Armor Penetration

**Armor penetration** is a hero stat that reduces the effectiveness of a target's Armor, meaning 10 armor penetration makes a target take damage as though it had -10 armor, or 20% penetration equals 20% less. The difference between penetration and armor reduction is that reduction can reduce armor below zero (but the target takes the damage as if he/she has 0 armor) and affects any source of physical damage to a target. The effects of armor penetration, on the other hand, are ignored once the target's effective armor drops below 0, and only the source of the armor penetration reaps the benefits.

All heroes have 0 base armor penetration but can increase it with items, talents, some **hero abilities** and Awakening System.

## Order of calculations

When attacking, armor penetration and armor reduction are considered on the target hero in the following order :

1. Armor reduction, flat
2. Armor reduction, percentage
3. Armor penetration, percentage
4. Armor penetration, flat

## Flat armor reduction

The target's armor is reduced by an amount. Flat armor reduction stacks additively.

*Example: 20 armor reduction reduces the target's armor by 20, so a target with 30 armor will be reduced to 10 armor.*
Flat armor reduction can reduce a target's armor below zero. For example, if an enemy with 10 armor has their armor reduced by 25, the enemy will have -15 armor.

## Percentage armor reduction

The target's armor is multiplied by a percentage (100% - the listed reduction). Percentage armor reduction stacks multiplicatively and is ignored if the target's armor is 0 or less.

*Example: 20% armor reduction multiplies the target's armor to 80%, so a target with 30 armor will be reduced to 24 armor.*
Percentage armor reduction makes a bigger difference on targets with higher armor. For instance, with 40% armor reduction, a target with 200 armor will lose 80 while a target with only 50 armor will lose 20.

## Percentage armor penetration

The target's armor is treated as being multiplied by a percentage for purposes of damage calculation (100% - the listed penetration). Percentage armor penetration stacks multiplicatively and is ignored if the target's armor is 0 or less.

*Example: 20% armor penetration causes the target to take damage as if its armor was multiplied by 80%, so a target with 30 armor will be treated as though it had 24 for purposes of damage calculation (the target's actual armor value will not change, however).*
Because the target's actual armor value does not change, anything else depending on that value also doesn't change (Zhu Bajie's **Cracked Earth [E]**).

Percentage armor penetration makes a bigger difference on targets with higher armor. For instance, with 40% armor penetration, a target with 200 armor will be considered as having 80 less while a target with only 50 armor will be considered as having 20 less.

## Flat armor penetration

The target's armor is treated as being reduced by an amount for purposes of damage calculation, but cannot be reduced below 0. Flat armor penetration stacks additively.

*Example: 20 armor penetration causes the target to take damage as if its armor was 20 less, so a target with 30 armor will be treated as though it had 10 for purposes of damage calculation (the target's actual armor value will not change, however).*
Because the target's actual armor value does not change, anything else depending on that value also doesn't change (Zhu Bajie's **Cracked Earth [E]**).

## Examples

Given 20 flat armor reduction and 30% armor reduction, and the target is affected by 10 flat armor penetration and 35% armor penetration,

* Target **A** has 80 armor.
	+ The 80 is reduced to 60 by the 20 armor reduction.
	+ The 60 is reduced to 42 by the 30% armor reduction.
	+ The 42 is considered to be 27.3 by the 35% armor penetration.
	+ The 27.3 is considered to be 17.3 by the 10 armor penetration.

Target **A** takes damage as if it has 17.3 armor.
* Target **B** has 18 armor.
	+ The 18 is reduced to -2 by the 20 armor reduction.
	+ The -2 is not affected by any further calculations because it is less than 0.
		- Target B takes damage as if it has -2 or 0 armor.