Armor encompasses all the outfits a character may wear, particularly those that protect the wearer by increasing armor class (AC). Armor is worn in the armor slot. There are several types of armor available (base AC 0 through 8), grouped into the following four classifications: clothing, light armor, medium armor, and heavy armor. The first of these can be worn by anyone, but the latter three require the associated proficiency feat.
The primary function of armor is to protect the wearer from attacks, and this is accomplished by the base AC rating of the armor (which stacks with all other sources of AC). Additional protections may be available through item properties on the armor, particularly an armor bonus to AC that may be added on top of the base AC. This protection comes with some drawbacks however, as the heavier armors impose a reduced maximum dexterity bonus to AC while bringing a higher chance of arcane spell failure (ASF) and an increased armor check penalty (ACP) for most dexterity-based skills.
| Armor name | Base AC | Max dex AC | Weight | ASF | ACP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clothing | 0 | unlimited | 1 | 0% | 0 |
| Light armor | |||||
| Padded armor | 1 | 8 | 5 | 5% | 0 |
| Leather armor | 2 | 6 | 10 | 10% | 0 |
| Hide armor / Studded leather armor |
3 | 4 | 15 | 20% | -1 |
| Medium armor | |||||
| Chain shirt / Scale mail |
4 | 4 | 30 | 20% | -2 |
| Breastplate / Chainmail |
5 | 2 | 40 | 30% | -5 |
| Heavy armor | |||||
| Banded mail / Splint mail |
6 | 1 | 45 | 40% | -7 |
| Half plate | 7 | 1 | 50 | 40% | -7 |
| Full plate | 8 | 1 | 50 | 45% | -8 |
In Dungeons & Dragons, there are more types of armor than base AC ratings, but this aspect of the game was changed for Neverwinter Nights. In Neverwinter Nights, all statistics for a piece of armor are determined by its base AC (which in turn is determined by the chest part, when designing armor in the Toolset or modifying its appearance with craft armor). This has led to some types of armor that have multiple names from the game's Dungeons & Dragons roots, but that are functionally identical in Neverwinter Nights.
(The item palette lists armor in the armor blueprint category.)