Clothing: No armor bonus/ unlimited dex bonus
Padded: 1 armor bonus/ 8 dex bonus cap (1/8.)
Leather: 2/6
Studded Leather/ Hide: 3/4
Check Raven Trade Company for general stats on the different armor types (near the top of the Trade and Markethall forum). If you wear anything heavier then these types, you'll lose your ranger dual wielding bonuses.
As for how to attain armor class (AC) bonuses, in case you were wondering (this is off the top of my head, so don't shoot me if there's something missing, which I'm positive there will be):
There's 4 types of AC bonuses. Armor, Natural, Deflection, and Dodge.
- Natural and Deflection AC bonuses don't stack and take the single highest modifier
- Armor AC doesn't stack, and takes the single highest modifier, but shield bonuses work outside of armor AC, and stacks on top of it
- Dodge AC bonuses stack to +20. Dodge AC is negated when flatfooted, which means you lose dodge AC when KD'd, stunned, or otherwise disabled/ frozen. It also is negated when something comes out of the shadows to attack.
- Armor AC bonuses come from shield, armor, and bracer AC bonuses. It also comes from magic vestment spells.
- Natural AC comes from amulet AC bonuses. It also comes from the spells shadow shield and barkskin.
- Deflection AC comes from ring, helmet, and cloak AC bonuses. It also comes from the spells Shield, Shield of Faith, and Alignment protection (against that particular alignment).
- Dodge AC comes from a lot of places. Boot AC bonuses are dodge based. Every pre-adjusted 5 points in tumble give you +1 dodge AC bonus. Spells like premonition and haste give dodge bonuses. Bardsong bonuses are dodge AC. Dwarven Defender stances are dodge AC.
Mage Armor gives +1 in all areas, so usually just +1 dodge AC bonus in later levels as the others don't stack.
Expertise and Improved expertise AC bonuses exist outside of these AC types, stacks on top of your AC, and can't be negated.
The epic feat Armor Skin exists outside these AC bonuses, and stacks on top of everything else.
The palemaster feat bone skin exists outside these AC bonuses, and stacks on top of everything else.
The RDD AC bonuses exist outside these AC bonuses and stacks on top of everything.
You begin with a base 10 AC. Every bonus or deficit is added or subtracted from there.
Example:
Level 23 Rogue:
- 10 Base AC: +10
- 34 Dexterity and wearing clothing: +12
- 25 Base Tumble: +5
- He has the epic feat Armor Skin: +2
- Level 25 caster casts Magic Vestment on his +2 Armor and +2 Shield: +10
- Level 25 caster casts Barkskin on him: +5
- Level 25 caster casts shield of faith on him: +5
- Level 25 caster casts Mage Armor on him: +1 (only dodge stacks and other types are already higher)
- He is hasted: +4
- Level 16 Bard sings: +5
- Boots of Hardiness: +1
- The +2 AC cloak, rings, amulet, and helmet he's wearing: +0 (spells from casters have replaced these AC bonuses)
- The helmet of armor II and shield amulet he uses: +0 (spells have replaced these bonuses since they're higher)
So AC equals:1+5+4+1+5+5+10+2+5+12+10 = 60
Additionally, you'll note he has +16 dodge AC bonuses right now, so if he had additional means of getting dodge AC.. it would cap in another +4.