Sergeant United Shield

  

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

Sergeant United Shield

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Statistics

Type	WeaponShield
Damage	80 (Melee)
Knockback	2 (Very weak)
Critical chance	4%
Use time	36 (Very slow)
Velocity	20 (effective)
Tooltip	'I can do this all day'
Rarity	05*
Buy	35 GC
Sell	7 GC
Research	1 required

Grants Buff

Buff	Striking Moment(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Buff tooltip	400% increased damage for next melee strike
Duration	5 seconds

Projectile created

• Sergeant United Shield
  

Sounds

Use
End of parry cooldown

• Internal Item ID: 4760 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Internal Buff ID: 198 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
• Internal Projectile ID: 866

The Sergeant United Shield being thrown and bouncing off three Mimics, then parrying a Unicorn's attack.

The Sergeant United Shield is a Hardmode boomerang that is rarely sold by the Traveling Merchant for 35 GC. When thrown, it homes in on enemies within 50 tiles and will attempt to hit up to five enemies before returning to the player, but loses 20% of its damage for each enemy struck.^[1].

While holding this weapon and equipping a shield (including the Sergeant United Shield itself, while it is not being thrown), the player is granted the ability to parry incoming damage. Pressing ⚷ Open / Activate will cause the player to raise the shield and brace for the next attack. When timed correctly, up to 0.33 seconds before taking a hit, the enemy's attack will be parried, which negates the contact damage being dealt to the player, deals 200% of the contact damage of the attacking enemy, inflicts a knockback value of 5 (Average), and grants the player 30 invincibility frames (60 with the Cross Necklace equipped).^[2] Successfully parrying an attack also grants the Striking Moment buff, causing the next melee attack to deal 500% or five times its usual base damage for the next five seconds. Alternatively, if the shield is held in place, 20 defense is temporarily gained; this lasts until the shield is once again lowered.

Its best modifier is Godly or Demonic. Both modifiers increase the average damage output by the same amount. However, Ruthless might be preferred if the player already has very high critical strike chance.

Notes

• It can only hit an enemy once per throw.
• In order to parry an attack, the enemy must collide with the shield before hitting the player.
• The parry ability has a 0.25 seconds cooldown.^[3]
  • A small particle effect and the sound for restoring mana indicates when the parry can be used again.
• Due to its high velocity and slow use time, the Sergeant United Shield will usually return to the player a few seconds before it can be thrown again.
• The damage dealt by parrying an attack is decreased by banners (25% in Classic Mode or lower, 50% in Expert Mode or above), rerolled inversely by luck (having negative luck will give a chance to increase incoming damage, and increase reflected damage as a result) and is capped at 1,000 damage.
• The Sergeant United Shield's parry ability can only be used to parry contact damage from enemies (including enemies that ignore dodges like the Dungeon Guardian). Fall damage, lava damage, enemy projectiles, and traps will still harm the player.
  • It can, however, reduce damage from these sources with the 20 defense gained while pressing the ⚷ Open / Activate button.
• Parrying in Journey Mode with Godmode enabled will do nothing.

Tips

• The act of gaining the Striking Moment buff and switching to a more powerful weapon like the Psycho Knife has the potential to deal massive damage.
• This weapon will home in on the separate segments of worm enemies, making it an excellent weapon against them.

Trivia

• The Brand of the Inferno, the Sergeant United Shield, the Sky Dragon's Fury, and the Tome of Infinite Wisdom are the only weapons in Terraria to have two separate means of attack triggered by two different buttons.
• This weapon is a reference to the vibranium-steel alloy shield of fictional superhero Captain America, who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Its tooltip is one of his most iconic lines in the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies.

See also

• Brand of the Inferno, another weapon with a parry mechanic.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4: Knockback increased from 0 to 2, also allowing it access to better reforge modifiers.

• Desktop 1.4.2: Fixed an issue where Sergeant United Shield was accidentally showing accessory dyes under some specific circumstances, even though it is a weapon.

• Desktop 1.4.1:
  • Damage increased from 60 to 80.
  • Damage reduction for each target hit reduced from 30% to 20%.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.4.0.5.5: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Introduced.

References