Armor Decay question

Neptune443

Is there a was to keep my armor and weapons from decaying? Every time I goto a merchant I repair all my items. But they decay no matter what I do. I thought if the items were higher level they might not decay, or if I crafted the item but nothing seems to work. I'm still fairly new so maybe i'm missing something. Also if armor and weapons decay automatically then why does the game have a "repair" option that doesn't work?

Ilsabet

Armor loses durability (or decays as you put it) when you gain exp while wearing it or when you die while wearing it. You can avoid the decay by not doing either of those things, but otherwise it's just a cost of doing business.

Taleof2Cities

Just as an FYI --

You can wear impenetrable gear to reduce the rate of armor decay when dying.

However, it's not an optimal trait in PvE end game content ...

Insomnia rex

I thought it was based on dmg dealt and not time/dmg got/xp? (And on death as was stated.)

Number_51

Pretty sure it's damage received. You can PvP without having to repair (or at least with minimal repairs from the few NPCs in Cyrodiil).

davey1107

It's just part of the game. Don't worry about it, the gold you earn from kills will always be more than the cost of repairs. Just repair frequently and don't try to mitigate it with traits or anything.

CavalryPK

Nah i am 100% sure armor takes dmg not because a monster smacks u but when you get xp. Anytime you gain xp random pice of your armor get a small decay.

Number_51

CavalryPK wrote: »

Nah i am 100% sure armor takes dmg not because a monster smacks u but when you get xp. Anytime you gain xp random pice of your armor get a small decay.

I'll have to take your word for it as I have no data that says either way. But I do have characters that at times do nothing but crafting writs/master writs. I gain XP from those activities (not just inspiration), but my armor never degrades on those characters.

ETA: I'm in no way saying you're wrong, just that, if it is XP related it's got to have additional factors (possibly XP gained in combat) other then just gaining XP.

ETAM: Actually, I had a character that leveled from 3 to 50 doing nothing but heists and job board dailies (and the few quests where killing anything wasn't necessary). When I first started I'd get spotted occasionally, but never once fought back (no kill/passivist build). If I remember I had a few small repair bills in those early days, but when she got good enough to never be seen I never had another repair bill.

Malkorga

As stated above, experience does decay armor. I believe one of the in-game loading screen tips says as much.

Neptune443

I have a character that never leaves the city and only crafts, her gear will show "repair" even thou i'm not fighting.

STEVIL

Number_51 wrote: »

CavalryPK wrote: »

Nah i am 100% sure armor takes dmg not because a monster smacks u but when you get xp. Anytime you gain xp random pice of your armor get a small decay.

I'll have to take your word for it as I have no data that says either way. But I do have characters that at times do nothing but crafting writs/master writs. I gain XP from those activities (not just inspiration), but my armor never degrades on those characters.

ETA: I'm in no way saying you're wrong, just that, if it is XP related it's got to have additional factors (possibly XP gained in combat) other then just gaining XP.

ETAM: Actually, I had a character that leveled from 3 to 50 doing nothing but heists and job board dailies (and the few quests where killing anything wasn't necessary). When I first started I'd get spotted occasionally, but never once fought back (no kill/passivist build). If I remember I had a few small repair bills in those early days, but when she got good enough to never be seen I never had another repair bill.

no you don't.

take any character that can heal and survive
repair all armor
stay in areas you know so no incidental gain of xp from discovery
go find a mob of say wolves or bears or goblins and let them wail on you a good while.
let your health go down a bit, then heal yourself... just dont die.
stay as long as you want letting them batter you abnd you heal and so on - then run away.

after things cool down, check your armor.

does it need any repairs?

if not run back to that mob and gut them like they deserve, earn yourself a small bit of xp
check your armor, does it need repair.

then you dont have to take anybody's word for it at all.