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When a damaging attack hits a target, the attack's Penetration is compared to the target's Armor Rating to determine how much damage gets through.

Overview[ | ]

Penetration comes from the weapon or spell that is being used, but can be raised through the use of magic, abilities, talents, or weapon enchantments. Penetration is compared to the Armor Rating of the attack's damage type. E.g. A Fireball will always check Penetration against Burn Armor Rating. Raw Damage bypasses all armor and does not need to penetrate. All attacks have Penetration, although it is only relevant for those that deal damage.

Armor Rating is compared against the Penetration of oncoming attacks to determine the attack's overall effectiveness.

  • Full/Over Penetration (+30% Damage) - Penetration is twice the target's Armor Rating or more.
  • Partial Penetration (Listed Damage) - Penetration meets or exceeds the target's Armor Rating.
  • Under Penetration (-25% Damage for each point under the target's Armor, Max -75%) - Penetration is less than the target's Armor Rating.

When a hit lands, 25% of the damage is guaranteed to be dealt regardless of the Armor Rating or Penetration.

Bonus damage given Penetration vs. Armor Rating
Penetration Armor Rating
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
0 - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
1 +30% - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
2 +30% +30% - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
3 +30% +30% - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
4 +30% +30% +30% - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
5 +30% +30% +30% - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
6 +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
7 +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
8 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75% -75%
9 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75% -75%
10 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - -25% -50% -75% -75% -75%
11 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - - -25% -50% -75% -75%
12 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - - -25% -50% -75%
13 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - - - -25% -50%
14 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - - - -25%
15 +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% +30% - - - - - - - -

Modifiers[ | ]

General[ | ]

  • Most attacks and abilities have a base Penetration of 7.
  • Status effects that don't override Penetration and are not from a source that overrides Penetration have a base Penetration of 9.
  • Attack rolls that result in a Critical Hit add +50% Penetration, which is calculated on top of all other bonuses.
Enemies
  • Enemies on Hard difficulty get +1 Penetration on all attacks.
  • Enemies on Path of the Damned difficulty get +2 Penetration on all attacks.
  • When level scaling is active, non party members and non-summons gain +1 Penetration every two levels above their original/base level.

Weapon type[ | ]

Attacks with weapons get a base Penetration rating depending on the type of weapon.

Weapon type Penetration
Blunderbuss, Hunting bow, Rod, Sword 6
Battle axe, Club, Dagger, Flail, Great sword, Hatchet, Pistol, Rapier, Sabre, Spear, Wand 7
Pike, Quarterstaff, Scepter, War bow, War hammer 8
Arbalest, Arquebus, Crossbow, Mace, Morning star, Pollaxe, Stiletto 9
Estoc 10

Ability levels[ | ]

Each ability level (the native power level of an ability) adds +0.5 Penetration over the base.

Bonus penetration at ability level
Ability level 1 (I) 2 (II) 3 (III) 4 (IV) 5 (V) 6 (VI) 7 (VII) 8 (VIII) 9 (IX)
Penetration +0.5 +1.0 +1.5 +2.0 +2.5 +3.0 +3.5 +4.0 +4.5

Power levels[ | ]

Penetration is increased by +0.25 (rounded up to 0.1) for each power level. This applies to abilities, spells, scrolls, explosives, and weapon enchantments with keywords. Abilities that are lower than the maximum ability level that the character can cast benefit from increased power levels. Each point of difference grants ± 1 PL, and therefore ±0.25 Penetration.

Penetration of abilities given learned power level
Character level Power level by
character level
Ability native power level
Single class Multiclass 1
(I)
2
(II)
3
(III)
4
(IV)
5
(V)
6
(VI)
7
(VII)
8
(VIII)
9
(IX)
- - 0 -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50 -1.75 -2.00 -2.25
1 1 1 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50 -1.75 -2.00
3 4 2 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50 -1.75
5 7 3 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25 -1.50
7 10 4 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00 -1.25
9 13 5 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75 -1.00
11 16 6 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50 -0.75
13 19 7 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25 -0.50
16 22 8 +1.75 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 - -0.25
19 25 9 +2.00 +1.75 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25 -
22 28 10 +2.25 +2.00 +1.75 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50 +0.25
25 - 11 +2.50 +2.25 +2.00 +1.75 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75 +0.50
28 - 12 +2.75 +2.50 +2.25 +2.00 +1.75 +1.50 +1.25 +1.00 +0.75
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