Charisma drops when equipping better gear.

[Duskmare]

So I was wearing Milanese Plate Pauldrons and saw that they have 19 charisma. Then I spot in a shop some Augsberg Plate Pauldrons that have both better defence and 20 charisma. The stat preview showed a lower charisma but I assumed that was due to maintenance perks buffing my Milanese. Though, later, once I was able to repair the Augsberg ones my charisma still drops from 19 to 16 when I equip them.

Does anyone know if there's a reason for this that I'm missing or if it's just yet another bug?

I've heard that certain armour pieces cover others and so I tried taking off other pieces that might have been hidden by the Milanese but not by the Augsberg. Namely the Long Noble Hauberk I have, since it has a charisma of 4 and could reasonably lower a high charisma of 19 to 16 by itself. Every other armour piece I have has the highest charisma possible for their armour type (I think. Except the helmet since hats can get higher but have no armour).
Anyway, I took off and put on various pieces to see no real difference in terms of what item could be interfearing with my charisma other than the Augsberg plates.

[AfLIcTeD]

Dirt?

[Shanks]

The charisma system is a bit different. If you cover up certain high charisma clothing or things with plate armor it does negate that charisma. So if you're trying to go as high as you can you'll probably want some less bulky attire. Other things also factor in like the condition of the armor, damaged or dirty will lower the charismatic bonus.

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by AfLIcTeD:

Dirt?

I said in the original post that I bought the new item... Since when do store bought items come with dirt on them?
In other words, no. Not dirt.

Originally posted by ShankerOne:

The charisma system is a bit different. If you cover up certain high charisma clothing or things with plate armor it does negate that charisma. So if you're trying to go as high as you can you'll probably want some less bulky attire. Other things also factor in like the condition of the armor, damaged or dirty will lower the charismatic bonus.

Well it's only arm armour. It should be covering the chain mail, which has the lowest charisma of all pieces. Plus, it has 20 charisma, the highest possible. So even if it were covering things with 20 charisma then it'd still be 20 charisma for that area.
It's all 100% condition and clean.

[AfLIcTeD]

Originally posted by Duskmare:

Though, later, once I was able to repair the Augsberg ones my charisma still drops from 19 to 16 when I equip them.

Well seeing as though you put you had to repair it, I assumed you must have worn it? My bad I guess the item must have fallen off the shelf to get damaged.

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by AfLIcTeD:

Originally posted by Duskmare:

Though, later, once I was able to repair the Augsberg ones my charisma still drops from 19 to 16 when I equip them.

Well seeing as though you put you had to repair it, I assumed you must have worn it? My bad I guess the item must have fallen off the shelf to get damaged.

You're a little off there. I bought the item, therefore it came without any damage.

Then, as i said, I thought it might have been a difference in maintenance skill perk buffs. So I wore the item, got it damaged, then repaired it hoping it would fix the wrongful drop in charisma.
It took a while before I got into a fight so that's why I said "Though, later, once I was able to repair the Augsberg".

Sorry if I was overly aggressive with my reply to you. I was just frustrated because on every other charisma issue thread there're about 30 people all shouting "WaS iT DiRt!?" after the OP has already clarified it wasn't dirt. So I was kinda taking that out on you and your ill-thought out but innocent and presumably well intentioned comment.

[Bandy]

Well, as you say most people asking because they don't understand the 'dirt' mechanic, so it is a natural reply, though knee-jerk...

I noticed that when switching gear to try and max charisma that the number often doesn't update properly, and sometimes only exiting the window and re-entry will resolve, though suspect you also have noticed.

Just for sake of troubleshooting, have you tried to isolate the 'problem' gear? Just put on high chr shirt, pants, shoes (those higher than the problem item), and only then see what the game calculates.

Just IMHO, a lot of the gear and food needs a really good going over, some of the item numbers need rebalance, or are just painfully wrong in the case of food. I have not found a good mod but stopped looking last fall, hopefully someone has...

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by Bandy:

Well, as you say most people asking because they don't understand the 'dirt' mechanic, so it is a natural reply, though knee-jerk...

I noticed that when switching gear to try and max charisma that the number often doesn't update properly, and sometimes only exiting the window and re-entry will resolve, though suspect you also have noticed.

Just for sake of troubleshooting, have you tried to isolate the 'problem' gear? Just put on high chr shirt, pants, shoes (those higher than the problem item), and only then see what the game calculates.

Just IMHO, a lot of the gear and food needs a really good going over, some of the item numbers need rebalance, or are just painfully wrong in the case of food. I have not found a good mod but stopped looking last fall, hopefully someone has...

Hmm, I've not noticed anything wrong with food. All the numbers seem accurate on my side. The only thing that seems to change is the food pots. I could have sworn it used to restore 15 but now it only does 5.
I might be remembering normal vs hardcore mode though... I'm sure I thought it did 10 at some point too... Really not sure about them.

Yeah, I tried isolating the item. I really think it just has the wrong charisma number in the code but the right number in the description. So it just sets it down when it should be higher.

[pks]

Yep, something is definitely off with Milanese plate pauldrons.

I tested several kinds of pauldrons - 100% clean, self-repaired, and double-checked active buffs ("Padding" only, rainy day).


Nothing equipped - Noise 0, Charisma 9

Milanese pauldrons - Noise 15, Charisma 13

Augsburg, Magdeburg, Saxon or Warhorse pauldrons - Noise 0, Charisma 10


(all but Warhorse have same 100 Noise rating and they all have 18-20 Charisma rating)


In full semi-silent armor kit, Milanese pauldrons add 17 extra points to Noise (from 12 to 29) and 1 extra Charisma point (from 18 to 19).

[UwU]

As far as I remember you don't get charisma bonses for armor that is invisible to other characters, as in blocked by some other clothes. Maybe your second pauldrons are blocking (or being blocked) your other clothes in the way that previous one didn't?

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by SlaveDeMorto:

As far as I remember you don't get charisma bonses for armor that is invisible to other characters, as in blocked by some other clothes. Maybe your second pauldrons are blocking (or being blocked) your other clothes in the way that previous one didn't?

Nah, you can see on the character that the habuke and the pauldrons overlap for a second but then it adjusts it and it hides the habuke and keeps the pauldrons visible. So the pauldrons are the ones on top.