Plate armour

Plate armour (known as "iron armour" in the Nintendo Port of Ultima III) is protective clothing that has been crafted entirely out of articulated metal, such as iron or steel. It is available to characters from Ultima I through Ultima IX.

Description
A full set of standard Britannian plate generally consists of a helm of some variety (typically a great helm), a metal cuirass, leggings (formed of component greaves and some type of upper thigh and knee protection), gauntlets, a gorget and metal boots (termed sabatons on Earth).

Throughout the Age of Darkness and into the early Age of Enlightenment, plate armour was presumably always sold as a set. As time progressed (and as the Ultima game engine grew more complex and better able to support discrete armour slots), plate became a commodity sold by the piece, and it could take some shopping around on the part of an enterprising adventurer to assemble a full outfit. In later eras still, the arm-shielding portions formerly included with a cuirass (likely similar to the pauldrons and vambraces of Terran armour) were also sold separately.

Plate offers the most comprehensive form of protection affordable from non-enchanted armour, but has significant drawbacks in its heavy weight and high price. Those lacking the stamina to march long in such apparel, or whose purses are simply light, often combine pieces of plate with other varieties of armour to make do.

Protective Value

 * In Ultima II, plate armour has a protective rating of 75% and requires a minimum strength of 21.
 * In Ultima III plate armour has a protective rating of 60% and can only be worn by fighters, rangers and paladins.
 * In Ultima IV plate armour has a defensive value of 176, an evade rate of 69% and can only be worn by fighters, paladins and tinkers.
 * In Ultima V plate armour has a defensive rating of "7" and the iron helm a rating of "3".
 * In Ultima VI plate armour has a defensive rating of "7" and the iron helm a rating of "3".

Ultima VII and Part Two
In Ultima VII and Ultima VII Part Two, a complete set of plate armour contains the following pieces. The numbers listed after indicate the relative effectiveness of the armour in both games and the warmth rating:

Ultima VIII
In Ultima VIII, the components and defensive values of plate armour were as follows:

Ultima IX
In Ultima IX, the components and defensive values of plate armour were as follows:

Trivia

 * At the time of Ultima II, a minimum Strength attribute of 21 is required to wear plate armour.