1) According to the Test Center Combat Log Book, a suit of Barbed Leather Armor absorbs a very very very consistent 10 damage per hit, regardless of location. IIRC, in the Renaissance era, armor absorbed a random number between 50% and 100% of the AR of the armor on the location being hit. More variability is generally good for the attacker, so I think this stable damage absorption is contributing to part of the great effectiveness of this armor. 2) According to the Test Center Combat Log Book, Veteran Reward Cloaks and Reward Robes are not actually absorbing any damage. I believe this is due to them being applied to layers that never actually get hit by weapons. When moved to the chest layer, for example, the Robe functioned as expected (but when that happens, an armor chest piece cannot be worn).
