Combat power: what to raise next

The right order for "what do I upgrade next": check only whether your mado resistance meets the content's requirement, then whether your combat power clears the recommended line. Both are step functions — below them no other investment matters, and the moment you clear them their value drops to zero. Taiwan has no mado resistance yet (it is Korean Season 2 content), so on TW only the combat-power line applies for now.

Combat power is a display total, not strength. It is a weighted sum of stats plus a fixed value per rune star — no multiplicative terms and no percentage effects at all. Some investments inflate the number while barely moving damage, and some do the reverse.

Community-estimated formula: CP = attack + defence ÷ 2 + HP ÷ 4 + 0.3 × (sum of secondary stats, excluding bonus HP) + a fixed value per rune star [not officially published; reverse-engineered by the community].

The biggest damage gain that adds zero combat power is the rune "Skill Enhancement" line (skill level cap 30 = +100% skill damage) — the best multiplier in the game. Mado resistance and gem carving lines do not show up in combat power either.

While you are below the recommended line, buy the cheapest combat power (HP at ¼ weight and defence at ½ still count, so it comes cheap). Once you are over it, stop looking at combat power and choose by final damage per point instead.