Defense

Defense is a player statistic that determines how much damage can be taken per hit. The damage the player takes is reduced by half, rounded up to the nearest whole number, ( or ) of their defense value. Defense can be increased by equipping armor and accessories, or temporarily boosted by various buffs. No attack can be reduced below 1 damage (with the exception of a player with an ally wearing the Paladin's Shield).

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

Mechanics
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).

Normal mode formula
The formula is: net damage = attack damage - (defense * 0.5)

For example:
 * With 20 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 10, resulting in 30 damage taken:
 * With 30 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 15, resulting in 25 damage taken:

Expert mode formula
In expert mode, the formula is:

net damage = attack damage - (defense * 0.75)

For example:


 * With 20 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 15, resulting in 25 damage taken:
 * With 30 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 23, resulting in 17 damage taken:

Note that in Expert mode only the player's defense follows the formula. Enemies will still take the same amount of damage as in normal mode.

Master mode formula
In master mode, the formula is:

net damage = attack damage - defense

For example:


 * With 20 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 20, resulting in 20 damage taken:
 * With 30 defense, a 40 damage attack is reduced by 30, resulting in 10 damage taken:

Enemies
Enemies have a defense statistic just like players do, but they do not gain more protection from defense in. Enemies will always reduce incoming damage by 50% of their defense regardless of difficulty.

net damage = attack damage - (defense * 0.5)

Examples:

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, the Set Bonus, which may increase the defense score further, if all three pieces match. Some accessories grant direct defense boosts (see the following table), but all accessories can also be reforged to a maximum of +4 defense per accessory.

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

The following accessories increase the player's defense:

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. A player's defense cannot be reduced to fall below 0.

Damage reduction boosts
All damage reduction boosts (except Paladin's Shield and Warmth Potion) affect damage taken after defense.

Armor Penetration
Armor penetration is a statistic that reduces the defense of the player's targets. For instance, a Pixie normally has defense. If the player has 5 Armor penetration, then the Pixie will be taken to have defense instead.

Defense
The highest possible defense uses the following setup:

82 + 54 + 25 + 20 + 7 = 188 (max defense for normal) 82 + 64 + 25 + 20 + 7 = 198 (max defense for expert) 82 + 72 + 25 + 20 + 7 = 206 (max defense for master)
 * Armor – 82 defense in total
 * Solar Flare Helmet or Hallowed Mask – 24 defense
 * Solar Flare Breastplate – 34 defense
 * Valhalla Knight's Greaves – 24 defense
 * Accessories (at night) – 54 / /  defense in total
 * Flesh Knuckles – 7 defense
 * Hero Shield - 7 defense
 * Berserker's Glove - 7 defense
 * Celestial Shell – 7 defense
 * Paladin's Shield – 6 defense
 * Frozen Shield -
 * Ankh Shield -
 * Warding modifiers on all accessories – 20 / /  defense
 * Buffs – 25 defense in total
 * Ironskin – 8 defense
 * Exquisitely Stuffed – 4 defense
 * Dryad's Blessing – 8 defense
 * The Bast Defense – 5 defense
 * Guarding with the Brand of the Inferno – 20 defense
 * Traveling at top speed in a Mechanical Cart - 7 defense

79 + 28 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 152 (normal) 79 + 48 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 172 (normal with Warding modifiers) 79 + 32 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 156 (expert) 79 + 56 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 180 (expert with Warding armor pieces)
 * Armor – 79 defense in total
 * Chlorophyte Mask – 25 defense
 * Solar Flare Breastplate – 34 defense
 * Valhalla Knight's Greaves, Solar Flare Leggings, or Vortex Leggings – 20 defense
 * Accessories (at night) – 48 / defense in total
 * Flesh Knuckles – 7 defense
 * Celestial Shell – 7 defense
 * Paladin's Shield – 6 defense
 * Two out of Ankh Shield, Moon Stone, Celestial Stone – 8 /  defense
 * Warding modifiers on all accessories – 20 / defense
 * Buffs – 18 defense in total
 * Ironskin – 8 defense
 * Well Fed – 2 defense
 * Dryad's Blessing – 8 defense
 * Guarding with the Brand of the Inferno – 20 defense
 * Additionally, if a player is traveling at top speed in a Mechanical Cart, they can reach 172 defense normally, and 180 in Expert mode.

79 + 28 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 152 (normal) 79 + 48 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 172 (normal with Warding modifiers) 79 + 32 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 156 (expert) 79 + 56 + 18 + 20 + 7 = 180 (expert with Warding armor pieces)
 * Armor – 79 defense in total
 * Chlorophyte Mask – 25 defense
 * Solar Flare Breastplate – 34 defense
 * Solar Flare Leggings, or Vortex Leggings – 20 defense
 * Accessories (at night) – 48 / defense in total
 * Flesh Knuckles – 7 defense
 * Celestial Shell – 7 defense
 * Paladin's Shield – 6 defense
 * Two out of Ankh Shield, Moon Stone, Celestial Stone – 8 /  defense
 * Warding modifiers on all accessories – 20 / defense
 * Buffs – 18 defense in total
 * Ironskin – 8 defense
 * Well Fed – 2 defense
 * Dryad's Blessing – 8 defense
 * Additionally, if a player is traveling at top speed in a Mechanical Cart, they can reach 172 defense normally, and 180 in Expert mode.

76 + 22 + 10 + 20 = 128 (normal) 76 + 42 + 10 + 20 = 148 (normal with Warding modifiers)
 * Armor - 76 defense in total
 * Dragon Mask - 26 defense
 * Beetle Shell - 32 defense
 * Beetle Leggings 18 defense
 * Accessories - 42 defense in total
 * Paladin's Shield – 6 defense
 * Ankh Shield - 4 defense
 * Moon Stone (at night)/Sun Stone (at day) - 4 defense
 * Frozen Turtle Shell (at low health) - 30 defense
 * Celestial Stone - 4 defense
 * Warding modifiers on all accessories – 20 defense
 * Buffs - 10 defense in total
 * Ironskin – 8 defense
 * Well Fed – 2 defense
 * Guarding with the Brand of the Inferno – 20 defense

Damage reduction
Damage reduction is calculated after defense.

The highest damage reduction possible is 73.6% (or 81.52% against cold-themed enemies), using the following setup:

Desktop, Console, and Mobile Version
(1 - 0.45) * (1 - (0.25 + 0.17 + 0.1)) = 0.264 = 26.4% damage taken = 73.6% damage reduction
 * Armor (multiplicative)
 * Beetle armor with shell – 45% reduction
 * Warmth Potion - 30% reduction against cold-themed enemies
 * Accessories and Potions (additive)
 * Frozen Turtle Shell – 25% reduction
 * Worm Scarf – 17% reduction
 * Endurance Potion – 10% reduction
 * This does not include the Paladin's Shield buff, since its damage reduction occurs before defense, and all others occur after defense.

(1 - 0.45) * (1 - 0.3) * (1 - (0.25 + 0.17 + 0.1)) = 0.1848 = 18.48% damage taken = 81.52% damage reduction against cold-themed enemies

Old Gen Console Version
(1 - 0.45) * (1 - 0.1) = 0.495 = 49.5% damage taken = 50.5% damage reduction
 * Armor (multiplicative)
 * Beetle armor with shell – 45% reduction
 * Accessories and Potions (additive)
 * Endurance Potion – 10% reduction
 * Warmth Potion - 30% reduction against cold-themed enemies
 * This does not include the Paladin's Shield buff, since its damage reduction occurs before defense, and all others occur after defense.

(1 - 0.45) * (1 - (0.1 + 0.3)) = 0.33 = 33% damage taken = 66% damage reduction against cold-themed enemies

3DS Version
(1 - 0.45) * (1 - 0.1) = 0.495 = 49.5% damage taken = 50.5% damage reduction
 * Armor (multiplicative)
 * Beetle armor with shell – 45% reduction
 * Accessories and Potions (additive)
 * Endurance Potion – 10% reduction
 * This does not include the Paladin's Shield buff, since its damage reduction occurs before defense, and all others occur after 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 adds 4 defense to the total.
 * Damage dealt by enemies is doubled in Expert mode and tripled in Master mode compared to normal mode. This means that despite the increase in damage reduction from defense in those modes, defense is still generally less effective than in normal mode.
 * If the player somehow has negative defense, they will constantly take 1 damage, and die with the death message " couldn't put out the fire". This cannot be attained without the use of 3rd-party software or mods.

Abwehr Défense 防御