Weapons in Gloria Victis deal one of three damage types, and armour resists each one differently. Picking the wrong tool for the target is one of the most common ways good players still lose fights — you can hack at a plated knight all day and barely scratch him.
Try it below — pick a damage type or an armour class and read the match-up:
Damage vs Armour
Pick a weapon's damage type or an armour class to see the match-up. The rule of the battlefield: bring the right damage for what they're wearing.
Strongits weakness | Workable | Poor | |
Workable | Strongits weakness | Workable | |
Workable | Workable | Strongits weakness |
Cuts for the unarmoured, thrusts and blunt for the armoured. Carry a sidearm so you always have the right answer.
Protection at a glance
Average damage reduction per worn piece, across every documented set.
- Light~3%
- Medium~8%
- Heavy~14%
On defence, your attributes count too
- Strength cuts slash taken
- Dexterity cuts pierce taken
- Constitution cuts bludgeon taken
Each point removes 0.25 damage of its type — weigh the trade in the Build Maker.
Reduction figures from the Armour Catalogue; match-ups from the Damage Types & Armour guide.
The three damage types
| Damage type | Typical weapons | Best against |
|---|---|---|
| Slashing | Swords, axes — cutting edges | Unarmoured and lightly-armoured targets |
| Piercing | Spears, thrusts, arrows, daggers | Finding gaps; cuts through armour better than slashing |
| Bludgeoning | Maces, hammers, warhammers | Heavy armour — it crushes through plate |
Rule of thumb: cuts for the unarmoured, thrusts and blunt for the armoured. Against a knight in heavy plate, switch to a mace or aim thrusts — slashing at his breastplate is wasted stamina.
Armour weight classes
Armour broadly splits into light and heavy, and the choice shapes your whole playstyle:
- Light armour — little protection, but mobility and stamina to spare. The archer's and skirmisher's kit.
- Heavy armour — soaks punishment and shrugs off cuts, at the cost of weight, stamina drain and mobility. The frontline's kit; a Footman ability (*Man of Steel*) even adds extra reduction while you wear it.
Wear a matched set
Mixing armour types costs you defence. Wearing four pieces of a single weight class grants a flat +10% to all three damage reductions, so a matched set almost always beats a patchwork. Heavy-armour fighters can stack the Footman ability Man of Steel on top for another +15% to reductions at level 10 — which is what makes a full-heavy frontliner so hard to cut down.
Going deeper — penetration & loadout
Armour penetration
Some weapons and abilities carry armour penetration, ignoring part of the target's protection — which is how a piercing weapon stays useful against armour. Defensive abilities (*Evade*, *Awareness*) cut the damage you take from penetration and backstabs in turn. You can weigh all of these in the Build Maker.
Carry for the fight
Because no single weapon answers every target, experienced fighters carry a sidearm — for example a one-handed mace to swap to when a heavily-armoured enemy steps up. Your kit comes from the crafting trades; see the Crafting Guides for how weapons and armour are made and upgraded.