Pathfinder Magic Armor Question - Mistmail

[Lord of Shadows]

Looking at the item Mistmail (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/magic-armor#TOC-Mistmail) (d20pfsrd link, or see Advanced Player's Guide pg 285):

How can the wearer see where they are going?

Aren't targets concealed from the wearer as much as the wearer is from them?

Does the wearer lose the armor bonuses when it is activated as mist?

How can this item be most effective as written?

Thanks.

[BIGMamaSloth]

what book is this from? page number? people can't find what your talking about unless they know where it is. or you could just give a brief description of what it is.

[Lord of Shadows]

Sorry.. The original post has been updated with the source.

[Larpus]

As written, I'd say that yes, the wearer is as dumbfolded as his enemies and that he indeed loses his armor bonus.

[Lord of Shadows]

If it is literally as written, that seems so odd. My RPG group came across a suit of this in our last adventure and we have no idea whether to try to use it or just sell it. I think I am leaning toward selling...

[peacenlove]

Refit for the wizard's bat familiar? Or any animal companion with Blindsense/Blindsight to use as mobile line of effect blocker? (Note that in PF rules animal companions can have 3 intelligence, so they can take complex orders / activate items)
Still it costs 2250 (sell at 1100 gp) so it is better to keep it and upgrade it later with more enhancements.

[tyckspoon]

It's only 20% concealment. Now, me, I'd say that means it's not thick enough to actually block line of sight; if it did, you'd be looking at Total Concealment instead, as indicated by the mist and fog spells that do say 'you can't see through this.' By the RAW of the ability, it doesn't apply this penalty to the wearer, but I think that would be a fair trade for a very cheap source of a concealment miss-chance.. although maybe the designer felt sacrificing the AC bonus while it's in mist-shape was enough? (And yes, I think it's supposed to do that- you get an armor bonus for wearing armor, you turn it into fog, it's not armor.)

[Kirinashi]

It's only 20% concealment. Now, me, I'd say that means it's not thick enough to actually block line of sight; if it did, you'd be looking at Total Concealment instead, as indicated by the mist and fog spells that do say 'you can't see through this.' By the RAW of the ability, it doesn't apply this penalty to the wearer, but I think that would be a fair trade for a very cheap source of a concealment miss-chance.. although maybe the designer felt sacrificing the AC bonus while it's in mist-shape was enough? (And yes, I think it's supposed to do that- you get an armor bonus for wearing armor, you turn it into fog, it's not armor.)I agree there, you can in fact see through light fog. 20% would be equivalent to a misty day or perhaps a bog marsh in my book. Keep the armor and activate its ability when you're about to run through a hail of arrows that would more than likely hit you otherwise. at low level, hey it's +1 chainshirt when its not fog. good for rogues and the like.

[Larpus]

Yeah, it's not that bad, but if it bothers you, it's actually pretty good for caster types, especially when I read it that there is no arcane failure when its in mist form. It's also fairly good for stealthy types, but used outside of battle.

You could try asking your DM for his rulling on this, since it can be taken that the RAI is that the wearer is not affected. Worst comes to worst, give it a try and see for yourselves.