(PF) Best mundane armour

[Naomi Li]

From what I have found, the following are the best mundane armours. Are there any notable ones that I have missed or mistakes I have made?

Masterwork haramaki - AC 1, Max Dex infinite, ACP 0, ASFC 0% - 153 gp, 1 lb - hardness 10, hp 5/5 - Light

Masterwork armored kilt - AC 1, Max Dex 6, ACP 0, ASFC 0% - 170 gp, 10 lbs - hardness 10, hp 5/5 - Light (Can be added to light/medium armour)

Studded darkleaf cloth - AC 3, Max Dex 7, ACP 0, ASFC 5% - 775 gp, 10 lbs - hardness 10, hp 60/60 - Light

Darkleaft lamellar - AC 4, Max Dex +5, ACP 0, ASFC 10% - 810 gp, 12.5 lbs - hardness 10, hp 80/80 - Light

Darkleaf "hide" - AC 4, Max Dex 6, ACP 0, ASFC 10% - 1,515 gp, 12.5 lbs - hardness 10, hp 80/80 - Medium

Mithral chain shirt - AC 4, Max Dex 6, ACP 0, ASFC 10% - 1,100 gp, 12.5 lbs - hardness 10, hp 20/20 - Light

Mithral breastplate (agile) - AC 6, Max Dex 5, ACP 1 (0 for climb), ASFC 15% - 4,400 gp, 12.5 lbs - hardness 10, hp 30/30 - Light (Medium for ACP)

Adamantine hellknight plate - AC 9, Max Dex 1, ACP 4, ASFC 35% - 17,000 gp, 50 lbs - hardness 20, hp 60/60 - Grants DR 3/- - Heavy

And, since I wouldn't be surprised to have questions asked about it: Darkleaf cloth has so many hit points because leather has a base of 5 per inch and darkleaf cloth has 20 per inch. So, mundane studded leather gives hardness 2 and 15 hp, and making it out of darkleaf gives hardness 10 and 60 hp.

[grarrrg]

Mithral chain shirt - AC 4, Max Dex 6, ACP 0, ASFC 0% - 1,100 gp, 12.5 lbs - hardness 10, hp 20/20

Spell Failure should be 10% (20% base, -10% Mithral).


On a related note, you should figure out which armor/material combo is the best for 0% Spell Failure.

Armored Kilt/Haramaki/Silken Ceremonial Armor??
The latter 2 have unlimited Max Dex bonus, so Darkleaf does next to nothing.

[avr]

Griffon mane quilted armour may only be armor +1, max dex +8, but it does give +2 to fly skill and DR 3/- against arrows. Ideal for a flyer who doesn't intend to get into melee (and who doesn't worry about spell failure in light armor - summoners, bards and divine casters, or maybe a strix archer).

[Naomi Li]

Thanks for the chain shirt bit; not sure how I made that mistake. And fixed, of course.

Haven't really looked at the eastern armour much, actually, which I probably should.

Personally, I think the half-weight, *5 base hardness, and *4 base hit points is well worth the +600 gp cost (since it's going to be masterwork anyway) cost of trading the leather in for darkleaf cloth, even without the +max dex, but to each their own. (Actually, it looks like they're not leather and probably both count as steel, so you could only substitute mithral, adamantine, etc instead of darkleaf cloth)


In general, I would tend to think that one of the 10% ASFC or less armours on the list combined with arcane armor training would be best for 0% ASFC, but there are also the options of eastern armours and wondrous items.

[grarrrg]

In general, I would tend to think that one of the 10% ASFC or less armours on the list combined with arcane armor training would be best for 0% ASFC, but there are also the options of eastern armours and wondrous items.

But Arcane Armor Training requires you use your Swift action.
In higher-OP builds, you do not want to be using your Swifts like that every turn (Quicken to start with), so an armor with a flat 0% can be very worth it.

The Silken has style points, although the Haramaki is almost straight up better (cheaper/lighter).
The Armored Kilt loses as it has a Max DEX limit, but is the only non-Eastern armor with 0% failure, so it gains points for "only option".

[sideswipe]

mithril, feycraft, githcraft, twilight thisledown padded full plate for 0% ASF +3 max dex and quite low armour check penalty.

if you are willing to dip a level of spellsword as a caster you can make it heavy plate.

for a +2 (+1 and twilight) mithril heavyplate.
+10 ac.
Medium armor.
0% arcane spell failure.
+2 max dex.
+1 to concentration checks.
+1 to bluff.
Even lighter than normal.

16,250g

[Yanisa]

The Armored Kilt loses as it has a Max DEX limit, but is the only non-Eastern armor with 0% failure, so it gains points for "only option".

Yet the Haramaki/Silken armor are in 'core' books (Ultimate combat), where as the Armored Kilt is in a companion piece (Adventurer's Armory). So chances are, in real life, you have easier access to eastern armors then to the armored kilt. :smalltongue:

Besides the biggest trick of the Armored Kilt is combining it with the eastern armors. For example combining it with the Haramaki gives a suit of armor that gives 2 AC without any penalty, usable for everyone (Because non proficiencies penalties are based on ACP and both armors have 0 ACP) for the low price of 23 GP. Pretty decent for the first few levels of any caster, until you get access to mage armor.

List form:
Masterwork armored kilt added on a harakami - AC 2, Max Dex 6, ACP 0, ASFC 0% - 23 gp, 11 lb - hardness 10, hp 5/5 - Medium (Special: Can be used by anyone without penalties)

[Naomi Li]

Sideswipe, where are all of those modifiers from? I've only even heard of a few, and only in connection with 3.5.

[sideswipe]

Sideswipe, where are all of those modifiers from? I've only even heard of a few, and only in connection with 3.5.

sorry they are.
I didn't notice the PF in the post name and in none of the posts mentioned pathfinder.

[Coidzor]

Sideswipe, where are all of those modifiers from? I've only even heard of a few, and only in connection with 3.5.

Feycraft and Githcraft are from the DMG II.
Mithril is Mithril is Mithral. At this point I can't remember if it appears in the PHB or DMG.
Twilight is an armor property (+1, IIRC) from Book of Exalted Deeds, page 112.
Thistledown Padding is from Races of the Wild, again, IIRC.

So, yeah, all 3.5 stuff... or 3.25+ stuff at any rate. Aside from Mithril due to being ported over into PF.


Besides the biggest trick of the Armored Kilt is combining it with the eastern armors. For example combining it with the Haramaki gives a suit of armor that gives 2 AC without any penalty, usable for everyone (Because non proficiencies penalties are based on ACP and both armors have 0 ACP) for the low price of 23 GP. Pretty decent for the first few levels of any caster, until you get access to mage armor.

Well, it cuts down your move speed like any other medium armor does, right? That's the only potential downside I can see, though, since a +6 Max Dex is fairly good. Not having to deal with ACP or proficiency is pretty nifty though. Edit: Seems that Leather is still the best barding for non-proficient mounts though.

[Yanisa]

Well, it cuts down your move speed like any other medium armor does, right? That's the only potential downside I can see, though, since a +6 Max Dex is fairly good. Not having to deal with ACP or proficiency is pretty nifty though, especially useful for barding I imagine.

Does it? I mean it sounds logical, but armor kilt doesn't mention it. Then again the description for speed and armor does mention that medium armor slows down... then again every armor in the table does have the speed listed separately, which is odd if its a general set rule that never changes (Maybe its the clarify small creatures have a different speed?). I guess it does slow down (seems RAW), which shouldn't matter that much the few levels 2 AC makes a difference.... There goes the whole no penalty. :smallfrown:

Also barding yeah, but then I would recommend leather armor for 3 AC. Also no ACP, and with 40gp base price its still pretty cheap. Leaf armor goes up to 4 AC, but is pretty expensive (520! GP). Still no feat required so any animal can use it.

[Coidzor]

Does it? I mean it sounds logical, but armor kilt doesn't mention it. Then again the description for speed and armor does mention that medium armor slows down... then again every armor in the table does have the speed listed separately, which is odd if its a general set rule that never changes (Maybe its the clarify small creatures have a different speed?). I guess it does slow down (seems RAW), which shouldn't matter that much the few levels 2 AC makes a difference.... There goes the whole no penalty. :smallfrown:

Also barding yeah, but then I would recommend leather armor for 3 AC. Also no ACP, and with 40gp base price its still pretty cheap. Leaf armor goes up to 4 AC, but is pretty expensive (520! GP). Still no feat required so any animal can use it.

It is kind of weird anyway, so I couldn't recall how it worked out exactly. I'd have sworn the Armored Coat worked in a similar way at one point, but due to the way the site is set up and changes filter through, I can't recall if I'm misremembering or if it really was changed. Factor to remember, mostly, I think.

Indeed, I realized that not long after I posted and then went to double check. XD Silly me.