Characters with Heavy Armor Proficiency should just begin the game with a chainmail. Or at the very least ringmail if we replace the ringmail that drops in the first dungeon with chainmail.
It is ridiculous that a heavy armor fighter or ranger has to deal with having a crushingly low AC for the entire first act. Chainmail needs to be available a lot sooner. 16 AC is really the minimum you need to feel like you're not made of glass in melee.
Full plate can be something we get toward the end of Act 1 where the chainmail currently is now.
