My character is wearing leather armour trimmed with mithril. Looking at the help armour type list, it is well below chainmail in quality. I purchased a set of black chainmail, but when compared it was not nearly as good. So I ended up having to sell it back to the merchant, and lost about 10 plat in the exchange.
My character has 3 *** in armour proficiency, and is very strong, with a decent dex.
I'd like to get some better armour for him, but I'm afraid to now, as the help list showed chain as being stronger. Can anyone explain the armour system a bit? Is there a way to compare armour that is in the shop before you purchase it?
Armour type
===========
The type of armour you wear determines how well you are protected and how
well you will succeed at various skills and spell casting. Cloth armour for
instance will not inhibit you in anyway but platemail armour will. The amount
it inhibits you depends on how much of it you are wearing and the heavier and
more restrictive the armour is.
The armour types at the top of this list are the least restrictive and those
at the bottom are the most restrictive.
Cloth Armour
Padded Armour
Shield
Leather Armour
Studded Leather Armour
Hide Armour
Scalemail Armour
Brigandine Armour
Chainmail Armour
Ring mail Armour
Banded field plate Armour
Field plate Armour
Splint mail Armour
Plate mail Armour
Full Plate Armour
Question about Armour Types
Question about Armour Types
Brydin
Fighter of Moradin
Gold Dwarf of Mithril Halls
Fighter of Moradin
Gold Dwarf of Mithril Halls
-
Balek
- Sword Grand Master
- Posts: 465
- Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2003 9:54 pm
- Location: Mithril Hall
- Contact:
I would hesitate to use the 'compare' command as an accurate description of the actual quality of one piece of armor as compared to another. As far as I know (and I could be wrong) the compare command does nothing more than check the level of each piece of armor. The level of the item doesn't change how well it protects and I don't believe there's any standardized system for assigning item levels, so it could very well be that the compare command says chainmail is worse than leather, but the chainmail actually protects better.
In general, I think the actual protection afforded by nonmagical armor is based on three things: armor type, material and quality of the armor. Armor type is chainmail, plate, etc. Material is steel, tin, mithril, etc and can be seen by examining the armor (you can examine an item on a merchant by typing 'examine <item> <merchant>). Armor quality is a value set by the builder or by the skill of the PC smith who created the item. It has values like average, superior, and outstanding. Most normal armor is average quality. You can determine quality by using the appraise command, which works better if you have it trained. To use appraise you need to have the item in your inventory, so you can't check armor quality before you buy.
The exact amount each of these three variables contributes to final AC of the armor is more complicated than I'm capable of figuring out without more information. Is outstanding tin plate better than average steel chainmail? I honestly don't know, but from an IC perspective I'd rather have steel chainmail than tin plate
.
In general, I think the actual protection afforded by nonmagical armor is based on three things: armor type, material and quality of the armor. Armor type is chainmail, plate, etc. Material is steel, tin, mithril, etc and can be seen by examining the armor (you can examine an item on a merchant by typing 'examine <item> <merchant>). Armor quality is a value set by the builder or by the skill of the PC smith who created the item. It has values like average, superior, and outstanding. Most normal armor is average quality. You can determine quality by using the appraise command, which works better if you have it trained. To use appraise you need to have the item in your inventory, so you can't check armor quality before you buy.
The exact amount each of these three variables contributes to final AC of the armor is more complicated than I'm capable of figuring out without more information. Is outstanding tin plate better than average steel chainmail? I honestly don't know, but from an IC perspective I'd rather have steel chainmail than tin plate
.
You are dealing with several variables, when dealing with armour in FK. You cannot compare quality when judging how protective something is.
The list you listed above, is quite accurate as far as the top being least restrictive, and least protective, with the bottom of the list being the most restrictive, most protective.
The PROTECTION of the armor goes by that scale above. It basically determines how often your opponent will get a successful hit on you. The higher class your armor type is, the higher the opponent has to roll to get a successful hit on you with each attack. Magical bonuses also add to this rating.
The QUALITY of the armor, is how easily it damages, based on the average example of the armor. ie, high quality armor will damage less in fighting than average, poor quality more than, etc. Magical bonuses also modify how easily damaged the armor is.
The MATERIAL of the armor also affects how easily it damages. Soft materials like tin, copper, etc, and brittle metals like iron, damage far easier than materials like platinum, titanium, mithril. Steel is kind of a baseline, falling in the middle. Material does NOT affect how protective armor is.
So, when comparing two pieces of armor, that leather trimmed with mitrhil may very well appear better in a compare, than steel chainmail, because it's of higher quality, better material, etc. But it's not going to protect you more than the chain. However, you might make more trips to the repair shop with the chain. Though, with leather being the base material for the other armor, I doubt it, because leather, due to the MATERIAL, damages more often than metal armor.
Long and short of it is... if you want the most protective armor, you would go for the chainmail, plain and simple. If you're a fighter, you'll likely be working your way up from there anyway.
The list you listed above, is quite accurate as far as the top being least restrictive, and least protective, with the bottom of the list being the most restrictive, most protective.
The PROTECTION of the armor goes by that scale above. It basically determines how often your opponent will get a successful hit on you. The higher class your armor type is, the higher the opponent has to roll to get a successful hit on you with each attack. Magical bonuses also add to this rating.
The QUALITY of the armor, is how easily it damages, based on the average example of the armor. ie, high quality armor will damage less in fighting than average, poor quality more than, etc. Magical bonuses also modify how easily damaged the armor is.
The MATERIAL of the armor also affects how easily it damages. Soft materials like tin, copper, etc, and brittle metals like iron, damage far easier than materials like platinum, titanium, mithril. Steel is kind of a baseline, falling in the middle. Material does NOT affect how protective armor is.
So, when comparing two pieces of armor, that leather trimmed with mitrhil may very well appear better in a compare, than steel chainmail, because it's of higher quality, better material, etc. But it's not going to protect you more than the chain. However, you might make more trips to the repair shop with the chain. Though, with leather being the base material for the other armor, I doubt it, because leather, due to the MATERIAL, damages more often than metal armor.
Long and short of it is... if you want the most protective armor, you would go for the chainmail, plain and simple. If you're a fighter, you'll likely be working your way up from there anyway.
"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men."
Kregor - Ranger of Tangled Trees
Rozor - Lady Luck's Duelist
Tygen - Ranger-Bard of Mielikki
Kregor - Ranger of Tangled Trees
Rozor - Lady Luck's Duelist
Tygen - Ranger-Bard of Mielikki