

With crit factored in, Unholy Trident puts out 154.2 DPS against 55.2 for Diamond Staff — about 179% more damage per second. Base hits are Diamond Staff 23 vs Unholy Trident 42, so the gap comes as much from attack speed and crit as from raw damage.
Unholy Trident swings faster at a 17-tick use time versus 26, so it lands on-hit debuffs like ichor, procs set bonuses, and reapplies knockback more often — an edge the flat DPS figure understates.
For crowd control, Unholy Trident hits with more knockback (6.5 vs 5.5), keeping enemies at range while you reposition.
Both are Magic weapons, so the same armor set and class accessories buff either one — you can swap between them without rebuilding your loadout.
| Stat | Diamond Staff | Unholy Trident |
|---|---|---|
| Damage | 23 | 42 |
| Use time | 26 ticks | 17 ticks |
| Crit chance | 4% | 4% |
| Knockback | 5.5 | 6.5 |
| Defense | 0 | 0 |
| Mana cost | 8 | 9 |
| Shoot speed | 9.5 | 13 |
| Sells for | 60 | 10 |
Diamond Staff averages 55.2 DPS with crit. Unholy Trident averages 154.2 DPS with crit. Unholy Trident is ahead by 99.0 DPS.
Unholy Trident has the shorter 17-tick use time, so it attacks faster than Diamond Staff at 26 ticks.
Yes — both are Magic weapons and share the same armor and accessory bonuses.
Yes — both belong to the pre-hardmode tier.