I'm playing through Terraria using nothing but magic weapons, and I'm having a really difficult time with the end-game events (I have defeated all of the single bosses, with the exception of Duke Fishron). Virtually all of the ideal mage builds I see on the internet involve the Bat Scepter, which is dropped by the Pumpking. But, no matter what weapon combinations I try, I just can't seem to beat the Pumpking using magic weapons.
Are there any particular strategies for taking him down as a mage? I've built an arena with traps, I'm using the Spectre armor (with hood), and I'm using a Nimbus Rod, Rainbow gun, and Heat Ray. I can wade through the first few waves in the Pumpkin Moon event (up to wave 9 or so, albeit dying many times), but I just can't bring down the Pumpking.
Best Answer
The Spectre Hood armor set has pretty significant damage reduction (40%). I found using the Hallowed armor for boss fights (or wave events) more effective. I use a long-ish (about a screen length) area with a pit in the middle for traps. With this set-up, potions typically suffice for me.
I think your accessories look good, I usually use a similar setup. Depending on how much you're running, you may want to switch out the boots. I recommend something like Charm of Myths to reduce pot cooldown.
For weapons, I think the Heat Ray is good for the regular monsters, but you want something with high single-target damage for bosses. I've used the Leaf Blower fairly successfully against the Mourning Wood and Pumpking.
With this set-up, I can get 1-2 Pumpking kills a night. Not much, but it's a start. Things to improve would be reforging accessories for better modifiers, and making a better arena that kills the regular monsters for you, allowing you to focus on the bosses.