Armor enchantment summary

Armor Enchantment Overview

There are two types of armor in DDO, Randomly-generated Armor and Named Armor. Armor that is randomly generated by loot tables follows a particular naming format, while Named Armor (given as rewards from completing particular quests or defeating a particular enemy monster) does not follow regular naming conventions.

There are many different enchantments that any Standard Armor type (see light armor, medium armor, or heavy armor) can be found with. The enchantments can be categorized into several groups. While a piece of magical armor can have an enchantment from one or more of these groups, it will never have more than one enchantment from the same group.

For Standard Armor, the enchantments are grouped as follows:

<Bonus> <Prefix [Prefix Modifier]> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix [Suffix Modifier]>
+2      Fire Guard [+2]            Mithral   Chainshirt        of Power III [+2]

Each of these categories is optional, except the Base Armor Type, and are described below. A suit of armor must have at least a +1 bonus to qualify for a prefix or suffix.

The minimum level to equip a piece of armor is calculated as ((Base Price Modifier * 2) - 2). On the case above it would be level 10. Race restricted items reduce this minimum level by another two levels. A suit of armor cannot have an effective bonus (enchantment plus prefix/suffix bonus equivalents) higher than +11 (+12 if it is a race restricted item) or it will not be equipable by a level 20 character.

See also: Weapon Enchantments, Clothing Enchantments.

Bonus

In general, magic armor protects the wearer to a greater extent than nonmagical armor. Magic armor grants an armor enhancement bonus to Armor Class ranging from +1 to +5. Armor enhancement bonuses stack with regular armor bonuses (and with shield and magic shield enhancement bonuses). All magic armor is also masterwork armor.

<Bonus><Prefix> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix>

+2 Fire Guard Mithral Chainshirt of Power III

Name	Description	Base price modifier
Starter	Starting armor, bound.	0
Masterwork	Masterwork piece of armor is not technically magical, just a high-quality item. Because it was made with such skill, it isn't as cumbersome, reducing the Armor Check Penalty by 1.	0
+1	Armor gains a +1 enhancement bonus to AC, and the Armor Check Penalty is reduced by one.	+1
+2	Armor gains a +2 enhancement bonus to AC, and the Armor Check Penalty is reduced by one.	+2
+3	Armor gains a +3 enhancement bonus to AC, and the Armor Check Penalty is reduced by one.	+3
+4	Armor gains a +4 enhancement bonus to AC, and the Armor Check Penalty is reduced by one.	+4
+5	Armor gains a +5 enhancement bonus to AC, and the Armor Check Penalty is reduced by one.	+5

Prefix

Note that none of the armor prefixes include a prefix modifier.

<Bonus> <Prefix> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix>

+2 Fire Guard Mithral Chainshirt of Power III

Name	Description	Base price modifier
Blueshine	Makes the Armor Immune to Acid and Rust damage and adds +3 to the Hide skill	+1
Mobile	Grants the wearer the Mobility feat (non-metallic armor only)	+1
Deathblock	Protects wearer from death spells	+3
Fearsome	Casts Fear (as per the spell) on anything that attacks the wearer, Will save negates	+3
Twilight	-10% Arcane Spell Failure Chance	+3
Lesser Arcane Sigil	-5% Arcane Spell Failure Chance, only on Docents	+1?
Arcane Sigil	-10% Arcane Spell Failure Chance, only on Docents	+3
Lesser Acid Guard	+1d4 acid damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+1
Acid Guard	+1d8 acid damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+2
Lesser Fire Guard	+1d4 fire damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+1
Fire Guard	+1d8 fire damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+2
Lesser Ice Guard	+1d4 cold damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+1
Ice Guard	+1d8 cold damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+2
Lesser Lightning Guard	+1d4 electricity damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+1
Lightning Guard	+1d8 electricity damage to anything that attacks the wearer	+2
Blood Rage	on being hit receive bonus to Strength and Constitution	+3

Material

Materials have no effect on the Base Price Modifier of armor.

<Bonus> <Prefix> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix>

+2 Fire Guard Mithral Chainshirt of Power III

Name	Applies to	Description
Darkweave	Leather	+1 max dex bonus, -5% arcane spell failure
Darkleaf	Breastplate, Bandedmail	non-metal/immune to Rust Monsters, slightly harder than steel, +1 max dex bonus, -2 armor check penalty, -5% arcane spell failure chance, and armor is one category lighter for proficiency purposes
Adamantine	Chainshirt, Breastplate, Chainmail, Halfplate, Fullplate	excellent hardness, damage reduction (1 for light and shields, 2 for medium, 3 for heavy)
Elven	Chainmail	50% lighter, +2 max dex bonus, -3 armor check penalty, -10% arcane spell failure chance, and armor is one category lighter for proficiency purposes (functionally the same as Mithral)
Mithral	Chainshirts, Breastplate, Halfplate, Fullplate	50% lighter, +2 max dex bonus, -3 armor check penalty, -10% arcane spell failure chance, and armor is one category lighter for proficiency purposes
Flametouched Iron	Halfplate, Fullplate	+1 saves versus Evil Outsiders

Base Armor Type

<Bonus> <Prefix> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix>

+2 Fire Guard Mithral Chainshirt of Power III

The following list identified the base armor types available. Mithral and Elven have been added as this is the only material type that alters the class and basic properties of armor.

Abbreviations Used;

• Base AC = The Protection provided by the armor, without the magical + bonus
• MDB = Maximum Dexterity Bonus that is counted from the wearers Dexterity. Some Dwarven and fighter Enhancements may increase the Maximum Dex Bonus. Medium encumbrance will cap the Maximum Dex bonus to 3.
• ACP = Armor Check Penalty. Penalty when checking against the following skills: Jump, Tumble, Move Silently, and Hide. The Swim skill has a double penalty.
• ASF = Arcane Spell Failure. Chance for causing failure when casting arcane spells.

Name	Required Proficiency	Base AC	MDB (a)	ACP	ASF	+5 AC (b)	(a)+(b)
Robe	None	0	N/A	0	0%	N/A	∞
Docent *	None	0	N/A	0	0%	5	∞
Padded Armor	Light Armor Proficiency	1	+8	0	5%	6	14
Leather Armor	Light Armor Proficiency	2	+6	0	10%	7	13
Studded Leather	Light Armor Proficiency	3	+5	-1	15%	8	13
Chain Shirt	Light Armor Proficiency	4	+4	-2	20%	9	13
Hide Armor	Medium Armor Proficiency	3	+4	-3	20%	8	12
Breastplate	Medium Armor Proficiency	5	+3	-4	25%	10	13
Brigandine	Medium Armor Proficiency	5	+3	-4	25%	10	13
Scale Mail	Medium Armor Proficiency	4	+3	-4	25%	9	12
Chain Mail	Medium Armor Proficiency	5	+2	-5	30%	10	12
Banded Mail	Heavy Armor Proficiency	6	+1	-6	35%	11	12
Full Plate	Heavy Armor Proficiency	8	+1	-6	35%	13	14
Half Plate	Heavy Armor Proficiency	7	+0	-7	40%	12	12
Splint Mail	Heavy Armor Proficiency	6	+0	-7	40%	11	11

• * Docent is for Warforged only, and is the only type of armor warforged are allowed to wear.

Magic Armor Suffix

<Bonus><Prefix> <Material> Base Armor Type <"of" Suffix>

+2 Fire Guard Mithral Chainshirt of Power III

Name	Description	Suffix Modifier	Base price modifier
Lesser Energy Resistance	Reduces damage received from energy type by 3	-	+1
Energy Resistance	Reduces damage received from energy type by 10	-	+3
Improved Energy Resistance	Reduces damage received from energy type by 20	-	+4
Greater Energy Resistance	Reduces damage received from energy type by 30	-	+5
Weaponblock	Reduces damage received from weapon type by 5	-	+2
Invulnerability	Grants damage reduction 5/magic	-	+3
Spell Resistance #	caster rolls a d20 + caster level vs # to affect you	13/15/17/19	+2 to +5
Lesser False Life	+5 hitpoints	-	+1
False Life	+10 hitpoints	-	+3
Improved False Life	+20 hitpoints	-	+4
Power #	+10 spellpoints per each level of Power	I to X	+1 to +4
Wizardry #	+25 spellpoints per each level of Wizardry	I to III	+2-3
Magi	+100 spellpoints	-	+5
Light Fortification	+25% resistance to sneak attacks and critical hits	-	+1
Moderate Fortification	+75% resistance to sneak attacks and critical hits	-	+3
Heavy Fortification	+100% resistance to sneak attacks and critical hits	-	+5
Shadow	+5 Hide	-	+2
Improved Shadow	+10 Hide	-	+4
Greater Shadow	+15 Hide	-	+5
Silent Moves	+5 Move Silently	-	+2
Improved Silent Moves	+10 Move Silently	-	+4
Greater Silent Moves	+15 Move Silently	-	+5
Command	+2 to charisma based skills, -6 Hide	-	+1
Stability	If true neutral: +2 deflection bonus to AC, +2 resistance bonus to all saves	-	+1
Spell Charges	Cast spell X times per rest	1 to 5 per rest	+1 to +7

• Energy Resistance - confers resistance to one energy damage type, either acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic
• Weaponblock - confers damage reduction to one weapon damage type, either Hammerblock, Invalid Entry or Update to Template:Axeblock Required , or Spearblock
• of Command - increases all Charisma based Skills (e.g. Haggle, Intimidate, Use Magic Device) checks by +2, but puts a -6 penalty on Hide checks. This does not affect things like Paladin auras or Sorcerer casting
• Some items have charges of a spell on them and allow the user to cast the spell a few times every rest period. Generally, the items have 3 charges and the base value modifier is equal to the level of the spell. Every 2 extra charges increase the modifier by 1, and 2 less charges decrease it by 1.

e.g. Bull's Strength 5/Rest would have a modifier of +3 while Fireball 1/Rest would have a modifier of +2.