@JeremyECrawford When the rules for making an attack or casting a spell talk about targeting an object, is it implied that it's an unattended object, or it possible to target someone's armor/shield directly with an attack in an attempt to damage/break it?

— Armando Doval (@armando_doval) January 29, 2018

Is this balanced, in practice? When facing someone in Plate with a Shield (AC 21) mightn’t it trivialize the fight to target and destroy their armor (AC19, 10hp)? Negating worn armor for the low cost of one weapon attack seems incredibly powerful. You'll be happy to know that few things in the game do this.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 30, 2018

The base rules for damaging objects don’t specify unattended, so any character or monster can do it with a basic attack. Am I missing something? Those rules are entirely in the DM's hands. Using those rules, the DM is encouraged to rule that certain types of attacks/damage do nothing to certain objects. Those rules don't provide a foolproof way to wreck plate.

— Jeremy Crawford (@JeremyECrawford) January 30, 2018