The Comprehensive Guide to Defense (Terraria)

There were quite a few segments I had to cut because I didn't want this video to run over an hour, some of those will be going up on my Patreon soon! There will be details about damage that regular enemies deal, damage reduction, the paladin's shield, the shimmer buffs, and a detailed comparison of the worm scarf vs brain of confusion.

0:00 Introduction
0:36 How defense works
1:56 Random damage variation
2:56 Are warding accessories worth it?
4:33 How much damage do enemies actually do
5:12 Every attack from every boss for every class (I'm sorry)
6:10 Eye of cthulhu
7:25 King Slime
7:56 Eater of worlds
8:57 Brain of cthulhu
9:27 Queen bee
10:23 Deerclops
10:53 Skeletron
12:18 Wall of flesh
13:40 The flesh knuckles issue
14:29 The twins
17:01 The destroyer
18:59 Skeletron prime
20:37 Plantera
21:56 Golem
22:47 Post-Golem builds
24:08 Duke Fishron (and how to facetank him)
25:14 Empress of Light
26:11 Lunatic Cultist
26:43 Moon Lord
27:35 Moon lord socket cheese
28:11 the end of this section (I'm sorry)
29:05 Killtime testing (high damage vs high defense vs high damage with warding)
29:20 Eye of Cthulhu Killtimes
20:52 Queen Bee Killtimes
32:10 Wall of Flesh Killtimes
33:50 Plantera Killtimes
35:36 Empress of Light Killtimes
38:29 Conclusions from the killtime tests
38:41 Damage becomes less effective when stacked
39:55 Tanking can be pretty boring
40:35 Potion buffs
42:35 Placed buffs
44:12 Heart statues are OP
45:43 The nurse is also OP
45:58 Accessories
48:27 Why use defense if you can dodge?
50:02 Legendary Mode
53:06 How to be a hardcore tank
54:17 How to be a multiplayer tank
56:30 Final thoughts
57:39 Reframing menacing vs warding

#terraria #gaming #guide

[regularsama]

"It doesn't matter how fast you can kill the boss if they kill you first" is the sentence that defines the offense v defense discourse

[selmiespot]

20:40 "her contact damage is pretty much never relevant unless you are actively trying to be inside of her" the plantera fanbase is suffering a huge hit for this one

[SlyRocko]

TLDR: Sure, reducing the 300 damage nukes by 28 is not much, but reducing the 70 damage chipping projectiles by 28 has a very substantial impact.

[KITSUMELO]

"if dodging boss is fun then why not dodge it for even longer"

[Rukir]

It’s funny people say defense is bad, usually Calamity players, when that mod nerfs tank strats literally every patch because it’s too good. I know it’s not vanilla but it’s still funny.

[guntereisenherz]

When i play vanilla or modded with a friend, our strategy is:
I become an unkillable Tungsten Cube. (With 0 Skill)
He becomes a glass cannon.
He gets killed multiple times, but i stay alive so the enemy doesn't despawn.
Profit.

[Kinen]

Important note regarding Life Force potion, your health regeneration scales with your max HP, meaning that if you increase your hp by 20% you'll be increasing your hp regen as well

[YoursTrulyAudrey]

"Why get warding when you can kill the boss before it hits you"
"Why get menacing when you can survive any attack if it hits you"

[Al-hbuj]

YouTube’s timing is immaculate. Here’s my story:

I’m playing legendary mode for the first time, and I’m stuck on the wall. I’ve tried star cannon, but all the stars get deflected. So instead, I’m running all menacing and bee nades.

After 40 Queen bees, I’ve collected enough bee nades for 4 wall attempts, and they all end with the wall at <1000 health.

I said screw it and ran all warding melee build, and destroyed the wall with more than half my health.

And then I opened YouTube and saw this video.

[k.-]

I have 600 hours in Terraria, in almost every world i went menacing for damage. I recently tried going defensive on my Master World world, and it was game changing. It literally made the game 1 difficulty level easier.

[cap]

at the end of the day, regardless of whats better, the ultimate argument is that having fun with the playstyle you prefer > metamancing
I just go for whatever build I feel like going at that moment in time
sometimes my runs are completely free, sometimes they're harder than diamond
regardless of what is good or not, I just have fun doing whatever I feel like doing
cuz thats kinda the point in a non competitive / offline game

[vfrostbane]

I really like the note that every point of defense is more valuable than the last. This is actually pretty typical in many armour formulae like in Age of Wonders 4, but most people see the smaller percentage of the initial number and dont recognize the fact that its actually granting more and more value. this was a great vid. thanks!

[jasontheth]

just as a side note since you didn't mention it, Plantera's contact damage isn't boosted in FTW/GFB, so using defense there is just as effective as it is on regular worlds.

[wsuxjehsoxjznw]

I remember a friend asking me why Summoner has such pitiful defense. I said "you autoattack, focus on dodging"

Then again i convinced him you got the imp staff for throwing the doll in lava.

[SiveenO]

You ever come across one of those videos on Youtube that make you and your opinion feel more validated compared to what the community thinks?

This one is it. Thanks for making this, Sorbet.

[ZGames]

There is also "infinite healing loops" to consider as a positive for defense.

Because there is a point where if you reduce damage enough, you'll take less damage in a minute than what a potion can heal you. At that point you are inmortal as long as you have potions in the inventory and the boss will just die at some point because the bosses don't heal.

And said thresthold is VERY EASY to achieve only with Warding accesories and dodging a few hits. Not even need for crazy armor combos.

I seriously can't understand how people will put "kill enemy 28% faster" over "near immortality"

[Brass]

"Don't get hit, hit it until it dies" mfers when they realize "make sure their hp hits 0 before yours" is a more accurate statement:

[purplehaze]

54:50 I didn't expect going into this to see a firing squad of every gem staff in the game.

[Kasumizawa.Miyu_RABBIT]

I remember getting so pissed at ML in my expert melee run that I used as much defense as possible and tanked everything. And I mean, EVERYTHING. I was just sitting in honey, jumping to grab some hearts every time the lazer came by. I can say with 100% certainty that full defense is op.

[richardbudge]

there is only one scenario where menacing and lucky are better than warding: when you are trying to get the terraprisma