A Guide to Items in DC Universe Online
Gear Basics - The Stats
Gear is one of the most common ways to improve your character in an MMO. New armor and weapons often unlock new abilities and provide stat bonuses that make your character stronger in a number of ways.
DC Universe Online is no exception. There are many stats in the game that provide different benefits, and the importance of those stats will depend on the type of character you’re making. Let’s take a look at what is available.
Defense - This is a PvE only stat that impacts the amount of damage your character takes when hit in combat. This stat only impacts damage from non-player characters. The amount of defense you need to have in order to mitigate damage by 1% scales depending on your level. You will need 71 points of defense to decrease damage taken by 1% at level 30.
Dominance - This stat determines the amount of damage an opponent under your control effect can take before the control effect ends. 2 points of Dominance equals one point of additional damage taken before control breaks. Dominance is countered by Willpower.
Health - As you might expect, this is your hit point stat. When you’re out of health, you die. A high health stat is most helpful to tanks, but it’s beneifical to everyone.
Might - This stat increases the damage of your offensive powers. 4 points of Might equals 1% extra base ability damage. This is a very important stat for characters focusing on a DPS role.
Power - This is basically mana. All powers require Power to be used. If you have no Power, you can’t use abilities. Having more of this stat is never a bad thing.
Precision - Another DPS stat, Precision provides additional DPS for weapon attacks (instead of abilities). 10 points of Precision will boost your DPS rating by 1. This stat is normalized; it provides the same DPS bonus no matter the weapon used.
Restoration - This is exactly the same as Might, but it improves healing instead of damage. 4 points improves your healing by 1%. Obviously, healers want to have a lot of this stat on their gear.
Toughness - This is exactly the same as Defense, but it is used to mitigate damage from players instead of NPCs. This is a crucial stat for PvP combat.
Vitalization - Increases the rate at which you regenerate power. 10 points improves your power regeneration by 1%. Everyone can benefit, but this stat is most important for controllers, who have the ability to provide Vitalization bonuses to their teammates.
How to Obtain Gear
Knowing the stats that you need to improve your character is half the battle. The other half is actually obtaining the important gear that has the stats you want.
Throughout leveling a character you’ll receive many items in DC Universe Online. Once you hit the end-game, however, the primary method of obtaining gear is through spending in-game currency. These are the types of currency available and what they boy.
Influence - This is awarded for Arena PvP and Legends PvP. It is used to buy level 30 blue PvP gear from vendors in the Watchtower and Hall of Doom. This is not to be confused with Marks of Legend, which are awarded from the same events but can’t be used to buy items in DC Universe Online.
Marks of Allegiance - These are awarded from some daily quests and instances. They can be used to buy cosmetic gear (with no stat bonuses) or can be converted into Marks of Triumph.
Marks of Triumph - These are the basic form of currency for players looking to gear up for end-game content. They’re awarded from duos, hard-mode alerts, and are sold by faction vendors in exchange for Marks of Allegiance. Marks of Triumph can be used to buy tier 1 PvE gear.
Marks of Distinction - This currency is awarded from the most difficult content currently in DCUO including raid bosses and star Duos and star Hard Alerts. They can be exchanged for tier 2 PvE gear, the best in the game at launch.
Marks of Victory - These are also awarded from Arena PvP and Legends PvP matches, but they’re only obtainable by characters that have reached level 30. They’re used to buy tier 2 PvP gear, the best in the game at launch.
Conclusion
This summarizes everything you need to know about items in DC Universe Online. The best gear is based almost entirely on currency, so it is very easy to plan out the type of gear you are going to try to purchase. Have fun outfitting your hero!
