Starting a new game in Terraria will land you with basic Copper Tools and Shortsword. From a beginner’s perspective, it’s decent, considering you have something to defend yourself at night. However, the real fun starts once you have at least the Minishark (but Undertaker is okay too).
If you plan to use ranged weapons in this game, you must prepare your arsenal first. You can worry later about which best bullets to use or guns to carry.
Meet the Arms Dealer first – a trusty NPC who keeps your gun magazines loaded. This guide lets you know how to spawn him and everything he sells.
Arms Dealer – Overview
The Arms Dealer is one of the first NPCs you’ll have in the pre-Hardmode game. He sells a variety of weapons and ammunition, which scales depending on the difficulty level and player-defeated mechanical bosses.
Once exposed to enemy monsters, he’ll defend himself with a Flintlock Pistol. It’s a relatively weak gun, but once you progress through Hardmode, he’ll gain stats and use the Minishark.
This NPC likes the Desert but dislikes the Snow biome.
Spawning
Getting the Arms Dealer to move in is easy. Once at least one bullet or gun type is in the player’s inventory (any), it guarantees that he’ll appear in a moment. Note that if they’re in storage items, it won’t count. Don’t forget to furnish the empty house and make it suitable for living first, so he moves in!
Since finding equipment is hard, we recommend an underground adventure on either the Corruption or the Crimson (easiest way). You’ll soon find Shadow Orbs or Crimson Hearts covered with impenetrable blocks your Pickaxe usually can’t break. However, you can blow them away with bombs, and it usually works.
Once destroyed, you’ll get a Musket or an Undertaker (also found in Corrupt Crates or Crimson Crates).
Alternatively, you can get a Boomstick from Ivy Chests and Jungle Crates. Descending below the Dungeon is also a guarantee to obtain a Handgun – but defeat Skeletron first! Lastly, the dropped ammo from Pigronata also works, although you need Party Girl in your town.
The following are qualifying guns and bullets to spawn the NPC in Terraria:
| Guns | Bullets |
| Boomstick | Chlorophyte Bullet |
| Chain Gun | Crystal Bullet |
| Clockwork Assault Rifle | Cursed Bullet |
| Flintlock Pistol | Endless Musket Pouch |
| Gatligator | Exploding Bullet |
| Handgun | Golden Bullet |
| Megashark | High Velocity Bullet |
| Minishark | Ichor Bullet |
| Musket | Luminite Bullet |
| Onyx Blaster | Meteor Shot |
| Pew-matic Horn | Musket Ball |
| Phoenix Blaster | Nano Bullet |
| Quad-Barrel Shotgun | Party Bullet |
| Red Ryder | Silver Bullets |
| Revolver | Tungsten Bullet |
| S.D.M.G. | Venom Bullet |
| Shotgun | |
| Sniper Rifle | |
| Tactical Shotgun | |
| The Undertaker | |
| Uzi | |
| Venus Magnum | |
| Vortex Beater | |
| Xenopopper |
Note: Flare Guns excluded.
Inventory
The Arms Dealer can offer several helpful items you can buy depending on the circumstances. Note that you can get lower prices by equipping a Discount Card or Greedy Ring and achieving better happiness for the NPC.
| Item Name | Copper Coin Price | Silver Coin Price | Gold Coin Price | Availability |
| Musket Ball | 7 | • Always | ||
| Silver Bullet | 15 | • Blood Moon event, a world with Silver Ore and Tungsten Ore (pre-Hardmode) • Always (Hardmode) | ||
| Tungsten Bullet | 18 | • Blood Moon event, a world with Tungsten Ore (pre-Hardmode) • Always (Hardmode) | ||
| Unholy Arrow | 40 | • Nighttime after defeating the Brain of Cthulhu or Eater of Worlds (Hardmode) | ||
| Flintlock Pistol | 5 | • Always | ||
| Minishark | 35 | • Always | ||
| Illegal Gun Parts | 20 | • Nighttime | ||
| Shotgun | 25 | • Always (Hardmode) | ||
| Empty Bullet | 5 | • Always (Hardmode) | ||
| Stynger Bolt | 75 | • Stynger must be on the player inventory | ||
| Stake | 15 | • Stake Launcher must be on the player inventory | ||
| Nail | 1 | • Nail Gun must be on the player inventory | ||
| Candy Corn | 5 | • Candy Corn Rifle must be on the player inventory | ||
| Explosive Jack ‘O Lantern | 15 | • Jack ‘O Lantern Launcher must be on the player inventory | ||
| Nurse Hat | 3 | • At Halloween | ||
| Nurse Shirt | • At Halloween | |||
| Nurse Pants | • At Halloween | |||
| Quad-Barrel Shotgun | 35 | • NPC must be at the Graveyard Biome after defeating Skeletron | ||
| Pylon | 10 | • NPC must be happy enough (any biome) |
Relationships
The Arms Dealer prefers to live near the Nurse, although also attracted to the Dryad. Moreover, the Princess, the Mechanic, and the Steampunker are also okay as they share a good friendship.
However, the Golfer and the Demolitionist may be a problem as the Weapons Dealer dislikes them.
