How do you determine your true AL? - Guild Wars Forums

pdurand36 · Sep 04, 2007, 07:27 PM // 19:27

Are armor attributes cumulative? What I mean is this: If you have a full set of max armor for, say, a ranger, each piece of armor has an AL of 70. Does that mean with no runes or insignias of any kind your total armor is 70 or 350? What if one piece is max and the rest is of lesser quality? How does that affect your over all AL?

The bigger question I have is does the same rule apply to upgrades and insignias? Obviously, those that are labeled ???non-stacking??? do not add up but what of the upgrades that offer, for example, +10 (vs. elemental damage) and so forth? If you add one each to your armor do you boost by 10 or by 50?

All this time I have been applying such upgrades to each piece of armor (mask, vest, leggings, etc.) with the idea of increasing my total overall AL. My assumption is based on the fact that if I add 3 (stacking) runes of vitae at +10 health each (one each to 3 separate pieces of armor), I add a total of 30 health to my character. The affect of adding them is cumulative and immediately visible on your health bar.

Unfortunately, there is no such bar for viewing your existing maximum armor level (with the addition of ???cracked armor??? and skills like "weaken armor" there really should be).

It would also be nice to know how much damage gets absorbed by armor and what gets through to "hit points" (D&D reference

). If you've ever played the GURPS role playing system, often times damage doesn't even get past your armor and piercing damage is far worse than slashing (which I believe GW acknowledges).

I've noticed the above to some extent while playing GW. I recently started a new Paragon but outfitted her in max armor at level 3 (love that storage). The level 2 and 3 Ibogas weren't doing any damage to her at all. But my level 20 ranger has taken hits of around 120 damage (wearing max ranger armor) that have dramatically reduced her health. Theoretically, if her AL is 350 (plus her upgrades), a lot of that should get absorbed.

I have observed that if I rotate between her four bows mid attack, I immediatedly see a difference in damage done to the target. But how much of that is the type of damage I'm inflicting, how much is the bow's other attributes (e.g. damage +15%) and how much is my foe's armor type, I have no idea.

I have been completely unable to find any detailed information on this issue. Even at this stage in the Guild Wars life span, I think players could always benefit from a detailed reference on the subject.

Thanks.

Sep 04, 2007, 07:27 PM // 19:27	#1
pdurand36 Pre-Searing Cadet Join Date: Dec 2006 Guild: Dragon Lords of Melnibone Profession: E/Me	How do you determine your true AL? Are armor attributes cumulative? What I mean is this: If you have a full set of max armor for, say, a ranger, each piece of armor has an AL of 70. Does that mean with no runes or insignias of any kind your total armor is 70 or 350? What if one piece is max and the rest is of lesser quality? How does that affect your over all AL? The bigger question I have is does the same rule apply to upgrades and insignias? Obviously, those that are labeled ???non-stacking??? do not add up but what of the upgrades that offer, for example, +10 (vs. elemental damage) and so forth? If you add one each to your armor do you boost by 10 or by 50? All this time I have been applying such upgrades to each piece of armor (mask, vest, leggings, etc.) with the idea of increasing my total overall AL. My assumption is based on the fact that if I add 3 (stacking) runes of vitae at +10 health each (one each to 3 separate pieces of armor), I add a total of 30 health to my character. The affect of adding them is cumulative and immediately visible on your health bar. Unfortunately, there is no such bar for viewing your existing maximum armor level (with the addition of ???cracked armor??? and skills like "weaken armor" there really should be). It would also be nice to know how much damage gets absorbed by armor and what gets through to "hit points" (D&D reference ). If you've ever played the GURPS role playing system, often times damage doesn't even get past your armor and piercing damage is far worse than slashing (which I believe GW acknowledges). I've noticed the above to some extent while playing GW. I recently started a new Paragon but outfitted her in max armor at level 3 (love that storage). The level 2 and 3 Ibogas weren't doing any damage to her at all. But my level 20 ranger has taken hits of around 120 damage (wearing max ranger armor) that have dramatically reduced her health. Theoretically, if her AL is 350 (plus her upgrades), a lot of that should get absorbed. I have observed that if I rotate between her four bows mid attack, I immediatedly see a difference in damage done to the target. But how much of that is the type of damage I'm inflicting, how much is the bow's other attributes (e.g. damage +15%) and how much is my foe's armor type, I have no idea. I have been completely unable to find any detailed information on this issue. Even at this stage in the Guild Wars life span, I think players could always benefit from a detailed reference on the subject. Thanks.