If you really want to use the bow, do the tree method mentioned above.

I generally build a wall around the entrance to a crypt, not to trap bonemass, but to provide a safe space. I build the wall the same height as the crypt, and he doesn't get in. A bonfire on top with a couple of roof sections over the entrance provides rested state.

Good armor, good food, poison protection, and a mace will take him down pretty fast.

I also built a house over the skull once (actually several times). It was pretty large with walls 2 6x2 blocks high, with a tall roof and a balcony over the skull. Long story short, I didn't build it to trap him, but he got trapped on the balcony and was helpless. So I beat him to death with a mace.

Ice arrows used to be the best bow damage for bonemass? But it's not worth the too early mountains grind, nor the bow fight.

Fastest cheese was iron sledge, jump on an indestructible tree about bonemass face height and just AoE him to death from an untouchable position. But I hear they gated iron sledge behind bonemasses' death now, I guess stagbreaker could do it - just slower.

I skirted Swamp for the iron pickaxe and then thumped my way in the mountains to get silver for the Drauger bow and frost arrows. Combined with the hoe to even out terrain the fight was pretty easy against bonemass. Just circle around his little altar and use the stagbreaker to deal with spawns that get too close.

I went after moder first, made a lox saddle and brought 5 lox. took 10 minutes of riding. one survived.
was trying to get frostner but haldor didnt sell ymir flesh (he still doesnt, is bugged)

what level of cheese are we talking here exactly?...

Asymmetrical figure-8. Larger loop wraps the sacrifice stone, smaller for you with a murder hole between them. I've used this for the Elder, Bonemass and Yagluth. For a single-player, combat engineering can help quite a bit.

Originally posted by Razldrazl:

I went after moder first, made a lox saddle and brought 5 lox. took 10 minutes of riding. one survived.
was trying to get frostner but haldor didnt sell ymir flesh (he still doesnt, is bugged)

what level of cheese are we talking here exactly?...

Ymir flesh is sold after killing Bonemass. Frost arrows + silver weapon to deal with adds is what I did. Think I used the crystal battle axe at that point lol.

I swear they nerfed him. Nobody should need to cheese him at all. It was rare that he was summoning any adds, probably 3 skeletons after a dozen throws.

If it is really just for fun...
* Perhaps build a dome and have him walk over campfires?. Perhaps around pyres.
* Park him over a flame-creature spawn. LOL, that melts the Abominations (trees) also.

The dome would work easier in your... dirt wall. I assume bosses break stuff nearby from summoning. They really really really need their own phase/instance where players can't cheese them and they can function ... even normally. Moder is HORRIBLE. Yag can get stuck (my actual first experience)

I've walked a Lox around a pyre before. It was just stupid silly. The deer will run away, but at these creatures give no care about burning to death.

Originally posted by DeMasked:

Originally posted by Razldrazl:

I went after moder first, made a lox saddle and brought 5 lox. took 10 minutes of riding. one survived.
was trying to get frostner but haldor didnt sell ymir flesh (he still doesnt, is bugged)

what level of cheese are we talking here exactly?...

Ymir flesh is sold after killing Bonemass.

Is that new with the Mistlands update? I'm sure I used frostner on bonemass not too long ago, but pre-Mistlands. It worked very well, of course.

Originally posted by Faceplant8:

Originally posted by DeMasked:

Ymir flesh is sold after killing Bonemass.

Is that new with the Mistlands update? I'm sure I used frostner on bonemass not too long ago, but pre-Mistlands. It worked very well, of course.

Yes some items from the Merchant are locked by boss kills. Thunderstone thing after Elder, Ymnir Flesh after Bonemass and a new mistland related item after Yagluth.

Originally posted by DeMasked:

Originally posted by Faceplant8:

Is that new with the Mistlands update? I'm sure I used frostner on bonemass not too long ago, but pre-Mistlands. It worked very well, of course.

Yes some items from the Merchant are locked by boss kills. Thunderstone thing after Elder, Ymnir Flesh after Bonemass and a new mistland related item after Yagluth.

That's unfortunate. That's a step backwards for non-linear progression.

OK, seems like raising ground 3 times and doing small "pillars" around the summoning altar really works. It really messed up bonemass and was easily able to jump out of the arena via those small gaps between raised ground. https://imgur.com/a/aO6AGiV

The fight lasted whole 5 minutes and it was easier than what I remembered. Fully upgraded banded shield was able to parry its attacks with ease. Those videos of other people beating bonemass to pulp would not had been needed but when in doubt ;-)

Why even bother cheesing him? Just poison resist potion, have health and stamina potions ready, and go get him. If things get hairy, he's not fast enough to chase you down, so just back off a bit and recover, and then go back in. He falls pretty quickly to straight melee.

Its not the height. If its about 2 vikings tall its more than enough.
what I do is make a circle about the size of the new game standing stones you start at, and a gap you can just barely walk through. He will spew adds into your arena but it should by this point just be a moment to clear them out. Then melee toe to toe at the door and if you need to retreat, he can't come in there. Make it so you have a place to hide out of LOS of the door. Then its just a melee battle, and fairly easy. This may be overkill now, but back when poison was hard hitting (when a GD shaman could take off half your health with one fart cloud) it was my best strategy against this guy (barring skip to mountains approach).

If you do this, its not an epic castle foundation, its a little arena. It can have gaps, it just needs to keep him out and offer a spot out of LOS where you can heal for a min. You often need a portal to go repair and refresh your stamina rested buff, it can be a long fight the first couple of times.

He is resistant to piercing, sure you can build a shelf up a tree and shoot him but it takes a long as time. He isnt as hard as he used to be, I just run around the Skull than stun him and smack him a bit. I watch videos too just to get some other tips.

No need to build a wall mr. president :) There is a much quicker and cheaper way to do it: find one of those big indesttructable trees nearby and build a platform high enough so that bonemass can't reach you. Then fire down some frostarrows on him. Been a while since i last killed him because my last playthrough is month back, but if things are still the same he should be weak to frost.