Armor
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Armor is a type of gear that offers superior protection to clothing, and can be worn over it. Armor tends to carry heavier movement speed penalties than clothing, and usually do not provide good insulation against heat or cold. Default colonist move speed is 4.60 cells per second (c/s).
If left exposed with no roof, armor will deteriorate until it disintegrates. Like clothing, armor also slowly degrades while worn on colonists or when the wearer gets hit.
A colonist wearing any apparel with health between 21% and 50% will get the 'Wearing ratty apparel' thought, and armor is no exception. A colonist wearing any apparel with health 20% or below will get the 'Wearing tattered apparel' thought, replacing the 'worn-out apparel' thought. These thoughts do not stack.
Colonists wearing armor have a chance of outright avoiding all damage from an attack, as the reinforced plates can sometimes utterly deflect a bullet or a melee strike. This will be represented by a "tink" sound and a spark. They may also receive a mitigated blow, for only half of the damage.
The Overview screen has an Outfits tab that manages apparel profiles. The Outfits system provides a way to exclude colonists from wearing damaged apparel that causes mood debuffs.
The Gear tab shows aggregate stats about armor once worn, including total protection and mass. It does not properly show armor rating above 100%, despite their existence.
Armor rating
There are several types of armor ratings;
| Name | Label | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Blunt | Armor - Blunt | Protection against blunt damage like club attacks, rock falls, and explosions. |
| Piercing | Armor - Piercing | Protection against piercing damage like bullets, knife stabs, and animal bites. |
| Heat | Armor - Heat | Protection against temperature-related damage like burns. |
Each point of armor gives a chance to harmlessly deflect damage, and another separate chance to mitigate it, instead receiving half the damage as blunt damage. This is calculated as follows:
- The armor rating is reduced by the armor penetration value, dependent on the weapon.
- The remaining armor rating is then compared against a random number from 0 to 100:
- If the random number is under half the armor rating, the damage deflects harmlessly.
- If the random number is over half the armor rating, but not higher than the armor rating, the damage is mitigated.
- If the random number is greater than the armor rating, the armor has no effect.
- Maximum armor rating is at 200%.
Armor is calculated per piece of apparel, from the outside in. Armor mitigation does stack multiplicatively, e.g. 2 pieces of clothing or armor will mitigate damage twice for 25% damage.
Each effective armor point below 100% results in a net 0.75% reduction in damage, while each point above results in a 0.25% reduction. This means that at 200% effective armor rating, colonists will be completely immune to damage; this currently works only on heat damage which lacks armor penetration, if modded armor is worn.
Note that armor does not stop weapons with sufficient stopping power from staggering colonists, even if the damage is deflected.
In Beta 18 or earlier:
- Each point of armor from 1 - 50% reduces damage by 1%.
- Each point of armor between 51 - 100% provides a 1% chance to not take damage.
- Each point of armor beyond 100% reduces damage by 0.25% and gives a 0.25% chance to not take damage.
- Total protection is capped at 90% damage reduction and 90% deflect chance (i.e. 260% armor rating).
Durability
Apparel, including armor, take damage when it gets hit and blocks damage for the wearer. It takes a constant fraction of incoming damage instead of absorbing all prevented damage, so high-quality armor lasts about the same time as low-quality armor.
Clothing Layers
Each item of apparel or utility gear is worn on a specific location of the wearer's body. That location is determined by two things:
- The body part groups it covers.
- The layer or layers it occupies.
Apparel combinations are limited by layer and coverage - an item cannot be worn with another item that covers the same body parts and on the same layer. Thus, items covering the same parts but on different layers are compatible, as are items on the same layer but with no overlap in coverage. Items that cover multiple layers conflict with items on all layers.
Layers are also used to determine the order in which armor calculations are performed, with the outermost layer's armor applying first, and progressing through the layers until the attack is stopped or there are no more layers.
The layers, from innermost to outermost, are:
- Skin: The closest layer to the body, and mostly used for apparel below the head.
- Middle: The second closest layer to the body, and mostly used for apparel below the head.
- Outer: The third layer from the body, and mostly used for apparel below the head. Note that it will be displayed on the pawn's sprite above all other layers, even though it is considered below the following layers for actual mechanical effects.
- Belt: Technically the fourth layer. A distinct layer for utility items to allow them to be worn alongside any other apparel but not with each other.
- Headgear: The fifth layer, and used for headwear. There are several items that cover body parts typically covered by the other layers however, in which case this will be above them.
- Eyes: The outermost layer. A distinct layer only used for the blindfold
to allow it to be worn alongside headwear.
Which body parts currently have items that occupy each of the layers is shown in the table on the below; layers and body parts which are not currently used by gear were omitted. As such, the hands and feet which are not covered by any apparel or any layer, are omitted.
| Body Part Group | Coverage | Skin | Middle | Outer | Headgear | Eyes | Belt | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full Head | Head, Ears, Nose, Jaw, Eyes | × | 
| |||||
| Upper Head | Head, Ears | × | ||||||
| Eyes | Eyes | × | ||||||
| Shoulders | Left & Right Shoulders | × | × | × | ||||
| Arms | Left & Right Arm | × | × | × | ||||
| Torso | Torso | × | × | × | ||||
| Waist | Waist | × | ||||||
| Neck | Neck | × | × | × | × | |||
| Legs | Left & Right Leg | × | × | × |
Examples
- You can't wear pants as well as tribalwear, since both cover the "skin" layer and cover the legs.
- You can wear pants and a button-down shirt, since while they both use the "skin" layer they don't cover the same parts.
- You can wear pants and a duster, since while they both cover the legs pants use the "skin" layer while a duster uses the "outer" layer.
Middle Layer
Flak vest
A basic plate, strapped to a colonist's or raider's chest to protect their torso from gunshots and some other injuries.
Middle and On skin layer
Flak pants
A pair of pants with armor plates sewn in.
Middle and Shell Layers
Plate armor
Heavy armor. Not advised for 24/7 wearing on colonists due to the movement speed penalty.
Marine armor
Armor like this is often used by rapid-incursion space marines.
Durable but heavy armor. Not advised for 24/7 wearing on colonists due to the movement speed penalty.
Over Head Layer
Simple helmet
Cheap, but bulky protection for one's noggin. Can be made out of various materials to potentially improve durability and therefore lifetime. Less protective than an advanced Helmet.
Advanced helmet
Mid-tier headgear that provides better protection than the simple helmet. Companion to the Armor Vest.
Power armor helmet
Advanced, but uncomfortable. It is currently the only helmet that covers the entire face.
Psychic foil helmet
Great protection against mind-reading lizard men. Not so great at stopping bullets.
Waist Layer
Shield belt
A shield belt is most effective for melee combatants to allow them to close ground on a ranged attacker with little risk of taking weapons fire. Shields block attacks from Spike traps as if they were ranged attacks.
Smokepop belt
Once hit, releases a cloud which reduces the hit chance of any projectile passing through it by 70%. Affects friend and foe. Does not affect melee.