Plate armour: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:57, 21 February 2026

Version 0.32: This article may not be up to date for the latest stable release of Crawl.

Name	Plate armour
Size to wear	Small, Medium
Armour Class	10
Encumbrance rating	18
Maximum Enchantment	+10
Grants	nothing
Time to Wear	5

A full suit of solid metal plate: cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, waist plate and greaves. It provides excellent protection.

Plate armour is the heaviest common body armour, providing excellent defense in exchange for encumbrance (reducing ability to cast spells, evade attacks, and fire Ranged Weapons). Commonly found on monsters, you are virtually guaranteed to find at least one set by the time you've cleared the Orcish Mines.

Plate armour is one of two armour types capable of generating with the ponderousness ego.

Desirability

Plate is often the heaviest armour available for a long time, so it's good for strong melee characters. A well-enchanted plate armour with a useful ego (such as fire resistance) can serve for the entire 3-rune game. At the very least, heavy fighters are unlikely to find better alternatives for a while, although they do exist:

Characters that wish to hybridize into magic will prefer lighter armours, with dragon scales having good AC:encumbrance ratios.
Pure-strength characters will benefit more from golden dragon scales or crystal plate armour, which provide even more AC.
In any case, both storm dragon scales and shadow dragon scales are direct upgrades to a plain, +0 plate armour.

Compared to the alternatives, plate armour has the time advantage - you can find it earlier. Waiting for a better set of armour means waiting to use your scrolls of enchant armour, which means making your character weaker right now. As mentioned, if you find a plate armour with a good ego, it may be wise to stick with it for the entire game.

In shops, plate armour is 4x as expensive as chain mail. Buying a randart chain mail can be more cost-effective than plate.

History

Prior to 0.14, the encumbrance rating was 19.
Prior to 0.10, plate armour was known as plate mail.

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artifact
	Unrandart Plate armour
Maxwell's Patent Armour

Armour
Body Armour	Leather armour • Ring mail • Scale mail • Chain mail • Plate armour • Crystal plate armour Robe • Animal skin • Troll leather armour • Steam dragon scales • Acid dragon scales • Swamp dragon scales • Quicksilver dragon scales • Fire dragon scales • Ice dragon scales Pearl dragon scales • Shadow dragon scales • Storm dragon scales • Golden dragon scales
Miscellaneous	Hat • Helmet • Cloak • Scarf • Gloves • Boots • Barding
Shields	Buckler • Kite shield • Tower shield • Orb

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{version013}}
+{{version032}}
 {{armour
   |name        = Plate armour
@@ Line 5: / Line 5: @@
   |weight      = 65
   |AC          = 10
-  |EV          = -19
+  |EV          = 18
- |SV          =
   |maxenc      = +10
   |size        = Small, Medium
- |weartime    = 11
- |acquirement =
   |GDR         = 39%
 }}
-{{flavour|A full suit of solid metal plate: cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, waist plate and greaves. Chainmail covers gaps, allowing movement.
+{{flavour|A full suit of solid metal plate: cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, waist plate and greaves. It provides excellent protection.}}
-It provides excellent protection, yet donning it takes forever.
+'''Plate armour''' is the heaviest common body armour, providing excellent defense in exchange for [[encumbrance]] (reducing ability to [[spell failure|cast spells]], [[ev]]ade attacks, and fire [[Ranged Weapons]]). Commonly found on monsters, you are virtually guaranteed to find at least one set by the time you've cleared the [[Orcish Mines]].
-}}
+Plate armour is one of two armour types capable of generating with the [[ponderousness]] [[ego]].
-'''Plate armour''' is the heaviest common body armour; you are virtually guaranteed to find at least one by the time you've cleared out the [[Orcish Mines]].
+==Desirability==
+Plate is often the heaviest armour available for a long time, so it's good for strong melee characters. A well-enchanted plate armour with a useful [[ego]] (such as [[fire resistance]]) can serve for the entire 3-rune game. At the very least, heavy fighters are unlikely to find better alternatives for a while, although they do exist:
-It takes 11 turns to wear or remove plate armour.
+*Characters that wish to hybridize into magic will prefer lighter armours, with [[dragon scales]] having good AC:encumbrance ratios.
+*Pure-strength characters will benefit more from [[golden dragon scales]] or [[crystal plate armour]], which provide even more AC.
+*In any case, both [[storm dragon scales]] and [[shadow dragon scales]] are direct upgrades to a plain, +0 plate armour.
-==Desirability==
+Compared to the alternatives, plate armour has the time advantage - you can find it earlier. Waiting for a better set of armour means waiting to use your [[scrolls of enchant armour]], which means making your character weaker ''right now''. As mentioned, if you find a plate armour with a good [[ego]], it may be wise to stick with it for the entire game.
-Although not suitable for all characters, plate armour is generally considered to be a good equipment choice. [[Ego]] and [[randart]] plate is fairly common, and if found with useful properties (such as [[fire resistance]]), a well-enchanted suit of such armour can serve for the entire game. At the very least, heavy fighters will want this armour for their early- and mid-games, and those who intend to take up some support spellcasting may in fact prefer it to [[gold dragon armour]] or [[crystal plate armour]], whose [[encumbrance rating]]s make spellcasting far more difficult.
-Plate armour is unique for being the only non-artefact armour type capable of generating with the [[ponderousness]] ego.
+In [[shop]]s, plate armour is 4x as expensive as [[chain mail]]. Buying a [[randart]] chain mail can be more cost-effective than plate.
 ==History==
-Prior to [[0.10]], plate armour was known as plate mail.
+*Prior to [[0.14]], the encumbrance rating was 19.
+*Prior to [[0.10]], plate armour was known as plate mail.
 {| class="prettytable" style="border:none; margin:auto; padding:0; text-align: center"
-! || Common || Orcish
+! || Image
 |-
-| '''Mundane''' || [[File:Plate1.png]] || [[File:Orcish plate.png]]
+| '''Mundane''' || [[File:Plate1.png]]
 |-
-| '''Magical''' || [[File:Plate2.png]] || [[File:Orcish plate2.png]]
+| '''Magical''' || [[File:Plate2.png]]
 |-
-| '''Artifact''' || [[File:Plate armour3.png]] || N/A
+| '''Artifact''' || [[File:Plate armour3.png]]
+|-
+! || [[Unrand]]art<br>Plate armour
+|-
+| '''[[Maxwell's Patent Armour]]''' || [[File:Maxwell's patent armour.png]]
 |}
+{{armours}}
 [[Category:Body armour]]