What IS durability? (as in armor)

goatlyonesub17_ESO · November 2014

Is durability the percentage of armor quality, which goes down as you take hits in combat, but goes back up to 100% when you repair?

Or is durability how many hits you can take before the armor goes down by a given, standard number of percentage points?

That is, does repairing armor restore the durability so that the armor is like new again? Or does repairing armor only restore condition to 100% and the durability remains less than the armor was when it was new?

When you die, how much durability does your armor lose?

ers101284b14_ESO · November 2014

When you die I believe it's 10%

From what I can tell it affects the stats of the armor. Or at least the armor rating. I never really paid too close attention so not exactly sure but I think it only affects armor rating (I may be wrong on that one) So say yoru armor is 300 and you die and it takes 10% I think your armor rating goes down to 270 (Again could be wrong)

When it goes back up to 100% then the armor rating goes back up.

hutchinsonhatch · November 2014

When an armour-piece gradually loses durability, the armour-value is affected.
Keep it in good shape and you'll have less to no trouble.
When repair costs sky-rocket, thin about simply creating a new one. Crafting materials shouldn't be the problem, unless that changes in higher tiers.

Govalon · November 2014

hutchinsonhatch wrote: »

When an armour-piece gradually loses durability, the armour-value is affected.
Keep it in good shape and you'll have less to no trouble.
When repair costs sky-rocket, thin about simply creating a new one. Crafting materials shouldn't be the problem, unless that changes in higher tiers.

It definetly changes at higher levels. Most if not all players use only set items since there is really no point using any armor piece without set bonus (at max level). Many sets can't be crafted and are only found from monster drops. Most players upgrade their sets to epic quality and many to even legendary quality. You can't just replace such gear by crafting white or green trash.

zaria · November 2014

Govalon wrote: »

hutchinsonhatch wrote: »

When an armour-piece gradually loses durability, the armour-value is affected.
Keep it in good shape and you'll have less to no trouble.
When repair costs sky-rocket, thin about simply creating a new one. Crafting materials shouldn't be the problem, unless that changes in higher tiers.

It definetly changes at higher levels. Most if not all players use only set items since there is really no point using any armor piece without set bonus (at max level). Many sets can't be crafted and are only found from monster drops. Most players upgrade their sets to epic quality and many to even legendary quality. You can't just replace such gear by crafting white or green trash.

Yes, you can replace crafted green sets, and should anyway every few levels.
At high level veteran with epic or found sets this rule don't apply anymore.

Govalon · November 2014

zaria wrote: »

Govalon wrote: »

hutchinsonhatch wrote: »

When an armour-piece gradually loses durability, the armour-value is affected.
Keep it in good shape and you'll have less to no trouble.
When repair costs sky-rocket, thin about simply creating a new one. Crafting materials shouldn't be the problem, unless that changes in higher tiers.

It definetly changes at higher levels. Most if not all players use only set items since there is really no point using any armor piece without set bonus (at max level). Many sets can't be crafted and are only found from monster drops. Most players upgrade their sets to epic quality and many to even legendary quality. You can't just replace such gear by crafting white or green trash.

Yes, you can replace crafted green sets, and should anyway every few levels.
At high level veteran with epic or found sets this rule don't apply anymore.

I believe I just said that?

goatlyonesub17_ESO · November 2014

So a set of armor that has never been Died In can take more monster beating before it goes down to 50% effectiveness, as compared with the same set of armor after you've died in it fifteen times?

If so, then maybe it would be a good idea to set my really expensive armor aside and wear cheaper stuff while trying to do a dolmen solo or trying to kill the same skull-&-bones boss monster. Dreugh wax doesn't grow on trees.

Govalon · November 2014

goatlyonesub17_ESO wrote: »

So a set of armor that has never been Died In can take more monster beating before it goes down to 50% effectiveness, as compared with the same set of armor after you've died in it fifteen times?

If so, then maybe it would be a good idea to set my really expensive armor aside and wear cheaper stuff while trying to do a dolmen solo or trying to kill the same skull-&-bones boss monster. Dreugh wax doesn't grow on trees.

It does not matter how many times you die with your armor on. It will always decay at the same rate, no matter how many times you have died or let the duration drop to zero.

hutchinsonhatch · November 2014

Govalon wrote: »

It definetly changes at higher levels. Most if not all players use only set items since there is really no point using any armor piece without set bonus (at max level). Many sets can't be crafted and are only found from monster drops. Most players upgrade their sets to epic quality and many to even legendary quality. You can't just replace such gear by crafting white or green trash.

I see, thank you.

Personally, I take this as a challenge to find out, how far I can get while being self sustained and not dependent on pieces dropped rarely, because they are not necessary to win a fight, they're just making it easier. (<- my trusted and tried opinion)

Merlin13KAGL · November 2014

It's basically just a % based view of your total Armor Class.

It's easier to program, but honestly makes less sense. When you die at level 4 with the crappy armor that gives you +100 AC, you lose 10 AC basically.

Die at VR14 with Legendary that gives you +1000 AC and you lose 100 AC...?

Makes it (the loss) even across the board, but I really wouldn't expect it to. Better crafted armor should be better, not only in the AC it gives you, but also in the inherent durability (before traits)

Also, just in case there are any new types out there, the lower your percentage goes, the more it costs to repair. Much cheaper to repair at 90% 10 times than to repair at 10% once.

Get in the habit of repairing when you offload your vendor extras - most areas have traveling merchants walking along the road to assist in this.

Govalon · November 2014

hutchinsonhatch wrote: »

Govalon wrote: »

It definetly changes at higher levels. Most if not all players use only set items since there is really no point using any armor piece without set bonus (at max level). Many sets can't be crafted and are only found from monster drops. Most players upgrade their sets to epic quality and many to even legendary quality. You can't just replace such gear by crafting white or green trash.

I see, thank you.

Personally, I take this as a challenge to find out, how far I can get while being self sustained and not dependent on pieces dropped rarely, because they are not necessary to win a fight, they're just making it easier. (<- my trusted and tried opinion)

Well there are lot of good crafted sets so you will be fine. Also, many dropped sets can be bought for a few thousand gold. Jewellery can't be crafted so at some point you should get your hands on some dropped jewellery sets. You can get quite nice bonuses by having 3 jewellery from same set and many sets are not too hard to come by.

hutchinsonhatch · November 2014

Govalon wrote: »

Well there are lot of good crafted sets so you will be fine. Also, many dropped sets can be bought for a few thousand gold. Jewellery can't be crafted so at some point you should get your hands on some dropped jewellery sets. You can get quite nice bonuses by having 3 jewellery from same set and many sets are not too hard to come by.

I'm looking forward to the journey.

goatlyonesub17_ESO · November 2014

Jeweler should be a craft. It already has a set of traits: Arcane, Healthy, and Robust. And there might be special Jewelry Forges where you can get a rarer trait as a 2nd trait, just like with clothing items, weapons or armor. It would give us something to do with all those spare gem stones we get from refining raw mats.

ahstin2001nub18_ESO · November 2014

i always considered it a percentage prior to break, in all MMOs i played that had durability. in general its probably more of a set limiter placed on the armor (how many hits can you take before you get to the center of the tootsie pop), to how many deaths/mobs you can deal with before you have to "stop" (repair your armor, farm for repairs, endure punishment for failure and/or success via less gear based advantages, etc). i say this, because typically the higher the quality (example: quest gear versus end game content gear) the more durability, though the same damage tends to occur. while this seems good, and it is, it also means more time farming gold to cover that increase in durability (in theory at least). so if you are VR14 in full VR14 battle gear; you pay a higher price for failure than VR14 in VR12 battle gear. as your durability drops, the effectiveness (in ESO the armor) drops.

once a particular piece breaks, you then begin to lose enchant bonuses, trait and passive bonuses. so if you have the 5 piece bonus passive, and 1 of the 5 breaks, you then lose that 5 piece bonus. however, the set bonus still applies even when broken.

i currently run with a crafted tank set for the particular bonus, so i could just replace in place of repair. however, when i solo, i don't repair. its more of a play style preference, as it increases the difficulty of most content that is otherwise too easy for me. i also currently use the "broken armor" situation to dictate where my attributes should be spent. i figure if i need magicka/health/stamina naked, then it should also help with full armor, and aid in dictating where to invest enchantments.