Carbide former
Elements with a strong affinity for carbon, like chromium, tungsten, or titanium, which form hard metal carbides. They significantly increase the wear resistance and high-temperature strength of steel.
Carbide formers like chromium, titanium, niobium or tungsten bind carbon into hard carbides. These make the structure harder and more wear-resistant, but you have to watch out: During welding, they pull carbon from the surrounding area. That changes hardenability and can cause surprises in the heat-affected zone.
With stainless steels, this is tricky: If chromium forms carbides at grain boundaries, the steel becomes chromium-depleted there and can corrode intergranularly. So use suitable filler metal and keep heat input in check. If you're doing hardfacing for wear, you want the carbides deliberately – but too much of them makes the stuff brittle and crack-prone.