Best hide armour possible

[Sir_Chivalry]

I have a character using the feats Armor Dance and Improved Armor Dance from Dragon magazine 315 (flavoured for an Olman character from Greyhawk rather than a Maztican)


Whenever you are wearing a suit of Maztican light armor (or similarly decorated light armor) with which you at is proficient and you make a full attack, you gain a +2 dodge bonus to Armor Class that lasts until your next action.


You may gain the dodge bonus provided by the Armor Dance feat while wearing Maztican medium armor or similarly decorated medium armor. If you are wearing hide armor the dodge bonus provided by the Armor Dance feat increases to +4.

Obviously hide armour is bad but a +4 dodge bonus for full attacking isn't awful. So looking at the bare stats:

Armour bonus +3, Max dex +4, ACP -3 (masterwork -2).

DM says I'd be allowed to use Thunderhide armour from Serpent Kingdoms once we get somewhere that's dinosaur heavy (playing Savage Tide so . . . not long)

Armour bonus +3, Max dex +5, ACP -2 (masterwork -1)

My question is, besides Rhino Hide (DMG) and Electric Eel Hide (MIC) and the dragoncraft hide armour (draconomicon) is there any other magic hide armour anyone can think of that makes investing in hide armour worth it?

[Rilem]

If you can reliably get full attacks and have a crafter in your party, this seems pretty compelling. You can spend more on bolt-on enchantments for your armor and still have an AC comparable with med/heavy outfits. And you won’t have to worry about drowning in savage Tide as much.

[Anthrowhale]

Aside from special/magical hides, there's also the 'reinforced' property in Dragon #358(I think) which allows particularly good craftsmen to add 1 to AC.

[Saradominist]

Warning: Homebrew Content

In my games, I rule that some special materials might give higher AC bonuses. For example, mithril items give an AC bonus 1 higher, and adamant give 2 higher. Here are some examples I use related to Hide armor. Your DM might allow them, if they have the right flavor:

-Celestial Badger Hide: If Masterwork, gives +2 to Escape Artist (stacks with magical bonuses); Gather DC 15, Craft DC +0
-Celestial Elk Hide: AC and max Dex 1 higher (+4 AC, +5 max dex); Gather DC 15, Craft DC +3
-Celestial Wolf Hide: +1 to saves against spells and SLAs; Gather DC 15, Craft DC +4
-Celestial Wolverine Hide: If Masterwork, +2 to Climb (stacks with magical bonuses); Gather DC 17, Craft DC +0
-Displacer Beast Hide: AC 1 higher (+4 AC), +2 to saves vs targeted ranged magical attacks (as displacer beast); Gather DC 15, Craft DC+5

a) Pack Lord Hide: AC 2 higher (+5 AC), +2 saves as above, 40% off minor displacement or 20% off major displacement enchantment; Gather DC 18, Craft DC +7
-Winter Wolf Hide: AC 2 higher (+5 AC), Cold resistance 5 (10 if masterwork); Gather DC 15, Craft DC +6
-Basilisk Hide: AC 3 higher but max Dex 1 lower (+6 AC, +3 max dex); Gather DC 19, Craft DC +7
-Razor Boar (From MM2) Hide: AC 4 higher but max Dex 2 lower (+7 AC, +2 max dex); Gather DC 20, Craft DC +8
-White Stag (From DMG pg165-6) Hide: AC and max Dex 2 higher (+5 AC, +6 max dex), and all armor enhancements as well as Abjuration,
Divination, and Enchantment spell effects cost 20% less to add; Gather DC 17, Craft DC +7

Each entry ends with a gather DC (requiring a Survival or Profession - Hunter check) to obtain usable hide from a carcass, and a higher craft DC, representing increased difficulty in crafting the given material.

[loky1109]

Don't forget shadow silk!

[Maat Mons]

What's your Dexterity? It really influences how beneficial this is.

Agreed on Shadowsilk (ToM) being the best special material for Hide armor. It improves Max Dex Bonus and Armor Check Penalty each by 2, and the armor becomes Light. If your DM lets you apply it to Thunderhide armor, you could wind up with: +3 AC, +7 Max Dex, 0 ACP.

Note, however, that if you compare this to a Mithril Breastplate (+5 AC, +5 Max Dex, -1 ACP), that extra +2 Dodge you get from using Hide armor is only tying it unless your Dex is more than 21.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Since you can use any "similarly decorated medium armor" for this, an appropriately ornate mithral full-plate with all the optimization trimmings should do. Just cover it in strings of beads and feathers and such, which shouldn't take much to do.

[Crichton]

This old resource thread may be of some use to you:


https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?490116-The-Efficient-Armor-Reference