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Equipment and Gear

Purpose

Equipment is the primary way a character expresses their role and specialization outside of raw skill values. A character equips items that match their skill profile, choose a loadout that bundles those items into a saved profile, and the server derives their combat snapshot from that combination.

See character-progression-and-roles.md for the overall progression model and ../combat/loadouts-and-safety-rules.md for how gear slots into the expedition setup flow.

Equipment Slots

Each character has the following fixed equipment slots:

Slot Category Examples
Weapon Melee or ranged sword, axe, hammer, polearm, bow, staff, wand, harvest tool
Off-Hand Shield, focus, quiver, or tool kit shield, arcane focus, arrow quiver, field kit
Head Armor or accessory helm, hood, hat, circlet
Chest Armor or robe plate chest, leather vest, travel tunic, robe
Hands Armor or gloves gauntlets, gloves, wraps, work gloves
Legs Armor or leggings greaves, padded legs, travel trousers
Feet Armor or boots sabatons, leather boots, sandals, climbing boots
Back Cloak or expedition pack travel cloak, war cloak, expedition pack
Neck Jewellery amulet, pendant, medallion, talisman, warding charm
Ring (×2) Jewellery two ring slots — plain band, signet ring, gemmed ring, runic band
Utility Small utility pouch, vial belt, tool shard, focus shard

The Back slot is the only slot that also affects logistics. A better expedition pack increases carry capacity and supply efficiency during the run.

Item Categories

Melee Weapons

Require matching Frontline Combat skills. Feed the Offense channel in combat resolution.

  • Blades: speed, dual-wield potential, duelist uses
  • Axes and Hammers: raw impact, armor penetration, knockdown
  • Polearms: reach, wave defense, pursuit control

Ranged Weapons

Require Archery or Hunting and Trapping skills. Feed the Offense channel for Ranged and Hunt encounters.

  • Bows: standard ranged pressure, pursuit openers
  • Thrown weapons: close-range ranged option, lighter kit

Magical Implements

Require Arcane Theory at minimum plus the relevant arcane skill. Feed the Arcane channel.

  • Staves: high arcane output, slow, two-hand
  • Wands: faster, weaker output, one-hand (pairs with a focus)
  • Arcane Focuses: off-hand, amplify wand or staff output

Armor

Each armor type aligns to a skill. Using armor above your current skill band reduces its effectiveness.

  • Heavy Armor (head, chest, hands, legs, feet): plate and mail, high defense, burden cost — uses the Heavy Armor skill
  • Medium Armor: leather and chain, balanced defense and movement — uses the Light Armor skill; provides intermediate protection at lower burden than plate
  • Light Armor: padded and woven, low burden, mobility bonus — uses the Light Armor skill
  • Robes: magical attunement bonus, near-zero physical defense — uses the Light Armor skill at Familiar or above; full arcane attunement requires the relevant arcane skills

Tools and Professional Gear

Feed Utility channel and its logistics sub-component. Required for gathering, crafting, repair, and survey work.

  • Harvest tools: axes, picks, fishing rods, hunting kits
  • Craft tools: smithing hammers, tinkering kits, alchemy sets
  • Repair kits: field repair for weapons and armor
  • Survey tools: markers, scopes, recording instruments

Jewellery (Neck, Ring ×2)

Jewellery slots carry focused bonuses rather than broad channel contributions. Each piece provides one to three properties depending on quality tier; it does not have a weapon-like base damage or armor-like base defense value.

Jewellery is divided by material and purpose:

Plain metal jewellery (copper, silver, gold, mithril) - Provides minor stat bonuses and renown or social effects - No skill requirement — any character can use them - Higher precious metal raises the property ceiling

Gemmed jewellery (gems set in metal) - Gem type determines the elemental or skill affinity - Metal tier determines the property count and bonus ceiling - Gem quality (raw, cut, flawless) affects how much the gem's affinity bonus contributes - Cutting skill (Tinkering or Artifice) determines whether a found gem can be set at full quality

Runic jewellery (runic inscriptions on metal) - Inscribed by a character with Scribing or Artifice at Skilled or higher - Provides the strongest targeted bonuses in the game — but only one effect per piece - Require specific material quality (Superior or higher base) plus the relevant inscription skill - Rune fades after a number of expeditions; re-inscription restores it

Warding charms and talismans - Dropped or crafted with Ritualism or Alchemy - Provide status resistance, elemental resistance, or expedition-specific effects - No intrinsic offense or defense channel contribution; they modify the resistance layer of the Defense channel instead

What Jewellery Actually Does

Jewellery does not replace weapons or armor. Its role is to:

  • extend a single skill value by a small fixed bonus (e.g. +1 effective band step toward Skilled in Routefinding)
  • add a targeted elemental or status resistance (e.g. fire resistance: moderate)
  • add a narrow expedition modifier (e.g. +survey output quality, +medicine efficiency, +cargo protection)
  • provide social or renown effects in applicable town or trade contexts (e.g. +local renown display, +negotiation perceived status)

A full set of three jewellery pieces (Neck + Ring ×2) at Masterwork/Exceptional quality and matched to the character's build can shift expedition outcomes meaningfully, but no single piece is game-changing on its own.

Jewellery and Skill Requirements

Plain metal jewellery has no skill requirement.

Gemmed and runic jewellery both require Appraisal at a minimum band to read the item's properties correctly before use. Below the minimum: - the item still equips and the base metal bonus still applies - the gem affinity or rune effect does not activate

Jewellery Example Minimum Band
Plain silver ring None
Gemmed gold amulet (cut gem) Familiar in Appraisal
Flawless gemmed ring Practiced in Appraisal
Runic silver band Skilled in Appraisal
Runic mithril amulet Veteran in Appraisal

This means Appraisal is a meaningful skill for any character who wants to use the better jewellery tiers — not just merchants.

Quality Tiers

Tier Source Effect
Common found or basic purchase base stats, no special properties
Crafted player-made from standard materials slightly better base stats
Fine quality craft or reliable find improved effectiveness, one secondary property
Superior rare material or skilled craft strong bonuses, up to two properties
Exceptional high-skill craft or notable drop strong bonuses, up to three properties
Masterwork master-level craft only near-ceiling stats, unique properties, signature effects

Higher quality tiers can also carry properties such as:

  • elemental affinity (fire, frost, shock, etc.)
  • skill bonus to a specific skill
  • reduced burden
  • expedition-specific modifiers (e.g. +survey quality, +cargo protection)
  • resistance to a specific status effect
  • for jewellery: rune effects, gem affinities, and social or renown modifiers

Skill Requirements

Every equipment piece has a minimum proficiency band required to use it at full effectiveness.

Item Example Minimum Band
Common iron sword Familiar in Blades
Superior iron sword Practiced in Blades
Exceptional steel sword Skilled in Blades
Masterwork rune sword Veteran in Blades
Common plate armor Familiar in Heavy Armor
Superior plate armor Practiced in Heavy Armor
Masterwork plate Veteran in Heavy Armor
Gemmed gold amulet Familiar in Appraisal
Runic silver band Skilled in Appraisal
Runic mithril amulet Veteran in Appraisal

Below minimum band: equipment bonuses are partially negated; the item still functions but at reduced effectiveness.

At minimum band or above: full stats apply.

Far above minimum band: no extra bonus from the item itself, but the character's skill bonus adds on top. Mastery comes from skill, not from endlessly upgrading the item tier.

This means a Master swordsman with a Superior sword still outperforms an Untrained fighter with a Masterwork sword.

Durability and Repair

Each item has a current durability value from 0 to 100.

Degradation

  • Items degrade during expeditions based on encounter count, danger level, and expedition length.
  • Harder boss fights and longer delves degrade gear faster.
  • Certain enemy types cause accelerated wear (armor-breakers, corrosive attacks, heat zones).
  • Consumable items such as repair kits used during a run slow degradation in the field.

Degradation Effects

Durability Effect
75–100 Full effectiveness
50–74 Minor penalty to derived stats
25–49 Moderate penalty; repair strongly recommended
1–24 Significant penalty
0 Item broken; slot gives penalty instead of bonus

Repair

Repair requires a skill matching the item type:

  • Metal weapons and armor: Smithing
  • Leather and cloth armor: Leatherworking or Clothworking
  • Wooden or composite gear: Carpentry
  • Tools and devices: Tinkering
  • Arcane implements: Artifice

Higher skill means better repair efficiency (more durability restored per material used) and less quality loss on repair. Repeated low-skill repairs can reduce an item's effective maximum durability over time.

Equipment and Loadouts

A saved loadout profile records:

  • full gear set (all equipped slots)
  • role core preset
  • utility package
  • safety rule preset

Switching to a saved loadout swaps all gear simultaneously. The server then rebuilds the derived combat snapshot from the new loadout automatically.

Players should be able to save at least three named loadout profiles.

Equipment not in a loadout sits in the character's inventory. Inventory items do not contribute to combat or expedition resolution.

What Equipment Quality Does

Quality tiers are not flat power multipliers. Each tier raises the ceiling on what a gear slot can contribute to the character's combat and expedition channels. Skill determines how much of that ceiling is actually used.

Channel Contributions

The combat snapshot derives five main channels from equipped gear:

Offense Channel — determines how much pressure the character applies in the Clash phase. - Sources: Weapon slot, Off-Hand (if attack-oriented), relevant Neck/Ring properties - Higher quality raises the raw offense ceiling - Controls: Clash outcome margin, elite and boss encounter damage window, weak-point opportunity frequency

Defense Channel — determines injury resistance and survival pressure across all phases. - Sources: Chest, Legs, Head, Hands, Feet armor slots, Off-Hand shield - Higher quality raises the raw defense ceiling - Controls: injury severity from Clash and Recovery phases, status effect resistance (bleed, poison, fear, stun)

Arcane Channel — determines magical offense and magical defense. - Sources: Weapon (if magical implement), Off-Hand focus, Neck/Ring with arcane properties, Robe chest - Controls: elemental burst effectiveness, ward strength, ritual quality in applicable encounters

Utility Channel — determines non-combat expedition capability. - Sources: Utility slot, Back slot pack, harvest or craft tools in Weapon slot - Controls: survey quality output, gather yield, repair efficiency, supply stretch, map output grade

Burden Modifier — a penalty applied to the Defense, Utility, and expedition logistics channels when the character carries more weight than their Endurance and armor skill can handle. Heavy plate on an Untrained wearer creates a large burden penalty. A Veteran in the same plate has no penalty and may gain a bonus. Burden also penalizes march stability and retreat quality, not only combat defense.

Quality Tier Values

Each quality tier sets a base value multiplier for its channel. These are relative to a Common item baseline of 1.0:

Quality Tier Base Channel Multiplier
Common 1.0
Crafted 1.15
Fine 1.35
Superior 1.60
Exceptional 1.85
Masterwork 2.10

A Masterwork weapon therefore offers roughly double the offense ceiling of a Common weapon of the same type.

However, the multiplier only applies to the portion the character's skill can actually use.


Skill and Equipment Interaction

The core rule is:

Equipment sets the ceiling. Skill determines how much of that ceiling is reached.

Efficiency Formula

effective_contribution = equipment_base × skill_efficiency

Where skill_efficiency maps proficiency bands to a fraction of the equipment's ceiling:

Proficiency Band Skill Efficiency
Untrained 0.30
Familiar 0.55
Practiced 0.70
Skilled 0.82
Veteran 0.92
Expert 0.97
Master 1.00

What This Means in Practice

A Master swordsman with a Common sword: 1.0 × 1.00 = 1.00 effective offense

An Untrained fighter with a Masterwork sword: 2.10 × 0.30 = 0.63 effective offense

A Skilled fighter with a Superior sword: 1.60 × 0.82 = 1.31 effective offense

A Veteran fighter with a Masterwork sword: 2.10 × 0.92 = 1.93 effective offense

The design intent is clear: a highly skilled character with decent gear outperforms a low-skill character with premium gear. The biggest gains come from pushing both skill and quality upward together. Neither dimension alone reaches the ceiling.

Where Gear Matters Most

Power (Offense): Weapon quality is the largest single lever. A Masterwork weapon on a Veteran swordsman is the most offense-efficient combination before reaching Master tier. The last push from Veteran to Master is smaller than the jump from Skilled to Veteran.

Survival (Defense): Defense is spread across five armor slots, so total investment matters more than any single piece. A full Superior armor set outperforms a single Masterwork piece with common armor in the remaining slots. Skill efficiency applies independently per slot, then the Defense channel sums all contributions.

Attrition Resistance: The Back slot (expedition pack) and Utility slot directly affect how long the character stays effective during long expeditions. A Superior pack on a character with strong Pack Handling keeps supplies lasting longer and reduces resource waste during Recovery phases.

Jewellery (Neck, Ring ×2): Jewellery does not have a channel base value in the same sense as weapons or armor. Instead each piece injects a bounded property bonus directly into the snapshot — a skill step bonus, a resistance, or an expedition modifier. Three matching pieces that complement the character's role can provide a combined effect comparable to upgrading one armor slot by one quality tier. The best use of jewellery is targeted: plug a weakness (e.g. add fire resistance before a volcanic delve), sharpen a strength (e.g. add survey quality on a Scout build), or add a social modifier for town-focused play.

Status Resistance: Higher quality armor carries resistance properties more often. A Masterwork plate chest might carry bleed resistance and fear immunity. But those properties only fully apply when the character meets the armor skill minimum. A character without Heavy Armor proficiency at Practiced level does not gain the bleed resistance property on a Superior plate chest even if they can wear it at reduced effectiveness.

Diminishing Returns Design

To prevent pure gear-grinding from dominating:

  • Each quality tier step adds less raw channel value than the previous step
  • Skill efficiency above Veteran gains very little additional multiplier (0.92 → 0.97 → 1.00)
  • Accessories and property bonuses follow the same skill-gated rules

The largest character power gains should come from the Practiced → Skilled → Veteran band transitions, paired with Crafted → Fine → Superior gear. The Expert and Master tiers and Exceptional/Masterwork gear are meaningful but not required to participate in most content.

Gear Without Matching Skill (Undergearing and Overgearing)

Undergearing (skill higher than gear quality): The character performs well but leaves ceiling room on the table. A Master swordsman with a Common sword plays at effective offense 1.00. Replacing the weapon with Fine gear jumps them to 1.35. This is the main reason a skilled character should care about gear improvement.

Overgearing (gear quality higher than skill): The character wastes most of the quality tier. A Familiar-band fighter in Masterwork plate gets only 2.10 × 0.55 = 1.16 effective defense from that chest — less than a Skilled fighter in Fine armor (1.35 × 0.82 = 1.11, roughly comparable, and the Skilled fighter is not paying the high craft cost or maintenance cost). Overgearing is not harmful but it is wasteful and is not how you get best value from premium materials.

The practical advice for players: - Match gear tier to your current skill band - Upgrade gear as your skill band climbs - Masterwork gear is the target for characters in the Veteran–Master range, not for new characters


Equipment and the Combat Snapshot

On each loadout commit, the server derives the full channel set:

  • offense_channel: weapon type, quality tier, relevant skill efficiency, applied properties
  • defense_channel: armor type per slot, quality tier per slot, shield presence, relevant skill efficiency per slot, summed; jewellery resistance properties injected here
  • arcane_channel: implement type, quality tier, arcane skill efficiency, focus amplification
  • utility_channel: tools, back-slot pack, utility slot, relevant skill efficiency
  • jewellery_bonus_set: ordered list of property injections from all three jewellery slots — skill step bonuses, elemental/status resistances, expedition modifiers, and social modifiers
  • role_tags: inferred from weapon category, armor weight class, and dominant skill clusters
  • burden_modifier: total encumbrance versus Endurance and armor skill efficiency
  • expedition_tags: modifiers from back-slot pack, accessory properties, and jewellery expedition modifiers

Profession Equipment Sets

A profession set is a group of items designed to work together for a specific non-combat activity. Sets are defined by their item tags. Wearing more pieces from the same set activates set bonuses that would not appear on any single piece in isolation.

How Set Bonuses Work

Set bonus thresholds are 2 pieces, 4 pieces, and 6 pieces. Each threshold stacks — a 6-piece wearer gains all three bonuses simultaneously.

Pieces can be any quality tier. The set bonus fires as long as the item is equipped and the slot contributes normally (not broken, not voided by skill mismatch, not overridden by a conflicting set).

You cannot combine bonuses from two different profession sets in the same slot. If a character wears three Foraging pieces and three Smithing pieces, both 2-piece bonuses activate. The 4-piece bonus of neither set activates because neither reaches four pieces.

Combat-role loadout presets and profession sets are separate. The same gear slots are used for both, so a dedicated profession run usually means committing to a full non-combat loadout and relying on the group for combat coverage if the expedition requires it.


Gathering Sets

These sets are tuned for raw material extraction. The Weapon slot takes a matching harvest tool. The Utility slot takes a matching gathering pouch or container kit. Armor is usually Medium or Light to keep burden low.

Mining and Stonecraft Set

Slot composition: Harvest pick (Weapon), Ore satchel (Utility), Sturdy work helm (Head), Reinforced work vest (Chest), Miner's gloves (Hands), Knee-braced work legs (Legs), Iron-toed boots (Feet), Heavy haul pack (Back), Vein-seeker ring (Ring), Assay pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Ore and stone extraction timer −10%
4 Each extraction has a 12% chance to yield a secondary material from the node (gemstone shard, flux stone, mineral salt)
6 Flat 6% chance per extraction to upgrade one ore unit to the next quality band (e.g. Common → Fine, Fine → Superior)

The 6-piece quality upgrade applies before the extracted stack is logged. It does not trigger again on already-upgraded units in the same pull.

Forest and Logging Set

Slot composition: Felling axe or broad hatchet (Weapon), Log tally kit (Utility), Bark-hardened hood (Head), Foresters's vest (Chest), Work wraps (Hands), Trail trousers (Legs), Bark-grip boots (Feet), Timber hauler pack (Back), Sap ring (Ring), Woodcutter's pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Timber and wood yield per node +15%
4 10% chance per extraction to find a secondary material alongside timber (resin, alchemical bark, dye bark, hardwood knot)
6 Specialty and hardwood logs have a 7% chance to yield Heartwood — a rare structural material used in master-tier weapons, furniture, and town projects

Foraging and Herbalism Set

Slot composition: Foraging staff or belt knife (Weapon), Herb press and satchel (Utility), Woven circlet (Head), Travel tunic (Chest), Thin work gloves (Hands), Padded field trousers (Legs), Soft-sole boots (Feet), Deep forager's pack (Back), Root-sense ring (Ring), Sprig pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Herb and plant node visibility range +1 tile in map review; extraction timer −8%
4 15% chance to extract a potency-upgraded variant of any herb (potency-grade herbs are used in advanced alchemical and medicine recipes)
6 Seasonal nodes remain partially visible and extractable one week outside their peak season window

Hunting and Trapping Set

Slot composition: Hunting bow or trapper's blade (Weapon), Trap and snare kit (Utility), Camouflage hood (Head), Soft leather vest (Chest), Hunter's gloves (Hands), Quiet-step leggings (Legs), Stalker boots (Feet), Field dressing pack (Back), Predator's ring (Ring), Hunter's token (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Approach stealth: wildlife encounters have 15% reduced alert range; ambush success rate +10%
4 Hide, pelt, and bone quality upgrades by one grade when field-dressing kills
6 8% chance per kill of wildlife or beast to yield a rare part roll (rare gland, pristine trophy, elder-grade bone)

Fishing Set

Slot composition: Fishing rod (Weapon), Net and bait kit (Utility), Wide-brim sun hat (Head), Waxed canvas coat (Chest), Angler's gloves (Hands), Waterproof trousers (Legs), Wading boots (Feet), Fish carrier pack (Back), Tidal ring (Ring), Angler's charm (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Fishing extraction timer −12%; minimum yield floor raised by 1 unit
4 14% chance per extraction to catch a higher-grade fish or aquatic material (e.g. Common catch → Fine grade, or inclusion of a rare aquatic ingredient)
6 10% chance during any water-adjacent expedition to discover a hidden shoal or submerged resource node not on the current map

Farming and Agriculture Set

Slot composition: Tilling tool or harvest sickle (Weapon), Seed and measure kit (Utility), Straw hat (Head), Field coat (Chest), Padded work gloves (Hands), Patched working trousers (Legs), Work boots (Feet), Harvest carry pack (Back), Cultivator's ring (Ring), Grain pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Crop harvest yield +12%; tending and planting timer −8%
4 Field condition degrades 20% slower between tending cycles — reduces total input cost to maintain a field in good condition
6 8% chance per harvest batch for a quality-upgraded yield (e.g. regular grain → Fine grain, common herbs → potency-grade herbs)

The 6-piece quality upgrade on crops follows the same rule as mining: it resolves once per batch before output is logged.


Exploration and Cartography Set

Slot composition: Survey tool or scout's blade (Weapon), Compass and field journal (Utility), Scout's hood or wide-brim hat (Head), Travel cloak or light dusted coat (Chest), Map-writer's gloves (Hands), Trail trousers (Legs), Long-stride boots (Feet), Cartographer's pack (Back), Routefinder's ring (Ring), Waystone amulet (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Fog-of-war reveal radius +1 tile per step; survey output quality +1 grade
4 18% chance per map tile traversed to passively discover a surveyed site or hidden node without spending a dedicated survey action
6 Tiles marked during any expedition where this set is active have a 12% chance to be automatically upgraded from basic mapping to full surveyed status

Crafting Sets

Crafting sets are tuned for workshop activity. They occupy the same slots as expedition gear but activate their bonuses inside workshop jobs, not during expedition encounters. A character can save a crafting loadout and switch to it before starting a workshop batch.

Smithing Set

Slot composition: Smithing hammer (Weapon), Bellows kit or flux pouch (Utility), Forge helm or eye guard (Head), Leather apron (Chest), Forge gloves (Hands), Reinforced work trousers (Legs), Toed iron boots (Feet), Tool roll pack (Back), Metalworker's ring (Ring), Forgemaster's pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Material waste per batch −10% (more ingots and components from the same raw input)
4 Quality ceiling for assembled items raised by one tier: crafts that would peak at Crafted quality can now reach Fine; Fine can reach Superior
6 8% chance on any Superior or higher completed item to trigger a Masterwork attempt — the item is re-evaluated against the crafter's Smithing band; if the check passes, the item becomes Masterwork

The 6-piece Masterwork attempt does not consume extra materials. It is a quality upgrade to the already-completed item.

Leatherworking and Clothworking Set

Slot composition: Tanner's knife or cloth shears (Weapon), Awl and thread kit (Utility), Work cap (Head), Tanner's apron (Chest), Fine-stitch gloves (Hands), Padded work trousers (Legs), Workshop boots (Feet), Pattern roll pack (Back), Stitcher's ring (Ring), Clothworker's pendant (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Raw hide and fiber yield +15% when processing into usable leather and cloth
4 Finished leather and cloth armor items have reduced burden contribution (−8% to burden modifier) when the wearer also has matching armor skill at Practiced or above
6 9% chance on any Superior leather or cloth armor completion to produce an Exceptional result from the same materials

Alchemy and Medicine Set

Slot composition: Mortar pestle or alchemist's blade (Weapon), Reagent vial belt (Utility), Filtered hood or safety cap (Head), Treated work coat (Chest), Reagent gloves (Hands), Covered work trousers (Legs), Chemical-resist boots (Feet), Reagent satchel pack (Back), Catalyst ring (Ring), Distillation amulet (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Failed batch rate −12% (batches that would produce zero output instead produce at minimum 1 unit)
4 Consumable output count ×1.15 per batch (rounded down, minimum +1 unit per batch of 6 or more)
6 10% chance per batch of any potion or salve to produce one potency-upgraded unit alongside the standard output

Trade and Logistics Set

Slot composition: Any tool or trade instrument (Weapon), Trade ledger or weight kit (Utility), Merchant's hat (Head), Merchant's coat (Chest), Negotiator's gloves (Hands), Travel trousers (Legs), Long-road boots (Feet), Expedition merchant pack (Back), Trade ring (Ring), Commerce amulet (Neck)

Pieces Worn Bonus
2 Carry weight budget +10%; cargo item slots +2 in the active expedition inventory
4 Cargo loss on expedition failure reduced by 20%; spoilage rate on perishables during travel −15%
6 Market tax rate −5% at any region where the character has at least Familiar local renown; negotiation offer range widens by ±8% when initiating player-to-player trade or contract submissions

Set Design Constraints

  • Set bonuses apply to expedition and workshop resolution only. They do not boost combat channels. A character wearing a full Foraging set in a combat encounter gets no gathering bonus mid-fight.
  • Items are designed to fill the same slots used by combat gear. Every profession set uses the full 11 slots so there is no dead weight.
  • No set obsoletes skill. All extraction bonuses are additive modifiers on top of skill efficiency. A Master-tier gatherer in a Common gathering set outgathers a Familiar-tier gatherer in a Masterwork gathering set. Skill is always the primary axis.
  • Quality tiers still matter. A Masterwork harvest pick combined with the full Mining set and Veteran Mining skill achieves the highest extractable quality ceiling. A Common pick with the same set and the same skill is meaningfully weaker in quality ceiling but still benefits from the set speed and secondary-drop bonuses.
  • Sets can be partially assembled. Players in early progression who only own two or three pieces of a set still gain the 2-piece bonus. There is no all-or-nothing gate.

These derived values feed the combat resolver directly. The resolver does not re-read raw item stats during the expedition.

Technical Records

Store:

  • item_template: base definition — type, category, slot, base stats, quality tier, skill requirements, possible properties
  • item: individual instance — template ref, current durability, quality tier, applied properties, gem_ref if gemmed, rune_ref if runic, crafter id if player-made
  • character_equipment: current equipped items per slot — character id, slot name, item id
  • character_inventory: unequipped items — character id, item id, stack count where applicable
  • character progression and roles
  • loadouts and safety rules
  • combat and skills integration
  • gathering and resource ecology
  • crafting and itemization
  • material relevance and recipe structure