Bulwark
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Feature type | Equipment attachment |
| Access | Item Workbench · Perks Mode |
| Rules and progression | |
| Requirements | Shield |
| Limits | Uses one item attachment slot |
| Progression | Levels 1–5 |
Bulwark is an item perk made at Item Workbench. Its compatible equipment is listed above.
What it changes
Successful direct damage to a living monster can activate temporary damage reduction. The activation roll comes from your outgoing hit, rather than from being hit.
While active, its reduction applies to qualifying incoming monster attacks. The perked shield must remain worn; its current attachment level determines the active reduction. Cooldown begins on activation, not when the effect ends.
When it helps
Creates a short defensive window while you keep attacking a monster. Faster successful hits give more eligible rolls when the effect is ready, but cannot bypass its active state or cooldown.
Worked example
At level 5, an eligible hit has an 18% activation chance. If it activates and no other reduction is present, a subsequent 40-damage normal monster hit becomes 24 during its 14-tick (8.4-second) window. It can activate again after the 50-tick (30-second) cooldown has elapsed and a new eligible roll succeeds.
Levels
| Level | Effect |
|---|---|
| 1 | Activation chance per eligible hit: 8% Damage reduction: 20% Active duration: 4.2 seconds (7 ticks) Cooldown from activation: 49.8 seconds (83 ticks) |
| 2 | Activation chance per eligible hit: 10% Damage reduction: 25% Active duration: 5.4 seconds (9 ticks) Cooldown from activation: 45 seconds (75 ticks) |
| 3 | Activation chance per eligible hit: 12% Damage reduction: 30% Active duration: 6 seconds (10 ticks) Cooldown from activation: 39.6 seconds (66 ticks) |
| 4 | Activation chance per eligible hit: 15% Damage reduction: 35% Active duration: 7.2 seconds (12 ticks) Cooldown from activation: 34.8 seconds (58 ticks) |
| 5 | Activation chance per eligible hit: 18% Damage reduction: 40% Active duration: 8.4 seconds (14 ticks) Cooldown from activation: 30 seconds (50 ticks) |
Limits and interactions
Requires a successful direct hit on a monster that remains alive after the hit. Misses, killing blows, healing and secondary perk hits cannot trigger it. Gridmaster echo and guardian hits do not trigger it. There is no ordinary-attack-only or combat-style restriction.
Applies to positive incoming monster hits with an attack style. Player attacks, healing hits, and unstyled scripted or environmental damage do not qualify. Works against qualifying monsters in the Wilderness and in Gridmaster.
Cannot reactivate while already active or on cooldown. Swapping off the perked shield removes its reduction without resetting the existing activation cooldown.
Only the strongest equipped copy counts. Last Stand, Reinforced and permanent player-perk reduction combine multiplicatively, with a 40% cap for that pool. Active Bulwark combines afterward, capped at 60% for that pool. Other equipment, encounter and mode modifiers can act separately.
Attach and upgrade
At home, open Item Workbench and choose Perks Mode. Select the equipment from your inventory, then choose Bulwark. The first application rolls a level from 1 to 5. Applying it again can raise its level; an equal or lower roll keeps the current level and does not refund materials used. Each attempt normally spends the recipe again; eligible donation ranks can preserve individual recipe entries. This does not change the level-roll chances. Level 5 cannot be upgraded further.
| Material | Full recipe | Remove Perk return |
|---|---|---|
| Fractured Essence | 150 | 105 |
| Refined Essence | 45 | 31 |
| Resonant Catalyst | 3 | 1 |
The Resonant Catalyst recipe has separate entries of 2 and 1. Removal rounds each entry down separately: their returns are 1 and 0, giving 1 catalyst in total.
Stored and carried materials combine; storage is used first. The return column is for Remove Perk in Perks Mode. It refunds part of one base recipe to Workbench Storage, even after several upgrades. Disintegration destroys the equipment and its attachments.
Level roll chances
| Rolled level | Chance per attempt |
|---|---|
| 1 | 30% |
| 2 | 35% |
| 3 | 17% |
| 4 | 10% |
| 5 | 8% |
These are the chances of each exact rolled level. Selecting a level preview does not choose the result. Repeated attempts do not guarantee level 5.