Phoenix armor

Phoenix armor is a type of advanced armor introduced by the Royalty DLC that provides excellent temperature resistance and protection against fire, as well as containing a flamebolt launcher at the expense of inflict a move speed penalty. It is a variant of Cataphract armor and forms a full set of armor along with the Cataphract helmet.

Acquisition

Phoenix armor can be crafted at a Fabrication bench once the Cataphract armor research project has been completed. The required techprint can be obtained either by trade or completing quests for the Empire. Each set requires 150 Plasteel, 50 Uranium, 6 Advanced components, 75 Steel, 4 Components, 40 Chemfuel, 75,000 ticks (20.83 mins) of work, and a Crafting skill of 8.

Alternatively, the armor can be received as a quest reward or purchased from traders.^[Which?] It is currently unknown if any pawns or raiders spawn with the armor.^{[Fact Check Needed]}

Summary

5x5 area of effect of the integrated launcher

While less protective against sharp and blunt attacks compared to the base cataphract armor, it is much more protective against Flame and Heat damage and temperature extremes. It also reduces the flammability of the wearer by -0.68. Humans have a base flammability of 70%. This reduces the chance of being set on fire from taking Flame damage from 100% to just 1.4%. This stacks with the reduced chance to take Flame damage in first place offered by the armor's excellent Heat armor value. Note that while the armor value scales with quality, the flammability reduction does not.

When equipped, a phoenix armor reduces the pawn's base move speed by −0.80 c/s. As offsets such as these apply before multiplicative effects such as from Moving capacity, the actual impact on move speed can be larger or smaller than this value. For example, a pawn with 125% Moving would have their speed decreased by −1 c/s, while a pawn with only 50% Moving would only have their speed decreased by −0.4 c/s. See Move Speed for details.

Flamebolt launcher

The armor contains an integrated flamebolt launcher which gives the user the ability to launch up a single large incendiary grenade at will before requiring a reload. This weapon is similar to an incendiary launcher with a shorter range and significantly larger area of effect but does not prevent the wearer from using another weapon nor a utility item.

This incendiary grenade moves slower and has less range than an incendiary launcher but damages and creates a chemfuel puddle 5x5 square rather than a 3x3 cross. One grenade can be launched before the launcher must be reloaded with 40 chemfuel. The reloading process takes 60 ticks (1 sec). The pawn will never automatically use the launcher - instead it must be manually activated by the player by use of the "Launch Incendiary" gizmo, similar to using Utility items. It is unclear if this restriction also applies to NPCs.^{[Fact Check Needed]} This gizmo will only appear when the pawn is drafted.

Similarly to weapons, the damage dealt by the flamebolt launcher of awful, masterwork, and legendary phoenix armor will have a damage quality multiplier of 90%, 125%, and 150% respectively. Meaning that a legendary phoenix armor will deal 15 damage instead of the base 10.

The warmup time before firing the launcher is affected by the Aiming Time stat of the wearer.

Wearing a shield belt prevents firing the flamebolt launcher.

Analysis

This can be useful to give the user flexibility in combat, such as giving snipers a crowd control option. Reducing the impact of fire and the risk of being driven out of cover by inferno cannon-wielding centipedes is a significant boon. Up until masterwork, it is inferior to cataphract unless facing flame-wielding enemies. However at legendary quality, it is likely the best armor in the game for ranged-weapon users as the vast majority of ranged enemies use sharp damage and both Cataphract and Phoenix reach the 200% armor cap at legendary quality. This means that compared to cataphract, the phoenix only loses 9% blunt armor in exchange for significantly improved heat armor, massively improved ignition resistance, and temperature insulation, as well as a niche but still useful flamebolt launcher

The flame damage is small, the single shot is limiting, and a major threat in the late game when the armor is acquired, mechanoids, are completely immune to fire. However the flamebolt launcher is not without merit. It can hit very large swaths of pawns all at once, especially when facing late game raids. The large chemfuel puddle it creates can also be useful to prevent movement through an area.

Stats table

Phoenix armor	Sharp	Blunt	Heat	HP	Insulation - Cold	Insulation - Heat	Market Value
Quality	Sharp	Blunt	Heat	HP	Insulation - Cold	Insulation - Heat	Market Value
Awful	69%	27%	45%	400	-28.8 °C (-51.8 °F)	+80 °C (144 °F)	1740
Poor	92%	36%	60%	400	-32.4 °C (-58.3 °F)	+90 °C (162 °F)	2610
Normal	115%	45%	75%	400	-36 °C (-64.8 °F)	+100 °C (180 °F)	3480
Good	132.25%	51.75%	86.25%	400	-39.6 °C (-71.3 °F)	+110 °C (198 °F)	3980
Excellent	149.5%	58.5%	97.5%	400	-43.2 °C (-77.8 °F)	+120 °C (216 °F)	4480
Masterwork	166.75%	65.25%	108.75%	400	-54 °C (-97.2 °F)	+150 °C (270 °F)	5480
Legendary	207%	81%	135%	400	-64.8 °C (-116.6 °F)	+180 °C (324 °F)	6480

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

Attack table

Phoenix armor			DPS (Optimal)	Market value
Quality	Dam.	AP	DPS (Optimal)	Market value
Awful	9	0%	3.6	1740
Poor	10	0%	4	2610
Normal	10	0%	4	3480
Good	10	0%	4	3980
Excellent	10	0%	4	4480
Masterwork	12.5	0%	5	5480
Legendary	15	0%	6	6480

^{For the full effects of qualities, see Quality.}

Trivia

Phoenix armor may have the most complex single step crafting recipe in the game, with 6 different ingredient types required.

Version history

1.2.2719 - Added.
1.2.2753 - Projectiles are now rendered with a visual arc and ground shadow.
1.3.3066 - Wearing a shield belt now prevents firing the flamebolt launcher. Previously it could be fired but could only target only adjacent squares (including diagonals), meaning that self-immolation was inevitable. However, the heat armor offered by phoenix armor meant that the damage to the user will be small, making it a dangerous but potentially useful option in emergencies.

Incendiary launcher - a weapon with similar stats to the integrated launcher.
Cataphract armor - the base model. Slightly more protective against sharp and blunt, but without the increased heat and temperature resistance and no incendiary launcher.
Prestige cataphract armor - a variant of Cataphract armor that both pleases nobles and improves psychic ability.

Apparel