What is your favorite +AC belt in SoD?

Nerva

There's three belts that give AC bonuses vs specific types of attacks, and I was curious how people rank them.

Besides voting for their overall favorite, since it is probably common to have all three in the party's inventory, I'm also wondering which ones are better for certain classes or front/back row in the formation? I would think, for example, that +3 missile/piercing is better for characters in the rear who are hopefully less likely to be hit by melee weapons than by missile weapons, so I give those to my mages. But for front-line fighters, I assume it comes down to whether crushing or slashing attacks are more common in the game. I would also think that the particular characters' armor bonuses are another factor -- plate, for example, is worst against crushing, so it would make sense to pair +crushing with that.

ElysianEchoes

I worry less about which damage is most common, and prefer protection from the most damaging. Golems and vampires (I think?) do crushing damage, and a lot of it. If there are two things I don't want to get hit by, it's those monsters.

Chronicler

You'd think vampires would be piercing on account of their fangs.

If I recall a few of the animals are weird that way too.

Permidion_Stark

At the start of BG1, where there is always the danger that you will be ambushed by bandits who want to turn you into a pin-cushion, Elves' Bane is the one I got for but once I have got a few hit points and a nice shiny suit of full plate then I switch to Destroyer of the Hills. However, it does depend on what other equipment I am wearing. I generally try to balance things so that I have got some kind of bonus against every damage type.

For example, this is the fighter I am currently running, who is pretty well protected against all eventualities:

ThacoBell

Its much harder to kite archers.

kansasbarbarian

I want the most bonus.

Dharius

I like them all, they have backstories and are all useful. I can’t really choose between them and switch to whatever I need, or expect to need.

Interestingly, Beamdog changed the backstories for these belts (at least the ones you find in SOD as opposed to ones you imported) so that they become more generic in history, similarly for Rings of Protection and Gauntlets of Weaponskill. Not sure why.

Phoenix_VII

Voted for the Golden Girdle by accident. Destroyer of the Hills is my favorite since the majority of the most annoying melee enemies do crushing damage. Elves' Bane is also very good to have when going into areas that have enemy archers in BG 1 while the Golden Girdle is very good to have in the final boss battles of BG I and SoD.