Larian Studios
Posted By: Ceno Question about different armor types. - 16/07/14 10:40 AM
Is there a specific armor each class benefits from more or is it just whatever your character happens to find and has the prerequisites for? Maybe it's just me, I'm so used to certain classes bound to specific armor types from other games I've played.. I'm assuming any class be it rogue or mage etc can use cloth,leather,mail,metal armor.(providing they meet the armor stat requirements if any) as I was able to equip cloth,leather and mail on my rogue. I didn't have the str requirements for metal at the time but I'm guessing I could have equipped that as well. What is the benefit of going with metal over cloth or leather etc?

I have a rogue and a ranger. As far as I've been playing I have tried to equip leather gear on each from what I assumed was their "class armor" type. Should I just be equipping them with whatever gear provides the best stats at the time and just ignore the base material it's made of? What role does the armor's material play aside from looks? Will equipping metal armor on my rogue affect ability to sneak or stealth? I did notice the different weights on armor types but it's not THAT huge of a difference really.

I wish there was some written list somewhere explaining what armor type is "best suited for (insert class here). I guess It just feels weird to equip whatever drops along the way and end up with a hodge podge of cloth,leather,mail or plate pieces on one character.
It's a classless system, so characters can wear whatever they have the stats to equip. Metal/str, leather/dex, and cloth/int requirements mean that a character is likely to wear armor that is thematically associated with a given style, but if your archery-focused character has enough str or int then they can use metal or cloth armor without a problem.

Metal armor will have better defense than an equivalent leather piece, and both will have better defense than an equivalent cloth piece. Beyond that, leather and cloth have default movement and (usually) initiative bonuses, while metal armor has a default penalty (which can be removed by fitting it at an anvil). Leather armor typically has a small amount of poison resistance built in, while metal armor typically has a moderate amount of elemental resistance built in.

Magical enhancements on any of them vary widely.
Posted By: Songbird Re: Question about different armor types. - 16/07/14 05:10 PM
Certain types of plate gives innate resistance bonuses and leather armors have innate initiative bonuses. There is a little bit of specialization there.

For the most part though, if you have the stats, wear what you want. The world is your oyster.
Posted By: Ceno Re: Question about different armor types. - 16/07/14 09:02 PM
I guess while I'm on the topic of armor, I might as well ask if this rule is the same more or less for weapons too? "Whats good for one is good for all"? Of course this will vary if you are specifically playing a ranged, melee or caster spec.
Posted By: eidolon Re: Question about different armor types. - 16/07/14 10:05 PM
Scoundrels have abilities that only work with Daggers and you can't really expect them to backstab somebody with a big axe. Theoretically you could give your warrior a Dagger, but the damage of their abilities scales with the weapon damage and Daggers are fast low damage weapons that often apply status effects.
© Larian Studios forums