Item properties/saved posts

Finros' Original Post

Category: Hunting and Combat
Topic: Weapon and Armor Discussion
Message #: 160
Author: GS4-FINROS
Date: 03/07/2014 11:31 PM EST
Subject: Item Properties and Special Abilities

Players frequently ask questions -- particularly during service-heavy events -- regarding which equipment properties and special abilities are compatible with each other. This post is intended to serve as a canonical reference to address those questions.

This information is best used to determine what properties can definitely not be combined with each other. There is no guarantee that any two (or more) particular properties may be combined onto a single item at an event, or ever, even where this post indicates that it is technically possible. If you attempt to use this post to say "But Finros said you could do this" when you are turned down for a service, you will be thoroughly mocked by the merchant and/or myself.

Take care to read the caveats following the list of properties; some apparent exceptions to the rules are explained. Any property marked with a "[*]" has a specific note associated with it.

This listing is divided into four categories. Category A consists of properties which every piece of gear has. Category B consists of properties that are all mutually exclusive to each other. Category C consists of properties that are independent of each other, and of properties in any other category. Category D consists of scripts. Properties that apply only to weapons or armor are marked as such; otherwise assume that the property can apply to both (though it may come into play through different means). Shields are considered armor unless specifically disclaimed.

Category A

Present on all equipment; magnitude may vary in some cases

• Appearance
• Enchant (usually 0-50, can also be negative)
• Ability/inability to attack/affect magical creatures [*]
• Sanctified/non-sanctified status
• Forging modifiers (if forged by a player)
• Material properties [*]

Category B

Only ONE may be present; magnitude may vary in some cases, may be temporary or permanent in some cases

• Damage padding [armor, but not shields]
• Damage weighting [weapons]
• Critical padding [armor, but not shields]
• Critical weighting [weapons]
• Defensive bonus from weapons (commonly known as "Defender weapons") [weapons]
• Offensive bonus from armor [armor]
• Magical defense (TD) [armor]
• Minor Elemental Edging (902) [weapons]
• Temporary blessing, with or without holy water flares
• Conventional permablessing (e.g. not Creature Bane *Undead)
• Fire flares
• Cold flares
• Lightning flares
• Acid flares
• Vibration (earth, impact) flares
• Disintegration flares
• Disruption flares
• Vacuum (void) flares
• Plasma flares
• Steam flares
• Unbalance (burst of force) flares
• Grapple (tendril of force) flares
• Dispel flares
• Mechanical (three varieties: slash, puncture, crush) flares
• Mana flares [weapons *runestaffs]
• Acuity flares [weapons *runestaffs]

Category C

Any number may be present; magnitude may vary in some cases; may be temporary or permanent in some cases

• Enhancives
• Resistances [armor]
• Creature Bane [*]
• Spikes [armor]
• Ensorcellment
• Weapon Bonding (either spell or cman) [weapons]

Category D

Only ONE may be present

• Everything not mentioned above (yes, seriously). This includes everything from the weapons that hiss when you wave them (and do nothing else), to the properties of Sorrow.

Notes regarding [*] marks in the above list

• The ability to attack/affect magical creatures is only partially implemented with regard to armor and shields. Some offensive maneuvers require magical gear, others do not. This will likely be made consistent in requiring magical gear, over the long term.
• Material properties are relatively new in Gemstone. Modern gear made out of particular materials, such as adamantine or black ora, are likely to have their special abilities as an inherent property. Older gear may use a script to accomplish similar effects, which of course occupies the script ability of the equipment.
• Creature Bane items may grant damage/critical padding/weighting or flares, separate from anything in Category B. Only one Creature Bane foe type and one Creature Bane effect may be present.

The greatest caveat is in regard to Category D, scripts. Scripts have great flexibility in what they can do and may include the application or modification of one or more Category B items, in addition to whatever other effects they may have.

I believe this list to be complete, as of this date. If you don't see a particular special ability listed in Categories A-C, it is almost certainly a Category D (script) ability, of which there are quite literally hundreds.

Update Per Weighting, Padding, Sighting Changes

Category: Hunting and Combat
Topic: Weapon and Armor Discussion
Message #: 284
Author: GS4-FINROS
Date: 08/27/2017 05:15 PM EDT
Subject: Re: Item Properties and Special Abilities

>Request to please update this post or the corresponding official section of this page:

With regard to item properties, this change has removed the four types of padding and weighting from Category B and put them into Category C (to use my original divisions). That is, an item can now have both critical and damage weighting [weapons], or both critical and damage padding [armor, but not shields], and those properties are not exclusive of any other Category B property.

Other than that, the original post remains accurate. Whether individuals prefer my original formatting or the derived "Charts of Clarity" is, of course, a personal opinion -- but at present, the latter are missing some aspects that were in my original post, such as magical status and sanctification status, plus some examples. They do show several common script types, though.

Special Metals

Category: Hunting and Combat
Topic: Weapon and Armor Discussion
Message #: 299
Author: GS4-FINROS
Date: 9/09/2017 1:11 AM
Subject: Re: Item Properties and Special Abilities

> In category A you have material properties. Does this include fancy materials such as Zelnorn, kroderine, adamantite? Or are those considered a script and would fall under Cat D?

I'm afraid that the answer to this question isn't entirely straightforward. Modern items are built with inherent (Category A) material properties, including for "fancy materials". Older items may have used scripts for material properties before the materials were formalized. And aside from that, even some modern "materials" are still scripts in various forms -- for example, "pure black ora" is a script while regular black ora is a standard material. In any case, the three examples you named are modern materials with inherent properties.

With regard to flares, my listing of Category B flares was complete with nothing missing. All other flares are scripts (which may or may not use the Category B slot as part of the flare script); additionally, there may be variants on the Category B flares ("greater X flares") that are actually scripts.

Mana and Acuity Flare Ratings

Category: Quests/Sagas/Events
Topic: Ebon Gate Festival
Message #: 6492
Author: GS4-TAMUZ
Date: 8/30/2014 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: Runestaff love

Mana and acuity are both common and uncommon?

Short answer: Yes, depending on their potency.

Longer answer: Common Flares: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth/Vibration, Vacuum/Void, Mana up to 2 points, Acuity up to 4x. This is "off the shelf" quality.

Uncommon Flares: Disintegration, Disruption, Unbalance, Grapple, Acid, Plasma, Steam, Mana up to 4 points, Acuity up to 6x. This would be some sort of limited distribution, such as a service, a prize for a quest, something raffled off, or found via the Treasure System. Items in here could also appear as "auction quality" depending on their other attributes.

Rare Flares: These include material-based flares and effects (such as kroderine or adamantine), as well as scripted flares, like Knockout, Snake Flares, Bubble Flares, etc. Mana up to 5 points, and Acuity up to 10x fall into this category. These would also be some sort of limited distribution, but this category covers a much wider range than the Uncommon Flares. Some things in here could be auction quality all on their own (a +50 acuity runestaff, for example), or auction quality in conjunction with their other properties.

For flares like Acuity and Mana, we can offer large amounts as auction or raffle quality items. However, we also like to make it a build-up service; something that can be worked towards over multiple events instead of just jumping right to the top.

See Also

• Padding saved posts