Armor Class

See also Tank Gear.

Armor Class is very important for fighting. This number indicates how good your overall armor is. This includes spells, all equipment worn, dexterity, and whether you're standing, resting, or sleeping.

The AC value shown by the identify spell is a positive rating for a piece of armor. The HIGHER this number is, the better. Modifiers on armor generally say something like: "modifies armor class by -20" or something similar. The LOWER this number, the better. That is, -30 to AC is better than -20 to AC.

When you reach a high enough level (25), you will see an AC rating on your score screen. This rating takes into account all spells, equipment worn, dexterity, etc to form a total AC. The LOWER this number, the better (ie, -300 is better than -50).

The levels of armor are as follows:

 WORSE than Naked         Armored                 Angelically Armored
 Defenseless              Well Armored            Divinely Armored
 Almost Defenseless       Greatly Armored         Invincibly Armored
 Barely Armored           Strongly Armored        Indestructibly Armored
 Slightly Armored         Heavily Armored         Impossibly Armored
 Somewhat Armored         Superbly Armored        Supremely Armored
 Sadly Armored            Terrifically Armored    Sniktly Armored
 Almost Armored           Heroically Armored      Ironhand Armored

Characters may wear gear to increase their armor class, which is commonly called "tank gear" because it is particularly useful to tanks. Most wearable objects are of type "armor" and, thus, have a certain "base armor class," which ranges from 0–2 AC for level-1 objects to 10–12 AC for level-51 objects (see Armor Values for more information on this subject). Characters who wear an object with a certain base armor class will usually find their total armor class improved (decreased) by at least this amount, if not by more (see table below for details). Furthermore, an object of any type (not just armor) may affect its wearer's total armor class by some additional amount, either for the better or for the worse—an affect that is completely independent from that of any base armor class that it may or may not have. Most prime tank gear, in fact, both (1) has a base armor class and (2) provides an additional armor-class-improving modifier.

Object Slot:         Object Improves AC by...       (with Armor Optimization)
<used as light>      (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on finger>     (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on finger>     (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn around neck>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn around neck>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on body>       (3.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (3.50 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on head>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on legs>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on feet>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on hands>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on arms>       (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<held in offhand>    (3.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (3.50 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn about body>    (2.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (2.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn about waist>   (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.25 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on wrist>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.10 × base-AC) + modifier
<worn on wrist>      (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.10 × base-AC) + modifier
<wielded>            (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (0.00 × base-AC) + modifier
<held>               (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier    (1.00 × base-AC) + modifier