Armor Rating represents the level of defense against physical attacks provided by a character's equipped items. Armor Rating is frequently abbreviated to AR. The combined Armor Rating of all equipped items appears as a total in the Statistics window.
Effect of Armor Rating[]
A character's AR will absorb a certain amount of incoming physical damage. It has no effect on magical attacks. Physical damage from attacks is broken into two parts, regular damage and critical damage. For low level monsters, critical damage is insignificant. But a portion of each attack from high level monsters takes the form of critical damage. Armor Rating has no effect on critical damage, only regular damage. As AR approaches 100, regular damage drops to zero, and any character with an AR of 100 is invulnerable to regular physical damage (until their armor wears down reducing the AR below 100). But even at AR 100, critical damage does get through. This effect is true for both players and monsters, and is a large reason why Fighters and Rogues (with high Anatomy) are so important against Dragons. Creatures with extremely high Armor Rating suffer almost no damage from regular attacks, but can still be injured with Critical Hits.
Typical Maximum Armor Rating by Class[]
Because the mage classes have restrictions on what can be worn while using magery, there are differences in the typical AR for those classes. Plate classes (Fighters, Rogues, and Rangers) have a "full" AR with new armor including shield, belt and boots of 72 (53 if non-Plate, Chain Mail). Clerics and Druids have a "full" AR with a new RoP, belt, hat, boots, and leather arms of 38. Wizards have a "full" AR with a new RoP, belt, hat and boots of 33. These numbers can be improved with the use of Protection Rings, but are the standard maximums without the use of expensive Rings.
Note on specific items:
a few items of regular Armor were decreased in AR. such as the Chain Mail Coif. Others were increased, such as Leather Armor.
Protection Rings were decreased from 5, 10, and 15 AR, each. All Rings provide 11 uses, each, at full capacity, every time, from (+10) to (+0), before, as usual, being destroyed.
Accessories and Clothing[]
The following items provide an Armor Rating and do not decay:
| Item | AR |
| Leather Belt | 1 |
| Pair of Boots (any color) | 1 |
| Wizard Hat (any color) | 1 |
| Jester Hat (any color) | 1 |
| Robe (any color) | 2 |
| Pants (any color) | 1 |
| Shirt (any color) |
1 |
Protection Rings[]
The following items provide an Armor Rating that stays constant until the item itself is destroyed (the AR is the same at +10 as at +0):
| Item | AR |
| Lesser Protection Ring | 4 |
| Medium Protection Ring | 7 |
| Greater Protection Ring | 10 |
Armor and Shields[]
The following items provide an Armor Rating that decays as the item is used in battle (it begins at the AR listed but gradually drops to 0):
Leather Armor[]
| Item | AR |
| Leather Arms | 7 |
| Leather Legs | 9 |
| Leather Breast | 16 |
Chain Mail[]
| Item | AR |
| Chain Mail Arms | 7 |
| Chain Mail Coif | 2 (ex-4) |
| Chain Mail Legs | 9 |
| Chain Mail Gloves | 3 |
| Chain Mail Breast | 19 |
Plate Armor[]
Note that all Plate Armor, whether regular or black has the same AR.
| Item | AR |
| Plate Arms | 15 |
| Plate Breast | 20 |
| Plate Gauntlets | 5 |
| Plate Legs | 15 |
| Slotted Plate Helmet | 5 |
| Closed Plate Helmet | 7 |
| Viking Helmet | 3 |
| Open Plate Helmet | 3 |
Shields[]
| Item | AR |
| Metal Shield | 8 |
| Wooden Shield | 4 |
Robes of Protection[]
| Item | AR |
| Robe of Protection (any color) | 30 |
Special Items[]
These items provide an Armor Rating and do not decay, but are not available to players
| Item | AR |
| Royal Robe | 50 |
| Gold Crown | 1 |