was decorative armor saved only for festivals and parades, or did some ballsy nobleman ever take it into battle?
Yes. The ridiculously decorated Negroli helmets are hardened, just like regular battle helmets and are cited by Tobias Capwell as an example of armour being decorated to the point of it reducing its effectiveness as protection.
The "Lion Armour" still has sword and battle damage visible.
>>915511
more likely than not
>>915511
People don't change much. I'm sure that throughout history, there have been a few rich idiots who went into battle with those things despite someone telling them it was an idiotic idea.
>>915511
Nobel men would often use decorated armor mainly beacuse it wpuld signify their noble birth, meaning that if they lost the battle (and failed to escape) they wouldent be killed, they would be treated very well and then get ransomed off
Basically decorated armor was away to say hey dont kill me im worth alot of money
>>915511
Decorative crests on top of the helm and painted armor were pretty common IIRC.