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In D&D 4e, is a proficiency in leather and/or hide sufficient to wear studded leather? Or are these distinct base armor types? I am finding conflicting sources of information.

For some background, a Bard Tiefling wants to wear studded armor.

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No, it is not sufficient.

A character using Studded Leather armor would need the feat Armor Proficiency: Studded Leather. Without that feat the character would take a -2 on all to hit rolls as well as to Reflex.

A prerequisite of that feat is Armor Proficiency: Hide Armor.

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Next time I have a question about whether a proficiency covers a certain type of weapon/armor, should I just look at the list of proficiency feats in the compendium and if one exists for that weapon/armor then assume it is needed? I want to make sure I don't need to bother rpg.SE again with a question like this. – user2525 Aug 3 '12 at 13:25
@user2525 - you can check the compendium or the book that the item was released in. – Pat Ludwig Aug 3 '12 at 14:46
Yes, the online compendium is great for running things like this down (You can see the pre-reqs and then easily search the pre-req feat's pre-reqs). Another exampel would be Full Plate proficiency which has its own unique little bonus. If your players are of a high enough level there may be a masterwork armor that does almost the same thing as studded and wouldn't cost them a feat. – Joshua Aslan Smith Aug 3 '12 at 14:52
@JoshuaAslanSmith - studded has the interesting "tough" (ignore the first crit) property. It seems pretty sweet. – Pat Ludwig Aug 3 '12 at 15:03
In the compendium, the item "studded leather" is listed as "Type: Leather" without mention of prerequisites. How come? – user2525 Aug 3 '12 at 15:06
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