Arms & Armor

For Community Update 12 we rebuilt every weapon and armor piece in Aetherion. Each one has its own role and stats, and they all climb the same five tiers in the Great Forge. Here is what changed, and what's new.

This article is part of the Community Update 12 series: Overview · Professions & Crafting · Cooking & Brewing · Gathering · Arms & Armor.

FIVE FORGE TIERS

Every crafted weapon and armor piece can be upgraded at the Great Forge in the Central Nexus. Each tier raises its stats and unlocks sockets for Ad'rath Shards:

Weapons also gain damage with each tier, and weapon stats are read at the moment you hit, so your current weapon always counts. Unique and dropped weapons have a single tier.

NEW WEAPONS

• Greatswords in every metal: slower and heavier than longswords, with 25% more damage. They rest on your shoulder when idle.
• Firearms from Engineering: Flintlocks and Blunderbusses in Thorium, Cobalt, Adamantite and Mithril, each with its own look.
• Crossbows from Copper to Mithril, plus Dual Crossbows for a pure Dexterity build.
• Deployable turrets in four metals.
• Undead bane: Scythes deal 25% more damage to the undead (Reaper), Maces 10% more (Holy). A cleric's weapon at last.

NINE SCHOOLS OF MAGIC

Spell tomes are made by Arcanists in five potencies: Initiate, Adept, Magus, Exalted and Ascendant. Higher potencies hit harder, hold more mana and add signature spells. Each school is tied to one of the gods:

Carry several tomes on your hotbar and switch between schools as the fight demands. A Darkness school is still to come.

NEW ARMOR SETS

JEWELRY

The new Character window adds an amulet slot and two ring slots. Jewelcrafters make rings and amulets in Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Mithril, set with Emerald, Topaz, Zephyr, Sapphire, Ruby or Diamond. Gemmed jewelry has five forge tiers like any other gear, and counts toward your stats just like armor.

AD'RATH SHARDS

Shards of the fallen Ad'rath meteor come in six elements (Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Nature and Darkness) and three grades: Chipped, Pure and Radiant. Each shard gives one bonus in a weapon and another in armor. Socket them at the Great Forge, and fuse, attune or extract them at the Shard Lapidary.

For now, Chipped shards drop from hostile mobs, Pure shards from elites and bosses, and kill quests on the Notice Board can reward one. Void-touched shards are rare, powerful and cursed.

APPEARANCES

The Great Forge can reskin your gear with any look you have collected. Looks are collected by equipping armor or holding a weapon, and the Collections window shows every appearance you own. Some sets, like Mermaid and Holloway, are now purely cosmetic (pink quality), and the Exalted helm and cuirass looks are earned as rewards.

Every weapon and armor piece, with its stats, is listed in the Armor Compendium and the Weapons Compendium.