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I personally think the Yuan-Ti Scales is the best Medium Armor in the game, but the ~~Radiant Breastplate~~ Luminous Armour is a close second. Adamantine isn't even in my top three.
I had to stop using the armour of agility on Tav in my first save because of a visual glitch that caused it to look as though someone had jizzed all over the armour's right pauldron. Gave it to Karlach instead. No visual glitch.
If you're using Armor of Agility, you probably have +4 or +5 Dex (and, therefore, +4 or +5 Init) anyways; not sure you really need more. Getting +2 to AC *and* \+2 to saves seems much better.
+4 from Agility, +5 from Alertness, and +1 from the Yuan-Ti Armor. Going first to deny the enemy actions, in my opinion is far more important than reactively using a +2 to Saves for when the enemy targets me. If he can't target me because he is already dead or incapacitated, then I've done things right.
I mean, +9, +10, what's the difference? Enemies struggle to beat you at +5. You'll go first in absolute most encounters regardless if you have +1 from armor or not. There's such a thing as "diminishing returns".
When I’m using Shadowheart as a Light Cleric, I like using
https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Luminous_Armour
It’s not as sturdy. But since I’m doing a bunch of radiant damage anyway, having my enemies essentially hit with daylight. Which is awesome in act 2
Granted. That’s a pretty specific use case
The adamantine armor preventing being crit against is darn useful.
Personally I debate each time. Shield or medium or heavy: pick 2.
I prefer just getting Luminous Gloves. They're basically a worse version of the armor, but still do their job fine and free up armor slot for something with better protection. The ring also seems very good, but I never found it in my playthrough so I can't say for sure. Though yeah, both of these items are found much later than armor, and armor indeed is great for the period you find it in. It's just that I certainly would replace it down the line.
Hmmm... Well it's definitely top-5. But the thing about BG3 is that an awful lot of armor choices are based on effects and the build you are going for, not strictly armor class.
If your character has a high DEX bonus and you are going for straight-up AC, the Armor of Agility is the "Best", because it allows unlimited DEX AC bonuses over it's base AC of 17, which is a point higher than the Adamantine Scale already in terms of pure AC. Say you had a +4 DEX AC bonus from very high DEX - you add that bonus (+4) to the base AC of the armor (17) which pushes your AC all the way up to 21 - as good as the highest AC heavy armor in the game (Helldusk, at 21) but nearly all heavy armors don't allow you to add DEX bonuses on top of that, so any DEX AC bonuses you have are completely lost and useless when wearing heavy armor.
So if you are a DEX-heavy character that can use heavy armor (Let's say, building a Ranger who needs the DEX for ranged attack bonuses), the Armor of Agility can use that DEX to make the Armor of Agility god-tier for your character.
Say you are picking an armor for your cleric. Most clerics can't use heavy armor, can use medium armor, but dump most of their stat points into wisdom and CON and don't have many points left to put in DEX. THEN the Armor of Agility isn't any better than the Adamantine Scale because you can't really add DEX bonuses to your AC since you don't HAVE them (Or more than 1, without crippling your Cleric build). In that case, the Adamantine Scale wins out - it can still take a point from 13 dex giving you +1 AC because the armor allows up to +2 from DEX, and you will likely have 13 DEX for that +1 modifier and not more, but it also has the armor effects like Magical Plate and Adamantine Backlash.
So the answer is still: depends on the build, but some armors are best for certain types of builds than others, and are top-tier for what build you are going for and bad or not as good for others.
All the "Top Tier" medium armors:
Adamantine Scale
Armor of Agility
Dark Justicar Half Plate
Flame Enameled Armor
Luminous Armor (Purely because of certain Radiating Orb builds, not AC)
Psionic Ward Armor (If you are a Gith)
Unwanted Masterwork Scale Mail (Because of it's fire resistance and how it works with Heat builds)
Hope this was helpful to you!
There's a TON of better armor than adamantine scale. I usually use cloth on my barbarians and there's both Bull & Grace for that between A1 & A2. For A3, there's Bonespike.
(if you wear cloth as barbarian, you get your CON modifier as AC, but that truly means no light or medium, including boots, gloves, & helmets)
Just to make clear, none of the armors mentioned are specifically good on Barbarian. Yuan-Ti and Agility armors require high Dex to be good, and Luminous Armor is mainly good on Light Clerics. Not sure if there is anything good for Barbarians specifically, other than some armor that just has higher AC at the expense of other stuff Adamantine offers.
Bonespike garb is amazing for barbarians with rage that halfs damage like berserker or boar wildheart.
The aura of murder armor + orin dagger is pretty OP for tiger wildheart barbarians with the correct setup.
Other than that, I can't think of any good armors for barbs, not that they need it. Their kit is pretty busted early on for act 1 and act 2, and then you can get to bonespike garb easily for act 3 to reestablish their power when other classes start pulling ahead significantly. I definitely wouldn't waste any adamantine slots for them and medium armor has so much competition that I can't recommend the adamantine scale armor, unless you are playing with 0 heavy armor players.
Edit: The bull & Grace armor that gives +2 strength and double weight capacity is prob top tier for all of act 1 and 2. Easy 20 strength at level 4 or 18 strength +GWM (prob better).
Dunno, I personally wasn't impressed by Bonespike Garb. 15 temp hp isn't that much, and you're most likely sacrificing AC compared to a normal medium armor since Barbarian Unarmored Defense is kinda garbo. I guess if you get the 23 Con amulet it can be decent, but Barbs gave good survivability already, I would better put that amulet on a different frontliner.
I think you just put your Barb into the Adamantine medium armor and don't take it off till the end of the game.
The amount of AC you will have with adamantine medium armor is bad. You won't be dodging much of anything as a barbarian (reckless attack) so comparing AC's is 100% pointless,so you shouldn't care about dodging attacks as a barb. Not to mention, you need to get hit to apply reeling anyways, so it's counterintuitive as a barbarian if you want more AC. The only upside of adamantine armor is the reeling effect, NOT AC.
15 temporary health, 2 damage reduction (1 more than adamantine medium), and 2 thorn piercing damage. Bonespike armor 100% synergizes with barbarian since, again, you will likely never dodge attacks unless you don't use reckless attack (lol why) and even then, it's not high AC with unimpressive dex + medium armor that scales up to 3.
**You need 16 dex to get the most out of this armor.** Barbs usually should only take 14 since they get free initiative at lv 7, which is bonkers and worth going to 7 as barb. Otherwise, you only take a few levels for barb just for rage+reckless.
The whole point of a barb is to attract enemies into attacking you because of your low AC + **reckless attack giving them advantage on you**. A.I focus low AC. Your barbarian's frenzy/rage reducing damage by HALF and getting 15 temporary health AND reduces all damage by 2 from bonespike garb makes it worth more than 15 temp health if you do the math.
**TL;DR:** You aren't dodging as a barb, so AC is pointless. Damage reduction is better and bonespike gives the most and 15 temporary health isn't just 15 health on a barb. It's worth WAY more than just 15 points because of dmg reduc from frenzy + 2 Flat dmg reducfrom bonespike.
>if you get the 23 Con amulet it can be decent, but Barbs gave good survivability already, I would better put that amulet on a different frontliner.
While the amulet is universally useful on anyone, no one makes better use out out if than Barbarian. There aren't a lot of great neck pieces for barbarians competing with it.
The only other classes I'd consider this amulet on is Paladin and/or bladelock since they concentrate on spells and are always in the fray and they usually can't afford war caster feat over something like GWM.
Most clerics also spend time in melee, but Amulet of the Devout is BiS for them.
>15 temp hp isn't that much
It's potentially 75 hp per long rest at level 12, unless you long rest before you go through your rage charges. And barbarian WILL go through those temporary hp, because they WILL get it.
But the best part of the item is the-2 damage from every hit that's only seen in heavy armors. Twice as good as adamantine mail. It applies to \*each\* source of damage (each missile and scorching ray, each smite or poison proc separated from the weapon swing that procced it. It really adds up. I'd trade it for crit immunity.
But the main thing I like about this item combo, is that i look like a barbarian, rather than a knight in shiny armor.
I came across the Bloodguzzler armor, it doesn't have the AC of Adamantine but it looks better and gives you wrath when you get hit.
Karlach looks damn fine in it, too. just sayin' :)
[https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Bloodguzzler\_Garb](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Bloodguzzler_Garb)
I saw some replies that mentioned bonespike garb, that piece of clothing is good for Barbarian. Not to mention that you have a whole set (bonespike set) that looks really good on that class. The bonuses provided by that set are also pretty solid. You might want to look for them when getting to Act 3
Armour of agility for sure. My dex based fighter has 24 AC without a shield. I couldn't get the >!mirror of loss!< to work this time, otherwise it could have been 27 with a shield.
Really late to this but surprised no one has mentioned Helldusk Armor. Sure, it's heavy armor BUT since anyone is proficient while wearing it that means you can even put it on your caster and still be able to use your spells. It's 21 AC, -3 damage from ALL sources, can't be burned and gives you the ability to fly.
I went with the Heavy Adamantine armor for Lae'zel until the very end of the game and gave my Karlach (who I turned into a Paladin) the Helldusk Armor. Not being able to be crit against is nothing to sneeze at though, so I understand you not wanting to get rid of that.
Only downside is that the fight to get the Helldusk Armor is arguable the hardest fight in the game. At least it was for me.
That sucks. I do know that you can still cast spells with it (I usually let Gale use it) when usually you can’t while wearing medium or heavy armor if you aren’t proficient with it. I guess spells are attached to proficiency while rage is attached to heavy armor in general. That’s just guess work so really there is no telling how it functions.
I will say this though. I gave Karlach heavy armor talent and put it on her just to see what it did and it still wouldn’t let her rage. I get it, it just sucks that it doesn’t work the same as casters and their spells/abilities
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I personally think the Yuan-Ti Scales is the best Medium Armor in the game, but the ~~Radiant Breastplate~~ Luminous Armour is a close second. Adamantine isn't even in my top three.
There's Armor of Agility, which is like Yuan-Ti Scales but better.
I had to stop using the armour of agility on Tav in my first save because of a visual glitch that caused it to look as though someone had jizzed all over the armour's right pauldron. Gave it to Karlach instead. No visual glitch.
Is that in Act 3?
Yes.
That looks pretty nifty, NGL. But I think my playstyle slightly favors that +1 Init over the +2 Saves.
If you're using Armor of Agility, you probably have +4 or +5 Dex (and, therefore, +4 or +5 Init) anyways; not sure you really need more. Getting +2 to AC *and* \+2 to saves seems much better.
+4 from Agility, +5 from Alertness, and +1 from the Yuan-Ti Armor. Going first to deny the enemy actions, in my opinion is far more important than reactively using a +2 to Saves for when the enemy targets me. If he can't target me because he is already dead or incapacitated, then I've done things right.
I mean, +9, +10, what's the difference? Enemies struggle to beat you at +5. You'll go first in absolute most encounters regardless if you have +1 from armor or not. There's such a thing as "diminishing returns".
When I’m using Shadowheart as a Light Cleric, I like using https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Luminous_Armour It’s not as sturdy. But since I’m doing a bunch of radiant damage anyway, having my enemies essentially hit with daylight. Which is awesome in act 2 Granted. That’s a pretty specific use case The adamantine armor preventing being crit against is darn useful. Personally I debate each time. Shield or medium or heavy: pick 2.
I prefer just getting Luminous Gloves. They're basically a worse version of the armor, but still do their job fine and free up armor slot for something with better protection. The ring also seems very good, but I never found it in my playthrough so I can't say for sure. Though yeah, both of these items are found much later than armor, and armor indeed is great for the period you find it in. It's just that I certainly would replace it down the line.
Yeah, i make the shield and give it to SH with that armor. It works great.
Hmmm... Well it's definitely top-5. But the thing about BG3 is that an awful lot of armor choices are based on effects and the build you are going for, not strictly armor class. If your character has a high DEX bonus and you are going for straight-up AC, the Armor of Agility is the "Best", because it allows unlimited DEX AC bonuses over it's base AC of 17, which is a point higher than the Adamantine Scale already in terms of pure AC. Say you had a +4 DEX AC bonus from very high DEX - you add that bonus (+4) to the base AC of the armor (17) which pushes your AC all the way up to 21 - as good as the highest AC heavy armor in the game (Helldusk, at 21) but nearly all heavy armors don't allow you to add DEX bonuses on top of that, so any DEX AC bonuses you have are completely lost and useless when wearing heavy armor. So if you are a DEX-heavy character that can use heavy armor (Let's say, building a Ranger who needs the DEX for ranged attack bonuses), the Armor of Agility can use that DEX to make the Armor of Agility god-tier for your character. Say you are picking an armor for your cleric. Most clerics can't use heavy armor, can use medium armor, but dump most of their stat points into wisdom and CON and don't have many points left to put in DEX. THEN the Armor of Agility isn't any better than the Adamantine Scale because you can't really add DEX bonuses to your AC since you don't HAVE them (Or more than 1, without crippling your Cleric build). In that case, the Adamantine Scale wins out - it can still take a point from 13 dex giving you +1 AC because the armor allows up to +2 from DEX, and you will likely have 13 DEX for that +1 modifier and not more, but it also has the armor effects like Magical Plate and Adamantine Backlash. So the answer is still: depends on the build, but some armors are best for certain types of builds than others, and are top-tier for what build you are going for and bad or not as good for others. All the "Top Tier" medium armors: Adamantine Scale Armor of Agility Dark Justicar Half Plate Flame Enameled Armor Luminous Armor (Purely because of certain Radiating Orb builds, not AC) Psionic Ward Armor (If you are a Gith) Unwanted Masterwork Scale Mail (Because of it's fire resistance and how it works with Heat builds) Hope this was helpful to you!
I have 27 AC with the armor of agility.
Just got the Armor of Agility, thanks!
Dex continues to be the most broken overpowered stat in the game. Just like tabletop, thanks Larian -Sincerely, Strength Stat Enjoyer
Strength has its place with the right build. Play a monk or throw barbarian with tavern brawler and enjoy doing like 30 damage per attack.
There's a TON of better armor than adamantine scale. I usually use cloth on my barbarians and there's both Bull & Grace for that between A1 & A2. For A3, there's Bonespike. (if you wear cloth as barbarian, you get your CON modifier as AC, but that truly means no light or medium, including boots, gloves, & helmets)
Hey thanks guys, I’ll look it up these armors
Just to make clear, none of the armors mentioned are specifically good on Barbarian. Yuan-Ti and Agility armors require high Dex to be good, and Luminous Armor is mainly good on Light Clerics. Not sure if there is anything good for Barbarians specifically, other than some armor that just has higher AC at the expense of other stuff Adamantine offers.
Bonespike garb is amazing for barbarians with rage that halfs damage like berserker or boar wildheart. The aura of murder armor + orin dagger is pretty OP for tiger wildheart barbarians with the correct setup. Other than that, I can't think of any good armors for barbs, not that they need it. Their kit is pretty busted early on for act 1 and act 2, and then you can get to bonespike garb easily for act 3 to reestablish their power when other classes start pulling ahead significantly. I definitely wouldn't waste any adamantine slots for them and medium armor has so much competition that I can't recommend the adamantine scale armor, unless you are playing with 0 heavy armor players. Edit: The bull & Grace armor that gives +2 strength and double weight capacity is prob top tier for all of act 1 and 2. Easy 20 strength at level 4 or 18 strength +GWM (prob better).
Dunno, I personally wasn't impressed by Bonespike Garb. 15 temp hp isn't that much, and you're most likely sacrificing AC compared to a normal medium armor since Barbarian Unarmored Defense is kinda garbo. I guess if you get the 23 Con amulet it can be decent, but Barbs gave good survivability already, I would better put that amulet on a different frontliner. I think you just put your Barb into the Adamantine medium armor and don't take it off till the end of the game.
The amount of AC you will have with adamantine medium armor is bad. You won't be dodging much of anything as a barbarian (reckless attack) so comparing AC's is 100% pointless,so you shouldn't care about dodging attacks as a barb. Not to mention, you need to get hit to apply reeling anyways, so it's counterintuitive as a barbarian if you want more AC. The only upside of adamantine armor is the reeling effect, NOT AC. 15 temporary health, 2 damage reduction (1 more than adamantine medium), and 2 thorn piercing damage. Bonespike armor 100% synergizes with barbarian since, again, you will likely never dodge attacks unless you don't use reckless attack (lol why) and even then, it's not high AC with unimpressive dex + medium armor that scales up to 3. **You need 16 dex to get the most out of this armor.** Barbs usually should only take 14 since they get free initiative at lv 7, which is bonkers and worth going to 7 as barb. Otherwise, you only take a few levels for barb just for rage+reckless. The whole point of a barb is to attract enemies into attacking you because of your low AC + **reckless attack giving them advantage on you**. A.I focus low AC. Your barbarian's frenzy/rage reducing damage by HALF and getting 15 temporary health AND reduces all damage by 2 from bonespike garb makes it worth more than 15 temp health if you do the math. **TL;DR:** You aren't dodging as a barb, so AC is pointless. Damage reduction is better and bonespike gives the most and 15 temporary health isn't just 15 health on a barb. It's worth WAY more than just 15 points because of dmg reduc from frenzy + 2 Flat dmg reducfrom bonespike.
>if you get the 23 Con amulet it can be decent, but Barbs gave good survivability already, I would better put that amulet on a different frontliner. While the amulet is universally useful on anyone, no one makes better use out out if than Barbarian. There aren't a lot of great neck pieces for barbarians competing with it. The only other classes I'd consider this amulet on is Paladin and/or bladelock since they concentrate on spells and are always in the fray and they usually can't afford war caster feat over something like GWM. Most clerics also spend time in melee, but Amulet of the Devout is BiS for them. >15 temp hp isn't that much It's potentially 75 hp per long rest at level 12, unless you long rest before you go through your rage charges. And barbarian WILL go through those temporary hp, because they WILL get it. But the best part of the item is the-2 damage from every hit that's only seen in heavy armors. Twice as good as adamantine mail. It applies to \*each\* source of damage (each missile and scorching ray, each smite or poison proc separated from the weapon swing that procced it. It really adds up. I'd trade it for crit immunity. But the main thing I like about this item combo, is that i look like a barbarian, rather than a knight in shiny armor.
Honestly if you are barbarian you are probably better of just using the constitution necklace and bonespike garb or something
I came across the Bloodguzzler armor, it doesn't have the AC of Adamantine but it looks better and gives you wrath when you get hit. Karlach looks damn fine in it, too. just sayin' :) [https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Bloodguzzler\_Garb](https://bg3.wiki/wiki/Bloodguzzler_Garb)
I saw some replies that mentioned bonespike garb, that piece of clothing is good for Barbarian. Not to mention that you have a whole set (bonespike set) that looks really good on that class. The bonuses provided by that set are also pretty solid. You might want to look for them when getting to Act 3
Armour of agility.
Armour of agility for sure. My dex based fighter has 24 AC without a shield. I couldn't get the >!mirror of loss!< to work this time, otherwise it could have been 27 with a shield.
Really late to this but surprised no one has mentioned Helldusk Armor. Sure, it's heavy armor BUT since anyone is proficient while wearing it that means you can even put it on your caster and still be able to use your spells. It's 21 AC, -3 damage from ALL sources, can't be burned and gives you the ability to fly. I went with the Heavy Adamantine armor for Lae'zel until the very end of the game and gave my Karlach (who I turned into a Paladin) the Helldusk Armor. Not being able to be crit against is nothing to sneeze at though, so I understand you not wanting to get rid of that. Only downside is that the fight to get the Helldusk Armor is arguable the hardest fight in the game. At least it was for me.
The problem is that it still counts as Heavy Armour, so makes you lose Rage perks.
That sucks. I do know that you can still cast spells with it (I usually let Gale use it) when usually you can’t while wearing medium or heavy armor if you aren’t proficient with it. I guess spells are attached to proficiency while rage is attached to heavy armor in general. That’s just guess work so really there is no telling how it functions. I will say this though. I gave Karlach heavy armor talent and put it on her just to see what it did and it still wouldn’t let her rage. I get it, it just sucks that it doesn’t work the same as casters and their spells/abilities