Wiki Q&A

The supplied context does not contain enough information to answer whether crafted armor is better than found magic armor. The chunks describe general armor mechanics but do not compare crafted armor to found magic armor.

What the supplied chunks do cover:

• Armor Values are cumulative, so melee damage is reduced based on the player's total armor value rather than the armor value of the individual location hit [1].
• Meditation Penalties are a cumulative total of all equipped pieces, not based on the "worst piece" worn [1].
• Dexterity penalties have been removed from armor and shields and replaced with a Stamina Fatigue Penalty that increases stamina lost when taking damage [1].
• A player's Stamina Fatigue Penalty is derived from their Meditation Penalty [1], specifically (Total Armor Meditation Penalty / 2) [2].
• Example full-set Stamina Fatigue Penalties are: Leather 0%, Studded +5%, Bone +12.5%, Ringmail +25%, Chainmail +37.5%, Platemail +50% [2].
• Players take more damage from the Mind Blast spell based on their Meditation Penalties from armor [1].
• Players can view full armor and weapon stats, both base and effective values, using the Arms Lore skill [1].
• Weapon and armor suffer a penalty when they reach 0 Hit Points and are considered "Broken" [3].
• For crafted and magic effects, the chunks point to the Modifiers page [1].

Not present in the supplied context: any direct comparison of crafted armor versus found magic armor, their relative stats, or which is "better." The chunks also do not provide the Modifiers page contents that would be needed to compare crafted and magic effects.