"A.Rubman" wrote:

> Anything else in-between? And if it might help, later on when tailors
> get better, reinforced looks like leather but has the same if not better
> AC of chain.

This is true, reinforced does have higher AC than leather, but it is
not financially viable. Compared to banded, the price you could
sell reinforced for is relatively low given that smiths sell steel
bonings at about 2pp each, 1pp if you have a smith friend (and
free if you have a _good_ friend who is a smith).

And for the same reason, studded is also not viable (even less so
than reinforced). And as not many (if any) tailors make studded,
their skills are too low to reliably make reinforced, which means
it costs a tailor even more to make it.

Have a look around and see how many people advertise studded or
reinforced for sale, compared to patchwork or banded. I have
seen zero in my time playing, since the second week of release.

If you find a friendly tailor with reasonable skill, say 30 (and
you are unlikely to find anyone with higher skill), then you
may be able to get him or her to make you reinforced at material cost
(I know I would). But expect to shell out at least 8pp plus change
for a tunic, per attempt (2pp each for 4 bonings, plus pattern
and high quality pelt).

IMHO the trade skills suck in financial terms. Sure, it's fun to
make and sell stuff, but remember that time you spend making and
selling is time you are not partying. In a role-playing sense it
is good, but any powergamers out there would be well advised to
steer clear of trade skills.

Here's hoping that the upgrade to trade skills in the new version
of EQ helps fix that problem.

Rocket