Armor type and special material question

[Exthalion]

I know there are several armor materials like blended quartz and properties like twilight that reduce arcane spell failure percentage.

The question is this: What is the most protective armor that can be worn with no arcane failure?

I suppose another way of putting it is: What is the combination of special material and property that produce the greatest arcane failure reduction.

Edit: Can special materials be stacked like properties can?

[Keld Denar]

With or without class features?

Because some classes such as Spellsword and Suel Arcanamach get reduced spell failure, and thus can get away with more armor for less.

That said, I do believe there is a way to get Mithril Fullplate down to 0. If you did some google searching, I'm sure you could find it.

[Exthalion]

No class features to help, just wizard who needs this.

[Hurlbut]

Um you do realize, you either have to burn feats to wear armors?

[Exthalion]

Um you do realize, you either have to burn feats to wear armors?

No, just to remove the armor check penalty to attack, strength, and dex based rolls. Since I don't use ranged touch attacks, not a big deal for me.

[Hurlbut]

Not just Dex-based, all skills that involved moving.

It affect all the spells that use an attack roll, not just the ranged touch ones.

[PId6]

Greater Luminous Armor (BoED). +8 AC by itself, not to mention giving -4 attack to melee enemies (so effectively +12 AC vs most). Gets another +5 if you're an Abjurant Champion, so that's +13 AC/+17 effective AC. Much better than any real armor you can wear.

[Exthalion]

Works for me, thank you.

Now, to extend persist it...

[PId6]

Now, to extend persist it...
It's already hour/level. Abjurant Champion Extends it for free too, so it's going to last pretty much all day. It's arguable that you can apply Extend to it to further increase duration, for a total of 4 (3?) hours per CL. At CL 12, you can make it last for 2 days via a single casting.

[Exthalion]

It's already hour/level. Abjurant Champion Extends it for free too, so it's going to last pretty much all day. It's arguable that you can apply Extend to it to further increase duration, for a total of 4 (3?) hours per CL. At CL 12, you can make it last for 2 days via a single casting.

... Great, I have to cast it once a week. Now, to think up some insults for that cleric walking around in fullplate.

[Snake-Aes]

Not just Dex-based, all skills that involved moving.

It affect all the spells that use an attack roll, not just the ranged touch ones.

A Twilight Mithral Chainshirt has no penalties and no arcane failure. No arcane caster should be without one of these. Same for mithral bucklers.

[Fouredged Sword]

isn't there some thisledown abomination that gets thrown around as a brestplate with nor ASF or ACP without enchantments?

[tyckspoon]

isn't there some thisledown abomination that gets thrown around as a brestplate with nor ASF or ACP without enchantments?

A mithral Feycrafted/Githcrafted breastplate with a set of thistledown padding will get down to 5% spell failure at -2 ACP. I don't *think* there's a way to get that lower without resorting to either class features or magical enhancements, but I'm probably wrong.

Edit: A mithral *craft thistle-padded chainshirt, however, is 0% failure 0 ACP without forcing you to burn a couple plusses on the Twilight property.

[BLiZme.2]

also you can add at least one of the armor add ones from oriental adventures to your load out if you make it out of mitheral and is *craft You could try for both but YMMV.

[JaronK]

Char-ina and Dastanas from OA + Chain Shirt, all Mithral, and the shirt is Feycraft or Githcraft with Thistledown Padding. +6 AC, no ACP or spell failure. I think that's the best you can do without enchantments, and it's better than a Breastplate anyway (you can't combine those two items with a breastplate).

JaronK

[lesser_minion]

A mithral Feycrafted/Githcrafted breastplate with a set of thistledown padding will get down to 5% spell failure at -2 ACP. I don't *think* there's a way to get that lower without resorting to either class features or magical enhancements, but I'm probably wrong.

Dragon magazine added a whole pile of mundane enhancements for masterwork weapons. One of them was a -5% to ASF.

[AvatarZero]

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19859490/Armored_Wizards_here_they_come!_--_Best_Armor_for_Arcane_Spellcasting!?pg=1


I finally found the perfect wizard armor!!!

Behold!!! the "no drawback for wearing it armor":

Thisledown-padded Mithral Breastplate +1 of Nimbleness and Twilight, with Armor Lubricant

Mithral: [DMG] +2 max dex; -3 armor check penalty; -10% arcane spell failure.

Twilight: [BoED] cost +1; -10% arcane spell failure.

Nimbleness: [MoF] cost +1; +2 max dex; -1 armor check penalty.

Thisledown padding: [RotW] a few gp; +1 armor check penalty; -5% arcane spell failure.

and finally, to get rid of the +1 armor check penalty we get with Thisledown padding...

Armor Lubricant: [RoF] a few gp (40gp I think); lasts 1d4 hours per application; -1 armor check penalty!!!

For a grand total of...

AC +6; Max Dex +7; Armor Check Penalty -0; Arcane Spell Failure 0%


+3 equivalent mithral breastplate. I price that at 13200gp, plus "a few gp", plus 40gp every time you wear it.

It's pretty much the best armor in the game for people who can't wear armour. Of course, the mithral twilight t-shirt (http://www.play.com/Clothing/T-Shirts/4-/9291782/-/EnlargedImage.html) is only 5100gp. Is +2 AC worth 8100gp to you? Probably not at low levels (too expensive) or high levels (AC sux, lrn2 miss chance).

edit: and as the next poster pointed out, why not just cast greater mage armour?

[lesser_minion]

and as the next poster pointed out, why not just cast greater mage armour?

The usual answer is "armour special qualities".

The downside is that that breastplate offers no protection against ITAs, and I don't think there's anything else a wizard can actually benefit from armour against (all other threats either completely ignore armour no matter what, end up needing a 4+ to hit instead of a 2+, or weren't actually threats).

[Fax Celestis]

A mithral Feycrafted/Githcrafted breastplate with a set of thistledown padding will get down to 5% spell failure at -2 ACP. I don't *think* there's a way to get that lower without resorting to either class features or magical enhancements, but I'm probably wrong.

Edit: A mithral *craft thistle-padded chainshirt, however, is 0% failure 0 ACP without forcing you to burn a couple plusses on the Twilight property.

Yeah, the Twilight property's generally the way people go with it.

[Devils_Advocate]

[Insert request that relevant edition be stated in thread title for edition-specific queries here.]

Note that magic armor with no arcane spell failure chance and no armor check penalty still has a drawback of sorts: It means that you can't benefit from another magic item that takes up the same body slot -- like a robe. And armor of any sort means that you can't get the AC bonus from a Monk's Belt (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/wondrousItems.htm#beltMonks).

Tangentially, does anyone else find it odd that the mechanical representation of armor's tendency to restrict one's movements is spread out over 5 distinct things? There's maximum Dex bonus to AC, armor check penalty, arcane spell failure chance, weight, and the categorization of the armor as light, medium, or heavy (or shield). They're roughly proportionate to one another, making an armor out of mithral impacts all of them... and yet they're 5 separate data. The design concept of consolidating stuff under a single, unified mechanic was under-applied in some cases, I think.

[Darrin]

I suppose another way of putting it is: What is the combination of special material and property that produce the greatest arcane failure reduction.

Edit: Can special materials be stacked like properties can?

No, special materials can't be stacked. Templates, however, such as Feycraft + Githcraft, most likely can stack. At least, I haven't seen a rule anywhere that says they can't.

The largest reduction in ASF would be:

-20%, Blended Quartz (A&EG)
-10%, Twilight enhancement (MIC)
-5%, Feycraft (DMGII)
-5%, Githcraft (DMGII)
-5%, thistledown suit (RotW)
-10%, one-level dip into Spellsword

Total: -55%

That's about 5% over what you need for a tower shield, Battle Plate (RoS) or Mechanus Gear (PlanerHB), but not quite enough for Mountain Plate (RoS, 60% ASF). If you can afford to lose a caster level and dip Spellsword for three levels, you can squeeze in another -5%. There may be another PrC out there that reduces ASF, but I can't recall what it is.