I'm starting the process of trying to figure out for myself in what order the resists are affected when you use the armor refinement. It's getting pretty late here and I'm tired, so for now I'm probably just going to post what I see and not try too hard to interpret it.
I've started out with just making some studded leather gorgets, non-exceptional and from plain leather and then applying washed or cured thread made by combining braid with each of the 14 types of washes and cures available for studded leather. I lined up the washes and cures in the order listed in the publish notes, as quoted below:
Refinement Levels:
- Defense - provides least chance at achieving maximum individual resist/ DCI bonus.
- Shielding
- Guarding
- Protection
- Hardening
- Fortification
- Invulnerability - provides greatest chance at achieving maximum individual resist/ DCI bonus.
A plain, unrefined nonexceptional studded leather gorget has these resists: 2% physical, 4% fire, 3% cold, 3% poison, and 4% energy.
Here's what plain nonexceptional studded leather gorget say after being "refined" with the various Washed Threads:
Defense:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase +6%
Shielding:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / -1% Max
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase +8%
Guarding:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / -1% Max
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase +8%
Protection:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / -1% Max
Energy Resist 4% / -1% Max
Max Defense Chance Increase +10%
Hardening:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / -1% Max
Energy Resist 4% / -1% Max
Max Defense Chance Increase +10%
Fortification:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4%
Cold Resist 3%
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase +2%
Invulnerability:
Physical Resist 2% / -1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / -1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / -1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / -1% Max
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase +8%
Here are the results for applying the Cured Threads to similar gorgets:
Defense:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4%
Cold Resist 3%
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -2%
Shielding:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / +1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / +1% Max
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -6%
Guarding:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / +1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / +1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / +1% Max
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -8%
Protection:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / +1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / +1% Max
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -6%
Hardening:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4%
Cold Resist 3%
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -2%
Fortification:
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4%
Cold Resist 3%
Poison Resist 3%
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -2%
Invulnerability
Physical Resist 2% / +1% Max
Fire Resist 4% / +1% Max
Cold Resist 3% / +1% Max
Poison Resist 3% / +1% Max
Energy Resist 4%
Max Defense Chance Increase -8%
If the levels in the publish notes are supposed to be list strictly in succession by the results of using them, something seems to be terribly screwed up. Or maybe I'm just tired. However, the above results definitely have me scratching my head in puzzlement.
I will try some studded samurai, hide, and bone armor next to see what happens with those.