Frozen Shield

This is what you build when you have decided that defense is your answer to the difficulty jump after Plantera. Knockback immunity alone reshapes fights, since you stop getting bumped off your platform in the middle of a dodge. The damage cut that switches on once you are hurt is the rest of it, and it turns a lot of the moments that would have killed you into moments you walk away from.

Alone, only the low health reduction does anything, and it is generous enough to carry a messy fight. In a group you become the one absorbing everybody else's damage, which is right if you are the melee character with the health pool and a disaster if you are the ranger who was standing at the back for a reason. Decide who wears it before the summon item goes off.

• The low health effect and the Frozen Turtle Shell do not add up, so wearing both wastes a slot.
• The team redirect overlaps with the Paladin's Shield and the Hero Shield, so only one player needs to be carrying that line.

The Ankh route buys debuff immunities through a long crafting chain. Most bosses do not inflict the statuses it blocks, so on a character built around boss fights this is the stronger slot and far less work to reach. Keep the Ankh for exploring, where random debuffs are actually what kills you.