Alinea

Weapons & armour

Alinea has a custom combat system built around equipment progression. Different enemies are balanced around different gear tiers, so choosing suitable weapons and armour is part of preparing for a fight. This guide explains how materials, quality and enchantments affect the damage you deal and take.

Damage and ratings

Each attack has two values, and each defender has one.

  • Base damage is the starting damage of an attack.
  • Attack rating describes how well that attack gets through defence.
  • Defence rating describes how well the defender withstands an attack.

Base damage depends on the type of weapon.

WeaponBase damageWhat affects it
Swords4Same base damage for every material.
Spears4Charging adds damage based on relative movement speed.
Axes6Same base damage for every material.
Bows6Damage decreases as the arrow loses speed.
Crossbows7Damage decreases as the arrow loses speed.
Maces6Greater fall height can increase smash damage.
Tridents6 melee / 5 thrownThrown hits deal projectile damage.

All values assume the weapon was fully charged. Critical hits with swords, axes and maces increase base damage by 50%. Spears do not deal critical hits. Enchantments can also affect these base damages.

Attack and defence ratings depend on the material. A shield adds its rating to your defence.

Attack ratings above, defence ratings below Ratings are spaced proportionally. Wood attacks at 0. Stone weapons and bows attack at 128; leather armour defends at 128. Crossbows attack at 192. Copper equipment and maces rate 256. Gold rates 288; chainmail defends at 320. Iron equipment and tridents rate 384. Diamond and shields rate 512. Netherite rates 576. Armour values are full sets; shields contribute while blocking. ATTACK RATING DEFENCE RATING 0 128 192 256 288 320 384 512 576

Armour ratings shown are for a full set. The helmet contributes 18.75%, the chestplate contributes 37.50%, the leggings contribute 25.00%, and the boots contribute 18.75%.

For iron, diamond and netherite equipment, quality changes each sword, axe or spear’s attack rating and each armour piece’s defence rating by −48 to +48, giving a full armour set a total variation of −192 to +192 defence rating. Armour also gains defence rating from the levels of its Protection enchantments.

How ratings change damage

The actual damage depends on the difference between attack and defence rating. Higher attack means more damage; higher defence means less. When the ratings match, the attack deals exactly its base damage.

Armour's material rating applies to normal, projectile and blast damage, but not fire or magic. A full netherite set has a separate 128 fire defence rating; other materials provide none.

Combat has four directions.

  • EvP means mobs or the environment damaging players.
  • PvE means players damaging mobs.
  • PvP means players damaging players.
  • EvE means mobs damaging other mobs.

In EvP, having defence below the attack rating carries an extra damage penalty. It is especially important to bring armour rated at least as high as the attacks in the area. Reaching that rating makes the biggest difference; higher defence still helps, but with diminishing returns. PvE, PvP and EvE use the gentler curve. At or above matching defence, both curves are the same.

  • EvP
  • PvE / PvP / EvE
How the difference between defence and attack ratings changes damage Defence minus attack rating runs from minus 256 to plus 256. The solid copper line shows a player defending against mobs or the environment; the dashed pale line shows PvE, PvP or EvE. At minus 128, these deal 2.5 and 1.25 times base damage, respectively. Both pass through matching ratings at 1 times base damage and overlap for higher defence. At plus 128, both deal two thirds of base damage. Damage multiplier 0× 1× 2× 3× Matching ratings · 1× −256 −128 0 +128 +256 (defence rating) - (attack rating)
Below matching defence, EvP has a steeper damage penalty. At or above a match, both curves are the same.

For example, a piglin brute's axe has 4 base damage and 384 attack rating. Suppose you wear a copper helmet, chestplate and leggings with iron boots, and the helmet has Protection II. The pieces contribute 48 + 96 + 64 + 72 = 280 defence rating. Protection II adds another 24, bringing your total to 304.

Your iron sword has Sharpness V, giving it 6.5 base damage at 384 attack rating. The brute has 384 defence. The graph follows your armour from that mixed set to full iron, then full diamond. Each set keeps Protection II on the helmet. All your equipment is Standard quality (+0) and at full durability.

Damage received · Piglin brute
  • Player Defence Brute's axe · 4 base damage · 384 attack rating
  • Piglin Defence Iron sword, Sharpness V · 6.5 base damage · 384 attack rating
Damage received by the player and piglin brute Mixed set has 304 defence and takes 9.08 damage. Full iron has 408 defence and takes 3.72 damage. Full diamond has 536 defence and takes 2.47 damage. All helmets have Protection II. All equipment is Standard quality (+0) and at full durability. The iron sword with Sharpness V has 6.5 base damage and 384 attack rating. The piglin brute is marked at its actual defence of 384 and takes 6.5 damage. Damage per hit 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 256 384 512 576 9.08 damage II Mixed set 304 3.72 damage II Full iron 408 2.47 damage II Full diamond 536 6.5 damage Piglin brute Defence rating

Upgrading the three copper pieces to iron raises your defence from 304 to 408, reducing each hit from 9.08 to 3.72 damage, about 59% less. Full diamond reaches 536 defence and takes 2.47 damage, another 34% reduction. Diamond still helps, but reaching iron is the bigger upgrade against this enemy.

Now face a wither skeleton. Its sword strike has the same 4 base damage, but 512 attack rating. Keep exactly the same equipment and compare the same upgrades.

Damage received · Wither skeleton
  • Player Defence Skeleton's sword · 4 base damage · 512 attack rating
  • Skeleton Defence Iron sword, Sharpness V · 6.5 base damage · 384 attack rating
Damage received by the player and wither skeleton Mixed set has 304 defence and takes 11.25 damage. Full iron has 408 defence and takes 9.62 damage. Full diamond has 536 defence and takes 3.72 damage. All helmets have Protection II. All equipment is Standard quality (+0) and at full durability. The iron sword with Sharpness V has 6.5 base damage and 384 attack rating. The wither skeleton is marked at its actual defence of 512 and takes 4.33 damage. Damage per hit 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 256 384 512 576 11.25 damage II Mixed set 304 9.62 damage II Full iron 408 3.72 damage II Full diamond 536 4.33 damage Wither skeleton Defence rating

This time, upgrading the remaining copper pieces to iron only reduces the hit from 11.25 to 9.62 damage, about 15% less. Moving from iron to diamond reduces it to 3.72 damage, a further 61% reduction. Iron is still below this attack's rating; diamond crosses it. These values are for the sword strike itself, before any damage from the Wither effect.

The important upgrade depends on what you are fighting. Iron makes the biggest difference against the brute; diamond does against the wither skeleton. Higher-rated armour keeps helping afterwards, but reaching the enemy's attack rating is the first priority. Your sword stays the same in both examples, so these comparisons isolate the effect of upgrading your armour.

Improving weapons

A material upgrade raises a sword, axe or spear's attack rating. Quality adjusts that rating further for iron, diamond and netherite. Enchantments can improve either the rating or the base damage, depending on the enchantment.

EnchantmentEffect per level
SharpnessAdds 0.5 base damage against all targets.
ImpalingAdds 0.75 base damage against aquatic mobs.
SmiteAdds 0.75 base damage against undead mobs.
Bane of ArthropodsAdds 0.75 base damage against arthropods, with Slowness.
PowerAdds 1 base damage at full arrow speed, scaling down with speed.
PiercingAdds 36 attack rating to arrows.
BreachAdds 32 attack rating to maces.
DensityAdds 0.25 fall distance0.25 \,\sqrt{\text{fall distance}} smash damage.
Fire Aspect and FlameRaise the rating of an additional fire attack and extend burning.

Breach and Density can be combined. Sharpness, Smite and Bane of Arthropods are mutually exclusive. See enchantments for available levels and unstable books.

Improving defence

Protection enchantments add defence rating against specific attacks. Several pieces can specialise in one type, or cover different types.

EnchantmentProtects against
ProtectionMelee attacks and physical contact.
Projectile ProtectionArrows and other missiles.
Blast ProtectionExplosions and sonic booms.
Fire ProtectionFlames, lava and burning.

On one piece, each level adds 12 defence rating against the relevant damage type. Combining multiple pieces gives diminishing returns. The total bonus is 12L12+L22+⋯12 \sqrt{L_1^2 + L_2^2 + \cdots}, where each LL is an equipped level of the same Protection type.