PC Update: You can actually get one of (if not) the best pre-hardmode pick in the game by fishing in the ocean. You will need roughly 50% fishing power from bait and fishing pole combined (Enchanted Nightcrawlers and the Reinforced Fishing Pole will suffice), but the Reaver Shark will also suffice in mining up everything including the initial hard mode ore.

Original Post: You are skipping a step. You need to make a Nightmare or Deathbringer pickaxe. You get the ore and other components from defeating either the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu respectively. These axes can then mine the Hellstone and you can keep moving forward.

There are two ways to summon these bosses, but they parallel each other. You can craft the appropriate summoning item at an Altar but more likely you will want to destroy the Crimson Hearts or Corruption Orbs. They are located at the bottom of the pits that naturally form in both of these zones. You will likely not be able to break the rocks but you can use TNT and such to destroy the rocks to get access to them. Every three of these items you break will summon a boss. You can usually summon 3-4 in this manner. After that you will need the items.

Both bosses 'hover' around. The brain literally does it appearing and disappearing to then swoop at you. The Eater of Worlds is a giant worm that will circle around you and try to hit you. The general strategies for both of them are to build an arena where you can jump up and down between 2-3 levels to help with placement. You may want to include some Camp Fires or healing lamps or the like to help your passive regeneration of health. Ranged weapons will be handy for the eye ball but honestly for both of these bosses you want multi-penetration items like spears that will hit continuously when they make contact.

For a list of Pickaxes and what they are made from and what they can mind, check out the Terraria Wiki. For recipes for the items you can check out the Worm Food and the Bloody Spine to summon the bosses.

Answer from James on Stack Exchange
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Official Terraria Wiki
terraria.wiki.gg › wiki › Molten_Pickaxe
Molten Pickaxe - Official Terraria Wiki
May 15, 2026 - The Molten Pickaxe is a pre-Hardmode pickaxe. It can mine blocks up to Dungeon Bricks, Cobalt Ore, and Palladium Ore. The Molten Pickaxe occasionally inflicts the On Fire! debuff on hit enemies. Its best modifier is Light for harvesting purposes and Legendary for combat purposes.
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Fandom
terraria.fandom.com › wiki › Molten_Pickaxe
Molten Pickaxe - Terraria Wiki
The Molten Pickaxe can destroy most blocks in one hit. However, its mining speed is very slow, making it slower than Tungsten Pickaxe and above at mining the weakest block types. It is faster than most pre-Hardmode pickaxes when mining stones, ...
Top answer
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PC Update: You can actually get one of (if not) the best pre-hardmode pick in the game by fishing in the ocean. You will need roughly 50% fishing power from bait and fishing pole combined (Enchanted Nightcrawlers and the Reinforced Fishing Pole will suffice), but the Reaver Shark will also suffice in mining up everything including the initial hard mode ore.

Original Post: You are skipping a step. You need to make a Nightmare or Deathbringer pickaxe. You get the ore and other components from defeating either the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu respectively. These axes can then mine the Hellstone and you can keep moving forward.

There are two ways to summon these bosses, but they parallel each other. You can craft the appropriate summoning item at an Altar but more likely you will want to destroy the Crimson Hearts or Corruption Orbs. They are located at the bottom of the pits that naturally form in both of these zones. You will likely not be able to break the rocks but you can use TNT and such to destroy the rocks to get access to them. Every three of these items you break will summon a boss. You can usually summon 3-4 in this manner. After that you will need the items.

Both bosses 'hover' around. The brain literally does it appearing and disappearing to then swoop at you. The Eater of Worlds is a giant worm that will circle around you and try to hit you. The general strategies for both of them are to build an arena where you can jump up and down between 2-3 levels to help with placement. You may want to include some Camp Fires or healing lamps or the like to help your passive regeneration of health. Ranged weapons will be handy for the eye ball but honestly for both of these bosses you want multi-penetration items like spears that will hit continuously when they make contact.

For a list of Pickaxes and what they are made from and what they can mind, check out the Terraria Wiki. For recipes for the items you can check out the Worm Food and the Bloody Spine to summon the bosses.

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Break 3 crystals in the corruption. This will summon The Destroyer.

Kill The Destroyer, and it will drop shadow scales.

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GameFAQs
gamefaqs.gamespot.com › vita › 316002-terraria › answers › 378323-where-when-can-i-find-the-molten-pick-axe
Where/when can I find (the Molten Pick Axe)? - Terraria Q&A for Stadia - GameFAQs
September 4, 2014 - When you have done all of this you can craft a hellston bar on the "hellforge" (like a normal forge but you will find it in hell) with 4 hellstone ore plus 1 obsidian ore. To craft a molten pickaxe you'll need 20 hellstone bars (or 80 hellstone ore + 20 obsidian ore).
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Terraria Community
forums.terraria.org › home
Molten Pickaxe or Molten armor?
Crossplay and beyond, the future is going to be a fun one. Before then, we are getting ever closer to wrapping up what has to be the largest "hotfix" type update in Terraria's history. We do think the time taken will be well worth it, as we are trying to tackle a number of outstanding topics at once.
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Steam Community
steamcommunity.com › sharedfiles › filedetails
Steam Community :: Guide :: How to CRAFT Molten Pickaxe in Terraria (EASILY!)
This Terraria guide video will help you learn how to make the molten pickaxe . I cover all of the steps in full detail so its easy to learn, and you know exactly how to acquire all of the ingredients, items, and materials needed to meet all of the requirements!
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Official Terraria Wiki
terraria.wiki.gg › wiki › Pickaxes
Pickaxes - Official Terraria Wiki
May 23, 2011 - Pickaxe Axe · Drax · Shroomite Digging Claw(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) Picksaw · Hammer and Axe · Meteor · Molten · Haemorrhaxe(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Spectre · Luminite(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The Axe ·
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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How to CRAFT Molten Pickaxe in Terraria (EASILY!)
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.
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Palworld Guide
bisecthosting.com › blog › terraria-pickaxe-stats-best-luminite-adamantite-orichalcum
Terraria Pickaxe Guide: All Pickaxes, Stats, & More
Some players will still find this pickaxe fairly useful when entering Hardmode. ... Tool speed: 18 How to get: Craft the Molten Pickaxe by combining 20x Hellstone Bar near an Iron or Lead Anvil.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/terraria › help we did not make a molten pick-axe
r/Terraria on Reddit: HELP We did not make a molten pick-axe
June 12, 2018 -

Hi Everyone,

A friend and I are playing multiplayer and are now in hard mode. We did not spend enough time in hell to make a molten pick-axe.

What is the best way to get a pick-axe to mine hard mode ores in this perdiciment?

Currently we are planning on fishing because we can get hard mode ore from that or we can get the Reaver Shark.

Thanks

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YouTube
youtube.com › watch
How To Get The Molten Pickaxe In Terraria | Terraria 1.4.4.9 - YouTube
In This Video I Will Show You How To Get The Molten Pickaxe In Under 2Quick Minutes🔵My Discord Server:https://discord.gg/dxm7HpjTne🔴How To Enter Hardmode:h...
Published   May 25, 2023
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/terraria › is there anyway to bypass the molten pickaxe?
r/Terraria on Reddit: Is there anyway to bypass the molten pickaxe?
March 31, 2021 - Terraria Fact: The Molten Pickaxe is the only pre-hardmode pickaxe capable of breaking blocks in the Underground Dungeon.
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Fandom
terraria.fandom.com › wiki › Pickaxes
Pickaxes - Terraria Wiki
June 26, 2026 - Pickaxes are tools used to remove ("mine") blocks and furniture, normally converting them to item form. They cannot remove background walls (this requires a hammer instead), nor cut down trees (which requires an axe or chainsaw). They also double as basic melee weapons.
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Fandom
terraria-archive.fandom.com › wiki › Molten_Pickaxe
Molten Pickaxe | Terraria Wiki | Fandom
2 days ago - The Molten Pickaxe is a pickaxe, it's a tier above the Deathbringer Pickaxe and a tier below the Cobalt Drill and Cobalt Pickaxe. It emits an area of light around the player while in use, the only mining tool to do so.
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/terraria › reforging molten pickaxe
r/Terraria on Reddit: reforging Molten Pickaxe
October 14, 2013 -

Is it possible to get the 'Legendary' reforge on the molten pickaxe? all i've gotten were things like 'point' or 'tiny' or 'heavy' etc. none of the things i expect from a pickaxe.

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TikTok
tiktok.com › discover › how-to-craft-a-molten-pickax-terraria
How to Craft A Molten Pickax Terraria
March 16, 2026 - Join #TikTokShopTheNational to discover exclusive collectibles, trading cards, and limited-time livestream deals. Shop exclusive drops, meet top sellers, and don't miss one of the biggest collectibles events of the year · Join TikTokShopFanaticsFest to discover exclusive collectibles, sports ...
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GameFAQs
gamefaqs.gamespot.com › pc › action adventure › sandbox
Molten Pickaxe questions? - Terraria
For Terraria on the PC, a GameFAQs message board topic titled "Molten Pickaxe questions?".