Each type of armor in Dark Age II has its own benefits and shortfalls, none better than the next. In the end it is largely up to personal style in what a character wears. Certain armors allow for better mobility while offering less protection, while the heaviest of armors provide greater protection at the cost of speed, and accuracy.

Quilted/padded clothing sewn from yarn clothes that are thicker than normal. A thin and weak armor, it is light and only the tunic slightly restrains movement. The full set weights in at roughly 15 stones, can be made by a neophyte tailor and consists of:

Chest: Padded Tunic Leg: Padded Pants, Padded Skirt

Hide specially prepared and formed into armor serves as better protection than Padded Armor, but it is still fairly weak. It is a tad more durable than it’s predecessor but not by much. The tunic and leg coverings of this armor restrain movement slightly. The full male set weighs in at roughly 25 stones, and requires the skills of an apprentice tailor for all its parts. The female parts and tunic and legs require a more adept tailor though. The armor consists of:

Head: Leather Cap Neck: Leather Gorget Chest: Leather Tunic, Leather Bustier, Female Leather Arm: Leather Sleeves, Leather Bracers Hand: Leather Gloves Leg: Leather Leggings, Leather Skirt, Leather Shorts

Leather armor reinforced with close-set metal studs, this armor provides a bit more protection and offers more durability. The tradeoff is a tad more weight and loss of mobility in hands, arms as well as chest and legs. This armor weighs almost 30 stones and requires the skills of a journeyman tailor. This armor consists of:

Head: Studded Cap Neck: Studded Gorget Chest: Studded Tunic, Studded Bustier, Female Studded Arm: Studded Sleeves, Studded Bracers Hand: Studded Gloves Leg: Studded Leggings, Studded Shorts, Studded Skirt

Fashioned in a similar way to studded leather, this armor uses many ‘plates’ of wood to cover the body and to protect it. While offering a bit more protection than studded leather and weighing in at roughly 20 stones due to the wood’s light weight, this armor is much stiffer. Though a bit more durable than studded, this armor has only a few parts due to the way it is made, it is impractical to use for hand or glove protection. Made by an expert carpenter this armor consists of:

Arm: Wood Bracers Chest: Wood Tunic, Female Wood Leg: Wood Greaves

The lightest of the metal armors, ringmail protects fairly well, is slightly more durable than it’s heavier cousin, chainmail, and offers the best flexibility of the metal armors, though every part of it reduces mobility somewhat. Weighing almost 40 stones this metal is made by sewing metal rings directly on to a leather backing. Made by a journeyman tailor, this armor consists of:

Head and Neck: Ringmail Coif Chest: Ringmail Tunic, Ringmail Bustier, Female Ringmail Arm: Ringmail Sleeves, Ringmail Bracers Hand: Ringmail Gloves Leg: Ringmail Leggings, Ringmail Skirt

The armor of fish and reptiles, this armor is made of scale like plates wired together to form protective ‘skirts’ of sorts around various parts of the body. The scales are only attached at one end, allowing for only a tad less flexibility than ringmail, but removing possiblities of pieces like bracers. This armor is more durable than ringmail, though it is quite a bit heavier, at roughly 90 stones. It is fashioned by an adept tinker and consists of:

Head and Neck: Scalemail Coif Chest: Scalemail Tunic, Scalemail Bustier, Female Scalemail Arm: Scalemail Sleeves Hand: Scalemail Gloves Leg: Scalemail Leggings, Scalemail Skirt

The heavier cousin of ringmail, chainmail consists of many small interlocking rings, worn with a layer of padding underneath. The links yield easily to blows, absorbing most of the impact and are hard to penetrate. Their small size does make them more prone to damage and chainmail does not last quite as long as ringmail, although it protects much better. The armor is quite heavy, weighing in at a tad more than 90 stones, and the links, though flexible are not well suited for much mobility. Made by an expert blacksmith this armor consists of:

Head and Neck: Chainmail Coif Chest and Arm: Chainmail Tunic Chest: Chainmail Doublet, Chainmail Bustier Arm: Chainmail Sleeves Hand: Chainmail Gloves Leg: Chainmail Leggings, Chainmail Shorts

Quite a grisly armor, and commonly worn by orcs, this armor is fashioned out of many bones sewn onto a leather backing. Not as durable as the metal armors, this armor lasts roughly as long as wooden armor, and is similar in many ways. It is stiff, though offers better protection than Chainmail for roughly the same weight. Made by an adept tailor, this armor consists of:

Head: Bone Helm Neck: Bone Gorget Chest: Bone Tunic, Female Bone, Heavy Bone Tunic Arm: Bone Arms Hand: Bone Gloves Leg: Bone Legs

The armor of barbarians and tribesman, in some ways it is quite primitive. Made by sewing metal ‘splints’ which are similar to Scalemails scales inbetween an inner and outer layer of treated fur, this armor protects quite well, but is also the second heaviest type of armor in existance. A full suit weighing in at roughly 100-110 stones, this armor is as durable as Scalemail, but due to it’s weight and build, much less flexible. Made by an adept tailor this armor consists of:

Head and Neck: Reinforced Bear Mask, Reinforced Deer Mask Chest: Splintmail Cloak, Female Splintmail, Splintmail Tunic Arm: Splintmail Bracers Hand: Splintmail Gloves Leg: Spintmail Boots, Splintmail Kilt, Splintmail Legs

The armor of knights and kings, this armor consists of many shaped and fitted plates, riveted and interlocked to cover the entire body. Joints and areas that require a lot of movement are covered with strips of chainmail between the plates, giving full coverage to the body. A thick layer of padding is worn underneath and the armor is built so that the weight is distributed over the entire body. Weighing in at roughly 160-170 stones, this armor is the most restrictive of mobility, but there is no doubt that it offers the best protection possible. Suits of platemail are custom fitted to the owner, though found or forcibly taken pieces can be refitted fairly easily. This armor is also the most durable of all armors, taking lots of punishment and still protecting it’s owner. There are many different styles of platemail. Made by a master blacksmith this armor consists of:

Head: Plate Helm Neck: Platemail Gorget Chest: Platemail Breastplate, Female Plate Arm: Platemail Arms, Platemail Bracers Hand: Platemail Gloves Leg: Platemail Legs