Armor Degradation

Oakclaw · February 2017

Hello,

I've been trying to find an answer to my question but I keep getting conflicting information.

Does your armor lose effectiveness as the durability goes down? For example, if my armor value of a piece is 1000, will that armor value stay at 1000 until the durability hits zero or will it decrease as the durability decreases?

Thanks

paulsimonps · February 2017

It used to reduce effectiveness with durability but they took it away and its either all or nothing now. They changed it I think over a year ago.

davey1107 · February 2017

Absolutely. Your armor gets wrecked slowly as you take damage of any kind, then it loses 10%ish when you die. (That's what they "your items have lost durability" notice is about). The worse shape your gear is in, the less armor it provides. When it's "broken" it provides no armor at all.

This applies to the armor rating, not other bluffs and enchantments. For example, if a piece gives "900 more max magic," this value doesn't go down as the armor gets beat up.

My friend and I have always suspected (but not calculated because...boring) that armor degrades faster and faster. In other words, if you enter a dungeon with gear at 100% and take 1 million damage during your time there, it loses maybe 5% of its value. But if you enter with gear at 50% and take the same 1 million damage, it might lose 10% of its total value. It's also possible that repairs get more costly the further down the scale you go. In either case,,whether true or not, we always repair everything after every round of play.

paulsimonps · February 2017

davey1107 wrote: »

Absolutely. Your armor gets wrecked slowly as you take damage of any kind, then it loses 10%ish when you die. (That's what they "your items have lost durability" notice is about). The worse shape your gear is in, the less armor it provides. When it's "broken" it provides no armor at all.

This applies to the armor rating, not other bluffs and enchantments. For example, if a piece gives "900 more max magic," this value doesn't go down as the armor gets beat up.

My friend and I have always suspected (but not calculated because...boring) that armor degrades faster and faster. In other words, if you enter a dungeon with gear at 100% and take 1 million damage during your time there, it loses maybe 5% of its value. But if you enter with gear at 50% and take the same 1 million damage, it might lose 10% of its total value. It's also possible that repairs get more costly the further down the scale you go. In either case,,whether true or not, we always repair everything after every round of play.

Armor degradation doesn't apply based on damage taken but on EXP gained from kills. Super easy to test. Go to a target, let it hit you a lot and you won't see it change, kill it after a long time and it will degrade your armors durability. Now repair it and go back to that target, kill it without getting hit at all and it will degrade the armor with the same amount. That's why if you are a DPS or Healer in a dungeon and you don't get hit a lot at all then your repair bill will be just the same as a tanks, if neither of you die that is. Cause obviously dying will reduce durability.

davey1107 · February 2017

@paulsimonps Hey, that's handy to know...thanks! I always kinda wondered about the disparity in armor damage between my characters, but never cared enough to figure out why. My tank never has a high bill...it's not because he's tough, it's because he sucks at hurting anything, lol. I think he might be Buddhist.

That system makes sense...in a trial or most any group play doing otherwise would leave ranged characters with perpetually healthy armor while killing tanks.

zaria · February 2017

davey1107 wrote: »

@paulsimonps Hey, that's handy to know...thanks! I always kinda wondered about the disparity in armor damage between my characters, but never cared enough to figure out why. My tank never has a high bill...it's not because he's tough, it's because he sucks at hurting anything, lol. I think he might be Buddhist.

That system makes sense...in a trial or most any group play doing otherwise would leave ranged characters with perpetually healthy armor while killing tanks.

If you tank in an group, all members share xp.
And yes if it was for taking damage it would be expensive for tanks.
Imagine an dungeon you are tank, good healer but two terrible DD, boss takes a long time to kill and your repair bill piles up

Oakclaw · February 2017

Great information and much appreciated! So which of the following is correct?

davey1107 wrote: »

Absolutely. Your armor gets wrecked slowly as you take damage of any kind, then it loses 10%ish when you die. (That's what they "your items have lost durability" notice is about). The worse shape your gear is in, the less armor it provides. When it's "broken" it provides no armor at all.

This applies to the armor rating, not other bluffs and enchantments. For example, if a piece gives "900 more max magic," this value doesn't go down as the armor gets beat up.

paulsimonps wrote: »

It used to reduce effectiveness with durability but they took it away and its either all or nothing now. They changed it I think over a year ago.

TARAFRAKA · February 2017

Paul is correct. Davey is not.

TARAFRAKA · February 2017

To elaborate, your armor gives you 100% of its bonuses/protection as long as it isnt completely broken. Youll know it is broken because it will show your armor rating as 0/2341, for example in bright red letters.

exeeter702 · March 2017

Dont listen to davey

Tes96 · February 2023

paulsimonps wrote: »

davey1107 wrote: »

Absolutely. Your armor gets wrecked slowly as you take damage of any kind, then it loses 10%ish when you die. (That's what they "your items have lost durability" notice is about). The worse shape your gear is in, the less armor it provides. When it's "broken" it provides no armor at all.

This applies to the armor rating, not other bluffs and enchantments. For example, if a piece gives "900 more max magic," this value doesn't go down as the armor gets beat up.

My friend and I have always suspected (but not calculated because...boring) that armor degrades faster and faster. In other words, if you enter a dungeon with gear at 100% and take 1 million damage during your time there, it loses maybe 5% of its value. But if you enter with gear at 50% and take the same 1 million damage, it might lose 10% of its total value. It's also possible that repairs get more costly the further down the scale you go. In either case,,whether true or not, we always repair everything after every round of play.

Armor degradation doesn't apply based on damage taken but on EXP gained from kills. Super easy to test. Go to a target, let it hit you a lot and you won't see it change, kill it after a long time and it will degrade your armors durability. Now repair it and go back to that target, kill it without getting hit at all and it will degrade the armor with the same amount. That's why if you are a DPS or Healer in a dungeon and you don't get hit a lot at all then your repair bill will be just the same as a tanks, if neither of you die that is. Cause obviously dying will reduce durability.

So if armor degradation is determined by kill experience, then how is it determined which piece of armor degrades?

No idea why ZOS did that. That's just ridiculous that my armor will become broken even if I never get hit once. Kind of like how I can become a master at a skill that I've never once used just by merely slotting one of the abilities in my ability bar, even if I never use that skill. But I digress.

AcadianPaladin · February 2023

A broken piece of armor will not lose its ability to contribute to its set bonus. I discovered this when my elf had one piece of her five equipped pieces of Spell Power Cure break. Before we repaired it, she tested it and, sure enough, could still give herself and nearby allies purple arms (major courage) which requires 5 pieces of SPC.

ZOS_Icy · March 2023

Greetings,

We have closed this topic as it was originally created in February 2017. In many cases, it's better to create a new thread on a topic that you want to discuss as opposed to bumping one that is rather old.

Thank you for your understanding.