Ignore Target's Defense

August 30, 2026

Ignore Target's Defense sets the defense of the target to zero for the attack. It is not a guaranteed hit and not a damage bonus: it removes Attack Rating from the chance to hit calculation, which frees up the charms, skill points and gear slots normally spent on accuracy. The restriction is on the target: it only works against regular monsters, minions and pets, never against champions, uniques, bosses, players or mercenaries.

The chance to hit formula

The normal chance for an attack to land is:

100 × AR ÷ (AR + Defense) × 2 × Attacker Level ÷ (Attacker Level + Defender Level)

The Defense term becomes zero, so the first fraction collapses to 1 and what is left is:

200 × Attacker Level ÷ (Attacker Level + Defender Level)

Only the two levels matter. A character with 2,000 Attack Rating and one with 12,000 hit exactly as often.

Why it is not a guaranteed hit

Chance to hit is clamped between 5% and 95%, so the ceiling is 95% even with the defense of the target at zero. Reaching it only requires the character to be within roughly 10% of the level of the monster, which is the normal situation almost everywhere in the game. On top of that the target still gets its block check, so a zeroed defense never guarantees the hit lands.

chance to hit with Ignore Target's Defense, by level difference
Character level	Monster level	Chance to hit
85	85	95% (capped)
80	85	95% (capped)
70	85	90%
50	85	74%

Limitations

The limits are all on the side of the target. Whoever swings the weapon does not matter, so a mercenary carrying The Reaper's Toll benefits from it exactly like a character would.

Champions, Uniques and Super Uniques are unaffected, so the packs worth killing in an area are exactly the ones where Attack Rating still matters.
Act bosses are unaffected as well: Andariel, Duriel, Mephisto, Diablo and Baal use their normal defense.
Players are never affected, so it does nothing in PvP.
Mercenaries are never affected either, so it does not help against a hostile player's hireling.
Blocking is untouched. A target that can block still gets its block check, so a zeroed defense does not mean the hit connects.

It is a different property from -% Target Defense, which reduces defense by a percentage instead of setting it to zero and does apply in all of the cases above. Grief carries both.

It pairs naturally with Crushing Blow and Deadly Strike, since both only pay out on attacks that land. The damage calculation article covers what happens once the hit connects.

Sources

A socketed Jah Rune grants it on any weapon. Of the items that carry it, Skewer of Krintiz and The Diggler are the earliest, both available in Normal.