The Terragrim - perhaps the most unique sword
in all of pre-Hardmode. Unlike regular swords, it doesn't swing overhead, instead slashing
in a short radius around the player. This slash is also unique in that it has the quickest
attack speed attainable in all of pre-Hardmode, attacking once every 4 ticks, or 15 times per
second - double the speed of the Minishark. However, the Terragrim is not known for its
uniqueness so much as it is for its way of obtaining. It's just a 2% drop from Enchanted
Sword Shrines, making it insanely rare, and thus the Terragrim - as well the old 1.3
Arkhalis that it replaced - were commonly sought after by collectors who saw it as a milestone
in their Terrarian journey. It's fair to say that most Terragrims and Arkhalises made in
Terraria don't actually see real combat during game progression - instead, they are simply used
as some moderately-impressive wall ornament on the wall of some endgame player's treasure room.
This all changed in 1.4.2, when the Princess NPC, as well as the CelebrationMk10 seed, were
introduced. On this secret seed, the Princess sells the Terragrim for just 25 gold, offering
a relatively easy way to obtain this weapon for those either playing on this seed or those willing
to worldhop just to get this weapon. So, now that the weapon isn't locked behind ridiculous RNG
anymore, you can actually go ahead and obtain this during your regular pre-Hardmode game progression.
So, how does it hold up then? How does this wall ornament of a sword actually hold up as a weapon?
Well, that's what we're looking into today. Let's start with the good. This sword
has the fastest hit rate in pre-Hardmode, meaning that logically, it should be
excellent at knocking back enemies, even given its fairly weak knockback value of 3.
And you're right - it's excellent at stunlocking. This can be easily seen in the Brain of Cthulhu
fight, where an unreforged Terragrim can easily defeat it on Master Mode with the aid of just
a hook - not even any accessories. In phase 1, it can stunlock creepers like this, forming
a basically impenetrable shield that not only blocks them from hitting you, but
deals decent damage as well. Sure, it's not the most effective offensive
weapon for stage 1, as a weapon like the Molotov Cocktail would be better, but it is
absolutely able do the work with less danger. Its stunlock prowess can be even more clearly
seen in phase 2 though, when the stunlock shield can even stop the entire boss in its tracks.
As long as you know roughly what direction the Brain is coming from, you can basically just
stand still and aim in the general direction of it and it'll make light work of the brain.
It's also good at defeating swarms, like the Goblin Invasion, due to both its stunlocking
potential and infinite pierce. For example, goblins can be bulldozed forward like this,
and eventually stack on top of each other, where the infinite pierce then takes care of the
rest - in a rather expedient fashion as well. Unfortunately though, not everything in this game
is like Brain or Goblin Army, and this is where we start to reach the downsides of this weapon.
For example, the Eater of Worlds, a boss that the Terraria wiki confidently lists the Terragrim as
being "very effective" against. This assertion, however, would generally be seen as... inaccurate.
Sure, the Terragrim should be effective with its great pierce and wide slash, and the sword
itself even gives you near immunity to the Eater's anti-aircraft guns, as it can destroy the
projectiles. However, getting this close like I'm showing here is essentially a death wish. Sure,
you can block the projectiles, but the eater itself is harder to dodge, especially like this.
And it gets worse when he splits! Unfortunately, the Terragrim just doesn't deal enough damage
to kill the Eater's segments in one rush, The amount of damage you'll take when
you get close is... just too much. Basically, this weapon can be summed up in 2
words. "Stun lock". If it can stun lock an enemy, it's really good for a pre-boss weapon, since its
base DPS is so high - and its stunlock protection veil makes sure you can actually use that damage
without getting instantly merked by an enemy. If the weapon fails to protect you though, then
the painful range will become glaring reality, and the risk calculations break down.
But, for the things it can stun lock, it is pretty powerful. If you want the most
brainless brain kill, it's not bad. Killing any swarm enemy becomes trivial. In some cases,
it might be more useful than the Minishark. On Normal Mode, where enemies don't pose imminent
death at close range and have much less health, the Terragrim again becomes a viable option.
It's definitely more of a niche weapon, but it has uses. If you're looking for
a more off-meta melee weapon, then you just might have some fun just using the Terragrim.
Hello! If you're part of the 80% of my viewers who aren't subscribed, I ask you to subscribe. Here's
two other similar videos, one about another rare Terraria weapon, the Bloody Machete, and another
about one of the most commonly used weapon pairs, the Vortex Beater and Phantasm. Either way though,
thank you for watching, and good day and good bye.
