The question's been raised as to why people use them at all?
There's several reasons, actually. If the point was not curiosity but rather just to trash other players, don't bother reading this post, it'll just give you more reasons to be all pissed off.
Some, the Darkwood and Assassin Sets come to mind, have specialized properties that some find useful in some situations. You didn't ask about weapon sets, but I used to use s Juggernaut Set for Peerlesses; I liked the high damage output. At the end of the day, though, it was better to just use a nice Leafblade of Ease or Radiant Scimitar or Katana. There are times, though, when I kinda miss the Juggernaut Set. Then I cast Close Wounds and I remember trying to cast it when, say, Lady Melisande was bearing down on me, and I was down an Faster Casting 1 from the shield! And suddenly I no longer miss it.
Some, the Sorcerer's Suit is the best example by far, offer the following combination of benefits, which some players like in combination (rather than for any individual factor):
- They look cool to some;
- They were obtainable by hoarders and collectors rather than power-gamers;
- You can throw them on and know the pieces will both look decent together and provide you with an at least moderate level of functionality;
- Easy, stress-free suit design.
Some simply like the way they look. (I'm actually one of these.) Sometimes the best suits in terms of mods or functionality can appear "thrown together" and scrappy.
(This, by the way, is far from a new issue in UO. Even before Age of Shadows, if you knew where and how to hunt for magic armor, you could almost always throw together a suit with better AR by using scrap magic pieces you picked up, than if you simply bought a nice GM-made "Heavy Archer" suit or Studded Armor or something. But some of us bought the GM suits anyway, for looks and for ease of preparation.)
Some wear them as a kind of status symbol, because they are pretty expensive, aren't all-that-common, and are of at least moderate difficulty to find these days.
One example: Me. Galen wears a Scout's Armor suit for formal or ceremonial occasions. (Examples have included Queen Dawn's coronation, and a knighting ceremony. Both of these have been EM events. I could also see wearing it for an in-game wedding if Galen had some ceremonial role, such as officiant or guard.)
Galen could easily of course wear any old suit for formal occasions, I'd just dye it black or dark gray, and I could probably get decent mods too. But, he so rarely shows off...Getting the Scout's Armor was kind of an indulgence. Also, if fighting somehow does break out, it's not like you can't fight in the Scout's Armor, it's just not the
best.
As to which one of these I'd use? Scout's Armor is the only one I use, or would use, for the reasons outlined above. At the end of the day, I go for viability first and foremost. As does Galen the character. We're both practical men.
-Galen's player
