Note: this is my opinion on the subject and my word is not law. Have fun Tl;dr: Vortex Beater better for ML, Phantasm better for most other things. I still rated Beater higher since to me, that juicy progression is the most important. Of all the comparisons, the Vortex Beater/Phantasm is probably the closest, since I don't expect Stardust Cell Staff to be able to equal the Dragon lol
so you completely ignored one aspect.The arrows that the phantasm shoots home in so even if you miss you have homing arrows.Also chloropyhte bullets can still miss.Im not saying phantasm cannot miss but for moonlord the sheer burst to get the top eye down since lets be real you always have it on screen when its up.Is much more useful .while vortex beater may have better accuracy aslong as you know what ur doing you can easily beat moonlord with a phantasm.
im sorry too sound like a broken record, but "just aim" is still possible if moonlord is offscreen make it so the map is in the background and then just estimate where each eye is (or if you're playing modded you can probably find a mod that makes the eyes appear on the map)
On the second stage there is no reason to keep ML offscreen, because even keeping his core on the edge of the screen is enough to make true eyes fell off behind before the first laser attack, and on that stage aiming perfectly is pretty easy because ML moves same way as you, so you just need to keep cursor in one place most of the time. Also on your footage VB does like ~2.5k dps (and because aim is perfect wtih it we can assume that you had same dps all the time) if we take calculator, moon lord has 277k hp, and with 2.5k dps you need almost 2 minutes (~1:50) to beat him. From my expirience phantasm beats ML on MM in like 1:00-1:20 (depending on how aggressive is your build, 1:00 with 3 damage accs, 1:20 with one). So "at 1 minute mark" is a pretty strange way to present results because it's like 1:20 vs 1:50.
@@Vepzzzzz - he's advocated for how "good" weapons like shadowbeam staff, candy corn rifle, nightglow and blood thorn are when in reality they're all mid/bad and outclassed at their stage (blood thorn is comically bad lmao) -he genuinely thinks sand gun (which is also comically bad) breaks prehm -while a bit subjective, he considers vampire knives overrated for some reason -he made a video on desert tiger staff (an actually good weapon) but literally never mentioned what makes it good (which is firecracker), and instead makes the weapon looks worse than it actually is somehow
@chase1354 I mean, shadowbeam and candy corn arent terrible weapons. I do use them from time to time, they certainly have their uses. I won't deny they're outclassed but I don't think even he says they're the best of their tier. I think he just likes to discuss why they aren't *bad.* But you are absolutely right about the desert tiger lmao firecracker is great
It feels sh*t, despite being a bow majority of arrow's range is so sh*t that I feel like i m holding a kid's bow than an actual bow. I have to aim at 60 degree angle just to hit a goddamn zombie at 30 block distance. Like wtf are these fkin arrows? Even normal arrow in real life move faster with less drop in height
I knew it, I knew my most favorite weapon (Vortex Beater) wouldn't disappoint me, even though Phantasm is slightly better in some cases, Vortex Beater just feels more satisfying to use imo
I think this is the most well designed pair of lunar weapons in terms of risk and reward. Phantasm's higher damage demands more skill, whereas the Beater's consistency and safety is paid for with lower maximum payoff.
“Master mode moon lord does so much damage”. Mm moon lord also has 311k health and barely getting 2k dps with damage accessories is not cutting it. They both have homing but phantasm also has like 5-6k dps so I’d say it’s better
@@lilidiot- phangasm is post-ML, phantasm is still preferable for beating ML for the first time if you're going for a bow as i understand it (it worked for my master revengeance run)
@@lilidiot- also if you're going for phangasm, you might as well use the life steal arrows for free regen or the elysian arrows for damage, terra arrows are outdated tech by then edit: brain gave out while writing this, fixed an error
I have played the ranger class many times, and i can easily say your exlanation on the Vortex beater being better when the moon lord is off screen is absolutely correct, and possibly the best strategy to beat it is to take down the eyes asap with the phantasm, then going almost out of range, trivialising pretty much every attack that it has Although, i much prefer the rewarding playstyle of bursting it down with the phantasm the entire way, paired with magic quiver and its upgrades, it does an incredible lot of damage
@@solomonbyrne3909opposite for me I just beat for the worthy and I got to say 2k dps is not it. Phantasm also has homing. Arrow drop off isn’t a problem with Ichor and a quiver.
Very convenient this was uploaded. Im like at the end of my range class playthough and it's my first time doing just ranged so i've been learning a lot.
2:20 actually, if you use the background map (press tab twice) and you place your crosshair on the icon of the boss on the map, you will hit him (assuming that you use a pinpoint accuracy weapon, vortex beater will miss due to the spread)
So long as you strategically keep only one or two of the eyes offscreen (which can be done over a horizontal platform or by moving horizontally with a flying mount in a specific way), you can fight ML while relatively safe from its attacks. Combine that with the damage output of Phantasm with Chlorophyte arrows and good aim, and you'll see why I've never bothered with the Vortex Beater.
@@HiddenBush64 high base damage for an arrow type only beaten out by cursed and venom, also you can shoot straight up at the start to chunk the top eye for free, and you should have plenty to go around since it's also the best arrow type for the pillars due to its homing, which especially gives nebula floaters a hard time if you use it well
love the fact that everybody fights on which Vortex weapon is the best when you literally can just use them both and just have fun with it. This is why I love this game.
Well not really. The last ranger armour before Vortex is Shroomite, which has three different helmets that boost arrows, bullets and everything else respectively. So you technically *can*, but it's not like the other classes where your damage buffs are universal.
Summoner is the only class where you can just vibe. During bosses you might want to use a whip to coordinate your attacks, but events are a cakewalk with Terraprisma and full stardust armor. Terraprisma kills everything far away, Stardust Stand goes ham on anything that slips through the cracks. It gets even more insane if you multiclass, using your army of terraprismas to kill EoL a second time for another one, and then build Zenith. Sure, you'll be minmaxed for summoning, but Zenith will still absolutely wreck non-bosses and pre-hardmode bosses.
You could not be anymore right when devising your conclusion, but there are some I would like to add/critique: I feel as if you overestimate arrow drop in terms of difficulty aiming. Sure, it will never be as accurate as Chlorophyte Bullets, but with reasonable judgement you can land consistently. How I see it, Vortex Beater works great if you lack confidence or are wanting to secure a win without much hassle. If you're one who has done one-too-many Master/Legendary runs, and have borderline mastered Terraria, Phantasm easily prevails. :] Great video regardless, keep it up my man!
Yes but if your playing on master mode a longer fight means u might make more mistakes. 2k dps is not cutting it. Phantasm has barely any arrow drop and does massively more damage
As someone who does phantasm moon lord, I'd say while vortex beater is easier, phantasm's higher skill cap does make it more effective at times. Also with lumenite arrows it goes kinda crazy but at that point nothing else to use them on, so....
...I kind of feel that most of the merit that this review gives to the vortex beater is actually from chlorophyte bullets, rather than the beater (since if you don't have chlorophyte bullets, you'll miss every shot, and only the rockets would hit)
Vortex beater is genuinely one of only 2 machine gun-type weapons in the game that I actually use. All the rest are a massive wastes of recourses; expending several times the ammunition of their high damage-per-shot counterparts for only slightly better, equal, or outright worse results in terms of overall DPS. Where the VB differs is in the highest chance not to consume ammo in the entire game, which more than makes up for the high fire rate. It also, as it should, specializes specifically in pillar busting and the moon lord fight.
i would like to mention the underrated topic of chlorophyte arrows using an arena which has enclosed in walls to an extent can cause arrows to rebound which deals good damage this helped me a lot in the moonlord fight so i would choose phantasm my opinion so i got good dps with this add dodging ultimate bow strat
While good arguments all around, I will argue that both weapons are not what you would be using in either case against the Moon Lord or for the Pillars, especially considering the cost of making Vortex Armor. The Chain Gun and the Tsunami have superior single target damage (except maybe against the slightly more unreliable Phantasm) and the Snowman Cannon excels in group damage. Both categories of Gun and Launcher are succeeded by the SDMG and the Celebration MK2, while the Phantasm competes with the Tsunami for strongest bow. In my Ranger playthroughs, unless I'm doing some kind of archery challenge (a fun one, I will say!), I tend to save my fragments for the armor and craft the weapons as an afterthought for my collection.
the phantasm deals more damage than the vortex beater since the vortex beater with chlorophyte bullets focuses more on dodging while the other kills as fast as possible whatever's in front of you
@@damnthisisabadname actually? cus i still have it doing way more damage than both options even if it isnt as strong anymore, it’s still the most fun option for me so I would still use it, especially because the sdmg is such a boring weapon and same with the luminite bullets
I don't know what gear you used (I assume you used optimal damage setups), but if you didn't for some weird reason, it's worth noting that the phantasm (and bows in general) have a noticably higher damage output potential than thier gun counterparts due to the presence of the magic quiver. This is a very strong buff that guns straight up do not get an equivalent of, unless you want to count the sniper scope or something (which I'm pretty sure is a weaker buff anyways).
Yes, I used the Magic Quiver (unless you use arrows that already have an x2 velocity multiplier; in that case, using a Ranger Emblem or some other accessory is better). The Phantasm absolutely has a better damage potential, but you need to get closer to take advantage of it since you lack homing. Phantasm is probably superior in Classic and Expert, but since I tested on Master, I found the Phantasm's close playstyle to be a bit too dangerous.
@@Terraw actually, now that I think about it, that makes another significant difference between phantasm and vortex beater (and I'm kicking myself for not mentioning it because it's relevant in my ranger playthroughs): if you use phantasm, you likely will want to use both ranger emblem and magic quiver, which can crowd your accessory slots. This may mean you need to give up another accessory to fit both on and maximize the phantasms damage output, especially on classic or expert where the former only has 5 slots and the latter has powerful boss accessories. Typically, I end up dropping terraspark boots lategame as fishron wings compensate with excellent air mobility, on top of the fact I use master ninja gear for its excellent dash and the unicorn mount if I really need to travel fast on the ground. But the vortex beater straight up doesn't need to make this decision and can more easily fit the accessories it wants.
Since I’ve seen a lot of people ask for the pack (even if it’s in desc) I’ll put it here: Foundry & Alchemy (Not sure if you already know, but others may read this)
note: terraprisma exceeds both of the stardust pillar weapons in my experience, and can be gotten much earlier if you can get lucky with a daytime EoL fight. Not sure what your findings will be while working on the Stardust Pillar video, but that's my two cents.
This is a great comparison rather than comparing their raw stats your making the scenario that is always pre moon lord as a ftw master mode player raw dps usually can't get you many places I enjoyed this comparison a lot considering I never new why I always preferred vortex beater
The reason I prefer Tsunami to the Phantasm. Also As far as I remember Tsunami was even better for a period of time, not sure if in raw DPS but more shots hit due to the phantasm shots being too slow/late
It's very odd that A) Ranger and mage are the only classes that get class specific damage potions and B) The Ranger one applies only to one type of ranged weapon.
@@russman3787i mean summoner and melee get imbues which are really strong anyway, and actually the summoner does have a summon potion which gives +1 summon
@@russman3787 i get it, to me the archery potion is strange but the mage ones are an obvious things since mages are sorta related to potions and such, the archery potion is handy tho!
Just aim crowd is right though. I could reliably hit Moonlord with the arrows offscreen. The extra arrow generation makes it perfectly clear when you're hitting vs not. Allows you correct your aim on the fly no problem.
More people need to put a list of texture packs they use, some of them look really good that I might even want in my worlds, also what's the pillar texture pack?
Personally i found zenith seed moon lord easier with phantasm, since being too far away limits your ability to see the phantasmal rays and incoming projectiles so you get git more often, so being closer allows you to see the eyes while also gwtting more damage. Still took a long time but vortex beater didnt do nearly enoufh damage. So in the higher difficilties, (past master mode so ftw) i think the phantasm is actually a bit better
I didn't see nobody talk about how useful the sniper scope is for dodging moon lord at long distances, making the vortex beater + cloro bullets even better.
Always wished there was a third weapon for each pillar. Like melee could get a flail, ranged could get a launcher, mage could get a staff, and summoner could get a whip. Tie up some loose ends, some JOURNEYS ENDS
I like that you actually took chlorophyle into account. Also to all people telling learn to aim. Every missed shot is dps loss and nobody has perfect aim while dodging all shit on screen. I will take reliability over higher potencial damage.
I feel like guns generally outclass bows as soon as chlorophyte bullets become available. I love using bows, I did a bow only run a while ago, but it's a lot more active and aggressive using bows.
2:18 Senpai noticed mee!!! 🥺 Tbh my lack of chlorophyte ammo is best attributed to only getting chlorophyte once for the Armour and never again :P Besides missing or hitting is half the fun
As a guy who has beaten Expert ranger a day ago after some time, I consider Phantasm better just because i can combine it with Holy arrows, but Vortex Beater is better for faster bosses like Moonlord, but maybe i just cant aim well😅 note: this was written as my personal opinion before i saw the video, i then realized you explained everything lmao
Honestly, phantasm is more fun because of its dps. It's so satisfying play Master with a glass cannon ranger-bow dps type that it definitely made me forget the existence of vortex beater. Not to mention, beater is chloro bullets dependent because of its spread, making it feel like "uncompleted" in terms of optimization.
I am personally trying to craft both. Phantasm guarantees instant 5k dmg if you shot Arrows towards space 10 seconds before moon lord spawns. That thing guarantees damage to middle Eye which is the most difficult to deal with and is very good on last phase of moon lord when you have to shoot the core. High dps and pretty constant position of core which is always vulnerable to all hits after dealing with eyes is more profitable for phantasm. But before this phase, most of the time vortex beater is more reliable and almost always guarantees you that moon lord wont regenerate health because chlorophyte bullets target always closest target.
I always prefer guns over bows, and thus I craft Vortex Beater, also because I like Chlorophyte Bullets homing, just like Terrasteel said, you can keep your distance while doing damage.
Vortex cuz THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK Phantasm if i feel like hearing the game
Tfw summoner last as always. (mostly joking) For real, though, I'm excited to see your takes on the summoner weapons. Personally, I probably undervalue SDragon, but I feel like most people overvalued it before targeting became a thing, so I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
Is it actually that hard to hit bosses off-screen? I only have a little more than 3k hours in Terraria, but I don't know when I started to do that. Thus, I can't evaluate the benefits of chlorophyte bullets.
also the map helps greatly, just press tab a couple times until the screen is flooded with the map and you can use that (along with a brain) to hit bosses offscreen
it isn't actually that difficult to hit bosses offscreen, but it's still worth mentioning since more casual players might struggle with it
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Vortex Beater + Chlorophyte bullets is my fav weapon to fight Moon lord as Summoner. It's even better than whips, as summoner has really poor survivability if I get that close, and if I'm far enough Vortex Beater + dragon can both damage Moon lord offscreen.
The phantasm is great, with venom arrows and a tank build so you can get close up and its amazing, along with a summon and all the buffs necessary and you gonna kill the boss super quickly
I think phantasm is good for moonlord in any difficulty if you use jester arrow as it arrow speed is fast and doesn't affected by gravity giving you much more distance to dodge it's phantasmal deathray.
I think the ideal tactic I have discovered is to just carry 7+ weapons in your hot bar at all times and keep different class armor sets in your inventory as well
Especially with the new outfit hotkeys in 1.4.4. You can play two different classes and have your last set be for building, with one or two summoner accessories so you can have a few terraprismas or stardust dragon attacking random slimes that show up.
I've never actually used the Phantasm, mostly cause the Onyx Blaster is my favorite gun, and the Vortex Beater is quite similar to it. I'm currently doing a classic run (yes, shame me for it) in the hopes of finally defeating the Duke, (Journey Mode doesn't count, obviously,) and if I can't beat him by endgame, I'll try the Phantasm.
If you are making a video on the stardust I definitely feel like the dragon is better than the cells the same way the vortex beater is better than the phantasm
'Just aim'. Heh- As someone who CAN aim, it ain't that easy when a boss is off-screen. You gotta calculate when they'll be open to bullets, and which parts, for moonlord in particular, with it's few weak points and opening/closing eyes.
Well, if you only got the Vortex Beater and went on to lose to Moon Lord, at least that would make your second attempt against the Lunatic Cultist easier, and you could do the Vortex Pillar again first and craft Phantasm to make the rest of the pillars much less of a pain. That sounds like a really good plan. Though I'm primarily Melee/Magic so... what would I know about fully ranged playthroughs? I just wipe everything out with my Terra Blade.
Would you mention terraprisma when ranking the stardust weapons? Since people argue whether the dragon staff or the terraprisma is the better one against ml
Imo, phantasm is objectively better for first phase of moonlord, because he opens his eyes periodically you need burst damage (which what v excels at). You also can't get away from the moonlord because you need to see the death ray telegraph.
I think that phantasm requires more skill, but rewards you for that skill. You can still just "git gud" at aiming with it even if ML is off-screen lol. He moves in a very predictable way so it's not difficult to work out where his hitboxes are. The one issue is hitting the hand on the other side of his body, but you should be swapping which side you fly on whenever you dodge his forehead beam anyway.
Even tho i use both to moonlord, (phantasm for the eye and beater for when he is offscreen) id still choose the beater(tho most of the time i can craft both if i convert the other fragments)
I've never been a fan of homing bullets so vortex beater has never even crossed my mind as a good weapon. The bow just does everything I need it to with a better selection of ammo
If you play multiplayer, the Phantasm is the better weapon - because someone else is tanking, you can pile on the DPS. And - just saying - I’ve never been booted from a server for exceeding the DPS cutoff while using a Beater.
Note: this is my opinion on the subject and my word is not law. Have fun
Tl;dr: Vortex Beater better for ML, Phantasm better for most other things. I still rated Beater higher since to me, that juicy progression is the most important. Of all the comparisons, the Vortex Beater/Phantasm is probably the closest, since I don't expect Stardust Cell Staff to be able to equal the Dragon lol
Your word IS law, random 16 year old terraria TH-camr.
so you completely ignored one aspect.The arrows that the phantasm shoots home in so even if you miss you have homing arrows.Also chloropyhte bullets can still miss.Im not saying phantasm cannot miss but for moonlord the sheer burst to get the top eye down since lets be real you always have it on screen when its up.Is much more useful .while vortex beater may have better accuracy aslong as you know what ur doing you can easily beat moonlord with a phantasm.
im sorry too sound like a broken record, but "just aim" is still possible if moonlord is offscreen
make it so the map is in the background and then just estimate where each eye is (or if you're playing modded you can probably find a mod that makes the eyes appear on the map)
On the second stage there is no reason to keep ML offscreen, because even keeping his core on the edge of the screen is enough to make true eyes fell off behind before the first laser attack, and on that stage aiming perfectly is pretty easy because ML moves same way as you, so you just need to keep cursor in one place most of the time.
Also on your footage VB does like ~2.5k dps (and because aim is perfect wtih it we can assume that you had same dps all the time) if we take calculator, moon lord has 277k hp, and with 2.5k dps you need almost 2 minutes (~1:50) to beat him. From my expirience phantasm beats ML on MM in like 1:00-1:20 (depending on how aggressive is your build, 1:00 with 3 damage accs, 1:20 with one). So "at 1 minute mark" is a pretty strange way to present results because it's like 1:20 vs 1:50.
@@lilvampire7439hahaha lol
As a mage player the only thing that I’ve learned from this ranger review is that the razerblade is amazing
As a person who has only done mage play throughs I can confirm that the razorblade is def amazing
@@guardian8193 As someone who has never played Mage, i cannot say that it is amazing
I haven’t really like the razorblade since the nerf
@@cazuelagb as someone who has done one mage playthrough, I can say I used it.
Yes this is true but night glow can out dps it and is homing
FINALLY, A SERIES OF WEAPONS REVIEW THAT DOESN'T JUDGE ONLY THE DPS
@@HumanoidDerpling sock's content is misinformation 90% of the time and he deletes comments calling this out but alright
@@chasefray i havent seen much if any misinfo on his vids, elaborate?
@@Vepzzzzz - he's advocated for how "good" weapons like shadowbeam staff, candy corn rifle, nightglow and blood thorn are when in reality they're all mid/bad and outclassed at their stage (blood thorn is comically bad lmao)
-he genuinely thinks sand gun (which is also comically bad) breaks prehm
-while a bit subjective, he considers vampire knives overrated for some reason
-he made a video on desert tiger staff (an actually good weapon) but literally never mentioned what makes it good (which is firecracker), and instead makes the weapon looks worse than it actually is somehow
@chase1354 I mean, shadowbeam and candy corn arent terrible weapons. I do use them from time to time, they certainly have their uses. I won't deny they're outclassed but I don't think even he says they're the best of their tier. I think he just likes to discuss why they aren't *bad.* But you are absolutely right about the desert tiger lmao firecracker is great
@@chasefray vampire knives are hugely overrated tho
Now that you've established Phantasm as the skill based weapon, literally every Terrariatuber is going to pick it over the Vortex Beater
Haha true
Assuming they dont already hybrid kekw
I think everyone knows that
Phantasm actually is better than sdmg 🤓🤓🤓
"Skill based weapon"
Keep the boss off screen and keep firing
What about the fact that the Vortex Beater is ridiculously loud?
Settings -> Volume -> Sound: 3%
thats the only reason why i dont use it
What's worse is the firing sound plays twice per shot, which I'm pretty sure is *why* the thing is so loud.
makes it even cooler
Ears issue
i just think the phantasm is so freaking cool. like yea, so is vortex beater, but god those phantasmal arrows? they feel so sick when they speed up...
TRUE
It feels sh*t, despite being a bow majority of arrow's range is so sh*t that I feel like i m holding a kid's bow than an actual bow. I have to aim at 60 degree angle just to hit a goddamn zombie at 30 block distance. Like wtf are these fkin arrows? Even normal arrow in real life move faster with less drop in height
I knew it, I knew my most favorite weapon (Vortex Beater) wouldn't disappoint me, even though Phantasm is slightly better in some cases, Vortex Beater just feels more satisfying to use imo
Verified youtuber comment with no likes, older than most comments. That's rare.
calling phantasm "slightly better in some cases" is the understatement of the century
I think this is the most well designed pair of lunar weapons in terms of risk and reward. Phantasm's higher damage demands more skill, whereas the Beater's consistency and safety is paid for with lower maximum payoff.
“Master mode moon lord does so much damage”. Mm moon lord also has 311k health and barely getting 2k dps with damage accessories is not cutting it.
They both have homing but phantasm also has like 5-6k dps so I’d say it’s better
"you can't just aim at this distance"
Sniper scope: Am I a joke to you?
Did Re-Logic update Sniper Scope to work with bows?
Mobile lock-on feature:
Personally, I would prefer the phantasm for it's speed
And I prefer the phantasm only in modded, since calamity adds terra arrows and phangasm. Terra arrow make more arrow, and you get it.
@@lilidiot- phangasm is post-ML, phantasm is still preferable for beating ML for the first time if you're going for a bow as i understand it (it worked for my master revengeance run)
@@lilidiot- also if you're going for phangasm, you might as well use the life steal arrows for free regen or the elysian arrows for damage, terra arrows are outdated tech by then
edit: brain gave out while writing this, fixed an error
@@korayacar1444 I like seeing lots of projectiles on my screen
@@lilidiot- are the elysian meteors somehow worse than what the terra arrows offer in terms of projectile spam?
I have played the ranger class many times, and i can easily say your exlanation on the Vortex beater being better when the moon lord is off screen is absolutely correct, and possibly the best strategy to beat it is to take down the eyes asap with the phantasm, then going almost out of range, trivialising pretty much every attack that it has
Although, i much prefer the rewarding playstyle of bursting it down with the phantasm the entire way, paired with magic quiver and its upgrades, it does an incredible lot of damage
Right. Beater is what I use when I want to win. Phantasm is what I use when I want to be proud of my win
@@solomonbyrne3909opposite for me I just beat for the worthy and I got to say 2k dps is not it. Phantasm also has homing. Arrow drop off isn’t a problem with Ichor and a quiver.
Very convenient this was uploaded. Im like at the end of my range class playthough and it's my first time doing just ranged so i've been learning a lot.
2:20 actually, if you use the background map (press tab twice) and you place your crosshair on the icon of the boss on the map, you will hit him (assuming that you use a pinpoint accuracy weapon, vortex beater will miss due to the spread)
Imo, Phantasm is more satisfying as the arrows hitting the enemies just feels much better than the green bullets, and that’s all that matters to me.
Imo I feel phantasm is better just because I usually skip chlorophyll ore and hallow or hybrid set for the whole run
So long as you strategically keep only one or two of the eyes offscreen (which can be done over a horizontal platform or by moving horizontally with a flying mount in a specific way), you can fight ML while relatively safe from its attacks. Combine that with the damage output of Phantasm with Chlorophyte arrows and good aim, and you'll see why I've never bothered with the Vortex Beater.
Chlorophyte arrows?
Those bounce off walls, why would you use that
@@HiddenBush64 high base damage for an arrow type only beaten out by cursed and venom, also you can shoot straight up at the start to chunk the top eye for free, and you should have plenty to go around since it's also the best arrow type for the pillars due to its homing, which especially gives nebula floaters a hard time if you use it well
love the fact that everybody fights on which Vortex weapon is the best when you literally can just use them both and just have fun with it.
This is why I love this game.
Well not really. The last ranger armour before Vortex is Shroomite, which has three different helmets that boost arrows, bullets and everything else respectively. So you technically *can*, but it's not like the other classes where your damage buffs are universal.
You continued the pillar weapon series :)
Eagerly waiting for the next one as summoner is my favorite class
Summoner is the only class where you can just vibe. During bosses you might want to use a whip to coordinate your attacks, but events are a cakewalk with Terraprisma and full stardust armor. Terraprisma kills everything far away, Stardust Stand goes ham on anything that slips through the cracks. It gets even more insane if you multiclass, using your army of terraprismas to kill EoL a second time for another one, and then build Zenith. Sure, you'll be minmaxed for summoning, but Zenith will still absolutely wreck non-bosses and pre-hardmode bosses.
The vortex is sooo good against Day time empress. Its so comfy to use
You could not be anymore right when devising your conclusion, but there are some I would like to add/critique:
I feel as if you overestimate arrow drop in terms of difficulty aiming. Sure, it will never be as accurate as Chlorophyte Bullets, but with reasonable judgement you can land consistently.
How I see it, Vortex Beater works great if you lack confidence or are wanting to secure a win without much hassle. If you're one who has done one-too-many Master/Legendary runs, and have borderline mastered Terraria, Phantasm easily prevails. :]
Great video regardless, keep it up my man!
Yes but if your playing on master mode a longer fight means u might make more mistakes. 2k dps is not cutting it. Phantasm has barely any arrow drop and does massively more damage
As someone who does phantasm moon lord, I'd say while vortex beater is easier, phantasm's higher skill cap does make it more effective at times.
Also with lumenite arrows it goes kinda crazy but at that point nothing else to use them on, so....
I'd say phantasm simply cuz it does more dps in most situations, it is the endgame bow after all
...I kind of feel that most of the merit that this review gives to the vortex beater is actually from chlorophyte bullets, rather than the beater (since if you don't have chlorophyte bullets, you'll miss every shot, and only the rockets would hit)
Vortex beater is genuinely one of only 2 machine gun-type weapons in the game that I actually use. All the rest are a massive wastes of recourses; expending several times the ammunition of their high damage-per-shot counterparts for only slightly better, equal, or outright worse results in terms of overall DPS.
Where the VB differs is in the highest chance not to consume ammo in the entire game, which more than makes up for the high fire rate. It also, as it should, specializes specifically in pillar busting and the moon lord fight.
You forgot one thing about the Vortex Beater: It’s loud as hell. I can’t stand the “bababababababababababa” that the Vortex Beater makes.
i would like to mention the underrated topic of chlorophyte arrows
using an arena which has enclosed in walls to an extent can cause arrows to rebound which deals good damage this helped me a lot in the moonlord fight so i would choose phantasm
my opinion so i got good dps with this add dodging ultimate bow strat
>arena which has enclosed in walls
yeah good luck being obliterated cause the walls were blocking where you need to go
Except you can just aim with venom arrows and that will deal more damage even if your aim is imperfect
While good arguments all around, I will argue that both weapons are not what you would be using in either case against the Moon Lord or for the Pillars, especially considering the cost of making Vortex Armor. The Chain Gun and the Tsunami have superior single target damage (except maybe against the slightly more unreliable Phantasm) and the Snowman Cannon excels in group damage. Both categories of Gun and Launcher are succeeded by the SDMG and the Celebration MK2, while the Phantasm competes with the Tsunami for strongest bow. In my Ranger playthroughs, unless I'm doing some kind of archery challenge (a fun one, I will say!), I tend to save my fragments for the armor and craft the weapons as an afterthought for my collection.
Phantasm is much better then tsunami
Its by far the strongest pillar weapon in term of dps
This new video is gonna be awesome.
the phantasm deals more damage than the vortex beater since the vortex beater with chlorophyte bullets focuses more on dodging while the other kills as fast as possible whatever's in front of you
the phantasm also deals more damage than the sdmg with both using luminite ammo
convenience vs efficiency, but it ultimately boils down to preference
@@saulgoodman9449 Not since the quiver nerf, but its close
@@damnthisisabadname actually? cus i still have it doing way more damage than both options
even if it isnt as strong anymore, it’s still the most fun option for me so I would still use it, especially because the sdmg is such a boring weapon and same with the luminite bullets
My god isachooten I miss him
I don't know what gear you used (I assume you used optimal damage setups), but if you didn't for some weird reason, it's worth noting that the phantasm (and bows in general) have a noticably higher damage output potential than thier gun counterparts due to the presence of the magic quiver. This is a very strong buff that guns straight up do not get an equivalent of, unless you want to count the sniper scope or something (which I'm pretty sure is a weaker buff anyways).
Yes, I used the Magic Quiver (unless you use arrows that already have an x2 velocity multiplier; in that case, using a Ranger Emblem or some other accessory is better).
The Phantasm absolutely has a better damage potential, but you need to get closer to take advantage of it since you lack homing. Phantasm is probably superior in Classic and Expert, but since I tested on Master, I found the Phantasm's close playstyle to be a bit too dangerous.
@@Terraw actually, now that I think about it, that makes another significant difference between phantasm and vortex beater (and I'm kicking myself for not mentioning it because it's relevant in my ranger playthroughs): if you use phantasm, you likely will want to use both ranger emblem and magic quiver, which can crowd your accessory slots. This may mean you need to give up another accessory to fit both on and maximize the phantasms damage output, especially on classic or expert where the former only has 5 slots and the latter has powerful boss accessories. Typically, I end up dropping terraspark boots lategame as fishron wings compensate with excellent air mobility, on top of the fact I use master ninja gear for its excellent dash and the unicorn mount if I really need to travel fast on the ground. But the vortex beater straight up doesn't need to make this decision and can more easily fit the accessories it wants.
terrasteel did you only use 1 quiver or all 3
Not sure if it was used but bows also have archery potions
@@idonthaveanameyetsothiswil4182 I believe they only stack velocity, not stats nowadays
The pillar texture is sick fr fr
Since I’ve seen a lot of people ask for the pack (even if it’s in desc) I’ll put it here: Foundry & Alchemy
(Not sure if you already know, but others may read this)
@@Terraw neat
note: terraprisma exceeds both of the stardust pillar weapons in my experience, and can be gotten much earlier if you can get lucky with a daytime EoL fight. Not sure what your findings will be while working on the Stardust Pillar video, but that's my two cents.
that's like saying Tsunami exceeds Daedalus Stormbow and can be obtained earlier. yes... but it's extremely difficult to do that
This is a great comparison rather than comparing their raw stats your making the scenario that is always pre moon lord as a ftw master mode player raw dps usually can't get you many places I enjoyed this comparison a lot considering I never new why I always preferred vortex beater
The reason I prefer Tsunami to the Phantasm. Also As far as I remember Tsunami was even better for a period of time, not sure if in raw DPS but more shots hit due to the phantasm shots being too slow/late
Fun fact: Vortex beater before the release of 1.3 (as seen on the 1.3 minecart video) was called "Black Hole Beater". Which sounds cooler ngl
Vortex pillar is blackhole themed, so that makes sense.
YES I needed this video, about to fight ML for the first time
edit: what texture pack do you use?
Foundry and Alchemy. Check the description.
i used vortex beater but if u use phantasm make sure to hold the fire button so it is faster
Archery potion makes the phantasm win pretty easily
It's very odd that A) Ranger and mage are the only classes that get class specific damage potions and B) The Ranger one applies only to one type of ranged weapon.
@@russman3787i mean summoner and melee get imbues which are really strong anyway, and actually the summoner does have a summon potion which gives +1 summon
@@basil4154 Yeah, I thought about mentioning the summon potion but I felt like it was a bit different mechanically.
@@russman3787 i get it, to me the archery potion is strange but the mage ones are an obvious things since mages are sorta related to potions and such, the archery potion is handy tho!
@@basil4154 Yeah I agree with everything you said there.
Just aim crowd is right though. I could reliably hit Moonlord with the arrows offscreen. The extra arrow generation makes it perfectly clear when you're hitting vs not. Allows you correct your aim on the fly no problem.
More people need to put a list of texture packs they use, some of them look really good that I might even want in my worlds, also what's the pillar texture pack?
description says Foundry and Alchemy
@@thebaseandtriflingcreature174 thanks ig
@@decayingscavenger sorry?
Personally i found zenith seed moon lord easier with phantasm, since being too far away limits your ability to see the phantasmal rays and incoming projectiles so you get git more often, so being closer allows you to see the eyes while also gwtting more damage. Still took a long time but vortex beater didnt do nearly enoufh damage. So in the higher difficilties, (past master mode so ftw) i think the phantasm is actually a bit better
OH COOL ITS A PILLAR REWORK
its been so long
Okay I really love your editing with the text and images, seems useful, what may you use to edit?
I didn't see nobody talk about how useful the sniper scope is for dodging moon lord at long distances, making the vortex beater + cloro bullets even better.
Always wished there was a third weapon for each pillar. Like melee could get a flail, ranged could get a launcher, mage could get a staff, and summoner could get a whip. Tie up some loose ends, some JOURNEYS ENDS
I like that you actually took chlorophyle into account. Also to all people telling learn to aim. Every missed shot is dps loss and nobody has perfect aim while dodging all shit on screen. I will take reliability over higher potencial damage.
Can you make a video talking about Hallowed armor? Because I think its the best armor for melee due to it's buff that makes you dodge an attack.
I feel like guns generally outclass bows as soon as chlorophyte bullets become available. I love using bows, I did a bow only run a while ago, but it's a lot more active and aggressive using bows.
2:18 Senpai noticed mee!!! 🥺
Tbh my lack of chlorophyte ammo is best attributed to only getting chlorophyte once for the Armour and never again :P
Besides missing or hitting is half the fun
As a guy who has beaten Expert ranger a day ago after some time, I consider Phantasm better just because i can combine it with Holy arrows, but Vortex Beater is better for faster bosses like Moonlord, but maybe i just cant aim well😅
note: this was written as my personal opinion before i saw the video, i then realized you explained everything lmao
Archery potion and quiver makes arrows pretty fast
Honestly, phantasm is more fun because of its dps. It's so satisfying play Master with a glass cannon ranger-bow dps type that it definitely made me forget the existence of vortex beater. Not to mention, beater is chloro bullets dependent because of its spread, making it feel like "uncompleted" in terms of optimization.
I am personally trying to craft both. Phantasm guarantees instant 5k dmg if you shot Arrows towards space 10 seconds before moon lord spawns. That thing guarantees damage to middle Eye which is the most difficult to deal with and is very good on last phase of moon lord when you have to shoot the core. High dps and pretty constant position of core which is always vulnerable to all hits after dealing with eyes is more profitable for phantasm. But before this phase, most of the time vortex beater is more reliable and almost always guarantees you that moon lord wont regenerate health because chlorophyte bullets target always closest target.
I always prefer guns over bows, and thus I craft Vortex Beater, also because I like Chlorophyte Bullets homing, just like Terrasteel said, you can keep your distance while doing damage.
Vortex cuz THUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNKTHUNK
Phantasm if i feel like hearing the game
WHY ARE VENOM ARROWS SO UNDERRATED?! THEY'RE GOOD!
Tfw summoner last as always. (mostly joking) For real, though, I'm excited to see your takes on the summoner weapons. Personally, I probably undervalue SDragon, but I feel like most people overvalued it before targeting became a thing, so I'm interested to hear your thoughts.
Is it actually that hard to hit bosses off-screen? I only have a little more than 3k hours in Terraria, but I don't know when I started to do that. Thus, I can't evaluate the benefits of chlorophyte bullets.
Yes...especially on mobile tho...
also the map helps greatly, just press tab a couple times until the screen is flooded with the map and you can use that (along with a brain) to hit bosses offscreen
it isn't actually that difficult to hit bosses offscreen, but it's still worth mentioning since more casual players might struggle with it
Vortex Beater + Chlorophyte bullets is my fav weapon to fight Moon lord as Summoner. It's even better than whips, as summoner has really poor survivability if I get that close, and if I'm far enough Vortex Beater + dragon can both damage Moon lord offscreen.
The phantasm is great, with venom arrows and a tank build so you can get close up and its amazing, along with a summon and all the buffs necessary and you gonna kill the boss super quickly
I think phantasm is good for moonlord in any difficulty if you use jester arrow as it arrow speed is fast and doesn't affected by gravity giving you much more distance to dodge it's phantasmal deathray.
I think the ideal tactic I have discovered is to just carry 7+ weapons in your hot bar at all times and keep different class armor sets in your inventory as well
So... you just run every class just in case you need to swap from Summoner to Ranger
Especially with the new outfit hotkeys in 1.4.4. You can play two different classes and have your last set be for building, with one or two summoner accessories so you can have a few terraprismas or stardust dragon attacking random slimes that show up.
Meanwhile, I'm over here using Snowman cannon through the endgame.
I've never actually used the Phantasm, mostly cause the Onyx Blaster is my favorite gun, and the Vortex Beater is quite similar to it. I'm currently doing a classic run (yes, shame me for it) in the hopes of finally defeating the Duke, (Journey Mode doesn't count, obviously,) and if I can't beat him by endgame, I'll try the Phantasm.
Just occurred to me I’ve never went ranged for pillars
If you are making a video on the stardust I definitely feel like the dragon is better than the cells the same way the vortex beater is better than the phantasm
Something to point out
In modded difficulties , like calamity or Fargo soul , phantasm is just better since u stay close to him
personally I’d say it’s preference since I like the phantasm more
The Vortex Beat is just so much more satisfying to shoot.
I find the phantasm more useful because bows have 2 really good arrow speed/damage buffs: the magic quiver and the archery potion
Consistency is underrated in game development
As a summoner „main“ you have to be in there anyways so I am way more used to the high dps low survivability close combat playstyle
I like phantasm because the quantity of numbers makes me happy
'Just aim'. Heh- As someone who CAN aim, it ain't that easy when a boss is off-screen. You gotta calculate when they'll be open to bullets, and which parts, for moonlord in particular, with it's few weak points and opening/closing eyes.
Proud member of cholorphyte arrow gang
Holy shit what’s that pillar texture pack?
Well, if you only got the Vortex Beater and went on to lose to Moon Lord, at least that would make your second attempt against the Lunatic Cultist easier, and you could do the Vortex Pillar again first and craft Phantasm to make the rest of the pillars much less of a pain. That sounds like a really good plan.
Though I'm primarily Melee/Magic so... what would I know about fully ranged playthroughs? I just wipe everything out with my Terra Blade.
Would you mention terraprisma when ranking the stardust weapons? Since people argue whether the dragon staff or the terraprisma is the better one against ml
hes just gonna do the dragon and mini star cell staff
I like bows because they look cool, so I tend to pick the phantasm
Vortex beater without chlorophyte bullet is goofy.
What is the texture pack you are using for the pilars?
vortex beater is the best feeling gun to shoot its unrivaled for me
phantasm is a very good youtuber :)
If there were proper homing arrows, I think phantasm would beat out vortex beater, but since there's not, I think VB wins in most situations.
Homing arrows would probably break the game even at endgame since from the beginning the whole gimmick with bows is accounting for velocity
Yo, what mod did you use for the pillars designs?
I played terraria for so long that i dont even touch bows unless it was early game wooden bow same with calamity
i like phantasm cos im a bow guy, i just feel bows are more fun to use than guns
-😎
Literally my current calamity run
Based
What's your opinion on Chlorophyte arrows tho, Mr. Steel?
I personally like the vortex beater more
Definitely the bow
Cuz the gun is loud AF
Imo, phantasm is objectively better for first phase of moonlord, because he opens his eyes periodically you need burst damage (which what v excels at). You also can't get away from the moonlord because you need to see the death ray telegraph.
whats the texture pack your yousing?
foundry and alchemy
I think that phantasm requires more skill, but rewards you for that skill.
You can still just "git gud" at aiming with it even if ML is off-screen lol. He moves in a very predictable way so it's not difficult to work out where his hitboxes are.
The one issue is hitting the hand on the other side of his body, but you should be swapping which side you fly on whenever you dodge his forehead beam anyway.
Even tho i use both to moonlord, (phantasm for the eye and beater for when he is offscreen) id still choose the beater(tho most of the time i can craft both if i convert the other fragments)
Does the Vortex Pillar actially look like that now or is that a resource pack?
I've never been a fan of homing bullets so vortex beater has never even crossed my mind as a good weapon. The bow just does everything I need it to with a better selection of ammo
If only Vortex Beater ,wasn't inaccurate ,I could spam crystal bullets
1:08 daedalus stormbow??
Easy, phantasm can benefit from stacking 3 of the quiver upgrades and can have semi-homing with chlorophyte arrows.
I love the vortex beater
What is the resource pack
If you play multiplayer, the Phantasm is the better weapon - because someone else is tanking, you can pile on the DPS. And - just saying - I’ve never been booted from a server for exceeding the DPS cutoff while using a Beater.