13.5 Armour and shields

Normal armour is something you wear that protects you from both types of physical damage (cutting and blunt).                                    

The basic types of armour in Imperian, aside from shields, are, in ascending order of effectiveness below. The strongest armour that certain profession can wear has been listed next to that armour type, each profession can wear the armour below it, but will not be as protected as they could be. Those that have no class may wear only leather armour.                                                         

- None: Mage**
- Leather: Monk, Predator
- Ringmail: Diabolist, Bard, Hunter
- Scalemail: Summoner, Shaman, Renegade, Berserker, Assassin
- Chainmail: Druid, Ranger, Amazon, Outrider, Defiler, Engineers
- Splintmail: Priest
- Fieldplate: Templars, Deathknights, Runeguards
- Fullplate(*): Templars, Deathknights, Runeguards
** Mages can wear their alchemical robes, if they themselves crafted the garment.                                                                
(*) Fullplate armour is a bit different, in that the only characters who may wear it are those who have Transed both Weaponmastery and Chivalry or Brutality               

Pieces of armour also exist that serve as protection for specific parts of the body. Helms protect the head (If you are wearing a plate helm you may CLOSE BEVOR to also mitigate asphyxiation damage), vambraces protect the arms, and greaves protect the legs. There are three levels of each, leather, chain, and plate. Professions which are able to wear leather armour, chainmail, or field plate are permitted to wear the respective levels of part-specific armour.                                                   

The types of shields available in Imperian are, in ascending order of effectiveness:
Type         Required strength
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Buckler      6
Cavalry      11
Banded       12
Kite         14
Tower        16
Artifact     8

Wielding heavier shields is possible, however, it comes at a cost of balance and equilibrium penalties. There are no profession restrictions on shields.

Armour Statistics
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Non-magickal armour and shields have two armour-specific statistics: protection vs. cutting damage and protection vs. blunt damage. The WEAPONPROBE ability in the Weaponry skill will allow you to see these statistics on a piece of armour or on a shield.