The Minecrawler Plate Armor was created by Wolf, a rogue from the New Camp of the Colony. The armor uses the hard plates of natural armor ripped off the dead bodies of stronger, armored sub-species of Minecrawlers. Although it is basically an armorer's experiment, the Minecrawler Plate Armor proved to offer outstanding protection.
Origins[]
Wolf, an opportunistic Rogue from the New Camp, came up with a new armor design. To build a prototype model of it, he required the armor plates of Warrior Minecrawlers - a naturally armored sub-species of Minecrawlers, found in the New Mine. For this, he requested the Hero's help in retrieving the armor plates, to which the Hero agreed - on the condition that he would reserve the finished armor set for himself, should Wolf succeed in creating it. Wolf agreed and patiently waited for the Hero to return from the New Mine, occupied by the Guards of the Old Camp during that time.
The Hero was successful in collecting enough (fifteen) armor plates. Wolf started working on the armor and some time later, completed the suit of armor. As agreed, the Hero was the first to wear it. The armor turned out to be just as sturdy as expected and protected the Hero during his expedition to the Temple of the Sleeper. However, being only a prototype, it was put together in a relatively unrefined manner, and soon was too damaged to rely on. The Nameless Hero was quick to ditch the suit of armor for the newly-found Ancient Ore Armor, itself an legendary armor of unrivalled quality.
Despite its shortcomings, the Minecrawler Plate Armor was superior to most of the typical suits of armor used in the Colony. Wolf planned on improving the design of the armor and starting a business, but the fall of the Barrier turned his life towards another direction.
Gothic 2[]
After escaping the Colony, Wolf became a Mercenary under Lee. No longer in a position to experiment with armor designs and to conduct business, he spends his days on Onar's farm, waiting for something interesting to happen.
However, he did not forget the armor design he came up with. A hunter by the name of Gestath somehow got word of the Minecrawler Plate Armor and contracted Wolf to make one for him. After getting the armor plates, Wolf produced the armor.
The player character can acquire this armor by talking to the aforementioned hunter, who will direct the Nameless Hero to Wolf, who is staying on Onar's Farm. Wolf requests the player to bring ten Minecrawler plate, which cannot be acquired without the Trophies skill of removing Crawler plates. The hunters Grimbald and Gestath can teach the Hero how to remove Crawler plates for 3 Learning Points.
Notes[]
The Minecrawler Plate Armor is the penultimate armor set acquired during the course of a regular playthrough of Gothic. It offers excellent protection against melee damage, decent against fire, but only a minimal one versus projectile or magical attacks. Only the Ancient Ore Armor (and the Robe of the Dark Arts, exclusive for a Necromancer) surpasses it. The Minecrawler Plate Armor is also notable for being one of the few not-Guild restricted armors available.
Despite being one of the highest-quality armors in the original game, in Gothic 2 the Minecrawler Plate Armor suffered a significant decrease in protective ability (despite being a newer model, also made by the Wolf). In that game, this armor is of roughly average quality, and is notably weaker than even the weakest model from either the Paladin or Dragon Hunter series of armors. In addition, this armor is difficult to even discover, let alone obtain in Gothic 2, further diminishing its status relatively to Gothic 1.
In Gothic 1, The Minecrawler Plate Armor cannot be received from Wolf any sooner than after entering Chapter 5, no matter how many days pass.
Even though the Nameless Hero notes the damaged state of the prototype model of Minecrawler Plate Armor after returning from the Temple of the Sleeper, the actual in-game quality of the armor is not decreased at all. In fact, none of the armors can ever degrade. This comment can be interpreted as protagonist's mocking remark about the dangers he endures in his service for Xardas.