Medusa Head

The Medusa Head is a Hardmode magic weapon that has a chance of being dropped by Medusas, which are encountered in Marble Caves.
On the , the Medusa Head continuously attacks up to four times per second, striking up to three enemies per attack within a short range of the player. mana is consumed per each attack, regardless of the number of enemies struck. No mana is consumed if the weapon is used while there are no enemies within range.
On the , this weapon can be charged for up to 3 seconds to deal additional damage, consuming mana per second to a maximum cost of . A 1-second charge doubles the damage, while the full charge of 3 seconds triples the damage. When the full charge is reached, the weapon will automatically discharge, hitting all enemies inside a circle with a radius of 50 tiles. It cannot pass through blocks.
== Notes ==
* The center point of the Medusa Head's effect is not the raised head, but rather the front of the player's torso, just below their face. As a result, enemies that appear to be targetable may not be affected. In addition, there appears to be an exactly 2-block minimum space requirement for the attack to "pass through" and hit a target, causing walls in narrow vertical tunnels to block attacks going straight up or down due to the start point being off center from the tunnel.
* Enemies near walls or slopes can sometimes be completely missed by this weapon's attack, even with no obstructing blocks between the player and the enemy. This seems to happen much more consistently on smaller enemies such as Green Slimes.
* Medusa's Head does not target other players in PvP.
== Tips ==
* The Medusa Head's rapid short-range attacks make it a great tool for clearing out enemies that are surrounding the player, or for eliminating quick enemies without having to aim. However, given its limited number of targets, it is generally outclassed by weapons with true piercing when fighting worm-type enemies and bosses.
* The Medusa Head is very powerful against enemies with multiple segments. As a full charge can deal over 100 damage to each individual segment, most worm enemies can instantly be killed. For instance, it can be slightly more effective than other weapons against Wyverns and The Destroyer.
* Due to the area-of-effect damage of the Medusa Head, it is useful against events like the Pirate Invasion and Goblin Invasion.
* The Medusa Head may indicate a nearby unseen enemy's location through its streaks of light towards it.
* Given the hazards of fighting Medusa, the safest way to get hold of one of these is use of a statue farm. However, given the reduced drop chance from statues, this can take quite a long time; even a three-statue farm might well take over an hour of real-time.
== Trivia ==
* The Medusa Head originates from the Greek legend of , who was commanded by to kill the and return with her head. Later on, he used it to save by turning the sea monster into stone.
* The Medusa Head does not inflict the Stoned debuff despite its namesake enemy doing so.
* When used, Medusa and the snakes on her head will stick out their tongues, and her eyes will flash.
* When using a Medusa Head while riding a Minecart on a slope, the head will appear to float.
== History ==