Whats the best armor for fortitude?

[Ultimatium1]

So, im wondering what the best armor for making a fortitude is. Its going to be etheral and used for my mercenary only. Im guessing archon plate would be good, since it has a low strength requirement, as well as high defense?

 

[krischan]

Regarding Fortitude for the merc, I wouldn't make the choice of the armor a matter of being usable at a low level. I suggest to use an ethereal, sacred armor that got its sockets from the cube recipe (so the eth bonus is applied a second time). It has a str req of 222, but a L90 merc with Andariel's Visage should be able to wear it.

 

[Ultimatium1]

Well yeah, thats just the thing. Im most likely going to give him a gaze instead of andys. Also, i have read somewhere that sacred armor slows down his movement speed. So, do you really think its worth it?

 

[krischan]

A sacred armor is a medium armor. I'm not sure if medium or heavy armor is slowing down a merc, but I don't think it will be much of an issue for a merc. Besides, the slower a merc can run, the more time it takes to start doing something stupid

 

[Ultimatium1]

Yes, thats true, it can sometimes be annoying if your mercenary runs straight into a group of monsters. I think he should be okay though, sinces hes going to get some really good gear. Im just not really sure, if the high strength requirement and movement speed penalty is worth it.

 

[krischan]

Having gear with a low str req is more of a matter for main characters because you can choose how many stat points go to where. For mercs, the improvement is fixed. Once his strength score is high enough, he can wear that armor, that's it. Reaching L90 or so isn't much of a problem, so I wouldn't worry about that.

 

[Ultimatium1]

I see. I guess that if i give him andys, i might as well go for a sacred armor fortitude. If i give him gaze though, which armor would be best?

 

[krischan]

Then I would probably go for an archon plate.

 

[Ultimatium1]

Well, its most likely going to be an archon plate then. I had a look on arreat summit, and it seems like it has the highest defense of any light armor. If you go above archon plate, the strength requirements seems to skyrocket. Is this right, or am i missing something?

 

[Peytron]

Well, its most likely going to be an archon plate then. I had a look on arreat summit, and it seems like it has the highest defense of any light armor. If you go above archon plate, the strength requirements seems to skyrocket. Is this right, or am i missing something?

It depends a lot on the roll, you can get other light armour with higher defense than an Archon Plate. With Archon Plates being as rare as they are it really depends on what you have in your stash. I think I've found a lot more Lo runes than ethereal Archon Plates.

 

[krischan]

It depends a lot on the roll, you can get other light armour with higher defense than an Archon Plate.

No, archon plates are the light armors with the highest defense.

I think I've found a lot more Lo runes than ethereal Archon Plates.

That's correct, however.

 

[Peytron]

No, archon plates are the light armors with the highest defense.

The highest maximum defense roll, they can be as low as 410 for non-ethereal, and for example a Dusk Shroud can be as high as 467. Or am I missing something?

Thanks

 

[krischan]

Yes, but you certainly go for the high rolls on base armor that's going to receive a runeword involving a HR. Regarding light armor, archon plates are the best in that regard.

I'm usually keeping regular archon plates with 500+ defense while it's 450+ for dusk shrouds, as well as ethereal, light armor with 1000+ defense and 2-4 sockets after applying the socketing recipe.

 

[Ultimatium1]

Well, i just went with archon plate, since its the best armor if you want to use a vampire gaze.