Saved GP to buy Splint Armor

[ZorroGames]

Then I received Admantine Chainmail from an adventure.

Should I go ahead and buy Splint (and trade the Admantine Chainmail to another character of mine for an item) or stick with the Admantine Chainmail?

Is the value of protection from Critical hits worth not going up an AC?

Gracias in advance for your opinions.

[nickl_2000]

Then I received Admantine Chainmail from an adventure.

Should I go ahead and buy Splint (and trade the Admantine Chainmail to another character of mine for an item) or stick with the Admantine Chainmail?

Is the value of protection from Critical hits worth not going up an AC?

Gracias in advance for your opinions.

1) Do you have anything else you want to buy for your character and could use the money for?
2) What would this character get in trade, or what would it give a different character of yours?

[Ryunosuke]

One additional point of Armor Class is effectively an additional 5% chance that the enemy will miss you.

Critical hits can vary on how much damage they add depending on a few factors such as being a sneak attack or attack spell and can often add up to a significant amount of damage overall.

Personally I would use the Adamantine Chain Mail for the safety against surprise burst damage.

[Tanarii]

I think someone in a recent thread just demonstrated that the value of preventing crits is always greater than the value of going up 1 AC.

Or did the opposite get proved? My short term memory is definitely going down-hill. :smallwink:

Either way I suggest scanning the last few pages of forum threads for the word 'Adamantine'. (Don't forget the extra 'a')

[Daphne]

I think someone in a recent thread just demonstrated that the value of preventing crits is always greater than the value of going up 1 AC.

That's true, I searched and found it (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?556171-Adamantine-Armor-Undervalued) :


http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?424243-Sane-Magic-Item-Prices

I use the above link in my campaigns when I determine the value for buying/selling magic items.

However, I can't help but notice that the adamantine plate seems a little undervalued. It's the second-cheapest combat item listed, slightly hedging out the vicious weapon, and is a third the cost of a +1 shield or armor, which are categorized as 'game-changing.' I've seen this opinion elsewhere on the internet as well, that it's not that great an item. In default rules, It's an uncommon item like the +1 shield as opposed to a rare item like the +1 armor. Most DMs I've encountered will make a +1 Adamantine armor to be cheaper than a +2.

I think Adamantine armor is great, and you're all idiots./s

Let me walk through my chain of thought here: lets say the monster hits you on an 11 or higher. So a fifty percent chance of a hit and a 5 percent chance of a crit. A crit deals double damage, pretty much, since most monster damage is dice-based. So if you get rid of the crit damage, it's roughly the same as a +1 to your armor or shield.

Expected Damage (no magic items):(Attack Damage)*0.5 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.05) = (attack damage*.54)

Expected Damage (adamantine armor):(Attack Damage)*0.5 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.00) = (attack damage*.50)

Expected Damage (+1 armor):(Attack Damage)*0.45 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.05) = (attack damage*.49)

And the thing is, if you account for an enemy who has advantage, Adamantine armor is even better than a +1.

Expected Damage (no magic items):(Attack Damage)*0.75 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.10) = (attack damage*.83)

Expected Damage (adamantine armor):(Attack Damage)*0.75 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.00) = (attack damage*.75)

Expected Damage (+1 armor):(Attack Damage)*0.70 + 0.8*Attack Damage*(0.10) = (attack damage*.78)

This seems like a really cheap way to boost your effective AC, and like people are really undeveraluing it.

[Ganymede]

Also, I strongly suspect that the adamantine chainmail looks cooler.

[Unoriginal]

I don't know much about AL, but is there no way to trade the Adamantine mail for a plate armor? Possibly adding the money you saved to the bargain?

[ZorroGames]

I don't know much about AL, but is there no way to trade the Adamantine mail for a plate armor? Possibly adding the money you saved to the bargain?

AL can only trade for permanent magic items of the same rarity.

[hymer]

I think someone in a recent thread just demonstrated that the value of preventing crits is always greater than the value of going up 1 AC.

Or did the opposite get proved? My short term memory is definitely going down-hill. :smallwink:
That'd be your long term memory, which is also the one you use to distinguish between which words to use for the two. :smallwink:

Seriously, though, +1 is mathematically superior to adamantine. The thread bears this out. It's not a huge difference, just like +1 and no crits aren't huge differences in themselves, and the difference between the differences is obviously smaller still.

I'd buy the splint and trade the chain mail, because I like to stick with my plans (and it'd mean I have two items now, rather than one and some money for replacing that one). My suspicion is that plate mail will happen pretty soon either way.

[Tanarii]

That'd be your long term memory, which is also the one you use to distinguish between which words to use for the two. :smallwink:
DOH! :smallbiggrin:


Seriously, though, +1 is mathematically superior to adamantine. The thread bears this out. It's not a huge difference, just like +1 and no crits aren't huge differences in themselves, and the difference between the differences is obviously smaller still.In that case, personally I'd probably stick with the chain until I could sell if for Plate. Although IIRC the OP plays AL exclusively, in which case I'd stick with the Chain until I could afford Plate then trade it. No point in dropping 200gp on something that's not significantly different. (And vice versa, if the situation were reversed. If I already had splint, I'd trade or sell the Chain immediately.)

[Platypusbill]

+1AC means you effectively turn 5% of an enemy's attack from hits into misses.

Turning crits into regular hits means you effectively reduce the damage of 5% of the enemy's attacks. To match the benefit of +1AC, you would have to reduce the damage by 50%, but the effect is slightly weaker than that because the static modifiers to damage are unaffected; only dice are doubled on crits.

However, negating crits can save you if you're expecting to tank a hit, only to end up unconscious because the enemy happened to score a lucky critical.



For the sake of argument, let's assume an Ettin attempts to smack you 20 times.

Average result for Splint Armour: the Ettin gets 10 regular hits for 2d8+5 (14) damage each, and 1 critical hit for 4d8+5 (23) damage. Total damage received = 163.

Average result for Adamantine Chainmail: the Ettin gets 12 regular hits for 2d8+5 (14) damage each. Total damage received = 168.

It should be noted that besides damage, criticals or normal hits can also have other effects. If the enemy has a nasty condition tied to criticals, Adamantine Armour becomes more worthwhile, while more AC is better against attacks that deal no damage but e.g. grapple/restrain the target.