Lootbound Inventory Auras: How Grid Placement Works

Lootbound’s inventory is the talent tree. You collect a separate equipment set for the hero and for each companion. Pieces occupy cells by shape, rotate to fit, and only work while placed.

How do auras work in Lootbound?

Some items project an aura into neighboring cells and strengthen the weapons or armor that sit there. The aura’s geometry is fixed; you arrange everything else around it. Launch coverage gives examples such as extra damage on a weapon to the right, or extra defense on armor above — treat those as illustrations, not a complete list.

Rule	What it means
No fixed slots	Any piece can sit anywhere it fits
Rotation	Turn the footprint before you reject it
Adjacency	Commonly up, down, left, right
Conditions	Some auras fire only for a weapon or armor class
One-cell moves	Shifting a piece can enable or kill a synergy

Read the tooltip before you commit the cell. A general “touching is enough” rule loses to the printed condition.

How should I place items on the grid?

Build a protected core and replaceable edges. During the first few fights, reserve a small central block for the gear you expect to keep: a weapon near the center, armor under it, and a support aura touching the piece it actually improves.

Zone	Put here	Keep out
Core	Main weapon, main armor, best auras	Items you will swap every fight
Damage district	Offensive weapons and trinkets	Consumables you move often
Defense district	Armor, shields, mitigation	One-off utility that splits the cluster
Utility fringe	Mana tools, banners, small consumables	Your primary weapon if it needs another aura

Long, thin pieces usually sit more cleanly on a border. Leave a fringe so the next loot card does not force a full rebuild.

What is an aura district?

A district is a cluster of pieces that share one job, sitting inside the auras that buff that job. One focused damage aura on two useful weapons beats three unrelated items that never touch.

District	Belongs there	Aura should improve
Damage	Main weapons, offensive trinkets	Attack-related effects printed on the aura
Defense	Armor, shields, protective pieces	Armor or mitigation printed on the aura
Utility	Mana, buffs, situational tools	Recovery or resource effects

When a new aura drops, do not park it in the first hole. Identify the two to four items that would benefit, then build the hole around that future cluster.

How do I evaluate a new item?

After a battle, a loot card can offer several items; inventory guides say you take one. Judge that one on shape, neighbors, and replace cost — not the rarity border.

Check	Pass if	Fail if
Shape	It fits after rotation without breaking the core	It shears two aura links
Neighbors	It touches pieces that can use it	It sits on an edge with one useful neighbor
Replace	It upgrades the district you already committed to	It evicts the piece holding the cluster together
Flexibility	It can live on the fringe	It forces a jagged layout for the next card

A rare item placed badly can be weaker than ordinary gear supporting the right aura cluster.

Do the hero and companions share one grid?

Official store copy says you collect a separate set of equipment for the hero and each companion. Launch coverage says each hero and recruited companion carries their own two-dimensional grid. Some community guides say “shared grid”; this wiki follows the official separate-set wording until an in-game screenshot proves otherwise.

Companion AI and recruit flow are on the companions page.