Inscription

Inscriptions are a type of salvageable weapon upgrade. They were introduced with the release of the Nightfall campaign and replace some of the inherent weapon modifiers used in the Prophecies and Factions campaign, which are not salvageable. Inscriptions can only be salvaged from or added to items with an inherent "Inscription:" slot.

Acquisition

Items with inscriptions can be obtained as drops throughout the Nightfall campaign and the Eye of the North expansion. They are also available as rewards from the end chests of elite areas (The Fissure of Woe, The Underworld, The Deep, and Urgoz's Warren), the Hall of Heroes chest, and the Zaishen Chest.

Items with empty inscription slots can be crafted at certain weaponsmiths or traded for at certain collectors in Nightfall and Eye of the North. All items that can be obtained by trading in completed Bonus Mission Pack books have empty inscription slots.

Items in Prophecies, Factions, and all core areas (except for the chests noted above) use the original weapon modifier system, which can neither be salvaged nor be replaced by an inscription.

You can salvage an inscription from any item that has one. Inscriptions have an intrinsic value of 25 gold when sold to a merchant. An Identification Kit can be used to reveal the actual value of the inscription. The difference is often a little higher than the 4g cost of identifying the inscription.

Usage

To attach an inscription to a weapon double-click on the inscription (the mouse pointer appearance will change), then click on the item that you want to attach it to.

The target item must be of the designated type given in the description. The inscription slot can either be free (in which case the description reads: "Inscription: None") or in use by another inscription. In the latter case, the old inscription will be overwritten and lost. If you want to keep the old inscription, you may salvage it to free the slot at the risk of the target item being destroyed (to not destroy the item you may use a Perfect Salvage Kit).

Applicability

To gain the Inscription's Bonus, the weapon must be equiped at the time of the associated event; e.g. you cannot reduce Blindness <or Recharge> by equiping the inscription after becoming Blind <or casting the spell>. When carrying a Bundle your current weapon set is not equiped and you don't gain their inscriptions' bonuses.

Inscription Types

Item type	Color	Icon
Weapon	Green (Silver)
Martial weapon	Blue (Platinum)
Spellcasting weapon	Green (Copper)
Focus item or Shield	Red (Bronze)
Focus item	Yellow (Gold)
Equippable item	Yellow (Gold)

List of Inscriptions

The following is a list of all available inscriptions, sorted by bonus effect:

Combat bonuses

Bonus	Range	Condition / Malus		Inscription Name	Item type: Inscribable ...
Damage + ...%	+10..20%	while ...	Health is below 50%	"Vengeance is Mine"	Weapons
			hexed	"Don't Fear the Reaper"
	+10..15%		in a Stance	"Dance with Death"
			enchanted	"Guided by Fate"
			Health is above 50%	"Strength and Honor"
	+14..15%		attacking (Armor -10)	"To the Pain!"
		Malus:	Energy -5	"Brawn Over Brains"
	+10..15%	vs.	hexed foes	"Too Much Information"
Energy + ...	+5	(always)		"I have the power!"	Martial weapons
	+5...7	while ...	Health is below 50%	"Don't call it a comeback!"	Spellcasting weapons
			hexed	"I am Sorrow."
	+4...5		enchanted	"Have Faith"
			Health is above 50%	"Hale and Hearty"
	+10..15	Malus:	Energy Regeneration -1	"Seize the Day"
				"Live for Today"	Focus Items
Armor + ...	+5...10	while ...	Health is below 50%	"Down But Not Out"
			hexed	"Be Just and Fear Not"
	+4...5		enchanted	"Faith is My Shield"
			Health is above 50%	"Hail to the King"
			attacking	"Might makes Right"
			casting	"Knowing is Half the Battle."
	+4...5	Malus:	Energy -5	"Ignorance is Bliss"
			Health -20	"Life is Pain"
		vs. <damage type>	elemental	"Man for All Seasons"
			physical	"Survival of the Fittest"
	+5...10		cold	"Leaf on the Wind"	Focus Items or Shields
			earth	"Like a Rolling Stone"
			blunt	"Not the face!"
			lightning	"Riders On The Storm"
			slashing	"The Riddle of Steel"
			fire	"Sleep Now in the Fire"
			piercing	"Through Thick and Thin"
Reduces <condition> on you by ...	20%	Condition:	Disease	"Cast Out the Unclean"
			Bleeding	"Fear Cuts Deeper"
			Blind	"I Can See Clearly Now"
			Weakness	"Only the Strong Survive"
			Poison	"Pure of Heart"
			Dazed	"Soundness of Mind"
			Crippled	"Swift as the Wind"
			Deep Wound	"Strength of Body"
Received physical damage ...	-1...2	while ...	in a Stance	"Run for your Life!"
			enchanted	"Sheltered by Faith"
	-1...3		hexed	"Nothing to Fear"
	-5	Chance: 10...20%		"Luck of the Draw"

Skill bonuses

Effect	Chance:	Inscription Name	Item type: Inscribable ...
Halves casting time of spells of item's attribute	10...20%	"Aptitude not Attitude"	Spellcasting weapons
Halves skill recharge of spells of item's attribute	10...20%	"Forget Me Not"	Focus Items
Halves skill recharge of all spells	5...10%	"Serenity Now"
	5...10%	"Let the Memory Live Again"	Martial weapons
Halves casting time of all spells		"Don't Think Twice"	Weapons
Item's attribute +1 while using skills	10%...20%	"Master of My Domain"	Focus Items or Shields

See also Weapon upgrades:

• Adept Staff Head (HCT spells of item's attribute)
• Swift Staff Head (HCT spells)
• Wand Wrapping of Quickening (HSR spells)
• Wand Wrapping of Memory (HSR spells of item's attribute)

Other bonuses

Bonus	Inscription name	Item type: Inscribable ...
Highly salvageable	"Measure for Measure"	Equippable items
Improved sale value	"Show me the money!"

Notes

• Damage + ...% Inscriptions only affect the base damage of your weapon. Thus, consider using another inscription for low-damage weapons such as daggers.
• Not all weapon modifiers are available as inscriptions.

Trivia

• Most, if not all, of the names of the inscriptions are suspected to be references to popular culture. However it is not known which reference is intended, and most of these inscriptions could be a reference to more than one definite source.