Armor
Armor describes a wide variety of worn items used to improve one's defense. Typically, armor comes in a single, coherent suit of leather, mail, or plate. Armor can be almost anything, however, from a loosely-bound collection of mismatched patches of hide and iron to a construct of force created by magic. However, it is finely crafted, fitted suits of armor which provide the most benefit.
General Armor Traits
Armor grants Soak, a type of Mitigation.
Armor also grants Fortification. Each point of Fortification gives you a 1% chance to resist critical hits.
Armor has drawbacks, however. Heavier armors limit movement, reducing Dodge chance. The listed penalty is relative to your overall Dodge chance; thus, with a 100% penalty, your Dodge is always 0%.
All spellcasters (including priests and psions) need somatic components to cast spells, and all armor interferes with those components. Armor applies a Spell Power penalty to spellcasting. This penalty is applied to your base Spell Power after all other calculations have been made. Some classes' spells (i.e. Paladin) are immune to this effect. Some classes have talents to reduce this effect.
The avoidance provided by armor is subject to the Avoidance Cap, and the mitigation is of course subject to the Mitigation Cap.
| Armor Type | Soak | Fortification | Dodge Penalty | Spell Effectiveness Penalty | Push Resistance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloth | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Leather | 10% | 25% | 0% | 10% | 0% |
| 20% | 50% | 50% | 25% | 25% | |
| Plate | 30% | 100% | 100% | 50% | 50% |