armor

Force Absorb - Amount of blunt force removed from incoming attacks.
Sharp Absorb - Amount of sharpness removed from incoming attacks.
Balance - Amount of unbalance removed from incoming toppling attacks.

These three values match up directly with the three offensive values on weapons. A well-armored character will need no defense at all against many types of attacks, as their armor will absorb it all.

Heavy pieces of armor place an agility cap on your character. This means that if your agility is above the cap, it will be reduced to the cap for as long as you are wearing the armor. (If your agility is equal to or lower than the cap, it will not affect it.) Some fighting styles have a skill which reduces this penalty.

The values on your armor do not add together, as you might expect. Instead, your highest value from all of your armor is chosen. So if you are wearing three items which give a force absorb of 2 and one which gives a force absorb of 3, your total force absorb (visible in your score) will be 3. The sharp absorb and balance values are chosen by highest as well, and they are independant of each other.