Items in The Banner Saga will aid your heroes in their battles by granting bonuses and passive abilities.
Every item has a rank (1-5), denoting the magnitude of its powers. Each hero can equip only one item, of the same or lower rank as his/hers. Items can be
- found (usually at Godstones), or granted as rewards for accomplishments ('Quests'),
- purchased in Markets by spending Renown,
- brought by Heroes who join your Roster,
- dropped as 'loot' after utterly defeating the enemy in War battles.
You cannot sell items at Markets or otherwise discard them. However, when certain heroes are killed or dismissed, the items they had equipped are removed from your caravan.
List of items[ | ]
Below follows a gallery/list of all the available items in the first part of The Banner Saga, ordered first by rank and then alphabetically. Click on any of them for more information. The color of the name of each item is color coded to its rank: grey = 1-2, green = 3-4, red = 5.
Comparison Table[ | ]
This sortable table summarizes the properties of all currently available items, for easier browsing & comparison. Currently, only Saga1 items are listed. Check below the table for the property explanations and other useful information.
| Item | Properties | Acquirement | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Rank | Stats | AB | /Turn | /Rest | /Kill | Aggr | %Crit | %Dodg | KB | Res | Other | Means |
| Alette's Bracelet | 1 | +3 (1/1/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Hero (Alette) |
| Bloodshed Coins | 1 | - | - | - | - | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Iron Bands | 1 | +1 (0/1/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Leather Flask | 1 | - | - | - | +1 (0/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Narwhal Horn | 1 | - | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Padded Undercoat | 1 | +1 (1/0/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Serpent Earrings | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10% | - | - | - | Market |
| Tryggvi's Necklace | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10% | - | - | - | - | Hero (Tryggvi) |
| Warrior's Oath | 1 | +1 (0/0/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Whalebone Needle | 1 | - | - | - | +1 (1/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Bail's Locket | 2 | +2 (0/0/2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Bjarken Rune | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15% | - | - | - | Godstone (Hridvaldyr) |
| Lightning Runestone | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | +1 | 10% | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Singing Stone | 2 | - | - | - | - | +2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Skjule | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | -1 | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Tistelberry | 2 | - | - | - | +2 (0/2) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Quest (Hogun) |
| Worldhook | 2 | - | +2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Charm of the Wandering Mind | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20% | - | - | - | Market |
| Comb of the Loom Mother | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | -2 | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Dragon Stone | 3 | +3 (0/0/3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Gullinfyri | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 15% | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Radormyr) |
| Horseskor | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10% | - | - | +1 Move | Market |
| Jarl's Seal | 3 | - | - | +1 (0/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Obsidian Ring | 3 | +2 (0/2/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Ring of the Wolf | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Defy@1 | Market |
| Sporðdreki Búr | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | +2 | - | 5% | - | - | - | Market |
| Studded Pommel | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | @5STR | - | - | Market |
| Sun Stone | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Never Miss | Market |
| Svalinn Dust | 3 | +2 (2/0/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Tortoise Band | 3 | - | - | - | +2 (2/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Vadrun Silver Brooch | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1STR | - | Godstone (Ingrid) |
| Eitrfang | 4 | - | - | - | - | +3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Eyeless Rift | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10% | - | - | - | Never Miss | Market |
| Farthingjörd | 4 | - | +3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Hadrborg) |
| Haldan's Razor | 4 | - | - | - | +3 (0/3) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Obsidian Powder | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | @4STR | - | - | Market |
| Puzzle box of the Twin Rivers | 4 | +3 (0/0/3) | - | +1 (0/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Dundr) |
| Scarlet Feather | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | -1 | - | - | - | - | +2 Move | Hero (Sigbjorn) |
| Valka Thread | 4 | - | - | +1 (1/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Ash Mead | 5 | +2 (0/2/0) | - | +1 (0/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Quest (Boersgard) |
| Bjorulf's Blessing | 5 | +1 (0/1/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | @3STR | - | - | Quest (Sigbjorn) |
| Björg av Leander | 5 | - | - | +2 (2/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Calabilla | 5 | - | - | +2 (1/1) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Quest (Frostvellr) |
| Dundr's Hand | 5 | +3 (0/3/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Quest (Krumr) |
| Five Ring Necklace | 5 | +3 (1/1/1) | +1 | - | - | - | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Denglr) |
| Godscale | 5 | +3 (3/0/0) | - | - | - | - | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Marek) |
| Namejs' Ring | 5 | - | - | - | - | +1 | - | - | - | - | 2STR | - | Market |
| Obsidian Bell | 5 | +1 (0/1/0) | - | - | +3 (3/0) | - | +2 | - | - | - | - | - | Market |
| Shepersky Stone | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | +2 | - | - | - | 2STR | - | Quest (Onef) |
| Statue of a Sightless Man | 5 | +2 (0/2/0) | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20% | - | - | - | Market |
| Stravhs' Whetstone | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 20% | - | - | - | - | Godstone (Stravhs) |
| Name | Rank | Stats | AB | /Turn | /Rest | /Kill | Aggr | %Crit | %Dodg | KB | Res | Other | Means |
Item Properties Explanation[ | ]
- Stats: Bonus to the three depletable stats, Armor/Strength/Willpower.
- AB: Bonus to Armor-Break, the special non-depletable stat, unlike the previous three.
- /Turn: Bonus to the two replenishable stats (ARM/WIL) given at the end of each turn of the hero.
- /Rest: Bonus to the two replenishable stats (ARM/WIL) given each time the hero Rests during his turn in battle.
- /Kill: Bonus Willpower granted each time the hero kills an enemy unit. Horn is also regularly filled with +1 star per Kill.
- Aggr: Modifier to the aggression the hero receives from enemy units (AI-related parameter).
- %Crit: Chance to deal Critical (double) Strength damage to the target.
- %Dodg: Chance to Dodge an incoming Strength attack, i.e. completely avoid its damage.
- KB@X: Attacked unit(s) are knocked-back (moved) up to 4 tiles, if the Strength damage delivered is X or more.
- Res: Damage points Resisted, from any incoming Strength attack or environment damage (e.g. burning coals).
- Other Special properties not falling into any of the above categories.
- Never Miss: Attacks will have 100% chance to hit, regardless of ARM-vs-STR formula.
- Defy@X: Hero avoids knock-out from an incoming attack, unless his Strength is 1.
- Move: Hero's regular movement range is modified.
Means of Acquiring[ | ]
- Certain items can be purchased from Markets, in villages or towns, by spending Renown. The Market prices for items are fixed and equal to {2,4,6,8,10} Renown for Rank-{1,2,3,4,5} items, in the first part of The Banner Saga. The items appearing at the game's Markets are randomly generated for each new game, and irrelevant to the current Ranks of your characters; items might appear multiple times in Markets.
- You cannot sell items for Renown, in Markets or elsewhere.
- Items that can spawn in the Markets can also be 'dropped' as War loot, if you successfully defeat a second wave of attacking Dredge.
- Many items can be found along the progress of the game, mainly by completing mini 'quests', i.e. following a specific set of actions when you encounter the 'triggering' events. Some of the items are found at specific locations, most notably at Godstones, while others are carried or given by characters (heroes).
- The only guaranteed item you will get is Alette's Bracelet (and Tryggvi's Necklace, if you have access to that character).
- Tistelberry is the only item that can be found and purchased.
Notes[ | ]
- There is no item giving bonus to Exertion stat.
- The only potentially negative item-property is the positive aggression (AGGRO). It is used on many high-rank items to compensate its benefits. Note that negative aggression (beneficial) means that enemy units might actually ignore a hero, going for other targets.
- Armor granted as a stat-bonus (third column of the table) cannot be reduced by incoming attacks, much like the Raider's Shield-Wall bonus. Moreover, it does not count as 'reduced armor' when calculating Puncture damage. On the negative side, this extra Armor cannot be recovered by Mending.
- Alette's Bracelet is the most efficient item in terms of its properties-over-rank ratio.
- The Ring of the Wolf has the unique property of protecting a character from death (knock-out), unless he is already down to 1 Strength point.
- 'Per-turn' bonuses are considered better than 'on-rest' and 'per-kill' ones.
- Judging from the item Ranks, the stat-bonus 'appreciation', from highly- to lowly-priced, seems to be: Armor, Break, Strength, Willpower. This means that a +3 Armor item is considered 'better' than a +3 Break item, and so on.
- On release version of the game (January 2014), the Market costs for the items were 5 Renown per rank; after the release of the second part of The Banner Saga, the price was tuned down to 2 Renown per rank.
Probably unused items[ | ]
These items appear in the game files but are probably unused.
