Sorry for cluttering the forum with another noob question but I am having a rough time understnding armor set ups. Im use to Heavy, medium and lightweight options, not this elaborate of a set up with layers and what not.
My character is just running chainmail and standard clothing right now, obviously this is less than ideal. Got any tips on choosig armor and maybe a quick rundown on setting up your armor?
Getting yourself armored works more or less in the same way, it did IRL. You just think, what makes sense from realistic perspective, and,well, make your choice. Wearing chainmail without some padding layer under is suboptimal - so youâd better take a gambeson to begin with. Padded coif for head protection - then chainmail coif and helmet - but hat can work too. In the end, major hint is to always look at your max weight, you can take - armor is heavy, and various chainmails and brigandines are especially heavy, and I donât even touch plate armor.
And, yep, you can look at your protection stats under the model of yourself in the inventory, and see own status. There are three types of protection - from three types of damage: slashing, stabbing and blunt. That tab of stats also works dynamically in the shop menu, allowing you to pick clothes/armor by their look and stats without actually buying just for the sake of trying on.
I am not real familiar with this part of history. What did they wear in real life? Do you guys have any threads on realistic clothing and armor set ups?
I am quite old school with this. I take what has highest stats. And once it gets damaged, I replace it. In general idea, there are few types that are useful against certain types of weapons/attacks, such as piercing, slashing and blunt.
Piercing are arrows, polearms, some axes and stabbing with sword, few sabres.
Slashing are sabres, swords and axes with long front head (even halberd).
Blunt are most axes as they are heavy, bludgeons, clubs, maces and hammers.
So take fluffy armor that stops heavy blunt weapons.
Take plate cuirass against slash and stab weapons.
Chainmail is good against slash weapons but can be penetrated by spikes.
Well, this definitely makes sense 
Iâm old school with my armor as well, thanks for the advise man.
These two videos might give you a general idea.
Itâs a very general top level overview, but the principles are there and same principles work in KC:D to an extent.
Interesting videos. Considering Henry is not a knight (no spoilers if this changes, please) and does not have a squire , would full plate be realistic for him?
Henry is homme dâarmes(man at arms) or quickly becomes one, as soon as Radzig sends him off to join guard in Rattay - which basically means any non-knighted non-noble armed warrior servant of a lord.
At that point realistic armor is whatever Henry can afford, ± gameplay considerations. The gameplay is also the reason for lack of squire, you wouldnât want to sit through 15 minute cutscene each time youâre switching outfits, would you?
This armor âcanâ be put on by just the man himself, it will just take longer and will be a pain in the butt.
Also, we are talking about 1404 in the game, which is the very beginning of 15th century - I donât think many full-plate suits of armor would have been availabe in Bohemian backwater at that time, but gamers want equipment choice - so devs put in a bit more than is realistic for this region and time, but thereâs almost nothing in the game that had no chance of appearing in the region, so we are to suspend the disbelief a little, itâs not a documentary after all.
id people back then ever run only the chest plate with lighter armor like chaion the legs and arms mail or was it usually ran only in a full set?
âSetâ is an idea introduced by DnD and RPG games.
People would wear whatever they can afford and get their hands on. Life is precious, and proper full armor costs a fortune(still does today). Poorer soldiers e.g. might have worn a padded gambeson and some âjack chainsâ along their arms to give more protection to vulnerable areas
examples:
Hereâs a photo of an underside of a brigandine to give you a better idea what it is - itâs a ton of small metal plates riveted onto linen or leather âshirtâ:
It might have been worn over gambeson or over gambeson+chainmail, while hand protection could have been plate or those jack chains or a combination of.
In the end - in KC:D even when you mix and match - if you like how the result looks youâre probably not far off from an âokâ estimation of what a man at arms might have looked like then. This is not a re-enactment event where youâd have to prove thar you costume is accurate, enjoy the game 
If you want to âfit inâ pay attention to how guards, bernard, robard, etc are armed and dressed, they all follow this.
E.g. padded chausses for leg protection, some sort of boots, gambeson, brigandine and brigandine pauldrons + composite gauntlets. Then chain âscarfâ to protect neck, padded coif(hat\hood) to pad the helmet, and then either helmet directly or chain coif and then helmet. Something like that.
To add a bit of more generic principles:
Padded cloth - like gambeson or coif offers great protection from blunt trauma by dissipating the impact, but almost none from cutes and thrusts - pointy and cutty bits will be your demise.
Chain mail offers great protection from cuts but is generaly relatively heavy and itâs main purpose is to save life, not to protect. As well as spears and arrows will got tear the rings apart and go through:
plate and brigandine is relatively lightweight, if fitted right offers excellent range of movement and speed:
hereâs some examples of mobility in armour. cartwheels and sommersaults galore
So you need padding under the metal layer ot dissipate the impact. And it works for armor on all body parts. And then only option will be a specialised âknight-openersâ like pollaxe
Or stabs\thrusts with a spear\dagger into joints of the suit.
By 15th century all of this was pretty much figured out in terms of armor crafting, and armor was only getting better, more intricate and more well-fitting from there. Until the absolute peak of it: 16th century gothic
The only thing mildly inaccurate about the KCD armor system, is that a knight in full plate/brigantine armor would probably not be wearing a full hauberk but rather a gambeson with patches of chainmail sewn it at the vulnerable joints (armpits and inner elbow surface as well as bellow the tassets). Thereâs no real benefit from having a full hauberk under your breastplate, since the latter does everything that chainmail does only better and with less weight.
You should basically wear the best armor you can afford including a closed helmet (open helmets despite their high defense donât protect the face, leaving the user very vulnerable). Better armor is also lighter and more resistant.
The best set of armor includes:
-noble hauberk (long or short, itâs the same in game terms, just a cosmetic difference)
-noble mail coiff
-dark padded coiff
-decorated arming gambeson (dropped by a few guards and sold by the rattay armorsmith, the next best thing dropped by enemies is the dyed Bavarian gambeson)
-mail chausses
-Magdeburg plate pauldrons and Magdeburg plate chausses (semi rare, found on some high level enemies)
-Nurembergian cuirass (very rare, found in a few places, the next best thing is the Milanese brigandine, available in several colors)
-Noblemanâs gauntlets (available in armorersâ shops and on some guards, just a bit better than other gauntlets)
-Arching bascinet (again, a rare item, found on some bandits, the next best one is the Hounskull).
-Bouche shield
-Any hose, as better variants offer mostly an edge in durability.
You can wear a combat jupon over your armor (dark combat jacket is the best) but it makes you look blocky and since it gets damaged all the time and like all clothing it can only be repaired by a tailor (of whom the game has only three in Rattay, Sasau and Ledetchko), youâre better off without one (charisma-wise) later in the game.
The best armor set in the game is the Zoul set from DLC Band of Bastards. The 4 pieces have the highest states⊠
Last time I had it, the helmet had no support for the âtranslucent helmetâ mod, which is something I rely on heavily due to the stupid way klappvisors are portrayed.
Youâre right however, Hagen Zoulâs armor is the best stat-wise and even comes with an integral waffenrock that every blaksmith will repair, which is kind of cool.
