Armour System Discussion

[Fenodyree]

There are some serious problems with our armour system.

I'll start with the TL:DR.

Armour is too weak when it is low, too strong when it is high, doesn't respect armour piercing properly, has no random variation and is completely unintuitive.

How much the armour reduces damage is calculated by adding together damage and armour piercing, then comparing it to the armour value.

If the damage + AP value is equal to the armour, the damage is reduced by 50%.

If the damage + AP is greater than the armour, the damage is reduced by less. If the damage + AP is 20 points more than the armour, the armour has no effect at all.

If the damage + AP is less than the armour, the damage is reduced by more. The damage is never reduced to zero, but if the damage is half the armour, damage is reduced by 85%.

 

This is needlessly complex and introduces some serious problems. No one without actively code diving can possibly intuit how their armour is working.

 

Which should be better at killing someone in heavy armour? An armour piercing rifle round, or a regular rifle round?

The answer is usually the regular round.

 

Because damage is equal to armour piercing in the calculation damage is flat better.

Example, a shotgun slug 60 damage, 0 AP, hits 60 points of armour.

The damage and AP equal the armour, 50% reduction.

60 / 2 = 30. Target takes 30 damage.

Compared to an a65 rifle round. (DNAC rifle)

30 damage, 30 AP, hits 60 points of armour.

The damage and AP equal the armour, 50% reduction.

30 / 2 = 15. Target takes 15 damage.

An armour piercing rifle round is half as good as a shotgun slug. Famously, not very good at penetrating armour.

 

Then there's the problem where armour is rapidly either useless or too strong.

That same a56 round, hitting a hazard hardsuit. The armour does not reduce the damage at all.

 

This is even worse for antagonists. There is no reason to ever wear any armour but combat armour, or a merc hardsuit.

Midlasers (laser rifle, carbine), 30 damage, 20 AP. Vs chameleon armour, 30 laser armour. Armour does nothing.

5.56 Polymer (security carbines) 25 damage, 34 AP. Vs chameleon armour, 40 bullet armour. Armour does nothing.

 

Then lefts flip the table around. Strong armour is far too good against weak attacks.

10mm and 9mm SMG, (merc smgs, security smgs) 20 damage, 15 AP, vs Combat Armour. Armour reduces the damage to 3.3.

This would be acceptable if there was some random variation, simulating weak spots in armour, strong strike faces of your plates. But armour is a monolith that covers every milimeter of a limb.

Therefore, if you're against combat armour with an SMG, your only option is to aim for the hands or feet.

If your opponent is in a hardsuit, go for the disarm. It's better than your gun.

 

So those are the problems. What should we do about it?

1. Reduce the amount that being over/under the armour value matters. It should be near to a flat % reduction, except at extreme values. Armour should never do nothing.
2. Reduce the amount that damage matters in the armour penetration calculation. Perhaps 50% of the damage is added to AP for it's effective value.
3. Introduce some randomness into the calculation. This simulates weak/strong spots in armour. High coverage armour like hardsuits can have less variation.

These three points are all relatively easy to implement into our current armour component system. Just some variable changes and an additional bounded random check.

This system makes it understandable to players, high armour value is better, always. 50 armour is close enough to 50% reduction that people understand it.

 

I understand that a more comprehensive armour rework is underway for NBT2. With armour having health and the possibility to be degraded by repeat hits.

But that's a long way off. The current system is unintuitive enough that it seems like a bug when it's working as intended.

Here's the spreadsheet used in these calculations.

Armor_Table(4).xlsx

[SeniorScore]

I think this displays a truly odd binary for armor either being worthless or insanely good, with not a lot of gradient. I think removing the damage from AP calculations is a good first step to bringing these things in line before some further on armor rework.