From Armor to Robes

[Ilontu]

Ok,

I've seen a few people talking about switching their high lvl rogues and rangers from armor to robes.

I've got a lv 7 Ranger with 23 dex (started with 17, and have a +2 item). I noticed my Mithral BP is already limiting my dex bonus to AC, and in another level, even a Mithral Chain Shirt will be hampering my dex.

On the other hand, it is only limiting dex to AC; my saves/attack rolls/skill checks will be uneffected. And the additional AC from the armor itself seems to outweigh any benefits from dropping the armor. Also, maybe it's just because I'm not a wiz/sorc, but most of the robes I've seen haven't been very good. Something like: Fire Resist 3 and +20 SP is about the best I've seen.

I guess what I'm asking is: at what point do robes really start to overtake mithral BP/Chain Shirt in viability for a high dex rangers & rogues?

[Mad_Bombardier]

When it comes to robes, you are looking at beating is the combined total of +5 Mithral FP: 8 armor + 5 enchant + 3 dex = +16 AC.

Armor Bracers + DEX >= 16. So, +4 Armor Bracers (WW end reward) or Mage Armor potion/buff and 34 DEX = +16 AC. Robes also offer the added flexibility of Greater Resists, Deathblock, SR, and Fortification (at the cost of your bracers slot). And you can sometimes afford to gain less AC (if your DEX is not that high) to gain the added defensive properties.

[Fennario]

Well it depends on what kind of other high end gear you have. If you want to maintain some AC with robes you have to use something else with an AC bonus on it. You can do this with the WW bracers (+4), or with Mage Armor pots/clickies (+4). Alot of people will use something else for their bracer slot (Chaosgarde gives +2 AC that stacks with deflection) so they rely on Mage Armor.

But there are +6 Armored Bracers out there that drop, so like I said it depends on the gear you have.

But here is what kind of dex you need along with a +4 AC bonus to equal the various armor:

You need a 30 dex to equal Padded Armor in Robes

+5 Padded Armor --- 6 Armor + 8 dex = 14 AC
Robes --- 4 Armor + 10 dex = 14 AC

You need a 32 dex to equal Mithril Breastplate in Robes

+5 Mithril Breastplate --- 10 Armor + 5 dex = 15 AC
Robes --- 4 Armor +11 dex = 15 AC

You need a 32 dex to equal Mithril Chain Shirt in Robes

+5 Mithril Chain Shirt --- 9 Armor + 6 dex = 15 AC
Robes --- +4 Armor + 11 dex = 15 AC

You need a 34 dex to equal the Kundarak Delving Suit (Dragon Loot) in Robes

KDS --- 10 Armor +6 dex = 16 AC
Robes --- +4 Armor + 12 dex = 16 AC

[Avindral]

my level 14 ranger has 34 dex, i wear +6 ac bracers and a robe of heavy fort with ice gaurd on it, my base ac is 34, with a +5 shield 41 and with barkskin 46, however this includes a +5 protection cloak which adds to ac. A paladin close by bumps that up to 50 at level 14, and i am not maxed out by any means, i know of at least on ranger that has a 50 ac self buffed.

Now 34 dex gives me +12 to ac, with bracers this becomes 18 ac, i dont have any on hand but +5 mith chain shirt is something like 4 ac + 6 max dex and +5 bonus which gives you 15 ac. I guess when your dex bonus gets to around 10 and you can wear +5 ac bracers then you can look at switching to robes, however you need to consider all your equipment, what do you lose what do you gain, what slots do you now have free and so on. I had my bracers in the bank a while before i swapped to robes simply because swapping at the time would have left me without any fort item.

[Ilontu]

Thanks for the tips guys. It looks like switching to robes will be and endgame type thing for me then. (if at all).

All of my enhancements and lv4/8/12 abilities, will take me up to a 25 dex. +5 Dex item is 30 dex, +2 tome will bump it up to 32. More likely those last 2 things will be a difficult find, so I'm guessing about a 30 dex.

Anyways, thanks for clearing that up for me. I was under the assumption it was a more mid-level change and not an endgame change.

[Mad_Bombardier]

Thanks for the tips guys. It looks like switching to robes will be and endgame type thing for me then. (if at all).

All of my enhancements and lv4/8/12 abilities, will take me up to a 25 dex. +5 Dex item is 30 dex, +2 tome will bump it up to 32. More likely those last 2 things will be a difficult find, so I'm guessing about a 30 dex.

Anyways, thanks for clearing that up for me. I was under the assumption it was a more mid-level change and not an endgame change.

It can be a level 8-10 (ml:8 for Greater Resist and Hvy Fort robes, lvl 10 for Ranger DEX III enhancement) change if you don't mind sacrificing a few points of AC for Robe properties and quickswapping.

[QuantumFX]

When it comes to robes, you are looking at beating is the combined total of the Kundarak Delving Suit (+5 Armor +5 Enchantment +6 Max Dex Bonus = +16 AC.)

I'm editing Mad's post to reflect the reality for a ranger. (KDS = Best light armor = Evasion)

The rule is to switch to robes when your Dex + Robes + Braciers total is higher than what you can attain in armor. For dwarves the KDS and Chaosguarde is the path to max AC. For others the White Dragon Robe + Chaosguarde is the path to take.

[Mad_Bombardier]

I'm editing Mad's post to reflect the reality for a ranger. (KDS = Best light armor = Evasion)

KDS = +5 Mithral FP for AC. But, yes I switched to robes so long ago that I forgot about the Evasion fix.

KDS is the best light armor for use with Evasion builds. +5 Mithral BP or +5 Mithral Chain Shirt being close seconds with 15 AC.