I totally don't know how to decide who gets what armor or weapons. Pointers?

[superjoust]

I'm on my first play through, and I'm having a hard time knowing what type of armor to match up with which character.

 

For my main I picked a Tanky paladin (based on a guide I read) mostly because I wanted to have a lot of dialog options.  But now I'm just overwhelmed with all the armor types and weapon types.  I kind of get that probably for my tank characters I want heavier, then lighter toward the guys in back.  What throws me off are the details.  Should I choose leather or scale for my ranger?  Or hide? or any of them.  I'm just not sure what to use.

 

Here's a screenshot showing my main six characters and their stats.  I also have the Cipher and the Druid, and just haven't gotten the paladin yet because I already have one.  These are just the story characters.

 

Edited April 5, 2015 by superjoust

[cJohnOne]

I don't think at the start of the game it matters that much defensively because there isn't that much difference between 5 and 9 or was that 10.  I use a small shield for 8 deflection.  Since I'm assuming I don't get the accuracy hit with a small shield. 

 

On a bow ranger I personally want high damage so I go with lighter armor but I don't like the look of hide so I go leather.

 

I think fighters get a talent that makes them pause less with their armor. 

[Wulfburk]

for your party members check their character sheet for any weapon focus feat.

 

For yourself, just pick the one you prefer for its visual and awesomeness and pick the feats that increase your accuracy with it.

 

On armor, you just gotta test yourself during a few battles to see if your recovery time is alright. If its ok you pick up the best armors with that recovery time.

 

For the guys on the back its a good idea to let them have as little recovery time penalty as possible (specially the archers). While for at least the 2 main tankers in the party its best to make them use the best armor you can find.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Wulfburk

[KDubya]

Based on your stats for your Paladin you should go for the heaviest armor that you can. With a 3 dex you already have a -21% action speed, might as well throw on full plate for another -50%. With the low dex and might, damage output will be very low anyway so better to maximize his survivability with the highest DR armor you can get.

 

A good general rule of thumb is that you want the highest DR armor on guys who will get hit a lot and the lower DR and faster action speed on guys who will be doing a lot of shooting and not getting hit.

 

High DR armor makes a big difference on a guy with a high deflection. Less hits doing less damage result in guys who do not get dropped.

 

A mage in full plate might take two hits to kill instead of one but will cast spells 50% slower. Better to go with light or no armor and lay down the smack faster.

 

A high damage melee guy can do well with lighter armor if you can either hold engagement with a more heavily armored guy or attack with long reach weapons from the back row.

[Varana]

With armour, you basically trade damage reduction for recovery time, i.e. attack speed. Heavier armour leads to slower attacks.

People in the front, esp. a tank paladin, should get quite heavy armour. For a frontline fighter, it's also useful.

The guys in the back should pump out their spells and attacks as fast as possible, so for them lighter armour is better.

Chanters, OTOH, chant at a constant speed; their singing is not affected by recovery time. So Kana, in my party, gets heavy armour so he can double as emergency tank should anyone come from behind or get through the front.

On top of that, however, come the special enchantments. My Edér still uses his personal armour, because I find the Second Chance enchantment to be useful. The same with Aloth and his Overseeing.

That's meant as a general direction. Whether you have DR 7 and 35% recovery penalty or DR 8 to 40% (numbers may not be correct), is mostly not that important. In those cases, choose what looks good or where you get better enchantments. Esp. on Easy and Normal you do have that kind of leeway; the game doesn't force you to optimise the hell out of it.

[dirigible]

Here's my general rules:

 

Only people who are getting hit need armor

Only wear as much armor as you absolutely need

If you need a character to be available to quickly cast a spell or use an ability, do not give them a slow weapon

[drunetovich]

Quick weapons for casters and tanks, slow weapons for damage dealers, heavy armor for tanks, light or medium for everyone else depending on unique armor bonuses.

[Lightzy]

Easy:

 

Everyone on the front line = heaviest armor there is

Everyone on the back line = no armor at all, unless very special enchantments that you need

 

Front line: hatchets (defense bonus is very considerable)

back line: whatever (spell, bows, whatever you like)

[Moira]

Note about wizard, their passive Blast works with wands, rods and scepters only if I recall correctly - check the description on the char sheet.

[Siven80]

Eder, my tank, has heavy armour, My dual wielding fighter wears medium (35-40%) armour, rogue wears 25-30% armour, Aloth wears his Leather and Durance wears a padded armour atm.

 

I found that even backline characters can get hit often due to enemy ranged mobs and things like Shadows teleporting, so having some armour on them does help, and really up to 30% recovery penalty isnt that bad.