Imbues

 are positive status effects in Outward which increase the potency of the player's melee weapon, pistol or shield.

Overview
Only one type of Imbue may be active on a weapon/shield at a time. Attempting to use two imbues at once will overwrite the first imbue with the second one.

Melee Imbues
Melee weapon have a skill or associated item which activates them, and they generally last between 90–180 seconds. These imbues add elemental damage to the weapon, which is triggered on every hit until the imbue expires.

Daggers will also gain the benefits of Melee imbues if you apply one while you have a Dagger equipped.

Pistol Imbues
Pistol imbues are acquired via Mercenary skills. Unlike melee weapon imbues, they have no set duration and expire after one shot of the pistol.

Shield Imbues
Shield imbues are acquired via the Shield Infusion mercenary skill.

Melee Imbue Damage Formula
The amount of elemental damage added by a Melee imbue is calculated with the following formula:

((Total base damage * Imbue Multiplier) + Imbue Flat) * (1 + Damage Bonus)

For more information, see Damage.