The Frozen Shield puts a shell around you when your life drops below 50%. This shell reduces damage taken by 25%. Meanwhile, the Hero Shield makes enemies have a higher chance to target you.
Comparison & Stats Breakdown
Frozen Shield Stats
Hero Shield Stats
Note: The Hero Shield is the best shield if you’re solely looking at the defense stat. It has the highest defense among all the shields.
Frozen vs. Hero Shield Passive Effects
The two shields share the same first passive since most shields grant knockback immunity. They also both inherit the passive from the Paladin’s Shield as their second passive. However, their third passives are clearly different. The Frozen Shield’s passive comes from the Frozen Turtle Shell accessory’s effect, while the Hero Shield’s passive comes from the Flesh Knuckle accessory’s effect. When the Frozen Shield effect is active, it will display a small blue ball that flies around your character. This lets you know that you will take reduced damage. The Hero Shield has no visual effect, but you’ll likely notice an increased number of enemies coming towards you. This is due to the aggro increase it gives you.
Shield Use Cases
It’s difficult to compare the two shields since they serve two different roles. The Frozen Shield is best when you’re playing solo since the buff is directly beneficial to you. The Hero Shield is best when you’re playing in co-op with others, since it allows you to fulfill a tank role if you choose to.
What About the Ankh Shield?
Before the 1.4 update, the Ankh Shield was widely considered the best shield in the game. Does this still hold up? Let’s compare it with the others. This may seem underwhelming at first, but the enemies of Terraria constantly place debuffs on you. This shield provides immunity to:
Bleeding Silenced Broken Armor Slow Burning Weak Confused Chilled Cursed Darkness Poisoned
If you’re unable to have both equipped, the Ankh Shield is generally better for exploration and ordinary fighting. This way, you won’t be caught off guard by a sudden debuff and die. When preparing to fight a boss, the Frozen Shield is arguably better. You’ll likely be under 50% life for a significant part of the fight, so the reduced damage passive will be in effect.
What’s Easier To Make?
Both shields can be crafted at a Tinkerer’s Workshop. Given the drop-rates highlighted below, the Hero Shield appears to be the easiest to acquire. However, it’s still best to grind for the shield that will benefit you the most.
Getting the Frozen Shield
The Frozen Shield requires a Paladin’s Shield and a Frozen Turtle Shell to craft. The Paladin’s Shield has a 9.33% chance to drop from the Paladin enemy in Classic mode, and a 13.56% chance in Expert/Master mode. They spawn in the Dungeon after Plantera has been defeated once. The Frozen Turtle Shield has a 1% chance to drop from the Ice Tortoise enemy in all modes. They spawn in the Cavern layer of the Snow biome in Hardmode.
Getting the Hero Shield
The Hero Shield requires a Paladin’s Shield and Flesh Knuckles to craft. The Flesh Knuckles have a 20% chance to drop from the Crimson Mimic enemy in all modes. Mimics begin to spawn underground once Hardmode begins, but they are pretty rare. You’ll find Crimson Mimics specifically in the Crimson Underground. You can also manually spawn one by using a Key of Night. The Key of Night will spawn a Crimson Mimic if placed inside an empty chest in a Crimson world. You can craft one with 15 Soul of Night at a Work Bench.
