Dragon Barding Deed Info Request

[King Durango]

I've found dragon barding very useful for my swordsman as it really absorbs a lot of damage. I've only found basic info on dragon barding on stratics and on uoguide it says that ore colour provides no difference in protection which I also understand (10% damage absorption for non-ex, 20% absorption for exceptional regardless of colour). So I've always purchased iron dragon barding as it is usually cheaper and provides 12,000 Armour Points before crumbling. However I've now just learned that the Armour Points provided by exceptional Shadow Iron dragon barding are 17,000, so it will last a nice while longer. Does someone have (or can point me towards) the Armour Points info for each ore type, regular and exceptional? Thanks.

 

[Basara]

Jeez - no one's updated UOGuide? Normally they gloat here about being more up to date....

A couple years ago, Dragon Barding got a MAJOR overhaul.

It now varies by metal type as follows.

10% Normal
20% Exceptional
Metal plays a factor as follows:

For the dragon:
Treated as 5 pieces of plate armor normally crafted in that metal, added to the natural resists of the dragon, up to a cap of 90% total in the resist.
Exceptional barding has an additional +5% in each resist, up to that cap.

For the rider:
Armor points are modified by the metal chosen, similar to how durability is increased by some metals. The ratio of increase is not the same, if I remember correctly, but the metals correspond. This is why Shadow has more durability than the other metals (but the resists for the dragon itself aren't as good).
I THINK (not sure) that exceptional armor is 50% or 100% more armor points than normal, but again, not really paid attention. Most people use a low-level Ancient Smith's Hammer, a talisman and 120 Smithing to get exceptional barding 100%.

Shadow is best for the rider.
DC is best for training a dragon's combat skills (as it typically gets raised to the physical resist cap, or very close).
Agapite or Verite (depends on your supply of ingots) are typically best for training its resist spells against monsters (since you can't pick which spells the monsters cast, and valorite is weak against fire).