Work on your attributes... and win more disputes! -- Bonzz
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Innate attributes are often called abilities.
They are more commonly called stats (statistics) and resists (resistances).
A player needs to understand the differences in attributes:
- Statistics (Stats) are the following seven (7) innate attributes: Agility, Charisma, Dexterity, Intelligence, Stamina, Strength and Wisdom. These are basically things that affect (or have a direct correlation to) the ratings of other statistics, such as Armor Class, Hit Points, Endurance, Attack and Mana.
- Resistances (Resists) are the following six (6) innate attributes: Cold Resistance, Corruption, Disease Resistance, Fire Resistance, Magic Resistance and Poison Resistance.
Stats normally go up with Levels (usually 5-per-level), but they are "capped" (limited), based on your character level.
Many attributes are increased by way of worn gear, rather than by skilling it up.
These caps / limits can also be increased via Progression (i.e. Dragons of Norrath, Muramite Proving Grounds Trials...), Alternate Advancement, temporary buffs (i.e. Shaman buffs), the gear you wear & Heroic overcaps.
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Agility Armor Class Attack Charisma Chromatic (Resist)
Cold (Resist) Corruption (Resist) Dexterity Disease (Resist) Endurance
Fire (Resist) Heroic Stats (Overcaps) Explained Hit Points Intelligence Magic (Resist)
Mana Prismatic (Resist) Stamina Strength Wisdom
Other Skills / Abilities
Abilities Bonuses Defenses Magic Offense
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It also plays a role in your Armor Class and seems to help boost your movement speed (if your agility is high, you will find that may out run other players).
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While there are other damage mitigation (reducing) factors, AC plays a direct role in mitigating (reducing) the amount of damage you take. MOB's do have a "maximum damage" per hit, and your AC will help reduce that maximum hit, most of the time.
Other than the gear you wear, agility (and perhaps strength) plays a role in determining your armor class.
As you increase in level, so will your armor class, even if you are not wearing any armor.
You can significantly increase AC by what you wear and / or carry (such as with Stat Food and Drink).
AC on a shield is multiplied about 6 times. So 100 AC on a worn shield translates to about 600 AC for your character.
AC is limited by your equipment and buffs and "soft cap" (AC, after a point known as the "soft cap," is not as effective, meaning you don't get 100% of the benefit after a point).
Nothing is better than armor class at lessening the damage you take and in helping you survive longer.
Long ago, some Ranger(s) tested out the idea of AC vs. HP (Hit Points.). Through experimentation, it was determined that 1 AC was equivalent to about 6 HP. This rule of thumb has worked very well for me over the years, in evaluating gear while weighing the HP Gain vs the AC gain. Rangers, however, are a Chain class, so upping the ratio (re: 1 AC = 7 to 10 HP) for Plate Classes, may not be unreasonable. Additionally, since those days of yore, many Levels have been added, Combat systems have been modified, and MOB's hit significantly harder.
Thus, this ratio may not be as useful as it once was.
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Strength is clearly a factor in determining this ability, as well as perhaps dexterity and agility.
Your attack will go up as you level, even if you have no weapon in your hand.
The weapons and items you carry/wear can/will increase your attack ability, which is your ability to successfully strike and damage the MOB that you are attacking.
Most items have a raw Attack modifier noted on them.
The better the Damage and the faster the Delay of a weapon, the better your attack damage becomes. In fact, a higher damage weapon (say 30 damage) with a delay of 50 may be a better choice over a lesser damage weapon (say 15) with a 28 delay.
The common way to compare weapons of different damages and delays, is via is commonly called a "Damage Ratio." All this means is that you simply divide the damage by the delay.
The higher the result, the better. This ratio tells you which weapon should consistently do the most damage.
However, this does not take into account damage bonuses (this adds to base damage inflicted) or procs (processes) that add to the damage you inflict. In fact, sometimes if you weigh in the Damage Bonus and potential proc damage, you may decide the “fast” weapon is better after all.
NOTE: Procs, and especially buff-based procs, will apply to both weapons. However, the procs are based on a chance-per-swing, so to speak... therefore, the faster weapon will have more chances to proc than the slower weapon.
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Charisma improves reaction rolls with some NPCs and increases the amount of faction you gain or lose when faction is adjusted.
It can also affect buy/sell prices with NPC merchants (higher Charisma, better prices). However, there is a point where Charisma tops out and buy/sell benefit. This somewhere around 125), thus, these days, Charisma is obsolete, when it comes to buy/sell prices.
It also plays into the success rate for Bard/Enchanter charm spells.
I suspect that there is also a bit of a "luck" factor (not to be confused with the Luck stat) related to Charisma, as well. I have noticed when doing random rolls (/ran), that classes like Enchanters and Shamans seem to consistently roll higher than other classes.
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You will not find a character stat for this resist, but it is something you will see in-game.
However, there are magical attacks / resist checks in the game for "Chromatic."
What this actually means is that when a "Chromatic" based attack is used against you, your chance to resist, endure and / or shake off the attack is based on the lowest of your resists.
To be more clear, if you look your resist levels, and one of them is lower than the others (i.e. all are at 300, but Magic is at 250), then you have your "Chromatic" resist factor.
So, if a spell has a 200 Chromatic resist check, and your Magic Resist is lowest at 250, you have a pretty good chance of resisting the spell (Corruption does not appear to play a role in this).
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Initial ratings seem to be based mostly on race and character type and will not increase as you level.
This resist not only seems to apply with spell attacks, but with weather (snow covered terrain). So, if you are hunting in a cold place or battling beasts that use cold/ice based attacks, you may want to seek out some buffs/armor that increase this stat.
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This is will not increase as you level up.
This particular resist was introduced with The Serpent Spine expansion.
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It can also affect how fast you can learn (raise) weapon skills and how often weapons can "proc" (how often they can process a "random" magical ability).
It is may also have a role in casting spells during combat (spell accuracy), help avoid interruptions while casting spells and play into the success of critical hits.
It seems to be a pretty utilitarian stat!
High dexterity is something to work towards with your character and it may be wise to put some points in, at the very start.
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Initial ratings seem to be based mostly on race and character type and will not increase as you level.
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It was originally centered on (because of) the Berserker class, as I recall.
Endurance is directly related to Stamina, but it also influenced by most other stats, as well.
It is basically your ability to "endure" sustained activity (basically how much you can do before reaching exhaustion).
Paladins, and other classes, need endurance for their disciplines (discs cost endurance to activate and maintain, just like mana is required for spells).
If you are out of food and/or water, you will soon find that your endurance suffers (doesn't regen as fast) and / or that you cannot meditate.
Low endurance may also make you consume food/water faster (such as when you are swimming, using certain weapons, jumping...).
Endurance is only limited by your equipment and buffs.
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This not only seems to apply with spell attacks, but with lava (when you fall in or swim through lava) or in hot environments.
Initial ratings seem to be based mostly on race and character type and will not increase as you level.
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Hit Points are determined by your Stamina, to some extent.
This does not mean stamina is that important, but it is important to have sufficient Hit Points to better survive MOB attacks and allow healers enough cast-time to keep you healed!
Damage mitigation gained from others stats can be just as beneficial, as they can play into damage avoidance and damage reduction, reducing or avoiding the effects of spell attacks and so forth.
In short, if the other area's are neglected, your total Hit Points will not make all that much of a difference, because you will be taking higher damage.
This is not to say, however, that HP buffs are not good to have!
It days of yore, it was generally accepted that 6 HP are equal to 1 AC.
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You may often hear such classes referred to as "intelligence casters," for this reason.
It can also affect how fast you can learn (raise) skills.
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Initial ratings seem to be based mostly on race and character type and it will not increase as you level.
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This will increase as you go up in levels.
The more mana you have, the more spells you can cast.
You will find it very important to work on the Meditation skill, to regen mana faster.
Wisdom, or Intelligence (depending on your class) plays a role into how much mana you have (commonly called, your "mana pool").
Classes that use mana should always have some type of "mind" buff (mana regeneration / mana pool boosts).
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You will not find a character stat for this resist, but it is something you will see in-game.
However, there are magical attacks / resist checks in the game for "Prismatic."
What this actually means is that when a "Prismatic" based attack is used against you, your chance to resist, endure and / or shake off the attack is based on you overall resists average.
To be more clear, if you add up all of your resists (Magic, Fire, Cold, Poison & Disease), then divide by 5, you have your "Prismatic" resist factor.
So, if a spell has a 250 Prismatic resist check, and your average is 300, you have a pretty good chance of resisting the spell (Corruption does not appear to play a role in this).
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It can also play a role in how long you can hold your breath (you will find this a useful thing when underwater like in Kedge Keep or in air-less locations like the Grey).
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It directly relates to how much weight you can carry (to include armor, bags and the items you have in your bags). However, in today's EQ (with pretty much nothing but 100% weight reduction bags), it isn't as important as it once regarding how weight you can carry.
So, it is a good idea to seek out as many weight reduction bags as you can.
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You may often hear that a Paladin is a "Wisdom Caster." This is what they mean.
It might also affect how quickly you learn (raise) skills.
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HEROIC STATS (OVERCAPS) EXPLAINED
Column #1 is raw base stats potentially provided by the item shown (to include augs), limited by game caps.
Column #2 is the Heroic Stats (overcaps) provided by the item shown (to include augs), that allow a given stat to benefit the player above standard game caps.
"Heroic" stats were introduced with the Secrets of Faydwer expansion, but they have been modified since then.
This, reportedly, was done since items / gear / buffs had reached a point of diminished (or zero) benefit because player stats had reached a point of being at, near, or exceeding the in-game limitations (or "caps"). Heroic Stats gets around those limitations and allows greater benefit from statistics that exceed the game "base" maximums.
Heroic Stats, or Overcaps, only apply to Strength, Stamina, Intelligence, Wisdom, Agility, Dexterity & Charisma (see #3 in below image). In turn, those stats apply, indirectly, to other stats (see #1 in below image), to include what is known as 'MOD2' stats (Accuracy, Avoidance, and others).
To be more clear, with levels / gear / buffs as they were, players may have had 1,000 Agility, technically, but the game cap was 750. Thus, any Agility over 750 was of no benefit to the player -- at all. Enter Heroic Stats (commonly called "overcaps," since they allow you to exceed game "caps") -- and that extra Agility suddenly provided the benefits above the 750 Agility limit.
The above example is not fully accurate, but it does convey the idea. There are built in game maximums (caps), but these caps can be exceeded, to a point, with Heroic Stats. Heroic Stats are not necessarily a 1-to-1 benefit. Dev Roshen once explained Heroic Stats and how they work in the EQ Forums, but it is a bit involved and complicated. It is easier to just understand that the more you increase Heroic Overcaps, the more a given Stat can benefit your Character in more area's than just the Stat itself.
This is why you will see item stats that list a base number, followed by an overcap (or Heroic) number (see image above).
On you characters Stats tab, you will see the overall effects much better, particularly in the right side column, top section for "Heroic Mods" (see below image).
Many of the words and / or numbers in this window have a pop-up note that many players are unaware of. Just hover your pointer (cursor) over one, wait a second and if it has an informative pop-up note, it will pop-up.
In the image below, the pop-up is revealing that the next increase to accuracy will be gained when the Heroic Dexterity reaches 1,934. Thus, in that section, "209" is you actual Accuracy rating, while 300 is your cap.
In the Stats section (#3 in the below image), the first column (the green numbers) are your actual effective total. The second column (white numbers) are your raw base stats (from AA's, gear, etc.). The third column is your overcap (Heroic Stats) boost. Adding Heroics (Column 3) to Raw Stats (Column 2) does not add up to your effective total (Column 1). Thus, as you can see, the correlation is not necessarily 1 for 1.
What this means is that your Heroic Caps exceed the maximum that your character is currently allowed (via game mechanics related to Alternative Advancement, equipped gear, buffs, and so on). Even so, this is NOT a bad thing because it means two things... one is that when you game mechanics do allow you to up the ante, you have the Heroic boosts all ready in place. An secondly, when you are hit with debuffs, there is a theory that the excess Heroic Stats can counter those debuffs, to a point (limited by how many excess Heroic Stats you have).
As an added note, on the right side bottom section (see image below), labeled "Skill Damage Mod," there a several special skills listed. These skills are not available to, or useable by, all classes. The below image is from a Paladin and you will see that Backstab, Flying Kick and Kick all have values and maximums. However, Paladins can not Backstab, Kick or Flying Kick! The reason these categories have a rating is because of equipped gear / weapons that provide a boost to those noted categories... not because they are a skill you necessarily have available to you. In short, all of the Skill Damage Mods will show you the current game maximum (white number on the right) and any boosts you may have to those skills via equipped gear (green number on the left), rather they are skills you have and can use, or not.
When looking at your Character 'Stats' (Hit the 'I' key on your key board, them click on the 'Stats' tab), then down the left side in the 'Stats' section (#3 in below image), here is how to read it. The green number is how much of that stat you benefit from. The white number is your max / cap on that stat (no overcaps), The Yellow number, with the plus (+) sign, is your total overcaps for that Stat. You may notice that the green number is more than the white number, and probably also more than the yellow number, but it is still less than if you add the white and yellow number together.
However, if you add the white and yellow number together, this is the 'total' rating for that stat, that you see, on the first tab ('Inventory' tab) of that same window.
In short, when looking at your stats, it is the 'Stat' tab that better reflects your actual stats (effective benefits... that actually apply to you), as the 'Inventory' tab can be misleading (which is your 'total stats,' not all of which benefit you).
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If you note any errors, misspellings, item name errors, misinformation or anything that needs addressing on this page -- PLEASE let me know via an in-game EQ Message (Bonzz on the Bertoxxulous server), or post on Bonzz's Discord Server!
This Page Last Updated October 14, 2023
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