Weapons And Armor

Equipment
Weapons & Armor In Play

Weapons and armor are the part of equipment most directly tied to a character's combat role. They decide how the character threatens enemies, how much punishment they can avoid, and whether the build's ability scores and proficiencies are working together.

Use what the character is trained for. Proficiency is part of the item's value. A strong weapon or armor choice can become a liability if the character is not built to use it.
Match gear to role. Front-line defenders, ranged attackers, skirmishers, and casters all want different tradeoffs between offense, defense, mobility, and hands free.
What To Check

Weapon properties. Range, handedness, damage type, loading, finesse, light, heavy, thrown, and similar properties decide how a weapon actually behaves once initiative starts.

Armor expectations. Armor affects defense, movement assumptions, stealth pressure, and sometimes the ability score plan behind the character.

Shield use. A shield is a strong defensive choice, but it competes with two-handed weapons, off-hand items, and some casting or object-use assumptions.

Exact records matter. Use the equipment compendium for the final call on cost, category, properties, and any source-specific wording.

Loadout Tradeoffs

Defense

Armor and shields improve survivability, but may affect stealth, hands available, cost, weight, and class assumptions.

Reach And Range

A character's weapon choice decides how close they must stand to contribute and how easily enemies can deny that plan.

Hands Free

Object use, shields, spell components, grappling, climbing, and two-handed weapons all compete for the same practical space.

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