Armor and Resistances
In this era armor has no single "armor rating": there are five separate resistances, and which one is high matters depending on the type of damage coming in. This page explains what each armor gives, the cap, and why mages do not wear plate.
The five resistances
| Resistance | Against |
|---|---|
| physical | Swords, maces, arrows, claws — most creatures |
| fire | Fire spells, dragon breath, lava creatures |
| cold | Ice creatures, some necromancy spells |
| poison | Poisoned weapons and creatures; also lowers the chance of being poisoned |
| energy | Energy Bolt, lightning, Energy Vortex |
All five are shown in your status window. The cap is 70% — anything above it is not counted, so piling a resistance above 70 is wasted armor.
Balance rule: a 70/0/0/0/0 character is helpless against a mage. A good goal for a new player: all of them between 50–60, with 70 in the damage type you take most.
Armor types
Each piece adds its own resistances; the chest piece gives the most, gloves the least. The values below are for the chest piece (physical/fire/cold/poison/energy):
| Type | Resistances | Strength required | Meditation |
|---|---|---|---|
 Leather |
2 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 3 | 25 | Does not block |
 Studded leather |
2 / 4 / 3 / 3 / 4 | 35 | Blocks |
 Ringmail |
3 / 3 / 1 / 5 / 3 | 40 | Blocks |
 Chainmail |
4 / 4 / 4 / 1 / 2 | 60 | Blocks |
 Bone armor |
3 / 3 / 4 / 2 / 4 | 60 | Blocks |
 Platemail |
5 / 3 / 2 / 3 / 2 | 95 | Blocks |
As you can see, plate is best against physical but weak against cold and energy; leather is balanced in every direction but low. The real difference comes from crafting quality and material → Item Quality.
Strength required
If your Strength is below what the armor asks for, you can still wear it but you are penalized: your movement and combat suffer. If the item says "lower requirements X%", that much less Strength is enough.
Why mages do not wear plate
Plate, chain, ring and bone armor stop your mana regeneration and meditation. In the game you get the message "Regenerative forces cannot penetrate your armor."
There are three solutions:
- Wear leather armor — it never blocks meditation.
- Get pieces with the "mage armor" property — that piece lifts the penalty, even if it is metal.
- Wear cloth (no resistances at all, but never blocks anything).
Details: How Magic Works · Magic Skills
Shields
A shield does two jobs: it blocks blows with Parrying and adds its own resistances. In return it fills your hand — it does not go with a two-handed weapon or with spellcasting (unless the weapon has "spell channeling").
Armor wear
Every hit wears armor down a little. A piece whose durability runs out breaks and is destroyed.
- A blacksmith repairs armor (more successfully on pieces you made yourself).
- Every repair lowers the piece's maximum durability: it does not last forever.
- A piece with "self repair" slowly mends itself over time.
Details: Item Quality and Repair
Creature resistances
Creatures also have five resistances. You can see them by examining animals with 
Animal Lore and spellcasting creatures with 
Evaluating Intelligence. Taking a fire weapon to a fire-resistant creature is pointless: choose your weapon for the target → How Combat Works.
Other pages: Item Properties · Combat · Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence · Magic · Item Quality