Mundane Equipment

Get the lowdown on all mundane weapons, armor, and shields in Pillars of Eternity. Understand their stats, damage types, and recovery penalties to gear up effectively.

Alright, let's talk about the bread and butter of your character's effectiveness in Pillars of Eternity: mundane equipment. This isn't about fancy enchanted gear (yet!), but understanding the basic weapons, armor, and shields is crucial for setting yourself up for success. We'll break down what each piece does so you can make informed choices when gearing up your party.

First up, weapons. The table below covers the essential characteristics you'll want to keep an eye on. Damage types are key: 'C' for crushing, 'P' for piercing, and 'S' for slashing. Different enemies will have different resistances, so having a mix is always a good idea.

Weapon	Size	Speed	Range	Damage	Type	Interrupt	Special	Focus
Fast one-handed weapons
Club	1H	Fast	-	9-13	C	0.35s	+5 Accuracy	Ruffian
Dagger	1H	Fast	-	9-13	S	0.35s	+5 Accuracy	Noble
Flail	1H	Fast	-	9-13	C	0.35s	+30% graze to hit conversion	Adventurer
Hatchet	1H	Fast	-	9-13	S	0.35s	+5 Deflection	Peasant
Rapier	1H	Fast	-	9-13	P	0.35s	+5 Accuracy	Noble
Stiletto	1H	Fast	-	9-13	P	0.35s	+3 DR bypass	Ruffian
Average one-handed weapons
Battle axe	1H	Average	-	11-16	S	0.5s	+0.5 to critical damage multiplier	Knight
Mace	1H	Average	-	11-16	C	0.5s	+3 DR bypass	Noble
Sabre	1H	Average	-	13-19	S	0.5s	+20% damage	Ruffian
Spear	1H	Average	-	11-16	P	0.5s	+5 Accuracy	Peasant
Sword	1H	Average	-	11-16	S/P	0.5s	Deals slashing or piercing damage, whichever is best	Knight
Warhammer	1H	Average	-	11-16	P/C	0.5s	Deals piercing or crushing damage, whichever is best	Soldier
Two-handed weapons
Estoc	2H	Slow	-	14-20	P	0.75s	+5 DR bypass	Adventurer
Great sword	2H	Slow	-	14-20	S/P	0.75s	Deals slashing or piercing damage, whichever is best	Soldier
Morning star	2H	Slow	-	14-20	C	1.0s	+0.25s interrupt	Knight
Pike	2H	Slow	-	14-20	P	0.75s	+1.8 weapon reach	Soldier
Pollaxe	2H	Slow	-	14-20	S/C	0.75s	Deals slashing or crushing damage, whichever is best	Adventurer
Quarterstaff	2H	Slow	-	14-20	C	0.75s	+1.8 weapon reach	Peasant
Ranged weapons
Arbalest	2H	Very slow	12m	22-32	P	0.75s	Critical hits can inflict Prone for 2.0s (vs. Fortitude) -0.3 critical damage multiplier	Soldier
Crossbow	2H	Slow	12m	18-26	P	0.75s	-	Knight
Hunting bow	2H	Fast	12m	10-15	P	0.5s	-	Peasant
War bow	2H	Average	12m	13-20	P	0.5s	-	Adventurer
Firearms
Arquebus	2H	Slowest	10m	24-36	P	0.35s	-5 Accuracy +6 DR bypass -0.3 critical damage multiplier	Soldier
Blunderbuss	2H	Very slow	8m	6-9 x 6	P	0.05s	-10 Accuracy +4 DR bypass -0.3 critical damage multiplier	Ruffian
Pistol	2H	Very slow	8m	22-30	P	0.35s	-5 Accuracy +6 DR bypass -0.3 critical damage multiplier	Ruffian
Implements
Rod	2H	Average	10m	11-16	P/S	0.5s	Deals piercing or slashing damage, whichever is best	Noble
Scepter	2H	Fast	10m	9-14	S/C	0.5s	Deals slashing or crushing damage, whichever is best	Noble
Wand	2H	Fast	10m	9-13	P/C	0.5s	Deals piercing or crushing damage, whichever is best	Adventurer

When you're picking a weapon, think about its speed and damage. Fast weapons let you get more hits in, which is great for applying effects or just whittling down enemies. Slower, heavier weapons hit harder per swing, which can be better against tough foes. Also, notice the 'Special' column – things like '+3 DR bypass' can be huge against armored enemies, and some weapons have unique properties like critical hits causing Prone. The 'Focus' listed is often tied to character backgrounds or skills, so keep that in mind for synergy.

Now, let's talk armor. It's not just about how much damage it reduces; it also affects your character's recovery speed. This means heavier armor makes you a bit slower to act after performing an action. The table below shows the base damage reduction and how it applies to different damage types (Crush, Pierce, Slash, etc.), along with that crucial Recovery Speed penalty.

Armour	Recovery Speed	Base	Crush	Pierce	Slash	Burn	Corrode	Freeze	Shock
Light Armour
Clothing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Tundra Clothing	-10%	2	2	2	2	2	2	3	2
Robe	-15%	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3
Padded Armor	-20%	4	5	5	4	3	3	4	4
Hide Armor	-25%	5	5	6	5	5	3	6	5
Medium Armour
Leather Amor	-30%	6	6	6	9	6	3	6	6
Scale Armor	-35%	7	7	5	9	7	7	9	7
Breastplate	-40%	8	8	10	8	7	8	7	8
Heavy Armour
Mail Armor	-45%	9	8	9	14	9	9	9	9
Brigandine	-50%	10	13	10	10	10	8	10	10
Plate	-50%	12	12	15	15	12	12	12	6

For armor, it's a trade-off. Light armor like Clothing or Tundra Clothing offers minimal protection but keeps your recovery speed high, meaning you can act more often. Heavy armor, like Plate, provides excellent damage reduction across the board, especially against slashing and piercing attacks, but it'll slow you down considerably. You'll want to match your armor to your character's role. A front-line fighter might want heavy armor, while a spellcaster will likely stick to lighter options to maintain casting speed.

Finally, shields. These offer a different kind of defense, boosting your Accuracy and Deflection stats. Having a shield can make a character much harder to hit and also provides a bonus to Deflection, which is a separate defensive stat.

Shield	Accuracy	Deflection
Light Shield	-	+8
Engwithan Shield	-10	+10
Medium Shield	-4	+12
Large Shield	-8	+16

As you can see, larger shields generally offer better Deflection but come with a penalty to Accuracy. It's another layer of customization to consider when building your party. Choosing the right combination of weapon, armor, and potentially a shield will make a huge difference in how you handle combat encounters throughout Pillars of Eternity.