Better looking armors!

[Aleh1811]

I prefer a more realistic and less exxagerated style of armor, I guess its a matter of personal preference.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

I liked the armors in PoE 1, and the focus on realism.

 

I'd like for more focus on hats and cloaks, actually. Given the isometric viewpoint, the hat and cloak take up way more screen space, typically.

[Wellspring]

Personally, I think all the heavy armors are well done. They look both realistic and heroic.

 

It's the light armor that let me down. A lot of the leather armors looked similar to one another or were uninspired (I blame this on real leather armor not existing). The hide armors were fine, but aesthetically they add a savagery to the character that isn't always appropriate. Most noticeably, most of the padded armor was inexplicably blue - not a deal breaker in and of itself, but it made me sad when I'd upgrade my rogue or cipher, only to find they looked basically the same. Gods forbid if I had more than one light armor wearer.

 

I suspect light armor will get a lot of love though, because pirates. I, for one, am looking forward to some leather trenchcoat armor I can repurpose for my witchhunter-themed character.

[Fardragon]

Wander through a museum and you will see plenty of real world armours that are extraordinarily flamboyant. The reason, of course, is that real world armour was often worn for show or intimidation, rather than protection.

[JerekKruger]

Wander through a museum and you will see plenty of real world armours that are extraordinarily flamboyant. The reason, of course, is that real world armour was often worn for show or intimidation, rather than protection.

 

I don't think that's the case. I am fairly certain most flamboyant armour we have preserved in museums is simple the armour of rich and important individuals who, even on the battlefield wanted, to make sure everyone knew how rich and important they were; or even said armours were not intended to see battle (see the armour linked by Voices of Nerat above).

 

I don't buy the intimidation idea because: I don't actually think it would work in most cases, and protection is always going to be much more important than such an intimidation factor.

[Varana]

Many of the more flamboyant armours we have in museums were actually produced for show - not really for use in fighting. That was also the armour that was most likely to be preserved in good condition (as it was rarely used and even more expensive), so they're more likely to end up in a private collection and later, a museum.

For instance:
We still have the armour that Maurice, Elector of Saxony, wore into battle in 1553 - we know that because the bullet hole that led to his death two days later can still be seen:

 

 

The armour is expensive and has a few ornaments here and there, but ultimately, it's quite plain and practical.

 

Now, this is the same guy, but in a picture where practicality didn't matter, and therefore, the artist could just add nice stuff at random:

 

 

 

Now, from roughly the same period - this was not only for pictures, you could actually wear stuff like that:

 

 

 

But that was not intended for real fighting. You wore that for parades or other ceremonial occasions, or maybe in battle if you were sure that you wouldn't be involved in actual combat, i.e. perfect for leading from behind. (Also, it's almost exclusively decoration that doesn't change the basic form of the armour, i.e. doesn't add any real parts, just sprinkles more gold on the surface.)

 

Now, PoE is fantasy, and ornaments and colours and such things don't really detract from the practicality of armour itself, most of the time. (As opposed to, say, spikes, which are the most stupid thing to add you could imagine. Or all those escutcheons and rosettes and little trimmings in the second picture.) You wouldn't wear them into battle because they were made for show, extraordinarily expensive and the decoration was not made to withstand combat - but that isn't a concern in a game like PoE. You could still go for impressive looks while still maintaining usability. As for whether that harms your sense of immersion - YMMV.

Edited March 5, 2017 by Varana

[Ninjamestari]

To the OP:

Umm... how about NO! I seriously don't want PoE to turn into a friggin cartoon world where characters look like those action figures that are sold to kids who are too stupid to build with legos.

[LordofBones]

I'm really hoping that PoE2 will have better looking robes than the monk habits we had in PoE1. I don't mind the habits, but high-level mages should have more ornate or expensive-looking robes, like the (Black/Grey/White) Robes of the Archmagi in NWN 2/BG 2.

 

 

[Heijoushin]

I'm going to echo everyone here and say that I also prefer realistic armor. In fact, I actually thought Argwes Adra was a bit too flashy. I mean, green clashes with everything But that second chance ability is too good to give up. On the other hand, the White Crest Armour was absolutely beautiful.

 

I also agree that some extra robes would be nice. In fact, I've been saying this for ages, but the PoE world needs some clothing shops. (Or let us select our basic outfit during character creation) Clothing is important for roleplaying!  

[Lord_Mord]

I liked the robe very much, that you can find in the endless paths. (Was it in the endless paths? You know the golden and green one)

Edited March 6, 2017 by Lord_Mord

[Boeroer]

I think you're speaking about Gwisk Glas. It's from the bounty where you kill the Vithraks in Pearlwood Bluffs.

 

In the Endless Paths you can find Rundl's Finery quite early which is brown/red.

[Lord_Mord]

Yep, I meant Gwisk Glas. That is a nice one.

[molotov.]

"""Better""" looking.

Anyway... the only criticism that I have towards the game is that shield are indispensable for tanks.
Armour need to have more impact in the deflection, in the 16 century the metallurgy was so good that the usage of big shields were rare amoungst knights, bucklers and two handed weapons were more widely used by knights because the plate armour deflected pretty much anything, that is why maces and other types of blunt weapons started to be more used. I'll make a thread about this...
 

Edited March 6, 2017 by molotov.

[Boeroer]

Yep, I meant Gwisk Glas. That is a nice one.

Yes. And Raiment of Wael's Eyes is also nice.

[AndreaColombo]

Raiment of Wael's Eyes WAS pretty ... before the first patch for WM came along and screwed up its in-game texture like every other robe's. I never understood why that one was an exception but it was good while the crisp texture lasted.

 

Edited March 6, 2017 by AndreaColombo

[Lord_Mord]

Where do I get Raiment of Wael's Eyes? Never saw it before.

 

Yes, the texture is really ****ed up now.

[mistermannindy]

Where do I get Raiment of Wael's Eyes? Never saw it before.

 

 

http://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Raiment_of_Wael%27s_Eyes

[Boeroer]

The guy with that wagon in Stalwart.

[injurai]

I've seen several studios downgrade textures post release, even when there aren't any glaring performance problems. At least make it an option. The worst I've seen was Valve which removed optional mip-map options.

[SonicMage117]

I agree. I really love unique, crazy looking armors. Hopefully we'll get some pretty cool lively stuff this time around.

 

Some of my favorite armors were the ones in Divinity II: Ego Draconis, just so cool looking.

 

I also loved Barik's armor in Tyranny and the lore behind it.

[dragubaba]

Cartoons are for kids, come on now. I'm not saying outlandish armor should be completely excluded but if there absolutely has to be some make them optional. Meaning that they have completely viable "realistic looking" counterpart with similar specs. It is beyond annoying (and sometimes game-breaking) when all the best armor go for the high fantasy look and in the last portion of the game you got the damn Power Rangers running around like somekind of violent rainbow.

[SonicMage117]

I don't think Divinity II's armor sets were childish at all, more like stylish and dark. Armor with spikes, horns, webbings - even eyes and things like that are more creepy, mature and mysterious. I'd love to see these kinds of armors in Deadfire, Deadfire is already high-fantasy it wouldn't be too questionable to see it. Although, it probably would make more sense to feature more armors like this in Tyranny II.

[Ninjamestari]

I don't think Divinity II's armor sets were childish at all, more like stylish and dark. Armor with spikes, horns, webbings - even eyes and things like that are more creepy, mature and mysterious. I'd love to see these kinds of armors in Deadfire, Deadfire is already high-fantasy it wouldn't be too questionable to see it. Although, it probably would make more sense to feature more armors like this in Tyranny II.

 

I liked that armor design too, especially the one Lovis wears. Fits incredibly neatly with those red lizard-eyes of his. I also agree that it would make a lot more sense to feature those kinds of armors in Tyranny II rather than the more down to earth art-style of PoE, that also happens to cover the renaissance era instead of medieval.