Armor (rating)

Description
A character's armor is a measurement of how well protected he/she is against taking damage. Generally speaking, a high armor level prevents more damage from a successful attack than a low one. However, there are many more aspects to it than that. For a detailed look on how armor affects damage, see the article: Damage.

A very rough estimate, just to get a feel for a character's armor level: For every increase of 40 in armor level, damage will be halved.

Just as there are different damage types, there are, correspondingly, different types of armor. General armor will prevent damage from all sources, specific armor will only prevent damage of its type. For example, an item that reads "Armor +5 (vs. Fire dmg)" will only prevent Fire damage with this ability. It should be noted that damage from most blood magic skills, mesmer skills, health degeneration, and generic loss of health are completely unaffected by armor.

There are many skills that influence the armor level of oneself, allies, or foes.

Armor Types
Since there are numerous damage types, there is numerous armor types to counter them. The armor types divide in two main categories being armor against physical damage and armor against elemental damage. Physical damage includes Slashing damage, Blunt damage and Piercing damage; Elemental damage includes Fire damage, Cold damage, Lightning damage and Earth damage. If an armor bonus does not specify to which category it applies, it basically means that the armor bonus is aplied against physical and elemental damage. For example, the skill "Watch Yourself!" gives allies within earshot +20 armor. A Ranger wearing a end-of-the-game Drakescale armor (70 base Armor, 100 Armor against Elemental damage, 115 Armor against Fire damage) under the effect of this shout would then have 90 base Armor (70 +20), 120 Armor against Elemental damage (100 + 20) and 135 Armor against Fire Damage (115 + 20) for the time he is affected by the shout. However, if the armor bonus is applied to a specific type of damage such as "Shields Up!" (which gives allies within earshot a +50 armor bonus against Piercing damage, then the previous ranger would have 70 + 50 Armor (120 Armor) against Piercing damage.

Armor against Physical damage

 * Since physical damage is usually dealt by melee attackers as well as Rangers, it is recommended for Tanks in PvE to have a good amount of armor against physical damage to protect themselves some more when taking the aggro. Also, numerous farming builds rely on the armor against physical damage to resist to the attacks of foes. For example, the following build is used to solo spiders in the Fissure of Woe:

Example
(Link:W/any Fissure Spider Farmer)

Knowing that the Armored Cave Spiders deal physical damage, they use Physical Resistance and boost their resistance agaisnt such foes.


 * However, in PvP, soft targets such as monks usually wear an armor against physical damage on their chest and/or legs because those are the areas that are the most susceptible of receiving damage (see the Armor article for more information). Since warriors are high damage dealers and are usually in most balanced groups, it is wise as a soft target to protect yourself against their attacks. However, some Warriors knowing that previous fact bring an elemtental weapon to counter that. For example, in Heroes' Ascent, a general armor setup for a monk is:

-Head: Piece of choice (depending on what kind of monk you are)

-Chest: Judge's Vestments (+10 Armor against Physical damage)

-Arms: Ascetic's Arm Design (Energy +6)

-Legs: Judge's Pants (10 Armor against Physical damage)

-Feet: Ascetic's Foot Design]] (Energy +1)

Statistically, most hits will be landed on the chest and the legs and therefore this armor setup provides 70 armor against Physical damage on those areas; which is equivalent as a standard Ranger armor.

Weapon Bonuses that increases armor:

 * Sword Pommel of Defense, Axe Grip of Defense, Hammer grip of Defense, Bow Grip of Defense (+5 Armor)
 * Sword Pommel of Shelter, Axe Grip of Shelter, Hammer Grip of Shelter, Bow Grip of Shelter (+7 Armor against physical damage)
 * Sword Pommel of Warding, Axe Grip of Warding, Hammer Grip of Warding, Bow Grip of Warding (+7 armor against elemental damage)

Offhand and Shields that increases armor:

 * Numerous offhands offer a +5 armor bonus but makes you lose 5 maximum energy
 * Numerous Shields offer +10 armor agaisnt either piercing damage, blunt damage or slashing damage

Weapons that decreases armor:

 * Some weapons (Axes, Swords, Hammer and Bow) always dealing +15% damage have a -10 armor bonus while attacking

Armor Sets:
Every armor pieces grants you some protection against damage. For more information on those armors, see the Armor Types article.

Skills influencing armor
There is a great number of skills influencing the armor level of oneself, an ally or a foe. Below is the a list of these skills. The armor bonuses that are ranging between a value and another (+15...60 for example) are the value of the bonus at 0 in the corresponding attribute to 15.

{|

Assassin Skill
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !!Elemental Armor Bonus!! Target !! Notes !!
 * || +80 || +80 || Self || The bonus ends if you successfully hit with an attack or use a skill
 * || -20 || -20 || Target Foe || The armor bonus only applies if the target is only hexed by Shadowy Burden
 * }
 * || -20 || -20 || Target Foe || The armor bonus only applies if the target is only hexed by Shadowy Burden
 * }

{|

Dervish Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !!Elemental Armor Bonus!! Target !! Notes !!
 * || +40 || +40 || Self ||
 * || +24 || +24 || Self || The bonus only applies if you are enchanted
 * }
 * || +24 || +24 || Self || The bonus only applies if you are enchanted
 * }

{|

Elementalist Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !!Elemental Armor Bonus!! Target !! Notes !!
 * || +24...60 || +24...60 || Self || Lowers your moving speed by 50...14%
 * || +40 || -24 against Fire Damage || Self ||Lowers your armor against fire attacks
 * || +10...40 || +10...40 || Self || Increases your movement speed by 33%
 * || +10...34 || 0 || Self || Immuned to burning
 * || +24 || 0 || All nearby Foes ||
 * || +20...80 || +20...80 || Self ||
 * || +20 || +20 || Self ||Lowers your movement speed by 50%
 * || 0 || +24 || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward ||
 * || +12...24 || +12...24 (+12...60 armor against fire damage) || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward|| Increases armor against fire damage ||
 * }
 * || +20...80 || +20...80 || Self ||
 * || +20 || +20 || Self ||Lowers your movement speed by 50%
 * || 0 || +24 || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward ||
 * || +12...24 || +12...24 (+12...60 armor against fire damage) || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward|| Increases armor against fire damage ||
 * }
 * || 0 || +24 || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward ||
 * || +12...24 || +12...24 (+12...60 armor against fire damage) || Any allies including yourself standing in the ward|| Increases armor against fire damage ||
 * }
 * }

{|

Mesmer Skills
! Skill || Physical Armor Bonus !!Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || -24...-12 || +40 || Self || Lowers your armor against physical damage
 * || +40 || -24...-12 || Self || Lowers your armor against elemental damage
 * }
 * || +40 || -24...-12 || Self || Lowers your armor against elemental damage
 * }

{|

Monk Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !!Elemental Armor Bonus!! Target !! Notes
 * || +10 * n || +10 * n || Target Other Ally || n is the amount of necromancer hexes on target ally when using this skill
 * || +15...30 || +15...30 || Target Ally ||
 * || 40 || 40 || Target Ally ||
 * }
 * || 40 || 40 || Target Ally ||
 * }
 * }

{|

Necromancer Skill
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !! Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || -20 || 0 || Target Foe ||
 * }
 * }

{|

Paragon Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !! Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || +24 || +24 || All allies within earshot including yourself || The bonus ends prematurely if you move
 * || + 10...34 against Slashing damage || 0 || Target Ally || Only increases armor against slashing damage
 * }
 * || + 10...34 against Slashing damage || 0 || Target Ally || Only increases armor against slashing damage
 * }

{|

Ranger Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus || Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || 0 || +34...60 || Self ||
 * || +15 || +15 || Everyone in the spirit's range ||
 * || +20 || +20 || All animals in the area ||
 * }
 * || +20 || +20 || All animals in the area ||
 * }
 * }

{|

Ritualist Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !! Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || +15 || +15 || Self || The Bonus doesn't apply anymore if you drop Vorizun's ashes
 * || +24 || +24 || Target Ally || Ally under this weapon spells needs to suffer from a hex and/or a condition for the armor bonus to apply
 * || +10...25 || +10...25 || Self|| The Bonus doesn't apply anymore if you drop Tanasen's ashes
 * }
 * || +10...25 || +10...25 || Self|| The Bonus doesn't apply anymore if you drop Tanasen's ashes
 * }
 * }

{|

Warrior Skills
! Skill !! Physical Armor Bonus !! Elemental Armor Bonus !! Target !! Notes
 * || +24 || +24 || Self ||
 * || +20 || +20 || Self ||
 * || +24 || +24 || Self||
 * || +10...40 || + 10...40 || Self|| Your movement rate is slowed by 75%
 * || -40 || -40 || Self ||
 * || +50 against Piercing Damage || 0 || You and all allies within earshot ||
 * || +20 || +20 || You and all allies within earshot ||
 * }
 * || -40 || -40 || Self ||
 * || +50 against Piercing Damage || 0 || You and all allies within earshot ||
 * || +20 || +20 || You and all allies within earshot ||
 * }
 * || +20 || +20 || You and all allies within earshot ||
 * }
 * }