Sifter Armor is the four-piece armor family themed around The Sift’s Sifters. Mad Sifter Armor is its unique version, with a different fixed bonus on each piece. Start with the equipment slot: Mad Sifter Mask replaces a helmet, while Mad Sifter Paws replace boots.
Sifter Armor pieces by slot
| Equipment slot | Sifter Armor piece | Mad Sifter Armor counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Helmet | Sifter Hood | Mad Sifter Mask |
| Chestplate | Sifter Robe | Mad Sifter Vest |
| Leggings | Sifter Leggings | Mad Sifter Slacks |
| Boots | Sifter Boots | Mad Sifter Paws |
The Sifter Hood’s ears and the Robe’s nest-defense description tie the outfit to the Sifter creatures. In the inventory, however, each name refers to one wearable item. A Robe fills the chestplate slot even though it looks like clothing; a Mask fills the helmet slot even though its name differs from Hood.
You can mix armor families across slots. Keeping your current helmet while equipping Mad Sifter Paws preserves the helmet’s effects and changes the boots slot. Use the table to compare the piece you would actually remove, especially when the current item carries a useful enchantment.
Mad Sifter Armor unique effects
Each Mad Sifter piece has one fixed effect alongside its rolled effects. Blacksmith rerolls change a selected rolled effect; the unique bonus stays with the item.
| Unique piece | Fixed effect | How to read the bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Mad Sifter Mask | Tainted, 100% | Longer negative statuses on enemies |
| Mad Sifter Vest | Sorcerer, 25% | Increased artifact attack damage |
| Mad Sifter Slacks | Boost, 20% | Longer positive statuses applied to you |
| Mad Sifter Paws | Deflection, 25% | A chance to deflect enemy projectiles |
These are individual piece effects. The 100% beside Tainted modifies status duration; the 25% beside Deflection is a projectile-deflection chance. They act on different parts of a fight, so reading all four percentages as armor protection would lead to the wrong choice.
For example, a hero who regularly applies a negative status has a reason to examine the Mask. Its Tainted bonus supports the duration of that status. First identify the attack or artifact that applies it; a duration bonus needs a status to extend. A player looking for protection from incoming projectiles should instead compare the Paws with their current boots.
The Vest has a narrower job: improving artifact attacks. Read the artifact’s action before switching chestplates. An artifact you activate for an attack presents a different decision from one you use for a temporary buff. The fixed effect’s target, your activation pattern and the chestplate’s remaining rolls all matter.
Boost on the Slacks supports positive statuses applied to you. Ally, found in the shared pool below, instead refers to positive statuses you apply to yourself and allies. When comparing the two, read who receives the status and who applies it. That is particularly useful in co-op, where a teammate’s buff and your own buff can have different sources.
Shared effects and rerolls
Sifter Armor and Mad Sifter Armor share the following 16-effect pool across all four slots. A compatible effect is an available roll, rather than a bonus every piece carries. The table gives the recorded values for tiers I, II and III.
| Effect | What it changes | I | II | III |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ally | Duration of positive statuses you apply to yourself and allies | 15% | 30% | 50% |
| Cooldown | Shorter artifact cooldown | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Cryomancer | Frost attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Electromancer | Lightning attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Elemental Protection | Less damage from elemental attacks | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Healer | Healing you give yourself and allies | 25% | 35% | 50% |
| Luck | Chance for duplicate item variations | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Potion Maker | Shorter potion cooldown | 5% | 10% | 20% |
| Prospector | Chance for additional Emeralds | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| Pyromancer | Fire attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Sorcerer | Artifact attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Soulmancer | Soul attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Spiritual | Soul capacity | 25% | 30% | 35% |
| Tainted | Duration of negative statuses on enemies | 40% | 60% | 80% |
| Totem Radius | Area of positive status effects | 20% | 30% | 40% |
| Venomancer | Poison attack damage | 10% | 15% | 20% |
Choose the effect for the action you use
Separate healing, recovery time and status duration. Healer improves healing you give. Potion Maker shortens the potion cooldown. Ally extends positive statuses you apply. If the problem is waiting for a potion to become available, read Potion Maker before choosing a piece solely because it has Healer.
Artifact use presents a similar split. Cooldown affects the wait between activations, Spiritual expands soul capacity, and Sorcerer increases artifact attack damage. A larger soul reserve can help you afford an activation, but it does not change the artifact’s cooldown. Identify which resource or timer is stopping your next use.
For an elemental attack, match the damage category to the roll: Cryomancer for frost, Electromancer for lightning, Pyromancer for fire, Soulmancer for souls and Venomancer for poison. Read the weapon or artifact’s damage description first. A visual color or an item name alone is a poor way to select one of these effects.
Read a replacement before spending Echo Shards
Suppose your current Sifter Boots have Potion Maker and the new Mad Sifter Paws have a different rolled effect. The new boots add fixed Deflection, while the replacement can also remove the potion-cooldown benefit you were using. Compare the fixed bonus and every rolled effect before equipping; keep the old boots until you decide which job matters more.
Check the candidate’s power, unique bonus, rolled effects and enchantment as separate lines. If its unique bonus serves your build but a random roll does not, the Blacksmith’s reroll is the part to investigate. Use Echo Shards for reroll spending and the enchantment-book guide for applying library effects.
Rarity also affects the choice. Common gear has no effects; Rare gear has one random effect and Special gear has two. For a Unique piece, read the number and tiers of rolled effects from its actual tooltip alongside the fixed bonus. The Blacksmith must reach level 3 to reroll a Unique item. A first reroll costs one Echo Shard; repeated rerolls increase the price up to 20, so inspect the current cost before committing to another attempt.
Sifter Hood and Robe: old and current names
Older reveal records and Wiki links use Sifter Hat for Sifter Hood and Sifter Chestplate for Sifter Robe. You may also encounter Mad Sifter Hat in links pointing to Mad Sifter Mask. The current set lists use Hood, Robe and Mask, as shown in the slot table.
That helps when comparing a video with your inventory: follow the equipment slot and current item name, then read the actual effect lines. The Hood’s description about hearing predators and the Robe’s description about defending a nest identify their theme; neither description is an acquisition objective.
For an acquisition route already documented on this site, open Sifter Boots and Rage of the Sifters. That guide keeps the versioned region pools and first-completion reward details together. Return to the armor overview to compare other families, or the Sift build example to see how individual slots support an artifact cycle.
Sources
Slot names and effect values were checked October 3, 2026 against these records. The ordinary and unique set pages supply the shared pool; the unique set supplies the fixed bonuses.