Confused about AC modifiers

schoolslave

Hello,

So I am totally confused about the AC modifiers and how they work, especially what is "good" and what is "bad". I have a fairly good understanding of how THAC0 and AC work, but these modifiers confuse the hell out of me.

Example:

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Armor 1
Armor: Protector of the Second +2
Inventory description: Armor class 6 (8 vs piercing and missile)

Character screen when equipped:
Armor Class modifiers: -1 missile, -1 piercing

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Armor 2
Armor: Studded Leather Armor +1
Inventory description: Armor class 6(4 vs slashing, 5 vs piercing and missile)

Character screen when equipped:
Armor class modifiers: -4 missile, -4 piercing, -2 slashing

--------------------------------------------------------------------

So, basically, which armor is better here? Do armor modifiers work the same way as AC in that the lower (in the character screen), the better?

Thanks!

Heindrich

Ok, no expert here, but I think I understand the AC system. Experts please do correct any misinformation in the following.

1) Lower AC is always better.

2) Different types of armour have different 'base AC', for example, Leather armour is AC8, Studded Leather is AC 7, Chainmail is AC4 etc...

3) The "+1, +2, +... etc" At the end of the armour's name indicates its level of enchantment, which is bonus to the armour's base AC. Thus Leather Armour +2 has the same base AC as Studded Leather +1.

4) Physical attacks in this game comes in several forms, blunt, piercing, slashing and missile. Different armour has different strengths and weaknesses vs each of them.

e.g.
Studded Leather Armor +1
Armor class 6(4 vs slashing, 5 vs piercing and missile)

Means that in practise, it counts as AC 4 vs slashing attacks, and AC 5 vs piercing and missile.

Edit:
ps: So in the above example, although Leather +2 and Studded Leather +1 has the same base AC, in practise Studded Leather is much better.

Vakarian

Lower AC is better, and so are the larger negative numbers listed on the character screen for AC modifiers. From the looks of it, your character must have something else that is giving you a 3 point bonus vs. missile/piercing (bane of elves belt?). That might be where you're getting confused as to where the AC modifiers on the character screen are coming from.

As Heindrich said, studded leather armors are generally much more effective than regular leather.

schoolslave

Yes, I do have the bane of elves belt ^^.
I was mostly wondering if AC modifiers worked in the same vein as AC, in that lower == better.
Thanks for clearing it all up!

Skaffen

Forget the modifiers, just look at the effective AC vs. the damage types in the armor description. Full plate is really awesome and better than the basic AC it already gives

bbear

An armor always come with a base AC and additional armor modifiers in blunt/slash/piercing/missiles. Base AC maxes out at -20, but can further improved by having the additional armor modifiers, dex bonus and spell effects.

If you want all round protection, wear full plate and girdle of bluntness. Full plate has additional modifiers in slashing, piercing and missiles but not blunt.