Defense

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Defense is a statistic that determines the decrease in damage taken per hit. The player's defense can be increased by wearing armor and accessories, and temporarily boosted/decreased by various buffs/debuffs. Enemies also have a defense statistic.

Defense cannot be reduced to below 0.[1] Also, the damage dealt to an entity will always be at least 1, regardless of defense (with the exception of a player whose multiplayer ally is wearing a Paladin's Shield).

Some forms of damage are impossible to reduce through defense, e.g. damage from damage over time debuffs like Cursed Inferno or from drowning in water. Damage taken from lava, however, can be reduced through defense.

Some items have the ability of armor penetration, which effectively allows them to ignore part of the target's defense when calculating damage.

Players

Defense gives a flat reduction in damage, i.e. damage is reduced by a fixed amount per hit (as opposed to a multiplicative damage reduction, which would reduce damage by a percentage). It is calculated after the general ±15% damage randomization.

The formula is:net dmg = \lfloorattack dmg - def × factor\rfloor, where factor is 0.5 in Classic Mode, 0.75 in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and 1 in Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).[2]

Examples

Atk. dmg Def. Net damage
Classic mode icon.png Classic Expert mode icon.png Expert Master mode icon.png Master
40 20 30
<floor40 - 20 * 0.5\rfloor = 30
25
<floor40 - 20 * 0.75\rfloor = 25
20
<floor40 - 20 * 1\rfloor = 20
40 30 25
<floor40 - 30 * 0.5\rfloor = 25
17
<floor40 - 30 * 0.75\rfloor = 17
10
<floor40 - 30 * 1\rfloor = 10
75 20 65
<floor75 - 20 * 0.5\rfloor = 65
60
<floor75 - 20 * 0.75\rfloor = 60
55
<floor75 - 20 * 1\rfloor = 55
75 30 60
<floor75 - 30 * 0.5\rfloor = 60
52
<floor75 - 30 * 0.75\rfloor = 52
45
<floor75 - 30 * 1\rfloor = 45

Enemies

Enemies have a defense statistic just like players do, but they do not gain more protection from defense in Expert Mode or Master Mode. They will always reduce incoming damage by 50% of their defense: net dmg = \lfloorattack dmg - def × 0.5\rfloor.

Examples

Weapon Green SlimeGreen Slime0 defense Chaos ElementalChaos Elemental30 defense PaladinPaladin50 defense SharkronSharkron100 defense
Gold BroadswordGold Broadsword15 damage 15 1 (0) 1 (-10) 1 (-35)
MeowmereMeowmere200 damage 200 185 175 150

Boosts

Armor and accessories

A player's defense score can be increased by equipping armor and accessories. Armor usually consists of three items, granting an additional bonus if all pieces match, the set bonus, which may increase the defense score further. Some accessories grant direct defense boosts (see the following table), but all accessories can also be reforged to have defense-increasing modifiers.

See armor for detailed defense information about every piece of armor.

Item Accessory defense
Frozen Turtle ShellFrozen Turtle Shell(Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 30 (25% health or lower)
Cobalt ShieldCobalt Shield1
Obsidian SkullObsidian Skull1
ShackleShackle1
Obsidian ShieldObsidian Shield2
Shield of CthulhuShield of Cthulhu(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)2
Ankh ShieldAnkh Shield4
Frozen ShieldFrozen Shield(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)6
Paladin's ShieldPaladin's Shield6
Berserker's GloveBerserker's Glove8
Flesh KnucklesFlesh Knuckles(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)8
Hero ShieldHero Shield(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)10
Item Accessory defense
Moon CharmMoon Charm 3 (only during the night)
Moon ShellMoon Shell 3 (only during the night)
Moon StoneMoon Stone 4 (only during the night)
Sun StoneSun Stone 4 (only during the day)
Celestial ShellCelestial Shell(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 4 (during the day)
7 (during the night)
Frozen Turtle ShellFrozen Turtle Shell (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) 30 (when below 25% health)
Modifier Defense
Hard 1
Guarding 2
Armored 3
Warding 4

Buffs and debuffs

Buffs and debuffs can temporarily alter a player's or an enemy's defense. Currently, there is no buff increasing enemies' defense.

Buff/Debuff Buff/debuff defense
Well FedWell Fed 2
Plenty SatisfiedPlenty Satisfied(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 3
Exquisitely StuffedExquisitely Stuffed(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 4
The Bast DefenseThe Bast Defense(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 5
Dryad's BlessingDryad's Blessing(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 8
IronskinIronskin 8
TipsyTipsy −4
WeakWeak −4
Ichor (debuff)Ichor −15(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) / −20(Old-gen console and 3DS versions)
Betsy's CurseBetsy's Curse(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) −40
Broken ArmorBroken Armor −50%

Armor penetration (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Armor penetration is a hidden player statistic that determines the effective amount of the enemy's defense portion that is ignored when dealing damage to it. It works by increasing the damage dealt, and this increment is determined by the following way:[3]

  • Calculate the total armor penetration the player has.
  • Then, compare the armor penetration value with the target's original defense (i.e. before defense is reduced by certain debuffs).
    • If armor penetration > defense and defense >= 0, the damage is increased by half of the target's defense.
    • Otherwise, the damage is increased by half of the armor penetration value.

For example, a Duke Fishron in its first phase has 50 defense, and is inflicted with Betsy's Curse(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), reducing its defense to 10. When using the Blade Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and having the Shark Tooth Necklace equipped, the player's armor penetration value will be 30. Since 30 is lower than 50, the Blade Staff's damage would be increased by half of the armor penetration value (15). The Betsy's Curse in this case is irrelevant to related calculations.

The following items grant armor penetration:

Item Armor penetration
Shark Tooth Necklace Shark Tooth Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 5
Stinger Necklace Stinger Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 5
Sharpening Station Sharpening Station(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 12 / ( versions) 4
(for melee weapons only)

In addition, the projectiles of certain weapons and accessories have an own armor penetration stat, which is added to the player's armor penetration when inflicting damage upon an enemy with them:[4]

Item Armor penetration
Blade Staff Blade Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 25
Dark Harvest Dark Harvest(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)("dark energy") 50
Cool Whip Cool Whip(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)(snowflake) 30
Bone Glove Bone Glove(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 25
Crystal Vile Shard Crystal Vile Shard(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10
Nettle Burst Nettle Burst (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10
Wasp Gun Wasp Gun (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10
Star Cloak Star Cloakand its upgrades (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 25
Arkhalis Arkhalis(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 20
Weather Pain Weather Pain(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) 10

Maximum defense

The highest possible defense can be attained using the setups described in the following sections.

Desktop version Desktop version, Console version Console version, and Mobile version Mobile version

The maximum possible defense is 186 / 196 / 204:

Armor (82 defense)
Accessories (59 / 69 / 77 defense)
Buffs (25 defense)
Other (20 defense)

Guarding with the Brand of the InfernoBrand of the Inferno(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) or Sergeant United ShieldSergeant United Shield(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

no version

The maximum possible defense is 165 / 173:

Armor (79 defense)
Accessories (48 / 56 defense)
Buffs (18 defense)
Other (20 defense)

Old-gen console version Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS version version

The maximum possible defense is 128:

Armor (76 defense)
Accessories (42 defense)
  • At night or day (depending on Moon/Sun Stone), at low health
  • Warding modifiers on all accessories
Buffs (10 defense)

Trivia

  • Although not possible in-game, if a piece of armor were to gain a modifier, it would apply the effects just like an accessory would. For example, a set of Warding modified armor would add 12 defense total; each piece adding 4 defense to the total.
  • Damage dealt by enemies is doubled in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and tripled in Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) compared to Classic Mode. This means that despite the higher factors of defense in those modes, defense is still generally less effective than in Classic Mode.
  • If the player somehow has negative defense, they will take more damage according to the damage taken added with half / three quarters / full amount the defense.

See also

References

  1. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method StrikeNPC() in Terraria.NPC.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
  2. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.1.2 source code, method CalculateDamagePlayersTake() in Terraria.Main.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
  3. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method checkArmorPenetration() in Terraria.NPC.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
  4. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.2.1 source code, method Damage() in Terraria.Projectile.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.