Understanding enchantable items in DS2...

(I wrote this in response to a question over at SN but it seems to have just gone down and thought the info. might be appreciated here... It's a bit newbie'ish, but I didn't find this intuitive at all when I was looking for info. on enchantable items... :mrgreen: ).
(edit)
The question at SN was: "What's the best enchantable stuff?, Is there a list?" ..."Is there some sort of guide that explains what enchantable sword has the highest attack rating?"
(/edit)

What you're looking for are the [var#] blocks within item templates. The item stats are based on the item_level indicated within the block. For example (from logic\world\contentdb\templates\interactive\wpn_axe_1h.gas):

[t:template,n:ax_1h_ba]
{
	specializes = base_axe_template;
	doc = "battle_axe";
	[aspect]
	{
		model = m_w_axe_301-a;
		[textures]
		{
			0 =  b_w_axe_301-a;
		}
	}
	[common]
	{
		screen_name = "Battle Axe";
	}
	[gui]
	{
		equip_requirements = melee:#item_level - 2.0;
		inventory_icon = b_gui_ig_i_w_axe_301-a;
		inventory_height = 3;
		inventory_width = 1;
	}
	[pcontent]
	{
		[base]
		{
			item_level = 3.0;
		}
		[var1]
		{
			item_level = 12.0;
		}
		[var2]
		{
			item_level = 30.0;
		}
		[var3]
		{
			item_level = 42.0;
		}
		[var4]
		{
			item_level = 54.0;
		}
	}
}

This indicates that the non-magical form of this weapon (a one handed battle axe) is item_level 3 (because of the [base] block). The four slot enchantable version (var1) is at item_level 12. The six slot enchantable (var2) is at item_level 30, nine slot (var3) at item_level 42 and sixteen slot (var4) at item_level 54. You will notice that there are no damage stats in the template, for that you need to look for the template "base_axe_template" indicated by the template's "specializes" value.

Looking in the file wpn_bases.gas... (same folder as above).

[t:template,n:base_axe_template]
{
	category_name = "DS2_Weapon_Melee_Axe";
	doc = "Axe";
	specializes = weapon_melee;
	[aspect]
	{
		material = mediummetaledge;
		[voice]
		{
			[attack]
			{
				priority = high;
				* = s_ma_swing_sm_wpn;
			}
			[put_down]
			{
				* = s_ui_inv_place_axe_1h;
			}
		}
	}
	[attack]
	{
		attack_class = ac_axe;
		damage_min = 0.75 * (3.4 + 0.74 * #item_level);
		damage_max = 1.25 * (3.4 + 0.74 * #item_level);
		is_melee = true;
		reload_delay = 0.67;
		skill_class = melee;
	}
	[gui]
	{
		active_icon = b_gui_ig_i_ic_w_axe-1h-01;
		equip_slot = es_weapon_hand;
		inventory_height = 3;
		inventory_width = 1;
		use_class = IST_FIGHTER;
	}
}

This is where you will find the damage formulas, which you can use with your "item_level" to find out the damage for each weapon (in this case, about 32 min to 54 max for the Legendary enchantable version of ax_1h_ba).

To get a complete enchantable weapon list for DS2, you will need to look for each template that has [var#] blocks in these files:
wpn_axe_1h.gas
wpn_axe_2h.gas
wpn_bow.gas
wpn_cestus.gas
wpn_club.gas
wpn_crossbow.gas
wpn_dagger.gas
wpn_hammer_1h.gas
wpn_hammer_2h.gas
wpn_mace.gas
wpn_staff_fighter.gas
wpn_staff_mage.gas
wpn_sword_1h.gas
wpn_sword_2h.gas
wpn_thrown.gas

(The same logic process applies to armor, jewelry and books, but with different gas files...).