Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage isn’t the same as damage that ignores Defense. Once Fixed Damage is calculated, it isn’t changed by other stats. Defense-ignoring attacks bypass certain protections but still respond to modifiers such as Damage Reduction and Critical Hit Damage. Update 4.18.0 spells out the difference.
That distinction matters for several skills, including Rift Fracture and Crimson Imprint. The October patch also increased some boss-weapon damage values and clarified other tooltips without changing the underlying effect. Here’s what actually changed for your build.
Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage versus defense-ignoring damage
NC defines Fixed Damage as damage that isn’t affected by stats after the amount has been calculated. Damage ignoring Defense instead bypasses Defense, Skill Damage Amplification and Skill Damage Resistance. Critical Hit Damage, Heavy Attack Damage, Additional Damage and Damage Reduction can still apply to the latter.
So a defense-ignoring attack can still interact with Damage Reduction, whereas an already-calculated Fixed Damage number cannot be changed by stats. Neither description means the attack universally bypasses every invulnerability, shield or encounter mechanic.
Which weapon skills changed in 4.18.0?
| Weapon and effect | New classification |
|---|---|
| Greatsword: Rift Fracture Core | Damage against already-shielded targets changed from Fixed Damage to damage ignoring Evasion and Defense |
| Daggers: Vampiric Strike Shield Health specialization | Damage on shielded targets changed from Fixed Damage to defense-ignoring damage |
| Crossbows: Weak Point Shot Weaken Shield specialization | Bonus damage against shielded targets now ignores Evasion and Defense instead of being Fixed Damage |
| Gauntlets: Crimson Imprint Core | Blood Explosion changed from Fixed Damage to damage over time ignoring Evasion and Defense |
Rift Fracture’s change is specifically for damage dealt to a target that already has a Shield. It doesn’t make every Greatsword attack defense-ignoring. Crimson Imprint’s Blood Explosion still has its stated 40% damage reduction, three-second effect and maximum of three stacks.
The Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage distinction is most useful when you’re comparing a Skill Core’s old tooltip with its new one. Check the named skill or specialization in the table rather than assuming the entire weapon class has changed.
Did Foretold Agony’s Fixed Damage change?
Foretold Agony wasn’t mechanically buffed. NC clarified its wording: Venomous Edge has a 12% chance to activate on melee hits, and the poison cloud ignores player Shield Health while applying unavoidable Fixed Damage. The patch explicitly says the effect itself is unchanged.
If you were expecting a stronger Foretold Agony because its tooltip now says unavoidable Fixed Damage, there’s no such increase in the official notes. The change here is to the description.
Giant Cordy’s Greatswords: PvP damage changes
Against players, Giant Cordy’s Ascension Greatsword now deals 2.5% of the target’s maximum Health per second, up from 2%. This damage-over-time effect has also changed from ignoring Defense to Fixed Damage over time. Its damage against monsters is described separately.
Giant Cordy’s Snowsoul Greatsword makes the same type of switch for player targets, with its Health-based damage raised from 2.8% to 3.5% per second. Its separate periodic hit also increased from 132% to 144% of Base Damage every 0.4 seconds.
Those are genuine damage increases, not mere tooltip corrections. The Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage classification applies to the stated player-target DoT. Don’t assume those percentage-of-Health figures apply to monsters in the same way.
What changed with Bellandir’s Gauntlets?
Queen Bellandir’s Burning Gauntlets now limits its Collision: Pull to one activation every 34 seconds. Ascended Queen Bellandir’s Gauntlets uses an 18-second limit. These are changes to how often the pull can trigger, not to the Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage calculation.
If the pull doesn’t trigger again immediately, check its new reactivation limit. It’s a different issue from a hit’s damage being reduced by Defense.
Other weapons with Fixed Damage changes
Nerzatum’s Skeletal Tusks increased its Ancient Demonic Beast’s Strike damage from 400% to 550% of Base Damage and changed it to unavoidable Fixed Damage. The effect retains its 70% activation chance when Vampiric Strike attacks.
Last Dragon’s Thunder Daggers changed Atirat’s Claw from defense-ignoring damage to unavoidable Fixed Damage against player targets at or below 50% Health. The damage figure rose from 2.5% to 3% of the target’s Health.
These two changes are worth separating from the Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage tooltip clarifications: both include real numerical increases. The named trigger conditions still matter, and neither entry says the effect now activates on every hit.
When did Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage changes go live?
These classification changes are part of Update 4.18.0. Maintenance began on 26 October in Pacific time, corresponding to 27 October UTC. The 10 November Skill Core registration and scroll-conversion system was only announced in advance and is a separate rollout.
Changes to weapon skills in 4.18.0 are already relevant to combat. The upcoming Skill Core rework changes how Cores are equipped, not the date those October damage adjustments took effect.
How to read the Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage tooltip
Read the exact tooltip wording. Does it say Fixed Damage, ignores Defense, or ignores Evasion and Defense? Then check whether 4.18.0 changed the attack itself or just clarified its description.
For Throne and Liberty Fixed Damage, don’t expect stats to modify the amount after calculation. For defense-ignoring attacks, the patch still lists critical and heavy-attack damage modifiers, Additional Damage and Damage Reduction as relevant.
Official source: Throne and Liberty Update 4.18.0 patch notes.
