|
Is adamantine armor worth it?
Adamantine armor is really expensive, an additional cost of:
5,000gp for light armor
10,000gp for medium armor
15,000gp for heavy armor
It provides DR:
1/- for light armor
2/- for medium armor
3/- for heavy armor
I have adamantine plate on one of my characters. It was so expensive that I was unable to afford little else for a couple levels and still feel that I’m playing catch-up outfitting him. I will say it has saved his bacon a couple times. Once when he was attacked by Xill and they had a hard time getting past the DR and couldn’t implant. And it is fun, when I do take damage, telling a GM, “not all of that went through”. But, really, just -3 damage on most attacks?
What do you think, is adamantine armor worth it?
I think so. I'll usually pick up adamantine if I don't need mithril for one reason or another (which I often do).
Against the boss who hits for 50 damage a hit, it's not very excuting. Against a group of mooks hitting you 5 times a round for 10 damage a hit, it becomes a lot better.
Against a t rex, no.
Against a wisc? Someone was praising their armorer.
Both, and sometimes together. I just played a scenario where you fight 32 guys at the same time. They aren't very strong (as you could guess) but it adds up. reducing 15-21 damage a round may be the bulk of the damage your taking, even at tier 10-11 when its a bunch of mooks.
I do understand thats 15k you can spend somewhere else though, so it really just depends what you want I guess. In comparison thats roughly a +4 enchantment bonus to your armor, so that reduces hits too!
Also, the higher you go past 12 the better the investment is, as you should (eventually) have your core gear either way. For moist my PC's its around level 14-15 WBL.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
My Rogue wears Celestial Armor, since his Dex mod is +8.
My Armor Master wears Adamantine Plate (for a total DR of 6/-).
My Gunslinger wears a Mithral Breastplate.
My Witch wears Silken Ceremonial Robes.
My Magus will be getting Adamantine Plate when he reaches 13th level.
My Inquisitor wears Adamantine Plate.
My Druid wears Dragonhide Plate.
My Oracle wears heavy Piecemeal Armor (from a Boon).
My Warpriest will be getting Mithral Plate, since his Dex mod is +3.
My Ranger will be getting a Mithral Breastplate.
My Undine Cleric of Kelizandri wears a Brine Dragonhide Breastplate (for thematics).
My Wizard wears Mage Armor.
And my Swashbuckler GM Blob will probably go with Celestial Armor.
So, out of 13 characters (current and planned):
3 have Adamantine
3 have Mithral
2 have Celestial Armor
2 have Dragonhide
1 has heavy armor
1 has light armor
1 wears no armor
I guess the answer to your question just depends on what your build is like, and if you don't need the money for something more pressing.
To be fair, you can still enchant the armor and buy the rings, it just delays it. Counting in +1's would be reasonable, so 16k for the armor, plus 6k for +1 armor/shield/ring/amulet = 22k, vs. 7k without adamantine. So the 15k would go to +2 armor, +2 shield, dusty rose, then armor +3 = 16k for +4 AC. That will decrease as costs go up.
Honestly - I don't think Adamantine is worth it for super-high AC characters - they won't be hit enough by small damage to have a large effect.
For medium AC characters I think it's worthwhile - you could get 2-4 more AC, but slows things down regardless of luck on attack rolls.
Also for characters who wouldn't buy a ring of protection - either clerics who cast shield of faith or pro evil, or someone who has other rings they want.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have found it useful past mid levels.
There is a point when AC boosting experiences diminishing returns; there are a variety of discussion threads about this.
Once you get to the levels where enemies generally laugh at your 30+ AC, I believe that you'd probably be better off having DR 3/-
|
It depends on both the campaign and the character.
Adamantine Armor on fighter? Yes. He get's his full movement speed, reduces armor check penalties, and ups Max Dex (letting him use things like Belts of physical perfection and whatnot to up his AC on adamantine full plate.) Then again, DR only works on physical attacks, so if you are traversing the elemental plane and constantly fighting fire elemental, your adamantine armor is just big, expensive, masterwork armor.
I like it on fighters. But for Barbarians I tend to go with mithral (to get full movement speed). For Paladin? I dunno, toss up.
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
The Invulnerability armor Enchantment costs about the same as Adamantine Heavy Armor. It provides DR5/Magic and can be applied to Mithril armor. Applied to Mithril Breastplate it gives DR5/Magic and counts as Light armor. This is a viable alternative for some characters.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
It's worth it for the bragging rights.
Perhaps only cruel DMs do this, but if someone sunders your armor with an adamantine blade, or a high level monk with his sharp sharp hands, you'll be glad you have adamantine armor.
|
If you are gong to wear heavy armor anyway, Adamantine Full Plate isn't a bad option. For light and medium armor, I think Mithral makes more sense in almost every case. Adamantine Plate is particularly good for those that don't have thier movement reduced by wearing heavy armor (dwarves of all sorts and higher level "vanilla" fighters) - and those that have a DEX bonus of +1 or lower.
Would I buy it? Probably not - better ways to spend that gold.
Would I wear it if I found it and I was already wearing full plate? Probably, unless I already had something that was more interesting and/or gave better benefits.
|
|
According to the Clockwork dragon description it is.Also, there are things out there that sunder armor, and adamantine full plate is much more resistant. And immune to rust monsters.Why is adamantine immune to rust monsters?
Linky?
Rust (Su) A rust monster's antennae are a primary touch attack that causes any metal object they touch to swiftly rust and corrode. The object touched takes half its maximum hp in damage and gains the broken condition—a second hit destroys the item. A rust monster never provokes attacks of opportunity by attempting to strike a weapon with its antennae. Against creatures made of metal, a rust monster's antennae deal 3d6+5 points of damage. An attended object, any magic object, or a metal creature can attempt a DC 15 Reflex save to negate this effect. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Adamantine: Mined from rocks that fell from the heavens, this ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon or suit of armor. Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20 (see Additional Rules). Armor made from adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction of 1/— if it's light armor, 2/— if it's medium armor, and 3/— if it's heavy armor. Adamantine is so costly that weapons and armor made from it are always of masterwork quality; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. Thus, adamantine weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armor check penalty of adamantine armor is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armor of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from adamantine. An arrow could be made of adamantine, but a quarterstaff could not.
Weapons and armor normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal. Adamantine has 40 hit points per inch of thickness and hardness 20.
Reading these two I'd have to say that adamantine is as rustable as any other metal. Can you post what the clockwork dragon has to say on the subject? I don't have the information on that.
Is adamantine armor worth it?
Sometimes.
There are a lot of other factors involved. Usually, it's only useful at high-level play to reduce the weapon damage from mooks (like a bunch of archers supporting the BBEG). Generally, those that can wear heavy armor without a reduction to speed (dwarves, fighters with Armor Training*, oracles with the Lame curse, etc.) gain the most, especially if they have other abilities that increase base movement (Travel domain, Flame mystery revelation Cinder Dance, etc.), although medium armor can be adequate for some characters (i.e., with barbarian Fast Movement or ranger Combat Style feats).
Anyway, once you start comparing the price of adamantine to increasing the protective magic items you already have at high-level play, things are less clear-cut than some have tried to make it. Increasing an amulet of natural +3 or ring of protection + 3 to a +4 version has a price difference of 14,000 gp; increasing your "+6" armor to "+7" (counting armor special abilities) has a price difference of 13,000 gp. 15,000 gp for DR 3/- in place of +1 to AC (or a +1 equivalent armor ability) and an extra 1,000-2,000 gp? Much tougher call; especially when you can (eventually) have "+10" in armor abilities in addition to adamantine.
*- Note that as long as the fighter gains Armor Training 1 (for instance, because of an archetype switching out Armor Training 2, 3, and 4; or a multi-classed character with limited fighter levels, probably 3-4), a sash of the war champion can let the character move at full speed in heavy armor.
|
|
According to the Clockwork dragon description it is.Also, there are things out there that sunder armor, and adamantine full plate is much more resistant. And immune to rust monsters.Why is adamantine immune to rust monsters?Linky?
Rust (Su) A rust monster's antennae are a primary touch attack that causes any metal object they touch to swiftly rust and corrode. The object touched takes half its maximum hp in damage and gains the broken condition—a second hit destroys the item. A rust monster never provokes attacks of opportunity by attempting to strike a weapon with its antennae. Against creatures made of metal, a rust monster's antennae deal 3d6+5 points of damage. An attended object, any magic object, or a metal creature can attempt a DC 15 Reflex save to negate this effect. The save DC is Constitution-based....Adamantine: Mined from rocks that fell from the heavens, this ultrahard metal adds to the quality of a weapon or suit of armor. Weapons fashioned from adamantine have a natural ability to bypass hardness when sundering weapons or attacking objects, ignoring hardness less than 20 (see Additional Rules). Armor made from adamantine grants its wearer damage reduction of 1/— if it's light armor, 2/— if it's medium armor, and 3/— if it's heavy armor. Adamantine is so costly that weapons and armor made from it are always of masterwork quality; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below. Thus, adamantine weapons and ammunition have a +1 enhancement bonus on attack rolls, and the armor check penalty of adamantine armor is lessened by 1 compared to ordinary armor of its type. Items without metal parts cannot be made from adamantine. An arrow could be made of adamantine, but a quarterstaff could not.
Weapons and armor normally made of steel that are made of adamantine have one-third more hit points than normal.
One of the clockwork dragon variants, with rust breath, has this: "These clockwork dragons are made of ironwood, adamantine, and other resistant materials immune to rusting of any form." Doesn't mention mithral because another of the variants is wholly made from mithral. The whole thing is probably just an oversight, though.
|
I think the writer of the clockwork dragon goofed up, that he assumed adamantine was rust-proof. It's not a strange assumption to make.
But this is a continual "danger" in RPGs: that some corner case monster or archetype or something will casually mention some trait, implying either that the wider case also has that trait (like the clockwork dragon).
Or the reverse: that the wider case doesn't have that trait because only the corner case has is explicitly listed (like a feat that allows you to try something that common sense suggests everyone could try to do, feat or no).
out of curiosity, would this metal work for a dwarven cleric ?
Thinking of Adamantine Lamallar.
Personally, I don't think it's worth it -- mainly due to the fact that DR#/- doesn't stack except in special cases (mentioned earlier)...so it's really only worth it to edge cases.
It's not immune to a rust monster, if that's what you're asking.
Weren't you asking about mithral?
|
|
Picking fights with the city guard? Worth it. Picking fights against someone throwing around 12d6 attacks? Not worth it.
12 attackers with +1 str bonus on a d6 weapon? Means you get hit for an average of 4.5 * 12 = 54 damage. Subtracting 36 from this we get 18 points of damage. Whoopity doo... Compared to taking a 12d6 (3.5 * 12 = 42 point fireball (or whatever) -3 = 39 points of damage.
I agree. It entirely depends on the situation. You aren't being helped by having +6 AC boost vs. area affect spells. You might as well be able to beat up the town/city guard.
|
I am considering Living Steel for my Paladins shield and possibly other equipment. The primary benefit to me would be the hp regeneration since Paladins don't have access to mending without a magic trait (I used mine for dangerously curious) or some magic item.
Similarly, I am not sure if it is worth it.
For the armor, I am debating a few options, including forgoing a special material. Silversheen or a metal alternative might be nice for avoiding rust, but is the threat that great?
A secondary issue with adamantine is what are you using until then? Your 50 get scale mail or did you buy something better that you are selling back for less than full value?
I am coming from a PFS standpoint, where this thread started, and buying something at full price in order to sell it at half price when I can afford adamantine increases the effective cost, even if the only intermediate step is half or full plate.
Craft your armor yourself ago that you break even as you sell it off. Eventually make impervious adamantine full plate with resistance to acid or fire. Go graveknight and choose the other as your rectification. Fun times.
|
|
+4 regular plate (+16k): 60hp/18hardness
+1 adamantine plate (+16k): 50hp/22hardness
At this level of expense, adamantine has a slight edge over regular steel versus Sunder. E.g., a CR10 Fire Giant dishes ~26 w/greatsword, or ~35 Power Attacking -- two successful PA/sunders will deliver ~32hp past hardness to regular plate and ~26hp to the adamantine, resulting in just over 50% chance of Broken condition to either.
So, if you're buying adamantine armor around 8th/9th, spend the extra thou for the +1, better yet +2.
Normal steel plate maxes out at 70hp/20 hardness, whereas adamantine goes up to 90hp/30hardness.
Here is the link
"Blades made of this special metal count as alchemical silver weapons and are immune to rust, including that of rust monsters, the rusting grasp spell, and so on."
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/special-materials#TOC-Silversheen