So you know Calamity, that mod famous for not just a massive assortment of bosses but also a massive catalogue of weapons?
 
 
Well, have you ever wondered if you could beat Calamity without those weapons… or weapons in-general?
 
 
Well, I did, and it worked, so I’m now here to share my secrets with the world
 
 
Welcome to part 1 of Beating Calamity without weapons
 
 

[The Basics]

No, this isn’t clickbait. I’m not joking you here, you can beat the entirety of Calamity without so much as throwing a brick, shooting a bow, or swinging a sword. Every aspect of the game, even the increased difficulties, are do-able with enough time, patience, skill and practice.
 
 
I’ve done this challenge 3 times now, starting back in 2017 in Expert, then a 2019 Revengeance run, and then another Expert run in 2021 mainly to see if it was still possible with all the changes and, surpisingly, it’s actually become more forgiving since.
 
 
As a warning Calamity, being an active mod, will have updates in the future. Info here may become outdated if items receive significant changes, though if that’s the case I may need to make a follow-up or something 😛
 
 
Also no, I’m not a Calamity dev nor did I make any Calamity sprites. The sprites were made by Calamity devs, the mod by the Calamity devs, etc. I’m just making a dumb page about beating the entire mod in a way not intended.
 
 
Anyways, onto the rules.
 
 
 

[The Rules]

The Main Rule:
 
The most basic rule is that players cannot attack enemies directly through any means. This means no melee, ranged or magic weapons, nor can they use summoning weapons to attack.
 
 
Not sure if Dynamite should be allowed or not. I’ve never resorted to using explosives but that’s your choice.
 
 
This means the player must use the following for defence:
 
-Accessories
 
-Lava
 
-Traps
 
-Mounts
 
-Other NPCs
 
And a few other things I may have missed.
 
 
Generally, if it requires you to perform an action yourself via clicking, it’s probably banned.
 
 
Luxor’s Rule:
 
Luxor’s gift is an accessory that can summon a minion if a summon weapon is used, with the ‘E’ rune produced dealing damage equivalent to the summon weapon’s damage.
 
This means that it can be counted as an accessory minion and, thus, is allowed.
 
 
To use it simply summon the rune and then quickly de-summon the minion used to summon it. This leaves only the rune and thus an accessory-summoned minion, which is allowed.
 
 
If Luxor’s is mentioned below I will typically put a weapon beside it, showing what weapon was used in order to summon the rune and thus its damage
 
For example, using the Sun Spirit Staff:
 

 
 
Extra Rules:
 
You may want to add extra spice to the challenge, either making it easier or harder.
 
These are more personal, so it’s up to you, and I wouldn’t blame you for trying to make stuff easier this challenge is super awkward already
 
 
Some ideas may be having to face every boss at the intended level, preventing the player from skipping bosses in order to get better gear for it
 
 
Or giving the player an extra accessory slot to make up for how many will be taken up by minion-summoning accessories during the challenge
 
 
Whatever you do, it’s up to you
 
 
Anyways, onto the actual content
 

 
 
 

Part 1: Pre-Boss

Pre-Boss is basically just gathering rare items, and is typically going to be super awkward and slow most of the time.
 
 
New Items:
 

 
-The Abyssal Amulet allows all attacks to inflict Crush Depth, which can seriously help the DPS of the accessory minions. It is actually super-useful all the way to Moon Lord, so it’s definitely worth taking the time to fish up.
 
-The Gladiator’s Locket is an accessory I don’t use often, but the rotating swords give a fairly reliable source of damage against enemies close to you. Unfortunately, being a shrine item, it’s typically very RNG based to find.
 
-The Shark Tooth Necklace is mainly meant to partner with the Luxor’s Gift minion and Victide Armour’s bonus, helping offset their fairly low damage
 
-Amidias’ Spark grants a fairly useful thorns-like effect when the player takes damage. This can really stack up against some bosses, mainly Desert Scourge
 
-Luxor’s Gift, as the thumbnail might suggest, is probably the 1st or 2nd best accessory in the challenge. Its ability to use the base damage of a summon weapon means it can be upgraded all the way to Terminus. The Sun Spirit Staff has 12 damage and can be obtained fairly early, making it a good weapon to use to summon the rune.
 
-Victide Armour, specifically the summoner set, provides summoner buffs that typically affect most accessory summons also. It additionally provides an overhead minion while equipped that pairs well with the Abyssal Amulet to compensate for its low damage.
 
 
Progression Plan:
 
The main order of business when the player has some/most of the above items is picking which bosses to fight first.
 
Three bosses at this point offer items directly useful for the player, all of which can be fought at any time
 
-King Slime can drop the Slime Saddle, good early-game for its damage and good late-game for the mobility benefit
 
-Crabulon can drop the Fungal Clump, which partners well with the Abyssal Amulet and Shark Tooth Necklace and can also heal the player
 
-The Eye of Cthulhu drops the Shield of Cthulhu, which is both a dash and another form of damage. I would, however, recommended fighting this boss after the other two due to it being more intense.
 
The first 2 are weak to lava, allowing it to be incorporated into arena design to help compensate for the player’s lower-than-average DPS.
 
 
Desert Scourge can be fought basically whenever, so long as the player has Luxor’s and Victide Armour. His drops are useful in-general to increase Luxor’s damage (potentially) via the Seabound Staff, and its fishing gear can help in getting the Abyssal Amulet for the future. Finally, it unlocks the Giant Clam.
 
 
The player should also defeat the Giant Clam for Amidias to spawn. Mainly for the Magical Conch to almost double the Luxor minion’s damage.
 
The Voltaic Jelly can also be useful from the Ghost Bells once Scourge is downed as electrified affects accessory minions, too.
 
 
 

Part 2: Post-EoC

Well, more specifically all of the prior 4 bosses. EoC is the hardest of them arguably so I will call this the Post-EoC era.
 
The player has more items and has a small collection of useful accessories at their disposal now.
 
 
New Items:
 

 
-Luxor’s can now be upgraded with the Magic Conch, a minion with 20 base damage. This should be the strongest minion available right now, providing a good damage boost to the rune
 
-The Fungal Clump is a great new accessory minion. It provides lifesteal, is decently fast, and attaches itself to enemies. Its main drawback of low damage can be partially negated through other means like the Abyssal Amulet
 
-The Slimy Saddle is the best mount for this challenge overall. It provides an easier-to-control source of DPS for the player and also provides fast falling, which is an effect useful all the way to Terminus.
 
-The Shield of Cthulhu can deal damage, but it is mainly used for the dash ability it grants. The dash is a good source of early-game ‘burst mobility’ and helps with dodging boss attacks.
 
-The Voltaic Jelly can allow your accessory minions to inflict Electrified, but is mainly present for its nature of being a material for the future.
 
 
Progression Plan:
 
So the next two bosses are dependent on the player’s chosen world evil, either the Corruption’s Eater of Worlds and Hive Mind or the Crimson’s Brain of Cthulhu and Perforator.
 
Normally I choose Crimson, but that’s purely personal choice as the useful drops can be obtained on either world type.
 
 
The only new thing to note is that the Amalgamated Brain is a desired item for later, so defeating the Brain of Cthulhu directly grants the Brain of Confusion or the player can buy it from the Dryad once the Eater of Worlds is defeated in a Corruption World.
 
Similarly, for the Rotten Brain, the player can either get it from Hive Mind itself or from the Dryad once again in a Crimson world once the Perforator has been defeated.
 
 
Aside from that, other stuff here is standard; with the player getting their pickaxe upgrades and access to Aerialite from defeating the Hive Mine or Perforator.
 
 
 

Part 3: Pre-WoF

So, with Hive Mind/Perforators down it only leaves 3 bosses; Skeletron, The Slime God, and Wall of Flesh. This is also the best order to fight them in, probably. This will discuss the first 2 of these bosses, leaving only the final prep for the Wall of Flesh for the final part of this page.
 
 
New Items:
 

 
-Luxor’s gains access to the Star Swallower Containment Unit, which has 23 base damage. Not too big of an improvement, but damage is damage.
 
-Aerospec Armour, specifically the summoner set, is useful as well. Not only can the feathers dropped when damaged help, and the fall damage immunity help for Slimy Saddle usage, but the main draw is the Valkyrie minion that it summons to assist the player.
 
 
Unfortunately, not too many new items are unlocked at this point that directly impact the challenge. Frostspark Boots and such are always handy, though, so don’t neglect other crucial accessories.
 
 
Progression Plan:
 
It is recommended to defeat Skeletron first, since he is the earliest in progression of the two bosses covered here. Defeating Skeletron, as usual, unlocks the Dungeon and the abyss.
 
 
While the abyss is generally useless right now due to most of the items either not helping the player or not being useful as of now, the Dungeon provides two items.
 
-The Cobalt Shield, both a good accessory and crucial for a later item
 
-The Staff of Necrosteocytes, the highest-damage summon weapon in Pre-Hardmode to upgrade Luxor.
 
 
Afterwards, the player should challenge Slime God. Slime God’s items are specifically useful for Wall of Flesh and thus should not be skipped if possible despite its difficulty.
 
 
Defeating Slime God can grant Purified Gel for a new accessory and new armour
 
 
 

Part 4: The End of Pre-Hardmode

With Slime God downed the player has access to basically every Pre-Hardmode item now, and thus should now be making plans to defeat the Wall of Flesh. Unlike the Hive Mind/Perforators jump in Part 3 there are a lot of new items just from these 2 bosses.
 
 
New Items:
 

 
-The Staff of Necrosteocytes can boost the Luxor’s rune minion to 31 damage, a big improvement and the final Pre-Hardmode upgrade to the Luxor rune’s damage output.
 
-The Gel-Charged Battery can be crafted from Voltaic Jelly the Wulfrum Battery and Purified Gel. The main effect granted is that minions inflict Electrified and create energy orbs upon hitting enemies, both of which affect accessory minions.
 
-The Obsidian Shield has knockback immunity, fire block immunity, a little defence, and is useful throughout the game due to its upgrades in Hardmode and Post-Moon Lord
 
-The Statigel Armour, with the Summoner helmet, also provides a slime minion that can attack enemies. Less agile than the Valkyrie, but it has higher potential DPS and thus the player effectively has the choice in which to use.
 
 
Progression Plan:
 
Wall of Flesh can either go smoothly or suck, never inbetween. I would recommend bringing the Abyssal Amulet here and an assortment of buff potions since this is when the player’s generally lower-than-average DPS really begins showing more significantly.
 
 
Persevere, however, and the player will be able to defeat the Wall of Flesh and enter Hardmode; having finished the first third of the game.
 
 
 

[Final Notes]

Thank you for being willing to sit through this weirdo’s crazy ramblings for so long.
 
 
That was basically all the unique stuff in Pre-Hardmode related to this challenge, mainly being the standout obtainable items that may otherwise be overlooked and some general plans on how to go about pathing through bosses.
 
 
No boss guides are present here, though, as fights are generally still quite similar to their non-gimmicky counterparts; just a little slower and a little more awkward.
 
 
Don’t worry, though, as in the future things manage to become even more tricky to deal with as the player’s intended DPS begins falling behind more severely, leading to tougher and tougher fights.
 
 
Anyways, that was Pre-Hardmode. Next up is Hardmode which I will try to finish soon. See you then 🙂
 
 

 
 
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