Iron Jaw

Rare face armor. Grants +3 Shield and a Counter Attack passive, automatically striking back when the wearer is hit in melee. Metal-tagged. A strong choice for frontline cats that expect to absorb a lot of hits — the counter attack turns every incoming melee strike into a free hit back, and the +3 Shield helps absorb the damage in the first place. Pairs well with other counterattack or Thorns effects.

CounterAttack fires automatically when the wearer is struck in melee, delivering a return hit with no action cost. +3 Shield at the face slot is solid rare-tier defense on its own. The Metal tag connects to metal-type synergies available in certain runs. Combined, the Iron Jaw creates a face armor that both absorbs damage and deals it back, generating offensive output from a defensive slot without requiring any ability use.

The Iron Jaw is a strong all-around rare face armor for tanks, fighters, and any cat positioned in melee range of enemies every turn. CounterAttack's value scales with how many melee hits the cat receives per fight — a cat attacked five times per round generates five free counter-hits. Pairing it with Thorns from another armor slot (such as the Hooked Necklace) creates multiple stacking punishment sources that make engaging the cat in melee increasingly self-destructive for enemies.