3* armor from merchants are 35kcr!!!
That's way over priced!
Lets take 200ce which is about 18k + 4k + Mats (most likely 500crowns) = 22.500 crowns!
It's not worth buying from merchants, crafting is cheaper!
Now I won't whine about the prices for crafting, because at this point when buying from merchants, you can't refuse crafting.
Heck, people sell blizzbreaker armor for cheaper than 22k, so that proves the community is great!

Now, for the Spiral Plate Mail.
People say it's too OP but it's better than Solid Cobalt Armor even though it's 2*.
Plate mail is called plate mail for a reason: It's tough and very durable and in spiral knights you can say shield are somewhat durable if you know what I mean. But it makes sense for the Spiral Plate Mail to be very strong. The whole point about this part is that you might want to lower how strong it is. Maybe just by 1 bar. :3

You have every right to judge this topic.