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Loot drops: what the enemy leaves behind

A slain enemy's gear is not guaranteed loot. Each item drops only if its durability clears a threshold, and some items also need a random roll. This is for regular items, not named or legendary ones.

Enemy item Drops only if Extra roll Durability in battle Can you influence it?
Weapon * condition 12+ (set at battle start) 90% Fixed at battle start, never changes No. Set before you act, then a 90% roll
Body armor condition over 30 and 25%+ of max none Drops as it absorbs hits Yes. Kill with daggers (Puncture does 0 armor damage) to keep it above 30
Helmet condition over 30 and 25%+ of max 70% Drops as it absorbs hits Yes, same dagger approach, but a 70% roll still applies
Shield condition 6+ and 25%+ of max 90% Drops as it blocks or is hit Yes, in reverse: damaging it below the threshold stops it dropping

* Which weapons drop

An enemy weapon's condition is set once at battle start to a random value between 1 and (maximum durability minus 2), and enemy weapons never lose durability during battle. It drops only if that value is 12 or more, then passes a 90% roll. Nothing you do in the fight changes it. A weapon with higher maximum durability clears the 12 gate more often, so it drops more often.

The two extremes among weapons an enemy carries:

Every enemy weapon sits between these two. The only weapon the durability rule can fully exclude is the lute (maximum durability 2, condition always 1), and no enemy carries one.

Keeping an enemy shield intact

Enemy shields start at full durability and lose it only when an attack lands in the part of the defence the shield covers, one point per such hit. To loot a shield, kill its owner with a flail: the flail's basic attack is not shield-relevant, so it never chips the shield, which then drops on the normal 90%. Split Shield, thrown spears, and repeated hits into the shield chip it toward the point (below 6, or below 25% of max) where it will not drop.

Notes

Sources

Battle Brothers 1.5.1.8 game scripts.