Summon weapons

Not to be confused with Summoning items.

Summon weapons are a type of weapon that spawns secondary characters that will aid the player during battle by automatically attacking enemies within range. They cannot be damaged or killed, and deal summon damage.

Most summon weapons fall into one of two categories: Minions and Sentries. Minions are mobile characters that follow the player, while Sentries remain stationary. Additionally, the set bonuses of the Stardust armor and Forbidden armor will summon an entity to fight for the player in a manner similar to minions.

There are currently 19 summon weapons on the  PC version,  Console version,  Mobile version,  Old Chinese version,  tModLoader version, and  tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, 11 on the  Old-gen console version and  Windows Phone version, and 5 on the Nintendo 3DS version.

Targeting graphic for moving targets

Targeting graphic for stationary targets

Minions

Minions are mobile summons. They follow the player indefinitely until the player dies, summons a replacement Minion, or cancels their buff. There are several different Minions, some of which can walk or fly, and attack using melee or ranged means. A Minion costs 10 mana to summon initially, but follows the player indefinitely thereafter at no further cost.

By default, a player can only have a single Minion summoned at once. Various boosts can raise the player's Minion capacity, allowing multiple simultaneous Minions. With Minion cap boosts in effect, the same Minion can be summoned multiple times, or several different Minions can be summoned. Minion cap boosts do not affect Pets or Light Pets.

Minions follow players in a manner similar to Pets, flying and passing through blocks as necessary to keep pace with the player's movements, though most cannot move through blocks for the purposes of attacking. Exceptions are the minions summoned by the Tempest Staff, Xeno Staff, and Stardust Dragon Staff, which can attack through blocks.

On the  PC version,  Console version,  Mobile version,  Old Chinese version,  tModLoader version, and  tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, the respective minion summoning items can be right-clicked to target the entity nearest to the cursor. As long as the minions have their target within their line of sight, they will specifically attack it. The targeted enemy will show swirling purple particles which will trail behind a moving enemy, or circle in front of a stationary one (see images).

Spider Minions

Normally, each minion summoned uses one minion slot. After adding in all bonuses from Armor, accessories, and buffs, a player can easily determine the number of minions they can summon. However, Spider Minions take up only 0.75 of a minion slot, so this total must then be divided by 0.75 to ascertain the number of Spider Minions a player can summon. For every 4 Spiders summoned, only 3 minion slots are used.

Sentries

Sentries are stationary summons. Unlike Minions, Sentries do not follow the player, and will instead remain rooted in place. Sentries will automatically disappear after a fixed amount of time, but can persist even after their owner dies.

By default, a player can only have a single Sentry summoned at once. Various boosts can raise the player's Sentry capacity, allowing multiple simultaneous Sentries. With Sentry cap boosts in effect, the same Sentry can be summoned multiple times, or several different Sentries can be summoned. On the Console and Mobile versions, the player has no Sentry capacity, but they are limited to only summoning one of each Sentry type.

List of Minions

Pre-Hardmode

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Item	Minion	Damage	Acquired / Made From	Bonus
Slime Staff	Baby Slime	8	Pinky (1% or 1/100 chance; 1.4% or 1/71 chance). Sand Slime (0.013% or 1/8000; 0.018% or 1/5600 chance). Slimed Zombie and all other Slime types except: Lava, Dungeon, Umbrella, Hoppin' Jack, Corrupt (Shadow  ), King Slime, Crimslime, Gastropod (Spectral Gastropod  ), Rainbow (0.01% or 1/10,000 chance; 0.014% or 1/7142 chance).	n/a
Hornet Staff	Hornet	9	14	n/a
Imp Staff	Imp	21	17	n/a

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Hardmode

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Item	Minion	Damage	Acquired / Made From	Bonus
Spider Staff	Spider	26	16	Each minion only counts .75 to the total minion capacity
Optic Staff	TwinsTwins	30	2 / 1 / 12 / 20	Both Twins are spawned as 1 minion
Pygmy Staff	Pygmy	34	Plantera (25% or 1/4 chance; 50% or 1/2 chance).	n/a
Xeno Staff	UFO	36	Martian Saucer (11% or 1/9 chance)	n/a
Raven Staff	Raven	37	Pumpking (1.79% to 14.29% chance depending on wave)	n/a
Pirate Staff	Pirate	40	Pirates (0.05% or 1/2000 chance). Flying Dutchman (1% or 1/100 chance).	n/a
Tempest Staff	Sharknado	50	Duke Fishron (20% or 1/5 chance)	n/a
Deadly Sphere Staff	Deadly Sphere	50	Deadly Sphere (2.5% or 1/40 chance; 3.75% or 1/26 chance).	n/a
Stardust Dragon Staff	Stardust Dragon	40	18	Each extra minion summoned adds a segment to the main Dragon, increasing damage
Stardust Cell Staff	Stardust Cell	60	18	n/a

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List of Sentries

Standard

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Item	Minion	Damage	Acquired / Made From	Bonus
Queen Spider Staff	Queen Spider	21	24	n/a
Staff of the Frost Hydra	Frost Hydra	114	Frozen Chest	n/a
Lunar Portal Staff	Lunar Portal	50	Moon Lord (11.11% or 1/9 chance)	n/a
Rainbow Crystal Staff	Rainbow Crystal	150	Moon Lord (11.11% or 1/9 chance)	n/a

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Tavernkeep's sentries

Sentries summoned by items from the Tavernkeep are associated with the Old One's Army event. They are purchased with Defender Medals (instead of coins), which are awarded only during the event. At first, they can only be used within the event, where they will remain placed until the end of the event. Each sentry summoned will cost 10 Etherian Mana; at the beginning of the event, the player immediately gets the 10 Etherian Mana for their first sentry, and can collect more as they kill enemies.

Each of the Tavernkeep's sentry summon weapons come in three tiers: Rod, Cane, and Staff; with the Staff being the most expensive and the most powerful. The Tavernkeep's various armor sets each enhance one of his four sentry types; see his article for full details.

After the event is completed once, these can be used outside the event, and will then function as normal sentries, costing ordinary mana to summon (5 points per tier) and lasting the usual two minutes. Etherian Mana cannot be used outside the event, so by default only one sentry can be summoned at a time. However, armor sold by the Tavernkeep, and accessories dropped by event bosses such as Ogres, can raise a player's sentry limit, allowing more than one sentry to remain summoned at once. This limit increase does include non-Tavernkeep sentries such as the Queen Spider. {{#css:

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Item	Minion	Damage	Acquired / Made From	Bonus
Lightning Aura Rod	Lightning Aura	12	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Flameburst Rod	Flameburst Tower	17	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Explosive Trap Rod	Explosive Trap	24	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Ballista Rod	Ballista	27	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Lightning Aura Cane	Lightning Aura	33	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Flameburst Cane	Flameburst Tower	42	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Explosive Trap Cane	Explosive Trap	59	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Ballista Cane	Ballista	67	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Lightning Aura Staff	Lightning Aura	102	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Flameburst Staff	Flameburst Tower	88	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Explosive Trap Staff	Explosive Trap	126	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a
Ballista Staff	Ballista	140	Sold by Tavernkeep.	n/a

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Armor Summons

Certain armor sets will summon a unique minion when the full set is worn:

• All armor summons can be obtainable on desktop, while the Stardust Guardian is also obtainable on console. The leaf crystal (see bottom of this section) is obtainable on any system.
• Each player can only have one armor minion that remains active as long as the armor is worn, and can be directed by double-pressing the ▼ Down key.
• They do not count against either minion or sentry caps.
• See also the Leaf Crystal from Chlorophyte armor; This is not controllable like a minion, but does provide ongoing attacks against nearby enemies.

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Item	Minion	Damage	Acquired / Made From
Forbidden armor	Forbidden Sign	25	3 / 46 ( or )
Stardust armor	Stardust Guardian	20	36 / 45

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Boost gear

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Basegame Armor

Appearance / Name	Minion Boost(s)	Acquired / Made From
Bee armor	+2 Minion capacity +23% Minion damage	30
Forbidden armor	+2 Minion capacity +15% Minion damage +Ancient Storm	3 / 46 ( or )
Spider armor	+3 Minion capacity +30% Minion damage	36
Tiki armor	+4 Minion capacity +30% Minion damage	Witch Doctor (Pygmy Staff in inventory, Plantera has been defeated)
Spooky armor	+3 Minion capacity +58% Minion damage	750
Stardust armor	+5 Minion capacity +66% Minion damage +Stardust Guardian Minion	36 / 45

Tavernkeep's Armor

Appearance / Name	Minion Boost(s)	Acquired / Made From
Apprentice armor	Flameburst sentry field of view and range are dramatically increased +2 Sentry capacity +30% Minion damage	Sold by Tavernkeep
Monk armor	Lightning Aura sentries can deal critical hits and strike faster +2 Sentry capacity +30% Minion damage	Sold by Tavernkeep
Huntress armor	Explosive Trap sentries 'oil' enemies: Set oiled enemies On Fire! for extra damage. +2 Sentry capacity +30% Minion damage	Sold by Tavernkeep
Squire armor	Ballista sentry projectiles pierce more targets Grants Ballista Panic buff when you take damage, doubling the fire rate of Ballista sentries for 3 seconds. +2 Sentry capacity +30% Minion damage	Sold by Tavernkeep
Dark Artist armor	+3 Sentry Capacity +60% minion damage Greatly enhances Flameburst effectiveness	Sold by Tavernkeep
Shinobi Infiltrator armor	+3 Sentry Capacity +60% minion damage Greatly enhances Lighting Aura effectiveness	Sold by Tavernkeep
Red Riding armor	+3 Sentry Capacity +60% minion damage Greatly enhances Explosive Traps effectiveness	Sold by Tavernkeep
Valhalla Knight armor	+3 Sentry capacity +60% Minion damage Greatly enhances Ballista effectiveness	Sold by Tavernkeep

Accessories

Item	Minion Boost(s)	Acquired / Made From
Pygmy Necklace	+1 Minion capacity	Witch Doctor (Pygmy Staff in inventory, Plantera has been defeated, at night)
Hercules Beetle	+15% Minion damage Increases Minion Knockback	Witch Doctor (Pygmy Staff in inventory, Plantera has been defeated, in Jungle biome)
Apprentice's Scarf	+1 Sentry capacity +10% Minion damage	Dropped by Ogre.
Monk's Belt	+1 Sentry capacity +10% Minion damage	Dropped by Ogre.
Huntress's Buckler	+1 Sentry capacity +10% Minion damage	Dropped by Ogre.
Squire's Shield	+1 Sentry capacity +10% Minion damage	Dropped by Ogre.
Necromantic Scroll	+1 Minion capacity +10% Minion damage	Mourning Wood (2% to 20% chance depending on wave)
Papyrus Scarab	+1 Minion capacity +15% Minion damage Increases Minion Knockback	1 / 1
Summoner Emblem	+15% Minion damage	Wall of Flesh (12.5% chance)
Avenger Emblem	+12% (All) Damage	1 or 1 or 1 or 1 / 5 / 5 / 5 () 1 / 1 / 1 ()
Destroyer Emblem	+10% (All) Damage	1 / 1
Sun Stone	+10% (All) Damage Increases Minion Knockback by 50%	Golem (12.5% or 1/8 chance)
Moon Stone	+10% (All) Damage Increases Minion Knockback by 50%	Vampire (2.86% chance; 4.29% chance)
Celestial Stone	+10% (All) Damage Increases Minion Knockback by 50%	1 / 1
Celestial Shell	+10% (All) Damage Increases Minion Knockback by 50%	1 / 1

Buffs

Buff	From	Minion Boost(s)
Well Fed	Foods	+5% (All) Damage Increases Minion Knockback by 50%
Wrath	Wrath Potion	+10% (All) Damage
Cute Fishron Mount	Shrimpy Truffle	+15% (All) Damage - (In Water / Under 50% Health)
Feral Bite	Some Bats and Duke Fishron	+20% (All) Damage
Damage Nebula	Damage Booster	+15%/30%/45% (All) damage for 8 seconds
Summoning	Summoning Potion	+1 Minion capacity
Bewitched	Bewitching Table	+1 Minion capacity

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Achievement

You and What Army? • “Command nine summoned minions simultaneously.”

Have nine minions summoned at the same time.

Category: Challenger

Notes

• Minions will never attack other players, making them useless in PvP. Some Minion Weapons can still damage players if specifically targeted (Frost Hydra, Rainbow Crystal Staff), or if they deal incidental contact damage (Ravens).
• While all Summon weapons can obtain the Mythical Modifier, the Ruthless modifier offers the most effective Minion boost by solely increasing the Minion's damage per hit the most. The reduced mana cost, increased speed, critical strike chance, and knockback provided by Mythical are less useful because Summon weapons use mana only once (on the initial summoning rather than the minion attacks themselves), minions cannot deal critical hits, and their knockback is negligible even with modifiers.
• Once summoned, the minion's attack will not change even if the player removes minion damage enhancing equipment.
• It is not necessary to upgrade an Avenger Emblem to a Destroyer Emblem for the purpose of minion damage, since they cannot deal critical hits. However, the damage bonuses of the Avenger Emblem and Destroyer Emblem will stack, when both are equipped simultaneously.
• Minions will not attack the Cultists at the Dungeon if they are not yet hostile to the player as the result of another attack. Minions that deal contact damage can still deal incidental contact damage to Cultists without specifically targeting them, which will then cause them to become hostile.
• A minion's nominal damage can be increased by as much as 273%:
  • + 18% from Ruthless modifier on the minion-summoning staff.
  • + 22% from wearing Stardust Helmet.
  • + 30% from wearing either the Dark Artist's Robes or the Valhalla Knight's Breastplate.
  • + 25% from wearing Red Riding Leggings.
  • + 15% from the Papyrus Scarab accessory.
  • + 15% from the Hercules Beetle accessory.
  • + 15% from the Summoner Emblem accessory.
  • + 12% from the Avenger Emblem accessory.
  • + 20% from equipping any two of the following accessories: the Destroyer Emblem, the Necromantic Scroll, the Celestial Stone, the Celestial Shell, the Apprentice's Scarf, the Huntress's Buckler, the Monk's Belt, the Squire's Shield, the Sun Stone during the day, or the Moon Stone at night.
  • + 24% from reforging all six accessories to have +4% Damage.
  • + 5% from the Well Fed buff (from eating food).
  • + 10% from Wrath buff (from drinking a Wrath Potion).
  • + 15% from the Cute Fishron Mount buff (caused by riding the Cute Fishron in water or 6 seconds thereafter).
  • + 20% from the Feral Bite debuff (inflicted by Bats in Expert mode).
  • + 45% from a 3-stack of Damage Booster buffs (acquired from a teammate's Nebula armor).
  • = 291% (or 273% applied to the damage shown for a Ruthless minion-summoning staff). Example: An ordinary Stardust Cell Staff would summon a Stardust Cell hitting for 60 summon damage. After reforging the staff to have the Ruthless modifier, the staff would summon a Stardust Cell hitting for 60 + 18% = 71 summon damage. After wearing the above gear, eating food, drinking a Wrath Potion, dousing yourself with water while riding the Cute Fishron, getting bitten by a bat (in Expert mode), and picking up a 3-stack of Damage Booster buffs in multiplayer, the staff would summon a Stardust Cell hitting for 265 damage.
•  The maximum possible minion capacity is 11. It requires equipping Stardust Armor, and the Papyrus Scarab, Necromantic Scroll, and Pygmy Necklace accessories. It also requires being under the temporary effects of the Summoning Potion and the Bewitching Table.
• The maximum possible minion capacity is 9. It requires equipping Tiki armor, and the Papyrus Scarab, Necromantic Scroll, and Pygmy Necklace accessories. It also requires being under the temporary effects of the Summoning Potion.

Tips

• Minions do not differentiate between enemies summoned by Statues and normal enemy spawns. This causes them to sometimes interfere with enemy-based engines, as they will zip off to slaughter any statue-summoned enemies in range (the Dragon from the Stardust Dragon Staff is especially prone to this behavior).
• Summon weapons are the only weapon type that isn't regularly available in the first parts of the game. While the first summon weapon, the Slime Staff is technically the earliest obtainable weapon, it is extremely rare, and is likely to go unseen until far later in the game (perhaps when a player farms for it using a Slime Statue).
• Keeping a minion around will help keep both night and daytime enemies off your back. Of course, more enemies will spawn to replace them, but those will be moving in from the edges of the screen.
• Note that minions will attack slimes even during the day, when the slimes are nominally "neutral". In areas where King Slime can spawn in place of a regular slime (Surface layer, outer thirds of the map), the turnover can lead to repeat visits from the King.
• While using the tavernkeep's sentry summons you can resummon them to automatically refresh their attack.

Trivia

• All minion summoning items and the Tavernkeep's tier three sentry summoning items have the word "Staff" in their names.
  • The Tavernkeep's tier two sentry summon items also all have the word "Cane" in their names. Same goes for the tier one items, which share the word "Rod". This can be used to help tell the difference between the sentry tiers.
• Most minions count as 1 unit of your max capacity; however, there are two special cases:
  • For the Spider Staff, each minion counts as 0.75 (three-quarters) of a minion, so that a max of 3 allows summoning of 4 spiders. (This is elaborated on above.) This is particularly useful if one is trying to obtain the "You And What Army" achievement.
  • The Optic Staff spawns two minions which together take up only 1 slot. It is not possible to spawn just one of the twins (say, to go with two Spazmaminis).
• The Sharknadoes summoned by the Tempest Staff turn translucent when going through blocks, similarly to what Duke Fishron and Pigrons do.
• The damage bonuses of summoning Armor also affect the damage of Mounts. This includes the Slime Mount and the Unicorn Mount.