Platemail

Platemail
Slots
Base Value	300 /  300
Special Properties	+2
Possible Bonuses (Item)
Defense	+1  +2  +3
Resistance	+1  +2  +3
Movement Allowance	+1 +2
Possible Item Powers: Item Power Req. Spellbooks Bless 2 Endurance 2 Resist Elements 2 Resist Magic 2 Cloak of Fear 2
Possible Bonuses (Artifact)
Defense	+1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6
Resistance	+1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6
Movement Allowance	+1 +2 +3 +4
Possible Item Powers: Item Power Req. Spellbooks Bless 2 Endurance 2 Righteousness 4 Invulnerability 5 Resist Elements 2 Elemental Armor 4 Resist Magic 2 Guardian Wind 3 Magic Immunity 5 Cloak of Fear 2 Wraithform 4

Platemail (or "Plate Mail") is a type of Magical Item which can be equipped on any Hero possessing an appropriate slot. The bonuses on the Platemail piece will enhance that Hero's performance, particularly his/her defensive properties and movement speed.

As with any Magical Item, Platemail can have a total mix of up to 4 different bonuses and/or Item Powers. Platemail differs from other armor pieces thanks to a default  +2 Defense bonus which is automatically given upon wearing the item - making it superior to all other armor types. On the other hand, it is much more expensive to make Platemail.

As with any other items, Platemail can receive Item Powers that alter the Hero's properties - particularly giving additional immunities and/or better survivability.

Description

Platemail armor is much older than we tend to think. Although it is most famous as the preferred armor of the medieval knight, the Romans used plate armor over a thousand years before that. Platemail is made out of a single sheet of metal, carefully shaped to deflect incoming blows. It is very hard to pierce, and was eventually overcome only by crossbows and gunpowder.

With a thick plate of metal between himself and the enemy, a Hero can feel quite secure. On the other hand, the amount of metal and the expert craftsmanship required to produce a single piece of Platemail armor makes this much more expensive than other armor types. Platemail is thus reserved for the bravest Heroes who are expected to see plenty of hand-to-hand combat.

The Basic Item

Platemail is one of many possible Magical Item types in Master of Magic. Magical Items can be Crafted by a wizard (tailored to the specific needs of a Hero under the wizard's employ), or found as rewards for defeating a suitably-dangerous Encounter (in which case the item already has a set of pre-defined bonuses).

Any Platemail piece can be equipped on a Hero, if said Hero possesses this slot:

Armor Slot

Most Heroes possess this slot - only specialized mages do not have it (they get an additional "Jewelry" slot instead).

As long as a Platemail piece - any Platemail - is equipped on a Hero, that Hero receives a Defense bonus of  +2 by default, regardless of what other bonuses (including extra Defense bonuses) are imbued into it. This is a fairly large bonus, and is the best innate bonus given by any armor. Unlike the Shield's  +2 bonus, this bonus applies against all direct-damage attacks, and thus is just as useful in Melee as against other attack types.

As a result, the most powerful Heroes should be equipped with Platemail if at all possible. During the late game, it is virtually senseless to create or buy any other kind of armor.

Crafting Platemail

It is possible to create a new Platemail piece (like any other Magical Item) using the Item Crafting process. This is initiated by casting either the Enchant Item spell or the Create Artifact spell, though there are differences in the potential strength of the new Platemail depending on which spell is chosen.

During Item Crafting it is possible to select a Platemail as the type of Magical Item being created (the button is labeled "Plate"). This sets the default cost of casting the item-crafting spell to  300 - the highest starting value of any item.

Once Platemail is selected, the Item Crafting menu will show all bonuses and Item Powers that can be imbued into it. Click the desired options to add them to the weapon, or click a selected option to remove it. Regardless of which item-crafting spell was selected, Platemail can only take up to 4 different bonuses and/or Item Powers - just like any other item in the game.

Each additional bonus will increases the value of the item by a set amount. The more powerful the bonus or enchantment, the more it raises the item's value (see list below). An item with higher value costs more  Mana to create, and thus may take more than one turn to complete.

When Crafting, Platemail has some advantages and some disadvantages over other types of armor - the Shield and Chainmail. Platemail gives the best innate  Defense bonus of any armor, but this is not without a price: Platemail costs  +200 Mana to create, compared to other armor. This means that, for identical  Defense, Chainmail will be cheaper unless you want a total of at least  +6 (where either costs  650); thus, you should only create Platemail if you want  6+ or are trying to max out Enchant Item.

Note that if the Hero is not expected to see much Melee combat, it is often quite feasible to create a Shield instead of a Platemail piece. The cost is much lower, and the only caveat is that the Shield's  +2 Defense bonus does not apply against Melee Attacks. Naturally, during the late game,  Mana is much more plentiful and Platemail should be created every time if possible.

Enchant Item

The Enchant Item spell limits the strength of the bonuses that can be imbued into Platemail, and also the types of Item Powers that can be added to it.

Available Bonuses

Bonus Type	Options	Extra Cost	Description
Defense	+1	+50	Increases the maximum amount of  Damage this Hero can block from direct-damage attacks. Average blocked damage increases accordingly, subjected to the Hero's To Block score.
	+2	+100
	+3	+200
Movement Allowance	+1	+100	Increases the number of Movement Points available to the Hero at the start of each overland and combat turn. Heroes with higher Movement Allowance can cross larger distances and/or maneuver better on the battlefield. This bonus does not change the Hero's Movement Type.
	+2	+200
Resistance	+1	+50	Increases the Hero's chance to avert the ill effects resulting from most Curses, most Special Attacks and several offensive spells. A successful Resistance roll will avert part or all harm to the Hero.
	+2	+100
	+3	+200

Available Item Powers

Name	Required Spellbooks	Extra Cost	Effects
Bless	2	+200	Permanent Bless: Hero receives  +3 and  +3, but only against Curses, spells and Fantastic Units belonging to the Chaos and Death realms.
Endurance	2	+200	Permanent Endurance: Hero receives +1 to his/her Movement Allowance, both during combat and on the overland map.
Resist Elements	2	+100	Permanent Resist Elements: Hero receives  +3 Resistance against Nature and Chaos effects, and  +3 Defense against  Magical Ranged Attacks.
Resist Magic	2	+200	Permanent Resist Magic: Hero receives  +5 Resistance against all ill-effects.
Cloak of Fear	2	+200	Permanent Cloak of Fear: When this Hero makes a Melee Attack, each figure in the target unit must Resist or fail to deliver any retaliatory Melee Damage and Touch Attacks. Buggy! Likely to backfire on Hero.

Create Artifact

The Create Artifact spell allows Platemail to be imbued with much more powerful bonuses and/or Item Powers. Certain limitations still apply, based mainly on the type and number of Spellbooks you possess, and the amount of  Mana you wish to spend on creating the item.

Note: The Create Artifact spell is not inherently more expensive than Enchant Item, it only allows purchasing more expensive bonuses and Item Powers. It is possible to create the same (low-value) Platemail with both spells at no extra cost. Thus, if Create Artifact is available, there is no reason to use Enchant Item at all.

Available Bonuses

Bonus Type	Options	Extra Cost	Description
Defense	+1	+50	Increases the maximum amount of  Damage this Hero can block from direct-damage attacks. Average blocked damage increases accordingly, subjected to the Hero's To Block score.
	+2	+100
	+3	+200
	+4	+350
	+5	+550
	+6	+800
Movement Allowance	+1	+100	Increases the number of Movement Points available to the Hero at the start of each overland and combat turn. Heroes with higher Movement Allowance can cross larger distances and/or maneuver better on the battlefield. This bonus does not change the Hero's Movement Type.
	+2	+200
	+3	+400
	+4	+800
Resistance	+1	+50	Increases the Hero's chance to avert the ill effects resulting from most Curses, most Special Attacks and several offensive spells. A successful Resistance roll will avert part or all harm to the Hero.
	+2	+100
	+3	+200
	+4	+350
	+5	+550
	+6	+800

Available Item Powers

Name	Required Spellbooks	Extra Cost	Effects
Bless	2	+200	Permanent Bless: Hero receives  +3 and  +3, but only against Curses, spells and Fantastic Units belonging to the Chaos and Death realms.
Endurance	2	+200	Permanent Endurance: Hero receives +1 to his/her Movement Allowance, both during combat and on the overland map.
Righteousness	4	+500	Permanent Righteousness: Hero it totally immune to virtually all spells from the Death and Chaos realms, and to all Special Attacks associated with either realm.
Invulnerability	5	1,200	Permanent Invulnerability: Whenever Hero is struck by any direct damage, that damage is automatically reduced by  2 Damage points. Furthermore, the Hero receives Weapon Immunity.
Resist Elements	2	+100	Permanent Resist Elements: Hero receives  +3 Resistance against Nature and Chaos effects, and  +3 Defense against  Magical Ranged Attacks.
Elemental Armor	4	+500	Permanent Elemental Armor: Hero receives  +10 Resistance and  +10 Defense against various types of Nature and Chaos attacks and ill effects.
Resist Magic	2	+200	Permanent Resist Magic: Hero receives  +5 Resistance against all ill-effects.
Guardian Wind	3	+400	Permanent Guardian Wind: Hero receives the Missile Immunity ability, which raises his/her Defense score to  50 whenever struck by a  Ranged Missile Attack.
Magic Immunity	5	+700	Permanent Magic Immunity: Hero cannot be harmed by most harmful spells and Special Attacks, and receives  50 Defense against all  Magical Ranged Attacks.
Cloak of Fear	2	+200	Permanent Cloak of Fear: When this Hero makes a Melee Attack, each figure in the target unit must Resist or fail to deliver any retaliatory Melee Damage and Touch Attacks. Buggy! Likely to backfire on Hero.
Wraithform	4	1,200	Permanent Wraith Form: Hero receives the Non-Corporeal ability, which allows him/her to ignore all Terrain while moving on the overland map, and to move freely through City Walls. It also protects the Hero from several kinds of spells.

Acquiring Pre-Defined Platemail

The game data files contain 250 items that were designed by Simtex - each with its own pre-set name, bonuses and/or Item Powers. 24 of these items are Platemail pieces.

There are three different ways by which you can acquire one of these pre-defined Platemails:

• By winning a difficult Encounter.
• By purchasing it from a traveling Item Merchant.
• As result of a random Event called "The Gift".

It is often better to acquire items in this way, as it means you do not need to spend any time or  Mana to create them. However, since the offered item is chosen at random, and since all 250 items have pre-defined bonuses and enchantments, you may or may not receive an item that's really suitable to your needs.

Furthermore, many of the pre-defined items possess Item Powers that cannot legally be added to them via Item Crafting.

Platemail as Treasure

Whenever an Encounter zone of sufficient difficulty level is cleared of its initial defenders, the winning army may receive a Platemail piece (or any other Magical Item) as a reward.

The game may select (at random) any item whose total value does not exceed the remaining treasure points given by the Encounter. Thus, the more difficult the Encounter, the more potential there is to receive a high-value item.

If the selected item's value is significantly lower than the remaining treasure points, the game will try to select additional rewards (possibly more items).

Platemail from Item Merchants

Item Merchants have a certain chance to appear at the start of any overland turn. This chance is primarily influenced by the wizard's current Fame score. When the roll dictates that a Merchant should appear, the game selects an item at random from the entire list of all 250 pre-set items.

Item Merchants will only offer the selected item if the wizard has 3 times as much  Gold as the value of the item itself. Charismatic wizards need only 1.5 times as much  Gold as the item's value, since they pay half-price for any item. If you lack sufficient Gold at the start of the turn, the Item Merchant will simply not appear this turn.

Platemail as Gifts

Finally, an Event called "The Gift" may occur at random at the start of any overland turn, bestowing a Platemail piece (or any other Magical Item) to your wizard, for no cost whatsoever. This event can choose any of the 250 pre-defined items, including any of the 23 available Platemail pieces.

List of Pre-Defined Platemail

Below is a list of each Platemail armor present in the default game-data files.

Note: The ItemMake program which is supplied with the game allows users to alter the list of pre-set items at will: you can change any of these items (within the same constraints as those of a Create Artifact spell), add new ones, or remove existing ones from the list. Therefore the list below may or may not match your game-files.

Image	Name	Total Value	Bonuses and Item Powers
	Plate Mail of Defense	400	+1 Defense,
			+1 Resistance.
	Champion's Platemail	500	+1 Defense,
			+1 Resistance,
			+1 Movement.
	Plate Mail of Resistance	700	+1 Defense,
			+4 Resistance.
	Plate of Eandor	700	+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+1 Movement.
	Lor Goth	800	Resist Elements,
			+2 Defense,
			+3 Resistance,
			+1 Movement.
	Plate Mail of Movement	950	+3 Defense,
			+1 Resistance,
			+3 Movement.
	Giddeon's Plate	1,000	Endurance,
			+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+2 Movement.
	Armor of the Warrior	1,100	Righteousness,
			+2 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+1 Movement.
	Plate Mail of Diversity	1,200	+4 Defense,
			+4 Resistance,
			+2 Movement.
	Plate of the Elements	1,200	Resist Elements,
			+4 Defense,
			+4 Resistance,
			+1 Movement.
	Plate Mail of Blessed Fear	1,250	Cloak of Fear,
			Bless,
			+4 Defense,
			+3 Resistance.
	Bloodmail	1,300	Elemental Armor,
			+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+2 Movement.
	Silvermail	1,400	Guardian Wind,
			+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+3 Movement.
	Righteous Plate of Evasion	1,500	Righteousness,
			+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+3 Movement.
	Blood Plate of Lucifer	1,550	Bless,
			+5 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+3 Movement.
	Plate of Enduring Immunity	1,750	Magic Immunity,
			Endurance,
			+4 Defense,
			+2 Movement.
	Ziggmund's Armor	1,800	Bless,
			Righteousness,
			+6 Resistance.
	Suit of Power	1,950	Endurance,
			+6 Defense,
			+6 Resistance,
			+4 Movement.
	Plate of Ultimax	2,000	Invulnerability,
			+3 Defense,
			+2 Resistance,
			+2 Movement.
	Elemental Transformation	2,150	Elemental Armor,
			Wraithform,
			+2 Defense,
			+1 Resistance.
	Plate of Divine Protection	2,450	Guardian Wind,
			Invulnerability,
			+5 Defense.
	Plate of Immunity	3,150	Magic Immunity,
			+5 Defense,
			+6 Resistance,
			+4 Movement.
	Plate of Omnipotence	4,200	Magic Immunity,
			Wraithform,
			Invulnerability,
			+6 Defense,