34 i feel like the whole armor system is just a mess. you wear heavy armor and then when the enemy breaks through it its like youre wearing nothing at all? its just awkward, doesnt feel good. Maybe try something like: heavier armor gives flat damage reduction from ALL damage, leather armor gives dodge, and cloth armor gives a recharging shield. the frontliners need damage reduction more than temporary hp, the leather wearers are kind of in a weird in between, and the magic users (or whoever would be wearing cloth since hybrid is a thing) could make more use of temporary hp since theirs would be low and they wouldnt be tanking enough hits to need reduction. Something like each piece will recharge 10% of its total each turn, and the amount can be 0 so that early game you dont have wizards running around with mega shields. this is just a suggestion, since the current system feels wonky. but better yet just have cloth be worthless for protection and give damage stats and rarely have the magic shield modifier since traditional casters should be squishy pastries anyways.
I agree with a lot of your points, but this is just a matter of perception. Here is a basic example of what I mean.
Hero 1 has 50 hp and 50 armor and is immune to physical debuffs.
Hero 2 had 50 hp and 50% damage reduction.
Both heroes take a physical hit for 50 damage.
Hero 1 loses his armor and is no longer immune to physical debuffs.
Hero 2 takes 25 damage and has 25 hp remaining.
Both heroes have an effective 50 hp left against physical attacks, hero 1 has a significant edge against magic attacks and the added benefit of being protected from any debuffs from that first attack.
As long as the percentage reduction and health added are similar (which they very much seem to be in actual play compared to DOS1) then the new system is more effective for the player more than a traditional armor/resistance system.
In addition to this, you can easily see how armor and magic armor effect both you and enemies. In most other systems, in order to get that information you would have to dig through a menu and then calculate out the actual effect. So the new system, while not what we're used to, is generally speaking better for the player both for combat purposes and usability.
