How to make a grappling hook as fast as possible in Terraria

Learning how to make a grappling hook is a rite of passage for every Terraria player.

Terraria is a much more vertical game than some players expect and a grappling hook is a necessity when exploring. Acquiring one is the first big step for any new character, but new players are left in the dark about how to actually make one. Here’s how to make a grappling hook so fast it can be done as soon as the player spawns in any new Terraria world.

How to quickly make a grappling hook in Terraria

The most basic grappling hook is made from three chains and a hook. Simple enough, but actually acquiring those items is up to the player. To create chains, players will need to locate iron or lead ore underground. These metals are usually the first upgrade material that players discover, and it’s often located fairly close to the surface. Find enough to create an anvil and then use one last bar to forge ten chains.

Acquiring the hook is a little more complicated. Players cannot craft hooks in Terraria, as they are a special drop from certain enemies. The easiest way to acquire them is to explore the overworld for the jungle biome. From there, locate a body of water with piranhas in it and kill them until you find a hook. Each piranha has a 1 in 30 chance, so building a structure to protect yourself may be a wise choice.

Once these two tasks are complete, head to a crafting bench and assemble a first grappling hook. Players can now latch onto walls, granting both vertical mobility and a way to avoid fall damage. While grappling hooks can be bound manually to an item slot, pressing E by default will activate it no matter where it is in your inventory.

What is the best grappling hook in Terraria?

With a length of 34.375 blocks, the Lunar Hook is commonly considered to be the best grappling hook in Terraria.

The Lunar Hook is an endgame item only acquired by beating Lunar Events and claiming their unique crafting materials. The difficult challenge basically requires maxed-out characters, making it impractical except for showing off to other players. The Lunar Hook has the second-longest range of any hook under the Static Hook, but it has the highest pull velocity at 18 blocks per second. 

Players who are still in the early stages of the game are better off searching for gems underground. All gems can be crafted into special grappling hooks that all have a longer range than the original. Amethyst and topaz are the most common gems in Terraria with 15 required to create a hook. The diamond version is the best pre-hardmode grappling hook with a reach of 29 blocks.