Armor (rating)

Description
A character's armor rating is a measurement of how well protected he/she is against taking damage. For a detailed look on how armor affects damage, see the Damage article. Basically, an increase of armor by 40 will halve damage taken, and a decrease of armor by 40 will double damage taken.

Armor only affects damage taken from weapons, as well as damage from skills that cause physical and elemental damage. Other skills, such as some Monk, Necromancer, and Mesmer skills, will not have their damage reduced by armor. See Damage type for more information.

There are two different types of armor found on equipment:
 * Base armor will prevent damage from all affected sources. This armor is written with white text in the format "Armor: 70". All armors and shields will have some base armor.
 * Bonus armor only affects damage from specific sources. This armor is written in colored text in the format "Armor +10 (vs. Piercing attacks)". Note that although it states "attacks," it will actually reduce damage from all sources of that type of damage. Many armors as well as some shields and focus items can have bonus armor.

In addition to equipment, there are also many skills that can change the armor rating of oneself, allies, or enemies. Also, some equipment and skills provide armor penetration, which can reduce the armor rating of enemies.

Armor sets

 * See Armor Types for the armor ratings on armor sets.
 * Any armor rating on a piece of armor only affects the location the piece of armor is covering.

Shields and focus items

 * Shields may have a maximum of 16 base armor.
 * Some focus items have +5 base armor under certain conditions, such as while enchanted.
 * Some shields and can have up to +10 bonus armor versus a specific damage type or species.
 * Any armor rating on a shield or focus item is applied, regardless of the location hit.

Weapon upgrades

 * Weapon upgrades of Defense, Shelter, and Warding all provide increased armor. Staves can also have Defensive upgrades along with the aforementioned upgrades.
 * Sundering weapon upgrades give you a chance of having armor penetration against your enemies' armor.

Weapon modifiers

 * Some weapons have a -10 armor (while attacking) modifier as a penalty for damage +15% always.

Skills

 * See the armor skills quick reference for a listing of skills which modify armor rating.