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What type of Armor do you all like for a Bard? Contemplating whether my STR should be 10 or 12. I noticed for 12 STR it enables me to wear a Chain Shirt, however Studded Leather provides the exact same amount of protection however only requires 10 STR. What do you all suggest?
I believe Chain type armor also gives the benefit of reducing the amount of damage you take on a critical hit, but I could be mistaken. I'm going from memory, as my book isn't available right now.
Armor specialization effects like that are only available to fighters and champions.
What type of Armor do you all like for a Bard? Contemplating whether my STR should be 10 or 12. I noticed for 12 STR it enables me to wear a Chain Shirt, however Studded Leather provides the exact same amount of protection however only requires 10 STR. What do you all suggest?
Out of light armors, personally I prefer the Leather armor. The highest a bard can get by default is +9AC from dex/armor/proficiency at level 13th. Until then you're at +7AC. The armor choice kind of decided your dex cap, what materials you can use, and specific armors. If you want the most Dex, stick to leather armor. If you want more metal materials go for chain shirt. If you want to forgo dex, consider getting breastplate from medium.
I start with 16 Dex, every 5 levels it will be increased.
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I start with 16 Dex, every 5 levels it will be increased.
You got a choice to make then I suppose.
Dex 16 Studded Leather Armor <or> Chain Shirt.
Dex maxed at 1st, proficiency at 13th, stays static till 20.
Dex 18 Leather Armor, highest armor bonus that allows +4 dex in addition. Dragonhide is nice and more materials will likely come.
Dex maxed at 1st, proficiency at 13th, stays static till 20.
Dex 20 Explorer's Clothing, forget materials and specific armors until future releases.
Dex maxed at 15th, proficiency at 13th, stays static till 20:
The simplest progression is to start with studded, at 5th change to leather, at 15th change to explorer's clothing. Luckily it's fairly easy to move runes over from armor to armor, and this way your AC stays maxed out in relation to your new dexterity score.
Hmm nice layout, however it requires 12 STR (studded leather) I would have to put 12 into STR if rather have it 10 and put points in something else like CON.
Hmm nice layout, however it requires 12 STR (studded leather) I would have to put 12 into STR if rather have it 10 and put points in something else like CON.
Are you gonna sneak or steal a lot? The check penalty is just -1 and applies to Athletics, Sneak, Hide and Thievery if I recall. You'll only be using it for five levels, at which point you can grab the Leather with 10 str requirement for negating the penalties.
If you're not sneaking and jumping a ton, then it's better to eat the penalty since you can't retrain 12 str out.
Hmm nice layout, however it requires 12 STR (studded leather) I would have to put 12 into STR if rather have it 10 and put points in something else like CON.Are you gonna sneak or steal a lot? The check penalty is just -1 and applies to Athletics, Sneak, Hide and Thievery if I recall. You'll only be using it for five levels, at which point you can grab the Leather with 10 str requirement for negating the penalties.
If you're not sneaking and jumping a ton, then it's better to eat the penalty since you can't retrain 12 str out.
Ohh, I thought I needed a minimum 12 STR just to wear the armor? So I just need 12 STR to avoid those penalties?
Yes, it just negates the penalties to speed and armor check skills.
Ohh, I thought I needed a minimum 12 STR just to wear the armor? So I just need 12 STR to avoid those penalties?Hmm nice layout, however it requires 12 STR (studded leather) I would have to put 12 into STR if rather have it 10 and put points in something else like CON.Are you gonna sneak or steal a lot? The check penalty is just -1 and applies to Athletics, Sneak, Hide and Thievery if I recall. You'll only be using it for five levels, at which point you can grab the Leather with 10 str requirement for negating the penalties.
If you're not sneaking and jumping a ton, then it's better to eat the penalty since you can't retrain 12 str out.
Indeed. If you're going for high dex, the best idea is to start with studded and simply start stripping down.
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Ohh, I thought I needed a minimum 12 STR just to wear the armor? So I just need 12 STR to avoid those penalties?
Yeah, with this it can be viable to not meet STR requirement right away (or ever), especially with Dwarven Unburdened ignoring speed aspect, or Elven speed or Fleet negating Medium -5 reduction to return to "normal 25" speed. Later on, Mitrhil also negates 5' of reduction, so you can see how not meeting STR "requirement" is really normal part of dynamic. Chain Shirt/Mail's Flexible (no Heavy version yet in Core) is also great for under-par STR, removing penalty for Acrobatics and Athletics, although with (currently undefined) Noisy penalty (presumably penalizing Stealth which ACP would also apply to).
Similarly, consider how you don't need Proficiency to benefit from Medium or Heavy armor at earliest levels. If you're considering buying proficiency with General Feats, you can wear Medium or Heavy without proficiency at Level 1 and only grab proficiency at Level 3 and you were never had worse AC than wearing Light armor that you were proficient in. If you can't get proficiency that quickly, you probably will want to wear lighter armor until you get Med/Heavy Proficiency, to benefit from Proficiency+Level scaling.
I believe Chain type armor also gives the benefit of reducing the amount of damage you take on a critical hit, but I could be mistaken. I'm going from memory, as my book isn't available right now.Armor specialization effects like that are only available to fighters and champions.
Additionally, only medium and heavy armors get armor specializations; Leather Armor doesn't get the bonus from the Leather group, Hide does.
Similarly, consider how you don't need Proficiency to benefit from Medium or Heavy armor at earliest levels.
Was curious what you meant by that. Can we actually use heavy armor without being proficient in it and just miss the +2 trained bonus or do we get a penalty?
And the penalty for non-proficiency only gets worse each time you level. Noting that heavy armor is not feasible at level 1 due to cost, breastplate is immediately worse than Studded Leather/Chain Mail even if your dexterity modifier is 0. By the time you can afford full plate it's been passed by, too.
It'd be a -3. You wouldn't get your +1 from your level, either.Similarly, consider how you don't need Proficiency to benefit from Medium or Heavy armor at earliest levels.Was curious what you meant by that. Can we actually use heavy armor without being proficient in it and just miss the +2 trained bonus or do we get a penalty?
Handy to know. I still need to read up on proficiencies properly so I can get the grasp on all the bonuses better.
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What kind of armor you should wear completely depends on how much dex you will have.
For the bards I built I started with at least 16 dex, so I grabbed armor that allowed for a +3 max dex. In my case I chose studded leather. As I leveled up I increased dex, and over time I moved to armor that matched my max dex. Until I reached a point where I purchased bracers of armor (at +5 dex).
As pointed out, armor specialization only applies to fighters and champions, so armor choice is really based on your max dex and avoiding specific negative effects. Which gets easier as your dex increases.
Personally, I see little reason to not increases your dex at every character level up, and for every high character to have at least 18 dex, unless you're a fighter or champion.
Bards can also take medium armor proficiency and start with 12 Dex then retain out of that at level 10.
I see nobody mentioned Mage Armor, is it not very good?
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It's not worth a spell known that you have to keep heightening regularly to keep relevant. Buy armor.
Hmm nice layout, however it requires 12 STR (studded leather) I would have to put 12 into STR if rather have it 10 and put points in something else like CON.Are you gonna sneak or steal a lot? The check penalty is just -1 and applies to Athletics, Sneak, Hide and Thievery if I recall. You'll only be using it for five levels, at which point you can grab the Leather with 10 str requirement for negating the penalties.
If you're not sneaking and jumping a ton, then it's better to eat the penalty since you can't retrain 12 str out.
Hmm would this check penalty affect my Athletics (Dex) when using my Whip to trip enemies?
It's not worth a spell known that you have to keep heightening regularly to keep relevant. Buy armor.
Well for a bard in theory you could just flag mage armor as your spontaneous heightened spell but still kind of a waste.
Wands of mage armor start out at 60 gp,with no save bonus, going to 700 at their next level if effectiveness, and that just adds a save bonus.
Bracers of Armor start a 450, with the bonus to saves.
Looks like mage armor wands might be a good choice early, but not for long at all.
Too bad...