Loot & Forge

Rarity

Rarity multiplies the base stats of the item, decides how many affixes it can carry and what the shop pays when you sell it.

Uniques have a pity counter: after 100 eligible drops without one, the next is guaranteed.

Quality

On top of rarity, every item rolls a quality percentage. Quality scales the whole item, so a Perfect common can beat a badly rolled rare of the same tier.

Quality multiplier runs from 1.26 at the bottom to the cap at 97, with 35 as the neutral point.

Affixes

Main affixes hand out attributes, sub affixes touch the derived numbers. The value scales with the item level.

Traits

Traits are conditional effects rolled on top of affixes: 6 on weapons, 9 on armour, appearing from uncommon upward.

Uniques 29

Berserker's Chain

Amulet · lvl 40

Berserker: your damage rises as your HP falls, up to +12% at the brink of death, but you cannot heal by any means.

They bought him for twelve denarii. He paid every one of them back in blood, that first week.

Vampiric Fang

Weapon · lvl 38

Vampiric: heal for 22% of the damage you deal during the first 20 rounds, but your maximum HP is cut by 15%.

Do not ask the smith what he quenched this blade in. A man asked once. He stopped asking things.

Executioner's Edge

Weapon · lvl 42

Executioner: +70% critical damage against enemies below 50% HP, but -15% critical damage against healthier ones.

The headsman of Ostia took four hundred necks with it. He said the last cry is always the quietest.

Tortoise Aegis

Off hand · lvl 40

Tortoise: you take 40% less damage, but you can neither crit nor dodge.

The tortoise does not run and does not dance. The tortoise is simply still there when you are not.

Bleeding Crown

Helmet · lvl 38

Bleeding Crown: your bleeds deal 4x damage, but your hits can never crit.

Worn by a king who had his subjects weep on command. The crown acquired the taste.

Mirror Cuirass

Chest · lvl 40

Mirror: reflect 32% of the damage you take, but your own damage is cut by 30%.

Polished until you can see your own face in it. So can the man swinging at you.

Swiftblade Sigil

Ring · lvl 36

Swiftblade: one guaranteed extra attack every turn, but each hit deals 32% less damage.

Two cuts where there was one. Neither of them is the cut you meant to make.

Gambler's Dice

Amulet · lvl 35

Gambler: every hit rolls between 0.5x and 2.0x damage instead of a fixed amount, which averages out higher.

He gambled his life on them and won. Every evening. Until the evening he did not.

Gravedigger's Spade

Weapon · lvl 15

Gravedigger: +30% damage against enemies below 30% HP, but -10% critical chance.

He buried losers for thirty years and never once watched a fight. Said he already knew how they ended.

The Bronze Lung

Chest · lvl 18

Bronze Lung: recover 3% of your max HP every round for the first 20 rounds, but you deal 12% less damage.

A Greek physician hammered it for a man with one lung. The man outlived the physician by twenty years.

Houndtooth Collar

Amulet · lvl 20

Houndtooth: +28% chance to inflict bleeding, but -15% critical chance.

Taken from the dog that would not let go of the editor's arm. They buried the arm. They kept the collar.

Salt-Caked Sandals

Boots · lvl 22

Salt-Caked: +28 initiative and +8% dodge, but -90 max HP.

He walked from Ostia in these, still wet. Nobody has ever seen him stand still since.

Thumb of the Editor

Ring · lvl 24

Editor’s Favour: +15 luck and +35% gold found, but -25 armor.

Turned down, a man dies. Turned up, a man lives. The crowd never noticed it was always the same thumb.

Splintered Buckler

Off hand · lvl 26

Splintered: +20% block and +14% counter, but -22% dodge.

Cracked in the first hour of its first fight. Forty years later it is still cracked, and still here.

Ratcatcher's Wraps

Gloves · lvl 28

Ratcatcher: +20% double attack chance, but you deal 14% less damage.

Under the arena you learn to strike twice, because the first one is always a feint and the rats know it.

Lictor's Fasces

Weapon · lvl 32

Lictor: +20% chance to stun, but you deal 16% less damage.

Carried ahead of magistrates to remind the street who was coming. It still makes men stop mid-step.

Second Skin

Chest · lvl 34

Second Skin: +16% dodge, but -55 armor. Nothing between you and the blade.

So thin the smith wept, taking payment. He said it was not armour. He said it was a promise not to get hit.

Boarhide Mantle

Shoulders · lvl 36

Boarhide: -5% damage taken from every hit and +220 max HP, but -32 initiative.

The boar took four spears before it went down. The mantle remembers all four and has no interest in a fifth.

Leechbone Grips

Gloves · lvl 38

Leechbone: heal for 20% of the damage you deal in the first 20 rounds, but -140 max HP.

The surgeon swore the bone came from a whale. It did not come from a whale.

Widow's Kiss

Weapon · lvl 40

Widow’s Kiss: +24% critical chance, but -210 max HP.

Three husbands, three inheritances, one very small blade. The fourth suitor asked to see her hands first.

Dead Man's Belt

Belt · lvl 42

Dead Man’s Belt: your damage climbs as your HP falls, up to +22% at the brink, but you cannot regenerate and lose 60 max HP.

Cut from a man who fought his best round while already dying. He simply had not been told yet.

Thornweave Cloak

Cloak · lvl 44

Thornweave: reflect 28% of the damage you take, but you deal 20% less damage.

Woven by a woman whose son died in the sand. She sold it cheap. She wanted it worn, not owned.

Sunderer of Walls

Weapon · lvl 50

Sunderer: ignore 38% of enemy armor, but -26% critical chance.

It was a siege tool before it was a weapon. Nobody told it about the change and it has not adapted.

Hourglass Greaves

Legs · lvl 52

Hourglass: +28% double attack chance, but you deal 18% less damage.

Sand runs both ways in them, the old smith claimed. He would not explain and he would not sell a second pair.

Martyr's Cuirass

Chest · lvl 54

Martyr: reflect 42% of damage taken and +420 max HP, but you deal 32% less damage.

He never raised his sword in the final bout. The crowd threw coins anyway, and kept throwing them for an hour.

Seer's Blindfold

Helmet · lvl 56

Seer’s Blindfold: +85 Intelligence, denying enemy crits and sharpening your aim, but -26% dodge.

She read the fights from the sound alone and never lost a wager. They blinded her to be certain. She kept winning.

Kingmaker's Signet

Ring · lvl 58

Kingmaker: +26% damage, but -360 max HP.

It crowned four emperors. It outlived four emperors. Draw from that what comfort you can.

Undying Wreath

Helmet · lvl 60

Undying: recover 6% of your max HP every round for the first 20 rounds, but you can never land a critical hit.

Laurel does not rot if you keep bleeding on it. This is not a metaphor and the wreath is very old.

Twin Souls Pauldrons

Shoulders · lvl 62

Twin Souls: +30% double attack and +20% counter, but -60 armor.

Brothers who fought back to back for nine years. When one fell, the other kept turning to a shoulder that was not there.

Class sets 16

A set is 6 pieces (Blade, Cuirass, Helm, Greaves, Grips, Striders) and pays out at 2, 4 and 6 pieces worn.

Named sets 6

Named sets do not drop from the general loot table. Each one belongs to a dungeon and only that dungeon can hand it over. They are smaller than class sets, open to every class, and pay out at their own thresholds.

26 named-set pieces exist in total; they are listed with everything else in the Arsenal.

Curses (Defixio) 12

Roman gladiators really buried lead curse tablets against their rivals. At the blacksmith you bind one curse to your equipped weapon and one to your chest armour. The tablet decides the tier (I to V), the curse itself is random, and re-rolling destroys the old one. Two curses of the same school give a +10% synergy. A curse reaches full power at level 25; below that its value scales with level / 25, floor 0.35.

Tablets

The blacksmith

The smith raises an item from +1 to +10. Cost scales with the item and its rarity; success chance falls as the level climbs. Up to +5 a failed attempt costs only gold; above that it can set the item back one level. The item is never destroyed and every failure refunds half the gold.

Rarity	Cost multiplier	Stat growth per level
Common	×1	0.5
Uncommon	×1.3	1
Rare	×1.6	1.5
Epic	×2	2
Legendary	×2.5	3
Class set	×2.5	3
Named set	×2.5	3
Cursed	×1.6	1.5

A ludus with a Guild Forge cuts the bill for every member. From +7 the item name glows red in game.

From the in-game handbookBlacksmith

Upgrade your equipment from +1 to +10. Success chance falls as it climbs (100% early down to 25% at the top). While your gear is at +5 or below, a failed upgrade never costs a level - your work simply holds. Once it reaches +6 or higher, a failure slips it back one level (it is never destroyed) - the peak is a real gamble. Every failed forge refunds half the gold.

What grows: weapon damage and armor scale up per level, and every stat on the item grows too - higher rarities gain more per level (a legendary gains ~6x what a common does). A +10 item is a different beast than the +0 you found, and from +7 its name glows red - a mark of the forge for all to see.

Risk: success chance falls with each level (100% → 25% at the top). Up to +5 a failure costs only gold. From +6 up it can knock the item back one level, but the item itself is never destroyed. Upgrade your keepers, not everything you loot.

Guild Forge - your ludus' Forge building discounts all blacksmith costs.

⚡ Curse tablets - the Blacksmith also binds a Defixio curse to your weapon or chest. See the ⚡ Curses page for schools and tiers.

Shop, selling and trading

The shop rotates its offer every 6 hours and prices by rarity:

The player market has guard rails so it cannot be used to move gold around freely: