The Tank class is a class within Dungeons that focuses on assisting the party by receiving incoming damage. This class depends heavily on ❤ Health and ❈ Defense, which contributes to ❤ Effective Health: as such, most of the gear outlined in this guide will focus on improving these stats and helping players absorb damage.

Tank is one of the cheapest classes in the early game and requires some of the least effort, although there is a significant jump in price between the mid-game and late game. In scenarios where you won't need to be near your teammates all the time and want to do some extra damage, you could potentially swap to a Berserk, Archer, or Mage set for clearing rooms and killing mobs efficiently: see Tutorial:Berserk Guide, Tutorial:Archer Guide, or Tutorial:Right-Click Mage Guide for more information.

It is best for Tanks to prioritise completing as many Dungeon Secrets as possible before your party enters the boss room.

Recommended Armor Sets

Armor is arguably the most important part of being a Tank, and strong armor with high ❤ Effective Health is imperative for efficient Tank progression. While clearing, you'll likely be using an armor set oriented to Berserk, Archer, or Mage, so this section exclusively pertains to armor that you should use during the boss fight, where you'll need to be near other players.

Status	Slot	Name	Requirements	Notes
Early Game		Old Dragon Armor	Combat XVI  Catacombs X (when dungeonised)	Old Dragon Armor, granting +450 ❤ Health and +500 ❈ Defense, is both relatively cheap and worthwhile for early-game Tank for your first few runs until you obtain the necessary  Catacombs levels to dungeonise it or until you obtain  Holy Dragon Armor. Most alternatives, like  Heavy Armor, are not worth it.
Early Game		Holy Dragon Armor	Combat XVI  Catacombs X (when dungeonised)	Holy Dragon Armor, although geared towards Healers, is also incredibly viable for Tanks due to its high ❤ Effective Health. Additionally, its Holy Blood full set bonus, granting +200 ❣ Health Regen, is very useful since it not only boosts your own healing but also that of the party members around you: as a Tank, you'll want to be in close proximity to your teammates, making this incredibly useful. While it is cheaper than  Old Dragon Armor, it is also slightly tedious to grind for, with  Holy Dragon Fragments dropping exclusively from a specific variant of the Lost Adventurer.
Mid-Game		Necromancer Lord Armor	Floor VI completion	Necromancer Lord Armor grants exceptionally high ❤ Health and ❈ Defense, outclassing both of the aforementioned sets in terms of survivability. However, it is much more expensive than both  Old and  Holy Dragon Armor. Players struggling to afford a  Necromancer Lord Chestplate can swap it out for anything that grants similar levels of ❈ Defense, like a Perfect Chestplate - Tier XI or higher.
Mid-Game		Revived Heart	Zombie Slayer VI  Catacombs XV (when dungeonised)	The  Revived Heart, while granting significantly less ❤ Effective Health than - for example - a  Necromancer Lord Helmet, its Healing Boost ability doubles your ♨ Vitality while wearing, making it viable for high health regeneration. It upgrades into the  Reaper Mask, which is the endgame helmet that you will want to use as a Tank.
Late Game		Reaper Mask	Zombie Slayer VII  Catacombs XXIV (when dungeonised)	The  Reaper Mask is the definitive Tank helmet, granting significant amounts of ❤ Effective Health paired with its additional Ruby Gemstone Slot and its high ❈ Defense, outclassing a  Mender Crown both inside and outside of Dungeons. While a  Goldor's Helmet may provide more ❤ Effective Health than both of the aforementioned, it lacks the  Reaper Mask's double ♨ Vitality and often sees much less use. When paired with a  Gloomlock Grimoire, the  Reaper Mask allows for substantial healing capabilities.
Late Game		Goldor's Armor	Floor VII completion	Goldor's Armor is one of the best sets for Tanks, granting significant ❤ Effective Health due to its high ❤ Health and ❈ Defense. When paired with a  Reaper Mask and  Gloomlock Grimoire, it can achieve substantial amounts of healing and defense, making it the most optimal setup for survivability. When paired with an  Ankylosaurus Pet, whose Armored Tank perk grants of your ❈ Defense as ❁ Strength, you can achieve decent levels of damage for clearing efficiently.

Recommended Equipment

Proper Equipment, which is often overlooked, is also useful and necessary while in Dungeons. Here are some that will benefit your Tank experience.

Status	Slot	Name	Requirements	Notes
Early Game		Balloon Snake	Floor I completion	The  Balloon Snake should only be used as a placeholder until one obtains a superior piece, like a  Bone Necklace or a maxed out  Rift Necklace, since waiting until you obtain better equipment would be a waste of a slot.
Universal Early Game	Adaptive Belt (Starred)	Adaptive Belt	Floor II completion	The  Adaptive Belt is the best-in-slot Belt for Tanks, granting a slight ❈ Defense increase as well as +5 ❤ Health and +10 ❈ Defense: when accounting for the stat scaling for dungeonised items while in a Dungeon, the  Adaptive Belt heavily outclasses other Belts, like the  Black Belt, in terms of ❈ Defense.
Universal Early Game	Bone Necklace (Starred)	Bone Necklace	Floor IV completion	The  Bone Necklace is excellent for Tanks, granting negligible ☣ Crit Chance and a substantial amount of ❈ Defense. Additionally, its Gladiator's Will ability is buffed when playing as a Tank: the radius in which you gain ❈ Defense is increased to 30 blocks instead of the regular 10, and you gain a maximum of +60 ❈ Defense; it also buffs your Diversion passive to a 15-block radius. It is cheap to upgrade and is the best-in-slot Necklace for Tanks, outclassing a maxed-out  Rift Necklace.
Universal Mid-Game		Shadow Assassin Cloak	Floor V completion	Although the  Shadow Assassin Cloak does not give any defensive stats, when a Reforge with high ❤ Health or ❈ Defense - for example, Strengthened or Waxed - is applied to it, the stat scaling will greatly increase how much ❤ Effective Health you have while in a Dungeon, resulting in high survivability.
Universal Mid-Game		Soulweaver Gloves	Floor VI completion	Similar to the  Shadow Assassin Cloak, the  Soulweaver Gloves does not grant any defensive stats, but a proper Reforge can grant substantial bonus ❈ Defense while in a Dungeon. Additionally, its Haunted Skull ability has the capability to stun enemies and reduce their damage temporarily: this makes it very useful for clearing and killing mobs that are close to you. The  Soulweaver Gloves and  Gauntlet of Contagion have been frequently compared: it is not recommended to use a  Gauntlet of Contagion, since it doesn't scale with your Dungeon level.

Recommended Weapons

Since a lot of Tank gear does not grant a lot of benefits to damage, it is important to have weapons with high damage to clear efficiently. While preceding the boss fight, you'll likely be using an armor set oriented to Berserk, Archer, or Mage: it is important that your weapon of choice complements your armor of choice. The recommended weapons listed will be primarily oriented towards clearing the dungeon in Berserk armor, with some alternatives for those who only have a set of tank gear.

Status	Slot	Name	Requirements	Notes
Early Game		Super Cleaver		The  Super Cleaver is a great weapon for the early game, as it is both incredibly cheap and lacks any requirements. While an  Aspect of the Dragons will have more ❁ Damage and ❁ Strength, a  Super Cleaver is much more efficient for clearing mobs quickly and can be upgraded into the  Hyper Cleaver for a decently low price.
Early Game		Hyper Cleaver	Floor III completion	The  Hyper Cleaver is very useful for crowd control, with its Cleave ability being capable of clearing lots of enemies in a 4 block radius around it. It is also relatively cheap, only costing 800,000 coins in addition to its predecessor, and can often be found on the auction house for cheaper.
Early Game		Earth Shard	Catacombs XIX (Outside Dungeons)	The  Earth Shard has innate bonus ❈ Defense as well as the ability to use Seismic Wave without your dungeon orb. It is a cheap yet effective way of contributing damage in bosses while using full tank gear, and can be used to break crypts for bonus score and secrets without  Superboom TNT.
Optional		Livid Dagger	Floor V completion	The  Livid Dagger is a cheap and effective melee weapon, providing solid single-target ❁ Damage for its point in progression. Its main benefit is its bonuses to ☣ Crit Chance and ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed, which means it can consistently crit even in tank gear. However, as tanks do not have a cone attack, it is easily outclassed in most scenarios for the clear.
Mid-Game		Juju Shortbow	Enderman Slayer V  Catacombs XV (when dungeonised)	The  Juju Shortbow is exceptional for clearing efficiently and will be a stepping stone for getting a  Terminator. It is extremely cheap to obtain, with the major grind being the requirements of Enderman Slayer V, which can take a long time for newer players.
Mid-Game		Flower of Truth	Floor VI completion	The  Flower of Truth is a viable clear weapon for tanks who are low on coins. It is incredibly cheap, while granting decent ❁ Damage and incredibly high ❁ Strength, making it an incredibly worthwhile investment. However, one should seek to upgrade this weapon to the  Bouquet of Lies as soon as possible.
Mid-Game		Bouquet of Lies	Floor VI completion	The  Bouquet of Lies is exceptional for clearing normal mode dungeons when paired with a  Juju Shortbow. It retains the  Flower of Truth's exceptionally high ❁ Strength and can hit more enemies than its predecessor: despite costing a lot of  Ancient Roses and  Fel Pearls, making it relatively grindy for ironman players, it is decently affordable.
Late Game		Astraea	Floor VII completion	While you could feasibly use any other  Necron's Blade variant, the  Astraea works best for its bonus ❈ Defense and thus ❤ Effective Health. It grants a maximum base ❈ Defense of +350 ❈, and is great for damage and survivability. A  Hyperion is recommended as an alternative if you and your party have no trouble surviving both the clear and the bossfight.
Late Game		Terminator	Enderman Slayer VII  Catacombs XXVII (when dungeonised)	The  Terminator is commonly regarded as the best bow in the game, and is the best weapon for the clear for Master Mode, as well as great for many bosses. It is advised to aim for a high ☣ Crit Chance to ensure every attack crits despite the ☣ Crit Chance penalty.

Recommended Utility Items

Status	Slot	Name	Requirements	Notes
Universal		Wand of Atonement	Zombie Slayer VII	The  Wand of Atonement is useful for quick health regeneration over a short period of time, and is invaluable for healing.
Universal		Ornate Zombie Sword	Catacombs XVIII (when dungeonised)	The  Ornate and  Florid Zombie Sword are also incredibly useful for healing, with its Instant Heal ability outclassing the  Wand of Atonement and its predecessors for burst healing.
		Florid Zombie Sword
Recommended		Bonzo's Mask	Floor I completion	The  Bonzo's Mask and  Spirit Mask can be used in tandem with each other: using the  Spirit Mask's Second Wind ability while the  Bonzo's Mask's Clownin' Around ability is on cooldown allows you to survive in the most dire of situations. Additionally, it is incredibly cheap to upgrade the  Spirit Mask with  Thorn Fragments, which heals you for 100 + 3% of your maximum ❤ Health.
Recommended Late Game	Spirit Mask (Starred)	Spirit Mask	Catacombs XV
Late Game		Gloomlock Grimoire	Enderman Slayer V	The  Gloomlock Grimoire is a unique healing item, with its Life Tap ability converting ⸎ Soulflow into ʬ Overflow Mana at the cost of ❤ Health, and its Extreme Measures ability healing the player at the cost of ❁ Damage. It allows for serious healing capabilities when paired with a  Reaper Mask.
Late Game (Situational)		Soul Whip	Fishing XXVI	The  Soul Whip can be useful for drawing aggro from Maxor and Storm in the floor 7 bossfight.
Universal		Wither Cloak Sword	Floor VII completion	The  Wither Cloak Sword's Creeper Veil ability is incredibly useful for blocking damage and granting a lot of ❈ Defense. It is best used when trying to block attacks that have the capability to instantly kill you, like Storm's Giga Lightning.

Recommended Pets

A useful Pet is incredibly important for a Tank to function even more efficiently. These are some recommended Pets, some of which are very situational and others more multi-purpose.

Status	Slot	Name	Requirements	Notes
Early Game	Legendary Bee Pet	Bee Pet		The  Bee Pet pet can make a decent budget Tank pet due to its third ability, Weaponized Honey. This ability grants you ❤ Absorption equal to 25% of the damage you take. Hive can also be effective on lower dungeon floors, granting a small amount of additional ❁ Strength and ❈ Defense.
Early Game	Epic Blue Whale PetLegendary Blue Whale Pet	Blue Whale Pet		The  Blue Whale Pet is a viable pet for early-game Tanks, since it grants a high amount of base ❤ Health. The EPIC rarity of the pet grants increased ❈ Defense per max ❤ Health, and the LEGENDARY variety grants +25% max ❤ Health: however, the latter is decently expensive when starting out.
Early Game	Epic Turtle PetLegendary Turtle Pet	Turtle Pet		The  Turtle Pet is viable for early-game Tanks, since it grants a substantial amount of ❈ Defense: between its base +100 ❈ Defense, its Turtle Tactics ability granting +30% ❈ Defense, and its Genius Amniote ability granting +30 ❈ Defense for every player near you, capping at 4 players, which is extremely useful for most bosses that encourages the party to stick together.
Recommended Universal		Ankylosaurus Pet	HoTM 7	The  Ankylosaurus Pet is the best pet for Tanks, granting 50% of your ❈ Defense as ❁ Strength, making out at +500 ❁ Strength. This is a very sizable increase, allowing players to maintain both high ❤ Effective Health and ❁ Strength: it is also useful outside of the Catacombs, allowing players to achieve incredibly high damage and functioning as a slightly weaker and much cheaper  Golden Dragon Pet.
Deprecated	Epic Baby Yeti PetLegendary Baby Yeti PetMythic Baby Yeti Pet	Baby Yeti Pet		For a long time, the  Baby Yeti Pet was best-in-slot for Tanks due to its now-removed Ice Shields perk, which granted 100% of the player's ❁ Strength as ❈ Defense. This allowed for players to retain high ❁ Strength while gaining lots of ❈ Defense, resulting in incredibly high survivability.

Recommended Modifiers

Proper modifiers on your Armor and Weapons are imperative in order for a Tank to function properly.

Enchantments

Given that high ❤ Health, ❈ Defense, and ❤ Effective Health is vital for survivability, the Enchantments that a Tank puts on their gear is extremely important.

Enchantment	Notes
Armor
Protection	Protection and Growth are universal Enchantments that you will always be using throughout your entire playthrough, due to the increased ❈ Defense and ❤ Health that it grants.
Growth
Rejuvenate	Aside from the obvious picks that are requied for every armor piece, being Protection and Growth, Rejuvenate grants lots of ❣ Health Regen, which further gets buffed by dungeon scaling. Not only is it great for survivability, it is also buffed by ♨ Vitality.
Mana Vampire	Mana Vampire and Hardened Mana both grant increased healing and ❈ Defense depending on ✎ Mana used near you: since you'll often want to be near your teammates while in the boss room, these mutually exclusive enchantments may prove to be very useful.
Hardened Mana
True Protection	True Protection grants ❂ True Defense, which will reduce the amount of ✷ True Damage you take: several attacks in Dungeons will deal ✷ True Damage, like Thorn's minions and Livid's damage potions.

A good Ultimate Enchantment is also vital for Tank progression.

Enchantment	Notes
Armor
Last Stand	Last Stand is a useful Ultimate Enchantment during the early game, granting increased ❈ Defense when reaching low ❤ Health. Both Last Stand I and Last Stand II can be obtained from Dungeon Reward Chests, and the enchantment is relatively cheap on the Bazaar.
Legion	Legion is the best Ultimate Enchantment for general usage, granting increased Combat Stats - including ❤ Health and ❈ Defense - when near your teammates: as a Tank, you will likely be near your party members frequently, allowing you to use the enchantment to the fullest of its capability.
Refrigerate	Refrigerate is the best Ultimate Enchant for survivability, due to the increased ✎ Mana usage in dungeons. However, it is very expensive and should not be considered unless you have enough spare coins to expend.

Reforges

Weapons

Status	Slot	Name	Notes
Early Game		Spicy	Spicy is useful for ☠ Crit Damage and will be viable for clearing.
Optional		Suspicious Vial Suspicious	Suspicious is an incredibly useful reforge for both ☣ Crit Chance and ☠ Crit Damage, as well as increasing your weapon's ❁ Damage. Due to its ease of access for Ironman players, it is a great option for them.
Universal		Dragon Claw Fabled	Fabled grants decent ❁ Strength and ☠ Crit Damage, as well as granting a chance for critical hits to deal +15% more damage and being rather cheap. It's one of the best damage-focused reforges, but it is not as useful for a tank.
Universal		Wither Blood Withered	Withered allows you to achieve the most ❁ Strength in dungeons, which pairs extremely well with the  Baby Yeti Pet. Even without the pet, the damage of this reforge is on par with Fabled.

Armor

Status	Slot	Name	Notes
Early Game		Rare Diamond Reinforced	Reinforced grants the same ❈ Defense as Heavy, without sacrificing any other stats. It is the best Tank reforge for the early game, as well as extremely cheap for even ironman players due to its high drop rate.
Early Game		Diamond Atom Reinforced	Perfect is a direct upgrade over Reinforced, granting even more ❈ Defense for slightly higher cost.
Universal		Giant Tooth Giant	Giant grants the most ❤ Health out of any of the mentioned reforges, making it the best reforge for Tanks. When applied to an armor set with high ❤ Effective Health, like  Goldor's Armor or a  Reaper Mask, substantial survivability can be achieved.
Universal		Precursor Gear Ancient	Ancient is the best forge for the clear set, as well as being viable for  Baby Yeti Pet users.

Accessory Powers

Magical Power is arguably the most important stat in the game, and you should aim to have 1200 Magical Power by the time you enter Master Mode - Floor VII.

While some people may think that having an Accessory Power that grants high ❤ Effective Health may improve your survivability, your gear should be enough to help you survive on your own. What you now need is high ❁ Damage in order to clear efficiently, or at least be able to kill a miniboss quickly. As a result, you should aim to use Accessory Powers with high ❁ Strength and ☠ Crit Damage: depending on the gear you are using to clear, you could use Accessory Powers oriented towards a Berserk, Archer, or Mage.

Status	Slot	Name	Notes
Early Game		Beating Heart Bloody	Bloody grants a decent amount of ❁ Strength and ☠ Crit Damage, as well as +10 ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed. It should be enough to get yourself started for clearing as a Tank.
Early Game		Luxurious Spool Silky	Silky grants incredibly high ☠ Crit Damage, as well as a minuscule amount of ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed. It is exceptional if you have at least 100% ☣ Crit Chance, which everyone should aim to have, although it is recommended to keep your ❁ Strength and ☠ Crit Damage balanced.
Early Game		Furball Itchy	Itchy balances out ❁ Strength, ☠ Crit Damage, and ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed: while it gives less ☠ Crit Damage than Silky, it balances out all stats relatively evenly, resulting in higher damage.
Early Game		Ender Monocle Sighted	Sighted grants a lot of ✎ Intelligence and minimal ๑ Ability Damage, which will be incredibly useful if you are using a Mage setup to clear rooms efficiently. It is also the best budget power for ✎ Intelligence, with the only Accessory Power outclassing it being Bizarre, costing hundreds of millions of coins.
Mid-Game		Magma Urchin Hurtful	Hurtful grants high ❁ Strength, substantial ☠ Crit Damage, and decent ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed. It is incredibly useful for clearing, but is decently rare and expensive.
Late Game		Fortuitous	Fortuitous grants the most ☣ Crit Chance out of any Accessory Power, and should be what you aim to use if you are using a  Terminator as a Tank: it is recommended to use an Archer setup in later floors of Master Mode as a Tank, since a  Terminator heavily outdamages almost all Berserk damage.

Attributes

A number of Attributes should be maxed out as soon as possible, as they greatly benefit playing as a Tank.

Slot	Name	Notes
	Flash Shard Light Elemental	Grants +1-10 ❁ Strength, maxing out at +50 ❁ Strength with all Elemental Shards maxed out. Buffed by the Echo of Elemental attribute, increasing the effect of these attributes by +20%.
	Quake Shard Stone Elemental
	Bolt Shard Lightning Elemental
	Aero Shard Wind Elemental
	Tempest Shard Storm Elemental
	Grove Shard Nature Elemental	Grants +1-10 ❤ Health, maxing out at +50 ❤ Health with all Elemental Shards maxed out. Buffed by the Echo of Elemental attribute, increasing the effect of these attributes by +20%.
	Bramble Shard Wood Elemental
	Sylvan Shard Forest Elemental
	Terra Shard Earth Elemental
	Tenebris Shard Shadow Elemental
	Zombie Soldier Shard Undead Ruler	Undead Ruler, Skeletal Ruler, and Humanoid Ruler are incredibly important for Tanks who struggle to clear, as it grants a large damage boost against ༕ Undead, 🦴 Skeletal, and ✰ Humanoid mobs, which appear most in the Catacombs. They are buffed by Echo of Ruler, which boosts all ❁ Damage gained from the Ruler attributes by +20%.
	Chill Shard Skeletal Ruler
	Drowned Shard Humanoid Ruler
	Prince Shard Reborn	Reborn boils down to free Dungeon Score when killing a Prince. It is a must-have, especially for Tanks who prioritise doing Secrets and blowing up Crypts. It is easy to obtain the shard by fusing  Flare Shards with any burner shards, such as  Cod Shard.
	Mimic Shard Faker	Faker gives more stat bonuses from blessings, which is very helpful as it is essentially free stats for most of the clear. It is easy to obtain the shard by fusing  Prince Shards with any burner shards, such as  Cod Shard.
	Burningsoul Shard Attack Speed	Attack Speed grants an additional +10 ⚔ Bonus Attack Speed, which is incredibly useful as a Tank as it increases your rate of attack: additionally, it reduces the cooldown of Shortbows, which is useful when paired with a  Juju Shortbow or  Terminator.
	Caiman Shard Echo of Ruler	Echo of Ruler is incredibly useful as it boosts the damage of Undead Ruler, Skeletal Ruler, and Humanoid Ruler from 30% to 36%, making it exceptional for clearing.
	Kraken Shard Vitality	Vitality, like the name suggests, grants increased ♨ Vitality, which is great for increasing your incoming healing. It takes a long time to grind for, requiring several Kuudra runs, but you can buy them on the Bazaar if you're rich enough.
	Scarf Shard Catacombs Graduate	Catacombs Graduate boosts ALL Class XP gain, making it a lot easier to level up your Healer class.

References

v · d · eTutorials
General Guides	Ironman Guide Bingo Guide Tips and Tricks Ultimate Guide
Skill Guides	Mining Guide Farming Guide Foraging Guide (WIP) Fishing Guide Alchemy Guide
Progression	Accessory Guide Armor Guide Tools Guide Minion Farming Reforging Guide Maxing Items Melee Weapon Guide Ranged Weapon Guide
Combat Guides	Dragon Fights Guide Kuudra Guide Slayer Guide Maximizing Sword Damage Mobs Guide
Dungeon Guides	Catacombs Guide Berserk Guide Archer Guide RCM Guide & LCM Guide Tank Guide Healer Guide
Economy Guides	AH Bazaar NPC Snow Minion Lowballing
Farming	Carrot Nether Wart Potato Wheat Pumpkin Melon Cocoa Bean Mushroom Sugar Cane