Guide:Polterghast strategies
| This is a Guide page. This means the page will walk you through a specific task, strategy, or enemy/boss fight. This guide was last updated for version 1.4.4.004. |
Map icon
| Type | Boss |
|---|---|
| Environment | Dungeon |
| Damage |  150 / 240  / 264  / 280  / 384  (Contact)140 / 240 / 264 / 280 / 396 (Blue Phantom Shot) 150 / 264 / 288 / 300 / 432 (Blue Phantom Blast) |
| Max Life | 350,000 / 560,000 / 672,000 / 840,000 / 1,008,000 |
| Defense | 90 |
| DR | 15% |
| KB Resist | 100% |
| Inflicts debuff |  Moon Bite100% chance |
| Debuff duration | 15 seconds (Contact) |
| Debuff tooltip | You are unable to absorb healing effects |
| Inflicts debuff |  Nightwither100% chance |
| Debuff duration | 2 seconds (Blue Phantom Blast) 1.33 seconds (Blue Phantom Shot) |
| Debuff tooltip | Incinerated by lunar rays |
| Immune to |    |
| Cold | - |
|---|---|
| Water | - |
| Sickness | Resistant |
| Electricity | - |
| Heat | - |
Map icon
| Type | Boss |
|---|---|
| Environment | Dungeon |
| Damage | 180 / 288 / 316 / 336 / 460 (Contact) 150 / 264 / 288 / 300 / 432 (Red Phantom Shot) 160 / 276 / 304 / 320 / 456 (Red Phantom Blast) |
| Max Life | 175,000 / 350,000 364,000 / 560,000 537,600 / 672,000 604,800 / 672,000 546,000 / 840,000 806,400 / 1,008,000 907,200 / 1,008,000 |
| Defense | 72 |
| DR | 20% |
| KB Resist | 100% |
| Inflicts debuff | Moon Bite 100% chance |
| Debuff duration | 15 seconds (Contact) |
| Debuff tooltip | You are unable to absorb healing effects |
| Inflicts debuff | Whispering Death 100% chance |
| Debuff duration | 2 seconds (Red Phantom Blast) 1.33 seconds (Red Phantom Shot) |
| Debuff tooltip | Death approaches; attack power and life regen reduced |
| Immune to | |
Map icon
| Type | Boss |
|---|---|
| Environment | Dungeon |
| Damage | 210 / 336 / 369 / 392 / 537 (Contact) |
| Max Life | 70,000 / 350,000 196,000 / 560,000 336,000 / 672,000 403,200 / 672,000 294,000 / 840,000 504,000 / 1,008,000 604,800 / 1,008,000 |
| Defense | 45 |
| DR | 50% |
| KB Resist | 100% |
| Inflicts debuff | Moon Bite 100% chance |
| Debuff duration | 15 seconds (Contact) |
| Debuff tooltip | You are unable to absorb healing effects |
| Immune to | |
| Coins | 3  50  |
|---|
- Item (Quantity)Rate
Ruinous Soul (7-15 / 10-20 )100%
Polterplasm (30-40 / 40-50 )100%- At least one of the following 7 weapons will always drop:
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 25% / 33.33%
- 100%
Supreme Healing Potion (5-15)100%- 14.29%
- 10%
- 1%
Polterghast (Lore)(Always on first kill)100%
Treasure Bag(Polterghast)
- •
Ectoheart(In Revengeance Mode only)
100%- •
Polterghast Relic(In Master or Revengeance Mode only)100% / 100%
Polterghast is usually the seventh Post-Moon Lord boss that you will face in your playthrough. Polterghast is summoned by using the Necroplasmic Beacon in the Dungeon at any time. Additionally, if Polterghast is not yet defeated in a world, it will spawn naturally after killing 30 Phantom Spirits.
This guide will mention items exclusive to Expert and Revengeance Mode with no special formatting and will follow the intended progression.
Terrain Preparation
A large, spacious area in the Dungeon should be cleared out with plenty of room to move. The arena should not have any places where you can get stuck; the floor and walls should be flat. Zen Potions help immensely while building the arena by preventing enemy spawns.
An alternative to a large arena is the "donut" arena, which is a 60x60 space surrounded by blocks with a 20x20 square in the center. Because Polterghast moves faster and deals more damage proportional to the amount of active tiles around it, this arena ensures that Polterghast receives no movement or damage bonuses, while still giving the player a good amount of space to dodge its attacks. If one is struggling with one arena style, it may be worth it to try another.
You can use Cursed Dungeon Brick Walls in order to expand your dungeon or to create an artificial one elsewhere.
Gearing Up
Armor
Tarragon armor is the preferred choice for all classes; however, Lunar armors can still be effective if the player is adept with Polterghast's behavior.
- Solar Flare armor for Melee
- Vortex armor for Ranged
- Nebula armor for Mage
- Stardust armor for Summoner
- Empyrean armor for Rogue
- Prismatic armor is also an option for mages.
Accessories
- Tarragon Wings (with Angel Treads) or Celestial Tracers are the preferred wings.
- The Elysian Aegis or the Statis' Ninja Belt allow the player to make sharp turns and are very useful.
- The Elysian Aegis additionally gives knockback immunity and many defensive boosts.
- Statis' Ninja Belt additionally provides the chance of a ninja dodge and increased jump acceleration.
- The Absorber is important for survivability by increasing damage reduction as well as giving increased jump acceleration.
- The Community is a great all around accessory that boosts offensive and defensive stats as well as boosting flight time.
- The Flesh Totem can be useful due to Polterghast's frequent and high damage charges, especially in later phases.
- Melee players should use the Bloody Worm Scarf for its strong melee boosts as well as increased damage reduction.
- Ranged players should use the Recon Scope and Deadshot Brooch, which both help in boosting damage output.
- The Deadshot Brooch additionally gives some ammo conservation.
- Magic players should use the Sigil of Calamitas for its strong magic boosts.
- Summoners can boost their minion count and damage with the Star-Tainted Generator and Statis' Curse.
- Summoners can also use the Profaned Soul Artifact to provide a direct DPS boost through other minions.
- The Dark Matter Sheath can be a good accessory for Rogue players, provided they can gain stealth to perform stealth strikes.
- It also provides several passive Rogue bonuses.
Weapons
The weapons made from Uelibloom Bars or Bloodstone Cores are typically the best options for the fight.
Melee
- The Defiled Greatsword's high DPS should make the fight fairly straight-forward for Melee users, as the short range is mitigated by Polterghast generally staying close to the player.
- The Mourningstar can do insane DPS and shred the boss, but its short range makes it a dangerous choice.
- The Seeking Scorcher is a good option if you would rather focus on dodging, since it can home into enemies and has a decent range.
- The Mirror Blade is another option with good DPS provided that you have good aim.
- The Mutilator, Holy Collider, and Stellar Striker are risky options that deal great damage at the cost of losing lots of health.
- The Tarragon Cloak's effect of halving enemy contact damage greatly reduces the risk of using these weapons.
- The Galactus Blade is a great sword that can decimate the boss, while letting the player stay further away from the boss.
- The unique hitbox of the Pulse Dragon, coupled with its high damage, makes it easy to damage both heads in the phase where Polterghast splits.
Ranged
- The Seadragon or Storm Dragoon are strong options that deal great DPS.
- The Storm is another option that has comparable DPS.
- The Spyker is a solid pick, dealing high damage with its explosion effects.
- The Blissful Bombardier does excellent damage as well as having homing projectiles.
- The Nettlevine Greatbow is a powerful option that can be utilized throughout the entire fight when paired with Elysian Arrows.
- Bloodfire Bullets and Bloodfire Arrows should be used.
- The Clockwork Bow can deal large burst damage, and has homing.
- The Claret Cannon can provide both damage and healing, but can be slower than other weapons.
- The Pristine Fury does strong DPS and is easy to land hits with.
- The Disseminator combined with Chlorophyte Bullets deals high DPS and can be used throughout the whole fight.
Mage
- The Sanguine Flare and Mistlestorm are excellent choices that deal high damage to Polterghast.
- Viscera is a lower DPS option, but it greatly increases survivability with its healing.
- Aether's Whisper is a good option, that can damage Polterghast when it is inside tiles out of reach of other weapons.
- The Elemental Ray is a decent choice, dealing good damage to Polterghast.
- The Magnetic Meltdown can reach high damage levels due to Polterghast's habit of hovering in place.
- The Ultra Liquidator is an excellent secondary weapon for applying Ichor for long periods of time.
- The Divine Retribution can decimate Polterghast, and the projectiles shot also home and go through walls.
Summoner
- The Dragonblood Disgorger is a strong weapon that can take up most of the player's minion slots.
- Cosmilamps are some of the stronger summon weapons available.
- The Dazzling Stabber Staff and Elemental Axe are still viable as well.
- The Sanctified Spark provides additional DPS to aid the player's minions.
Rogue
- The Cosmic Kunai is a strong option that deals excellent damage although it can be a bit risky.
- Molten Amputators are another option that deal great DPS if Polterghast is lead through the boomerangs.
- The Shattered Sun is a great option with its homing.
- The Elemental Disk works well at close range during Phase 1, although it lacks in later phases.
Miscellaneous
- The Well Fed buff and its upgrades provide useful all around stat boosts.
- Farm Blood Orbs to easily craft many helpful potions that will increase your survivability.
The Fight
Polterghast will spawn off-screen, meaning you should be prepared to dodge the Polterghast as it approaches you. Polterghast has 3 phases.
Phase 1 should be largely treated like Plantera. Slowly circle Polterghast and watch out for the hooks and bouncing projectiles.
At 75% / 90% health, Polterghast transforms into Necroghast (Phase 2). The hooks no longer deal contact damage, but instead they occasionally shoot at you. Necroghast's projectiles are now red, faster, and deal more damage. Continue circling the boss in this phase.
At 33% / 50% / 60% health, Necroghast transforms into Necroplasm (Phase 3). It is highly recommended to use a weapon that inflicts Ichor in this phase such as Everglade Spray or the Golden Gun. At the start of this phase, Necroplasm immediately summons a clone. While this clone is alive, Necroplasm's damage reduction is increased by 30%, drastically reducing the damage it takes. Additionally, Phantoms begin to revolve around the player. At set intervals, they release Spirit orbs that can deal a lot of damage. It is important to keep an eye on when they shoot, so as to not get caught off guard. Unlike prior phases, circling is much less effective in this phase. Walking away slowly tends to work the best although very wide circles can work as well. Occasionally, the clone will make very fast lunges toward the player. Necroplasm can also do this. It is important to always keep moving and be ready to teleport with the Rod of Discord or Normality Relocator. When reaching 20% / 33% health, Necroplasm begins to occasionally summon Happy Phantom Spirits. Up to 3 can be summoned at a time. As long as you keep moving, they typically do not pose too much of a threat. Utilizing their Banner can minimize the threat they pose.
Be careful not to enter the Surface as it will cause Polterghast to enrage. When enraged, Polterghast gains a massive boost in speed, damage, projectile speed and fire rate, and damage reduction.
General Tips
- The Normality Relocator is a very strong tool as it allows instantaneous teleportation.
- Be wary while teleporting, as the player will fall at a much greater pace due to the Normality Relocator's effects.
- In Death Mode, Polterghast will gain velocity and acceleration, gain increased max hook distance, and hook faster and more often as its HP decreases, which can pose a problem to less experienced players.
- If using lifestealing weapons or effects, make sure to dodge the charges from Polterghast and its clone by dashing away from them, since the Moon Bite debuff will still apply even if you successfully dodge the charge by dashing into it. Doing so will also put the Flesh Totem on cooldown, despite no damage being taken.
- Heart Statues, Mana Statues and Heart Lanterns can be useful.
