Gear and rarity guide

There are 5 rarities: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. Rarity decides two things: how many mods a piece carries and how high those mods can roll. It never decides which mods they are. Each step of rarity also asks for 3 more character levels to equip, so a Legendary version of a base needs more levels than the Common one.

The last two columns show how often each rarity drops when an item does drop, on a normal outing and in a dungeon, where everything above common is weighted higher.

Every mod rolls one of 3 tiers, and each tier is a fixed number: the Attributes page lists the values of every mod. Which mods a piece carries is not random: they are the mods of its line, in order, cut by its rarity. Two rare chest pieces of the same line always carry the same mods; only the tiers change.

That is what gives gear a market: a piece of a given base, rarity and tiers is a product with a price, not something to haggle over piece by piece. The piece stores the tier, not the value, so a balance change reaches every existing copy at once.

Each armor weight has its own lines, and each line has a fixed list of mods. The first mod is what defines the line and comes on every piece; the last one only comes on the highest rarity. Lines give no bonus for wearing several pieces together. Your class decides which weights you can wear (see Which class to pick); within them, pick the line that matches your build.

Each line comes in grades, and each grade asks for a minimum level before rarity is added. The whole catalog, grade by grade, is on the Gear page.

A Masterwork piece gives 25% more of everything it already gives. It is a second dimension, separate from rarity: a Masterwork piece can beat a weaker one of higher rarity. It is decided when the piece is born and cannot be added later. 1% of what drops, comes out of a chest or is forged is Masterwork; what a merchant sells never is.

• Loot. Adventures and dungeons roll for an item at the end, with a chance of 0.9% per point of energy the outing costs (missions pay their declared reward and do not roll). Dungeons weight every rarity above common 3 times higher. On top of that, the account’s daily loot budget applies (see How the economy works).
• Chests. Outings can leave a chest. See the Chests page for what is inside each one.
• The forge. The exact base you want, always common and tradable. See the Professions guide.
• The shop. A few low-grade pieces, common and bound, never Masterwork. See the Shop.