Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26890432-20160610172145

Good Day!

There have been many suggestions and debates circulating lately about the effectiveness of the armour of different factions, and I mostly think this is justified. Some of the decisions for certain faction's armours perplex me, as I am sure they do many others. I will present a case for the armours I think need tweaking, and provide my reasoning for each.

Dalish Armour- Ah yes, this great contraversey... Although Dale has never historically had any tradition of heavy infantry, their armour could stand to be improved. I've reached this decision for both reasons practical and lore-related. For one, It's made out of iron, and it should behave as such. Also, it was made with the consultance of Dwarven smiths. For these reasons I beleive it should be raised to 15 Armour points, on par with Gondorian Armour.

Dorwinion Armour- This set of Armour currently has an armour rating of 15. To me at least, this does not make very much sense, seeing as Dorwinion has never been renowned for their military. It's even more odd when armour from a very peaceful faction of men has rating better than Dale and Rohan, and equal to Gondor. All three of these factions have been heavily involved in wars throughout history, and Gondor has a centuries-old heavy infantry tradition, to boot! Therefore I suggest Dorwinion Armour be reduced to 13 points, and Dorwinion Elven to 15. The reduction of the Elven armour comes from the fact that the Avari were never as talented smiths as the Noldor. (Currently, their armour rating is identical!)

Near Harad Armour- This armour is currently crafted from bronze, yet is more powerful than the iron armour produced by the smiths of Dale and equal to the plate armour of Gondor. This simple logic alone is cause for consideration. Also, in both Near Harad and the real-world cultures this faction is based off of, heavily armoured troops never played a large role in warfare. (The legendary armoured cataphracts of Eurasia I assume are more of an Easterling thing). Tolkien mentions the Haradrim being lightly armoured (Bronze scales and black and red fabrics) and mainly fighting upon horses, Mumakil, or as skirmishers. So my suggestion would be to bring this armour set down to the appropriate bronze-level of 13 points.

Ranger Armours- Fabricated from leather, these two sets (Northern and Ithilien) of armour provide protection equal to full bronze armour: 13 points. This follows the logic of the Near Harad Armour- a material cannot be something it isn't! For this reason, as well as balancing reasons, I beleive Ranger armour should recieve a reduction, to perhaps only slightly above leather. To balance this, however, and reflect the rough, durable crafting of the Rangers, it should recieve high durability for it's "tier".

Tauredain Armour- Like the Near Harad armour, it is technically a bronze armour that is equal in protection to Iron. For this reason, and since the Tauredain are based off of the Aztecs and the Mayans, who were lightly armoured, agile combatants, this armour should be reduced to the Bronze 13.

I hope you have enjoyed! Feedback is welcome. 