If you’ve ever picked up a cool new weapon or accessory in Terraria only to realize it feels weaker than you expected, you’re not alone. A lot of new players skip over one of the most accessible ways to power up their build because they don’t know how to reforge in Terraria, or think it’s too expensive to be worth it. The truth is, reforging can turn average gear into boss-slaying equipment for a fraction of the time it takes to farm for a new rare item. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to reforge smart, not hard, no matter what playstyle you prefer.
What You Need to Unlock Reforging in Terraria
Reforging isn’t available from the start of the game, and you’ll have to hit a few small milestones before you can access the feature. First, you need to defeat the Goblin Army event, which spawns randomly once you have at least 200 HP, 3 NPCs living in your base, and have broken at least one Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart. The event is fairly easy to beat even with pre-Hardmode gear, as long as you have a basic ranged weapon to take out goblin scouts from a distance.
Once you beat the Goblin Army, you’ll need to find the bound Goblin Tinkerer spawned randomly in the underground layer of your world. He won’t attack you, and all you have to do is right click him to free him. As long as you have an empty house available in your base, he’ll move in shortly after, and that’s where you’ll access all reforging services.
It’s important to note that reforging costs coins, and the price scales directly with the value of the item you’re modifying. A common pre-Hardmode sword might only cost a few silver to reforge, while a endgame Hardmode accessory could cost multiple gold per roll. I remember spending 12 gold on reforging a tin sword my first week playing, only to find a demonite sword an hour later that was twice as strong. Don’t make that mistake.
How to Reforge in Terraria: Step-by-Step Process
Once the Goblin Tinkerer is living in your base, reforging is a straightforward process, but there are a few small details new players often miss. First, walk up to the Goblin Tinkerer and interact with him to open his shop menu. You’ll see a small anvil icon near the top of the menu, which is the reforge option—click that to open the reforging interface.
Next, drag the item you want to reforge into the empty slot in the reforging menu. The cost of one reforge roll will show up right below the slot, so you can make sure you have enough coins before you start. Click the reforge button, and the item will get a brand new random modifier, which will show up below the item name. You can reforge the same item as many times as you want, as long as you have enough coins to cover each roll.
Keep in mind that modifiers are completely random, so you might get a terrible modifier on your first roll and a perfect one on your second, or vice versa. You also can’t reforge certain items, including quest rewards, master mode relics, building blocks, and items that don’t have any combat or utility stats. If you don’t see the reforge option pop up when you place an item in the slot, that item probably can’t be modified.
Best Modifiers to Target for Different Gear Types
Not all modifiers are created equal, and the best roll for one build might be completely useless for another. A modifier that boosts mana, for example, won’t do anything for a melee build that never uses magic spells. Before you start reforging, you should have a clear idea of what stats benefit your playstyle most, so you don’t waste coins rolling for modifiers you don’t actually need.
These are the most useful modifiers to target for each common build type:
- Melee builds: Prioritize Legendary for weapons, which boosts damage, knockback, speed, and crit chance. For accessories, pick Warding for extra survivability if you’re still learning boss patterns, or Menacing for extra damage if you’re comfortable dodging attacks.
- Ranger builds: Look for Unreal for guns and bows, which boosts damage, speed, crit chance, and knockback. Quick is a great accessory modifier for rangers, as extra movement speed makes it much easier to dodge enemy fire while you’re aiming.
- Mage builds: Go for Mythical for magic weapons, which boosts damage, crit chance, and mana efficiency. Mystic is a solid accessory modifier for mages that cuts down on mana usage so you don’t have to chug mana potions every few seconds during fights.
- Summoner builds: Target Mythical for summon weapons to boost summon damage, and Arcane for accessories to increase your max mana and summon damage at the same time.
You don’t have to chase the perfect modifier right away, especially if you’re a new player. If you get a roll that gives you +8% damage and +5% crit chance, that’s more than enough to get you through most pre-Hardmode content without spending all your coins. You can always come back and reforge for better rolls once you have more coins saved up later in the game.
Common Reforging Mistakes to Avoid
Reforging is simple, but it’s easy to waste a ton of coins if you don’t go into it with a plan. One of the biggest mistakes new players make is reforging low-tier items that they’re going to replace in a few hours. If you’re still using iron armor, don’t waste 5 gold reforging it—you’ll get molten armor soon that’s way stronger, and you’ll be able to reforge that instead for better long-term value.
Always set a coin budget before you start reforging so you don’t drain your entire savings on one item. It’s really easy to get caught up in chasing that perfect Legendary modifier, and before you know it, you’ve spent all the coins you saved for a new pickaxe or house upgrade. I usually set aside 10% of my total coin balance for reforging, and stop as soon as I hit that limit, even if I haven’t gotten the roll I want yet.
Another common mistake is only reforging weapons and ignoring armor and accessories. A lot of players don’t realize you can reforge armor pieces too, and the extra defense, damage, or movement speed you get from reforging a full set of armor adds up really fast. Even a +2 defense roll on each of your three armor pieces gives you 6 extra defense total, which is enough to cut 12 damage off every enemy hit in pre-Hardmode.
Finally, don’t feel like you have to get the highest damage modifier on every item. If you’re struggling to beat a boss, Warding modifiers on all your accessories that give you +4 defense each will help you survive way longer than a few extra percent damage. I still run full Warding on all my accessories when I’m fighting a new boss for the first time, even in endgame Hardmode, because it cuts down on the number of times I get one-shot by surprise attacks.
Reforging is one of the most underrated ways to power up your build in Terraria, and it doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive if you know what you’re doing. Unlock the Goblin Tinkerer first, set a clear budget before you start rolling, target modifiers that fit your specific playstyle, and don’t waste coins on items you’re going to replace quickly. Now that you know how to reforge in Terraria, you can turn your average gear into boss-slaying powerhouses in no time, without spending hours farming for rare drops.