Guide:The Buried Champion strategies

The Buried Champion is a Pre-Hardmode boss available in the Thorium Mod after defeating Skeletron, summoned either by destroying a Bizarre Rock Formation or by using an Ancient Blade in a Marble Cave. With a tricky and varied set of attack patterns combined with its high speed and damage, this ancient warrior is certainly no slouch in combat. As such, players unfamiliar with the battle should be well-equipped before challenging The Buried Champion. The following are some hints, tips, and strategies to help defeat it.

Terrain Preparation
As the fight will likely take place within the Marble Cave you summon The Buried Champion in, the most straightforward arena for the fight is to simply flatten the natural shape of the cave, and to shave off a few layers to increase your vertical maneuverability. If your Marble Cave is not particularly appealing due to potential issues such as it being distorted or filled with lava, it would be best to simply locate a new Marble Cave, as they are not especially uncommon.

The encounter against The Buried Champion is not especially demanding in terms of movement required, so platforms are not necessarily needed. The standard furniture that provide buffs such as Campfires, Heart Lanterns, and Sunflowers are recommended as always to increase your general stats.

It is recommended to prepare your arena before defeating Skeletron, as the new enemies may be dangerous, and the constant potential spawning of the boss-summoning Bizarre Rock Formation may cause issues. Doing it around the time you obtain a Nightmare or Deathbringer Pickaxe, on the other hand, allows you to smooth your Marble Cave fairly quickly, while only having to deal with the weaker Hoplites.

Armor
There are quite a few different options for generalist armors, many of which can see use even if you are playing with a specific weapon type. The Flight armor provides a bevy of movement-related boosts, and the Wings from its set bonus are fantastic for maneuverability. However, it provides no offensive boosts. The Crimson armor, while not much better in terms of offensives, only offering 6% increased damage, gives a size-able health regeneration increase. The Depth Diver armor set gives a set of boons for nearby players, making this set helpful in multiplayer. The Darksteel armor is a fantastic choice for any class. It provides enough armor piercing to strip The Buried Champion of all its defense, benefiting weapons with a rapid fire rate; in addition, the dash from its set bonus is the only option in Normal Mode worlds until Hardmode, while also going further than the Shield of Cthulhu's dash, which can significantly increase your dodging potential. Finally, Granite armor provides the highest defense of all Pre-Hardmode armors as well as an immunity to knockback, which can free up an accessory preventing knockback. Although it provides no damage bonuses and decreases your movement speed, the natural of this battle makes it not especially hampering, though you may wish to use something to compensate, such as a Grappling Hook.

If you are playing as a Warrior, the Granite armor is actually super helpful in part to its defense and knockback immunity, which allows you to remain up close for longer periods of time. That said, there are a few more options to consider. The Magma armor provides an increased effectiveness to On Fire! and Singed debuffs, which helps deal damage over time if you find yourself having trouble getting close to The Buried Champion. The Shadow armor is not flashy, but its increased melee attack speed complements well with swords and yoyos. Finally, the Molten armor provides a high defense and size-able melee damage increase, making it a more offensive version of the Granite armor.

If you are playing as a Ranger, you should use either the Yew Wood armor, Tide Hunter armor, or Necro armor. Comparing the different sets, the Necro armor provides the highest base damage increase and a increased chance to not consume ammunition, which may help if ammo supply is an issue; Tide Hunter armor provides a boost to your critical strike chance, though its set bonus is not very helpful as the boss does not summon any traditional minions; and Yew Wood armor's increased firing speed and mini-crits give it a slight edge in DPS over the other armors.

If you are playing as a Sorcerer, the Bulb armor provides an increase to casting speed and minor offensives, though its set bonus is mostly useless. The Jungle armor does not provide much in terms of offensives aside from a boosted critical strike chance, but the increased defense and mana, as well as the reduced mana costs help remain in battle for a longer duration. Finally, the Malignant armor set provides very powerful boons to your offensives while allowing for a free choice of leggings – Jungle Pants are the best choice for this.

If you are playing as a Summoner, while the Bee armor set works fine for the battle, if you find yourself having trouble with its low defense, you should upgrade to Spirit Trapper armor. In addition to its increased defense, it provides higher overall summoner bonuses, as well as the ability for minor healing as you damage the boss.

If you are playing as a Thrower, similar to Bee armor, the Fossil armor is perfectly usable for the encounter, though the Bronze armor is much more powerful. Although the Fossil armor has an edge in terms of throwing bonuses, the Bronze armor has much more defense and a much more powerful set bonus; there is a plethora of throwing weapons whose high throwing rates will rapidly summon large amounts of lightning strikes, which are extremely effective against The Buried Champion.

If you are playing as a Healer, you should be using the Templar armor set, as it provides the best overall healing bonuses.

Similarly to Healer, you should be using the Noble armor if you are playing as a Bard, due to it providing the best overall boons for the class.

Accessories
A major part of the battle is dodging The Buried Champion's bevy of horizontal projectiles. To better dodge these, it is important to maintain a high degree of vertical maneuverability. As a result, some variation of Rocket Boots are extremely valuable; this also includes Spectre, Lightning, and Frostspark Boots, as well as Mana-Charged Rocketeers should you have little need for mana. In addition to this, some variation of Balloon and Cloud in a Bottle are also recommended; the extra jump can give an immediate upwards acceleration to better dodge attacks.

While vertical acceleration is important, having some more general movement options can help avoid some attacks or make it easier to reorientate yourself into a more favorable position against The Buried Champion. The increased movement speed and maximum movement speed of the Cobbler's Boot accessories are useful for this purpose. Among the ones that boost these attributes by 15%, Air Walkers and Weighted Winglets also provide vertical movement options; the Survivalist's Boots are useful for its life regeneration, as well as mana and inspiration; Bee Booties can summon friendly bees for some homing projectiles, especially when combined with the Hive Pack; and the Slag Stompers drops damaging slag below, which is extra damage if attacking The Buried Champion from directly above. If you are in Expert Mode, the Shield of Cthulhu is fantastic for this battle – its dash attack is incredibly helpful not just for re-positioning, but it is one of the few methods of damaging the ethereal Fallen Champions summoned by the boss, easing the amount of projectiles in the final phase.

In terms of offensive accessories, as there are bevy of methods to remove the majority of The Buried Champion's defense, including Darksteel armor and Granite Surge, the increased flat damage from the Ring accessories are especially effective in increasing your DPS. Alongside this, the Hive Pack from the Queen Bee's Treasure Bag increases the power of friendly bees, whose rapid hits would appreciate lowering the boss's defenses. The Crietz is a phenomenal accessory, granting a significant burst of damage whenever you deal a critical attack. Finally, if you have defeated the Granite Energy Storm first in Expert Mode, you will have access to the Eye of the Storm, which is an incredible accessory for this encounter. Its homing projectiles en masse are easily able to hit The Buried Champion for large amounts of damage, while also inflicting the Granite Surge debuff.

In terms of defensive accessories, a way to prevent knockback, such as from the Cobalt Shield or the Obsidian Scale, is incredibly helpful if you tend to rush towards the boss to rack massive amounts of damage. Players preferring staying back from a range aren't required to use it, however; The Buried Champion's attacks rarely come fast enough to bounce you around to the point of annoyance. A special note should be made to the Enchanted Shield should you not use much mana, due to its higher defense. The Sea Turtle's Mystical Bulwark can similarly increase survivability thanks to its life motes, which aren't too difficult to collect in the smaller Marble Caves. Finally, ways to reduce the amount of damage you take per hit is a simple, but effective, way to reduce the bite of this boss's powerful hits, including the Worm Scarf or the Ancient Aegis.

Should you plan on using a Yoyo for the battle, a String can increase the range from where you can attack from. The other Yoyo-related accessory, the Counterweight, is not very necessary for this encounter due to it often not being in the position for it to hit the boss. Feral Claws increase your melee attack speed, which works well with both swords and yoyos. If you plan to use a Spear for the fight, it is highly recommended to equip the Molten Spear Tip; the flaming spear tip travels just far enough to hit the boss with, which is useful while waiting for the right moment to get closer.

An accessory that can increase your ability to recover mana is very helpful for classes that utilize the resource. The generalist option for all classes are Magic or Celestial Cuffs. For magic users, the Mana Flower is another choice that lets you continually fire particularly mana-intensive weapons.

As minions retain any increased damage boosts after being summoned, you should equip as many relevant accessories before summoning your minions, then re-equip your other accessories. These include the Soul Stone, Minotaur Skull, and the Phylactery. Besides these, the Prehistoric Arachnid provides extra flat damage to your minions, which complements ones that rapidly hit such as Meteor Heads.

Throwers appreciate the extra throwing speeds provided by the Bone Grip and Spartan Sandals, as they increase the rate of on-hit effects such as Coatings and the Bronze armor set bonus. The Guide to Expert Throwing can also be used, but only if you lack any other accessory.

For Healers wishing to take a more active role in the battle, the Crystal Honey provides a solid increase to your radiant offensives, and the Life Quartz Shield is a powerful safety barrier if you take too much damage. Otherwise, you should look into the Belt of the Quick Response, Crystal Arcanite, Equalizer, Inner Flame, and Ancient Aegis for more supportive healer accessories.

Lastly, Bards have a wide variety of options available. The Band Kit, while basic in effect, provides a solid group of increased bonuses for the class. The increased homing capabilities of Wind instruments thanks to the Mouthpiece may help your projectiles catch the speedy Buried Champion. The Guitar Pick's increased bounce for String instruments works well in the natural structure of the Marble Caves; aiming direction above or below the boss can net additional hits per weapon use. The Mix Tape grants an easy method of inflicting the rather solid Singed debuff, providing extra damage over time and a way to track the boss's movements inside blocks through its illumination.

Weapons
In general, the boss's quick speeds and small size relative to other bosses means weapons with accuracy are preferable over ones that better deal with crowds. This, generally, means high velocities, and more straight trajectories, and lesser amounts of angle variation.

Melee
Melee is rather tricky against The Buried Champion, as it tends to stay a distance back.

Swords are, despite this, solid choices for the battle. Aside from the capability of reflecting the boss's Magical Bursts on its final phase, The Buried Champion has little defense for attacks from underneath, so by rushing below your swings can land multiple hits. The Arkhalis is the best choice for this, but there are a few alternatives given its rarity. The Bee Keeper has auto-swing and its friendly bees can provide some decent extra damage. The Blooming Blade and Thor's Hammer provides supportive buffs on hit, and the Night's Edge and Blood Thirster have high damage, but their lack of any other properties makes them somewhat lackluster.

Aside from these, swords with the capability for projectiles are also strong, as they provide some capability for ranged damage while waiting for the opportunity to rush in. While the Bellerose's tornado requires three melee strikes, it works fine for extra damage after escaping from a set of close-ranged strikes. In addition to this, the slowed fall you get while holding Bellerose helps with vertical movement variation, which can help avoid attacks. Although being an easily-obtained projectile sword, the Whirlpool Saber is not recommended; its range is still too short to reliably hit The Buried Champion, and its speed and damage are extremely low.

Spears are another good pick for similar reasons as Broadswords, though with the added ability to strike from above the boss and a consistent ranged option though a Spear Tip. That said, the only two recommended choices are somewhat difficult to obtain; the Energy Storm Partisan requires the defeat of the Granite Energy Storm, while the Dark Lance requires traversing to the Underworld and opening Shadow Chests. Between the two, the Dark Lance provides higher base stats, while the Energy Storm Partisan can provide the powerful Granite Surge debuff. That said, landing both hits required for the Energy Storm Partisan's explosion is fairly difficult to land without getting extremely close.

Another choice for ranged weapon to throw at The Buried Champion while waiting for the opportunity for rushing in are Boomerangs. The Giant Glowstick and Flamarang are not particularly interesting, but possess very high damage. Besides these, the Granite Reflector gives a ranged method of inflicting Granite Surge.

Flails can be used if you find yourself taking too much damage from close-ranged combat. The Sparking Jelly Ball has very high range and velocity, making it a good option despite The Buried Champion being immune to Paralyzed. The Sunfury, alternatively, deals much more damage at the cost of its much lower speed and range.

Finally, Yoyos serve similar purposes to Flails, but can more reliably hit the boss in midair. The Bat Wing has a very high range and an additional ranged projectile in homing bats, but has a low duration and somewhat lacking damage. The Cascade is a simpler but equally effective option, and either the Sanguine or Nocturnal are fantastic, with an excellent homing projectile on hit for especially high damage.

Ranged
As most Bows have some sort of arch to their shots, they may be difficult to hit The Buried Champion, considering the boss's speed and small frame. While there are some ways to get past that, the bows that don't should place an emphasis on high velocities to compensate. The Stream Sting has a rapid rate of fire and decent velocity, but its overall damage is somewhat lacking, the Molten Fury alights Wooden Arrows for free damage over time through its debuff, and both the Eternal Night and Hemorrhage deal fantastic amounts of damage along with either a solid debuff or life steal respectively. In addition, their arrows have a noticeably higher base velocity and do not consume any ammunition. Finally, bows that are able to fire arrows unaffected by gravity include the Talon Burst, the Hellwing Bow, and The Bee's Knees. The Hellwing Bow still manages to be rather unreliable for this battle due to its high angle variance, making many flaming bats miss otherwise clear shots, and is consequently not recommended. The Talon Burst, while obtained all the way back from The Grand Thunder Bird's Treasure Bag, still possesses the highest straight arrow velocity – being even faster than some guns – and the Storm Bolts' ability to strike twice make their damage still respectable. As it strikes twice per hit, it is more heavily affected by defense, meaning you should have means of armor penetration and boosts to flat damage; you may want to go as far as to equip The Ring and the Emerald Ring all at once for the hefty 8 flat damage increase. That said, The Bee's Knees are overall arguably the best bow for the encounter – the column of bees travel straight and deal an immense amount of damage on hit, as well as releasing friendly bees for additional hits.

Besides bows, Repeaters are available, though not much different than their manual counterparts. The Darksteel Crossbow is simple, but it works, while the Granite Crossbow serves as one of the only methods for a ranger to inflict Granite Surge for its defense lowering capabilities, further helped by the high base velocity of the Granite Arrows. In exchange however, the Repeater has a very low DPS, making this better as a side weapon to inflict The Buried Champion with the debuff. Since it requires Wooden Arrows for its special effect, it combos well with other bows that alter Wooden Arrows – namely the Talon Burst and The Bee's Knees.

In terms of Arrows to use, there are a few choices. Aside from basic Wooden Arrows, which should only be used in conjunction with a bow that alters their properties, Flaming Arrows, Frostburn Arrows, and Ocean Arrows all provide debuffs to keep The Buried Champion's health ticking down, while Jester's Arrows travel straight rather than an arc, though Jester's Arrows' higher speed make them preferable for hitting the boss.

In comparison to Bows and Repeaters, most Guns fire their bullets straight forward with higher velocities, which makes hitting the boss much easier. At minimum you can use the Revolver or Yew-Handled Flintlock, though there are stronger options available to you, including the Handgun and Phoenix Blaster, whose simple but effective effect make them fantastic against The Buried Champion. Aside from those, the Guano Gunner can hit very high amounts of DPS once fully revved up, but the arched trajectory of the waste makes aiming awkward, and limits weapon use to this to avoid having to recharge the firing speed of it. The Slugger's shots can be very painful if they all land – for this, do not use bullets with piercing, as the invincibility period makes them only register one hit instead of three. That said, the knockback effect of the Slugger is fun, but will more often hinder than help, potentially throwing you into an attack. The Star Cannon deals ludicrous amounts of damage, tearing through the boss's health with ease, but requires Fallen Stars to operate, which are much more annoying to obtain than standard bullets. Finally, the Energy Storm Bolter is an absolutely fabulous weapon against The Buried Champion; its energy bolts have excellent homing capabilities that can easily hit the boss regardless of its speed, which leads to a phenomenal DPS. This is the best gun to use for this battle, but it requires the defeat of its counterpart, the Granite Energy Storm, making it impossible to obtain if fighting The Buried Champion first.

There are less options for Bullets than arrows; Musket Balls and Silver Bullets are useful with guns with effects requiring normal bullets and those that would be hampered with the invincibility frames caused by Meteor Shots, but otherwise that aforementioned bouncing bullets should be used on the off-chance they miss, as the shape of the Marble Cave makes it likely they'll rebound towards the boss.

There is a single Launcher available before the defeat of Plantera in the form of the Marine Launcher. Unfortunately it is not particularly great, though usable enough. While the shrapnel of the Lil' Torpedoes can be made much more effective with armor piecing and flat damage boosts, their velocities are not especially quick, making aiming much more difficult than with some other available ranged options.

Aside from the general ranged weapon types, there some other ranged weapons to consider. The Zapper's lightning pulses require no ammunition and travel instantaneously towards the cursor, making them very effective at sniping The Buried Champion, at the cost of it having fairly mediocre damage and being an uncommon drop from an uncommon enemy. The Man Hacker is painfully average; while the fired Sawblades can bounce off blocks, its damage is average at best, and there are a plethora of more interesting or effective ranged weapons available. Finally, Thor's Hammer, as opposed to other boomerangs at this point, have no limit to the number that can be on screen at once. They can deal decent damage, but radically improves if you can aim them to hit on rebound for multiple hits.

Magic
Magic has a wide variety of weapons available that are especially effective against The Buried Champion. There are two main ways to combat the boss: from a safe distance with a more consistent damage rate, or at an extremely close distance for ludicrous damage potential, though the latter only becomes especially effective after the defeat of the Granite Energy Storm. Weapons for this latter play style will be separated from the other magic weapons.

The Blooming Staff is a very consistent weapon with a high velocity and damage, in spite of its slight angle variance. It also provides the Life Recovery buff, which helps with survivability. The Magic Missile and Flamelash are both solid weapons that can be used in multiple manners – they can be clicked repeatedly when close for more rapid damage, or controlled at a further distance for more accuracy. The Aqua Scepter has the capability of being a good weapon with a sufficient DPS and very high velocity, as long as you can aim properly due to its pronounced arch. The Flower of Fire is very powerful, and despite their low speed, the Marble Caves' natural shape makes it surprisingly easy to create a wall of fireballs; some will without question hit the boss. The Bloodboil is an amazing weapon for the battle; as fast The Buried Champion is, your mouse is faster, making it trivial to pepper the boss with the blood energy to deal an incredibly high amount of damage. Its Corruption counterpart, however, is much less effective. Even though the Light's Lament has a high damage, it is near impossible to reliably hit The Buried Champion. The natural keep-away of the boss can allow you to somewhat herd The Buried Champion into the star trail, but its movement is still varied enough to often miss entirely.

The Space Gun is still a very good weapon for the fight with a very high velocity and lack of spread. At this point, Meteor armor is not necessary due to the number of ways to keep your mana high. The Bee Gun is another good choice as the bees automatically track the boss, though it heavily relies on armor penetration and flat damage bonuses to be especially effective.

Among the spell tomes, the only one that is effective enough to be considered is the Dark Tome from the Dark Mage's Treasure Bag. That said, the sheer damage of the arcane bolts makes this one of the best magic weapons to use. Do note the slight arch and high mana cost of the tome before use, and adjust your equipment to utilize it to its fullest potential.

The Conch Shell is a potentially great weapon if you can consistently land all the bubbles against The Buried Champion. The best way to increase those chances are to hover above the boss and fire at a downward angle while the boss is swooping by; it will hopefully run into all three. Finally, the magic variant of Thor's Hammer is unfortunately the least effective version of the weapon, as its subpar speed does not make up for its high damage due to the frequency of missing with it.

For fighting The Buried Champion from an extremely close distance, the main weapon choice primarily consists of the Eel-rod and the Energy Projector, with the Enchanter's Sword as a supporting tool more than a weapon. These weapons boast tremendous damage, but lack the range to hit The Buried Champion from its normal hovering distance, necessitating a rush-heavy play style. The Eel-rod's shotgun-esque electric sparks do an immense amount of damage if all five properly connect, while the Energy Projector's granite energy sparks can deal even more damage while also inflicting the defense-reducing Granite Surge for even higher damage. The Enchanter's Sword is recommended, even if not for damage purposes, for its buff and potential for reflecting Magical Bursts, all while being in the same range as it requires anyhow.

Summoner
Compared to vanilla Terraria, your options for minions and sentries are much more varied in the Thorium Mod.

In general, minions capable of physically attacking The Buried Champion from the air are preferred. Meteor Heads can rapidly strike the boss for high damage, though its low base damage heavily appreciates armor penetration or flat damage boosts. Additionally, the rapid flux of damage can prevent other, more potentially damaging, hits from properly connecting. The Prehistoric Amber Staff is a decent choice thanks to its high damage, but the Pterodactyls tend to do most of the work; T-Rex often have to jump at the flying enemy, reducing their efficiency. Blood Drinkers' low damage and somewhat unreliable life steal, combined with the increased number of minion slots required to summon one, make them not recommended, though you may wish to summon one if you find yourself taking hits. The Hornet Staff has very respectable damage, but the accuracy of the Hornets' stingers leaves a lot to be desired; likewise, the Imp Staff's Imps are a bit stronger and can inflict On Fire!, but the also tend to miss the boss.

While the Tavernkeep's Sentries' low rate of fire makes them fairly disappointing, their ability to be repeatedly re-summoned so they attack with a much shorter cooldown allows for them to be a much more effective main weapon. That said, only the Ballista and Explosive Trap Rods are recommended; the Flameburst Rod's fireballs miss far too much and lack much damage at this stage of the game, and the Lightning Aura Rod deals a pathetically low amount of damage, and The Buried Champion will rarely remain within the area of effect. Meanwhile, Ballista can be summoned directly under the boss for the highest chance of connecting the attack, and the Explosive Trap's surprisingly large radius of effect can often clip The Buried Champion even in midair. Besides the Tavernkeep's Sentries, the Boulder Probe Staff provides Granite Surge, making it already a solid choice given the rapid-hitting nature of minions. The laser travels instantaneously in the direction of the cursor as well, so nailing the boss is simple as long as you can continuously track The Buried Champion's movements. The sentry to recommend, if you've completed the Haggard Hagglers contract for the Tracker, is the Totem Caller. Each Totem is counted separately from other minions, so there is little reason to not use them. Among the different Totems, only the Grounded Totem lacks the qualities to be effective, as the boss will likely never get hit by this Totem over the course of the battle. The Windy Totem's tornadoes run along the ground as well, but by summoning it directly above The Buried Champion whilst descending, the tornadoes can land multiple hits to rip chunks of its health off. The Fiery Totem has a decent fire rate and the fireballs have a large enough range to hit the boss a fair number of times. The best Totem for this fight, however, is the Misty Totem; the wide vertical nature of the water droplets make them easy to hit the boss with, and if you re-summon one directly below The Buried Champion to instantly land all five droplets, dealing upwards to around 300 damage each use.

The Strange Skull is a phenomenal weapon to use alongside your minions and sentries. The lack of arch and incredible velocities of the lasers are helpful, especially when combined with the similarly-functioning Boulder Probe, and the Karma debuff is a relatively strong damage over time.

Finally, the Hive Mind, if you have it, should be used before the encounter to increase the power of your minions.

Throwing
Throwing weapons are incredibly powerful for this fight, as many of them possess qualities that enable them to easily rack damage against The Buried Champion.

Molten Knives are fairly basic throwing knives to use for the battle. Although they arch, the distance they travel before the falloff is still enough to reliably hit the boss for solid damage and a debuff. Aquaite Knives are fantastic choices due to their high speeds and lack of arch, and the ricochet allows them to hit The Buried Champion twice per knife, giving it a higher damage than the tooltip would apply. Dracula Fangs are, with gear that boost critical strike chance, arguably the best throwing weapon to use for the battle, however. The Fangs possess an incredibly fast throwing speed and velocity unaffected by gravity, and phenomenal damage from both the fang itself as well as the blood splash.

Sea Ninja-Stars are also highly recommended. In addition to both high speeds and lack of arch, their damage is above average and have the added property of being able to stick to blocks; as the boss tends to fly above and below the ground of the Marble Cave, laying these along the floor and ceiling can help hit The Buried Champion whenever it does so.

Bone Javelins are also helpful for their high damage and powerful damage over time. Their overall damage is not as high as other throwing weapons, so these are best used as a side weapon for its debuff.

Although unconventional, Bouncy Grenades' bouncing properties make them surprisingly easy to hit The Buried Champion with, by lobbing them upwards and moving backwards to force the boss to run into. Beenades can deal some very high DPS, but they must hit the boss directly for maximum effect, which is difficult given the grenades' trajectories and boss's tendency to remain in midair. But if it is attacking from ground level, throwing a few Beenades can be beneficial.

Granite Throwing Axes are the only throwing weapon that can inflict Granite Surge, but you should seek other methods of inflicting the debuff, as the axes do not travel far enough to consistent hit the boss.

Finally, the Bone Glove, the exclusive award for defeating Skeletron in Expert Mode, is not a spectacular choice given its low arch, but its high damage and quick velocity make it a more than usable for the battle.

Healer
For Support Spells, two that provide benefits even in single player are the Bloom Guard and the Divine Lotus; these are recommended to use regardless of class as they can provide a general survivability increase. The former's booster spores are very easy to grab for extra defense and health regeneration, and the latter can be placed in a location below your general combat area, such as in a valley, to reduce the chances of The Buried Champion accidentally destroying it while it provides a solid amount of healing. It, however, becomes less useful once you enter the final phase due to the increased number of projectiles flying about. For exclusively multiplayer, The Buried Champion's projectiles deal a heavy amount of damage, so the increased damage reduction from the Marrow Scepter can help; the life shield from the Granite Ion Staff can also help sponge an additional hit or two.

While not recommended outside of players utilizing Healer equipment, the available radiant weapons at this point of the game are actually quite powerful, and are more than capable of combating The Buried Champion with. The overall safest option is the Life Disperser, due to its solid damage, fast straight-travelling trajectory, and lack of major downsides. That said, three more risky, but powerful, options include the Samsara Lotus, the Poison Prickler, and the Omen. The first cannot be used with the Divine Lotus, cutting your healing potential, but in turns offers high amounts of damage whenever the boss enters its radius. The second deals much more close-ranged damage than any Scythe thanks to its toxin clouds, though some means to regenerate mana is heavily appreciated. The final weapons's boomerang-esque projectile can deal a large amount of damage, especially if it hits twice, though its life cost may result in your early demise if you are not especially familiar with the patterns of The Buried Champion.

Bard
Symphonic weapons are another powerful set of weapons to use against The Buried Champion, due to the varied types of weapons being able to hit the boss reliably.

If you are able to utilize the Forest Ocarina's Forest Sigils, it can deal a solid DPS. For the best effect, you should sandwiching the boss between you and the Sigil, and re-summon it every time The Buried Champion changes sides. The Honey Recorder is another good weapon – though would benefit from armor penetration and flat damage – as the bees automatically home in towards the boss. The Magma Rackett and its upgrade, the Song of Ice & Fire, are excellent wind instruments with high damage. Between the two, the Magma Rackett deals less damage over time, but is much less inspiration-taxing.

For brass instruments, the Bone Trumpet is the only really effective choice due to it having more damage than the Gold or Platinum Bugle Horn and higher velocity than the Hot Horn.

String instruments are an extremely good choice for this battle, as the bouncing projectiles heavily benefit from the natural formation of the Marble Cave. The Sitar is the strongest string instrument available in Pre-Hardmode, so should be used.

The Bronze Tuning Fork's low range is unfortunate, but the Tuned debuff is an incredible utility for increasing the amount of damage The Buried Champion takes from hits, making it worth attempting to throw at it whenever the boss pauses for the extra damage. The Bongos' instantaneous damage is also effective, though the short range makes this risky to use.

Finally, the Granite Boom Box is perhaps one of the best weapons to use for The Buried Champion in general, regardless of class. The lasers it fires do not deal especially high damage, but they strike rapidly and are guaranteed to hit once within range. The ease in which they strike the boss makes it second only to the Eye of the Storm in terms of inflicting Granite Surge, while being much more widely available. For the best effect, use it whenever the boss pauses in place to land a few free hits with it.

Equipment
Most Mounts aren't particularly useful for this fight, but the Slimy Saddle can be used to quickly shoot yourself downwards in a pinch; the faster acceleration makes it preferred over the Super Anvil in this case. An alternative to mounts are Transformations. Despite the fact that you are mostly unable to use items while transformed, your smaller hitbox allows you to more easily dodge attacks from The Buried Champion's projectiles to better regenerate loss health if needed – this is especially helpful during the boss's second phase. In addition, there are still a few ways to inflict damage whilst morphed, including summon weapons, Eye of the Storm, or the Soul Link. If you are not in Expert Mode, you should use the Amphibian Egg due to how easy it is to obtain. Otherwise, the improved movement options from the Vampire's Catalyst are preferred.

A Grappling Hook is also helpful due to its multi-purpose use for both defensive and offensive purposes. They can be used to quickly latch onto the ceiling or floor in order to dodge projectiles from the enemy, or to get a burst of speed to rush towards and away from The Buried Champion, as an alternative to the Shield of Cthulhu or Darksteel armor. At this point, your best option would be ones with high velocities. This would be the Bat Hook, the Skeletron Hand, or the Jeweller's Wall Grip.

Potions
While standard Healing Potions suffice for this encounter, you can recover slightly more health using either Honeyfin or Spring Water. In addition to this, having one of the Cook's Food can provide some extra health recovery along with a short-lasting extra buff. While which food isn't a major factor, players in a Corruption world can obtain the counterpart of the Wrath, Rage, with the Mean n' Green Stew; the effects of the Sunflower can be obtained without the need to include it with Sunny Day Lemonade; Sky Bloom Cocktail provides an additional method of vertical movement variation; Apple Pie provides extra life regeneration. Mana Potions should also be used if necessary as well, as the lack of minions summoned by The Buried Champion prevents a large number of Stars from spawning.

The standard set of recommended Buff Potions should be used as always. One additional choice that you may wish to consider are Featherfall Potions, due to the ability to change your fall speed possibly assisting in dodging for this particular fight. If you are using either the Enchanted Shield or the Mana-Charged Rocketeers, you should be using Mana Regeneration Potions in order to reap their improved benefits from similar accessories at little cost.

Melee weapons would highly appreciate ways to inflict additional damage while waiting for their time to rush in, so utilizing a Flask of Fire can help deal some additional damage over time at little cost. Note the other Flask available before Hardmode, the Flask of Poison, inflicts a debuff the boss is immune to, making them useless.

In a similar manner, Coatings provide an additional aid to Throwers. Of the five, only the Explosive has any effect for the battle. It grants an additional damage over time and allows for better boss tracking due to the light.

The Battle
The Buried Champion is a swift opponent who utilizes a different weapon to attack for each third of its health: beginning with a blade, followed by a bow, before finally a staff. Despite the battle being separated into three separate phases however, its movement and core attack is the same, so some tactics will be able to apply for the entire duration of the battle.

General Tips
Regardless of phase, The Buried Champion's primary attack will be to fire a high-damage projectile that travels horizontally. To better dodge these, you should strive to limit your horizontal movement to only the necessary movements. This is because the boss's tendency to remain a certain distance away creates an effect similar to the Doppler effect; moving away from the projectiles will cause more to pile together, creating a wall of projectiles that collectively becomes much more difficult to avoid compared to a single one, and moving towards the boss will reduce the amount of time you have to react to the projectiles moving towards you.

Because moving horizontally makes the projectiles more difficult to dodge, your best option is to increase your vertical maneuverability and ways to mix up your options for moving up and down. With equipment like Flight armor or Rocket Boots to hover in place, you can allow these projectiles to fly pass you. Quick ways to zip to either the floor or ceiling, such as a Grappling Hook, can be used to quickly avoid a cluster of projectiles.

That said, sometimes you have to move towards the boss – some classes simply lack the range to effectively inflict damage otherwise. Since the boss's main attack can't be angled, rushing in and attacking from above or below is the best way to go about it. If you do not want the boss to level to you and smack you with a high damage projectile, you should make a quick getaway before that happens.

Phase One
The battle against The Buried Champion begins with it brandishing its swift blade to attack you with. This phase has the least amount of projectiles to deal with, but the ones it throws at you deal a very high amount of damage, making taking hits especially dangerous. During this phase, you can expect the boss to:


 * Fire a blade of wind from its sword. As its main attack, the tips mentioned above should be followed.
 * Pause, then either swoops over the target player, or quickly charges at the player, resuming its normal attack from the other side. This is the best opportunity to deal damage, since its movements are much easier to anticipate than normally. This is especially notable for players utilizing close-ranged weapons, since rushing to the general area where The Buried Champion will stop can allow you to land several hits.
 * Summon a golden circle below your player. This circle will follow your movements for a short duration, before stopping and releasing a burst of daggers from it. You can tell this attack will occur if you hear a casting noise. As the daggers move strictly vertically, this move forces you to horizontally to dodge it; that said, it's small size means you do not have to move far from it to avoid the hit.

This phase has no variation within it, so you may be able to get into a comfortable pattern of dodging and attacking when the time is right. Of course, once you strip The Buried Champion a third of its life...

Phase Two
The middle phase of the encounter sees The Buried Champion changing its blade for a bow. During this phase, you can expect the boss to:


 * Fire standard arrows. As its main attack, the tips mentioned above should be followed, though note its fire rate is higher than the first phase, in exchange for a smaller hitbox and slight damage.
 * Pause, then fire three arrows imbued with an element towards you position: an movement-reducing ice arrow, a poison arrow to weaken you, and a fire arrow for high damage. Unlike the daggers from the previous phase, these are fired at your current position, so you can avoid them by simply moving. You can even dodge by timing your jumps.
 * Swoop to the other side, releasing a volley of arrows downwards as it passes over to the other side. The volley consists of five arrows, with the side arrows moving at a slight angle. Unlike the other arrows, these are destroyed upon contact with a block, so some of the arrows can hit the ceiling, reducing the number of arrows to dodge. Otherwise, try only moving a slight amount and letting the arrows slip between you.

In addition to the above, once you reach half life, The Buried Champion will significantly increase its rate of fire for its standard arrow attack. This is arguably the most difficult part of the battle, especially for players with little ranged options. One way to get in is to go up so the boss will follow, then rush downwards using a hook and use the time it spends descending to land a few blows.

If you find yourself taking a few too many hits, you should focus on dodging rather than attacking to either let your health regenerate or remove your Potion Sickness or Full Stomach debuffs before reentering the fray. A Transformation is helpful for this, as the small size of the arrows become easier to dodge with your morphed form's smaller hitbox.

Phase Three
Once you reach the adversary's final third of its health, The Buried Champion will exchange its bow for a staff. During this phase, you can expect the boss itself to:


 * Fire a Magical Burst, which explodes into eight spreading projectiles upon contact with a block. As its main attack, the tips mentioned above should be followed for the main projectile. Note that unlike the previous phases, these projectiles cannot pass through blocks, so ones fired while the boss in inside the cave's wall will be ineffectual.
 * Pause, then fire three slower-moving block-passing Magical Bursts in the direction of the player. If you strike these with a weapon swung like a Broadsword, it will be reflected towards the nearest enemy for extra damage. This attack is fairly easy to dodge, so it is the best opportunity to rush in for large amounts of damage, especially if you are using a sword.

In addition, upon entering this phase the boss will summon a Fallen Champion to aid it. This Fallen Champion appears as an echo of the boss during its first phase and will attack in a similar manner, but attacks with its wind slash less often and does not utilize the golden circle. In Expert Mode, a second Fallen Champion, utilizing its bow, will be summoned alongside the first. Like the first echo, this spirit attacks the same way as the boss's second phase, though fires at a slower rate and does not use any other attack. Fallen Champions only have 3 HP, but cannot be damaged by conventional means. Only though a shield bash or reflecting a Magical Burst can these spirits be damaged, and only for 1 health each time (barring critical strikes). It is highly recommended to eliminate these Fallen Champions, as they significantly increase the difficultly of dodging.

Once the Fallen Champions are removed from the battle, this phase becomes significantly more manageable. Even though the Magical Bursts deal a large amount of damage, their fire rate is the slowest among the three phases, and the ones aimed directly at you can be deflected. This phase is the easiest for players using close-ranged weapons for this reason. As long as you keep the pressure, you will emerge victorious!