The point in having Armour

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 8:26 pm

I'm playing in HOF mode and I've noticed that even my characters with Armour Classes of 30+ are getting hit routinely. This was pretty much the same in normal mode on Insane Difficulty.

That leads me to something - is there any real point in wearing armour? If you're going to het hit anyway, why bother wearing Mithril Field Plate +2 which has no benefits aside from AC, or wearing something like Abishai Hide armour etc. which at least give you resistances.

Even my 21st level Barbarian on almost 400 HP and an AC of 30 odd can't stand up to many opponents. A Rhemoraz seems to have a base attack bonus of about 50 hits about 4 times per round and does aound 30+ damage per hit plus fire damage.

Cort-John · Post by **Cort-John** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 9:43 am

Well, although I haven't played HOF (after the whole experience level problems I was having, I started Lionheart) I would say that the main benefit to wearing armour would be the damage absorption. Aye, your character is still getting hit, but if you weren't wearing armour, the damage would most likely be far greater.

Also, as you say, many pieces of armour add additional benefits above and beyond AC, which is always nice.

And come on, all the other rangers, fighters etc will laugh at your character if he/she just walks around naked as a jay bird, so let your character have some decency LOL j/k

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 3:25 pm

Does all armour have a damage reduction value? I didn't know that. I've now given my Barbarian Cornugon Hide instead of the Studded Leather +2 he was wearing. We'll see if this extends his life a little more!

Wrath-Of-Egg · Post by **Wrath-Of-Egg** » Sun Sep 12, 2004 10:45 pm

chain of drakkas could be good armor... for anyone with high dex...

since it dont have max dex bonus...

Heidrek · Post by **Heidrek** » Mon Sep 13, 2004 10:25 pm

Yes, the Chain is good, particularly the HoF version, as is Cornugon Hide for it's resistances, but evrything else seems to be next to useless.

Lu-Tze · Post by **Lu-Tze** » Tue Sep 14, 2004 4:22 am

[QUOTE=Wrath-Of-Egg]chain of drakkas could be good armor... for anyone with high dex...
since it dont have max dex bonus...[/QUOTE]

Uhm. Maybe my game is screwed up but Chain of Drakkas has no DEX bonus...

EDIT: Nevermind, my mistake... Chain of Drakkas has no _max_ DEX bonus, which probably makes it "the best money can buy" in IWD2.

Copy-Pasted from Dale Keeper II:

Drakkas Ranul was an outcast Moon Elf ........
<snip>
...
Armor Bonus: +7
Max Dex Bonus: None
...
______________________________________

As for armor damage absortion: nope! There are *maybe* 3 or 4 armors with this feature in IWD2.
This is just... Well, it makes no sense to me...
Wearing a heavy plate, compared to leather armor, should make you much easier to hit but harder to damage.
Forcing AC+DEX bonus isn't a very good design:
Vanilla leather gives you +2 AC and +6 DEX(max) bonus, while vanilla full plate gives +8 AC and +1 DEX. Therefor, leather armor (used correctly) is better since you don't suffer from armor check penalty... 1 or 2 points of AC don't make *much* difference in IWD2. Besides, most characters in IWD2 can hit AC30+.
HoF mode just emphasizes this. I mean: seeing a 20th level fighter in a magical full plate, +X greatsword, all those power attacks, cleaves, weapon specialisations, etc., etc., getting 1 for 1 hits from a ..... *goblin* is ridicilous.
This could have been so much better hack'n'slasher (although, I'd pick this over Diablo anyday...

).

Well, bitterness aside, there is a light at the end of a tunnel... Weimers "ease of use" for IWD2 has a component which adds damage reduction to all armors and shields equal to their AC. Beware, 'cause this affects *everyone*.

gillio · Post by **gillio** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 2:06 am

The lost fun of having armour

i reckon all this armour check penalty stuff is stupid. it ruins part of the game, in baldurs gate 2 for example u could have ur guys running around bolstered up with the biggest, bestlooking,glowing, shiny armour that u could buy (or hack off of some other poor guy) and u would be proud to look at ur party. but now ur better off in icewind dale 2 with some puny looking leather armour than some cool hugeass plate mail that shines and glows.
and why are greatswords so much worse in icewind dale 2 than in BG and BG2 and icewind dale? or is that just me not understanding the far too complicated rules of icewind dale 2?
someone please explain

Wrath-Of-Egg · Post by **Wrath-Of-Egg** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 7:18 am

[QUOTE=gillio]i reckon all this armour check penalty stuff is stupid. it ruins part of the game, in baldurs gate 2 for example u could have ur guys running around bolstered up with the biggest, bestlooking,glowing, shiny armour that u could buy (or hack off of some other poor guy) and u would be proud to look at ur party. but now ur better off in icewind dale 2 with some puny looking leather armour than some cool hugeass plate mail that shines and glows.
and why are greatswords so much worse in icewind dale 2 than in BG and BG2 and icewind dale? or is that just me not understanding the far too complicated rules of icewind dale 2?
someone please explain[/QUOTE]

IWD2 rules are simple and clear... just read the ****ing manual.. and all that thing is for realism.. BG and IWD are not same game...

gillio · Post by **gillio** » Fri Sep 17, 2004 9:12 am

o

yeah but the realism has taken over the fun of the game and changed it completely. and the manual explans f*** all.
anyone help with the ice temple? im stuck. go the ice temple thread for details.