my loomed helmets have saved me time after time from being headshot by longrange shit. At close range, true, you will probably still die, but catching an unlucky arrow across the map at round start and having to wait up to 5 mins to play again because you didnt have a nice loomed helmet is a bad trade off. I would loom, if I started today again: Gloves, Helmet, Body, Horse or weapon then boots. Unless of course you are a ranger, in which case, Weapon, ammo, gloves, sidearm, head, body, boots.
But having said that, i regularly play unarmoured because I like that feeling, one mistake and Im brown bread, and I often play with random weapons and armour, no looms, cause tbh, if you cannot play without looms you wont be able to play with them, they arent so Uber Win.
Ultimately: style > effectiveness. Loom what you think looks cool. I have loomed Leather Armour, shortsword, I had throwing daggers and javelins. Currently Im looking to loom a Round Cav shield, cause its so cute and small.
GAMEPLAY aside: look at history, when you see the earliest pictures of men at arms and archers, they dont all have maille on, but they all have a nice bascinet on their heads: Protect the head, its where you keep your most powerful weapon, the brain.
