i hope they don’t go with the epic/rare/common model, that only feels appropriate in a game with random rolls on items (usually MMO’s or Diablo-like games). Going off your idea i think showing the armor with multiple fields including type (plate, leather, chain, etc) and material (steel, toledo steel, heated steel, iron, copper, bronze). the copper and bronze are likely to not ever be used except by really poor peoples. as far as what kinds of missiles it can block, that could be part of it’s attributes or description. as an example (not to be accurate to the armor): steel plate will block sling missiles, and arrows fired from a long bow or any lesser bow. This could also be at certain ranges (like at 20m out, but anything point blank could still pierce the armor). This would also depend on the arrowhead type, as some arrows were meant to pierce higher metal armors.
I would really like to see the icon in my inventory degrade a little as my items wear and tear. or have some sort of overlay on top of the icon, like just a red texture that gets brighter/darker as the item wears down. this way at a glance i can see how damaged my stuff is, and then highlighting or selecting the item will give me a breakdown on how much my stats will be effected by that level of wear and tear.
and as much as i love looting and shit, I don’t want to see them throwing in random rolls on items. I’d rather be rewarded with unique items, or get better ingredients and stuff to be able to make my own items. or gain access to better smiths and artisans. after playing Destiny and Diablo there’s a time and place for RNG items/gear, and this game doesn’t feel to me like it should have it.
