New Armor Discussion....

Since most preps can be kept up constantly, if it's under a preparation then it actually would be quite a boost. It might as well be a permanent armor increase then, because aside from interruption there's little to stop you from keeping your prep up 100% of the time. I think it's while under a preperation. The other would be to short lived to be any use...and I'm hoping that anet thought about that.

I didn't think about the global thing either. I may be that one piece of each of Stance/Prep armor and rest druids will end up being the best combo. I rarely get into the red zone with energy, so I think that having an armor that gives a useful benefit besides energy is a better option.

As for the WD stance +armor. There are stance ignoring attacks, attacks that can't be dodge/blockeds and even then you're getting hit 25% of the time. Its never a bad thing having more armor, and if you're underfire +armor in stance will help take pressure off. You're right a Ranger shouldn't be in a position often where he's taking a focus attack, but in those cases where you are, you get +Armor by using a skill you would normally use, that can't possibly be worthless. And as I said before, I rarely run into the red with my Ranger, between Zealous Mods, Expertise and picking my shots, I don't usually go under half my energy. If I'm running Barrage, I hardly break a third. So that +Energy isn't helping that much.

But as Jeno said, it'll be intresting to see if the armor is global or local. That will make all the difference.

I'll wait to buy new armor until some testing is done to see if that armor is global akin to the mesmer courtly attire and the warrior knights armor. If those armor bonuses are global, having one piece from each the while in stance and while using a prep armors will be insane. Armor pieces with +armor while X are never global. Only the reduced damage from knights and stuff are, and they arent +armor.

Hey Guys:

In my opinion Anet is on the right track by supplying these new armor types..the only thing I would like to see is the option to upgrade your existing armor with some kind of accesory...the older armors will be more functional with some kind of add-on and will make for a much wider variety of people with different armors on...most rangers run with druids...but what if i like the druid skin and fire protection or drakescale with energy? only a thought guys what do you think?

~Ohtar Nimloth The consequence of that would be that you could no longer visually tell how your opponent is equipped. Maybe that is a minor issue -- I guess most people don't change their attack strategy based on enemy armor.

Armor pieces with +armor while X are never global. Only the reduced damage from knights and stuff are, and they arent +armor. Mesmer's + Armor while casting is global.