Adamantine Scale Mail vs Splint Armor BG3 Which Heavy Armor is Better

Alright folks, so I got real curious about these two big heavy armors everyone argues about – Adamantine Scale Mail and Splint Mail. Heard all the chatter, decided screw it, gotta see for myself which one actually pulls its weight in a real fight, not just on paper.

Getting the Stuff Was Half the Battle

So first up, I needed both armors. The Splint Mail? Found that piece early on after messing up some cultists near the Mountain Pass. Pretty straightforward loot. The Adamantine Scale Mail though? That was a whole other level of headache. Had to trek deep into the Underdark, deal with those creepy Myconid dudes, and then figure out that damn Adamantine Forge near the lava. Seriously, almost fell in twice trying to operate that giant hammer thing. Forged the scale mail mold, tossed in some Mithral ore praying it worked… and bam, finally had my shiny but heavy Adamantine piece.

Time to Hit the Dummy… Or, You Know, Actual Monsters

Right, gear secured. Loaded up my main tanky character – decided on Lae’zel cause she’s built like a brick house and loves hitting things hard. Tossed her in a quiet spot near the Blighted Village for less interruption. Equipped the plain old Splint Mail first.

• Just slapped it on. Boom, 18 AC. Simple.
• Grabbed a bunch of local goblins and gnolls desperate for a beating (it’s BG3, no shortage of volunteers).
• Sent Lae’zel charging in. Lots of swinging at her.
• Honestly? She felt solid. Most hits just bounced off unless the dice decided to screw her over. Damage taken felt predictable, kinda “meh”.

Saved, reloaded. Now, swapped in the fancy Adamantine Scale Mail.

• Equipped it. Okay, also 18 AC. Looks cooler, gotta say.
• Got the same gang of idiots attacking her again.
• The big change? Saw the “Reeling” debuff pop on attackers way more. Every time someone missed her, they got Reeling for a few turns, making them easier to hit later. Felt tactical.
• The big one: No Critical Hits landed on her. Zero. Nada. Watching those giant damage rolls fizzle out was downright satisfying. Made a real difference when those high-damage enemies tried to get lucky.

The Showdown & My Facepalms

Thought I was smart, got a tougher fight against a bunch of Phase Spiders near the Whispering Depths.

• Experiment Attempt 1: Epic Fail. Realized way too late I still had a Ring of Protection on Lae’zel! Totally screwed the AC comparison, gave her +1 AC extra on both tests like an idiot. Had to start over. D’oh!
• Experiment Attempt 2: Less Fail-y. Took off all extra AC junk. Just the armor and her sword/shield setup.

Splint Mail round first:

• Solid performance again. Took some hits, shrugged off most. One time a sneaky spider landed a crit and chunked her health bar bad. Felt bad, man.

Reload. Adamantine Scale Mail on:

• Immediately noticed the Reeling kicking in more, especially against the spiders’ multi-attacks.
• And the crit thing? Lifesaver. One spider got its nasty fangs in deep for what should have been another critical hit, but poof! Vanished. That alone felt like a win.
• Did feel a tiny bit more chip damage overall compared to the Splint test? Maybe? But preventing that one massive crit totally outweighed it.

What I Ended Up Doing

So, looking purely at keeping my tank alive against nasty stuff, the Adamantine Scale Mail came out ahead for me. That guaranteed No Critical Hits is just too damn good, especially when you run into bosses or high-crit mobs. The Reeling is a nice cherry on top, helps everyone land hits more reliably.

The regular Splint Mail? Still great! Easier to find, cheaper to grab, and gives that solid 18 AC upfront with no bells and whistles. Perfect if you just need baseline protection and don’t wanna jump through Underdark hoops.

But yeah, after actually taking hits and seeing that red ‘Critical Hit’ text get deleted by the Adamantine mail? I stopped arguing with myself. For my main frontline tank taking the heaviest swings? Adamantine Scale Mail wins my vote. I kept it on Lae’zel and haven’t looked back. Just, uh, remember to take off your rings first, unlike me.

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