Armor Use
The Armor Use skill is used to reduce the effects of wearing armor on one's actions, including attacking roundtime, spell hindrance, and maneuver hindrance. Depending on the armor, specific amounts of training are required to train off the hindrances of the armor. Spell casting hindrance can never be fully trained off (only minimized). For detailed information, see the article on armor.
Each rank in Armor Use also provides 1 point towards Armor Specialization.
Max Ranks and Training Point costs
| Type | Square | Semi | Pure | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profession | Rogue | Warrior | Monk | Bard | Paladin | Ranger | Cleric | Empath | Savant | Sorcerer | Wizard |
| Max Ranks Per Level | 2 | 3 | - | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Training Point Cost | 5/0 | 2/0 | - | 5/0 | 3/0 | 5/0 | 8/0 | 15/0 | - | 15/0 | 14/0 |
Training Required
To reduce the penalties associated with wearing heavy armors, the following amounts of training are necessary, in number of ranks.
| AG | ASG | RT | Man | Spell Circle | ||||||||||
| MnS | MjS | Cleric | MnE | MjE | Ranger | Sorcerer | Wizard | Bard | Empath | Paladin | ||||
| 1. Cloth | Robes | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2. Soft Leather | Light Leather | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Full Leather | 2 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Reinforced Leather | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 6 | - | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | |
| Double Leather | 6 | 8 | - | - | - | - | 15 | - | 6 | 15 | 6 | - | - | |
| 3. Scale | Leather Breastplate | 10 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 27 | 10 | 20 | 27 | 10 | 15 | 6 |
| Cuirbouilli Leather | 15 | 18 | 15 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 35 | 15 | 27 | 35 | 10 | 20 | 10 | |
| Studded Leather | 20 | 23 | 20 | 27 | 27 | 27 | 70 | 20 | 50 | 70 | 10 | 27 | 15 | |
| Brigandine | 27 | 30 | 27 | 35 | 35 | 35 | 130 | 27 | 110 | 130 | 35 | 35 | 20 | |
| 4. Chain | Chainmail | 35 | 40 | 35 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 210 | 35 | 210 | 210 | 50 | 50 | 27 |
| Double Chain | 50 | 60 | 50 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 290 | 50 | 250 | 290 | 50 | 70 | 35 | |
| Augmented Chain | 50 | 60 | 70 | 110 | 110 | 90 | 390 | 70 | 330 | 390 | 50 | 110 | 50 | |
| Chain Hauberk | 70 | 80 | 110 | 170 | 170 | 130 | 490 | 110 | 410 | 490 | 190 | 190 | 70 | |
| 5. Plate | Metal Breastplate | 70 | 80 | 210 | 390 | 390 | 210 | 590 | 310 | 470 | 590 | 310 | 390 | 90 |
| Augmented Breastplate | 90 | 100 | 230 | 450 | 450 | 250 | 690 | 370 | 550 | 690 | 310 | 450 | 110 | |
| Half Plate | 110 | 120 | 250 | 530 | 530 | 290 | 790 | 430 | 570 | 790 | 310 | 530 | 130 | |
| Full Plate | 130 | 140 | 290 | 850 | 850 | 330 | 890 | 490 | 850 | 890 | 890 | 790 | 150 | |
Calculating Required Ranks
The relationship between ranks and skill is non-linear. The formula to calculate the number of ranks required to attain a certain skill level will vary. Find the range of skill values that your desired skill level falls into and use the corresponding equation to calculate the number of ranks:
- Skill ≤ 50 : Ranks = Skill/5
- 51 ≤ Skill ≤ 90 : Ranks = 10 + ((Skill - 50)/4)
- 91 ≤ Skill ≤ 120 : Ranks = 20 + ((Skill - 90)/3)
- 121 ≤ Skill ≤ 140 : Ranks = 30 + ((Skill - 120)/2)
- 141 ≤ Skill : Ranks = (Skill - 100)
Maneuver vs. Roundtime Penalties
- How many ranks are required to completely minimize the physical penalty of my armor?
This is the number of ranks required to train off what is frequently referred to as the "Maneuver Penalty" (listed in the "Man" column in the above table). The actual formula for the amount of skill required to reduce all physical penalties to a minimum is Skill = 20 * Hindrance (hindrance values can be looked up on the armor page in the column labeled "RT"). At this skill level, the action penalty listed for the armor will be exactly the penalty that you incur when attempting to execute a maneuver such as evading spells like Boil Earth (917) and Elemental Wave (410) or simply standing up (other factors, such as encumbrance, may also apply). As your ranks gradually approach this value, the penalty that is applied to these rolls will vary somewhere between the maximum penalty (listed under "MAX" on the armor page) and the action penalty (listed under "AP"). The rate at which this is reduced is undocumented. Characters with high Agility and/or Dexterity are not granted an additional bonus towards the reduction of this penalty.
- How many ranks are required to minimize the RT penalty of my armor?
This is the number of ranks required to train off what is frequently referred to as the "Roundtime Penalty" (listed in the "RT" column in the above table). Due to rounding of fractional roundtimes, the amount of ranks required to reduce penalties on one's roundtime, such as when swinging a weapon, is reduced. To calculate the amount of ranks required to train off the penalties imposed by a set of armor, use the following relationship: Skill = ((20 * Hindrance) - 10). Note that this is the equation specified on the official play.net armor page. It is, in fact, a bastardization of the previous formula, Skill = 20 * Hindrance, adjusted to remove fractional roundtimes. Characters with high Agility and/or Dexterity are granted an additional bonus towards the reduction of this penalty.
- Example calculation for brigandine armor:
Maneuver Penalty : Skill = 20*(6) = 120 , Ranks = 20+(((120)-90)/3) = 30
Roundtime Penalty : Skill = (20*(6))-10 = 110 , Ranks = 20+(((110)-90)/3) = 26.66667 ≈ 27
Overtraining Benefits
Overtraining in the Armor Use skill will reduce the experienced Action Penalty of the armor. Every 50 ranks acquired above the minimum ranks required to train off Roundtime penalties will result in an Action Penalty reduction of (Armor Group - 1).
"For example, an augmented breastplate requires 90 ranks of Armor Use to train away its RT adder. It has an Armor Group (AG) value of 5 (skin = AG 0, robes = AG 1, soft leather = AG 2, hard leather/scale = AG 3, chain = AG 4, plate = AG 5). Its base action penalty is 25. So, if it is worn by a player with 140 ranks of Armor Use, the action penalty will drop to 21, to 17 at 190 ranks, and to a minimum value of 13 at 240 ranks." - GM Coase
| AG | AsG | AP | Ranks | Reduction Tier | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1. Cloth | Robes | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2. Soft Leather | Light Leather | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Full Leather | 0 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Reinforced Leather | -5 | 6 | -4 | 56 | -3 | 106 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Double Leather | -6 | 6 | -5 | 56 | -4 | 106 | -3 | 156 | - | - | - | - | |
| 3. Scale | Leather Breastplate | -7 | 10 | -5 | 60 | -4 | 110 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Cuirbouilli Leather | -8 | 15 | -6 | 65 | -4 | 115 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Studded Leather | -10 | 20 | -8 | 70 | -6 | 120 | -5 | 170 | - | - | - | - | |
| Brigandine | -12 | 27 | -10 | 77 | -8 | 127 | -6 | 177 | - | - | - | - | |
| 4. Chain | Chainmail | -13 | 35 | -10 | 85 | -7 | 135 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Double Chain | -14 | 50 | -11 | 100 | -8 | 150 | -7 | 200 | - | - | - | - | |
| Augmented Chain | -16 | 50 | -13 | 100 | -10 | 150 | -8 | 200 | - | - | - | - | |
| Chain Hauberk | -18 | 70 | -15 | 120 | -12 | 170 | -9 | 220 | - | - | - | - | |
| 5. Plate | Metal Breastplate | -20 | 70 | -16 | 120 | -12 | 170 | -10 | 220 | - | - | - | - |
| Augmented Breastplate | -25 | 90 | -21 | 140 | -17 | 190 | -13 | 240 | - | - | - | - | |
| Half Plate | -30 | 110 | -26 | 160 | -22 | 210 | -18 | 260 | -15 | 310 | - | - | |
| Full Plate | -35 | 130 | -31 | 180 | -27 | 230 | -23 | 280 | -19 | 330 | -18 | 380 | |
Armor Specialization
- Main article: Armor Specialization
Warriors, Rogues, and Paladins training in Armor Use can also train in Armor Specialization skills. In general, these skills allow the character to either increase an armor's effectiveness or decrease its negative effects on the wearer. Each profession has access to unique skills tailored to their stereotypical hunting style.