Wings are a fantastic accessory in Terraria, granting you the ability to fly and explore your world from new heights. Available after defeating the Wall of Flesh, wings become an essential part of navigating hard mode and taking on its formidable bosses. With the 1.4 update, wing progression has been thoughtfully balanced, offering you gradual and satisfying upgrades throughout your journey. This guide will walk you through the easiest and best wings to acquire at each stage of the game, helping you soar through with confidence and ease. Let's dive in and discover the best Terraria wings for your adventure!
The Big 1.4 Wing Progression Patch
Even though 99% of the wings available in Terraria are only obtainable after reaching hard-mode, you'll have to take into account that they're not all readily available as you reach it. With the 1.4 update and a few small latter patches (1.4.1, 1.4.3, 1.4.4) wing progression has been heavily balanced to offer gradual upgrades throughout the game. You don't have to upgrade your wings very often, and I don't even recommend it. However, I'll guide you through the easiest and best ones to acquire at each stage of the game so you know what to grind for whenever you feel like it.
Tier 0: The Only Pre-Hardmode Wings
Before entering Hardmode in Terraria, there's one pair of wings you can obtain: the Fledgling Wings. These wings are a great introduction to the benefits of flight and gliding, providing a significant advantage even before the Wall of Flesh is defeated, and they may actually aid you in doing so.
The Fledgling Wings offer limited flight capabilities compared to Hardmode wings. Though, despite their lower stats, they are extremely valuable for early game exploration and avoiding fall damage, especially if you're doing a hardcore playthrough.
It may be worth noting that you'll need to grind a bit to obtain the Fledgling Wings, which may not be worth your time as accessories such as the Spectre Boots and Cloud in a Bottle can provide similar levels of mobility while being much more common.
How to get Fledgling Wings
- Skyware Chests: These can be found on Floating Islands scattered across the sky. Exploring these islands can yield various valuable items, including the Fledgling Wings.
- Note: As of Patch 1.4.4 Fledgling Wings have been removed as a primary drop from Skyware Chests. They now have a 1/40 (2.5%) chance of being secondary loot.
- Sky Crates: These can be fished up in the Space layer. Opening these crates has a chance to drop the Fledgling Wings.
- Azure Crates: Similar to Sky Crates, these are obtained through fishing but are specific to Hardmode. They also have a chance to contain Fledgling Wings.
- Journey Mode: If you create a character in Journey Mode, you start with the Fledgling Wings already equipped, making them immediately accessible for experimentation and use. Their internal name is in fact "CreativeWings", which does hint at them being primarily for Journey Mode players who just want to build things.
Tier 1: Best Early Hardmode Wings
Killing the Wall of Flesh places you into Hardmode and as of Terraria patch 1.4.4 Leaf Wings are no longer obtainable right away because they require that you kill Plantera. There were a few other changes as well, notably, the Angel & Demon Wings requiring less souls to be crafted.
For that reason I've chosen Demon/Angel as the best Terraria wings for early hardmode, but this does mean you'll have to do some hardmode mining first. Even though gathering materials is straightforward, it does involve some farming and battling tougher enemies in the sky and underground biomes.
How to get Angel/Demon Wings
In total, you'll need to get 10 Feathers, 20 Souls of Flight, and 15 Souls of Light/Night as well as have an Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil crafting station ready. If you're wondering where to get all of these resources, I've prepared a simple gathering list.
- Feathers: Dropped by Harpies, which spawn in the sky biome. They have a fairly common drop rate, making them relatively easy to farm.
- Souls of Flight: Dropped by Wyverns, which spawn in the sky in Hardmode. Wyverns can be tough enemies when you first enter Hardmode, so make sure you got a few Hardmode equipment upgrades beforehand.
- Souls of Light (for Angel Wings): Found in the Underground Hallow biome. These are dropped by any enemy defeated in this biome.
- Souls of Night (for Demon Wings): Found in the Underground Corruption or Crimson biomes. Like Souls of Light, these are dropped by any enemy defeated in these biomes.
Tier 2: Best Pre-Mech Bosses Wings
As you progress further into Hardmode and prepare to take on the mechanical bosses, upgrading your wings can provide a significant boost to your mobility and combat capabilities. Tier 2 wings offer longer flight times and increased speed compared to Tier 1, making them a valuable upgrade. Among the available options, Frozen Wings are currently the best Terraria wings for Pre-Mech bossing due to their relative ease of acquisition and excellent performance, while Fairy Wings come in second and Harpy Wings third.
How to get Fairy/Harpy/Frozen Wings
- Fairy Wings: Require 20 Souls of Flight and 99 Pixie Dust. It glows and emits light when you fly, which is helpful sometimes. However, the 99 Pixie Dust might be a little troublesome to acquire.
- Harpy Wings: Require a Giant Harpy Feather. This is a crafting component that drops from Harpies at a 1 out of 200 chance. Unless you've managed to find one already, don't bother going for this pair.
- Frozen Wings: Crafted with Souls of Flight and an Ice Feather. The Ice Feather is a material dropped from the Ice Golem, a rare enemy that spawns during a blizzard in the ice biome. A blizzard is basically rain, so when it rains, just head over to the ice biome for a chance of encountering this enemy. The Ice Golem might seem like a tough enemy, but it's actually easily dealt with if you box yourself in. Just attack it with a minion or a yo-yo and you'll make quick work of it. Ice Feathers also drop at a 1 in 3 chance, which is significantly higher than the other wings. The ease of obtaining this pair of wings just makes it a great pair to go for pre-mech bosses.
If you're playing on Expert Mode, you'll also have access to Developer Wings. These can be obtained when you defeat at least one mechanical boss. Hardmode treasure bags now have a chance to give you a developer set, which usually comes with a pair of wings. There are lots of them, but they all have the same stats and are slightly better than Tier 2 wings. Developer sets are modeled for Terraria developers, so it's more of a novelty item to look cool with. They are all right to use if you manage to get a pair, but Tier 3 wings are still better.
Tier 3: Best Post-Mech Bosses Wings
Tier 3 wings represent a significant upgrade from Tier 2 and are generally quite easy to obtain. The simplest to acquire are the Butterfly Wings, which require Butterfly Dust.
How to get Butterfly Wings
As we previously mentioned, Butterfly Wings need to be crafted with Butterfly Dust. This dust can be obtained from Moths, rare enemies found in the Underground Jungle. Moths have a 50% chance of dropping Butterfly Dust, and with a Lifeform Analyzer (sold by the Traveling Merchant), obtaining the Butterfly Wings becomes even quicker, easily making them the best Terraria wings for Post-Mech Bossing.
Alternative Tier 3 Wings
If the Butterfly Wings aren’t your preference, consider these alternatives:
- Bat Wings: Require a Broken Bat Wing, dropped by Vampires during a Solar Eclipse at a 1 in 40 chance.
- Bee Wings: Require a Tattered Bee Wing, dropped by Moss Hornets at a 1 in 150 chance.
- Flame Wings: Require a Fire Feather, dropped by the Red Devil at a 1 in 75 chance.
These alternatives involve rarer drops, making them less efficient to farm for. If you happen to acquire any of the components, go ahead and craft them. However, for the fastest and easiest upgrade, Butterfly Wings are the way to go. Note that while Moss Hornets and Moths can be encountered before defeating mechanical bosses, they won’t drop wing components until at least one mechanical boss is defeated.
Tier 4: Best Post-Plantera Wings
Several excellent wings are available post-Plantera, but I’ll categorize the basic high-stat wings as Tier 4. The easiest to obtain are likely the Hoverboard or the Spectre Wings.
Recommended Tier 4 Wings
- Hoverboard: Requires 18 Shroomite Bars and allows you to hover, providing a bonus horizontal speed while hovering. Shroomite Bars are crafted by combining Glowing Mushrooms and Chlorophyte Bars at an Autohammer sold by the Truffle NPC.
- Spectre Wings: Require 10 Spectre Bars, made by combining Chlorophyte and Ectoplasm from a post-Plantera dungeon. These wings offer superior ascending speeds compared to lower-tier wings.
Other Tier 4 wings with slightly better stats but more difficult to obtain include:
- Festive Wings: Dropped from the Everscream during the Frost Moon event.
- Spooky Wings: Dropped from the Mourning Woods during the Pumpkin Moon event.
- Tattered Fairy Wings: Require Black Fairy Dust from the Pumpking.
These alternatives have higher stats but might be more challenging to farm. If you acquire the components during events, craft them, but dedicated farming might not be worth the effort.
Tier 5: Best Pre-Moonlord Wings
There are three really popular Pre-Moonlord Wings and you'll want to acquire at least one of them: Fishron, Empress and Betsy. Fishron are simple wings that offer excellent stats, Empress wings shine with Insignia but they are useful even without it, especially for Phantasmal Deathray and lastly, the Betsy's are great for dodging Phase 2 of Moonlord and once again, the Insignia is not required but is highly recommended.
How to get the Fishron/Empress/Betsy's Wings
Fishron Wings: Obtained from Duke Fishron at a very low rate. Duke Fishron is a tough boss summoned using a Truffle Worm at the ocean. Fishron Wings offer high speed, extended flight distance, excellent ascending speed, and no speed penalty when flying through water. Although Duke Fishron can be fought as soon as you enter hard mode, most players defeat him post-Plantera or post-Golem. Fishron Wings can carry you through to the Moon Lord due to their impressive stats.
Empress Wings: Dropped by the Empress of Light, available post-Plantera. These wings provide excellent ascending speed, crucial for challenging bosses like the Empress herself or the Moon Lord.
Betsy’s Wings: Dropped by Betsy, the final boss of the Old One's Army event, at a 25% chance. Betsy’s Wings excel in horizontal movement and offer a 300% hover speed bonus with boosted acceleration. The Old One's Army event is very challenging, so farming for these wings might not be worthwhile.
Tier 6: Best Post-Moonlord Wings
Crafted with Pillar Fragments and Luminite Bars, these wings are extremely powerful.
- Nebula and Vortex Wings: Focus on hovering, providing speed boosts while hovering.
- Solar and Stardust Wings: Focus on fast ascending speed.
At this stage, it’s more about personal preference and aesthetics, as you’re essentially at the end of the game.
Tier 7: Endgame and the overall Best Wings in Terraria
Terraria best wings award goes to the Celestial Starboard, an expert-exclusive drop from the Moon Lord. These wings feature effects of three previous wings: Betsy's, Fishron's and Empress' while also featuring incredible stats for both horizontal and vertical movement. The Celestial Starboard allows you to hover, offers speed boosts during hover, and provides full control over your vertical ascending speed. While the Soaring Insignia, another expert-exclusive drop from the Empress of Light, enables many flight combinations, the Celestial Starboard alone has unparalleled stats, making it the ultimate pair of wings in Terraria.
With this structured guide, you can now navigate the tiered progression of wings in Terraria with ease, knowing exactly which wings to aim for at each stage of the game. Happy flying!
