Remnant 2 cannot be accused of overexplaining the finer details. If you have run into the Bulwark stat and have no idea what it is, know you’re not alone. Some aspects of the game are just confusing, so we’re here to break it down for you and tell you what it actually means.
The Bulwark stat explained
Bulwark is a core part of the Challenger class and can also be given by certain rings and amulets in the game. The Bulwark stat gives you an increased rate of damage reduction that can stack multiple times. When you activate Bulwark, it will reduce incoming damage by 5 percent. You can stack it only three times for a 15-percent damage reduction. Remember that the Challenger’s Juggernaut ability will automatically give you three stacks of Bulwark, so unless you plan on needing them outside of that ability, you can dodge equipping other items that give you the stat.
Related: How to unlock the Engineer class in Remnant 2
At the moment, I have not had time to figure out if damage reduction in Remnant 2 is additive. That is to say: I don’t know if you just add damage reduction sources to each other and take them off all incoming damage. In Remnant: From the Ashes, they were applied individually. So, if you had two sources of damage reduction, the first would take a percentage off the incoming damage, and then the next would take a percentage off the remaining damage. For now, it is best to assume that is still how it works in Remnant 2.
So, if you are getting a 15-percent damage reduction from stacks of Bulwark, and then you have another 5 percent from Barkskin, and another 10 percent from a ring, they will all be calculated separately, and the next damage reduction value in the chain will be applied to the resultant value AFTER the previous calculation.
It is quite complicated, but not something you need to overly concern yourself with. At this stage in the game, more damage reduction is a good thing for builds that are trying to facetank damage and a bad thing for builds that should be trying to avoid taking damage anyway. That is, perhaps, an oversimplification of things, but it has served me well so far.
Finally, if you are running a build that uses Bulwark, then try to track down the Insulation Driver amulet on N’Erud. It has a random spawn but will give you 15 percent to all damage and haste while Bulwark is active, making it a superb pairing for the build.
