Guide to item damage

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

Here's a quick Q & A based guide to item damage.

Wear Related Damage

Q. When does wear related damage occur?

A. Every time you are successfully hit in combat there is a chance of an item you have currently equipped from taking damage. In addition, as you strike an opponent with a weapon or shield then there is a chance of that item taking damage.

Q. So what determines how much my weapon will wear?

A. The higher the hardness of the item, the less chance of item wear. The higher the CR of the monster, the more likely it will wear.

Q. Is there a way of reducing wear related damage?

A. Fighters can take Fighter Item Defense I-IV enhancements. All other melee classes can take this enhancement up to III. These reduce the chance of item wear occuring. I gives 25%, II gives 33%, III gives 50% and IV gives 60%. Many players spend just one AP to get 25% item wear reduction. Another option is to perform the Adamantine Ritual which will increase the hardness of the item by 10 and thus reduce the chance of damage, but this will bind the item.

Q. What happens when my item reaches 0 durability?

A. You cannot equip items that are totally broken. Items will auto unequip and if your inventory is full then they will fill your overflow inventory.

Q. Are there specific monsters that cause extra item damage?

A. Rust monsters will cause rust damage to metal weapons by 'eating them'. Use wooden weapons on rust monsters to avoid damage. Ooze will also damage all weapons except those made from Glass. Acid based attacks also have a higher chance of causing item damage.

Q. What about everbright items?

A. Everbright items never take extra damage from rust or acid and can safely be used on oozes.

Q. Can unequipped items in my inventory ever take damage?

A. Yes. It would appear that a failed reflex save on an trap or spell (e.g. delayed blast fireball, chain lightning) has the chance of causing permanent damage or even destroying an item in your inventory. Don't carry +2 tomes into part 5 of the shroud!

Repairing items

Q. Where can I repair items?

A. Items can be repaired at any merchant. As of module 7, they can also be repaired at tavernkeeps.

Q. How much does it cost to repair items?

A. The cost of repair is the base price of the item * (amount damaged / total durability) in silver pieces. e.g. a min level 14 weapon with base cost 128k gp, max durability 130, damage 8 (e.g. after one death) will cost 128000 * 8/130 = 7870sp = 787gp.

Q. How can I get cheaper repairs for my items?

A. If you have completed the specific quest for each of the houses and the marketplace (e.g. STK for marketplace, but see Shade's post below for details) then you get 20% off your repair bill. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, haggle has no effect on repair bills.

Permanent Damage

Q. How can items take permanent damage?

A. Permanent damage can occur when an item with wear related temporary damage is repaired.

Q. How is permanent damage calculated?

A. The chance of permanent damage when repairing is equal to the percentage of current item damage out of total durability. e.g. if you have FP with 115 durability left out of 125 then the damage is 10 out of 125 and the chance of permanent damage is 8%. If permanent damage occurs then it is a function of the current permanent damage - so as items get more and more damaged you will find they will take more permanenent damage each time you repair them. Repair early - repair often!

Q. How can I lower the chance of an item taking permanent damage when I repair it?

A. If you have 400 favor with the Free Agents then you can repair your armor and weapons with Jaidene Forgemaiden, the Dwarven lady by the Tavern in the Desert. If you have 400 favor with House Phiarlan then you can repair items with Rechard Sorl in the Erstwhile Emporium in House Phiarlan. Both of these repairs have a lower chance of causing permanent damage, but at an increased repair cost.

Q. Can bound items (e.g. raid loot) take permanent damage?

A. No.

Q. What - even from slimes and rust monsters?

A. Yes, even from slimes and rust monsters - bound items can never take permanent damage. However, bound items will take damage in a quest so can potentially break mid-quest which can be annoying.

Q. I don't believe you - my bound item took permanent damage!

A. No it didn't. That's not a question either.

Binding and Attuning Items

Q. How do I prevent my unbound items from taking permanent damage?

A. You can 'bind and attune' items by putting them into the 'Stone of Change' with the minimum level of the item squared khyber (black) dragonshard fragments. E.g. this item, which is min level 16, would require 16 * 16 = 256 shards.

Q. Where is this 'Stone of Change'?

A. There is one in the marketplace by the bank, one in the Twelve near the entrance to the Tower of the Twelve, and one near the bank at The Black Loch in Three Barrel Cove.

Q. Where do I get Khyber dragonshard fragments from?

A. Random chest loot.

Q. What about if my item doesn't have a minimum level?

A. Then put in 256 dragon shards (16 * 16) and the stone of change will automatically take the right number of dragonshards away.

Q. Is there any other benefit to 'binding and attuning' items?

A. Yes, binding an attuning items is the first step before performing Eldritch Rituals such as the Alchemical Armor Eldritch Ritual (see more here).

Q. Is there any benefit to 'binding and attuning' raid/bound items?

A. No, other than it allows you to perform Eldritch rituals on them. This is because bound items do not take permanent damage.

Death Related Damage

Q. How does death damage work?

A. At the moment of death, all non-stacking, equipped items that your character is wearing will take a percentage of item wear. Each item will take damage equal to (Character Level - 1, maximum 10)% of their original maximum durability, or:

LEVEL  1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10   11+
DAMAGE 0%   1%   2%   3%   4%   5%   6%   7%   8%   9%   10%

Your first death since resting has this penalty reduced by 2%, your second death since resting has this penalty reduced by 1%, and this percentage is then reduced by an item's Hardness / 10. (Minimum 0%)

Q. Wow that sounds complicated - can you give me an example?

A. Sure, if you are wearing a FP of hardness 20 durability 150 as a level 16 character and you die, then it will take 10% - 2% (first death) - 2% = 6% so your item will wear by 9 to 141/150. Second death will wear to 131/150, third death will wear to 120/150 and subsequent deaths will wear by 12 each time you die.

Q. So how many deaths does it take to totally break an item?

A. Depending on the hardness and durability it normally takes around 12 or 13 deaths (without resting) to totally break an item. But more fragile items such as rings and goggles will typically break first.

Q. Does being ressed by a cleric or shrine rather than recalling make any difference to damage taken?

A. No - the damage occurs at death and the way you are resurrected makes no difference.

Q. Is there a way to prevent death damage?

A. Only items you are actually wearing when you die will be damaged, so if you know you're going to die and can prepare for it, you can remove your item. in addition, there is no death damage when you die in a PvP arena or in a tavern.

Q. Can death damage cause permanent damage?

A. No. Item damage caused by death can never result in permanent damage when the item is repaired.

Q. How much does a typical death cost?

A. The 'cost' of death increases as you level. This is because item damage is a function of character level, and the cost of repair is a function of item level. For example, a capped level 16 character with all 14 slots filled with items that are around level 12-14 will take approximately 5000 gp damage per death (less on 1st death, more on subsequent deaths). A level 1 character takes no death damage (and thus has no repair bill) and a level 6 character is only taking typically 1-2% damage per death on 32k gear so should only expect a bill of around 1250gp.

Other Questions

Q. Where can I read some developer posts on item damage?

1. Eladrin posts on wear related damage here.

2. Eladrin categorically states here and here that bound items cannot take permanent damage

2. Eladrin's original post explaining death damage here.

Please provide feedback!

Garth

Revision log:

20080304 Updated with feedback from posters
20080531 Updated with new Stone of Change locations
20080602 Updated with link to Eladrin post

[tihocan]

Thanks for clearing things up for everyone Might have wanted to call it "guide to death item damage though", since items also take damage by other means.

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

I'm planning on adding some info on normal damage as well, but just wanted to clear up the 'bound items don't take permanent damage' issue first.

Thanks for the feedback.

Garth

[Shade]

Nice guide, here is some additional info most players do not know on normal item wear:

When being attacked, or attacking with a melee weapon/shield - the chance of taking durability dmg is determined by the items hardness versus the CR of the monster, no other factors such as the amount of dmg taken in a hit, or amount of damage you deal factor into this.

I do not know the exact formula, but I know a few good rules:
If your weapons hardness is equal or higher then the mobs CR you are attacking the chance of taking durability dmg extremely low - meaning you can do an entire quest and kill 100 monsters and perhaps take no damage at all, less then 0.01% .. But not 100% imune to dmg.

If your weapons hardness is less then half the CR of the monster your attacking - expect frequent dmg, around 1-5% chance per swing, for a short quest this should be ok, but for a very long quest you can expect a broken or near broken weapon by the end.

So ideally always keep your items hardness over half the CR of the monster your attacking. If it is even lower, like 20-40% of the CR you are attacking, expect the item to break very quickly, taking dmg around 10-20% of your swings.

For example - the highest CR mob in the game is currently the pit fiend elite - CR38.. So half of that is 19 = which is actaully higher then the average lvl12 two handed weapons hardness!! Meaning even the best weapons to use on him like a +5 transmuting greataxe (that is a lvl12 item with 17 hardness iirc) will often break before the fight is over. This was a serious problem for me personally, so I had to bind my item and also apply the adamantium ritual to it (My weapon was a +1 transmtuing of greater lawful outsider bane - hardness 17, now hardness 22 which works far better and never breaks altho it can still come close)

The formula for getting hit is a bit more relaxed... Again the amount of damage you take or deal will not have an impact but only the CR vs hardness. Everytime an enemy hits you, his CR will be tested versus EVERY item you currently have equiped. Items hardness tends to be much lower then weapons tho, so the formula is more relaxed.. An item with hardness equal to the CR of the monster you are fighting will be basicly imune to dmg, one with half hardness vs the CR of the monster will also be fine taking very rare dmg. But one with 1/3rd or lower will have a good chance at taking damage and possibly break in a very long quest.

An additional check is done when getting hit to potential outright destroy very low hardness stackable items (generall 10 or less)- such as collectables, scrolls, potions and ammunition. I believe this check is also a CR vs Hardness check, but it could take damage into account as well as it only seem to happen on large hits - often magic dmg.. Meaning it does a roll and the result needs to be like 1 in 10000 to destroy any items - then the items you have with the lowest hardness and generally largest stack will be targetted i believe. Then once that is determined it will roll again to determine how many of that stack is destroyed - if there is only 1 item, ofcourse that 1 will be destroyed.. But if you have for example 100 major mnemonic potions - you can get many destroy in a single shot. I think a way to avoid it is to carry some lesser hardness potions/scrolls on you as well so they get destroyed first.. I personally have had 15 major mnemonic potions destroyed in a single hit.

Another important thing to keep in mind: Some constructs you are meant to destroy that take allot of dmg are given a 0CR.. Thus they will never do any dmg to your weapons. So if your doing the shroud and you see someone standing around doing nothing - get him to help with the portal, it won't hurt him at all =)

Some notes on your points (quotes in red):
A. Every time you take damage in combat there is a chance of an item you have currently equipped from taking damage. In addition, as you strike an opponent with a weapon or shield then there is a chance of that item taking damage. The higher the hardness of the item the less chance of item wear.
You can take damage when getting hit for 0, the check is done whenever you are hit, it doesn't matter if you take no dmg or not. Easy way to test this is vs arraetrikos - when he blasts you with meteor swarms that often do 0 dmg, items will break.
A. Fighters and Rangers can take Fighter/Ranger Item Defense I-IV enhancements. These reduce the chance of item wear occuring. If you take all four enhancements at the cost of 10 AP then item wear reduces by 60%. Many players spend just one AP to get 25% item wear reduction.
A recent change to enhancements allows all melee classes to take this enhancement line. So barbarians/rogues/paladins aren't left out, however there line maxxes out at III. Personally I find doing the adamantium ritual on high valued items preferable to spending AP tho.
A. Items can be repaired at any merchant. As of module 8, they can also be repaired at tavernkeeps.
Module 8? You used a time machine to chekc!?!!? wow. lol i know this is planned but I think it's mod 7?
A. If you have favor from the dragonmarked houses then you can repair your items there and get 20% off. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, haggle has no effect on repair bills.
Wow really haggle doesn't help? never knew that always thought my sorcerer was gettin a good deal heh. Also to be clear, its not dragonmarked houses only that offer the discount - it's every vendor assosiated with a faction that you have completed its favor quest line for - complicated answer I know but more accurate..
Harbour vendors - Waterworks
Market - STK
House J - Deleras
House K - Cult of the six (odd one yea cuz thats in house D)
House D - Cult of the six
House P - Thernal
Zawabi's - Believe you always pay extra here, and also expert repair is even more extra
Portable Hole - Everyone gets it for free i believe?
Necropolis - Littany of the dead series1/2 iirc - may be threnal tho will check
Meridia - Stupid turbine forgot to include any way to reduce repair costs so you always pay extra here grrr, but at least they can fix dragonscale armor.
A. Depending on the hardness and durability it normally takes around 12 or 13 deaths (without resting) to totally break an item. But more fragile items such as rings and goggles will typically break first.
Actually Eladrin capped the death dmg penalty at a certain value I believe roughly 70-90% .. Not sure the exact value can't find the post.. But I know for a fact you can never break an item from purely death dmg.. However just some minor normal dmg + massive death dmg will do it. Easy to test in shroud phase 3 as long as your a caster so your gear is all near 100% to start, let the wall kill ya allot hehe, you wont go naked.


Oh and btw very nice dagger =)

[Angelus_dead]

Q. Is Jadine Forgemaiden a cheat?

A. Yes, Jadine is an evil thief. With 400 Free Agent favor you can pay her extra for "premium" repair services, but on bound items those repairs are no better than regular, and cost a bunch more plat.

[Lcdr_Swizzle]

Thanks!

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

Updated with Shade's feedback. Thanks Shade!

I'm going to personally verify whether items can reach 0 durability through purely death damage - I'm sure this happened to me in the Abbot raid but it might have been a mix of wear and death related damage.

EDIT: I just tried this and after quite a few /deaths my bracers completely broke (but repaired with no damage, of course) so I don't think there is a death damage 'cap'.

Garth

[jkm]

the house d favor quest is the scoundrel's run

[Oreg]

You should point out that significant damage can come from spells like DBF, Flame strike etc. You are more likely to take a large chunk of damage from one of these than from melee damage.

[Garth_of_Sarlona]

You should point out that significant damage can come from spells like DBF, Flame strike etc. You are more likely to take a large chunk of damage from one of these than from melee damage.

Yeah I mention that damage taken from a failed reflex save can cause this type of damage, and it does appear to cause a lot more individual damage than just wear and tear, but I'm not sure of the exact numbers involved... I know I've had arrows/scrolls destroyed and I've heard of people having tomes destroyed.

I'm unsure now only how the items are picked (does it roll on each item vs its hardness or does it pick one item, and then roll against hardness on that?) and how the damage is calculated (is it related to the DC of the save, or the base damage on the failed save?).

Any information from devs, or others on this would be appreciated.

Garth