Wings are one of the best types of accessories in the game. The quirk of every pair of wings is that they cancel all fall damage, and the upwards mobility they unlock is something that can help you outmaneuver any boss fight. Not every pair of wings are made the same and you can unlock different types of wings at different stages of the game. It is up to you to decide which wings offer the most benefit to you. There are 46 different pairs of wings in Terraria to choose from.
Every pair of wings has their own flight time, maximum height reached, horizontal move speed, and vertical multiplier. Some wings offer high movement, but lower height, and vice versa.
Celestial Starboard
Let’s just get this one out of the way. This is not technically a pair of wings, but it is the same type of accessory. The Celestial Starboard is the endgame pair of wings that offers the highest values in almost every stat wings have to offer. The starboard offers 3 full seconds of flight time, a staggering 201 total blocks in height, 41 horizontal movement speed, and 450% vertical acceleration. The Celestial Starboard also allows the player to hover by holding the down key and pressing jump, so you can maintain your height for a few seconds.
These wings cannot be crafted. There is only one way to obtain the Celestial Starboard’s endgame status of wings and that is to defeat the Moon Lord on expert difficulty or higher. The treasure bag that the Moon Lord drops will guarantee a drop of the Celestial Starboard as long as you defeat him in expert mode or harder.
Solar/Stardust Wings
The warrior and summoner class get the fastest wings. These wings are crafted after you defeat the Moon Lord, but does not require you to beat him in expert difficulty or higher. Of course you do not have to play as a melee or summoner class to use these wings, but the required materials to craft these wings dictate that you use the materials for the melee or summoner class. With 3 seconds of flight time, a total of 167 blocks in height, 46 horizontal movement speed (outpacing even the Celestial Starboard), and an upwards acceleration of 300%. They also grant you with 50% extra max ascent speed and faster acceleration.
The nebula and vortex wings allow you to hover unlike the solar and stardust wings, but the decrease in stats is often not worth hovering against the Moon Lord. You need to be able to keep moving and quickly accelerate upwards and fly long enough to avoid many of his attacks. Of course if your goal after defeating the Moon Lord is not to continue farming materials from the Moon Lord, you can look for more utility. However, the solar/stardust wings win out against the utility offered by the nebula and vortex wings. You can craft solar/stardust wings at an ancient manipulator with 14 of their respective fragments, and 10 luminite bars.
Flame Wings
If you are looking for a solid pair of wings to last you throughout most of hardmode, the flame wings are about as good as it gets before you fight some of the hardmode bosses. The requirement for these wings does not force you to fight any of the hardmode bosses, and with some clever tactics you can avoid all the danger of fighting hardmode underworld mobs. The stats offered by these wings outweigh all the other wings you can obtain before fighting hardmode bosses. Flame wings offer 2.67 seconds of flight time, 81 total blocks in height, 38 horizontal movement speed, and 150% upwards acceleration.
To craft these wings you will need to be able to defeat red devils and wyverns. Wyverns can be difficult without wings or other movement accessories, but as long as you have a decent piercing weapon you can defeat wyverns quickly. You will also need the fire feather dropped rarely by red devils at a meager 1.33%. Take 20 souls of flight and the fire feather to a mythril/orichalcum anvil to craft these wings.
Harpy Wings
Another pair of wings to hunt for once you have entered hardmode are the harpy wings. Similarly to the Flame Wings, these wings can be unlocked before tackling any hardmode bosses. The requirement to craft them is similar to the Flame Wings in that you have to get a relatively rare drop, but the enemies you face and the biome you fight them in is much more forgiving. As a trade off, the Harpy Wings do not offer the same level of stats as the Flame Wings, but are still a solid choice for tackling many of hardmode’s challenges. Harpy Wings will grant you 2.17 seconds of flight time, 67 total blocks in height, 34 horizontal movement speed, and an upwards acceleration of 150%.
You can craft these wings by gathering a giant harpy feather as a 0.5% drop from harpies, and combining them with 20 souls of flight from wyverns. The drop rate is much lower than red devils, but as harpies are pre-hardmode enemies they should pose absolutely no challenge to you. While you are up in the skies hunting harpies you also get to save time by farming wyverns for souls of flight. This makes Harpy Wings one of the more logical choices a player can make in choosing their pair of wings.
Fishron Wings
Finally, we reach a solid mid-hardmode pair of wings that can last you until you get the absolute best wings in the game. Duke Fishron is no easy fight, especially after first entering hardmode, but once you have decent weapons and armor, Duke Fishron can be challenged at any point after entering hardmode. The reward is having a small chance to receive one of the best wings in the game pre-Moon Lord. Fishron wings offer you 3 seconds of flight time, 143 total blocks in height, 33 horizontal movement speed, and an upwards acceleration of 245%.
Fishron wings cannot be crafted and can only be obtained by defeating Duke Fishron. The worst part is, the wings are not guaranteed and you will most likely have to defeat him multiple times to obtain these wings. It is not recommended to attempt to beat him without solid mid hardmode gear, but if you manage to do so, these wings will carry you all the way to Moon Lord.
FAQs
Q. How do you get the Developer’s Wings in Terraria?
Every treasure bag you obtain from expert or master level bosses will have a 5% chance to drop a developer item. These wings are far from the best wings, but they all have their own unique design catered to the developer’s style. Thankfully, in Terraria, if you like the look of a pair of wings you can wear them in the vanity slot and still maintain the stat values of better wings.
Q. Why isn’t the Jetpack on this list?
The Jetpack is a decent pair of wings to obtain, but they require that you defeat at least one hardmode mechanical boss before you can obtain them. By then you could have a better or at least similar pair of wings and you will often want a pair of wings before tackling a mechanical boss. The Jetpack is still a solid choice, but only if you happen to have bad luck and are forced into them.
Q. What is the easiest pair of Wings to obtain?
The Fledgling Wings are offered to players starting on Journey mode and since there is no other requirement, the Fledgling Wings are by far the easiest pair of wings to obtain. However, they are also the worst in terms of stats, and while they do cancel fall damage, you will probably replace them the moment you can. Angel Wings or Demon Wings, are a close second as you still have to enter hardmode and defeat wyverns to obtain, but these wings are the easiest ones to gather the materials for.
