I'm a new Oblivion player. I have two pieces of chest armor. One is a Leather Cuirass that adds 3 points to my armor. The other is a magic vest that fortifies my Light Armor skill by 6 points. I can only wear one or the other. Which, in your opinion, is the better choice? I'm only level 1, by the way.

Thanks!

Indirion

I'd say the vest - looks cooler too!

Your inventory menu should display your total Armor Rating. Equipe them both and compare values. But at this point it doesn't make much difference because your AR is still quite low.

Each point of armor you have reduces the damage you take by 1%. So with 10 AR you take 10% less damage and with 50 AR you take half less damage. However, what is really important is not how much armor you have, but how much damage is coming through.

At first glance it might seem that 10 AR is twice as good as 5 AR but that isn't true. In the first case you are taking 95% damage and in the second case you're taking 90% damage. So that's only about 5% difference. Similarly the difference between 80 AR and 85 Ar is actually quite big. It's the difference between taking 20% damage and taking 15% damage. With 85 AR you actually take a quarter less damage than with 80 AR.

Neither item is really much better than the other, really. At Level 1, either one provides minimal protection, but there isn't much to be protected against yet, anyways. I'm thinking the curiass provides better actual protection from damage.

for me, it would be a roleplaying thing. If I had a fighter or a bandit, the curiass might be the way to go. The vest might be better with somebody who doesn't go out adventuring as much; the vest also looks more...um...barbaric on the lady characters, like something out of Conan.

I dunno, it's hard to say which one I'd choose. :shrug: I've had characters who have used either/or, depending on the situation. The curiass is simply better for combat, though.