Im confused about weapon/armor attributes/stats

Kenze

could someone explain weapon and armor stats/attributes. Im having trouble figuring out whats an upgrade and what isnt.

atcDave

Just remember in 2E lower armor classes are better. So Studded Leather with a base armor class of 7 is better than plain Leather with a base of 8. And Full Plate with a base of 1 is better than Plate Mail with a base of 3.
It does get confusing when magical bonuses are referred to as pluses, but just remember, if its GOOD, the "plus" will actually make the armor class lower.
Also remember that multiple protection pluses do not normally stack; so +1 Leather Armor, or Leather Armor with +1 ring of protection will provide the same armor class. But the ring won't add to the magic armor (its one or the other, you can't do both).

Ogaburan

Rule of thumb is, lower is better.

Thac0 - To hit armor class 0. In other words the number you must roll on a 20 sided dice, in order to thit something with an armor class of zero.

Example;
Someone with a thac0 of 25 will need to roll a 25 on a 20 sided dice, impossible.
Only there is an exception to this rule, if you roll a 20 you automatically hit (critical hit, do double damage).
On a roll of 1 you "critically miss" and get a -1 to your next roll (if i still remember correctly).

But something tells me you haven't read the first post in this forum section...
http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/1992/basic-game-tips-for-new-players/p1
The tips include all the information you are probably looking for.

Darkcloud

Ogaburan said:

number you must roll on a 20 sided dice, in order to thit something with an armor class of zero.

Example;
Someone with a thac0 of 25 will need to roll a 25 on a 20 sided dice, impossible.
Only there is an exception to this rule, if you roll a 20 you automatically hit (critical hit, do double damage).
On a roll of 1 you "critically miss" and get a -1 to your next roll (if i still remember correctly).

Don't you need a second roll that hits on a 20 for it to be critical or is that only 3E?

TJ_Hooker

Darkcloud said:

Ogaburan said:

number you must roll on a 20 sided dice, in order to thit something with an armor class of zero.

Example;
Someone with a thac0 of 25 will need to roll a 25 on a 20 sided dice, impossible.
Only there is an exception to this rule, if you roll a 20 you automatically hit (critical hit, do double damage).
On a roll of 1 you "critically miss" and get a -1 to your next roll (if i still remember correctly).

Don't you need a second roll that hits on a 20 for it to be critical or is that only 3E?

Only in 3E. I think anyways. For sure in BG you only need to roll a 20 once to get a guarenteed critical hit.

atcDave

Darkcloud said:

Ogaburan said:

number you must roll on a 20 sided dice, in order to thit something with an armor class of zero.


Example;
Someone with a thac0 of 25 will need to roll a 25 on a 20 sided dice, impossible.
Only there is an exception to this rule, if you roll a 20 you automatically hit (critical hit, do double damage).
On a roll of 1 you "critically miss" and get a -1 to your next roll (if i still remember correctly).

Don't you need a second roll that hits on a 20 for it to be critical or is that only 3E?

That became official in 3E, although every PNP game I ever played in used something similar as a house rule long before 3E ever was published. The only "official" rule was that a 20 always hit, and a 1 always missed. Critical hits and misses are optional rules in 2E, but commonly used.