either? Objectivity is for nerds, and it prevents you from using 75% of the items in the game.
Real gamers use whatever weapon is the most fun, and i have a funny fish gun.
I do agree, but what if you include the fact that its needed for a megashark?
Hey terrasteel, I think I found an issue with your weapons in real life series thing. As far as I know, you didn't account for time dilation, time passes around 60 times faster in terraria than our world, sp everything would actually travel 1/60 the speed counted in blocks per second
I don't really use the minishark, only for the star cannon, which requires a TON of star farming anyways.
Having a mini shark and a minecart system can allowed me to get the bone key from the Dungeon Guardian in Pre Hard mode.
But yes, apart from a Eye of Cthulhu and King Slime/Slime Rain and Goblin Invasion event, it does fall short compared to other weapons, because progression is natural.
Maybe the reason it's also relevant though is because of the Mega shark requiring it? So it's kind of like a long term investment? You grow a personal attachment to it. And many don't farm for Uzi.
In my mastermode playthrough the only way I was able to beat the Brain of Cuthulu was using the Minishark. Especially in his last phase the additional knock back is basically required
A good flail like the meatball is really good against the brain
For me boomstick and quad-barrel shotgun is better because i dont wanna wasted the ammo
I think the only reason I've ever gotten a minishark was always to immediately make the megashark
Whenever I go for a ranger build, I just get cactus armor and speed into the crimson (I rarely ever get corruption from "random") and get the undertaker, then explore the jungle for the boomstick, which carries up to the wall of flesh though quad is also a nice upgrade
It is theorized that when hitting "random" on the world evil creation you actually have a slightly higher chance if getting crimson
Imo it's pretty good because you can just spam it
When I'm playing ranger I almost exclusively use high fire rate weapons because I really hate aiming
then why are you playing ranger lmao
and what about the boomstick? I feel like the boomstick just blows the minishark out of the water (pun not intended)
Its more a fact of ranged weapons being quite broken then minishark being actually mediocre
I agree with you, I just use this gun for one reason, hold m1 and dodge around, i hate any that don't have auto click.
@@iTzHoksilaTo, curious, I don't remember if that option was added recently, I will check lately, but I know there's a mod who fix that, tmodloader will live forever in my heart.
@@iTzHoksilaTo Jesus, Bryant, you are right, you really saved my day, i didnt noticed they added auto use, thanks.
I Used The Minishark In Every Playthrough Why Well Even It Struggles Against 8-9+ Defense Enemies I Use It To Fight Eoc Combined With The Boomstick In My Opinon Its Good Early Game But When Mid Pre-Hardmode Is Here After Eoc Is Going To Be A Struggle But I Give Myself A Challenge And I Usually Use It Until Pre Wall Of Flesh And Use The Reccomended Weapons For The Boss
And It Needs A Huge Buff To Make The Minishark The Best Pre-Hardmode Range Weapons Or Atleast Top 6
Unbiased view from a Mage.
I've used the Minishark a few times over the course of my playthroughs. It's damage was always less than desirable due to the enemies defense, as shown in this video. I still kept trying for it regardless whenever I chose ranger gear because it was reliable. It keeps smaller enemies at bay, practically stunlocking them into an early grave. I swapped over to something like the Tendon Bow + Jester Arrows whenever a boss wanted some but for a few enemies, the Minishark does it's job and it does it well enough. Plus, yeah, it's a minigun. I love feeling like Heavy.
TL;DR: I've had good experiences with it but prefer other weapons for bosses and the such.
Dam I never thought about the Minishark like that. I might start using the musket a hell of a lot more
I think the big problem with the minishark is that it's just too expensive. If you consider when it becomes available, it's actually pretty appropriately stated -- it basically trades in potential DPS from the musket/undertaker with more consistent DPS (because missing matters less), and while it's definitely outclassed by the Boomstick, which is available earlier, the Boomstick is soft-walled by the difficulty of the early-game jungle (i.e. it's an intended progression skip for experienced players, rather than the intended player's-first-gun). But for new players it's difficult to scrape together 35 gold at this point in progression, which primes you with the expectation that it should be good, because you worked hard to obtain it, and it's at least good enough for it to not be immediately obvious that it was a bad investment. For experienced players, it's just too time consuming to obtain 35 gold before it's obsolete.
Accounting for the damage of silver/tungsten bullets would mean the musket has higher dps on enemies with 14 defense or higher. With musket balls, its only 8 defense or higher. This means that if the player can get silver/tungsten bullets before king slime(10 defense) or EoC(12 defense) the minishark is better for those bosses as well as any random enemies you might run into with low defense. With only musket balls considered though, this video is spot on.
I think the biggest use case the minishark has would be against Skeletron. Skeletron moves around a lot and can be a little hard to track if you aren't used to him, since it's one of the more chaotic fights of prehardmode, so the gun's traits punish you less for missing your shots which is very possible with the musket and boomstick. Skeletron has 0 defense, and your only real competition is the boomstick, giving you a higher risk higher damage option and a lower risk lower damage option. Certainly only having a niche against one boss isn't great, but it's better than some weapons.
One benefit however, at least with EoC, is that it can rapidly and more efficiently clear out the servants of cthulhu. The rapid fire rate also allows for knock back stuns, and it doesn’t punish a missed shot nearly as much as the musket.
I recently did a master mode playthrough and abandoned the minishark pretty much immediately after buying it. Then I switched to a summoner setup. Not even advanced bullets helped it. I also skipped the megashark in favor of the onyx blaster.
But it looks cool. And thats what matters in the end... right?
Years ago i was going through my steam cards looking to sell something, saw this thing from far and then zoomed then literally burst into tears.
i definitely noticed this weapons has been feeling worse over time
it used to be one of my favourite guns, but now i just never seem to get much done with it
"The musket, it's prerequisite..." Literally everyone with a crimson world having the undertaker instead
Boomstick does better than minishark AND musket imo, musket is mostly a secondary weapon for long distance enemies and for mob grinding, while boomstick is awesome for close range enemies and bosses. Not to mention that boomstick got "buffed" with the autofire option they added. Minishark can still be viable if the enemy moves fast (like EoC's last phase on expert-master), but it doesn't really matter since boomstick can still do the job easily with its spread.
I know this isnt related to this video that much, but what texturepack do you use? I cant find it anywhere and it looks really good.
And also now related to the video, when i get corruption, I usually just use the musket, but when i play crimson (which i like better) and have the undertaker i just get the minishark cuz the undertaker really isnt the best. I have no idea why i do that tho cuz the undertaker is worse, but its enough. I guess i just like overpreparing.
Alchemy and foundry
@@damnthisisabadname oh my god thank you
I've said this before, and I'll say this again
the paintball gun is criminally underrated
dropped from the painter with a 10% chance when killed, is a completely viable alternative that is overall *on par* with the minishark with musket balls dps wise, with both guns having the same effective rate of fire (7.5 shots per second)
not only that, but it is a lot cheaper to acquire and upkeep due to not using any ammo at all, though coming at a cost of being a bit more annoying to acquire, requiring the repeated killing of an npc for up to or more than 10 times on average to get a drop
granted, if money is not an issue, the minishark still performs better when used with either meteor shot or silver/tungsten bullets (or party bullets too if you want)
though note that when playing on versions of terraria before 1.4.4 without the autofire feature, you will need a convenient autoclicker to maximise your damage output from the paintball gun, as it doesn't naturally have autofire like the minishark does
all factors considered, in my opinion, both guns are roughly equivalent
here's the stats
paintball gun (no ammo needed)
12(1+0.11×2) = 14.64 per hit
3×60/24 = 7.5 hits per sec
14.64×7.5 = 109.8 base dps
minishark (with musket balls)
(7+6)(1+0.04×2) = 14.04 per hit
60/8 = 7.5 hits per sec
14.04×7.5 = 105.3 base dps
minishark (with meteor shot)
(8+6)(1+0.04×2) = 15.12+ per hit
60/8 = 7.5+ hits per sec
15.12×7.5 = 113.4+ base dps
※ dps in practice is significantly higher when against groups of enemies
minishark (with silver/tungsten bullets)
(9+6)(1+0.04×2) = 16.2 per hit
60/8 = 7.5 hits per sec
14.04×7.5 = 121.5 base dps
tl;dr, paintball gun exists
I do agree that the minishark is not the best weapon you can get, especially considering the cost, but it also does have its uses, such as being a good option in multiplayer in the case of not being able to get a musket because the other player(s) eitger took all the orbs or took one and you dont get another and being able to craft the star cannon or megashark (which i still dont use)
I feel like nostalgia plays a large part of this, cuz minishark was the go to, at least for me when i played on mobile before the even added hard mode
A memorable experience is feeling awesome for the rapid fire then I used a musket because it noticed it was doing better against Skeletron. Perhaps this is the start of my love for precision weapons against spray and pray.
now that I think about it, they should add the option to make dummies with different defense so you can test weapons in different scenarios
I only used it on my first ranger run. By the time that I even consider using it. I’d just already have a rolled demonic musket and even again the first time I even touch it is mech bosses. I use storm bow and onyx blaster for skeleton then super star cannon and storm bow for destroyer THEN I use the mini shark just to make a mega shark I use for twins. So I literally just never use it besides for crafting
Edit: in fact I’ve used darts with ichor darts more than mini shark but that’s more a speed run route for me cause it’s kidna strong so I don’t do it much.
It feels like you are missing the point. Sure, it’s DPS isn’t the best; duh. But it’s high rate of fire combined with decent enough knockback makes it a wonderful primary weapon when simply exploring. Yes, a musket would kill the hornet quicker. But a mini shark would increase the space between the two of you, giving you either time to react to its shots, or simply continue exploring. requiring precision, do you?
And the rate of fire makes it decent for bosses too. For the same reason that people like chlorophyte, it will hit. And if you start getting comboed by the EOC, or simply have to give focusing your full attention, you can rest assured that the ku shark will hit SOMETHING, more likely than not.
Ok rant over :)
i think the argument you're making is precision/accuracy/chance to hit vs cost and damage.
the problem is, i personally have difficulty justifying 35+ gold preboss for something you can just mindlessly right click with. if minishark was cheaper, like 10-15 gold, then id say it's an okay option.
personally, boomstick for short range and tendon/demon bow for long range is the ideal preboss loadout.
also, chlorophyte bullets are kind of overrated. but that's another debate for another day
Why bother creating distance between you and the hornet and doing a lil passive dancy dance when you can just fucking kill it and not worry anymore?
Honestly, just get boomstick its actually really good
The only reason I get the minishark is not to use it, but to upgrade it to the star cannon or megashark (an actual good weapon)
While the numbers make a strong point against the Minishark, I believe one should consider the utility it provides - utility that the Musket and Undertaker don't provide nearly as well. The Minishark provides a constant stream of projectiles. For single targets, this generally doesn't mean much, but when it comes to swarms of smaller enemies, especially ones that are susceptible to knockback, this is a major bonus. Take a Hornet for example: Its high defence would easily allow a Musket to deal much higher damage, sure, but you're also going to be hitting it much less often due to the length between shots. This gives it ample opportunity to fire stingers at the player. On the other hand, if you use the Minishark, you're going to hit it with bullets frequently enough that it likely won't have a chance to fire a stinger, making the Minishark a less efficient, but much safer choice. Another example is the Eye of Cthulhu. The Musket and Minishark have very comparable damage for this boss, but the story changes once the Servants are considered. The Servents have very low base health, meaning the Minishark easily removes them with a single bullet, only wasting a little potential damage. The Musket, however, has to use an entire shot for each Servant - that's a lot of wasted potential damage.
TL;DR: For single-target, knockback-immune enemies, the minishark is a bad option due to its low damage output, but for knockback-susceptible enemies or bosses with low-hp minions, the utility of a constant bullet stream makes the Minishark a strong option.
mfw i ignore knockback.
Like, I'm not going to argue that it isn't worse dps wise than all three other pre-boss guns, but I don't need to do so to prove it's not mid, if you have to use the musket, a weapon universally agreed to be amazing to beat something, I'm pretty sure that puts it well over mid. Like, what, are you arguing it's on par with the enchanted boomerang? Are ore broadswords on the same footing? Even the diamond staff falls behind the minishark. on the topic of armor penetration, what are you using your accessory slots for that you can't throw on a necklace? for the first boss all you need is boots, and a frog leg, a bottle is also extremely useful, but that still leaves 2+ accessory slots free for whatever situational items you could want, what are you prioritizing? +5% move speed? Wall jumps???
Thinking is good, and I'm glad you're doing it, but this take is still too narrow, the minishark is either bad compared to ranged weapons, or good compared to all weapons, there isn't a scenario in which it's mediocre.
Mfw someone ignores the point that it's mid and tries to say the take is completely invalid
@@FederalMink it's either good or bad, there is no good set of items that would have the minishark be even close to the middle.
Great comments! I think the gun is more fun. And if you're bad at aiming, it gives more chances to hit the enemy .. at any rate, I find it faster to correct my aim.
The minishark has one advantadge over the musket and overtaker, and that is the reduced DPS penalty for missing shots, because it fires faster and more bullets are shot over the same time, every miss counts for less overall damage.
Unfortunantly, this is only applicabel to King Slime and Eye of cuthulu, since Eater and Brain are both near impossible to miss, and so is wall o flesh, still, why use any of the three agenst wof?
It is also better agenst a few scattered enemies for the same reason, however, since you dont need to dodge them as more, the effect is lessened.
What a brilliant video.
Very well edited, clear, useful information, all on top of being respectful to people who would want to use the weapon anyway.
I imagine the novelty of the minishark is the main reason people defend it so vehemently, it's up there with the Terra Blade in terms of how well-known it is but the Terra Blade also kinda sucked in pre-1.4.4? It was still cool but that beam width hampered its performance greatly
I guess it does also _feel_ more powerful cause more hits means more damage, _r i g h t ?_ but clearly the arimathicas doesn't work out for the poor fish
I thought the title said _mega_ shark and i was gonna disagree but since iys minishark i agree.
Musket will always be the only reason I don't excessively hate on the Ranger class easy progression. Musket is actually fun for me
boomstick can be obtained for free and does better damage anyway. not to say it doesn't share the armor problem (armor affects each shot 3 or 4 times as much effectively) but does WAY higher damage than other available options, as ammo damage also affects it 3-4 times, so with silver/tungsten rounds it kicks serious ass until the phoenix blaster.
You've been comparing the minishark with the musket but I don't like either because I feel like the boomstick is WAY better than them and it's arguably easier to get (with luck of course)
Well it’s a moot point anyway. If the Minishark sucks compared to the Musket, and the Boomstick is better than the Musket, it doesn’t really change anyway.
personally I think it's extremely fun on mobile. the hud gives you an aimbot button (think something along the lines of Z-targeting from the Legend of Zelda series) which makes weapons with fast fire rates incredibly fun to use as you know that so long as you hold down the fire button, you are shedding whatever was unfortunate enough to be targeted
I think the minishark is a pretty fun weapon to get early in the game, idk if its just me but the 35 gold doesnt really feel like a big grind to get, especially in expert or master where you get showered with money.
As pre hardmode goes on tho you get so many better options that theres not really a reason to use it anymore so I just put it in a chest and forget about it until I can make the megashark.
yeah as soon you get the fenix blaster (the handgun too but you should be able to get the hellstone right after) you get a straight up upgreade to the minishark