BG2 -- Lazy implementation of Dragon Armors

Lorfean

So, I mentioned this as an off-hand comment in a thread in the general discussion but I figured it might make more sense/result in a more interesting dialogue if I put it here.

I always felt that the way dragon armors were implemented in BG2 was a bit... lazy/cheap. What bothers me about them is the obvious categorization/restrictions of the armors:

Shadow Dragon Scale = leather
White Dragon Scale = chain
Blue/Red Dragon Scale = plate.

I'm a bit fuzzy on the actual pen and paper rules, but shouldn't armors made from exotic materials like this be usable by almost any class, instead of just following the restrictions of whichever category (leather/chain/plate) they are assigned to? This is certainly true for items like the Bladesinger Chain (BG2) and the Elven Chain (ToB), both of which can be equipped by Thieves and Bards even though they are technically chain armors. The same goes for the Black Dragon Scale in IWD, which can be used by all classes except Mages, and the Rhino Beetle Shield, which Druids can use even though they aren't normally allowed to use Large Shields.

There might be more items in the BG games that these kind of implementation issues can apply to -- the Ankheg Plate Mail is one that comes to mind; it's made from natural materials, so Druids should be able to use this but they can't -- but the Dragons Armors are the most obvious and noticeable ones to me.

Mornmagor

Not only that @Lorfean, but normally, when you have such materials available, you are free to choose what armor to make out of them. It should be possible to create full plate from the shadow dragon, or leather from the red dragon.

Also, dragon plate or dragon hide armors, are not metallic, they should not pose a problem to druids, no.

I think probably the limitations were coded into the items, so whatever item you found, followed the restriction of the base armor type.

Tanthalas

Though, since there are armors with alignment restrictions I wonder how complicated it would be allow these armors to be worn by Druids.

CamDawg

Mornmagor said:

Not only that @Lorfean, but normally, when you have such materials available, you are free to choose what armor to make out of them. It should be possible to create full plate from the shadow dragon, or leather from the red dragon.

Also, dragon plate or dragon hide armors, are not metallic, they should not pose a problem to druids, no.

I think probably the limitations were coded into the items, so whatever item you found, followed the restriction of the base armor type.

All of the dragon armors (and ankheg) are usable by druids in regular BG2, save the blue dragon plate, which is taken care of by the Fixpack. Ankheg plate is also usable by druids in BG.