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I open this discussion in the general discussion and not the homebrew because it's more of a suggestion to Paizo developers than a houserule.
Many players have reported the fact that medium armor is not very appealing, and even worse, it is sometimes not functional for the classes that get access to it. The biggest gripe, in my opinion, is that many classic MAD builds just don't work without an access to Bulwark, which is only possible through Heavy Armor. Examples are Magus, Mutagenist, Warpriest, intimidating Barbarian...
Right now, I can't design a Strength-based character with an interest in Charisma or Intelligence without Sentinel. The power gain is so big that it's a tax feat. I think it's an issue considering the design of PF2. Either all Maguses, Mutagenists, Warpriests and Barbarians should get Heavy Armor Proficiency one way or another, or there's a need to provide them a functional Medium Armor to suit their needs.
Something like a reinforced chainmail with such stats (or similar ones):
Item bonus +5
Max Dex cap +0
Strength Requirement 16
Check penalty -3
Speed penalty 5ft.
Bulwark
With such an armor, all the MAD builds with access to Medium Armor have a go to option instead of relying on Sentinel to catch their go to option. Sentinel will still be appealing (for the extra point of AC at the cost of a speed penalty) but no more mandatory.
Don't hesitate to comment if, like me, you think this is highly needed. Otherwise, let this discussion disappear if I'm the only one concerned about that.
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The 'only' build I've been able to make anything out of with Medium Armor is a theoretical Inventor Armor build, so this is not far off the mark.
It's almost like the medium armors were shoehorned back in after there was a design decision to go Light/Heavy like Starfinder.
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I dunno. I feel like there's an assumption here that you must be maxing out all of your saves. I mean, you'd like to, but is it really required?
Breastplate currently allows you to get max normal AC with just a Dex 12, so you can do that with just the step D ability boosts. It doesn't require tapping into ancestry, background or class boosts. I think that's not really that crazy MAD.
I think it's also telling that most heavy armors also don't have Bulwark, only full plate.
Getting bulwark on a medium armor would be so efficient, maybe it should also carry a bigger speed penalty.
I dunno. I feel like there's an assumption here that you must be maxing out all of your saves. I mean, you'd like to, but is it really required?
We speak of +1 to AC, +2 to Reflex saves, +1 to Fortitude and extra hit points or +1 to Will and Perception. It is a tax feat for MAD builds.
At least, if the only thing you lose is the +1 to AC, it becomes way more acceptable to be a bit less than fully optimized (and I'm pretty sure a lot of players will still take Sentinel as +1 to AC is massively desirable).| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
It really is absolutely required to max out your saves. Remember, it's not just frequency of being hit, but also frequency of being crit that is affected, and this is absolutely critical.
Getting bulwark on a medium armor would be so efficient, maybe it should also carry a bigger speed penalty.
The speed penalty is there to counterbalance the +1 to AC as all Heavy Armors have it despite not all having Bullwark. If you put the -10ft. speed penalty, you still makes Sentinel a no-brainer as gaining +1 to AC for a feat is nearly nowhere to be found. At least, with the speed penalty, you can justify not going Sentinel (even if +1 to AC is better than 5ft. of Speed).
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I've played a medium armor greatsword precision ranger with animal companion up to level 11 and didn't feel unoptimized compared to the light armor and heavy armor members of the party. I focused strength, dex, con, and wisdom. I wasn't critically failing more than the other party members. Heavy armor is undoubtedly the best armor choice (I kind of like it having that niche bc the dude wrapped in metal should be the hardest to kill). However, for my build needs, feats for progressing my animal companion, heal animal, disrupt prey, and wardens boon were all more important to me than heavy armor and a static 2+ to reflex. I never felt punished for those decisions. I seriously doubt the game hinges on taking sentinel if you don't have access to heavy armor. In fact, I wouldn't consider sentinel unless I was making vanguard gunslinger (doom guy) or a frontline caster like a sorc/champion or muscle wizard. Sentinel is only worth the feat space to me if heavy armor is on theme for the character. Otherwise, I'm locked in for 3 feats on unnecessary stat boosters when I might've wanted that space for other archetypes or class feats.
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I've played a medium armor greatsword precision ranger with animal companion up to level 11 and didn't feel unoptimized compared to the light armor and heavy armor members of the party. I focused strength, dex, con, and wisdom. I wasn't critically failing more than the other party members. Heavy armor is undoubtedly the best armor choice (I kind of like it having that niche bc the dude wrapped in metal should be the hardest to kill). However, for my build needs, feats for progressing my animal companion, heal animal, disrupt prey, and wardens boon were all more important to me than heavy armor and a static 2+ to reflex. I never felt punished for those decisions. I seriously doubt the game hinges on taking sentinel if you don't have access to heavy armor. In fact, I wouldn't consider sentinel unless I was making vanguard gunslinger (doom guy) or a frontline caster like a sorc/champion or muscle wizard. Sentinel is only worth the feat space to me if heavy armor is on theme for the character. Otherwise, I'm locked in for 3 feats on unnecessary stat boosters when I might've wanted that space for other archetypes or class feats.
Your character was not MAD, so it works.
Now, play a character who can't pay for any dex increase and you'll quickly realize that Heavy Armor is a must have.
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While I agree that medium armor is a bit underwhelming, I don’t think that bulwark is the way to correct it. In fact, I would say that the entry to full plate is too light. Maybe it should have a Str20 requirement, at least then there would be a real “cost” to obtaining the best armor that should probably be restricted to the very best warriors. I dunno, but bulwark is a huge advantage and would just further push the power curve up a few degrees.
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100% agree with the OP. If your class, or just your character concept, wants a non-save secondary stat, and your main stat is Strength, heavy armor is pretty much required if you don't want to have a big "press this red button and I lose" weakness at higher levels. We're talking crit failing saves from at-level casters on 7s or 8s if you leave a save stat at 10-12 forever in favor of others.
Medium armor with bulwark would be pretty nice, and maybe other things to help MAD characters as well.
While I agree that medium armor is a bit underwhelming, I don’t think that bulwark is the way to correct it. In fact, I would say that the entry to full plate is too light. Maybe it should have a Str20 requirement, at least then there would be a real “cost” to obtaining the best armor that should probably be restricted to the very best warriors. I dunno, but bulwark is a huge advantage and would just further push the power curve up a few degrees.
That would be a massive change. It also means that before level 10, wearing a heavy armor puts you at 15ft of speed, which is very tough for a lot of characters.
Changing the access cost (or the drawbacks) of heavy armor would be another way to balance in favor of Medium Armor, but one that would change the game deeply in my opinion.Also, I disagree that it would push the power curve as it would still be weaker than Heavy Armor. It would just give a bit more breathing room for MAD builds.
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The armor covers you so completely that it provides benefits against some damaging effects. On Reflex saves to avoid a damaging effect, such as a fireball, you add a +3 modifier instead of your Dexterity modifier.
This just doesn't make sense to me with medium armor. I'd rather see Medium armor get its own unique thing than steal something that should be exclusive to heavy armor.
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I think the pendulum would swing too far the other way & disturb the current balance. If Medium Armor had such a fix for its Reflex saves, yes, that would free up stats for elsewhere. Except investing in Int & Cha pays dividends (ones hard to duplicate elsewhere). For example, that intimidating Barbarian regularly putting a Frightened 1 on her opponents effectively gains a +1 AC, as well as +1 attacks & saves (to that one opponent). Investing in Intimidation & Charisma would become the new "feat tax" if we framed the exact same question from that POV.
If one could get those bonuses at no net cost via a Bulwark Medium Armor, then MAD would become the "required" new normal. I prefer that one has to consider which direction they want to go with their stats rather than dismiss Dex so easily. Also, I'm not so sure MAD applies here, since the "D" stands for "dependent", doesn't it? In PF2 it feels more like "desired", where a build could get away without a higher stat, but really wants it anyway.
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Sentinel is quite strong, yes. That's hardly a tax, that's a purchase.
Is it maybe too strong? I don't think so since it jams up one's Dedication, and that's valuable.
You might be getting the +1 to AC & Bulwark, but you're not getting the +1d6 Sneak Attack to damage via Rogue MCD or the better save via Monk MCD or the great defense of a Shield Cantrip via a caster MCD, etc.
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I do agree that one should build their Save stats to 14 ASAP and at least 18 eventually, though by what level varies by the class's proficiencies (et al). Yes, that 18 Dex means it'll often be better to transition out of medium and into light unless one has Armor Specialization (in classes where a Str-build would gravitate to Heavy anyway).
That does feel odd, yet when Conan hit higher levels he did seem to get bare-chested more and more often. :-P
Except there remains the IMO notable value of being able to begin with lower Dex until those Boosts kick in and the cost of improving one's Dex lowers. For a secondary stat, going above 18 doesn't pay off well IMO, freeing up Boosts to shore up any weaknesses from being thin to begin with. Yes, it might take some levels to attain one's PC concept, yet that might be due to one's concept outstretching one's power level. It's like asking to play Superman in a superhero game alongside Daredevil and being surprised how watered down your array of powers are. Yep, it might take some XP to get where you're going.
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Mechanically, if I were to be persuaded, I don't see how Paizo could implement this. How would the new medium armor fit in the paradigm?
If not a -10' to speed, which was shot down, then at what other cost?
The only other route I see would be to hit AC, and who's going to pay for that for a +1/+2 to Reflex saves (assuming a 12-14 Dex & at most +3 Bulwark, though doesn't that seem too generous to give the same as Full Plate, yet any lower and the net becomes zero, killing the whole idea).
That or have some exotic armor...which would cost that same feat spent on Sentinel.
I guess there could be a Rune of some sort, using up one (or even two!) of the slots on one's armor. Hmm. Or would that become the new "tax"?
(I suspect there might be an infinite regress/shifting on where people feel an option becomes a "tax" as one juggles these concepts.)
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Sentinel is quite strong, yes. That's hardly a tax, that's a purchase.
Is it maybe too strong? I don't think so since it jams up one's Dedication, and that's valuable.
You might be getting the +1 to AC & Bulwark, but you're not getting the +1d6 Sneak Attack to damage via Rogue MCD or the better save via Monk MCD or the great defense of a Shield Cantrip via a caster MCD, etc.
Last time I checked you can't get Sneak Attack on a Strength-based build anyway as you need Dex, and also it's for Finesse and Agile weapons. And Monk great defense either. And Shield is ridiculous compared to Heavy Armor. Similar bonus, but one doesn't cost an action to activate. Also, Sneak Attack and Monk great defenses are higher level, cost 2 feats, with bigger prerequisites, and blocks you in a Dedication (when Sentinel only asks for a single class feat and you can take another Dedication at level 6).
No, Sentinel is not strong. You will never find a feat giving you +1 AC and +3 to a save anywhere in the game. It's already a feat tax.Investing in Intimidation & Charisma would become the new "feat tax" if we framed the exact same question from that POV.
But these builds already exist, I'm not adding new builds to the game. I'm allowing some classes to have a weaker Full Plate for less cost. It's not ideal, but the current situation where you have to take Sentinel in a lot of builds because there's no way you'll find a competitive feat is the problem.
I don't agree with a +0 dex "medium" armor.
There's nothing medium about something so heavy and cumbersome to completely remove your dex bonus.
For Bulwark, maybe a minor version, like +1/+2, but not the full +3 would be OK.
But yeah a +4/+1 medium armor with something like that as a top end, would be OK I guess as a middle ground.
I see your point.
I remember bone armor in first edition that could be quite covering (and as such justify Bullwark) and not as tough as a Full Plate as obviously bone is not as hard as metal.+4/+1 doesn't seem that bad. But a smaller Bulwark, I think it would be too bad to compete. +3 is nice, but +2 or worse +1 is not much different from 0 (especially if you already need 12 Dex to max AC).
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Sentinel is quite strong, yes. That's hardly a tax, that's a purchase.
Is it maybe too strong? I don't think so since it jams up one's Dedication, and that's valuable.
You might be getting the +1 to AC & Bulwark, but you're not getting the +1d6 Sneak Attack to damage via Rogue MCD or the better save via Monk MCD or the great defense of a Shield Cantrip via a caster MCD, etc.Last time I checked you can't get Sneak Attack on a Strength-based build anyway as you need Dex, and also it's for Finesse and Agile weapons. And Monk great defense either. And Shield is ridiculous compared to Heavy Armor. Similar bonus, but one doesn't cost an action to activate. Also, Sneak Attack and Monk great defenses are higher level, cost 2 feats, with bigger prerequisites, and blocks you in a Dedication (when Sentinel only asks for a single class feat and you can take another Dedication at level 6).
No, Sentinel is not strong. You will never find a feat giving you +1 AC and +3 to a save anywhere in the game. It's already a feat tax.Investing in Intimidation & Charisma would become the new "feat tax" if we framed the exact same question from that POV.But these builds already exist, I'm not adding new builds to the game. I'm allowing some classes to have a weaker Full Plate for less cost. It's not ideal, but the current situation where you have to take Sentinel in a lot of builds because there's no way you'll find a competitive feat is the problem.
-Why wouldn't a Strength-based build have 14 Dex? That's a bizarre assertion. If bearing a shield, getting an Agile weapon on a non-Barbarian is a sensible option. Sneak Attack is "higher level" at 4th, yes, but c'mon. And the Rogue Dedication has value on its own.
-And those MCD examples were on the fly, and as you know (yet ignored), represent only a sliver of the other Dedications that give notable bumps in capability, i.e. the hit point boost of Blessed.
-The AC is only one benefit of Shield. If that's not worth the 1 action/round (and it often isn't), then it's still valuable for getting in its one good block. And it comes with another Cantrip plus access to a lot of items and often two skills. That's a lot IMO.
-"No, Sentinel is not strong." Then proceeds to extol the virtues of Sentinel. So it is worth the purchase and therefore not a feat tax (on some other purchase)?
Remember, the original context of a feat tax isn't that it's so strong you can't pass it up, it's that it's worthless, yet required to get to a feat you really want, i.e. PF1's Combat Expertise to get to the maneuvers and Whirlwind Attack. Hence a tax on top of a price.
Or are you saying it's so much a "must-have" that you can't build without it? Considering how many people do build without it or recommend builds w/o mentioning it, that might not be "therefore we need a medium armor w/ Bulwark" argument you feel it is.
I speculated a Magus just this week where yes, I felt I should go Sentinel (and since it was a Dwarf anyway). Yet when I mapped out the feats, I realized I didn't want to. I had more interesting options.
-Sentinel giving +1 to AC & +3 to (most) Reflex saves has the presupposition of a 10 Dex (which I do not accept) and an 18 Strength (assuming they want to move; and that's a higher bar than the prereqs you noted to dismiss some other MCD options above).
-"But these builds already exist" in my mind means the system's working as it should. Has Sentinel or the lack of adequate stats been keeping people from pursuing these builds due to MAD issues? You've just acknowledged it doesn't.
Might some people be attracted to Sentinel's benefits instead and feel it's a must? Obviously yourself it sounds like, yet isn't that a good thing that there are viable options of value to several tastes?
-"a weaker Full Plate for less cost" = what?
If it's a weaker version of Bulwark, it's that much easier to match w/ Dex. And like a commenter above, I can't see a medium armor going down to +0 Dex.
So what is this armor concept that covers one's body more than many heavy armors (so as to warrant Bulwark), yet remains medium armor?
And does this armor dislodge all the other medium armors or actually have a setback to warrant its superiority? Will it make those in Hide Armor (like Druids or certain RPing concepts) relatively worse for not having it as an option?
Like I mentioned before, it might work as an Armor Rune, perhaps one that takes two slots, but I can't see any other attractive niche.
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I dunno. I feel like there's an assumption here that you must be maxing out all of your saves. I mean, you'd like to, but is it really required?
The game's math would say that yes, it is required.
Consider that, assuming you keep the same scaling of proficiencies and features, but merely adjust for attribute modifiers, that the difference between a level 1 with a 10 or 14 in an attribute to a level 15 with an 18 or even 20 in an attribute can give as much as a 3 or 4 value difference, which is a massive boost to the overall likelihood of avoiding failures and crit failures, as well as the likelihood of successes and the possibility of critical successes. Speaking as an ex-Champion at 15th level on who has been subject to many a Reflex save and had only a 14 Dexterity with a mere Expert proficiency, I was failing saves left and right (sometimes critically failing) and dropping like a fly. But when I chose to boost my Reflex saves at 17th level via Canny Acumen, the +2 helped round out my saves, and I failed far less compared to if I didn't have it. I've succeeded several saves thanks to that boost, and I can only imagine how many less failures I'd have if I had another +2 from a 19 Dexterity.
Yes, Bulwark helped some, but it wasn't always there, and it didn't make as much of a difference by comparison.
IMO, Classes that are MAD should get 5 ability boosts instead, or at least have their MADness be tied to the Big 3 stats, otherwise they'll just fall behind in areas the game expects them to keep up with.
The real problem is that Bulwark is too good. If you have access to heavy armor, you get Plate as soon as you can buy it, just for Bulwark.
I prefer to have bulwark only on plate armours. But there is already a medium plate in the game (Conrasu).
I don't think bulwark is too good, because bulwark doesn't help when you are tripped.is something
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I stopped focusing on fullplate too after a particularly frustrating fight with my fighter vs. a rogue with a whip. The rogue of course had NPC level skill bonus in Athletics so was consistently tripping me with my Dex 10 reflex save. So I'd be standing up, moving up, striking once, then get tripped, sneak attacked, and the rogue would step away. Exposing a weakness in my build.
But more broadly speaking, I think it's "working as intended" that you can't start out with high numbers if all the attributes that are very useful to your class. Because if you could do that then there wouldn't be much room for growth, and all builds for that class would be pretty much the same. Instead, you have to choose which thing is more important to you; offense, defense (in particular directions), or some other ability of your class.
I also really don't subscribe to this idea that you have to have maxed out saves/HP. It's certainly nice to have, but it's a line of thought that you have to completely cover all defenses to the best of your ability because the game is that deadly.
But take that to an extreme: would the game be better if you never failed a save? Of course not, that would be boring. There's supposed to be some amount of risk. Less extreme then: how much risk should there be of failing on defense, on offense, or on utility/skills/something else? That's a matter of taste. And when you're saying that you NEED to be maxed out in all directions, maybe you've been playing adventures set to a DC that's just a bit higher than you actually enjoy?
I think it's nicer if you don't overtune adventures (hi Plaguestone!) and instead allow people to have multiple different not-maxed out builds that are all viable.
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But it's not about overtuned adventures in this case. A level 15 NPC spellcaster with High DC has a spell DC of 36. And this is not even that high for the game's standards, because the monster building rules suggest you start using Extreme DCs for main casters at that point. But let's be generous and go with High. If you leave a save stat at 10 by that point, you're likely to have 15 + 4 (Expert) + 2 (Item), for +21. That means you need a 15 to pass, and most importantly, you critically fail on a 5.
This is not a boss, this is a level+0 creature, and isn't even one with that high of a DC, according to the game (look at the Demilich for example, a level 15 creature with a spell DC of forty). It's not about adventures being overtuned or people setting DCs too high, it's that the DCs the game sets up as recommendations and uses as a baseline are balanced around a super maxed character, and you'll critically fail and be deleted from a fight very often if you don't invest. No wonder why people are paranoid about defenses.
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15 : 5
That seems reasonable to me for a bad save.
Succeeding 30% of the time is decently reasonable for a bad save, that's true. But critically failing 25% of the time is a lot less reasonable when that will make you useless for the rest of the fight more often than not. It's just a consequence of +10/-10 crits and spell/ability design making critical failures too crippling.
And also these numbers are quite optimistic for someone who makes no investment in a save. Like I mentioned, most level 15 monster DCs will be higher than that, going as high as 40. You could also be fighting a level+ creature, which shouldn't be the norm, but is something that happens. Combine both and you can be in a situation where you only pass on a natural 20 and critically fail on a 10-11.
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I stopped focusing on fullplate too after a particularly frustrating fight with my fighter vs. a rogue with a whip. The rogue of course had NPC level skill bonus in Athletics so was consistently tripping me with my Dex 10 reflex save. So I'd be standing up, moving up, striking once, then get tripped, sneak attacked, and the rogue would step away. Exposing a weakness in my build.
Sounds more like you didn't realize that acrobatics/kip up are just a skill tax for melee martials like how medicine is for the group as a whole. Even a dex martial isn't going to avoid being tripped by an enemy that is statted to trip them and neither can avoid free trips with knockdown.
That or bully your local buffer for haste I guess.
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I stopped focusing on fullplate too after a particularly frustrating fight with my fighter vs. a rogue with a whip. The rogue of course had NPC level skill bonus in Athletics so was consistently tripping me with my Dex 10 reflex save. So I'd be standing up, moving up, striking once, then get tripped, sneak attacked, and the rogue would step away. Exposing a weakness in my build.Sounds more like you didn't realize that acrobatics/kip up are just a skill tax for melee martials like how medicine is for the group as a whole. Even a dex martial isn't going to avoid being tripped by an enemy that is statted to trip them and neither can avoid free trips with knockdown.
That or bully your local buffer for haste I guess.
I've never been tripped with enough frequency to the point where I thought kip up was mandatory. I considered it a more thematic feat for rogues or swashbucklers.
On topic, medium armor is always a bit of a sticky wicket. Mainly because armor doesn't sort itself into such neat categories that way in reality.
A lot of the medium armor is just an archaic form of heavier armor to come while light armor is either pure fantasy (leather armor) or the sort of armor a commoner might have access to when drafted. Like breastplate wouldn't have been anybody's first choice to bring to battle in an age where head-to-toe plate armor was the finest to be had.
Armor is also not that hard to move in and really shouldn't require proficiency while shields are actually rather tough to work with and should be what takes work to use.
I know that changing the formula isn't on the table, but I think armor could benefit from a complete redesign.
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Leather armour isn't fantasy - boiled leather was sometimes used as armour (though it was bad) because it was cheap.
Studded leather - yeah that's pure fantasy.
The other issue with armour is that it's pretty boring, we have a bunch of different types of armour but most of them are rarely used. They all follow the same formula - adds up to +5, slap a random armour spec on it (which honestly I forget about because its so irrelevant) and that's pretty much it. Only like 3 armours even have another trait.
Some other types of armour (which have reduced AC for another benefit) would be nice too, e.g.
Ring Mail - Medium Armour +3/+0, Ringed 5/3, Bulwark
Ringed trait - This armour is comprised of multiple rings which lessen blows, but repeated offense will open a hole in it. Ringed includes two values. When you take damage, reduce that damage by an amount equal to the first value (double the first value if the armour is +1, triple if it is +2 or quadruple if it is +3). After the armour has reduced damage in this way a number of times equal to the second value, this property no longer functions until you spend a minute reattaching the rings.
Leather armour isn't fantasy - boiled leather was sometimes used as armour (though it was bad) because it was cheap.
Okay, it was but it doesn't seem to have been common enough that every adventurer would have started off their career wearing it. They would have worn a gambison or padded jack and upgraded to heavier armor when they could afford it.
The other issue with armour is that it's pretty boring, we have a bunch of different types of armour but most of them are rarely used. They all follow the same formula - adds up to +5, slap a random armour spec on it (which honestly I forget about because its so irrelevant) and that's pretty much it. Only like 3 armours even have another trait.
100% this.
My solution would be to use armor as DR, shields and dexterity as AC, and maybe make the heaviest armor require a certain strength or constitution modifier to avoid a penalty to dexterity and rolls for fatigue. I'd also break armor into helms, chest, arms/hands, and legs and add traits to these. I'm not sure I'd add a called shot and hit location system, but the traits added with each piece and bonus DR for having your entire body covered would incentivize wearing what you can find.
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My solution would be to use armor as DR, shields and dexterity as AC, and maybe make the heaviest armor require a certain strength or constitution modifier to avoid a penalty to dexterity and rolls for fatigue. I'd also break armor into helms, chest, arms/hands, and legs and add traits to these. I'm not sure I'd add a called shot and hit location system, but the traits added with each piece and bonus DR for having your entire body covered would incentivize wearing what you can find.
I like the armor DR idea. Thing is, you'd have to build the entire combat system around that.
Would damage scale with level?What is the relationship between HP, AC, DR, to-hit, and damage?
How do elemental damage and spells interact?
I like the armor DR idea. Thing is, you'd have to build the entire combat system around that.
Yeah, 100%.
Would damage scale with level?
No, I'd cut potency runes and massively trim back HP levels to avoid this issue.
What is the relationship between HP, AC, DR, to-hit, and damage?
HP would stay low, like D&D 2e kinds of low.
AC would be lower than it is now and using a shield or picking up some sort of ability that lets you dodge or parry would be key defensive feats. Though I'd aim to keep the gap between a skilled shield user and somebody with little defensive investment beyond a maxed-out dexterity at no worse than 5 points, with a caveat that most classes would get access to parries, dodges, and other skills at low-ish levels.
I'd likely peg a full suit of plate as an 80% damage reduction* and scale down from there.
The damage would also stay low with potency runes gone and most damage coming from aligning the right trait to the right armor, good weapon proficiency for both more hits and better hits, and a stat appropriate to the class.
*Before weapon traits are factored in.
How do elemental damage and spells interact?
I'd probably rate each armor for magic DR, a much weaker number, and let mages be the choice to down heavily armored foes. The drawback is that mages get no defensive traits in their class feats, can't cast with gloves and a helmet on, and generally die to a stiff breeze.
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It sounds like the ideal character in that system would actually be a mage. If you’re solid at dealing damage to everyone, all you need is invisibility and quick initiative to pop enemies that can see you. Once you've taken care of those that could see you, stay mobile and burn down the metal enemies that just want to get in touch with their inner oven.
Sounds like a system that would devolve into mage rocket tag.