I'm all for this, both ideas in a sense. Regardless of how it's done, something does need to be done about it. If I'm standing around in a chain shirt as a Disciple and I'm being outrun/being kept up with by a Ranger in almost full Iron, or a Paladin in diamond, there's a problem. It's bad enough I need basically every stat without having to dump 15 points into Endurance just to wear said chain shirt. (I understand that isn't too much for higher level characters, but at low levels that kills your capability to do damage, and then you're just dieing constantly)
I understand the concept of a Disciple is based on a Monk, who wear no armor and rely more on avoidance to fight toe-to-toe, but we don't really get that, do we? Perhaps a trade-off of some sort? I'd think the more agile classes like Disciple or Ninja would have next to no armor to start, but at least have some sort of benefit. A better move speed would be nice, but that doesn't help me go toe-to-toe against Paladins. My point is an alternative to armor for staying alive. My point is things like Monks, Ninjas, Ranger, and Casters are traditionally meant to not wear much armor, so why penalize them? If a Disciple gets such an atrociously low base equipment weight, and starts with a -5 Endurance, give us a good reason for it.
A miss chance or something? A deflection passive? Say a certain % based on how much armor you're wearing (Higher % for less armor obviously), scaling to level or something? Perhaps tie it into Agility?
So say you're a Ninja, you start with much lower base equipment weight (Currently 30 according to the Wiki, so let's drop it to 18.75, that of a Disciple for this example). Each point of Agility gives you a 1% chance for melee attacks to miss, or each point giving you a "deflection" bonus, reducing damage taken by your Agility bonus. Have this countered by how much armor somehow (Leather pieces reduce this by a certain % per piece, chain by more, and so on) so to make spending higher points in Endurance an option, but not a necessity.
30 Agility = 30% chance for attacks to miss, reduced by your % damage reduction from armor worn. Chain Helm = 8% reduction, thus reduces miss chance by 8% (Perhaps scale to 1.5% per agility point, reduction from armor remains)
or
30 agility = 90 damage from attacks is deflected (Agility X 3), reduced by your & damage reduction from armor worn. Chain Helm = 8% reduction, reducing deflection bonus by 8% to 82.8 (Perhaps tweak the multipliers or how much armor % reduces the Deflection)
Perhaps applying this to all classes would be nice, so a Paladin starting off benefits from it a little bit as well if he wants to spend a few points in Agility for the move speed. Thus classes with low equipment weights or that use Agility need less Endurance, but it might still help, while a class with higher endurance or base equipment weight get some benefit from spending points in Agility (Because let's face it, Disciples don't need the Stamina regen from Endurance that much, having high Endurance is almost entirely for armor)
Or just increase Disciple's Base Equipment Weight, that would help a lot. I'd simply be happy just being able to wear a Chain shirt at level 1, LIKE EVERY OTHER CLASS!! Why can a Wizard, Ninja, or Ranger do it, but not Disciples? If you look at Druids in the same "traditional" light as you do a Disciple, they shouldn't even be able to wear metal (Or maybe i just play too much Dungeons and Dragons)
Anyways, This is all just off the top of my head, and might sound ridiculous or overpowered, idk. My end point is if my class is based on being agile and flexible. I just don't want crap like this to -continue- to happen;
A. I'm screwed in fights because I get no armor and have to spend my points in basically every stat.
B. I can't deal damage or heal with any abilities because I spent all my points in Endurance so i can have the same armor everyone else starts with
C. I'm outrun by Paladins because I don't want to dump all my points into Agility, because I can't even use a bow
