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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallFor the Blood Squids that Dreadnautilus summons during the fight, the official Terraria Wiki recommends the Blade Staff, because its attacks ignore the Blood Squids’ defense. That makes it the summon to bring if you want your attention free for the main enemy. The wiki does not establish a universal highest-damage summon against Dreadnautilus itself across all platforms, versions, and builds.
The phrase “summon for Dreadnautilus” can also mean the Sanguine Staff, the summon weapon Dreadnautilus drops. That is a reward you earn by winning, not something you bring into the fight. The sections below separate the two.
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Which summon to bring: Blade Staff for the Blood Squids
Dreadnautilus summons Blood Squids during the encounter. Summons are useful here because they can handle those secondary enemies while you focus on the boss. The official Dreadnautilus page on the Terraria Wiki (accessed 2026) singles out the Blade Staff for this job, noting that its attacks bypass the Blood Squids’ defense. Source: Official Terraria Wiki: Dreadnautilus.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe wiki’s summon advice is aimed at the spawned Blood Squids. It is not a ranking of which summon deals the most damage to Dreadnautilus, and the evidence available does not provide a controlled comparison of summons against the main enemy. If your build relies on a different summon class, your own loadout matters more than this general pick.
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Two meanings of “summon for Dreadnautilus”
- The summon to use against the encounter: Blade Staff, for managing the Blood Squids.
- The summon weapon Dreadnautilus drops: the Sanguine Staff, a reward that you only obtain by defeating the boss.
Both are relevant, but only the first helps you during the fight. The Sanguine Staff is covered in its own section below.
How Dreadnautilus appears
Dreadnautilus is a Hardmode enemy. It is encountered by fishing during a Blood Moon, and the official wiki describes it as rarer than the other four Blood Moon fishing enemies. The wiki states it appears from about one in ten spawn attempts on average, which is a general figure rather than a guaranteed rate.
Preparation items the wiki recommends:
- Sonar Potion: indicates when a fish is about to be hooked, which helps you react to an impending Dreadnautilus bite.
- Chum Caster: improves the chance of finding Blood Moon fishing enemies.
Timing matters. If Dreadnautilus survives until dawn at 4:30 AM, it flies away and despawns. Plan your fishing session around the Blood Moon’s duration so you have time to fight it.
Sanguine Staff drop rates
The Sanguine Staff is listed as a Dreadnautilus drop on the official encounter page, and the wiki’s summon weapon list records it at 35 damage. Its drop chance depends on difficulty mode:
| Difficulty | Sanguine Staff drop chance |
|---|---|
| Classic | 50% (per the Dreadnautilus drop table on the official Terraria Wiki, accessed 2026) |
| Expert / Master | 100% (per the same source) |
Drop rates and balance can change between game versions, so check the current wiki entry before relying on these figures. The 35 damage value comes from the Official Terraria Wiki: Summon weapons list.
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What the evidence does and does not establish
- Established: Blade Staff is the wiki’s recommended summon for the Blood Squids because it ignores their defense.
- Established: the Sanguine Staff is Dreadnautilus’s summon weapon drop, with the difficulty-based drop chances above.
- Not established: a ranking of summons by damage against Dreadnautilus itself, for any platform, game version, or build.
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