Not all armor is forged equally, as Baldur’s Gate 3 players have noticed a huge price discrepancy between different sets, despite them being nearly identical in terms of stats.
The incredible success of cosmetic DLC in video games has proven that people will pay to look good, even in the digital realm. Even the developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 aren’t immune to this, as some of the clothing items from the Divinity games can only be acquired through more expensive editions.
Luckily, PC players don’t have to worry about their edition, as there are tons of costume mods for Baldur’s Gate 3 that let you deck out your characters in much finer gear than you can find in-game.
It seems the in-game merchants also have no problem charging more for aesthetics, as proven in a thread on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Reddit. This is due to Drow Studded Leather costing 1000 gold pieces, while Leather Armor +1 costs 130, despite them having almost identical stats.
“Everyone looks hot in Drow armour. That’s it. That’s the difference,” one user explained, while another said, “Sexiness is worth 870gp.”
“Stats wise nothing. But the one on the right is “magic” armor while the one on the left is not,” another user wrote, “I’m not sure why the one on the left is blue / more rare because in the dm guide the one on the right would be worth more gold.”
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There is a small mechanical difference, but it only applies to a few classes. “The Drow armor does look better. But there is an edge case where it also works better. The way it’s coded, stealth +1 adds to your proficiency modifier, but the +1 bonus is +1 after the the calculation.
“So if you have expertise in stealth (or maybe if you’re a bard) the Drow armor makes it +2 total. Small bonus, but at no cost.”
In-universe, the price increase makes sense, considering Drow armor is extremely difficult to acquire. The fact that it’s strong despite being nonmagical would also be beneficial, as it could be enchanted even further.
When it comes to metagaming and breaking down the numbers, then the extra few hundred gold doesn’t add up, even if it does make Astarion somehow even hotter than he already is.