Does That Shoot Magic Lasers? And Other Armour Reviews

[@JillBearup]

YES, WE DID THE THING. We were even TOPICAL, because we included Angsty Goth Girl Shadowheart. (Well, I assume she's an angsty goth girl, largely because of the hair, the eyeliner, and the name. I could be wrong.) Various things you can buy from MEEEEE: My book! (Currently you can only pre-order the ebook version, and only from Amazon, but here it is if that's your drug of choice) www.amazon.com/dp/B0CDCKX7Q2 or country code of choice. MERCH: US/Oceania: jill-bearup.myspreadshop.com UK/Europe: jillbearup.myspreadshop.co.uk

[@Azaghal1988]

Shadowheart: "Yes. I'm a gatekeeper and a hater. I'm also god's favourite princess and the most interesting girl in the world" definitely angsty and moody in the game.

[@Lord_zeel]

Yes, she's an Angsty Goth Girl. No, the headband thing doesn't do anything. Luckily, the game not only lets you take the headband off, it also let's you put a helmet on instead!

[@aztekenen1]

Well Jill, you're not wrong.The character has a bit of an attitude and literally serves THE LADY OF THE NIGHT. She is as angsty as a 2000s goth girl. But if you progress her character storyline and choose the right options she can 'see the light', instead of fully embracing the darkness that made her seek out the lady of the night to begin with, so to speak :)

[@sunyavadin]

Shadowheart actually HAS a pretty cool helmet you can pick up as a reward for her personal helmet, the Dark Justiciar Helmet. which is a fully enclosed option that ought to provide a decent bit of protection, though the spikes are a hazard for catching on stuff.

[@sunyavadin]

Shadowheart actually HAS a pretty cool helmet you can pick up as a reward for her personal helmet, the Dark Justiciar Helmet. which is a fully enclosed option that ought to provide a decent bit of protection, though the spikes are a hazard for catching on stuff.

[@billmische]

Wait until someone tells them that not only could they colour code the tunics, they could even put pretty pictures on matching the one on the shield...

[@Scuzzlebutt142]

And, get this, and, the pretty pictures would be unique to you, so people who knew what to look for could tell you apart :)

[@edcrichton9457]

If you are dropping millions on an A -list actor you want to keep that face visible even when that makes no damn sense.

[@niofo7713]

@@edcrichton9457 solution: put actor's face on the shield

[@Nimelennar]

​@@niofo7713And if you're paying millions for an actor, you might even be able to animate it, like Harry Potter's newspapers and paintings. Heck, you could make Tunic-Face its own character, like mini-Maui from Moana.

[@Bluecho4]

@@edcrichton9457 They could at least have a helmet that keeps the face visible. Those do exist.

[@peregry]

Two notes on Shadowheart: 1. The headband appears to be a holy symbol of Shar, the goddess she is a cleric of, and thus may serve as a spellcasting focus for her cleric magic. 2. Helmets are considered a separate item from the body armor in BG3, as such, players can choose to put on a good armored helmet or not as they find gear, but by default no character has a helmet since part of the premise of the game is the lack of gear at the start, the characters were basically grabbed with just the clothes on their back, and none were really kitted for war.

[@patrickstar5136]

Exept for Laezel who has no excuse for not wearing a helmet. And Karlach who was literally grabbed from the middle of a battlefield

[@Ajehy]

Karlach has the Barbarian feature Unarmored Defense, which isn’t as good as some sturdy medium armor but not bad at the start of the game. Once you recruit her you can kit her out with a helmet and such-AFTER you’ve seen her plot-important glowy bits.

[@patrickstar5136]

@@Ajehy I know but we are not talking about how good the armor is in game but how practical the armor would actually be.

[@JeffDeLamater]

@@patrickstar5136 Why no excuse for Laezel? She was a prison on the Nautiloid at the start of the game, same as the main character and Shadowheart, so shouldn't Laezel have the same gear constraints at the start of the game?

[@Audentior_Ito]

​@@patrickstar5136but, in-universe, barbarians are *very* much a thing; even random enemies sometimes have them in mobs. The idea is that subtle magic (totems, chaos, etc) just... protects them but armor dampens it. Playing on these myths of "naked savages" running into battle.

[@knightofarnor2552]

The Guild Wars Elementalist drives me to quote Lindybeige: "There's 'tall and thin' and there's 'being shown in the wrong screen aspect ratio'."

[@HenryLoenwind]

Corrected the aspect ratio to make the necks normal. Got me gnomes with saucer-shaped heads. ;)

[@michaelearl6765]

I liked the Mandalorian cloaks a lot better once i realized they were fireproof (came up in S3); wearing that with a jetpack potentially makes a ton of sense.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

"No capes!" - Edna Mode

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

Capes can be praactical, they can double as projection from rain or wind, they can be used as a improvised pillow, bundle someone who might need the projection. Batman's Cape also double as a glider some how.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@lukasperuzovic1429 With Batman, it's the wires.

[@GuiSmith]

@@MonkeyJedi99The wires give him the movement and distance, but the cape keeps him from going too fast and gives him the ability to stabilise.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@GuiSmith The cape also hides some of the wires, making the job of the artists who have to hide/erase them easier.

[@failedJedi]

There is a magic item in D&D called the Circlet of Blasting that would let Shadowheart shoot laser beams from her head…. So not too far off the mark 😂

[@genericname6505]

It's also an item that you can get in Baldur's Gate 3. However it's a separate item to the circlet that she starts with

[@bunburyodo]

Something you might like to know about the 'Why no helmet?' problem in BG3, it's actually something that has a handy toggle when you have a helmet equipped: Show helmet; hide helmet; hide helmet during cutscenes/dialogue. It's nice because you can get the benefits of the helmet without covering up the character you spent hours designing in the character creator :D

[@MonkeyJedi99]

If you want to have a good laugh, get a dragonborn character in your party and have them start trying on all the helmets and hats you can find.

[@simongeard4824]

@@MonkeyJedi99 That's a problem with building minis in Heroforge too... some heads just aren't designed for hats.

[@Umbrasong]

@@MonkeyJedi99 a very similar problem exists for any Charr characters in Guild Wars 2, especially inthe heavy armor sets -- very VERY few helmets fit right.

[@VinfinityKendov]

@@MonkeyJedi99 the floppy hat fits perfectly on a dragonborn. So much in fact that I picked it up at lvl 1 and never equiped an actual helmet for the entire game

[@sonofdeleniel007]

There's also the lore bit of the playables in BG3 are mostly illithid captives. (You get 2 characters without a tadpole in their head out of the cast of 12 potential options.) Kinda hard to eat a brain if you gotta chew through a salad bowl.

[@kitwatson6035]

Congrats on finishing an impressively long list. And thank you for showing the Gilgamesh non-fully-armoured version. I have no idea who that is but I'm entertained

[@douglaszelazny1094]

Fate is a whole clusterfuck that you probably don’t want to try and figure out, but if so desired, you can find summaries.

[@DOOMsword7]

Gilgamesh, from Fate, is basically “the real Gilgamesh from the stories I swear.”

[@douglaszelazny1094]

@@DOOMsword7 and he’s easily one of the best villains of the series.

[@Bluespaceboat]

⁠@@SolarstormflareI would disagree but it’s by no means an unfounded take. I recommend stay night and unlimited blade works, it’s a lighter story with a more upbeat ending and recommend fate/zero before heavens feel. Ties in almost perfectly with the tone.

[@jamesdriscoll_tmp1515]

So... Bandaids instead of lasers?

[@PenumbranWolf]

So, fun fact. In japan they had a long tradition of putting ridiculous horns on their helmets, but they had the sense to make them out of stuff like lacquered paper mache and plaster.

[@baxter1252]

I wonder if they had good sense from the beginning, or if there were a few poor souls who served as examples of what not to do early on?

[@hjorturerlend]

I think the "horns are grab hazard" thing is a bit of an overcorrection. Vikings didn't have horned helmets because there is less than zero evidence they did, not because horns are technically impractical. Plenty of helmets had knobs (most of the Gallic ones), crests, peaks (all conicals), tails and all manner of stuff that can assist in grappling if it comes to that.

[@sophiejones3554]

@@hjorturerlendtrue. Macedonian generals wore horned helmets, with sockets on either side of the face that held feathers (typically owl feathers, for the goddess Athena). Truthfully, it would be surprising if your helmet was still useable by the time your opponent is grappling you. Besides that, slipping out of a helmet is fairly easy. The reason not to have super huge protrusions on your helmets isn't because they make good grappling holds. It's because they are unnecessary weight, which could unbalance you when you are sword-fighting. Feathers, horsehair or papier-mache don't really add any weight.

[@TheBiggestMoronYouKnow]

so much pageantry, i love it

[@KaleRylan]

@@hjorturerlend modern “experts” have a bad habit about overthinking a lot of this stuff and convincing themselves that plain barrels with maybe some light engraving are the only real armor. I’m exaggerating but it’s true. Our ancestors were JUST as liable to do things because they thought it was cool or sexy as we are.

[@Shutterbug5269]

Side note: The Mass Effect battle armor (including N-7) generates a shield barrier in addition to the worn physical armor to defeat incoming projectiles.

[@3Rayfire]

ALSO...all armor in the game also functions as a spacesuit/environmental suit.

[@jlinkous05]

Aaand, additional defenses can be applied like tech armor (extended from the omni-tool) and barriers (biotic shielding), plus at least one species can Wolverine-heal through physical bodily damage. If one is down to only the physical space suit, there might just be more problems than basic coverage and protection.

[@HH-hd7nd]

@Shutterbug5269 Correction: Armor creates either a shield OR a barrier, not both. Synthetic enemies and basic troops usually have shields while biotics have barriers. The effectiveness of powers used against shields or barriers can also be different - take Energy Drain for example: Normal damage against barriers, but double damage against shields.Or Warp - double damage against barriers but only base damage against shields. No one in Mass Effect has both a shield and a barrier.

[@Shutterbug5269]

@@HH-hd7nd Yes, but since Jill doesn't play ME that description makes it easier to visualize given her background in staged combat.

[@PerfectAlibi1]

Also, their weapons are mostly railguns, extremely high powered kinetic projectile weaponry. While there are also some lasers? And the psionic powers rip off called biotics... XD

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

This was fun! "Bonus points for armoring the horse." I love horse armor. Maybe Jill could do an armored animals video.

[@Belphegorite]

She would probably have to change the name of some categories. "I'd wear it" just seems weird in this context, and "I'd ride it" sounds wildly inappropriate. Love the idea though.

[@alwaysapirateroninace443]

@@Belphegorite True, true. Maybe top tier would be, "I'd make my cat wear it."

[@TrueFayQueen]

And then at the end we'd see her cat in armor!@@alwaysapirateroninace443

[@Lancefh_ENV]

Gilgamesh is not the kind of character that would bend forwards. He is far more inclined to lean backwards on chairs and look smug.

[@Soeck]

yeah i agree. his whole armor is just show of. its a rare occurence that anybody gets near him

[@mr.stuffdoer8483]

@@Soeck Hell they made a point of how nobody could hit him in Zero and UBW. Made the moment he gets hit all the better, cus you'd expect it to be just like a light scratch to make him seem mortal

[@daanstrik4293]

Gilgamesh is exactly the type of character to wear armour that makes it impossible to bend forward because “A king doesn’t bow before mongrels” or something like that

[@DOOMsword7]

Hey! That Byleth was lady Byleth! She should get extras points for obscuring her gender!

[@Illusion517]

But lose points for teaching her students to not wear a helmet. At least the horse got one, and isn't that all that matters?

[@micahhall441]

3 houses' generic great knight does have a helmet, along with the majority of armor knights in older fire emblem games.

[@gabrielrussell5531]

"Laser bolts or whatever they're up against in Mass Effect" Tiny pieces of metal shaved off a block, fired magnetically, and with their mass increased due to the setting's standard sci-fi contrivance.

[@zincwing4475]

I don't know about that last part. I think their mass effect is for improving recoil handling, and increasing the mass in the barrel so that when it leaves, it goes even faster when thevmass returnd to normal.

[@Aerowind]

@@zincwing4475 The mass effect actually makes the grain of sand sized metal even lighter, that way it's easier to accelerate. Once it's fired it returns to normal weight, but moving at near relativistic speeds.

[@Taurusus]

That actually delighted me, to know there was a lore-complete reason for not needing ammo ... In the first game. Then, they came up with an equally convoluted contrivance to make it so that they still used that tech, but now required you to change out a heatsink in a manner extremely analogous to reloading a clip, just so it was more familiar to an average gamer. So your weapon still technically has effectively infinite ammo, but when it overheats you "get" to do the fancy reload animations we all love so much, and if you're out of heatsinks the weapon is useless. (Hilariously, they even have a character in-universe pointing out how ridiculous that decision was).

[@Bird_Dog00]

@@Aerowind Which is ofc completely bonkers as conservation of momentum would apply. Once the projectile regains its original mass, it would instantly decellerate to match the kinetic energy it had before. But yea, that's the in-universe explanation of how those guns work. My problem with it is that it is not only non-sensical, but simply not necessary. The lore of those guns would have worked perfectly fine without this convoluted piece of technobabble.

[@voidseeker4394]

​@@Bird_Dog00 mass effect breaks physics in so many ways... Well, at least they tried to stick to only one magical thing and somewhat tried to limit the softness of the magic system.

[@Cinnder]

The giraffe DNA comment had me ROFL! I've never understood why so many IPs go so ridiculously far overboard with pauldrons. I recall in SWTOR some of the Sith characters had pauldrons that looked like entire star destroyers had landed on the characters' shoulders.

[@MrGrimsmith]

Regarding the giraffe DNA, it's definitely an MMO thing, I've mostly seen it in Korean or Japanese originated games, Guild Wars or Final Fantasy to name two, but then the Western versions go for massively bulked up male characters and overly sexualised female ones so eh, we're not exactly much better! :P Pauldrons I don't get, never have. Maybe WoW is the worst offender though?

[@NormandyFoxtrot]

@@MrGrimsmith I wonder it the idea started as a way to make the character's outlines to be more obvious and distinct.

[@thatHARVguy]

If I have to interrupt my badass entrance by turning sideways to get through a door, I ain't getting that armor.

[@thatHARVguy]

@@NormandyFoxtrot WarCraft/StarCraft were Real Time Strategy (RTS) games with 2D sprites from the 90s. So yeah.

[@boosterh1113]

@@MrGrimsmith Re: Pauldrons The Warcraft universe's aesthetic themes were established in Warcraft 1, 2, & 3, before Blizzard created World of Warcraft. And since the pre-WoW Warcraft games are all barely-isometric RTSs, you mostly see your units from the top, making the head and shoulders of a unit the most important way to quickly identify them, so Blizzard went with big pauldrons as an aesthetic to give themselves more room to make an Orc Grunt visually distinct from an Orc Peon (especially important in Warcraft I & II, which were made with 90s graphics and played at around 600x480 resolution). Most properties that use gigantic pauldrons have their roots in either RTSs or Table Top Miniatures, which has the same issue of seeing your units from the above 90% of the time.

[@AeonKnigh432]

"You can still do medieval power rangers or whatever and still do the helmet." Yes! Thats the point of the Power Rangers colors, to distinguish them with their helmets on!

[@AdmiralThrawn.ImperialNavy]

You have a separate slot for helmets in DND (and thus Baldur's Gate.) You can (and should) give Shadowheart one as soon as you find one at the start of the game.

[@InternetStudiesGuy]

You don't really have "slots" in 5th edition, you can wear 20 rings on all your fingers and toes if your DM lets you, but most magical items require attunement to benefit from their magical effects, and you can only attune to three magical items at once. So you end up with a magic weapon, magic armor, and maybe a magical amulet. There are many useful magical items that do not require attunement, so you can still don a helmet of waterbreathing and boots of elvenkind, and pull wonderous figurines out of your bag of holding without it affecting your attunement.

[@Candlemancer]

​@@InternetStudiesGuywhile generally true, you do essentially still only have one helmet "slot", since you obviously can't physically wear two helmets at once even if neither requires attunement.

[@Lord_zeel]

@@Candlemancer But you also don't just have a "head" slot, wearing multiple items is down to logic and what the DM will allow, not to a set of defined "slots." For instance, in 5e she could easily wear that circlet UNDER a helmet, you could wear magical robes under armor, etc. As long as it makes sense physically, and the DM agrees, you can do it. Baldur's Gate does have actual equipment slots, so you do need to choose between a magical item that provides no physical protection, or a helmet that does.

[@coyoteseattle]

@@Candlemancer Sure you can; you just get a helmet for your size category, then one for the next size up which fits over it, then one a size up from that, so on and so forth until you're more helmet than adventurer. :p

[@ether4211]

​@@InternetStudiesGuyyou're correct for 5e but this is a videogame sequel to BG2 that inherited the armor slot system that were made under Advanced Dungeons and Dragons ruleset where no such limit existed. Normally it would take a epic level campaign or very long time for the party to gather a full set of magic items but this would have broken the spirit of the videogame to restrict players ability to mix and match items when prior games already established that magic items were super common. In contrast a normal game of DND has the DM restrict how many magic items players can find/aquire- and the attunement rules limit how many powerful items can be used at the same time to ensure players don't loot horde - as the rogue can steal 10 magic items with attunement but won't be able to use 7 of them so are more encouraged to share with the party.

[@latenightcynic3582]

The guards in D&D Honor Among Thieves have a good fight scene with the barbarian. You get to see the armor of the guards doing its job. They take a hit and go back into the fight. It's quite nice.

[@יעלוייסברג]

Doctor Who request again. Amy's armor from the episode "The Girl Who Waited" The armor is not designed to prevent stabbings, but prevents robots with toxic alien anesthetics at the ends of their way too-human hands from touching her, and it's made from leftover parts of those robots.

[@ekij133]

A Review of that _would be a kindness_

[@Lord_zeel]

Ah, right. The armor she was wearing before The Doctor murdered her timeline.

[@יעלוייסברג]

@@Lord_zeel Is't saving anyone "murdering their timeline"?

[@JosiahBradley]

Shadowheart does have a canonical helmet in game that is full face coverage and I have no clue how she can see, but it looks awesome.

[@atomicgator5207]

Are you talking about the dark justicar helmets? If so, I totally agree. I have no idea how she can see out of it!

[@JosiahBradley]

@@atomicgator5207 there's a legendary version I have and I did inspect it and the eye holes are there they just look black. But most of them just look like masks you psychically see through lol.

[@loudenmalachy9067]

The Stormlight Archives has some interesting in world sketches of Shardplate, which is essentially medieval fantasy-ified power armour.

[@Booksds]

Also: colour-coded by character! (Less necessary in a book, but still a fun detail)

[@Keovar]

A lot of the mages are wearing Notactually Armor because it’s traditional that something about being encased in metal gets in the way of your ability to warp reality to your will.

[@killerfudgetastic]

Often not just metal, but any real armor. The idea is generally that magic requires precise movements to work properly and armor hinders mobility enough to make such precision difficult.

[@Keovar]

@@killerfudgetastic - Yet there are spells in D&D and other games which don't have somatic or material components, and divine magic isn't impeded by armor. It really comes down to 'game balance' in the sense that martial combatants need a few perks to justify their continued existence. With good articulation and a bit of training, even plate doesn't hamper you much. If armor got in the way more than it helped, people would stop using it, and we know this because with the development of guns, armor use declined.

[@killerfudgetastic]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@Keovarat least in Pathfinder, spells without somatic components are not affected by spell failure and can therefore be cast in armor with no problem. If that’s different in other games it’s rather silly. As for everything else, it depends on what sort of motions are involved in the spell. Gandalf from the Lord of the Rings is able to cast magic by moving his staff in simple, generic motions similar to how one would swing a normal weapon, so it would make sense that armor wouldn’t interfere in the casting. In the anime Naruto, jutsu require hand seals to activate, some of which require contorting the fingers into positions that are hard to accomplish under normal circumstances, and certain jutsu require a long string of them, so armor that weighs down the arms could theoretically prevent them from making the seals at the needed speed and any form of heavy gauntlet would impede the ability to properly form the seal. In Avatar: the Last Airbender, bending often relies on moving the entire body in precise ways, with water and air bending especially relying on fluidity and mobility, and while training might reduce how much armor hampers your movement, you’re never going to be as mobile wearing armor as you would be without it. In the end, game balance does play a part, certainly, but we are also dealing with a necessary amount of abstraction. We don’t know exactly what movements are demanded by the somatic component, nor how every possible set of armor might interact with those movements, and trying to figure all that out would be extremely tedious and not very productive. Instead, it was decided that divine spells don’t require intricate motions that are impeded by armor while arcane spells do. In Pathfinder 1e, you can try to cast arcane magic in armor, but you have a chance that you won’t get the motions right and the spell fails. In DnD 5e, you can only cast spells while wearing armor that you have trained to be proficient with, and can do so with no penalty. It may be simplified, but it makes enough sense to be an acceptable explanation, even if the reasoning behind it was entirely about game balance.

[@Keovar]

​@@killerfudgetastic - I've been playing various RPGs for many decades, and I said the idea that mages can't cast in armor was traditional, not that it has always made sense. --- The Relevant Rule --- Anyone can put on a suit of armor or strap a shield to an arm. Only those proficient in the armor’s use know how to wear it effectively, however. Your class gives you proficiency with certain types of armor. If you wear armor that you lack proficiency with, you have disadvantage on any ability check, saving throw, or attack roll that involves Strength or Dexterity, and you can’t cast spells. --- --- --- They stripped out a lot of detail in order to make the game more approachable to people new to RPGs. Whether you think it's silly or not is immaterial because the fact is, the strategy worked. - The LotR movies are good, but irrelevant, Serial fantasy like _Three Hearts and Three Lions_ by Poul Anderson had more of an impact on early D&D than LotR did. - As far as Naruto goes, I could not care less what some anime thinks about realistic movement when its characters can't even run properly. - I appreciate that Pathfinder 2e is the more complete game, but I'm more detail-oriented than average. When someone asks me to run a game for them, they ask for D&D. It's the name people know, and what they feel is apprachable.

[@blackpowderkun]

In the case of Gilgamesh, he doesn't move alot in combat, he's an archer that uses portals to launch ancient treasured weapons at the speed of light and telekinetically controls them.

[@wolfofsummerbreeze]

I don't think he controls them after he shoots them... But he dos control the portals. Magically. No telekinesis.

[@blackpowderkun]

@@wolfofsummerbreeze he does control the chains of heaven.

[@wolfofsummerbreeze]

@@blackpowderkun That's a separate thing than most of his weapons with it's movements being part of what it specifically does. After all, it once had a conciousness and therefore was made to move in response to willpower. Still Magic, though.

[@nihtgengalastnamegoeshere7526]

An archer? Jeezum, those pauldrons would get in the way...

[@blackpowderkun]

@@nihtgengalastnamegoeshere7526 not literally, his class is just called archer reffering to heroes who used projectiles, he uses portals that shoots weapons, basically an inside joke in the franchise that the archer class barely has archers.

[@Synthonym]

2:00 The diadem Shadowheart wears doesn't do anything, she wears it because she's a Cleric and the inlaid jet on silver forms the symbol of her goddess

[@AngelavengerL]

Always really enjoy these! Shadowheart actually can and does wear helmets. That is just the beginning of the game before she can, you know, murder and loot one off somebody.

[@gabrielrussell5531]

I've realized the issue with your scale is that it should be tri-polar: Aesthetic, actual protectiveness, and comfort to the user. It's currently one scale.

[@theaikidoka]

True, but she's never said it's anything other than a subjective scale, it doesn't have to be particularly fair or granular. It's just an overall impression rather than a comparison.

[@KitagumaIgen]

@@theaikidoka - don't limit her to one subjective scale! She ought to go back and redo all this fun with full 3-scales-evaluations...

[@theaikidoka]

@@KitagumaIgen The only person limiting (or trying to limit) Jill is Jill. It's her scale, she can do what she likes with it. I don't know if you are joking, but there's no way a re-evaluation is happening, it would be a year's worth of work.

[@KitagumaIgen]

@@theaikidokaIf the only one limiting Jill is Jill then you have to be Jill to say "there's no way a re-evaluation is happening". Have a nice day Jill.

[@voidseeker4394]

She does actually take into account all the parameters. In a combined and subjective way, but she really does. Sometimes she explains her decisions and that involves those factors.

[@3kids2cats1dog]

Owls are cool.🦉

[@TheAutisticOwl]

As an owl man, i can confirm that owls are infact cool

[@taylankammer]

Can she shoot lasers out of that? No. :D It's not even magical. The tooltip of the item (yes it's an actual item she has equipped at start) even says that it's "stylish... with little protection." xD One could argue that she doesn't wear a helmet because she's on a covert mission, although I guess the chain mail / breast plate contradict that. When you actually have her in your party (or play as her), you'll definitely want to replace the circlet with a leather or metal helmet as soon as you get your hands on one in the early game. At that point you can stash the circlet away for role-playing reasons, or just sell it for a bit of coin as it has literally no value as gear.

[@Lord_zeel]

Or huck it into the sea. I HATE that stupid thing, and for a very simple reason: The way the model looks, with her bangs over it, just looks BAD. At first I thought maybe it was a graphical bug, but no... apparently she's just wearing her very thin bangs over the stupid thing because she's never seen a mirror and doesn't realize how terrible it looks. As soon as I realized it was an actual gear item, I took it off and tossed it.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

Do keep in mind that all of the adventurers you pick up were snagged from other parts of their life, mostly while just walking around a city. They weren't grabbed deep in an adventure or war they were fully kitted out for. How ready for a fight for your life would you be if you were grabbed off the street on your way to work? - And you don't have to go through all that much of the game to start greatly improving their armor, weapons, and utility gear.

[@ether4211]

There's a super easy explainer for 'why no helmet' - she lost it on the (spoiler)! Her helmet was taken off by the (spoiler) while stuck in the (spoiler) as would have inhibited the (spoiler) from crawing into (spoiler). I don't recall seeing any of the characters trapped in (spoiler) wearing helms so it makes sense that they were removed to reduce risks to the (spoiler).

[@atomicgator5207]

@@ether4211 I respect your attempt at trying to not spoil the story. But much of what you redacted is the entire premise of the game. I think they even mention some of that in trailers and stuff.

[@alongstorycutshort]

I'd love to see you react to Erza's battle against 100 monsters in the Fairy Tail anime. Her whole deal is that she can summon different pieces or sets of magical armour and weapons as the situation requires it. She goes through most of her collection in that fight and runs the whole gambit from 'I'd wear it' to 'Just stab me now' pretty effectively.

[@amidnightblue]

ooh yes please! it's ages since i watched that but i remember there was a lot of fan service lol

[@kuro_neko5863]

A full video about the various armors of Baldur's Gate would probably go over really well with the algorithm.

[@dwaynebullard5454]

Kisara from Tales of Arise. This is an armor that always amazed me because from the front, she looks like a proper - helmetless - tank. Then she turns around...

[@illiengalene2285]

5:04: note that armor is CROCHETED! That is glittering fibres!

[@kariissmol9172]

Ooooh film people take notes!!!

[@warmonger2500]

To answer your questions about Shadowheart, you have to equip a helmet, which you can and will get in the game. She just doesn't have one at the start of the game.

[@twarnold14]

Adding a note about Magic the Gathering’s Will, scion of peace: he has ice powers. He trained in a magic school also, and he is quite studious with his magic. The ice parts are mostly likely conjured by him and for effect. In addition to them being small enough to not do an accidental stabbing, I’d bet that he can dismiss them before any serious fight.

[@snakeman830]

This is all correct. Heck, his leg is ice after his original was amputated in battle at said school.

[@haroldcarfrey4206]

The circlet provides a focus for spellcasting

[@JillBearup]

Good to know :D

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

No.... it isn't? The game doesn't actually touch on spellcasting foci or component pouches at all. You can easily change the circlet to a standard helmet and she can still cast spells

[@JillBearup]

@@TheMANGADUDE2Aww, I am disappointed that it makes less sense than I thought 😂

[@jaredragland4707]

​@@TheMANGADUDE2It might even be true, but as with most things touching the divine, it's really just a crutch and the faith is distributed more or less evenly throughout her fully armored body, helmet or not.

[@jamesmaclennan4525]

You can give Shadowheart a helmet in game, plus I always love it when Jill tries to apply logic to JRPG armour.

[@Artaimus]

Tbf, Lara Wraith goes into battle more or less naked because the only thing that can actually stop her is things like magical fire and that only slows her down until she can heal it. Most armor would slow her down enough to make her a bigger target. Still stab her though.

[@Rozesama]

given what she is i assume she is also feeding on the latent hornyness of seeing her naked

[@Ylyrra]

Any awesomely hot and powerful guys who go into combat naked for those reasons? (Genuine question, haven't read the books.) Often there isn't, in which case all that is justification and excuse, decidedly not the *reason*.

[@Rozesama]

@@Ylyrra her brother is the same kind of vampire but he is in a poisonous (to him anyway) relationship. but Butcher tends not to do that with his male characters and has been accused of misogyny.

[@gavinfankhauser5867]

Tbf, I'm pretty sure in the end battle Lara is in the shroud like the rest of the Wraiths. Magical so flexible when moving but becomes hard when hit.

[@michaelbates4834]

As I'm currently on Cold Days in my Dresden Files re-read, it delighted me to hear you discuss Battle Ground and Peace Talks. Which is a bit silly; it's a bestselling fantasy series - probably a number people that I like also like that series. But I still like it when people share the same interests as me. Thanks for another great armor review. Your patreons seem to be especially gunning for the GW Elementalist. Are the other classes' costumes less egregious? I don't know the game particularly well. As a note on the Warrior of Light armor - there are some examples of Samurai armor (which it may be mased on?) that have some pretty ridiculous crests/horns. Were they intended to be battlefield armor? I have no idea - but it is (surprisingly) historical!

[@graysontowler136]

So glad to see the Dresden Files love! James Marsters, who is the audiobook reader for the Dresden Files (and is awesome), pronounces Marcone with the long a and silent e... like ice cream cone. So, that's as close to definitive as we're likely to get.

[@TheGrinningViking]

The heavy armor with no helmet thing snacks of the "boss with a single glowing weak spot" trope.

[@fsodn]

5:24. Thank you so much for putting in Guy of Warwick! Thanks much; I shall point my wife here (who has him on her recent book cover).

[@beckymurphy4714]

I'd love to see you do a tier list for the various armor in the Lord of the Rings (movie) trilogy. Although you might have to break it down by groups, like orcs, goblins and Uruk-hai, elves of Lothorien and Rivendell, Easterlings and Haradrim, and then the armies of Men.

[@roopantsmcgee2314]

I'd love to see a Baldur's Gate-themed armor review, there's just so much there and every time I get new armor I think "I wonder what Jill would think about this one?"

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

For the Shadowheart thing, you can easily swap out the circlet for a helmet, since it doesn't really do anything in game

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

Also, for the Fire Emblem three houses one, I think (I could be wrong) that in battle the class that provides that armour does have a helmet

[@Lord_zeel]

Yep. Though while that circlet doesn't do anything, it is an interesting point that YES if it were magical it would be a trade off between magic or helmet in BG3 since you are limited to just one "head" slot. For instance in Act I you can get a headband of intellect, which sets your intelligence to 17 (very high for anyone that isn't already a Wizard). That a pretty good buff for a lot of important checks, so many people will wear it the rest of the game. This means they can't use helmets, unless they specifically swap items right before a battle which is sort of a pain and only works when you KNOW that a fight is about to go down.

[@fredbyoutubing]

Nobody wants to hide these glorious facial animations behind* a helmet! Toggle visibility off at all time. Edit: I wrote behold instead of behind.

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

@@fredbyoutubing Honestly, yeah. Even though helmets make the amour more complete, there's a reason movies and TV shows don't put them on actors

[@TheMANGADUDE2]

@@Lord_zeel even if that was the case, if you found a helmet with a better magical enchantment, you'd choose that. And as for the headband of intellect, that would really only be useful on a wizard, a class that can't wear armour, unless you multiclass into fighter (which in BG3 isn't actually as bad of an idea as it is in DND)

[@SocksAndPuppets]

Your videos always make me think twice when I draw fantasy armour, to try and make at least *some* of it look practical.

[@stevensauer8539]

Since you covered Shadowheart's default armor, the answer to "why no helmet" is that she didn't have one when you found her in the Illithid pod (because it's hard to put a parasite in your eyeball through your helmet?) and since then you haven't bloody given her one. There are some great helms in BG3. Find one and give it to her, and her head will be properly armored.

[@Antidragon-nl7by]

I was FLOORED that _Battle Grounds_ was one of the series you reviewed! Truth be told, I actually wondered what you would say about the armor as I was reading the book, but I thought there was NO WAY IN HECK that would ever actually happen!

[@autumn_west]

This was so good, good work getting to the end of it! Because Final Fantasy was in this episode I'd love to see Aqua, Terra and Ventus from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (specifically in actually their armour, should specify that) in a future episode but I understand the fatigue may be a thing haha.

[@Maria.Annette]

Good gracious, why did those poor mages look like someone enchanted a stickbug to be an unconvincing body double!

[@maxbrown7719]

The non armoured Gilgamesh is REALLY giving Prince of Persia 3 vibes cmon odd marking n even the arm chain?!

[@TurinTurambar200]

What if I told you the arm chain is his boyfriend?

[@maxbrown7719]

@@TurinTurambar200 Considering the small amount of knowledge I have on the Fate series I kinda wouldn't be surprised 🤣

[@Jz4p]

The latest Dresden books also made me sad at the end. That said, Harry's duster is absolutely iconic, and I'd wear it!

[@RBrown-uk4xt]

Why would Gilgamesh need to bend? His ego wouldn't let him do anything that could possibly be construed as bowing.

[@samuelturner6076]

THIS! I was thinking of including that in my comment too but glad you’ve got it covered.

[@revann33]

You have covered anything Doctor Who now, so you forever move to the top of my feeds! 🤣

[@LMay11037]

I personally think it would be awesome if jill just did a whole video on the bg3 armour as there are so many and they are all so different

[@k.jespersen6145]

Request/Suggestion: Murderbot's armor on the original "All Systems Red" cover. Since Murderbot was designed/equipped by "the lowest bidder," it would be fun to see just how poorly the [company] did in the pursuit of spending just enough to not be sued but also not enough to eat into profit margins.

[@samuelturner6076]

4:29 Side note, there are multiple “not full armoured versions” of Gill, notably Caster Gill where he’s in a lil vest and Dhoti like Aladdin.

[@bellakaldera3305]

Jack and Jill went up the hill and Jill broke Jack's crown there! Jack fell down, Jill danced around and now we know what happened!

[@michelleresistance5767]

I think the “titanic bronze” is basically Ethnyu’s whole body; she’s an ancient goddess _animating an indestructible statue_. This is “wearing” the way characters in _Eclipse Phase_ wear a morph.

[@s0nicsilver]

Jill, I'd love if you'd review Samus Aran's armor (probably best to review the Varia Suit, as it's the iconic design for her).

[@daefaron]

The guild wars "armors" in this aren't actually armor, but more clothing worn by the spellcasters. In the lore these people are raining fire or other elements down on you from the backline away from direct attack.

[@Nathanyel]

Games in general use "armor" very liberally, e.g. in WoW the term is used for any piece of equipment that is worn like clothing, the Plate Chestpiece, but also the Cloth Robe, as opposed to "not armor" slots like Rings, Amulets and Trinkets.

[@Jae_C_]

Finally was able to pre-order the ebook! Super excited to read it!🎉🎉

[@kilroy00011]

I would love to see some Guild Wars 2 armor, especially the cultural armors and the way over-the-top bladed armors.

[@ironwolfstudios2857]

I know you've already done 40k Space Marines and Sisters of Battle reviews, but I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Astra Millitarum guardsmen armor, Tempestus Scions armor, and the newer Phobos Pattern power armor. Y'know, if you ever have time. Love these videos. Always worth it.

[@RezaXGWB]

I really want to see Jill reviews skyrim's Ancient Nord Armour.... especially the female one

[@venturerweegee64]

You ARE being relevant! And I can give some clarification for Shadowheart (assuming none has been provided yet): Shadowheart is a Cleric, and as such her default weapon setup is a one handed mace and a decent sized shield, which she is VERY handy with. She is also a Trickery Domain cleric, meaning lots of disguise, and more importantly *invisibility/stealth*, spells in her repertoire.

[@blackvial]

You can give Shadowheart a helmet

[@Paledomain]

AHHHHH SOLEIL MY BELOVED! Fun fact is that her boots actually do NOT have high heels! She's amazing! And her poofy two piece gambeson is honestly one of the coolest one's ive seen in that sort of art style.

[@conwarlock3537]

Could you also rate some armors from NuWho, the Robin Hood Episode? And I feel like the shoulder covers of the Jedi during the Clone Wars would be hindering since Jedi mostly don't get hit anyway

[@TurinTurambar200]

Gilgamesh's armor lacking articulation in the front would absolutely be in character for a man probably too arrogant to considering bending forward because he'd think it looks like bowing.

[@appelofdoom8211]

Another armour tier list yaaayyy

[@lsdxiii]

The Keyblade Armor from Kingdom Hearts! Specifically Master Eraqus’ “Armor of the Master” and Master Xehanort’s “No Heart” Armor. Also the armor of the three main characters from Birth by Sleep; Terra, Aqua, and Ventus.

[@jorvach9874]

Fun list! When I play video games, I always go out of my way to NOT wear a helmet, regardless of whether the rest of my character's outfit/armour is practical or stripperific. Especially in games with character customization. I didn't spend ages designing my character to NOT look at their pretty pretty face! :D And yes, I do this even if helmets give significant stat boosts. :3

[@niofo7713]

tbf, a lot of games these days have an option to toggle the helmets visibility on and off for dialogue or even altogether, i always use it. i love to see my characters and the npcs (esp in a game that put so much into mocap as bg3 XD), but the disadvantages of not having helmets are just too big for me

[@FrostyTheSnowPickle]

For Shadowheart: 1. The circlet is a holy symbol of her deity. 2. No helmet because helmets are a separate armor piece you can get in the game. 3. She's a cleric, not a frontlines warrior, so her armor can be a bit less protective.

[@cass7448]

Most guns in the mass effect universe shoot tiny chunks of soft metal at exceptionally high speeds.

[@JillBearup]

Just less fun than lasers, but I guess they can please themselves 😁

[@voidseeker4394]

​@@JillBearupabsolute majority of technology in Mass Effect revolves around the pseudo-physical thing with the same name (yep, it's called "mass effect" in-universe) that allows to manipulate (drastically increase or decrease) mass of various objects. Also, some people developed the ability to manipulate mass with just their own body and mind. That's called biotics, and is basically sci-fi friendly hard magic.

[@filmfan4]

Loved the Battlefield review! My firstand favourite 7th Doctor episode 😊

[@YourFunkiness]

Hey! A legally-required ad-disclosure for you promoting your merch. So many people would have been caught off guard otherwise.

[@JillBearup]

(Deep sigh of extremely obvious compliance) You know what, I’m going to make them increasingly ridiculous as we go on until they feel the right amount of stupid 😁

[@ekij133]

@@JillBearup "Hi, I'm me and today I'm sponsored by me who is paying me to promote my stuff. I've revied my stuff and can honestly say I like it! But don't just take my word for it, here is a clip of my sponsor, me telling you about my stuff. Clearly both me and I think my stuff is good so you should buy it!"

[@markiangooley]

Jill can make almost anything interesting. Secret (or do I mean obvious?) edge on other providers of content: she’s absurdly pretty. It can’t always be easy for her, looking like a living caricature of an impossibly beautiful woman (and hence merely so pretty).

[@classicslover]

Evidence of a misspent youth? Oddly specific knowledge of the belly-chain, Jill. Mayhap you wore one under your shirt to be secretly rebellious? Or accessorized over your shirt. Also, how DO they do air-conditioning across the pond? Here, if you have a natural gas furnace, air-conditioning is a quick and easy add-on. The unit is either wall mounted outside or on the ground. Then there are the plug in ones placed in windows. Or specific cut-out areas. My concern for you and yours has me belaboring this topic.

[@JillBearup]

I remember fashion trends even if I was uninterested in following them 😂

[@classicslover]

@@JillBearup All fine and good, but Nemo and Sherlock REALLY wanted the air conditioning issue addressed.

[@itsallme1234]

another great installment! i'd love to see a review of Fury's armor from Darksiders 3

[@01Naaman]

For Mordred, another problem that seems to be glossed over too many times. Chain mail can get very pinchy, there will be stray strands stuck in the mail at the end of the day

[@magma2050]

The armour in that 1989 serial of Doctor Who had been used in quite a few productions beforehand. The distinctive helmets with the poor visibility were very easy to spot in the 1978 serial The Androids of Tara.

[@TJDious]

Ive been doing a lot of fantasy characters with AI lately and ive often wondered what Jill would think of some of the armors.

[@GrouchierBear]

I've been doing the same thing and honestly had the same thought. Some turn out pretty good, even practical, others are absolutely comical. One of my favorite ones I've managed to generate is a skinny girl wearing what can only be described as a ball gown made entirely out of plate armor. It's hilarious.

[@MrGrimsmith]

I would, at some point if you ever have time, like to hear your opinions on the "Classic D&D" take on armour categories and where you feel they actually lie. For example leather armour being better than padded, studded leather being a thing marginally better (which we know is most likely brigandine) and where the mobility classifications fall as I'm fairly sure a well fitted suit of plate is going to allow as much mobility as full gambeson, all be it somewhat heavier. I've heard others takes on it but you often wear various versions of it while working. For an entire day. They mostly don't so I rather place your opinion a little bit higher :)

[@ronwingrove683]

There may come a day when a bikini armour gets above a "Just Stab Me Now," but it was not this day.

[@Bad_Llama]

I especially love your fight breakdowns. Can you do something from a (good) superhero movie?

[@MediocreHexPeddler]

Seeing you rate the Mass Effect armor positively is immensely vindicating and gratifying! I always loved that game's armors.

[@galaronshuri]

I'M THE GUY WHO ASKED FOR GILGAMESH AHAHAH Thank you so much, I love your armor review videos

[@a-blivvy-yus]

Worth noting there are numerous historical fighting styles for using two swords, and those include a few where one sword was held in reverse grip (most notable being a Japanese style which has an unbroken lineage into the modern day). The usual goal with a reverse grip sword when dual-wielding is that you use a shorter blade in the reverse grip and treat it as a defensive option when an opponent gets past the point of your main hand weapon. You can also switch that up and use a longer sword in a reverse grip for close quarters fighting where you're fighting indoors, in narrow streets, or otherwise in a confined space where the longer weapon would become a liability if you extend it out fully.

[@Miss_Myth]

[Random, but Re: 10:26 = Any D20 fans here? "Hilda Hilda?" 😁] Amazing list and reasoning as always! I'm also very excited for new merch & *LOVE* the Sword Lady Books logo! PS: Thrilled to see any mention of the existence of Dragonheart, I still love that movie and always will. 🥰

[@viliamvolko6865]

Am I the only one who heard Edna Mode say "No capes!" when Jill talked about the mandalorian armour? 😂😂😂

[@ayamamotohaha5235]

All of the Baldur's gate characters have two variable excuses for not wearing a helmet. 1. they were all kidnapped by mindflayers that needed to insert things into their faces so if they had helmets they would have been removed. 2. Game balance, Helmets are a thing in the game, and you can acquire them later. Also Shadow Heart's circlet is just a circlet, but you can get ones that shoot lasers.

[@PVS3]

On the issue with books - the outfits in American Psycho apparently make no actual sense if you take the lengthy descriptions literally. Ellis said in an interview somewhere i cannot find that he pulled a lot from fashion magazine captions based upon what sounded good. Your brain just looks at the long list of fancy clothing words and goes "dressed up ponce.. got it".

[@MrShivshank]

Dresden files is soooo good. the audio books are really something special.

[@MidwinterKnight]

4:09 Gilgamesh doesn't need to bend forward. He's got servants to do it for him.

[@RyllenKriel]

Fun video, thanks. Colour-coated tunics, tabards, individual crests on shields and custom armour all are overlooked sadly in film and anime most of the time and would be a fantastic way to make characters stand out. There is always the excuse of wanting to see facial expressions, but much can be done acting with the eyes and even special effects to provide transparency overlays for the best of both worlds.

[@evanflynn4680]

Pronunciation of Marcone: In the audiobooks, James Marsters pronounces it as "mar-cone," not markonee or the other versions you said. But then he also pronounced the J in Jotun as a J instead of a Y, so yeah. Can't take his performance as canon for everything. Also, there's an artist named Adam Sward who has done lots of fan art for Dresden Files. Not many in armour, but still worth a look.

[@Scuzzlebutt142]

To make things more fun, he pronounces it "Mar-con-ee" in the earlier audio books, and changes I think around Dead Beat, to "Mar-cone". But I think he actually had a chance to talk to Jim Butcher before he did Dead Beat, so I think Marcone is how it's intended to be pronounced.

[@midonatwiga7521]

3:20 Byleth (and the other main characters) aren't wearing helmets (to help recognising them I guess) but the NPCs and ennemies have one. Each Fire Emblem class have its own armour that is always the same for each character except that only NPCs have a hat/ a helmet. By the way if you haven't played the game you should definitly give it a try! Anywaaays I love your videos!! I just love history and geek stuff so it's always fun watching your videos!

[@AmorAmarillo09]

I was about to search if you have already talked about warrior of light!! XD

[@StormSage13]

I can't recall if you did this one (and I am currently unable to rewatch all your armor videos due to a time crunch so I apologize I will be binging them again shortly) but the Grey Warden Armor from the Dragon Age Sacred Ashes trailer is among my favorite armors in fantasy. Well constructed, has a helmet, isn't silly, and even the sword is reasonably designed. If you've already done this, then oops