Orc/Paladin Armour - Worth Buying?

[Dr. A]

Hi all,
I just wanted to know is it worth saving up to buy the exorbitantly expensive best purchase-able armour early(ish) in the game? Namely orc and paladin armour.

I believe the orc armour is the best - same as paladin armour but with elemental protection.

So should I wait because i will get these armour or better armour as a quest reward? Or I should buy them immediately because there isn't any better armour (which i doubt)?

[Punter X]

personally i saved for the paladin armour as i was able to achieve the 50% rebel rep requirement without actively siding with any faction (to save gold i went for a while with no armour before getting ranger armour due to the ease of getting rep points until i had enough for paladin armour)

as for the orc armour, i could be completely wrong but if memory serves correct it is not sold but instead given to you after achieving 75% orc rep and going to castle in faring (to achieve this requires somewhat obviously siding with the orcs)

[Dr. A]

You bought the paladin armour only after achieving 50% reputation with the rebels? But the armour is available for purchase right from the start. Sells for 150k (130k with mercantile skill)

[Punter X]

unless i'm mistaken, while all the armours are in the merchant's trade inventories you are unable to buy them until you have the required rep with the relevant faction (unless of course the mercantile skill does away with this as i never got my thief skill high enough)

[Dr. A]

Oh, I see. I never tried to purchase it because I couldn't afford it so I didn't know about the reputation requirement.

If faction reputation is a factor then what is the best armour which has no such requirement? You mentioned using ranger armour?

[curious]

all quality armour has a reputation restriction. the rangers have by far the fewest quests and each are worth massive amounts of reputation bonuses. therefore their armour is the easiest to obtain and does a pretty decent job. plus the ranger armour is one of the 'cooler' looking ones as well.

[Dr. A]

Interesting...

Thanks for all your help, Punter X & curious. I really appreciate it :)

[Danicek]

If faction reputation is a factor then what is the best armour which has no such requirement? You mentioned using ranger armour?

I think the best armor that doesn't have the faction reputation tying is the Robe of Adonas (spelling?). Which is obtained as part of the main quest. Even though it is a robe that really looks like a robe, it actually has pretty decent capabilities of blocking physical damage. Not nearly as good as the top faction's armor sets but you were asking for non-faction one.

BTW, I don't like the robe because when combined with the Bloom efect (I suppose it is bloom and not HRD), it is strangly shaning all the time :].

[Maylander]

Money isn't really a problem, buy the best armor your repuation allows. :)

[Dr. A]

Money isn't really a problem, buy the best armor your repuation allows. :)

Well, that does seem quite obvious :)

I'm just worried that I'll waste my gold on an armour which becomes redundant when/if I get it (or a better armour) as a quest reward...

Edit: I think money IS a bit of a problem - im at level 30 and i have only 75k+ gold.

[Maylander]

I wouldn't worry about that. A medium armor will suffice till you get either Paladin or Orc Armor.

[Danicek]

Money, well - you always have plenty of money until you buy an armor. Armor prices are usually quite expensive even for higher level players. I'm level 50 and I have around 200 000 in my pocket. 120 000 is therefore still quite an amount.

[Punter X]

when i was playing i found that gold can be a bit tight at the earlier stages with just the paladin armour and adanos amulet (while i realise that it's not mandatory to pay for it i'd rather get it without liberating trelis) costing 200k (i tend not to raise my thief skill above difficult locks)

with that said however once i got got both, gold really wasn't much of a problem as there aren't an excessive amount of things to buy from merchants (ie the only weapon i've even bought off a merchant was a flame sword while i don't think i've ever bought a shield or even potions although i only played at medium difficulty)

[Dr. A]

Getting that ranger armour is looking mighty attractive...

Does high reputation with the rangers affect the behaviour of the other factions?

[curious]

no reputation never has any negative effects. although sometime your actions that gained you a high reputation with a faction might have local/global effects especially if they envolved killing people.

[Danicek]

Neither does wearing something affect the way other factions behave. You may were Paladin or Rebels armor and still talk and support orcs with no problem at all.

[Cleric]

If I remember correctly, I started with the basic Rebel Armor, then went to the Druid Armor and then finally the Paladin Armor.

[Dez]

If you have shortage of money.. freeing few cities will fill your pockets with gold, weapons, treasure.

Also I'd recommand learning the throphy skills from the hunter near cape dun..

[Bodycount02]

Hmm i have medium rebel armor and a little over 200k gold plus 4 barbarian axes that im saving to help pay for my paladin armor.
And yeah trophy skills really help especially when you come across some of the rarer beasts whos pelts are wortha good solid 1.5k for vendors. can anyone post some screenies of ranger armor btw?

[jmurdock]

I know this is kind of late but I traded stuff for my Paladin armor. Didn't have to pay any gold.

[Maylander]

I usually do that as well - just save up items as I get near the reputation limit, and trade items for it. Rather easy to get enough, just clear out a few cities (kill the orcs) and loot them.