Scale mail

Version 0.34: This article is up to date for the latest stable release of Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Name	Scale Mail
Size to wear	Small, Medium
Armour Class	6
Encumbrance rating	10
Maximum Enchantment	+6
Grants	nothing
Time to Wear	5

A leather suit covered with metal plates attached to each other in overlapping rows to provide full protection, but at the cost of reduced freedom of movement.

Scale mail is a medium body armour, providing moderate physical defense coupled with a significant encumbrance rating. Fighters start with this armour, assuming their species can wear it.

Desirability

Scale mail is a medium-weight armour, offering moderate defense, but at a significant cost to evasion and spellcasting success. Early on, high-strength characters will prefer this over any lighter armour. Otherwise, its stats are not impressive: high strength melee characters will prefer heavier, while Dodging and casting characters typically prefer lighter.

Scale mail is unique as it is the lightest armour that can receive the archery, command, and death egos. Therefore, users of Ranged Weapons, Summonings, and Necromancy may prefer this armour if the appropriate ego is found. Other characters can benefit from a particularly well-enchanted set or a randart scale mail, too.

A plain +0 scale mail is completely outclassed by acid dragon scales.

	Image
Mundane
Magical
Artefact
	Unrandart scale mail
Kryia's mail coat

History

• Prior to 0.16, scale mail had an encumbrance rating of 11.