Heavy Armor options

[MithrilSoul]

Hi all,

My pally is currently lvl 10. (Technically a 9 pally/1 rogue, which I am kinda regretting that rogue level about now and will eventually LR+1 to a pure pally at some time, but that's besides the point.) She is a THF build, high STR, high CHA, low DEX. I'm looking for some suggestions for heavy armors progression as I continue to level.

At first I was just using full plate of the highest + I could find. Then I discovered the joys of DR, and for a long while have been using a +2 full plate of Invulnerability. However, now that I am level 10 I am encountering more & more mobs that seem to be bypassing the DR 5/magic of the Invuln armor so I've begun searching for alternatives. I did pick up a +2 adamantine, but I find myself going back & forth as to whether 3/- is better than 5/magic. The only clear upgrade I've seen on the AH is Full Plate of Giants (5/-), but every time I've seen it the prices have just been astronomical (500k gold and higher). Even if I *had* that much gold (which I certainly don't), I must admit I find myself wondering if it would be a significant enough upgrade to justify the cost.

Where do I look from here? I did pick up (cheap) on the AH a set of Argenti's Plate (passive 30 fire resist) so I am set for those situations where I need mega fire protection. And I do have an armor with Deathblock (Bloodplate Armor) for facing those situations. But otherwise, I am not sure where to go next and what I could/should be either looking for on the AH or trying to hunt myself as chest drops/quest rewards.

Any of the veterans out there able to make some suggestions for the lvl 10-15 level range? I'm not VIP but I am p2p and have bought most of the "big named" xpacs (currently toying around in Sands and I recently took advantage of the sale on xpacs to buy Gianthold and Necro 4), and still have some DDO points leftover from my last purchase to buy anything I might not have yet if it would be beneficial to me.

[Gercho]

Hi all,

My pally is currently lvl 10. (Technically a 9 pally/1 rogue, which I am kinda regretting that rogue level about now and will eventually LR+1 to a pure pally at some time, but that's besides the point.) She is a THF build, high STR, high CHA, low DEX. I'm looking for some suggestions for heavy armors progression as I continue to level.

At first I was just using full plate of the highest + I could find. Then I discovered the joys of DR, and for a long while have been using a +2 full plate of Invulnerability. However, now that I am level 10 I am encountering more & more mobs that seem to be bypassing the DR 5/magic of the Invuln armor so I've begun searching for alternatives. I did pick up a +2 adamantine, but I find myself going back & forth as to whether 3/- is better than 5/magic. The only clear upgrade I've seen on the AH is Full Plate of Giants (5/-), but every time I've seen it the prices have just been astronomical (500k gold and higher). Even if I *had* that much gold (which I certainly don't), I must admit I find myself wondering if it would be a significant enough upgrade to justify the cost.

Where do I look from here? I did pick up (cheap) on the AH a set of Argenti's Plate (passive 30 fire resist) so I am set for those situations where I need mega fire protection. And I do have an armor with Deathblock (Bloodplate Armor) for facing those situations. But otherwise, I am not sure where to go next and what I could/should be either looking for on the AH or trying to hunt myself as chest drops/quest rewards.

Any of the veterans out there able to make some suggestions for the lvl 10-15 level range? I'm not VIP but I am p2p and have bought most of the "big named" xpacs (currently toying around in Sands and I recently took advantage of the sale on xpacs to buy Gianthold and Necro 4), and still have some DDO points leftover from my last purchase to buy anything I might not have yet if it would be beneficial to me.

First of all, you are hating the rogue level, cause the rogue spalsh pays off when you get second rogue level in part, and when you get umd high enough for self healing, a pure paladin will allways be better from lvl 1 to lets say 11 or 12, but the benefits from the splash will be more clear once you take rogue 2, and when you start using UMD a lot more.

About the armor question, till now, you have had a good enough AC for the content you played, so heavy armor is good, the thing is, when you start going to GH (most do at around lvl 12) you will notice your armor doesnt much for you, and using heavy armor would be a waste (btw, you can get dr 5/evil from a lvl 2 paladin spell, short duration, but worth using some times). Anyway, the AC you will get wont be enough, and the dr 3 or 5 you may get, wont make a big difference either (and there is no way to get a permanent dr better than that), thats the time where splashing paladins take 2nd rogue (or monk) and start using robes and forget about ac, but gain evasion.

So, in the end, my advice would be to keep using the armors you have now, try the lvl 2 spell (angel skin), and at lvl 12 get your second rogue lvl and switch to robes. Granted, the rogue splash makes more sense in a twf because they will have more dex for the evasion st, but as a paladin you should make most st anyway.

Even if you dont get second lvl of rogue cause you want to switch to pure, usually you get more from using robes (no skill check penalties to balance and jump) than what a heavy armor can give you at higher levels.

[MithrilSoul]

I understand (or at least, have seen it said often enough) that once you start hitting the higher levels maintaining an AC high enough to be truly effective is very difficult. But on a character with a DEX of 12 (which is what mine is), I still don't see how/why a robe does anything positive for me at all as compared to plate mail. Unless there was some uber characteristic on some special, named robe that was not available to me in heavy armor. Why needlessly lower my AC by 10 or more points if I am getting no benefit from it? You mention Balance and Jump checks but...is that seriously going to be a huge issue?

In other words, okay in robes I might be getting hit when the mob rolls anything other than a 1. If I am in my heavy armor, perhaps the mobs might also miss me if they roll a 2 or 3. Not a huge deal perhaps, but again, it seems better more useful than simply a +4 better check on Balance. I just feel like I'm missing something here.

[ArgentMage]

You might consider picking up a set of the Tourney Armor (poor man's Mithril).
You're at the level where DR is probably not that useful, but not quite at the
level where you want to give up on armor. The Tourney Armor is nice because it has
less of an armor check penalty, so if you have points in balance and jump (which
I'm assuming from your level of Rogue), you get to use more of them, plus a couple
more points of DEX bonus if you have them (but from your original post, maybe not).
I put the alchemical armor ritual on mine for another +1, and I'll probably keep this
until I craft something or give up on armor.

Anyway, pretty easy to find on the AH or HouseK broker.

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...urneyArmor.jpg

[Gercho]

Well, it depends on the level and content, i dont have the exact numbers, i have heard than in GH in normal, mobs have +40 to hit, that means, that unless you can get to ac 43, the heavy armor is doing absolutely nothing for you, i doubt you hit ac 43 in your paladin while thf, and if you get to 43 would be using a lot of slots on items for ac, and ap for the pal aura, i think is not possible anyway but didnt ran the math. (take this with a grain of salt anyway, cause i m not sure whats the "to hit" from creatures in GH, its just what i have read in forums, but you get the idea, than in higher level content, its even higher the ac you need, so at some point, your ac, and your ac-10 is exactly the same)

So, when you say, its only +5 on balance and jump over using a heavy armor, you have to consider that its that against nothing that a heavy armor gives you (not even a 5% or 10% extra of misses).

Of course, if you know that in some quest, creatures will fail a 20% of the time with heavy armor and a 5% of the time with light armor, then heavy armor would be better on those situations.

Another benefit from robes, you can switch them instantly, so if you have many robes with different abilities, you can switch them even on middle of combat as needed (deathblock/fearsome of magi of resistance against some elements are common robes you could switch)
Btw, jump and balance are the most important skills for a paladin other than umd, and are usefull in many situations.

[Shaftronics]

I have been wondering about the same thing when I first started. However, as my TWF Paladin reached level 13 and my Tempest Fighter reached level 15, I decided that it was time to focus on what both of them were good at. And AC as a beginner such as myself, was definitely impossible to fully be decent in. So I had to actually sit and think about getting hit, how do I mitigate this damage, etc.

For my Paladin, I was actually re-using an ML:4, Lesser Acid Guard Adamantine Full Plate. I found it ironic that I returned back to my low-leveled staple armor, but it seemed to work well. Everything that hit me got punished in a small way, and the DR 3/- was great. But the point was, DR worked wherever I go, while the AC did not.

My tempest fighter, having 2 levels of rogue, required light armor or robes so that his evasion would fully be in effect. I'm thinking that this might be what the OP wants in the end; a splash of 2 rogue.

I'll say that the 2nd level of rogue will make all the difference, trust me.

If you want a light armor with good DR, look up ironweave tunic. They generally don't cost more than 20k plat, if at all and have a DR of 3/Bludgeoning, which will work well against most targets and you also retain the ability to evade. It will take awhile to get used to "Getting hit" per se, but if you have 100% fortification (or at least the highest fortification you can have), you'll eventually get used to it.

Also, there are various ways for you to kite around enemies to get hit less, as well as using doorways, letting the barb with higher DR take the aggro, etc...

Its all situational.