- unhindered
- insignificantly hindered
- lightly hindered
- fairly hindered
- somewhat hindered
- moderately hindered
- very hindered
- highly hindered
- greatly hindered
- extremely hindered
- overwhelmingly hindered
- insanely hindered
The most noticeable effects of being hindered by armor are found
while hunting, as evasion can be lowered quite a bit depending upon
the level hinderance. This is most often an issue with rangers,
thieves and barbarians who rely heavily on evasion, since it would
seem that shield blocking and parry aren't hampered quite to the
degree of evasion. Furthermore, hindering armor is a factor in
almost all stealth checks, including hiding, stalking and
stealing. Although one shouldn't try to disarm and pick boxes while
wearing armor, hinderance also applies while popping.
In
order to reduce the effects of hinderance, the appropriate armor
skill must be trained. As ranks in the armor are raised, the
hinderance begins to go down to a certain point, which is dictated
by the guild. In the case of rangers, thieves and barbarians,
leather can be 'worked' (that is to say, the leather skill trained
to a certain point) that one would be unhindered. Paladins can work
off the hinderance on all armors. Most other guilds are restricted
to insignificantly hindered (or worse), even in leather.
Contrary
to popular belief, leather armor is rarely the least hindering
armor, but it is an armor that is commonly able to be reduced to
unhindered. Light chain tends to protect better, cost less and have
less hinderance than its leather cousin and is often a good choice
for stealth and non-stealth guilds alike. Heavy plate tends to be
worst choice for non-paladins because of the fact that its
hinderance can only be worked down to a fairly unappealing level.
It should be noted that the 'main' hinderance of a character comes
from their chest armor, so, while a ranger could not expect to wear
a chain hauberk and be unhindered, they could wear leathers and
chain accessories (helm and gloves) and be unhindered.