duelists leather for aa

[margorn]

any thoughts on using these on a aa . lev 20 aa with 36 dex

[Angelus_dead]

Of course it depends a lot on what level your Arcane Archer is, and what level of Duelist Leathers you've got.

But in general an Arcane Archer is one of the better possibilities to make use of that armor. Other kinds of Rogues/Rangers will tend to either have too much dex for Duelist Leathers or too little, but an Arcane Archer that has moderate dexterity might be able to get more AC from Duelist Leather than Icy Raiment.

However, an AA doesn't usually have much need for AC, so using up your body+bracer slot for that purpose isn't too attractive.

[ThePrincipal]

my drow twf evasion fighter used +8 armor bracers and icy raiment but has switch to duelist leathers and choasguard. you should get more ac with the leathers if you dont exceed the max dex cap.

[AylinIsAwesome]

I honestly don't see how Epic Duelists Leathers can get a higher AC than Monk splash.

The Armour Bonus is +8, with +12 MDB. All you'd need on a Monk splash to better than is +8 Armour Bracers, and then +13 total mod across DEX and WIS, unless I'm missing something. (Chaosguarde not used since that Dodge +2 can come on Mabar Cloak).

[Angelus_dead]

I honestly don't see how Epic Duelists Leathers can get a higher AC than Monk splash.

Naturally, it isn't for Monks...

[AylinIsAwesome]

Naturally, it isn't for Monks...

Monk splash =/= Monk.

What I mean is, if I'm going for AC, why would I wear this over just taking a Monk splash?

This is, so far, the best Light Armour for AC in the game, yet any character could easily up their AC by 10 more with a Monk splash.

I honestly don't see what the big deal with this armour is. Any character worried about AC is either going to be in robes or plate and those not focused on AC won't really get any benefit from it, so what type of character was this made for?

[karl_k0ch]

Monk splash =/= Monk.

What I mean is, if I'm going for AC, why would I wear this over just taking a Monk splash?

This is, so far, the best Light Armour for AC in the game, yet any character could easily up their AC by 10 more with a Monk splash.

I honestly don't see what the big deal with this armour is. Any character worried about AC is either going to be in robes or plate and those not focused on AC won't really get any benefit from it, so what type of character was this made for?

Consider builds which cannot splash monk.
Ranger-based AAs will most likely not splash Monk due to their Capstone. (I am talking about 18+ Ranger levels, not Elven 11/X/Y builds)
Rogue builds will be pure, also due to the capstone.
Bards cannot splash Monk due to alignment restrictions.

The question remains: Is it worth to try to get decent AC on these builds? The first two can have a High Dex, so this is entirely possible; Bards with AC are rare, but doable.

I see that this armor has some sweet spots, but it is not the holy grail.

OP: The armor is not a bad one, but calculate for yourself if you are able to achieve AC in the 60s. If not, and AC is the only reason why you are wearing the leathers, get a DT robe with nice adds.

Edit: Teehee.

[Razcar]

What I mean is, if I'm going for AC, why would I wear this over just taking a Monk splash?

This is, so far, the best Light Armour for AC in the game, yet any character could easily up their AC by 10 more with a Monk splash.

I honestly don't see what the big deal with this armour is. Any character worried about AC is either going to be in robes or plate and those not focused on AC won't really get any benefit from it, so what type of character was this made for?

Well, some builds cannot go for a splash because they need the Capstone. And they might want decent trash-mob AC anyway. For example a ranged ranger will want to have their pew pew pew Capstone, or a Dex rogue might want the kill kill kill rogue one.

[unbongwah]

What I mean is, if I'm going for AC, why would I wear this over just taking a Monk splash?

Off-hand, I can think of a few possibilities:
A) You can't take monk due to alignment restrictions. (e.g., bard)
B) You can't squeeze in monk without sacrificing something important from your build, inc. capstone. (e.g., Batman 9.4 would lose either SD II or Imp Uncanny Dodge if it took a monk splash, both of which are important to the build concept)
C) You want to use a shield for extra AC and/or blocking DR.
D) Build pts are really tight and you need to dump-stat WIS. [Bearing in mind that everyone can start WIS 8 and still take a +2 tome and +6 item, so you need at least +3 AC from other sources to make up for it.]
E) You want something other than AC bracers in your wrist slot and/or don't want to equip a +WIS item.
F) You think robes look silly and refuse to compromise your fashion sense.
G) Maybe you just want to try something different?

[elujin]

Off-hand, I can think of a few possibilities:
A) You can't take monk due to alignment restrictions. (e.g., bard)
B) You can't squeeze in monk without sacrificing something important from your build, inc. capstone. (e.g., Batman 9.4 would lose either SD II or Imp Uncanny Dodge if it took a monk splash, both of which are important to the build concept)
C) You want to use a shield for extra AC and/or blocking DR.
D) Build pts are really tight and you need to dump-stat WIS. [Bearing in mind that everyone can start WIS 8 and still take a +2 tome and +6 item, so you need at least +3 AC from other sources to make up for it.]
E) You want something other than AC bracers in your wrist slot and/or don't want to equip a +WIS item.
F) You think robes look silly and refuse to compromise your fashion sense.
G) Maybe you just want to try something different?

H)You don't have monk

[Aerendil]

Easily obtainable 8 AC leather armour with 12 mdb, +4 dodge bonus, +2 competence to hit, +15 balance skill, and a blue epic slot is a bad thing?

Granted, a Ranger can still probably obtain higher AC by splashing Monk since Wis is somewhat important to you - but for Rogues and Bards, the leathers are really nice (for Bard-WCers, the cavalry plate is nice too).

Also keep in mind that blue slot is an advantage over Icy or DT - allowing you to fill in any gaps, such as picking up the +20hp/toughness and replacing Minos with something else.
On my Rogue, I'm more likely to fill it with perma +4 barkskin which is stellar for her. It gets her to 39 AC just from the leathers alone.

[AylinIsAwesome]

Easily obtainable 8 AC leather armour with 12 mdb, +4 dodge bonus, +2 competence to hit, +15 balance skill, and a blue epic slot is a bad thing?

Granted, a Ranger can still probably obtain higher AC by splashing Monk since Wis is somewhat important to you - but for Rogues and Bards, the leathers are really nice (for Bard-WCers, the cavalry plate is nice too).

Also keep in mind that blue slot is an advantage over Icy or DT - allowing you to fill in any gaps, such as picking up the +20hp/toughness and replacing Minos with something else.
On my Rogue, I'm more likely to fill it with perma +4 barkskin which is stellar for her. It gets her to 39 AC just from the leathers alone.

Does that +2 attack stack with the guild buff?

[Aerendil]

Does that +2 attack stack with the guild buff?

Good question. I haven't tested it, but I'd imagine it would.
Armour is +2 "competence" bonus to hit; I believe the airship +hit buff is considered "profane".
Although the +2 to dmg airship buff is also competence and wouldn't stack with similar competence buffs.

Anyone who's tested care to chime in?

[AylinIsAwesome]

Good question. I haven't tested it, but I'd imagine it would.
Armour is +2 "competence" bonus to hit; I believe the airship +hit buff is considered "profane".
Although the +2 to dmg airship buff is also competence and wouldn't stack with similar competence buffs.

Anyone who's tested care to chime in?

Not the Kobold buff, the training dummy one.

I was pretty sure Hours of Practice was competence bonus, but I don't have time for a little while to log in and check.

[SableShadow]

...the training dummy one.

I was pretty sure Hours of Practice was competence bonus, but I don't have time for a little while to log in and check.

Duelist leathers stack w/ training dummy...just got done poking at it. I think Practice is untyped...it stacks w/ my eSpectrals, for instance.

[AylinIsAwesome]

Duelist leathers stack w/ training dummy...just got done poking at it. I think Practice is untyped...it stacks w/ my eSpectrals, for instance.

Cool, good to know.