Defense

For defense mechanics, refer to Defense on the Terraria Wiki

Defense is a player statistic that determines how much damage can be taken per hit. The damage the player takes is reduced by of their defense value. Defense can be increased by equipping armor and accessories, or temporarily boosted by various buffs.

Some forms of damage are impossible to reduce through defense. Damage from health-draining debuffs like Plague or drowning in water are not reduced by defense. Damage taken from lava, however, can be reduced through defense.

Damage Reduction

Main Article: Damage Reduction

Damage Reduction (DR) is a stat alongside defense that decreases damage that both the player and other NPCs take based on a percentage. The player can boost their damage reduction with certain accessories, although it scales diminishingly as more damage reduction is gained.

Defense Boosts

Source	Defense	Condition
Aquatic Emblem	0 to 50	Gradually builds while submerged in liquid.
Baguette	2	When Well Fed buff is active.
Delicious Meat	2	When Well Fed buff is active.
Hadal Stew	2	When Well Fed buff is active.
Utensil Poker	2	When Well Fed buff is active.
Polaris Parrotfish	2	When Polaris Boost buff is active.
Sea Shell	2 +3	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Shield of the Ocean	2 +5	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Corrupt Flask	3	While in the Corruption.
Craw Carapace	3	Always.
Crimson Flask	3	While in the Crimson.
Frost Barrier	4	Always.
Stress Pills	4	Always.
Artemis Emblem	5	Always.
Crabulon	5	When Mushy buff is active.
Elemental Quiver	5	Always.
Gladiator's Locket	5	Always.
Honey Dew	5	While in the Jungle.
Living Dew	5	While in the Jungle.
Shroomerang	5	When Mushy buff is active.
Tequila	5	During the daytime when Tequila debuff is active.
Titan Scale Potion	5 +25	When Titan Scale buff is active. 10 seconds after a true melee strike during the buff.
Ambrosial Ampoule	6	Always.
Fungal Carapace	6	Always.
Giant Shell	6	Always.
Regenator	6	Always.
Spirit Glyph	6	When Spirit Defense buff is active.
Asgard's Valor	8 +16	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Deep Diver	8 +15	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Elysian Aegis	8 +40	Always. While Elysian Guard is active.
Frigid Bulwark	8	Always.
Hallowed Rune	8	When Hallowed Defense buff is active.
Ornate Shield	8	Always.
Yharim's Stimulants	8	When Yharim's Power buff is active.
The Absorber	10 +3	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Affliction	10	While equipped or when Afflicted buff is active
Archaic Powder	10	While Underground or in the Underworld.
Asgardian Aegis	10 +20 +40	Always. When submerged in liquid. While Elysian Guard is active.
Crimson Effigy	10	When Crimson Effigy buff is active.
Crown Jewel	10	While under the effects of a damaging debuff.
Dark Sun Ring	10 +15	Always. During night or Solar Eclipse.
Frost Flare	10	When below 25% life.
Laudanum	+10 +15 +20 +30 +50	When Weak debuff is active. When Darkness debuff is active. When Ichor debuff is active. When Blackout or Confused debuff is active. When Obstructed debuff is active.
Moonshine	10	When Moonshine debuff is active.
Rover Drive	10	When 10-second shield is active.
Tequila Sunrise	10	During the daytime when Tequila Sunrise debuff is active.
Giant Tortoise Shell	12	Always.
Rampart of Deities	12	Always.
Celestial Jewel	15	While under the effects of a damaging debuff.
Profaned Soul Crystal	15 -15	At night or when submerged in water or honey. At day or when submerged in lava.
Draconic Elixir	16	When Draconic Surge buff is active.
Astral Arcanum	20	While under the effects of a damaging debuff.
Blood Pact	20	When Bloody Boost buff is active.
Leviathan Ambergris	20	While submerged in water.
The Sponge	20 +3	Always. When submerged in liquid.
Ursa Sergeant	20	Always.
Grax	30	When Grax Boost buff is active.
Permafrost's Concoction	30	When Encased buff is active.
Yharim's Gift	30	Always.
Flame-Licked Shell	36 -18	Always. When under the Shell Speed Boost buff
Draedon's Heart	+75%	While standing still.
Grape Beer	-3%	When Grape Beer debuff is active.
Bloody Mary	-4%	During a Blood Moon when Bloody Mary debuff is active.
Rum	-5%	When Rum debuff is active.
Vodka	-5%	When Vodka debuff is active.
Whiskey	-5%	When Whiskey debuff is active.
Margarita	-6%	When Margarita debuff is active.
Star Beam Rye	-6%	When Star Beam Rye debuff is active.
White Wine	-6%	When White Wine debuff is active.
Caribbean Rum	-10%	When Caribbean Rum debuff is active.
Cinnamon Roll	-10%	When Cinnamon Roll debuff is active.
Fabsol's Vodka	-10%	When Fab debuff is active.
Everclear	-30%	When Everclear debuff is active.

Armor Penetration

Armor penetration is a statistic that reduces the defense of the player's targets. For instance, a Purple Slime normally has 6 defense. If the player has 5 Armor penetration and attacks the slime, then the slime will take damage as if it only had 1 defense instead.

Source	Armor penetration bonus	Condition
Badge of Bravery	5	Always.
Invisibility Potion	5	While Invisibility buff is active when holding a javelin.
Shadow Potion	5	While Shadow buff is active when holding a javelin.
Filthy Glove	10	When performing stealth strikes.
Sand Shark Tooth Necklace	10	Always.
Reaper Tooth Necklace	15	Always.
Omega Blue armor	15	Set bonus.
Electrician's Glove	20	When performing stealth strikes.
Nanotech	20	When performing stealth strikes.

Defense Reduction

Several weapons can permanently lower an enemy's defense on hit. These defense reduction effects cannot stack with themselves or each other, unless marked with the + symbol.

Source	Defense Reduction
Earth	+1
Grand Guardian	+1
Majestic Guard	+1
Corrupted Crusher Blade	10
Apoctolith	15
Anti-materiel Rifle	25
Skullmasher	25
Grand Dad	Sets non-Boss enemy defense to 0

Vanilla changes

Defensive accessory modifiers now also increase damage reduction and gain more defense in Hardmode and Post-Moon Lord, with rarer defense modifiers granting a larger bonus.

• Hard provides 0.25% damage reduction; and increases 2 defense in Hardmode and 3 defense in Post-Moon Lord instead of 1.
• Guarding provides 0.5% damage reduction; and increases 3 defense in Hardmode and 4 defense in Post-Moon Lord instead of 2.
• Armored provides 0.75% damage reduction; and increases 4 defense in Hardmode and 6 defense in Post-Moon Lord instead of 3.
• Warding provides 1% damage reduction; and increases 6 defense in Hardmode and 8 defense in Post-Moon Lord instead of 4.

Several items had their defense values changed.

• A full set of Gladiator armor now provides 21 defense instead of 7.
• A full set of Obsidian armor now provides 19 defense instead of 16.
• The Hallowed Plate Mail now provides 18 defense instead of 15 and the Hallowed Greaves now provide 13 defense instead of 11.
• A full set of Solar Flare armor now provides 94 defense instead of 78.