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 article on damage. In summary, an increase of armor by 40 will reduce the damage taken by half, while a decrease of armor by 40 will double damage taken.

Armor only affects damage taken from weapons or 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 prevents damage from all affected sources. This armor is written with white text in the format "Armor: 70". All armor sets have some base armor as a part of basic armor. All shields also have base armor.
 * Bonus armor only affects damage from specific sources. This armor is written in colored text in the format "Armor +15 (vs. Piercing 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 Basic armor for the armor ratings available on all armor sets.
 * See Armor types for the additional armor available on most 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.

Armor differences across professions

 * Standard armor rating are equal across all caster class armor at the same level, max at 60.
 * Ranger, Assassin and Dervish armor are 10 higher than caster class armor at the same level, max at 70.
 * Standard Warrior and Paragon armor is 20 higher than caster class armor at the same level, max at 80.
 * Pet armor follows the equation:
 * Pet armor = (Pet level) * 3 + 20
 * Because pet level is capped at 20, pet armor max at 80 like Warrior armor.

By tying pet armor progression with Warrior/Paragon armor progression, the notion of level for armor can be fully developed as: where the level of armor goes up to 20.

PvP armor as well as all Ascended and Obsidian armor are always level 20 armor.

With two exceptions, the level of all armor in the Prophecies and Factions campaigns, using the fomulation above, turn out to be integers. The two exceptions are the starter armor for those two campaigns, as well as the collector armor in Pre-Searing.

Armor variations within a profession
Within a profession, certain armor types may have different base armor ratings as part of the bonus or balance against bonus.