What weapons to use to kill the Destroyer?

I'm planning this speed run with a friend, our situation now is that we've just killed the Wall of Flesh, are geared with Molten gear (Armor, Imp, Bow, Sword, etc.). We're at 300 HP, but we'll probably make sure we are at 400. Our plan is to kill the destroyer once, to get at least 20 Souls of Might, to craft the Megashark.

We've tried various weapons (Molotov, Grenade, Minishark, Molden Fury), but the problem is that the DPS is just not enough. Next step is that we'll try to go pick up a Handgun from the dungeon to get a Phoenix Blaster + Explosive shot.

So I'm wondering if you have a suggestion for us on what weapon to use for this, keep in mind that speed is of the essense, part of our challenge is in fact not taking 1-2 hours to craft 2 Titanium / Adamantium armors and such.

Solution 1:

One of the easiest methods of killing the Destroyer is to use the Daedalus Stormbow. This item has a 20% chance to drop from Hallowed Mimics. Hallowed mimics only spawn after you place a Key of Light into an empty chest of any kind, so you'll have to farm up some Souls of Light first.

The reason this weapon is so strong against the Destroyer is because it has a high rate of fire and also produces several projectiles for the cost of one ammo. Because the Destroyer is so long, it's nearly impossible to miss unless it's underground. The best ammo to use with the Stormbow is Holy Arrows, since each hit will spawn additional star projectiles for added damage. (Unfortunately, Holy Arrows are somewhat expensive, as they require fallen stars to craft.)

As for strategy, I usually set up a very simple arena shaped like a flat U. I make sure it's floating about 50-100 blocks above the ground.

*          *        * = Solid block
*          *        C = Campfire
*          *        H = Heart Lantern
*    C     *
************        (Actual width should probably be around 30 blocks)
     H

This shape prevents lasers from the main body from hitting you, which makes you effectively immune to the Destroyer itself (unless it approaches at an almost vertical angle and manages to jump straight up to the arena, which shouldn't happen often). The only thing you have to worry about are the drones - since they can travel through blocks and often end up above you, they will start shooting down towards you. This is why the arena should not have a ceiling - you can use the Stormbow to clear out those pesky drones.

Using this setup, with the right ammo and potions/buffs, possibly combined with other suggestions here (Nimbus Rod helps a ton as well), it's pretty trivial to kill the Destroyer in 30 seconds to a minute without much risk to yourself.

Solution 2:

I found it it pretty hard to do the destroyer with melee equipment (and that was with adamantium armor).

I think you will need the extra durability that is provided by hard mode armor to take down the destroyer, but if you are stuck with pre-hardmode equipment you will probably want to use a setup that has a decent amount of DPS and focus on dodging attacks.

• Weapons: Either Clockwork Assault Rifle (Wall of Flesh drop) and party bullets or Minishark with Meteor Bullets.
  • The former has more damage, but the latter is easier to get and can hit twice with each bullet, which is really useful against the destroyer.
• Armor: Necro Armor will give the best ranged DPS.
• Accessories:
  • Ranger Emblem
  • Cross Necklace
  • Leaf Wings (You can buy these from the witch Doctor as soon as you get into hard mode)
  • Charm of Myths
  • Obsidian Shield

If you can get the avenger emblem and the ranger emblem, that would be ideal. I expect that you will want to have these all forged to be warding so that you can survive, but you might try them with Lucky or Menacing to increase your DPS even more. It really depends on how good you are at dodging.

You will want to use potions during the battle as well. Endurance, Iron Skin, Wrath or Rage, and anything that gives the Well Fed buff will be very useful.

I think you will have to be very good to do this without hardmode armors, though.