>From: "Daniel P. Sniderman" <fuzzbone@...>
>Reply-To: eqbards@onelist.com
>To: "EQ Bards" <eqbards@onelist.com>
>Subject: [eqbards] AC Dilemma
>Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 23:57:53 -0600
>
> But anyway - I got to the armor store in E Freeport and look at the
>Steel Plate. I notice that they mostly offer 1 or 2 AC points above the
>equivalent banded. Same as Bronze with a small weight saving. Question is
>- is it worth it? How important is one or two AC points? How important is
>2 or 3 but giving up STR or whatever bonuses. I have Blackened Iron
>Shoulders. It says "Magic Item". What does this actually provide? Is the
>Steel Pauldron the equivalent? Pretty annoying you can't tell without
>buying and then you can sell it at a fraction of what you pay for it if you
>make a mistake (obviously forcing you to check website like EQualizer...
>Thanks!
>
>Slyde
This may have already been touched upon, but I'll say this: I was in full
steel plate by 26th level (well the visual pieces anyways). The AC
difference is not much, but that is only half the reason for the upgrade,
bro. Not only will you have a slightly higher AC than you will with Banded,
but PLATE ARMOR inherently absorbs damage better than lower forms of armor.
Compare a monk in whatever armor he is wearing (doesn't matter if it's
raw-hide or full shiverback "armor" or whatever the planes armor is
nowadays) against any plate-wearing melee class when getting hit by a
monster. WHEN HIT by the mob, a monk will almost always take more damage per
blow than a plate-wearing person, because of the class of armor.
This was not the case in early to mid-beta testing. I had a wizard wearing
robes and was able to tank monsters all the time. Then armor rules were
changed to be more realistic, and I would ALWAYS keep myself in the rear
lines of battle to avoid being hit.
To quote one of the Verant employees shortly after that armor patch, "I got
sick of seeing players in paper-suits tanking mobs..."
Oh yeah, FINALLY made 50th last night! W00p, I love the last song!
Sartori D'Elsiraad <The Companions>
Bard of Kelethin of the 50th Chorus
Veeshan