Midgame armour

[Drimsdale]

On my Ranger, I used "of Invulnerability" items through the early levels, but now I'm at the point where the enemies can pierce DR 5/Magic.

I'm not really an AC build (current Dex 26, pure Ranger), so what's the best armour (or 'armour') to go for now? I get the feeling that focusing on AC might be a bit pointless - what prefixes/suffixes or unique items should I use until I pick up Dragontouched or similar?

[theboyftw]

+ for the spelling of "armour".

[MindCake]

what prefixes/suffixes

I'd go for deathblock/heavy fort respectively.

(Edit: Lol, the other way around)

[unbongwah]

I see a lot of folks wearing Crimson Chain, presumably for Haste Guard and +5 Reflex (if you don't have +5 Resistance yet). In your case it would cap your MDB, but as you say you're hitting the point where AC is less relevant. Snakeskin Vest is +5 leather with Greater Nimbleness (MDB 8), poison immunity, and +10 Spot & Search. You can also look for various "-block" effects; if you have, say, the Marshwalker ring (Spearblock) and armor with Axeblock, that gives you DR 5 against a lot of weapons.

[Khumbaaba]

http://ddowiki.com/page/Living_Breastplate

maybe

[LOOON375]

I see a lot of folks wearing Crimson Chain, presumably for Haste Guard and +5 Reflex (if you don't have +5 Resistance yet). In your case it would cap your MDB, but as you say you're hitting the point where AC is less relevant. Snakeskin Vest is +5 leather with Greater Nimbleness (MDB 8), poison immunity, and +10 Spot & Search. You can also look for various "-block" effects; if you have, say, the Marshwalker ring (Spearblock) and armor with Axeblock, that gives you DR 5 against a lot of weapons.

I agree with this.

Crimson Chain is pretty darn hard to beat mid levels.

[chodelord]

AC is pointless unless you have a ton of it. Starting around gianthold that is really apparent.

However other than archers invulnerability remains a good affix throughout the game. Check your combat log and you will see damage reduction even against the bearded devils that do "evil" damage.

If you are an archer or caster fearsome is really good and I don't know why more people don't wear it.

[Standal]

Good replies here. I guess not so much for a ranger, but I have an Ice guard robe of Greater Lightning Resistance that I'm going to put on my lvl 16 fighter. Once you give up on AC, you can get a lot of nice benefits at lower MLs. Guards with a resist of some beneficial type is my preference. I carry a bunch of armors/robes/outfits that help me in particular quests.

[unbongwah]

The bottom line is: now that you're hitting that magical point where AC is becoming pointless (or at least really hard to keep up), look for armor which provides beneficial buffs, like DR (either physical or elemental), Heavy Fortification (if you don't have Minos Legens or Nightforge Gorget), guard effects, False Life, Lifeshield, bonuses to important skills, etc. Also think about using robes instead of light armor, as you can quick-swap them in combat when you want to cycle thru different options: e.g., keep a Deathblock robe handy for beholder fights.

[Drimsdale]

Thanks for the advice, everyone!

At the moment I swap between robes of Fearsome/Invulnerability and Deathblock/Invulnerability as the need arises. I do indeed have a Minos Legens; I might go hunting for Crimson Chain, as that Haste Guard looks useful.

[FlyingTurtle]

Midgame says to me level 8-12 where AC is still beneficial, but you want to go Light or better for Evasion.

I had some good use out of:
http://ddowiki.com/page/Antithesis