Archvale: Guide to Highest Defense

This guide will teach you how to get highest defense possible.

How to get highest defense

DISCLAIMER:
My numbers may be wrong. I especially don't know how many fountains one can repair for the defense blessing. If the number of fountains varies from world to world, then so will maximum defense.

Prerequisites:

Armor:
Hyperium Mask and Platebody, Onyx Ring +4, Moon Jelly Cap, Wispwood Chestpiece, Seamantle Ring

Badges:
Pink Ribbon, Blue Ribbon, Blood Exchange, Fortified Soul (recommended but not required badges include Spirit Guard, Crucial Immunity, and Soul Shatter)

Other:
Maxed out health, maxed out fountain defense

How to achieve:
First, wear the Moon Jelly Cap, Wispwood Chestpiece, and Seamantle Ring, and activate a nearby fountain, to get 22 protection hearts. Then, wear the Hyperium Mask and Platebody, and the Onyx Ring +4 WITHOUT activating the fountain. You'll achieve a grand total of 216 defense, before fountain defense is considered.

How is this possible?
Hyperium Mask gives 40 defense, Hyperium Platebody gives 24 defense, and Onyx Ring +4 gives 20 defense, adding that all together, you get 147 defense. If you defeated all bosses prior to the King (the final boss), you should have all heart containers at once, giving you 16 full hearts. Red Ribbon increases that to 17, Blue Ribbon adds a protection heart, and Fortified Soul gives 6 defense per protection heart. If all regular hearts become protection hearts because of Blood Exchange, that is 18 protection hearts by that alone, giving 108 defense for all of those hearts. Now we are up to 192 defense, before fountain defense is considered.

However, if we equip the Moon Jelly Cap, which gives 2 protection hearts and therefore 12 defense, Wispwood Chestpiece, which gives 1 protection heart, and Seamantle Ring, which gives 1 protection heart, we get up to 22 protection hearts. If we then equip the Hyperium Mask and Platebody, as well as Onyx Ring +4, WITHOUT activating the fountain, then 40 + 24 + 20 + 22*6 = 216, all before fountain defense is considered.

Why is fountain defense special?
Put simply, it's variable. The number of fountains that are broken is random, and thus maximum defense will vary from playthrough to playthrough, if that's included. So my answer gives a guide for how to achieve maximum defense, you just have to add on the fountains you've discovered!

Final Note:

You'll reduce the damage taken by 54, again, before fountain defense is considered. Enjoy being able to not even survive one more hit on Hard Mode!





























The image in the thumbnail had nothing to do with the guide, I just picked it because A) Archvale, and B) it is looking sus.