Hey Time Travelers!
Welcome back to our weekly stat series! Last week we crunched the numbers on Crits, and this week we are looking at the other side of the coin: Armor.
Armor works a bit differently than other stats because it follows a very specific Diminishing Return curve and uses a unique rule for multiplayer sharing. We wanted to clarify exactly how the formula works so you know when to stack more metal and when to rely on other forms of mitigation.
Here is the official breakdown.
🛡️ THE ARMOR CURVE (THE MATH) 🛡️
First, let's look at the raw numbers. Armor is one of the main attributes which reduces incoming damage from basic attacks.
You can check your exact reduction by hovering over the Armor stat in your panel. The rating translates directly into a percentage reduction.
The Formula The game calculates your damage reduction percentage using this specific formula:
{Reduction Value} = 1 - (4000 / (Armor * 6 + 4000))
What this means for you Armor has Diminishing Returns. As you can see in the chart below, the first 1,000 Armor gives you a massive jump (60%), but it takes significantly more Armor to squeeze out the next few percent.
🤝 SQUAD GOALS: SCALING VS. SURVIVAL 🤝
In a multiplayer context, your Armor value is shared with other players at 100% of the value. This is massive for your teammates, but the math changes depending on whether you are dealing damage or taking it.
For Defense (Taking a Hit) At the moment of damage calculation, the total Armor value is divided by the number of players in the squad before running through the reduction formula above. This means the damage reduction gets normalized across the squad.
For Offense (Scaling Abilities) This is where the 100% sharing shines. You get the full benefit of the shared Armor value for ability scaling!
⚔️ OFFENSE IS THE BEST DEFENSE ⚔️
Speaking of scaling, some abilities like the Draconess' Fang or Piercing Thrust have effects that scale directly based on your Armor rating.
Abilities like this pair extremely well with high Armor builds (including rings and trinkets), and the damage scaling increases even further as you evolve the ability.
📉 DIMINISHING RETURNS VS. GLOBAL REDUCTION 📉
It is important to distinguish between Armor and Global Damage Reduction. They are separate attributes that work synergistically.
If you already have high Armor (hitting those diminishing returns), Global Damage Reduction becomes very valuable because it is applied after Armor.
Example Calculation: Imagine an incoming attack dealing 10,000 Base Damage. You have 2,000 Armor (75% Reduction) and 10% Global Damage Reduction.
Armor Step: 10,000 is reduced by 75% →2,500 damage remains.
Global Step: 2,500 is reduced by 10% → 2,250 Damage Taken.
Note: Shield effects take both Armor and Global Damage Reduction into account, making them very powerful if your stats are high!
⚠️ EXCEPTIONS & NEGATIVE VALUES ⚠️
Here are a few final rules to keep you alive:
Negative Armor: Armor can be negative (usually on enemies). It clamps at -500 Armor, which corresponds to a 3x increase in damage taken.
True Damage: Some final boss attacks deal Max HP% based damage. These specific attacks do not get reduced by Armor.
Stay Close: If you step out of a teammate's Aura, you instantly lose the Armor stats they were granting you. So watch your positioning!
That's it for this week's deep dive! Stay tuned for next week's attribute breakdown.