🛡️ Nanonaitor's Defenders

Add off-hand melee shield-weapons inspired by RuneScape's Defenders to Minecraft.

Defenders combine parries, melee protection, passive attack bonuses, and guarded combat. Players can attack and mine while guarding (aka shielding) with a Defender.

Meant as an offensive off-hand option for one-handed melee fighting.

Available for Forge 1.12.2, Forge 1.20.1, and Forge 26.1.2. Download the file matching your Minecraft version; the files aren't cross-compatible.

⚔️ Core Mechanics

• Equip a Defender in your off hand and hold right-click to parry or guard.
• Hits received during the first 1 second of guarding are perfectly parried.
• Parries negate melee damage, knock back the attacker, and apply Slowness III and Vulnerable for 2 seconds.
• Vulnerable Effect: Receive 100% increased melee damage.
• After the parry window, guarding reduces melee damage by 30%.
• Parrying and guarding against applicable attacks consume durability.
• Players can attack and mine while guarding.
• Defenders don't work against ranged attacks. Some enchantments can reduce ranged damage.
• Guarding reduces movement speed to 50%.
• Defenders provide flat melee-damage and attack-speed bonuses while equipped off hand.
• Defenders can be used as main-hand weapons but can't guard from the main hand.
• Defender guard can't be disabled by axe-style shield-breaking attacks.
• Includes exclusive Defender enchantments.

🛡️ Defender Materials

Defenders are primarily off-hand weapons but can also be used as main-hand weapons with a standard 1.8 attack speed.

Off-hand attack speed is added as a flat amount to the main-hand weapon's normal attack speed.

In 1.20.1 and 26.1.2, upgrade a Diamond Defender using a Netherite Upgrade Smithing Template, Diamond Defender, and Netherite Ingot in a smithing table.

Material stats and traits can be adjusted or disabled through the configuration file.

✨ Enchantments

Additional enchantment information:

• Deflection still allows manual perfect parries.
• Deflection can't be combined with Reflexes or 6th Sense.
• Unbreaking and Mending are supported.
• Compatible Advanced Mending enchantments are supported when installed.
• Compatible sword enchantments can be applied to Defenders.
• Defender enchantment descriptions appear on enchanted books without cluttering applied Defender tooltips.
• Enabled Defender enchantment books appear in the Defenders creative tab.
• Enchantments and their effects can be enabled or disabled through the config.

Special Material Effects

Silver

• Adds +2 main-hand damage against undead.
• Perfect parries inflict 1 retaliation damage against undead attackers.

Myrmex

All Desert and Jungle Myrmex Defenders provide:

• +4 main-hand damage against non-anthropods and Death Worms.

Myrmex Stinger variants additionally provide:

• Poison III for 10 seconds from main-hand hits and perfect parries.

Dragon-Blooded

• Flamed: Ignites enemies and deals bonus damage against ice dragons.
• Iced: Freezes enemies and applies Slowness and Mining Fatigue.
• Electric: Produces lightning effects and bonus dragon damage.

These effects activate from main-hand attacks and perfect parries.

Living and Sentient Evolution

With compatible Scape and Run: Parasites or SRP content installed:

• Living Defenders gain evolution points from parasite kills.
• Progress uses the srpkills system and point display.
• Living Defenders automatically evolve into Sentient Defenders at the configured threshold.
• Parasite-only progression is enabled by default and can be changed in the config.

Evolution preserves:

• Enchantments
• Custom names
• Lore
• NBT data
• Relative durability

Living Defender perfect parries apply Immalleable I for 5 seconds.

Sentient Defender perfect parries apply Immalleable I and Viral I for 5 seconds.

🧩 Optional Compatibility

Compatibility is detected automatically. Missing optional mods won't prevent Defenders from loading.

Version-appropriate integrations include:

• Ice and Fire: Dragons
• Defiled Lands / Defiled Lands: Reborn
• Spartan Weaponry and compatible material providers
• Scape and Run: Parasites and compatible SRP ports
• So Many Enchantments
• Enchantment Descriptions
• Better Survival
• Everything Nunchaku
• Forgotten Nunchakus

Better Survival and Everything Nunchaku attacks remain continuous while guarding on 1.12.2. Forgotten Nunchakus receives the same compatibility on 1.20.1.

Wood, Stone, Gold, Iron, and Diamond require only Forge. The 1.20.1 and 26.1.2 versions also include standard Copper and Netherite Defenders. Optional material integrations vary by Minecraft version and activate only when their source mods are available.

Configuration

Modpack authors can configure:

• Perfect-parry timing and recovery
• Sustained damage reduction
• Main-hand and off-hand damage
• Per-material off-hand attack speed
• Material-specific traits
• Main-hand Defender attack speed
• Blocking movement penalty
• Durability costs
• Perfect-parry sound volume
• Supported damage categories
• Continuous attacks while guarding
• Enchantment availability and strength
• Additional compatible enchantments
• Optional compatibility effects
• Living Defender evolution requirements

Requirements

Minecraft 1.12.2

• Mod Loader: Forge 14.23.5.2860
• Java: Java 8

Minecraft 1.20.1

• Mod Loader: Forge 47.4.18 or a compatible Forge 47 release
• Java: Java 17

Minecraft 26.1.2

• Mod Loader: Forge 64.0.12 or a compatible Forge 64 release
• Java: Java 25

Required dependencies: None beyond the matching Forge version.

💙 Special Thanks

Thank you to SG_Erebus and Mariette for testing Defenders and providing valuable feedback.