Armor Type, Apply, and AC

[avucu]

I'd greatly appreciate some help understanding the armor system better so I can make more educated guesses on which pieces of gear I keep vs vendor. For example, right now if I find a piece of armor that is Apply 7, -1 AC versus another that is Apply 1, -7 AC, I am completely lost. All the testing I have done seems to yield very inconsistent results. The armor class 'helpfile' also looks like it could use a healthy makeover in this regard.

From the 'identify' information, I've seen armor will always have a Mat Class. Sometimes it will also have Apply and AC.

Mat Class - Common sense would tell me metal should make me more damage resistant and less likely to take hits than leather, but this doesn't necessarily seem to be the case. It might be because I don't understand apply / ac and their interaction in armor calculations?

Apply - Very variable, sometimes seems like it affects damage resistance (at best 1 damage reduction per 10 apply), sometimes seems to affect how often I get hit.

Armor Class - Mostly seems related to how often I get hit.

Please enlighten me!

[Kam]

Apply provides physical damage resistance.

Armor class (in negative values) makes you more difficult to hit.

[avucu]

Thank you for clarifying! I’ll work on getting both I’ve been ignoring Apply in favor of AC.

[Minx]

A notable tactic for a melee character is enchanting basic high apply gear (which makes it expensive to rent) to provide -AC, then you can more easily dodge and absorb blows which is helpful in some areas for soloing. You must find a mage who is willing and able of the same alignment however.

[Jorake]

Don't listen to these hosers...

You want damage! Pure pristine DaMaGe!!!
You hit harder, fights over faster, bam. DAMAGE!

[Hoodoo]

Now that Jorake has spoken for the over caffeinated damage chads...   -ac ranks are cheap and quite effective. -40 ac naked is a nice start for your solo or tanking endeavours, and it only costs 4rp.

[Gnua]

A notable tactic for a melee character is enchanting basic high apply gear (which makes it expensive to rent) to provide -AC, then you can more easily dodge and absorb blows which is helpful in some areas for soloing. You must find a mage who is willing and able of the same alignment however.

You are showing your age. I think alignment restrictions disappeared before brangelina existed.