silken mail VS. kundarak delving suit

[tenga]

silken mail:

armor bonus +5
enhancement +4
mithral
greater silent moves (move silently +10)
axe block (dr5/slashing)

vs.

kundarak delving suit:

armor bonus +6
enhancement +5
mithral
search +5


so on delving suit, you gain 2 ac, but you miss out on the 5 damage reduction (seems most high end content, ie gianthold, seems to be swords and such from orcs, giants and hobgoblins) also with delving suit you lose the move silently, which i happen to use a lot as a utility scout. i know about 90% of anyone reading this would say 2 ac increase is better than any utility advantage you could dream of, but i'd rather hear a compelling argument on why i would go through the effort to repeatedly do VON over and over again at the chance it might drop, and the chance i'd win the roll on it, where as with the silken mail, i got for 15kpp in the auction house in buyout.
thoughts?

[bandyman1]

Lol, noone is saying not to use the silken mail until you get the chance to upgrade to the KDS. Run Vons as you normally would ( no need to grind them constantly ), and if you wind up with it, great. If not, no-biggie. It's not a " must-have " requirment for a rogue or ranger to get invited to groups, or like anyone is going to consider you gimped because you don't have one.

Geez. Figured that would have went without saying, lol.

[Hvymetal]

I did the same on my Rogues, used Silken Mail till I have a chance to get a KDS (only have it on one though). Works great, however recently I have been switching out Silken Mails for Mummy Wraps, seems to work better for me.

[tenga]

well to reply to bandyman, my point of this post wasnt to rant, or prove any sort of point. it was a legitimate question, wondering if gaining 2ac was worth losing axeblock and greater silent moves, especially considering the effort it takes teh get the delving suit weighted against the ease of getting a silken mail. no sarcastic "lol"s needed

[Shade]

s ie gianthold, seems to be swords and such from orcs, giants and hobgoblins)

Yep so it doesn't work against much.
DR5/Slashing means it works against every except slashing.

[SneakThief]

Yep so it doesn't work against much.
DR5/Slashing means it works against every except slashing.
Yeah but you of all people know Axe Block is actually DR 5/Bludgeon,Pierce

[Zenako]

My Ranger / Rogue runs with Silken Mail currently. Love having a built in Move silent boost (one less thing to swap around when going into uber sneak mode...ie to move past mobs like Giants, etc.)

Since I try to get a minimum of aggro and melee attacks, losing the 2 AC is not a huge factor to my playstyle. Having the Axeblock is a nice boost as well for when melee does close with me.

PS, I managed to pick up my Silken Mail at the House K vendor:D :eek: someone had sold it to them:confused: So I thank that anomymous seller.

[bandyman1]

It would depend on your AC. If you AC is already high ( say 45-50 standing ), then 2 points will make a very noticeable difference. If your AC is low ( high 30s or lower standing ), then go with the DR.

[Xenaphon]

Actually depends on what your dex is. Most rangers do not wear armor, instead they wear armor bracers or white dragon robe. I personally wear +6 armor bracers with 13 dex bonus. There is a way to get better ac using KDS but it involves being a dwarf and getting armor mastery belt from crucible.

[bandyman1]

Actually depends on what your dex is. Most rangers do not wear armor, instead they wear armor bracers or white dragon robe. I personally wear +6 armor bracers with 13 dex bonus. There is a way to get better ac using KDS but it involves being a dwarf and getting armor mastery belt from crucible.

I'm assuming he doesn't have the Dex for that, as he is asking us to compare the two armors. KDS will give higher AC than Silkenmail, regardless of other factors.

[sigtrent]

My bards often wear silken mail as I have a suit of it and you can pass it around unlike KDS.

It helps that neither of my bards are especialy dexy. One runs at 18 dex and the other runs at 12 dex. I've switched both to wearing fearsome chain shirts of command though... Fearsome is exceptionaly powerful, especialy for characters with less than optimal AC.

The move silent on silken mail is pretty convinient, and I still have it on my warchanter even if I only wear it when facing enemies immune to fear. I mostly want KDS for my wizard... and I think of the two it looks cooler, although its less distinctive since a lot of folks wear it. Silken mail is less common to see around stormreach.

[GAULSTON]

Currently wearin this:
Vulkoorim Dervish Robe - Lesser Fire Resistance, +4 ac (Desert Drow area, Mendexathazz)
till I can get the scales fer this:
White Dragonscale Robe - +6 armor, Moderate Fortification, +4 Protection, Greater Cold Resistance, Shield 3/rest.
Chances on gettin the raid loot is pretty slim, but good luck.
Go robes, get yer full max dex bonus.

[Qzipoun]

Most rangers do not wear armor, instead they wear armor bracers or white dragon robe.

While that is definitely true for ranged rangers or weapon finesse rangers it is not necessarily true for strength based rangers. I have a ranger with a +8 max dex bonus and the KDS is the best thing he can be wearing (using +2 to dex from dwarven armor mastery).

[Quietstorm]

While that is definitely true for ranged rangers or weapon finesse rangers it is not necessarily true for strength based rangers. I have a ranger with a +8 max dex bonus and the KDS is the best thing he can be wearing (using +2 to dex from dwarven armor mastery).

I agree it really depends on the build and what you want out of your character.