All I use is a straw hat, the monk robe, turkish boots, and leather gloves.
Usually it is fine to use cloth armor if you have high agility and athletics so you can dodge arrows and cavalry. I have 24 AGI 8 athletics.
It's actually a difficult challenge to learn how to survive and be effective with cloth armor. You have to know your surroundings and obstacles on the map, when to take cover, where to take cover; plan your attack point, and study the location of your enemies.
Feel free to engage in melee combat but if cavalry or ranged pay attention to you, try to find a safe place to avoid them and choose your next target. It helps to learn how to manual block effectively to avoid taking melee hits. And last of all, try to stay a safe distance away from the point where your allies and enemies meet in combat (the chokepoint). Flank around the main infantry group and take out the lone stragglers one at a time. It's crucial to pay attention to the battlefeild because just 1 hit could be an instant KO.
If your AGI is lower than about 15 or atheltics lower than 5, you will find it extraordinarily hard to master survival in cheap armor.
If you care about K/D I reccomend you dont even try it. Consider it like a turtle trying to cross the street.
