Mithral Chain shirt vs. Mithral Breastplate

[Samtron]

Hi,

i´m working on my Hunter (Archer) and have read some Archer builds and in almoste all of them they use a mithral chain shirt as Armor.
But when i compare the mithral chain shirt whith the mithral Breastplate i finde the breastplate better.

Do i miss something?

When i assume a Dex bonus of +6 and compare them with a +3/+2 enchantment bonus.

Mithral chain mail:
Armor bonus +4, Dex bonus +6, enchantment +3, summs up +13AC cost 10.100gp

Mithral breastplate:
Armor bonus +6, Dex bonus +5, entchantment +2, summs up +13AC cost 8.200gp

both have no Armor Check Penalty, the breastplate starts with -4 and gets +3 from mithral and +1 from masterwork.

so the only real difference is the weight, mithral chain shirt 12,5lbs vs breast plate 15lbs and if you invest a nother 200 gp to make it a agile brest plate even that is the same.

So why are people use the mithral chain shirt and not the mithral breast plate, what am i missing?

Thanks
Michael

[Pink Dragon]

If your character does not have medium armor proficiency but does have light armor proficiency, the mithral chain shirt is the way to go.

Further, a mithral chain shirt is much cheaper at the outset than a mithral breastplate, so it is much more readily available to a 1st to 3rd level character. After that, there is little incentive to change.

At higher level, the 2000 gp overall savings is a 'drop in he bucket', especially in view of the benefits of a mithral chain shirt at lower level.

[Gisher]

Samtron wrote:

...

both have no Armor Check Penalty, the breastplate starts with -4 and gets +3 from mithral and +1 from masterwork.

All mithral armor is masterwork so the +3 already includes the masterwork affect. Thus a mithral breastplate has an ACP of -1. The standard way to negate this is to take the Armor Expert Trait.

[lemeres]

Gisher wrote:

Samtron wrote:

...

both have no Armor Check Penalty, the breastplate starts with -4 and gets +3 from mithral and +1 from masterwork.

All mithral armor is masterwork so the +3 already includes the masterwork affect. Thus a mithral breastplate has an ACP of -1. The standard way to negate this is to take the Armor Expert Trait.

And it should be noted that the penalty for using armor you are not proficient in is to take ACP to attack rolls.

Ergo- 0 ACP= 0 Penalty.

So medium armor proficiency is highly optional when you are mithral and armor expert. Anyone that can use metal armor at all (no druids, regular monks, or wizards) can use this combo.

[Samtron]

lemeres wrote:

Gisher wrote:

Samtron wrote:

...

both have no Armor Check Penalty, the breastplate starts with -4 and gets +3 from mithral and +1 from masterwork.

All mithral armor is masterwork so the +3 already includes the masterwork affect. Thus a mithral breastplate has an ACP of -1. The standard way to negate this is to take the Armor Expert Trait.

It says no where that the masterwork bonus is includet in the mithral bonus.

Mithral says:
"Spell failure chances for armors and shields made from mithral are decreased by 10%, maximum Dexterity bonuses are increased by 2, and armor check penalties are decreased by 3 (to a minimum of 0)."

Master work ssays:
"Just as with weapons, you can purchase or craft masterwork versions of armor or shields. Such a well-made item functions like the normal version, except that its armor check penalty is lessened by 1."

My Char is profesioned with medium armor so no problem there and i have to make a decision what armor i buy in the next town.
I just want to make sure i dont miss something.

[the Queen's Raven]

Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

[thejeff]

the Queen's Raven wrote:

Weapons or armors fashioned from mithral are always masterwork items as well; the masterwork cost is included in the prices given below.

Which technically doesn't say the masterwork bonuses are included in the stats below, though that's how I've always read it.

[Icehawk]

Samtron wrote:

Hi,

i´m working on my Hunter (Archer) and have read some Archer builds and in almoste all of them they use a mithral chain shirt as Armor.
But when i compare the mithral chain shirt whith the mithral Breastplate i finde the breastplate better.

Do i miss something?

When i assume a Dex bonus of +6 and compare them with a +3/+2 enchantment bonus.

Mithral chain mail:
Armor bonus +4, Dex bonus +6, enchantment +3, summs up +13AC cost 10.100gp

Mithral breastplate:
Armor bonus +6, Dex bonus +5, entchantment +2, summs up +13AC cost 8.200gp

both have no Armor Check Penalty, the breastplate starts with -4 and gets +3 from mithral and +1 from masterwork.

so the only real difference is the weight, mithral chain shirt 12,5lbs vs breast plate 15lbs and if you invest a nother 200 gp to make it a agile brest plate even that is the same.

So why are people use the mithral chain shirt and not the mithral breast plate, what am i missing?

Thanks
Michael

Most people who can use Mithril Breastplates do so. It's mostly a question of what you're more concerned about, Flatfooted or Touch AC.

However for extremely high dexterities, most will start looking to Celestial Armor due to being chainmail with +8 dex limit.

[Majuba]

Samtron wrote:

It says no where that the masterwork bonus is includet in the mithral bonus.

It demonstrates it in the example items:

Elven Chainmail has "an armor check penalty of –2."
Mithral Full Plate of Speed has "an armor check penalty of –3."

Each of those is 3 better than the normal armor, not masterwork armor.

Not considering proficiency, the Mithril Shirt is better than Mithral Breastplate when you're going to reach +6 Dexterity long before the 3000 gp price difference in the items becomes miniscule next to the cost of enhancing it (at about +4). Until then, you'll have better touch, and the same AC, most of the time.