Equipment: attributes, Reach and classes

Equipment requirements and attack scaling are separate. A staff can require Wisdom to equip while its ordinary melee attack still scales with Strength. The item’s “Scales with” line describes the attack; the requirement describes who can equip it.

Common planning thresholds

Attribute target	What it covers
Strength 8	Heavy examples include Plate Armor, Moonsteel Shield and Claymore
Dexterity 7	Meets the highest Dexterity requirements in the current equipment definitions
Wisdom 8	Required by Staff of the Archmage

These thresholds do not override a second attribute requirement, a class restriction or the Stoneborn body-armor ban. Nor does an item existing in the definitions establish its location or merchant availability.

A healing role needs usable healing gear

A Paladin with insufficient Wisdom can miss the requirements on Amulet of Sun, Belt of Sun, Shield of Lethander and Gloves of the Sun. A Blood Mage needs Wisdom for Crimson Ring, Crimson Mask and Mantle of Bloodflow despite Endurance being the class’s main stat.

Before minimizing a secondary attribute, compare the actual item you intend to equip. An accessory bonus only helps after the hero meets its equip condition; do not count a locked item’s bonus as if it were already active.

Row and handedness checks

A rear-row hero needs a Reach weapon, a ranged weapon or a spell to contribute. A melee weapon’s larger damage range does not help if it remains Out of Reach. Check Reach separately from whether the item is one- or two-handed.

Two-handed equipment also competes with the offhand slot. A Warrior planning Shield Bash cannot use that skill after switching to a two-handed loadout that removes the shield. Cleave instead requires a two-handed melee weapon.

Damage bonuses need a landed hit

Sharpness and extra elemental weapon damage do not rescue a fully blocked base hit. Armor and Sharpness shows the threshold before crits and extra effects. Against high Evasion, check accuracy as a separate problem.

The class and skill reference keeps each selected skill’s weapon restriction beside its unlock level, so equipment and point investment can be planned together.