Introduction
In this part of the AQ mechanics series, we’ll begin to discuss different types of items. We’ll begin by running through Weapons, the most diverse item category in the game. According to Nivpil’s ShopDB, there are more than 3000 unique weapons in the game to date (accounting for almost half of all items!). Weapons follow the three main build archetypes, divided into Melee (Warrior), Ranged (Ranger), and Magic (Mage) categories. Warriors benefit the most from this division, with more unique items to choose from than Rangers or Mages (the former is particularly restricted). They are fairly evenly spread across the elements, though Ice, Wind and Energy weapons are a little thin on the ground.
We’ll go through the main characteristics of Weapons in this post, as well as some of the important broad item mechanics.
Visit the Content Hub for other parts of this series
Weapon Characteristics
Element
This characteristic is fairly self-explanatory. Each weapon is aligned to at least one element. Typically, these are one of the 8 standard elements (Fire, Water, Wind, Ice, Earth, Energy, Light, Darkness). However, in some rare cases, they can vary randomly (e.g., Prismatic Paintbrush) or even deal a non-standard element (e.g., Void Spear of War). The vast majority of items that deal non-standard elements will be Harm (almost always hits on 100% resistances), though some can also deal Void damage (e.g., Dragon Blade). You can also get items that toggle between 1 or more additional elements (some even all 8, like Ultimate Dragon Scythe of Elements).
These effects can have implications for the amount of damage the weapons deals. Harm Weapons typically receive a *0.9 damage penalty since they can be used effectively (albeit not perfectly) against any foe. Void weapons are heavily restricted, usually only possible under certain conditions like a trigger (For example, Dragon Blade can only deal Void Damage against true dragons). Weapons with >1 element typically lose 5% Melee in damage per extra element, though an equivalent penalty may be used (Ultimate Dragon Scythe of Elements pays for three elements by instead increasing incoming damage by 15/1.4%. Remember, monsters deal 140% melee so we need to add the /1.4!). Dealing damage with a weapon that randomly changes element isn’t practical so they actually receive a damage bonus (*132/109 damage).
Base + Random
The two most important stats a weapon has are Base and Random. These define how much damage a weapon deals. We’ve already spoken about how these two values are used in the damage formula as part of this post, but to summarise:
- Base refers to the baseline damage a weapon deals. For example, in magic mode, Pyromancer Bloodblade deals 12-36 damage. This means that its Base is 12 (it will always deal at least 12 damage).
- Random refers to the difference between the Base and the maximum amount of damage the weapon can deal. Since Pyromancer Bloodblade deals 12-36 Damage in magic mode, its Random is 36 - 12 = 24 Damage.
Damage Leans
Weapons also have a Damage Lean, which defines the ratio of Base and Random damage.
- Base lean weapons (values of <0.5; e.g., Tundra Crusher, which has a lean 0.1) have a much higher amount of Base damage relative to Random damage.
- Random lean weapons (values of >0.5; e.g. Dark Comedy, which has a lean of 1) have most or even all of their damage coming from the Random component.
- Neutral weapons (values of 0.5) have on average half of their power coming from Base, and half from Random damage.
In practice, low damage leans make you deal more consistent damage in battle, whereas high damage leans mean your damage is more unreliable, with higher peaks and lower troughs.
Base and Random values are aggregated into the “Damage” category seen on many Weapon encyclopedia entries. The table below shows Base and Random damage values for Melee and Ranged weapons at Level 150.
| Base Lean | Base | Random |
|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 32 | 0 |
| 0.1 | 29 | 7 |
| 0.2 | 26 | 13 |
| 0.3 | 23 | 20 |
| 0.4 | 19 | 26 |
| 0.5 | 16 | 32 |
| 0.6 | 13 | 39 |
| 0.7 | 10 | 48 |
| 0.8 | 6 | 54 |
| 0.9 | 3 | 60 |
| 1.0 | 0 | 64 |
Accuracy
Weapons also play a role in attack accuracy, which I explain in detail in this post. However, to briefly summarise: Weapons provide a certain amount of Bonus to Hit (BTH), which is used to determine the chances of your attack landing relative to your opponent's blocking defences.
Accuracy Leans
Weapons can also have Accuracy Leans. These leans can make the weapon either more or less accurate, and modifies their damage output to compensate. The standard rule with these leans is that they provide +[x] to your BTH, but your weapon deals *85/(85 + [x]) damage as a result. Typically, weapons have maximum boundaries of -5 and +5 on this bth lean.
Autohit
Certain weapons will also automatically hit (e.g., Divine Kusanagi Sword), bypassing the accuracy roll entirely. In these situations, the weapon deals *0.85 damage to compensate (bringing the 85% assumed accuracy rate to 100%). Divine Kusanagi Sword is an exception because it was designed when item standards were different, making it now underpowered since it deals *0.675 damage.
Specials
Weapons (particularly old ones) often have a chance to perform a special attack for additional damage. The chance of this special occurring (the Proc Rate) determines how powerful the attack is, with more common specials being less powerful than rarer ones. You can calculate the expected % Melee value of a special based upon the following formula:
Proc Power: (0.1 + [Proc Rate])/[Proc Rate]
This means a special that procs 10% of the time will deal:
(0.1 + 0.1)/0.1 = 2
… or 200% melee.
Some items, particularly wands and bows, are 100-proc items, meaning they always activate a special (which deals the equivalent of a standard attack). In some cases, these items can have a “true” special, having a chance to deal a second special attack for increased damage.
Why does this matter? Specials don’t respect armour lean, increasing their value when using Fully Defensive armours and decreasing it in Fully Offensive ones (we’ll talk about armour leans more when we go through armours). Offensive players often prefer to use weapons that have no special at all, since these items instead deal *1.08 damage to compensate (which is affected by the lean).
More recently, the staff have attempted to reinvigorate Offensive player use of weapon specials by changing them to support their playstyle (e.g., items like Caissa)
Item Characteristics
Mastercraft
You may have often seen the terms “Mastercraft” or “MC” thrown around in AQ-related discussions, but what do they actually mean? The term was originally synonymous with the uber sets like Reign, Shadow and Golden as these sets were the only types of items to have them. Nowadays, MCs are widespread and found on items at the end of a quest (though most items in the Battleon shops are NOT Mastercrafted).
Having a Mastercraft means the item costs more Gold to buy, but in return has a little bit more power. To be exact, 5% more power. Mastercrafted Melee weapons actually have 105% Melee to play with rather than the 100% Melee you’d expect. Magic weapons, which deal 75% Melee actually have 78.75% Melee. This damage can also be traded for something else of equivalent value, like 4.25 bth or to help bolster a free effect (see below). Other than a bit of extra gold, there’s really no downside to using Mastercrafted gear, so make the most of it!
Free/Flavour Effects
It would be a little boring if every weapon only served to deal damage in exactly the same way! To make things more interesting, items often have free effects (A.K.A. Flavour effects). Please note: THIS DOES NOT MEAN THE EFFECTS ARE ENTIRELY FREE. Instead, it means the item trades damage or another resource to have a special effect. The overall aim is for these effects to balance out so that you receive equivalent to what you invest.
Some free effects trade Weapon damage directly. An example of this is Alchemical Unity, which trades damage for the chance to afflict your foe with Blindness. Since it’s only a chance, you have the opportunity to get far more than you sacrificed if you consistently succeed in inflicting the status. Instead of trading damage, others trade your resources. For example, Pyromancer Bloodblade makes the player sacrifice HP to increase the damage of your Fire Weapon attacks and Spells. Some are also trigger related, sacrificing a small amount of damage against most enemies to have a significant advantage over specific types (e.g., The Dragon Blade with Dragons). You can even use them to compress items within other items, like skills within weapons (e.g., Blade of the Briar)!
Mastercrafts are often used to help supplement these effects, like removing the cost of having a trigger or reducing the amount of HP you spend to get the damage boost provided by the Bloodblade. There are a huge number of combinations out there to explore.
Which Weapon(s) do I choose?
From the above, it's clear that there are a lot of different weapons to choose from. The Equipment Guide section of the Wiki is a good place to start regarding some of the more widely used options. You can also have a dig through the ShopDB (linked above), as well as Ward Point's Weapon Index to help narrow down some of your options.
There are few right or wrong answers when it comes to choosing which weapons to use, but here are a few tips to help steer you in the right direction:
- Warriors use Melee weapons, Rangers Ranged weapons and Mages Magic weapons. This isn't just because of stats either; a lot of build-exclusive gear provides bonuses to using these types of equipment
- Try to ensure all 8 standard elements are covered. It helps to be versatile when things get tough
- If you like using defensive armours (armour with a Fully Defensive lean), it's better to use 100-proc weapons. 0-proc weapons (or weapons with with the more modern special) are better designed for Offensive strategies
- Fully offensive players tend to avoid "Damage over time" (DOT) statuses like Burn and Bleed since they can deal far more direct damage anyway. In contrast, they work well for defensive players
- It's better to have at least some form of consistent damage (i.e. don't use items like Dark Comedy. If they go wrong, they REALLY go wrong!).
- Above all, choose items that you're going to enjoy using. It might not be most optimal decision to use Caissa in an offensive armour, but if you enjoy using it, that's what takes precedence!
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