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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 444413" data-attributes="member: 3146">As I see it, the chain shirt is good armor if you're sneaky and have a 16-18 dex. Once your dex goes past 20, you're generally better off with leather armor. A Mithril chain shirt is good armor (better than leather all around)until your dex hits 26 and then it starts to lose some of its luster. A mithril breastplate is better than mithril chain mail until your dex hits 22.If you don't have much of a dex bonus (dex 13 or lower), IMO you're better off buying fullplate and finding some other way to increase your movement. (Mounts are good for when you're not in a dungeon crawl situation). Adamantine fullplate is advantageous for loading up on special armor abilities and still having a +3 enhancement bonus to armor or if you end up in an antimagic zone. Mithril fullplate is good if you're thinking of boosting your dex to 16 or so.So that really leaves several types of worthwhile armor:For Dex monkeys: Mithril breastplate (assuming the character has medium armor proficiency), Mithril chain shirt or bracers of armor depending upon dex. If mithril isn't available, choose between leather (dex 22+), breastplate (dex 16), chain shirt (dex 18-22), and bracers depending upon dex.For tanks: Breastplate (dex 16) or Fullplate if mithril isn't available. (Breastplates have some advantages in lower weight, lower Armor Check penalty, higher touch AC and ability to run 4x in return for 1 point off of normal AC; this will sometimes be a worthwhile trade). If special materials are available, Mithril (dex 14+) or adamantine (dex <12  or = 12 or special abilities desired) fullplate.So, without special materials, there are 4 types of potentially worthwhile final armors (leather, chain shirt, breastplate, fullplate). If special materials are allowed, there are still 4 (mithril chain shirt, mithril breastplate, mithril fullplate, adamantine fullplate).The problem is that the breastplate is a marginal choice for either a tank or a dex monkey. For the (low level) dex monkey, it can offer a slightly higher AC than the chain shirt in return for reduced movement. For the high dex tank, it offers a host of marginal benefits in return for a slight decrease in AC.I'm not certain that this is a real problem. It may lead to a certain degree of sameness but I've yet to hear anyone complain that all the high level fighters and paladins seem to be wearing full-plate. (And if you restrict the availability of mithril, there's good reason for high dex characters to wear a couple types of armors).</blockquote>

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