Defense
formerly known as Defence
Damage avoided is XP earned. Defense scales evasion across all three combat styles.
Defense is the universal damage-reduction skill — it raises your evasion against melee, ranged, and magic alike, and it gates the heavy armour ladder. The US spelling matters here: when Tideward rebranded from Manu Idle, the old British "Defence" became the modern App Store-consistent "Defense." Same skill, same role: stand there and not die.
How Defense works
Every incoming attack rolls accuracy against your evasion. Higher Defense means a lower chance to be hit. Defense gear (full helms, kite shields, body armour) adds to that evasion stat directly. A high-Defense build with a Rune full set can reduce incoming melee damage to a trickle — useful for AFK against weaker but plentiful enemies, where the XP is in volume.
Defense XP comes from Defensive stance (100% Defense XP, no Attack/Strength) or Controlled stance (33% each). Pure-Defense training is slow but it's the only stance that can be safely left running unattended at high levels — full-Defense AFK against an enemy you outclass is the closest Tideward gets to a "passive XP fountain."
The gear ladder for Defense armour mirrors the weapon ladder: Bronze full at 1, Iron at 10, Steel at 20, and so on through Dragon at 60. Higher tiers also gate prayers (in the Vigil skill) and weight contribution — heavy armour slows you down everywhere except combat.
Inputs
- Body armour, helm, shield, leg slot
- A combat target you can withstand
Outputs
- Defense XP
- Higher evasion across all combat styles
- Heavy armour set unlocks
Tips for training Defense
- Defense only blocks if your evasion roll succeeds. Against high-accuracy enemies, gear matters more than skill level.
- A full Rune set at Defense 50 is the AFK sweet spot — cheap to repair, blocks most low-tier damage entirely.
- Defensive stance is the right call for very long unattended sessions. You'll level Defense slowly but die less, which means your food lasts longer.
- Magic defense scales off Defense level AND Magic level — a pure melee build is squishy against mages.
- Shield slot adds raw evasion. Two-handed weapon users give that up — train Vitality higher to compensate.
Skills that pair with Defense
The 23 trades aren't isolated. Defense works best alongside these:
Frequently asked about Defense
Why is Defense spelled with an "s" instead of a "c"?
When Manu Idle rebranded to Tideward in May 2026, the old British "Defence" was changed to the US "Defense" for App Store consistency and to match the spelling Apple uses across its US-region storefront copy.
Can I AFK Defense overnight?
Yes. Defense is the most AFK-friendly combat skill in Tideward. With heavy armour, a high-Vitality bar, and a stack of food, you can leave a Defensive-stance training session running for the full 24-hour offline cap.
Does Defense protect against magic?
Partially. Magic defense uses a combined formula of Defense level + Magic level + magic-specific gear. A pure-melee Defense build still takes more magic damage than a balanced build with some Magic levels.
Train Defense on every Apple device.
Tideward is in TestFlight alpha — free, native on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Vision Pro, and Apple Watch. CloudKit syncs your character across all of them with no account needed.