In going through these forums I've come across, several times, the assertion that that the chain shirt is the best armor for dex based characters. Why is this the general wisdom?
Is it because it's easier to hit the "maximum armor" of a chain shirt only needing a +4 to dexterity?
Is it because you can get mithral versions of it? shouldn't darkleaf cloth make that un important?
Am I missing something? this doesn't seem as straigh forward to me as it seems to be asserted.
Highest base AC, no movement penalty, dex cap is meaningless because of mithral.
Basically it gives the most AC for characters who arent at absurdly high dexterity scores (like 30+)
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In going through these forums I've come across, several times, the assertion that that the chain shirt is the best armor for dex based characters. Why is this the general wisdom?
Whoever said that is wrong.
It's the best for most dex characters at level 1-2. Once you can afford it, you should have a mithril breastplate instead. (total 1 AC higher than a mithril chain shirt - you don't even need proficiency if you take the Armor Expert trait)
At higher levels you should grab Celestial Armor.
I've always thought Darkleaf armour was pretty good myself. There is also the Celestial Armour in the core rulebook. It's a Chainmail that is considered light armour, has a max dex of +8 and counts as +3. -2AC Penalty, 15% arcane spell faliure (you can get a wizard in to this pretty easy and with arcane armour training 1 you can use your swift action to lower that to 5%) and gives you fly once per day. It is pretty costly though being a specific magic armour, costing a total of 22,400g. You won't find this in most cities. The base value of a metropolis is only 16,000 so you'd have to be lucky enough to find one as a random roll in the city or craft it yourself.
Mithral Kikko is better than the Breastplate, even, for dex based characters. (Assuming the campaign allows Easter weapons/armor.)
It has one lower AC but one higher Dex mod allowed, giving the same potential AC. It also has one lower Armor Check penalty, which is completely removed by being Mithral. This means you don't have to use a trait slot on Armor Expert to get the penalty down to 0 (which most do with the Breastplate), freeing up that trait slot for something else.
The Kikko is also 170gp cheaper than the Breastplate, though that's less significant when you get to the point that you're buying Mithral armor.
Kikko and Four Mirror got their prices increased in the second printing of the ultimate equipment. They now cost 250g and 125g respectively.
It depends on how much Dex your dex character is going to have. General wisdom is that you'll end up with 22-24 in your top stat (Base 14 to 16+2 Racial+6 Belt). So realistically most characters do not need access to armor with more dex than +6-7. 8-9 if you put 16 levels of your 4th level attribute bonus into the armor
Thus a Mithral w/e or Celestial armor will work on those characters, however if you are a class that buffs your dexterity like an Alchemist then you'll need something more flexible.
For Example: Level 16 Alchemist
18 Base Dex, +6 Belt, Grand Mutagen +8, 4 Attribute Bonuses = 36 Dexterity
At which point you have 23 AC while naked and can only wear Hamaki or Silken Ceremonial Robes without restricting your movement. Anything over 31 Dex is the cut off for even armor made from special materials
Celestial Armor vs Bracers of Armor
Celestial Armor +5:
Total Bonus: +19 (6 Armor, 5 enhancement, 8 Dexterity)
Bracers of Armor +8:
Total Bonus: 8+DEX, meaning you need Dex 32+ to match Celestial Armor
Each level of armor has a higher "cap", or armor + dex (assuming special materials):
Light Armor = 10 (like mithral chain shirt 4+6).
Medium Armor = 11 (like mithral breastplate 6+5).
Heavy Armor = 12 (like mithral full plate 9+3).
Celestial Armor ends up being better than any of these because it has a huge dex-cap, and Celestial Plate Armor is better even than that. Those are, however, quite expensive.
Fighter Armor Training changes the dynamic in favor of heavier armors in pretty much every way; a dex-based level 11 Fighter in mithral full plate moves at full speed anyhow, and would need a +16 modifier from dexterity to have higher AC without armor.
Chain shirt is not the best armor for dex based character. Bracers of armor are.
Up to +8 armor and infinite dex bonus (+16 dex bonus to AC with a certain fighter of mine).
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Celestial Armor vs Bracers of Armor
Celestial Armor +5:
Total Bonus: +19 (6 Armor, 5 enhancement, 8 Dexterity)Bracers of Armor +8:
Total Bonus: 8+DEX, meaning you need Dex 32+ to match Celestial Armor
Though of note: Celestial Armor +5 is technically a house-rule. It comes at +3 standard, and there are no official rules for upgrading it.
Haramaki is more cost-effective than bracers of armor (counting straight AC; vs. incorporeal enemies, adding ghost touch gets expensive) for characters with very high Dex scores. A +5 haramaki (25,000 gp) grants +6 armor AC, no max Dex, no ACP, no spell failure; bracers of armor +6 cost 36,000 gp.
In addition, haramaki can have an additional "+5" of special abilities; including brawling, mirrored, etc. that can't be added to bracers, because it's actual (metal) armor.
If the character has proficiency in heavy armor and can counteract the hit to movement (dwarf, fighter, etc.), mithral tatami-do (+7 armor bonus, +5 max Dex, -3 ACP; 10,000 gp) is probably one of the better choices with a maximum potential (+5 enhancement, 20+ Dex) bonus of +17 (before Armor Training with a fighter).
Though of note: Celestial Armor +5 is technically a house-rule. It comes at +3 standard, and there are no official rules for upgrading it.Celestial Armor vs Bracers of Armor
Celestial Armor +5:
Total Bonus: +19 (6 Armor, 5 enhancement, 8 Dexterity)Bracers of Armor +8:
Total Bonus: 8+DEX, meaning you need Dex 32+ to match Celestial Armor
You can temporarily make it +5 through the use of the Occultist's Aegis Focus Power (6th level or higher) or Magic Vestment (cast by a 20th level caster). Neither works on the Bracers. Since you could use them on the Celestial Armor I suppose it's reasonable to consider +5 as the theoretical maximum enhancement.