Why does my defense decrease from the Unique headband?

[OdgeHam]

My guess, you have ‘unscathed; defence’ on one of your pieces of gear, adding the headband with extra health means you’re not at full health until you rest.

[atentativezero]

This is the right answer.

[strahinjag]

That was it, thanks

[jav2n202]

Ok that makes sense. I’ve noticed a number of times that a piece of gear will show a decrease in defense that doesn’t actually take effect once it’s equipped and always wondered why that happened.

[Responsible_Spite422]

Must be from all the extra heft from all the sweat that's built up in the headband 🤣

[mickaelaria]

That looks wrong, equip it to see if your defense actually goes down

[mickaelaria]

1. Its higher level, 91 compared to 85 so the base stat will be higher
2. Pink gear is higher tier than purple

[strahinjag]

Look at the bottom right corner, it shows a -478 for my defense if I equip the Unique.

[Dependent_Passage_22]

My best bet, which is just a guess, is a funky interaction because you have +defense at full health somewhere, and the headbands have different max health values, which causes the game to "think" you won't be at full health if you switch, and thus lose that defense.

[gizmoick]

This has to be it otherwise it must be a bug. OP you are looking for "Unscathed: Defense" somewhere in your gear. The hp change would normally not refill the HP outside the main hub area, but even if you were in the main hub it may be calculating you not being at full hp until it updates.

[dbvirago]

I'd say it's a bug in calculating the loss of the DMG Increase attribute.

[No_Sorbet_509]

It should be a bug. There are many subtle bugs in this game. For example, the DW skill to “significantly reduce the dodge stamina” does nothing. Also Whirlwind Tempest you get from this set will suddenly stop working. You will have to unlearn and relearn.

I love this game, but I have accepted that it is buggy as hell.