Custom Armor 101

**Foreword**

So you’ve been thinking about buying a custom armor set, but you don’t know exactly how to do it. You really want to have your own awesome items in-game, but every method you’ve heard of to get it seems risky. Thanks to, well, ME, you can now learn everything you need to know about purchasing your first set. **Note: I am NOT a kanji. If you have any questions, I can try to answer them, but keep in mind that I am not able to solve all problems.**

Alright, without further ado, welcome….To custom armor 101.

**The best procedure for ordering custom armor is as follows:**

1. First, you need to send the pictures of what you want as a custom to the page. **DON’T SEND MONEY UNTIL STEP TWO HAS BEEN APPLIED AND CONFIRMED.**

2. Now you must wait for a reply. The page needs to confirm FIRST if it is possible to make your armor, or if some changes have to be done (custom armor must fit within specific guidelines of the game e.g wings being too large, etc.). Keep in mind that the Facebook page CAN choose that your armor is violating the rules for custom armor, **AND REFUSE TO ACCEPT IT FOR CONSTRUCTION.** Only after this step has been completed do you move on to the final step. In other words, **WAIT UNTIL THEY CONFIRM THAT THEY CAN MAKE YOUR ARMOR BEFORE SENDING ANY MONEY. IF THEY MENTION ANY PROBLEMS WITH YOUR ARMOR, THEN YOU MUST MAKE CHANGES TO IT ACCORDINGLY UNTIL THEY GIVE IT THE THUMBS UP.**

3. Once step to is completed, THEN you pay for the custom armor and construction of it begins. One entire set including the armor + the weapon is 100 USD. One specific piece outside of a set costs 25 USD. This is the part that takes the longest, mainly because making the armor is a difficult process. This step takes much patience. Keep in mind that if SHSD responded to you in the second step, then they are probably making your armor, so don’t worry if it takes a while. If they haven’t responded, then that means they haven’t seen your message.

**Tips and tricks for custom armor**

There are a few things that you should keep in mind when going about this:

1. NEVER send money until the page confirms that your armor can be made.

2. Make sure your armor fits within the rules beforehand. There aren’t a whole lot of rules, just a few that need to be followed at all times. The rules are:

a) Your armor cannot be offensive i.e nudity, obscene gestures, etc.

b) Your armor cannot be too big. You must remain as tall as everyone else (so people can’t be as huge as red oni). That means you can’t be too small, either.

c) If you have wings (which I’m not even sure wings are allowed anymore, so you’ll want to confirm that it’s allowed before you spend a lot of time on them), they cannot be too big/long. This is because if you are in areas such as the dojo, you will be blocking other players from seeing themselves. Honestly, this rule and the one before it are just as helpful for you as they are for those around you. Really, you’ll just be in everyone’s way, and if you think that being big will make you a better fighter, think again. You’ll just be a bigger target.

d) Your armor can’t have moving graphics on it, like flickering flames or lightning bolts zapping across your armor. This is also for everyone's benefit, including yours. Trust me, the game is laggy enough as it is.

Those are probably the only rules that you might violate with your armor, so make sure you aren’t breaking any of these guidelines.

3. Be PATIENT. It will take some time for the Facebook page to respond to you, so in the meantime, keep working on perfecting your armor. You don’t want to rush everything and end up with some armor that you will tire of quickly.

**Once you get your custom armor**

Here are some things you should NEVER do with your custom set, once you get it.

1. Never EVER trade your custom armor away. You paid good money for your set, and keep in mind how rare it is. You are the ONLY player IN THE GAME to have that armor, so don’t give up that status. The only exception to trading away your custom armor would be if you were to trade it for other custom armor. But even then it’s not as cool because you wouldn’t have been the first or only person to wear that armor. For your sake, just keep what you buy. And DEFINITLEY don’t think of trading it for any orange item that anyone could get. That’s already been in the game, bro. Hundreds already have it.

2. NEVER show the stats of your custom armor. I’m serious. There are several reasons for this:

a) You’re not planning on trading it, so why show it’s stats?

b) You’re just revealing your biggest asset: Your ability to fight.

c) People will always have something negative to say about your stats. No need to try and impress anyone. They won’t be (unless they’re new to the game).

3. NEVER think you’re better or superior to other players in ANY way because you have custom armor. Seriously, your armor won’t make you any better of a fighter, and it almost certainly won’t give you better stats. I know what you’re thinking: “Wait, what?”. Let me explain:

a) When you first get your armor, it will be given to you as a gift. When you open it, your armor will be inside it. Your armor’s tier will be purple-bordered, and it will be level one. It will have random generated stats (it will have blue-bordered item stats even though the item itself is purple-bordered. This is because a blue-bordered item is the highest tier of item, purple-bordered simply means gold or money was involved in the purchase), which means that it will probably be weak. You must do a stat transfer for it to have good stats.

So don’t think that just because you got custom armor, you’re a better fighter because of it. Your ability to fight comes through one’s skill, not the armor or sword you have. At least, not in the long run.

**Possible problems with ordering custom armor**

  There are a few warnings I have for you to be aware of:

1. There are quite a few cases of people saying that they never getting their armor even though they did everything correctly. They say that SHSD just took their money, and never even gave them their armor. This may or may not be true. Keep in mind that there are people out there who have no problem with lying and cheating in order to get what they want. More likely, they are trying to attract the attention of a kanji in order to get either a free “refund” of 100 USD, or so they can get some free custom armor. It’s OK to take any stories you might have into consideration, but don’t let their stories make your decision for you.

2. If you HAVE purchased armor, and it hasn’t come after a long time (like 2 or 3 months), then is a good time to start talking to a kanji. DON’T WAIT. **The longer you wait to start asking about your missing armor, the harder it is to prove that you purchased armor in the first place.** Keep that in mind.

3. If your armor doesn’t look the way you thought it would or want it to, never hesitate to report it to the Facebook page. They will find a way to resolve the issue.

**Final note/DISCLAIMER:**

There is always the chance that you might never get your custom armor, even after you follow through with everything. SHSD is not really what you would consider a profession, so there is always the chance of getting scammed. Honestly, you can only go based of of what YOU see and hear. Do you see people with custom armor walking around the dojo? I would advise that you ask them about it.

As a kanji (identity unknown. Not because he necessarily wants it that way, but because I forgot his name) once said: “The 100 USD is actually a donation to help support the development the game. The custom armor is a thank-you gift that we give to our donators. The main purpose of custom armor is to look unique and awesome.”

It might be a good idea to have this quote in mind when trying to purchase custom armor. If this is true, then donating 100 USD might not be a sure-fire way of obtaining custom armor…

Good luck on your armor!