Terraria Map
Stats
| Type | Melee weapon |
|---|---|
| Rarity | Blue |
| Damage | 12 melee |
| Knockback | 3.5 |
| Critical strike chance | 4% |
| Use time | 20 (Very fast) |
| Buy price | 1 gold 25 silver |
| Sell price | 25 silver |
Dropped by
| NPC | Chance | Amount | Modes | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cave Bat | 0.4% (1 in 250) | 1 | All modes |
Cave bat hunting and tethered dagger projection
Acquired as a rare 0.4% drop from Cave Bat enemies in subterranean caverns, the Chain Knife operates as a tethered throwing weapon. It propels a dagger connected to a metallic chain toward the cursor, inflicting 12 base melee damage with 3.5 knockback. Upon striking a monster or colliding with solid rock, the blade instantly retracts back to the player. Its rapid extension makes it practical for harassing distant hornets or slimes across subterranean chasms.
Rapid retraction combat and godly reforge
Because the blade returns immediately upon impact, fighting at close range against cavern beasts dramatically increases effective rate of fire well beyond its base 20 use time. Its Very fast projectile provides safe poke damage around narrow cave corners, keeping dangerous piranhas and slimes at bay. Its behavior mirrors a miniaturized pre-Hardmode Harpoon, offering agile single-target harassment. While it lacks autoswing, rapid clicking can lock enemies in place. Reforging to Godly offers the best possible bonus to damage, critical strike chance, and knockback.
Trivia
- The chain knife was historically one of the earliest chained melee weapons introduced to Terraria.