So what's the deal with Warforged and armor?

[AnonymousPepper]

Can they wear suits of armor if they don't take an armor feat, if so can worn armor be enhanced, are Warforged with an armor feat and the Durable enhancement applied immune to rust, so on and so forth.

[The Insaniac]

Warforged come with armor. You need to take the unarmored body feat to be able to wear armor or robes. However, a warforged is automatically proficient with any armor that is part of it regardless of class proficiencies, although other restrictions (spell failure, druids "no metal" etc.) still apply. Warforged plating can be enchanted just like other armor (it's automatically considered masterwork). As for the durable enchantment, applying the enchantment to the warforged's plating would probably render it immune to rust attacks and the like, while applying it to conventional armor probably wouldn't.

[tyckspoon]

No; the default Composite Plating feature occupies the Body slot, preventing Warforged from wearing armor or making use of other items that would use that slot. The Unarmored Body feat changes that, removing any kind of inherent armor and giving the Warforged back their Body slot (this is a really crappy trade, and I would suggest letting any Warforged interested in it also count it as a Flaw, so they don't have to pay an extra feat for the 'benefit' of not being armored.)

Note the normal Composite Plating can be enhanced like armor too, although it is not considered armor for purposes of things like class features that are hampered by armor (the X Body feat replacements generally *do* count as armor, because they say they do. The Composite Plating racial feature does *not.*)

[Meth In a Mine]

If you want armor on a warforged, just take adamantine body or mithral body. Yes, it costs a feat, but it's armor that cannot be stolen and doesn't cost money.

[lytokk]

Also, according to Races of Eberron, I think, a warforged druid who wildshapes keeps the composite plating or darkwood body feat and any enchantments put on the armor when they transform. Free wilding armor. Same thing with a wildshape ranger with the mithral body. If you can wildshape with adamantine body you'd keep those armor bonuses too. I guess what, primeval could do it?

[Shining Wrath]

Warforged out of the box come with composite plating, and cannot wear armor or robes. Their "armor / robe" slot on the character sheet is filled by their own intrinsic armor. This is not logical as they can wear clothes, and magic armor will resize for a small halfling or a large human but not for a Warforged.

RAW do not have to make sense. This is one of those cases.

I like, very much, the Mithral Body feat for a Warforged. You get armor equivalent to wearing a mithral breastplate, except this breastplate cannot be stolen and does not count against your weight allowance. The Adamantine Body feat gives you the equivalent of Adamantine full plate, again that does not count against your weight allowance, but you are now in heavy armor and take some serious hits to mobility.

The Blueshine armor bonus counts as a +1 enhancement but makes your Warforged immune to rust and corrosion and acid effects - you'll still take acid damage, but your body won't corrode. Last time I played a Warforged I played him as nearly fearless - he'd charge attack dragons, for example - but absolutely terrified of Rust Monsters. When he got the Blueshine enhancement he performed a happy dance, for his worst fear had been removed.