You can only mine Hellstone in Terraria with pickaxes that have at least 65% pickaxe power.

Quick Scoop: What pickaxe can mine Hellstone?

The following tools can mine Hellstone (pre-Hardmode):

  • Nightmare Pickaxe (Corruption world)
  • Deathbringer Pickaxe (Crimson world)
  • Molten Pickaxe
  • Reaver Shark (from fishing, pre-Hardmode)

Key rule:

  • Hellstone requires 65%+ pickaxe power ; weaker picks like Gold or Platinum cannot mine it.

Mini breakdown

  • First pickaxe you’ll realistically use: usually Nightmare or Deathbringer, depending on whether your world has Corruption or Crimson.
  • Best pre-Hardmode option: Molten Pickaxe – it’s very strong for that stage and can also start you into early Hardmode ores like Cobalt/Palladium.
  • Cheesy/alternative route: getting a Reaver Shark early via fishing lets you mine Hellstone before fighting many bosses, but it’s harder to obtain consistently.

In forum-style discussions, players often say: “Nightmare/Deathbringer is your entry ticket, Molten is your upgrade, Reaver Shark is your shortcut.”

Simple example route

  1. Play normally until you can craft a Nightmare or Deathbringer Pickaxe from Demonite/Crimtane bars and boss drops.
  1. Go to the Underworld and start mining Hellstone with that pickaxe (bring Obsidian Skull or Obsidian Skin to avoid burning and lava).
  1. Use the Hellstone plus Obsidian to craft Hellstone Bars, then make a Molten Pickaxe as your stronger tool.

TL;DR: Any pickaxe with 65%+ power works, but in practice you’ll use Nightmare, Deathbringer, Molten, or Reaver Shark to mine Hellstone.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.