Shield of Cthulhu

This only exists on Expert and above, where it comes out of the first boss most people fight, so you can end up with a dash bound before you own a decent sword and never learn to play without one. Double tap a direction, or press the dedicated dash key, and you cover ground in a short burst on a very short cooldown. Early bosses are built around telegraphed charges and straight line approaches, and a burst of sideways movement answers nearly all of them.

The damage you do by ramming into something stops mattering within an hour of picking it up. What keeps the shield equipped deep into Hardmode is the flicker of invulnerability the collision hands you. Charging into an incoming attack cancels it rather than trading with it. Meeting Queen Bee head on in the middle of a dive takes the hit off the table entirely, and the trick repeats on anything that closes in a straight line. Used that way it is a defensive cooldown that happens to also move you.

Despite being a shield it grants no knockback immunity, which catches out anyone who assumed that came standard. Its damage also skips the usual random spread, so the same target takes the same number every time apart from critical hits. The melee tag is only half true as well. Melee damage and critical strike bonuses apply, and so does knockback from a Titan Glove or a Titan Potion, but flasks, the Magma Stone and Frost armor cannot make the bump inflict their debuffs.

Dash effects do not stack and the game picks a winner. Solar Flare and Crystal Assassin set bonuses beat the shield outright. Master Ninja Gear and Tabi only beat it when they sit below it in your accessory order, so if the dash suddenly feels different after rearranging gear, that is why. Tabi is usually called the replacement and it does cover more ground, but it gives you no invulnerability on contact. That is the whole reason plenty of players keep the shield on well past the point they could drop it.

• It costs nothing in your hotbar, so you can defend yourself mid cast, mid fishing, or while holding a building tool.
• Dashing at a one tile gap while holding up or down shoves you through it, which is a quick way to move around the Dungeon.
• It makes a Jousting Lance usable on foot, because you rebound off the target before it can touch you.
• It combines with the Brand of the Inferno for blocking, and the Guide to Critter Companionship stops you bouncing off every bunny between your house and the arena.
• The Cursed debuff does not disable it, since that only locks the items you use out of your inventory.