Chain armour

Chain armour, also known as "chainmail" or simply "mail" (known as "bronze armour" in the Nintendo Port of Ultima III) is armour which has been crafted out of a series of interlinked metal rings, which are usually riveted shut on high quality pieces. It is available in Ultima I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  VI,  VII,  VII Part Two,  VIII, and  IX, as well as in the Ultima Underworld series.

Description
A full set of standard Britannian mail generally consists of a coif, a mail shirt (termed a haubereon in comparable  Terran ages) and mail leggings (chausses). At times, mail gauntlets (mitons), mail boots and mail arm extensions for the haubereon would also figure into the ensemble.

Throughout the Age of Darkness and into the early Age of Enlightenment, chainmail 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 differing armour slots), mail 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 terms of blanket protection, the woven mesh of good mail is almost always preferable to boiled leather or padded canvas in terms of keeping its bearer from bodily harm, although there is an understandable trade-off with regards to expense and weight. While not as sure a defense as full plate, the comparative lightness and flexibility of mail often makes it the wiser choice in situations where encumbrance is of issue.

Protective Value

 * In Ultima II, chain armour has a protective rating of 69% and requires a minimum strength of 19.
 * In Ultima III chain armour has a protective rating of 58% and can only be worn by fighters, rangers, paladins and clerics.
 * In Ultima IV chain armour has a defensive value of 160, an evade rate of 63% and can only be worn by fighters, paladins and tinkers.
 * In Ultima V chain armour has a defensive rating of "5" and the chain coif a rating of "2".
 * In Ultima VI chain armour has a defensive rating of "5" and the chain coif a rating of "2".

Ultima VII and Part Two
In Ultima VII and Ultima VII Part Two, a complete set of chainmail 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 chain armour were as follows:

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

Trivia

 * The term "chainmail" is actually a neologism - at least as far as Earth is concerned. In the real world history of the armour it was only called by this name in eras later than the 1700s.
 * Chain boots were planned for Ultima VII Part Two, but got dropped from the game. Their paperdoll graphics can be found in the code.