Guide:The Grand Thunder Bird strategies

Type	Boss
Environment	Desert
AI Type	The Grand Thunder Bird AI
Damage	406090 (Contact); 244872 (Lightning Barrage); 306090 (Lightning Shot); 40 (Tornado)60 (Tornado)
Max Life	150021002677
Defense	6
KB Resist	100%
Immune to
Coins	5000*50

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The Grand Thunder Bird is the earliest boss available in the Thorium Mod, summoned by firing a Storm Flare from a Grand Flare Gun in the Desert during the day. It is considered the weakest boss of both the Thorium Mod's and vanilla bosses; however, it may still prove to be a challenge for unprepared players. The following are some hints, tips, and strategies to help defeat it.

General strategies

Terrain preparations

Little preparation is required due to the general flatness of Deserts. At most, smoothing out uneven terrain and building a single level of around 30-50 platforms will suffice; the platforms will catch the tornado-spawning bolts and help with dodging The Grand Thunder Bird's charges.

If needed, Campfires are easy to obtain and can provide extra health regeneration if you get hit.

Gearing up

Armor

Strictly speaking, armor is not required due to the simplicity of the encounter; however, some suggestions are below:

Cactus armor is a cheap option, as it is easy to obtain and provides a useful thorns effect dealing damage to any Hatchlings that fly into the player.
Icy armor is a more expensive option, but provides higher defense and a set bonus can freeze Hatchlings in place.
Pumpkin armor provides a small damage bonus from its set bonus, but is only available pre-boss during Halloween.
For Magic users, Silk armor provides minor benefits to the player's magic capabilities, including extra damage when above 90% of your maximum mana.
For Summoners, Living Wood armor is a cheap option that provides a useful extra minion slot.
For Bards, Crier's armor is the best armor available for this stage of the game, being easily acquirable and providing bonuses for the class.
For Healers, if you were able to encounter a Blood Moon both the Novice Cleric's armor and Ebon armor are options. The former is preferable if you wish to focus more on healing allies, while the latter is preferable if you wish to supply more damage.
- If no Blood Moons have occurred yet, Coral armor is a strong alternative offering a mix of offense, defense and support with its set bonus, but may be difficult to obtain depending on world size.

Accessories

Any accessory that improves your jump, such as the Cloud in a Bottle, Blizzard in a Bottle, or Turbo Boots, is helpful in order to dodge The Grand Thunder Bird's charge attack.
Hermes Boots, Sailfish Boots, Flurry Boots, or especially Dunerider Boots are useful for outrunning the boss' feathers and bolt strikes, as well as generally keeping it from sticking above you.
An Iron Shield or Lead Shield (or any other metallurgy shield) provides additional defense and life shield for the fight, which may be helpful if you are likely lacking in total health.
Rings provide minor offensive buffs, and are stronger on weapons with a higher use speed due to its flat damage boost.
The Crietz is a relatively expensive but powerful offensive accessory that gives a spike of damage whenever you land a critical strike, and the downward angle the sparks take can potentially help against any Hatchlings.
While uncommon, the Crawdad Claw provides a flat damage bonus that can grant a large DPS increase for faster weapons. Its counterparts, the Giant Shell Spine and Salamander Eye, provide increased survivability instead.
For Melee users:
- Strings allow yoyos to more easily attack The Grand Thunder Bird while it hovers out of range of most other melee weapons. Outside of that, their low cost means it is easy to craft multiple for a good modifier such as Warding as a placeholder accessory.
- The Leather Sheath requires venturing into the dangerous Corruption/Crimson for the necessary Leather, but grants an outrageous boost of over 4,800% damage when sheath striking The Grander Thunder Bird while it charges.
For Summoners: the Living Wood Sap and Incubated Egg both provide a small bonus to minion damage.
For Healers: the Head Mirror and Life Gem provide healing bonuses to both you and your targets.

Others

A Grappling Hook of some kind is generally recommended to grapple onto the upper layer of platforms to dodge the boss' charge attack, especially if you forgo any jump-boosting accessories.

Weapons

For Melee users

Due to its interaction with The Grand Thunder Bird's charge attack, a Broadsword should always be brought to this fight to take advantage of the 400% increased damage. While any non-projectile sword will work for this purpose, an Iron Broadsword or Lead Broadsword (or other swords of similar strength) will suffice.
- The Ice Blade provides a somewhat consistent long-range projectile for extra damage between charges.
- If using the Leather Sheath, no other weapons are needed. In the periods between The Grand Thunder Bird's charges you often can charge multiple sheath strikes which can be used to clear out groups of Hatchlings. When the boss starts to lower itself to your vertical level, it is preparing to charge, so you should stop attacking to ensure you have a sheath strike ready when the charge occurs.
Yoyos when supported with a String are a decent supporting option due to it having range and non-negligible damage unlike other melee weapons at this stage of the game. However, the usable options tend to require random chance (Rally and Red Hourglass) or more exploration (Malaise or Artery).
Other weapons at this stage either deal too little damage, lack the necessary range, or are too slow to justify use.

For Ranged users

With Guns generally unavailable at this stage of the game, Bows are your main option for the fight. An Iron Bow, Lead Bow, or Frost Fury (or any other Bow with similar strength) will suffice.
- Flaming Arrows and Frostburn Arrows are solid damaging options for the boss, while Jester's Arrows has high pierce that can deal with groups of Hatchlings.
The Snowball Cannon is a powerful option that, while lacking in pierce, has higher damage and velocity while also having its ammo easily craftable in large quantities.
Bone Javelins and Bone Throwing Knives are cheap and powerful options if you find an Extractinator. The former deals more single-target damage, while the latter can pierce through enemies.
Guns can be used, but even the earliest options, the Thorium Revolver, Musket, and The Undertaker, are generally overkill for this fight.

For Magic users

The Enchanted Staff is an excellent weapon for the fight, having good damage and great pierce, along with a mana regeneration buff that is easy to maintain from defeating Hatchlings.
The Ice Cube is another option that is less chance-based to obtain, while still maintaining solid damage and pierce.
Gem staves are reliable options. An Opal Staff or Aquamarine Staff should suffice, but stronger options can be used if necessary.
The Thunder Zapper is an uncommon but powerful option against The Grand Thunder Bird itself, but lacks piercing for the Hatchlings.
Siphon is a usable supporting option when low of health, as it provides slight life recovery on hit.

For Summoners

The Finch Staff, Flinx Staff, and Seahorse Wand are the primary options for minions, having good damage and range.
The Living Wood Acorn does not cost any minion slots, so it is a free means of dealing additional damage, especially if wearing a full set of Living Wood armor.
The Antlion Staff is the only sentry available, and like the Living Wood Acorn is a low-maintenance option to deal additional damage.
The earliest Whips are generally obtained after The Grand Thunder Bird in progression. If you do require one the Leather Whip is the most practical option.

For Throwers

Enchanted Knives offer good single-target DPS, however their way of obtaining makes hard to gather in large quantities. Icy Tomahawks can pierce two enemies, making them a possible weapon choice for the fight. If you use these, try to hit the boss on its downward arc to inflict additional damage. Coral Caltrops are a solid option, with their ability to inflict Gouge and having a long enough lifespan to toss some out before summoning the boss.

The Lasting Pliers can pierce infinitely and are therefore great for killing hatchlings. The Crude Bat, while powerful, can be hard to aim properly and lacks pierce.

If you encounter a Blood Moon, you can gather some Severed Hands, which are unaffected by gravity and are able to auto-fire, making them a strong option. They do not pierce any enemies, so you should save them for the boss itself.

For Healers

The Bonesaw is an ideal radiant weapon for The Grand Thunder Bird, being a broadsword able to stun the boss while charging for massive damage while also being able to convert the various Hatchlings into organs for a consistent damage option between charges.
- The Life Quartz Claymore or Heretic Breaker are alternative broadswords that lack the long-range attack option, but provide some healing to either you or your allies.
Leech Bolt requires the defeat of Patch Werk, but can reliably hit The Grand Thunder Bird as it hovers above the player for high, piercing damage that additionally heals.

For Bards

The Icy Piccolo is the most consistent option at this stage of the game, sporting solid damage coupled with Frostburn.
The Harmonica can deal higher damage than the Icy Piccolo if all 3 of its projectiles land, but can only be used in specific situations for the best results.
The Antlion Maraca and Lightning Claves can both be used as a means of clearing out large groups of Hatchlings.
The Grand Piano is a highly difficult, but incredibly potent weapon with extreme damage and piercing if you are able to consistently time your uses correctly. If not, the Grand Piano is mostly inferior to other options.

Other Tips

This content is transcluded from The Grand Thunder Bird § Tips.

The Grand Thunder Bird will always start the battle by bringing down bolts of energy raining from the sky, so it is advised that players disperse the area as soon as they fire the Grand Flare Gun.
Players should make use of platforms or vertical outcrops in order to avoid the Grand Thunder Bird's charge attacks. Though risky, players can interrupt and cancel the charge with a well-aimed melee strike.
Though Storm Hatchlings can be a nuisance in large numbers, keeping a number alive for possible Heart drops upon death can provide players with a source of healing in an emergency.
In Expert Mode, the tornado-spawning bolts dropped by the Grand Thunder Bird can collide with platforms, spawning the tornado on it. This can be used to maneuver a bit easier, alternating platforms as you run back and forth.
- In addition to this, if the platforms are decently low, the bolts will spawn on the platforms above you, making you completely immune to the tornadoes. However, this may leave the boss out of range.
Players can hide under solid blocks in order to protect themselves from the energy bolts and Expert Mode tornado projectiles.

v · d · e Guides
Pre-Hardmode Bosses	The Grand Thunder Bird • Queen Jellyfish • Buried Champion • Star Scouter
Hardmode Bosses	Borean Strider • The Primordials
Classes	Class setups • Healer • Bard
Crafting	Crafting Quick Reference • Terrarium Defender

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Guide:The Grand Thunder Bird strategies

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