Question 1: I'm currently in the Underdark, and have yet to get some appropriate armor for my Tanks. All I've found or looted have been chainmail or half-plate at best. Have I missed something?

Question 2: I think I may be ignorant about some lelments of the 3e ruleset. Please enlighten me. I can equip a character with a better type of armor and his AC won't increase a bit (example: I have a fighter equipped with chainmail, I equip him with half-plate and his AC remains the same - he specializes in heavy armor). What am I missing?

Question 3: I can equip a character with a magic item (say, +3 bracers or ring, and their AC won't change a bit). What am I missing?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

2 - Every armor type has a max dexterity bonus associated with it. If the armor you had on before was one less in AC but allowed one more in dexterity bonus that your character was able to take advantage of, then the two armors would be equivalent in AC for that character. So, "better" type of armor depends on your character's stats.

3 - There are four or five AC bonus types (natural AC, deflection bonus, misc bonus, armor, etc.) available for each character, and they don't stack.

[ September 24, 2002, 19:44: Message edited by: Blackthorne TA ]

Overall, the game does not provide huge armors the way some of the other IE games do. This is an intentional design decision. There are several suits of Field Plate available in Chapter 2 (though they are easy to miss) as well as some Full Plate+1.

There are supposed to be a few suits of 'unique' armor in the second half of the game. However, a number of them are not dropping properly, which is a known issue and expected to be addressed in the upcoming patch.

You really have to look at your items and think when you equipment different stuff in IWD2. For example, if you have the chainmail +1 from the shop in Targos you can have a better AC than if you are wearing the splintmail. Why? Because the chainmail allows you to apply your Dex bonus (if you have one) to your AC whereas the splintmail does not. Also, when it comes to other items. You can wear armor and a ring of protection +2 and get the AC effects for both. This is because the armor protection is one thing while the rings effects count towards your deflection bonus. However if you have a cloak of protection +1 and a ring of protection +2 you will only get the +2 from the ring since it is highest deflection bonus.

I had to drop my first party since I was not familiar with the 3ed rules because I had given my Paladin and Fighter some extra points in Dex. Once I threw on the heavy armor I was like oh crap, that was a waste. So, you have to understand the system and create your characters and balance the items you have equipped based on the type of bonuses they grant. It does not do you any good to have your mage equipped with both the ring of protect +1 and the amulet of protect +1 that you can buy in Targos because he only gets a +1 deflection bonus, so shift the other items to other characters. And keep checking you information screen to see how different pieces affect your character. I was wondering why, at level 6, my monk only had 1 attack per round with her fists. Then I realized, duh, she is wearing a helmet… She can wear a hat-but not a helmet, and she can wear bracers-but not robes… go figure

As to armor in the first half of the game. Oswald can make some good 1/4 weight fullplate out of the beetle shells. The first set of unique heavy armor I got was from the Duergar in the outpost after I wiped out the Monks. I think it was some type of magic resistant halfplate or fieldplate. I also got a good shield from them.

[ September 26, 2002, 15:41: Message edited by: Grey Ghost ]

Equipment selection is definitely a bigger deal in this game. Normally, I'd look for heavy armor for my front line fighters, but you need to accomodate their dexterity as well. My paladin has no dex bonuses, so plate mail is the best type of armor for him. My dwarf fighter has a high dex score, so he has the same ac as my plated paladin, but he's wearing +1 studded leather!

Personally, I think this may be the best IE game since the original Baldur's Gate! There's tons of flexibility, and a really good storyline!!! I know it's an aging game engine, but it gives a fun gaming/roleplaying experience!!!!

[ September 26, 2002, 15:54: Message edited by: Sir Belisarius ]

1) in chapter 2 you can get a green full plate, asking oswald to make it for you by 1700gp. that's is the best armor i've seen till now, its a +8/+1 (+8 to ac, and allows +1 dex bonus)