UO Second Age

What is a dexxer suit exactly? All chain or a mix of different pieces? Also do make armor out of different ingot types yield higher AR?

It's basically a combination of armor that provides the most AR with the least dexloss. I see alot of ring-suits with Studded leather gorgets, close or norse helm. Chain legs/tunic with ring arms, plate gloves and plate gorget, close helm is another, though it has a little dexloss from the plate. The idea with the shield is to find the highest AR possible, Squared Heaters, and bronze shields are the best. Magic armor can be a little more flexible.

Best suit with no dex loss is:

chain tunic
chain legs
ring arms
ring gloves
studded gorget
close helmet/helmet/norse helmet

With all invulnerable items, you can get in the high-40's of AR. I found this to be sufficient for fighting against just about anything. Invulnerable plate will cost you about 15 dex, but will only get you to the high-50's in AR. Which is cool, but high-40's is plenty.

If you're hunting monsters on a budget, I'd say go for fortification plate armor. 85 dex versus 100 is not a huge deal, and if the extra AR from plate saves you from dying every once in a while, it's well worth it to swing 7.5% slower. (rule of thumb: swing speed goes down 1% for every 2 dex. So going from 100 dex to 0 dex would essentially double your swing time).

If you want to fight against players, go with a 0 dex loss suit like I identify above. And always use +20 dex blue potions. You need the swing speed to help disrupt spells as much as possible.

I actually prefer a combo of plate and ring when I PvP, but I parry as well. With an all invuln suit and an invuln heater I can get 70-85 armor usually. This is with 5 or 10 dex loss. Obviously I wouldnt wear this vs a tank mage.

Think it might be better to get the extra swing speed?

I generally just rock some bone armor and a magic gorget. With a good shield I've been high 30s/low 40s with 0 or -1 dex loss.