Reading an Item

Item level, two kinds of armour, and a crit rating that has to be earned.

Every piece carries an item level — your own level, plus a bonus for its rarity — and that number drives everything else on the card. Two pieces of the same make and tier can still differ, because each roll varies.

Steel stops steel

Armour and Resistance are not the same shield. Armour turns blades; only Resistance turns magic. Almost every piece commits to one school or the other, a few roll both at reduced value — and a piece that gives neither pays you back in crit instead. Build your defence on purpose, and expect a mage to punish a wall of pure steel.

Crit is a rating

A bare hero crits five times in a hundred. Crit rating on gear pushes that up with diminishing returns, so it climbs toward a ceiling instead of snowballing: a fully-geared veteran at the cap lands closer to three in ten, a little higher with the talent for it. A warrior’s crit doubles the blow; a mage’s adds half again — and crit damage on gear can lift both.

The amulet

Three armour drops in a hundred are an amulet, and it trades on purpose: half the armour and resistance of an ordinary piece, three times the crit and crit damage, and the only armour in the game that carries flat weapon damage. It is the aggressive slot, and it is rare on purpose.