lightning bolt icon on stats

zzepto

I have a lightning bolt icon on armor stats, level 22 with 750 armor in total. How this warning affects me and why i need to review my armor set to lower this number?
Thanks in advance

Srugzal

This means you've met or exceeded the soft cap for that stat. What it means in practice is that, although you can continue (via various buffs) to try to increase it, the resulting buff is actually going to be a fraction of the amount going in, thus wasting most of it. And adding still more will result in more and more severely diminishing returns.

If you use an addon like SoftcapInfo by Shinni as well as Harven's Extended Stats (recommend both, actually) it will give you the soft cap values so you can see where you're holding.

You don't have to reduce anything. This just puts you on notice that you won't get much of anywhere trying to boost it any more, and that you'd best look at your other stats & see what really needs boosting.

Hope this helps.

Sharee

Just to add an example to the above, for easier understanding:

You have 500 armor without lightning bolt icon. You equip a +100 armor ring. Your armor will increase by 100.

You have 750 armor with lightning bolt icon. You equip a +100 armor ring. Your armor will only increase by 50.

Srugzal

Sharee wrote: »

Just to add an example to the above, for easier understanding:

You have 500 armor without lightning bolt icon. You equip a +100 armor ring. Your armor will increase by 100.

You have 750 armor with lightning bolt icon. You equip a +100 armor ring. Your armor will only increase by 50.

This is a good example, very clear.

I don't mean to quibble, but the example only works if the soft cap is >= 600 in the first example. Maybe that's obvious, just thought I'd add that. And it's safe to say that since you've already hit the soft cap in the second example, the actual cap value doesn't matter.

However, the numbers are, naturally, only approximate in the second example. I don't know if anyone has discovered the soft-cap application formula yet, but it's probably not linear, or at least not obviously so. Perhaps someone who knows more could comment?

All this says is that simple answers help but also conceal the complex underlying mechanic. And also that I can't keep my mouth shut. ;-) I'll show myself out...

zzepto

Thanks for answer.

Srugzal wrote: »

This just puts you on notice that you won't get much of anywhere trying to boost it any more

Can you explain it in details? I still able to buy/found armor with higher stats. Does it mean i will get less loot with armor etc.

Srugzal

zzepto wrote: »

Thanks for answer.

Srugzal wrote: »

This just puts you on notice that you won't get much of anywhere trying to boost it any more

Can you explain it in details? I still able to buy/found armor with higher stats. Does it mean i will get less loot with armor etc.

It means that to get a higher overall armor rating you are going to need to level up. When you do that, you'll get a new--and higher--soft cap. The armor stat only affects how incoming melee damage is calculated in combat. (more over-simplification, sorry)

The armor value has no affect on the kind or amount of loot that you receive.

The leveling mechanic requires that, at least through level 1-50, the most important determinant of your character's power is the level. Each level grants a range of values for all of the attributes (health, magicka, stamina, others), which you can elevate through buffs, gear, passives, pots, food... and all that jazz. There are other stats I haven't mentioned, but that's the general idea.

The attribute points you get with each level can be used to boost the base values for the main attributes, but these don't even get close to the soft cap values, especially since the values were recently adjusted upwards.

kitsinni

It is just basic diminishing returns. After you hit the number the lightning bolt shows up at everything you add after that will give you less, but it will still add to it. If you want to use armor as an example if your soft cap (lightning icon) is at 700 and you change out to a new piece of armor that would raise your total armor by 100 you will end up at 750 instead of 800. It still increased just not at the same rate. I know at least at first it is 1/2 I don't know if it scales to be more later or at what rate and when.

Another thing to keep in mind is your soft cap goes up with each level so say you are at soft cap with 700 armor at 22, you might be under it when you level to 23. It is not bad to be over the soft cap it just means you don't get the full return. There are tons of people at end game that are well over the soft cap in many areas.

zzepto

thanks all for the answers!