Is there any armor with a better AC than -4 (drow full plate) the manual mentions EXTREMELY powerful magical armor being -10 AC. Was wondering if there was any armor past -4AC, name of it, how to acheive it?

There's a plate called T'rahcie's Plate +5 which has an AC of -2 which you can get from Ribald after completing the asylum. A -10AC, I don't think so though. You can get that if you wear some cool stuff and have a low natural AC...

im like 47 days (cpu days) into the game and i have an aromor class of -8 already

Equipped, my Paladin gain -11 AC, -12 AC with shield, -14 with potions and/or magic.

I think i asked/explained wrong. Minsc, for me right now, has a base AC of 8. With: Helm of Bauldron (ac bonus of 1), ring of earth control (ac bonus +1), ring of gaxx (ac bonus +2), sentinel +4 (armor class 5), and drow full plate +5 (armor class -4).

Now, if minsc is at base 8 and i toss on that full plate, his AC drops to -6 right away. So, I guess that is effictively a -14AC armor which would, infact answer my own question.

Drow full plate is the best armour in the game, but you can get some with -2 normally. As an elf you can get a base AC of 6-12=-6
Ring of Gaxx=-8 Helm of Balduran=-9 ne AC bonus 5 shield=-14, with Drow armour=-16, potion boost these.

"The Big Metal Unit: A suit of armour, wearable by all characters, with a base Armour Class of -10, that gives the player the size and appearance of an Iron or Adamantite Golem."

Apparently you can get this in ToB if you've done the right things in BG and BG2 SoA. I've only played SoA and ToB so I haven't had the chance to acquire it. Also, I think that even if you had played through from BG1 your chances of acquiring it without outside help (walkthroughs etc) would be extremely small, bordering on non-existant.

isnt it better to dual wield a second sword rather than wielding a shield?

Big Red is right about the "Big Metal Unit." To get it you need the gold pantaloons from the friendly arm in BG, the bronze pantallettes from Abazigals dungeon in ToB, and the silver pantaloons (i dont know where they are). Once ou have all of these, go to the guy in Balthazar's town in ToB who says he works with special materials, and he will make the BMU for you ;)

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Zoltan:
isnt it better to dual wield a second sword rather than wielding a shield?<hr></blockquote>

<font color = "lightgreen">It all depends upon the type of tank you want and what weapons are available. Some weapons, especially vorpal weapons (and who can tell me where the word "vorpal" comes from, eh?), are quite powerful; using them in conjunction with another weapon can be more useful than the protection from a shield. Other tanks make their name by having -15 AC and almost never being hit.</font>