Grimrock

I'm still on my first playthrough and something I've noticed is that armour locations feel very "all over the place". I mean for example, early sets such as the rogue, can't be completed until you've advanced into what I'd call the "mid-game" whereby it's basically already outdated.

Same with the Meteor / Crystal armour. By the tme You've travelled to all the places where you can find the parts, you're nearing the end of the game and never get to feel like a badass with your super armour.

What caused me to think of this, was the Mirror Armour. You can pick up a lot of the set around one area. However to get into there requires completing a different map, and to finish the set requires finishing a completely seperate area.

While I feel with the Meteor / Crystal armour that this might work okay (being able to clear one area before the end-game might be too easy). Does anyone else feel that the "lesser" sets such as mirror, rogues and even the "normal" armour sets, like full plate should be found in a more concentrated area, instead of all over the island?

My knight is wearing a total hodge-podge of armour at the moment, which while effective (around 90 protection at level 8 I think?) I can't help but feel like I want some uniformity to my gear.

Opinions, thoughts?

Perhaps someone will make a guide to "most efficient way to get armour sets" through the game (and not just armour) and order the areas which make sense the most for progression.

imo, the rogue set is not second-rate armor. it and the sorcerer sets are best for character builds that don't invest in armor skill. mirror armor may be best for some builds that only put two points into armor. i think reed armor might be the real second rate armor (second to rogue set), not to mention regular leather and plate armors.

anyway, as you progress you find more pieces of each armor set and become more powerful, which seems how things normally work in these types of games. i'm ok with it.

I would consider rogue, wizard, crystal and meteor sets to be proper endgame sets. Meteor is clearly better than crystal too.

As such, I think reed, mirror and embalmer sets should be complete and ready to upgrade by the time you exit sleet island.

Looking through maps, some of the mirror and embalmer items are in the Pyramid of Umas and Lexiconary, which comes after the Bog. This is no place for tier1 armor, especially considering you finish the endgame meteor set in the Pyramid.

Have to agree with the OP's sentiment. One of the fun things about RPGs is often the progression through different item sets. In the early game, your warrior has leather, then gets mail, then plate, then enchanted armor (or something along those lines). In Grimrock, I rarely ever had a complete set on except for the final map or two. It would have been more satisfying if I had found most of the plate armor set before any of the Meteor or Crystal. My Knight was wearing some Leather, some Plate, 1 piece of Meteor, and gigantic Bear Fists for a large part of the game, and it felt rather weird (And neither of my Wizards had pants the whole game, but that's a different issue).

Part of this is perhaps Grimrock's itemization, as it has essentially 1 set of armor per "role". It's unlikely anyone other than your Evasion tank or Bow user would have the Rogue set, or the Archmage set for other than a pure caster, etc, so the lack of alternative items confers the feeling of a lack of choice and variety to the player.

Overall I'd recommend for future Grimrock titles that there be more "low tier" armor scattered about so there's more of a chance for having something resembling a uniform item set before the final boss.

the rogue set is also pretty good for a back row fighter (or barb) that specializes in damage and doesn't want to invest points in armor skill.

as for leather and plate, I'm pretty sure you can complete at least one set of each by midgame, or maybe mid-late game at the latest for plate (I think there are two of each in the game). but you probably won't be wearing a full set of either since you'll have found pieces of the rogue, mirror, crystal, etc. sets at that point too. i agree that embalmer's cap should probably be found pre-pyramid, but it does seem like somewhat of an appropriate place for embalming gear. the mirror gloves need to be there because I think you need them for one of the puzzles.

If you found all the pieces of every armour set near each other, then there'd be little or no point in having multiple armour slots at all. If you're usually switching from one complete armor set to another, the game might as well just have one armour slot. That's why the pieces are spread around; so that you actually mix armour from different sets.

I disagree, minway. Even if they are all around the same level, you still need to find them. Completing the set itself would become a reward for clearing many puzzles within an area. I agree with what's been said in this topic : it would be better if complete sets were contained in the same level. But obviously, problems arise... for instance, if you don't have a heavy armor user, you won't care about a level dedicated to the meteor set. My answer to that would be that the game needs even more items and sets. Give multiple rewards for the same puzzle if needed; this isn't a problem. But having more sets like that would really help the progression and give people the goal to search for and complete every puzzle in a given area. For instance :
(note : I'm taking the surface level name but it should include all levels above/below)

Shipwreck beach : tattered cloth set
Twigroot Forest : embalmber set, xafi set
Forgotten River+Keelbreach Bog : leather set, tribal set
Ruins of Desarune : Rogue set, Plate set
Hamlet Of Stormbreach : Archmage set, Bear set
Pyramid of Umas+Barren desert : Mirror set
Crystal Mine Entrance : Crystal Set
Cemetary : Meteor set
Castle : ...
With extra sets among those (and I must have forgotten some existing ones...). Existing set's stats might need adjustment as well as monster strength.

Well obviously it's too late for that. But I would have preferred it that way... and who knows about the future?

I don't think that we need the entire set to exist on just one level. That seems too linear and one-dimensional. Especially considering that completing the set gives a special bonus, and some set items have special abilities.

Hypothetical: Finding Meteor gloves on level 2 but not completing the set with the breastplate til level 8 is perfectly fine. It gives an added feeling of adventure since now your goal is to keep an eye out for more set pieces as you progress through the game. It creates a "puzzle within a puzzle" or a "game within the game." I think that's pretty fun.

With that said, I do agree that there needs to be slightly more armor-sets in the game. The limited number of sets makes it too apparent that the game is geared towards a very specific type of 4-man group. I personally feel that this approach takes away from the plot and setting of Grimrock. If this is truly a mysterious Island where many adventurers have come before, then there should certainly be many different types of armor sets (at least 2-3 per class type).

Plus, the Alchemist and the Wizard should be able to combine their talents to "enchant" armor as an added bonus

My feeling is that it is fairly good as is.

If we want a linear progression system that has upgrades for an average player in obvious locations and that is easily accessible at those progression points then sure...

I for one like it as is because once I find the armor sets and recall their locations (including the secret area finds.) Then I can play a game and challenge myself to go and acquire those sets asap.
It is yet another layer of difficulty how it is set up now. Only a few things are impossible to run to early game if you are skilled.
Placing the items in predictable and linear positions takes the aspect of that type of challenge away.

If they were going for traditional cloth to leather to plate or some such similar linear progression then adding shops would be the better option.
Instead as far as I have experienced their is an intent to have things wrap around and have multiple layers of access to items.
Perhaps those items are not as powerful or feel underpowered by the time they are acquired.
However it is seeking them and a completion of a set that is a worthwhile feeling for me.

I think a mix of both would be good since arguments can be made for either alternative. For instance, a potent armor set (meteor, crystal, mirror) could be split up as part of the game or mod's storyline, while a less powerful armor set (leather or ring) can be located all in one location/map. I can recall few RPG games (indie or AAA) that give you a complete set of armor at one time. For example in Skyrim I rarely got a full set of armor unless I crafted it myself.