If you’ve spent any time grinding for powerful pre-Hardmode weapons in Terraria, you’ve probably come across mentions of the Muramasa, a fast, high-damage sword that’s a core component of one of the game’s best early-game melee weapons. Figuring out how to get Muramasa in Terraria isn’t as straightforward as looting a regular chest or defeating a single boss, but the payoff is well worth the effort. I’ve spent dozens of playthroughs testing the fastest ways to grab this weapon, and I’ve put together all the tips you need to skip the frustration and get it on your first run.
Prerequisites You Need Before You Learn How to Get Muramasa in Terraria
You can’t just walk into the Dungeon and grab the Muramasa right away, there are a few non-negotiable steps you have to complete first. You must defeat Skeletron before entering the Dungeon to avoid getting one-shot by the Dungeon Guardian, an invulnerable enemy that spawns if you enter the Dungeon before triggering the Skeletron boss fight at the Old Man’s spawn point. I made this mistake on my first ever playthrough, I wandered too far left of my spawn, saw a cool stone structure, and died instantly before I even knew what hit me.
To beat Skeletron easily, I recommend bringing a ranged weapon like the Mini Shark or a Demon Bow with at least 300 ammo, plus Iron Skin and Regeneration potions to tank its arm attacks. You don’t need top-tier gear, but gold or platinum armor will make the fight far less stressful. Once you beat Skeletron, the Dungeon is open for exploration, but you still want to bring a few supplies with you before you head in. Torches, a pickaxe that can mine Dungeon bricks, and at least 10 healing potions are non-negotiable, especially if you’re playing on Expert or Master mode.
One quick tip: your world’s Dungeon will always spawn on the far left or far right of the map, opposite the Jungle biome. If you can’t find it at first, just follow the edge of the world until you see the distinctive blue brick structure, it’s impossible to miss once you get close enough.
Where to Find Muramasa in the Dungeon
Once you’re inside the Dungeon, you need to know what to look for to save time. Muramasa only spawns in locked Gold Chests inside the Dungeon, it will never appear in regular wooden chests, Shadow Chests, or any other loot container in the game. To open these locked Gold Chests, you need Golden Keys, which drop from common Dungeon enemies like Angry Bones, Dark Casters, and Cursed Skulls at a roughly 1/40 drop rate. You can also find Golden Keys in pots scattered around the Dungeon, so smash every pot you see as you explore.
Each locked Gold Chest has an approximately 14% chance to contain the Muramasa, so you might get it on your first chest, or you might have to open 7 or 8 before you find it. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find it right away, I once looted 12 chests on a bad RNG run before I finally got mine. If you’re really struggling, you can create a new small world, beat Skeletron there, and loot that Dungeon instead, then bring the Muramasa back to your main world. That’s a trick speedrunners use all the time to avoid bad RNG.
To make your search faster, follow these simple tips:
- Drink a Spelunker Potion before entering the Dungeon to highlight all chests through walls, so you don’t waste time digging through unnecessary blocks
- Stick to the lower levels of the Dungeon first – locked Gold Chests spawn more frequently below the surface level of the world
- Prioritize opening every locked Gold Chest you find, as each one has an equal chance of containing the Muramasa
- Clear out enemies around chests before opening them, so you don’t get swarmed mid-loot and lose your progress if you die
Don’t worry if you find other loot before the Muramasa, most of the items in Dungeon Gold Chests are incredibly useful. The Cobalt Shield, Magic Missile, and Aqua Scepter are all great finds that will make the rest of your pre-Hardmode playthrough much easier, even if they’re not the weapon you’re looking for.
What Makes Muramasa Worth Grinding For?
A lot of new players wonder if the Muramasa is worth the hassle of exploring the Dungeon, and the short answer is yes, especially if you play a melee build. The Muramasa deals 21 melee damage, has an extremely fast attack speed, and comes with auto-swing, a feature that’s very rare for pre-Hardmode swords. That means you can hold down the attack button to swing continuously, no need to spam click, which makes dealing with swarms of enemies way easier.
The biggest reason to get the Muramasa though is its crafting utility. Muramasa is one of four required components to craft the Night’s Edge, the strongest pre-Hardmode melee weapon in the game. The other components are the Blade of Grass (crafted from Jungle spores and stingers), the Fiery Greatsword (found in Underworld Shadow Chests), and either the Light’s Bane (crafted from Demonite bars) or Blood Butcherer (crafted from Crimtane bars, depending on your world’s evil biome). The Night’s Edge deals 42 damage, has a long range, and can carry you all the way through the Wall of Flesh fight and into early Hardmode.
Even if you don’t play a melee build, the Muramasa is still worth grabbing. It’s a great backup weapon for any class, and if you play with friends, you can pass it off to a melee main who will get a ton of use out of it. The only real downside of the Muramasa is its relatively short range, but its fast attack speed more than makes up for that, you can hit enemies faster than they can hit you if you time your swings right.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Hunting for Muramasa
I’ve seen so many players make avoidable mistakes when looking for the Muramasa, and I’ve made most of them myself, so I’ve put together a list of things to skip to save you time and frustration. Don’t enter the Dungeon without at least 3 empty inventory slots before you go. The last thing you want is to find the Muramasa and have to throw away another valuable item to pick it up, or worse, have it despawn because you have no space for it.
Another common mistake is using explosives to blow up chests. If you blow up a Gold Chest, you’ll only get the materials to make the chest, not the loot inside. You have to open it normally with a Golden Key to get the items, so save your bombs for mining ore instead. I watched a new player blow up 6 Gold Chests on a multiplayer server once because they thought it would be faster, and they got nothing for their effort, don’t be that guy.
Don’t waste time looking for Muramasa in other biomes either. A lot of new players think it spawns in the Underworld or the Jungle, but it only spawns in Dungeon Gold Chests, so you don’t have to explore anywhere else to find it. If you’re playing on a multiplayer server, check if chest protection is enabled first. Some servers lock chests to the first player who finds them, so you might have to ask an admin to open it for you, or make your own private world to farm the Muramasa if you don’t want to wait.
Finally, don’t forget to bring a way to teleport back home once you find the Muramasa. A Magic Mirror or a Recall Potion will save you from having to fight your way back out of the Dungeon, which can take 20 minutes or more if you’re deep underground. I once forgot my Magic Mirror on a run, and I died 2 steps from the exit with the Muramasa in my inventory, it was one of the most frustrating moments of my Terraria career.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get Muramasa in Terraria is all about preparation, patience, and knowing where to look. It’s not the rarest weapon in the game, but it’s one of the most impactful for early melee builds, and it’s a critical step if you want to craft the strongest pre-Hardmode weapon available. Take your time prepping for the Dungeon, use the tips we shared, and you’ll have your Muramasa in no time.