Zenith Player Attributes Guide: Armor, Combat, and Movement Stats

Armor and Damage Reduction

Armor measures how well you resist physical harm. It comes mainly from armor pieces and shields. In Zenith, the way armor reduces damage is different from the standard game. The system uses a value called the A-value, which starts at 10 and can rise by half the amount of incoming damage beyond 20, but never drops below 10. Your actual damage taken is then calculated as A divided by (A plus your armor total). This means that with typical armor and damage numbers, you take a little less damage than you would in the base game. However, at very high armor and damage levels, armor becomes much less protective than before. The purpose of this change is to stop players from becoming nearly invincible at high tiers, while making effects like Protection and Resistance more meaningful. It also encourages faster, more dynamic fights between heavily equipped opponents.

Armor Pierce and Armor Shred

Armor Pierce lets you bypass a fixed amount of your enemy’s armor on each hit. If you have more Pierce than their armor, the excess can push their effective armor into negative values, which actually increases the damage they suffer.

Armor Shred works differently—it ignores a percentage of the target’s armor, not a flat number. When both are present, Shred is calculated first, then Pierce applies to whatever armor remains. This order matters for planning your gear.

Armor Toughness

Armor Toughness is a defensive stat that weakens incoming armor reduction effects. It comes from armor items and shields. Each point of Toughness lowers the power of Armor Pierce and Armor Shred against you by 2%, up to a maximum reduction of 60%. So if you stack enough Toughness, an enemy’s Pierce and Shred become far less effective. In the standard Minecraft rules, Toughness contributes directly to damage reduction, but Zenith replaces that function with this unique mechanic. That means you cannot rely on Toughness to simply absorb hits—it only exists to counter armor-ignoring effects.

Attack Damage

Attack Damage is the attribute that determines how much harm your strikes cause. Weapons are the usual source of this stat. Higher values mean each swing hits harder, but you still need to land your attacks and account for enemy armor.

Attack Speed

Attack Speed sets the pace of your melee swings. If your speed is 2, you can perform two attacks per second. A higher number lets you chain hits more rapidly, which is useful for applying effects or overwhelming foes with volume. Various items can boost this attribute, so you can tailor your combat rhythm to your preferred style.

Practical Notes

Because armor reduction in Zenith is less forgiving at extreme levels, you should not assume that stacking armor alone makes you untouchable. Instead, balance your defenses with Toughness to blunt enemy Pierce and Shred, and consider mixing in Protection or Resistance enchantments for extra safety. On offense, decide whether you want to shred a percentage of armor (good against very tanky targets) or pierce a flat amount (better against lightly armored foes). Remember that Shred happens before Pierce, so combining both can strip almost all protection from a well-defended enemy. For movement, while not detailed here, keep in mind that attack speed and damage are separate—so a fast weapon with low damage and a slow weapon with high damage each have their own uses depending on the situation.

Covers the mod’s in-game guide topics: Armor Armor Pierce Armor Shred Armor Toughness Attack Damage Attack Speed