I'm adding a character to one of my groups. We start at level 2 and have 1000 gold to spend. After buying weapons, I have 925 left.
I am dex based and can only carry 38 pounds. 43 if I buy a MW backpack. I also can't wear metal armor due to a level of Shifter.
Should I spend the gold to buy a spider-silk bodysuit for my armor? It costs 850 but gives +3 AC with a Max Dex of 6 and the ACP is only -1. It also weighs only 4 pounds.
There's also Leaf Armor for 500 gold. Same AC and no ACP, but a slightly lower Max Dex and weighs 20 pounds.
And I do have proficiency with Medium Armor so there's also Hide for only 15 gold. +4 AC, +4 Max Dex, -3 ACP, and weighs 25 pounds.
What actually is your dexterity? And are skills with ACP important to you?
In any case hide armor is a poor idea. A point of AC for -10' speed is a bad bargain. A hide shirt, likely masterwork (+3 armor, +4 max dex, -1 ACP/0 if masterwork, 18 lbs) or that leaf armor has to be better.
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As avr said, a lot depends on what your Dexterity is (and what you expect it to grow to as you level). As well as what other gear you have that will be weighing you down.
I would not buy the spider-silk bodysuit at this point. You are going to want to have masterwork armor eventually, and you don't have enough money to buy masterwork spider-silk (1000 gp) at this time. If you want to go with the spider-silk, just buy a plain hide shirt (20gp) now and get the masterwork spider-silk a bit later.
If you can afford the weight I'd go with darkleaf hide shirt (9 lbs, 770 gp, +3 AC, Max Dex +6, ACP 0) or darkleaf leather lamellar (12.5 lbs, 810 gp, +4 AC, Max Dex +5, ACP 0). Either one already counts as masterwork.
A wand of mage armor and a friend who can cast it
I am a Feral Champion Warpriest with a single level of Adaptive Shifter. My dex is starting at 16 and will be going up once the character has enough gold to buy a belt. (I know that dex based natural attack builds aren't the best idea, but the character is a kitsune and those have a strength penalty.)
If the darkleaf armors already count as masterwork, then they would be better than the spider-silk. I think I'll go with the darkleaf hide shirt. There are ways to increase basic AC. There isn't a way to increase max dex since I'm not going Fighter.
If you have enough money for a belt of incredible dexterity then you probably also have enough money for a new suit of armor - you don't have to wear the same suit until it rots and falls off you. But a darkleaf hide shirt should work for you forever basically yes.
Yeah, you have to be specific when talking about armor in PF. There are a few that have super similar names. Hide Shirt and Chain Shirt are Light Armor. Hide, Chain Coat, and Chainmail are Medium Armor. And there are 6 armors with Lamellar in their names, two in each category.