Survival sandbox games are loads of fun for players who enjoy exploring worlds, gathering resources, and fending off foes with the best weaponry they can. While one game has seemingly dominated this niche genre (Minecraft), another indie game is also considered among the genre's best: Terraria.
There is a debate as to which game is better, but one thing Terraria is considered the best at is giving players a unique array of weapons to use to combat the harshness of their environment. There is a lot of them too as there is a total of 548 weapons in the game. But there is one weapon that stands out: the Meowmere.
What Is The Meowmere?
A Meowmere is a sword that fires projectiles at enemies. These projectiles are cat heads that are trailed by rainbows as they bounce around the screen. The projectile is gravity-reliant and will only bounce off of things four times. That said, it also can pierce multiple enemies after being released.
This cute but deadly weapon only exists if a player survives long enough in a Hardmode world. It is an auto-swing melee weapon, which means that players can just hold down the attack button and the sword will keep firing.
How To Obtain
The Meowmere is extremely rare as there is only one way to obtain it: defeating the Moon Lord and hoping it drops a rare loot. The Moon Lord is the final boss in Terraria, so getting to that point requires going through the whole game, beating the Lunatic Cultist, and experiencing the Lunar Events that follow.
If players are able to defeat the Moon Lord, there is an 11.11 percent chance, or 1/9 of a chance, for the Meowmere to be among the drops they get.
Aesthetic
It's very hard to confuse the Meowmere with the other swords in the game. The weapon has a pink and blue blade, while its base has a cat face. As mentioned earlier, the cat projectile is released from the sword and can bounce about four times before disappearing.
Beyond the obnoxious rainbow trails, what stands out about these projectiles is the sound they make as they hit off of walls. There are different versions of a cat's meow each time it hits, which some players might find annoying. If that is the case, switching sound files around to avoid hearing the meows is an option
Origins & Inspiration
The Meowmere was first introduced in desktop version 1.3 as part of a massive dump of new features and items for players to toy with. The addition of the sword was teased by a developer in the Mobile game's end credits on April Fool's Day.
Once added, it was clear that the inspiration behind the sword was Nyan Cat, the viral sensation of an 8-bit cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space endlessly. The name "Meowmere" appears to also be a reference to the Thor movies where characters would often mispronounce "Mjolnir" as "Meowmere."
Specific Stats
Using the sword as a melee item, the damage is set at 200 but can increase over time to 244. However, the projectile that emits from the Meowmere is weaker than the sword itself, so maximum damage is better in close combat.
Despite the downgrade in max damage, the projectile is very fast as it can go up to 62 miles per hour. The speed and the explosions increase as the cat bounces off the wall. The knockback is set at 6.5, which is strong. The base critical hit chance is set at 4 percent.
Modifiers
In Terraria, players can apply modifiers to accessories and weapons that not only adds a prefix to the item but also alters its stats. This can be good and bad, with each weapon type having a set of modifiers that can be applied to it.
For the Meowmere, players have the ability to apply the "Legendary" modifier. This allows them to get massive upgrades such as a 15 percent damage boost, a 10 percent weapon speed boost, and a 5 percent increase of a critical hit chance to name a few.
Comparison To Other Weapons
Meowmere is in the conversation of the best weapon in Terraria with how powerful it is, how fast it can be used, and how far back enemies can be knocked. However, there are swords that statistically are stronger in other categories.
The Zenith, for example, has a higher damage-per-second ratio than the Meowmere. The Terrarian also has a stronger DPS when equipped with the Yoyo Bag accessory. There are also plenty of weapons that are better for creating explosions than the Meowmere, mainly single-use explosives.
Used In Crafting
The feline sword is not craftable, as explained earlier, but that does not mean it can't be used for crafting. In fact, the sword is one of many that are used to create the Zenith, another melee weapon that is obtainable after beating the Moon Lord.
Along with the Meowmere, the swords needed to craft the Zenith are the Terra Blade, the Star Wrath, the Influx Waver, the Horseman's Blade, the Seedler, the Starfury, the Beekeeper, the Enchanted Sword, and the Copper Shortsword. The Zenith can be crafted on the Mythril Anvil or the Orichalcum Anvil.