Armor 3.0; Variations & Permutations (Idea Dump Series)

[(PSN)VagueWisdom]

Table of Contents:

Armor 3.0 With Mathematical Solutions Included (Idea Dump Series)

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Creating difficulty without using level scaling as a means of creating objectively stronger enemies. In a skill based game, the importance of using mechanics as a means of creating difficulty comes above positively scaling statistics. In the case of this topic, I use net neutral scaling, as opposed to the net positive scaling we have currently, since we're trying to maintain balance around the armor mechanics of Warframe. This topic aims to create ways to make endless runs & other end-game activities difficult without level scaling.

A lot of the ideas here are inspired by my previous experience & understanding of the military. I'll be taking real world examples of armor, as well as contributing sci-fi armors, & suggesting them as the variations & permutations of the armor mechanic in Warframe. They >do not< need to be called the same thing. They >don't< even need to necessarily be as complex as how I outline/describe it.

All this topic needs to do, is create an opportunity to replace level scaling as the means of making enemies tanky. Yes, this will only affect the defensive armor characteristics of enemies. Ultimately, enemies as we currently know them will need more than just the suggestions in this topic to make them difficult enough to warrant removing their level scaling. As I add more topics associated with this one, I'll be adding them to the Table of Contents at the top.

New Mechanics

Armors will completely fail at varying levels of integrity. Integrity is defined as the percentage of remaining armor value over the initial/max armor value, as a fraction/decimal/percentage. Some will fail at upwards of 30% of initial max values. Some will fail at 5%, & maybe even less. In special cases, not at all, lasting all the way to .01%.

Armor is considered an object separate from the wearer. Some armors will fully cover the user. Some will only cover certain parts of the body (usually heavy plate), important areas like the head (helmet or mask). upper chest which may sometimes include the rest of the torso (breastplate), & the limbs & joints (braces, greaves, guards, & spaulders). Heavy plate armor can fully cover the body if it is form fit & riveted, but that's more difficult & saved for those who need/deserve it (spec ops, ordnance, & field bosses). If the armor is heavy (high armor value), the wearer will usually move slower (think back to WoW, a rogue/assassin will move faster than a soldier/warrior). Spec ops, ordnance units & field bosses are the only potential exceptions to becoming slower, built to be large & last, having the strength & design to maintain mobility, but sent out sparingly (low rate of appearance in the level).

If the damage reduction granted by armor is above 85-90% (can't decide on this), it will nullify damage completely, taking that full damage until the armor value decreases to a point that the resistance is below those percentages.

Instead of scaling endlessly, armor is made diverse such that there's always a variant that suites a situation. The armor values don't change. The only aspects that change are the resistances, weaknesses, & the newly introduced failure threshold.

Base Armor Types

• Metal, Pure or Alloyed

This is a standard mass produced armor. Though armor/weapon grade metal isn't as accessible as non-metals, it is easier to form & refine, & that makes it cheaper & more favorable. It has good resistances against physical damage (IPS), & moderate element resistance. Even though it doesn't defend against elements as well, it isn't the worst against them, & being alloyed can improve its resistance, though it's more difficult to make & only really shifts the weaknesses to other elements (this shifting can be played with in the game's coded statistics). When damaged, metal armor is usually able to deform very well, failing at an integrity of 15%. Because of their utilitarian nature, this is the go to armor class, the common choice, for the Grineer.

• Polymer Plate

This class of armor is constructed primarily with complex plastic based molecules that may or may not incorporate varying amounts of standard metals. Its behavior is more resilient than ceramic class armor, with more deformation being achieved before crumbling apart, but not as much deformation as wrought steel & alloys. It has good physical resistance & good element resistance. This is because fine plastics can be given a greater degree of non-reactivity than raw metal, at the cost of failing at a higher integrity, 20-25%. Because of the difficulty of manufacture, the Corpus have greater access to this class of armor, though they will usually prefer shields for *special reasons* (Shield rework topic to be added). The Grineer are capable of creating this armor, though they are usually put off by the greater difficulty of fabricating it, though it is still readily accessible, just not as much as metal armor. The Grineer will use it when necessary.

• Ceramic/Glass/Crystal

This class of armor is made from light elements that can be formed into either a layered structure (ceramic or glass) or a crystal structure (glass or actual crystal). It has the strongest resistance to many (in the case of ceramic), most (in the case of glass), or almost all if not entirely all (in the case of crystal) element damage. It is also fairly strong (for ceramic or glass), or very strong (for glass or crystal) against physical damage. The consequence is that it is more difficult to make than even the polymer class, & fails at an integrity ranging from 30-45% (ceramic on the low end, crystal on the high end). The Corpus again have greater access to these armors than the Grineer, but again prefer shielding systems, so they use it only when necessary. The Grineer can make ceramics & glass, but they're barely capable of making it form fit &/or riveted, & crystal is nigh impossible for them to make at all.

• Composite

This class is basically a hybrid of all the previous heavy armors. It's a multi layered armor for greater diversity in resistances & weaknesses. This is the JOAT of heavy armor, but master of none.

• Rubber, Leather, Wood, Fiber, Silk, Cloth, Weave (Synthetic or Natural)

Think of old age padded leather & cloth (natural type), & modern kevlar & rubber (synthetic type). This is light armor. It doesn't resist physical damage very well over the heavier armors, but it fails at an integrity of 5-8%, being more consistent over a longer period of battle. It is also as diverse as the composite class, having varying resistances to physical & element damage, but it always involves trade-offs. Synthetic types are used by those who are fortunate to have the technology. Natural types are use by those who aren't (see Ostron), forced to rely on old-age artisan expertise to try to come just a little closer to the synthetic variation, but never quite getting there without that same technology or outside help. Natural wood is usually very flimsy, but someone must have a repository for all the organisms of the pre-Orokin eras (Australian Buloke I read is tough).

The Orokin trees are technically synthetic wood, & is very strong, otherwise the Grineer would have killed it, easy, so it is very hard to use as armor because it is so tough. It's not that it's stronger than steel. It's that it comes close, & when damaged it grows back. But... once an Ostron or other civil artisan comes around & finds a way, props, though it *might* be dead & unable to grow back.

Modifiers

• Gel

This applies only to light armor. This is a high viscosity fluid. Very thick & slow. It utilizes a principle known as "shear thickening" to protect against sudden impacts (physical damage). It is applied to &/or contained by light armor & is given the "Gelled" prefix in-game. It improves the physical resistances of affected light armor substantially, at the cost of greater elemental weaknesses. It's still pretty diverse, so pay attention. The same element won't work as well every time. The failure integrity threshold also decreases. Only the resistances & weaknesses change. This also closes the gap between natural & synthetic light armor (boon to the Ostron).

• Reactive Armor (only one can be used at a time, *except thickening type*)

There are a few types of this, & they're all quite ingenious. They are only contained by the heavy armor categories, where the armor is always plated, & never riveted, or scaled. The main reason that they're used is that they either completely demolish projectiles, unlike normal armor, or they enhance the effects of normal armor. The normal armor that contains these mechanisms is usually* weaker than normal because these features take up space, & because of that, their use is mostly* limited to equipment & heavy ordnance such as vehicles & fortifications, & over-sized field bosses (like Vay Hek), who usually have a ton of armor anyway, so they have plenty of space to give for reactive systems. They usually* have a limitation associated with them, such as a limited number of uses, a power source that can run out, can only be activated for a short duration, or reducing the armor value more than another reactive type would.

Explosive type is used to nullify the damage of would be impact points completely, 1-3 times, within a specific area that it covers. After the explosives are used, it defaults to whatever the containing armor is. Try to trick the system into using multiple charges quickly with seemingly simple damage sources.

Electric type vaporizes projectiles. It works by having two separate layers, & when a projectile goes past the first layer & contacts the second layer, an "electric circuit" is created, causing the projectile to either vaporize, or become magnetically bound between the two layers, because those electrons really, REALLY, want a place to go, & it's through the projectile that generously created a circuit for them. Because of the principle of that process, it only really works on physical projectiles capable of penetrating the first layer. Each of the two separate layers function like a doubled up set of armor. The armor used >must be electrically conductive<. Electric reactive armor is favored by space bound units, trying to diminish the strength of our BFG archguns. Find a way to destroy the first layer without actively penetrating it, or use cold, electric, &/or magnetic damage to drain or overload the battery, but be careful with electric & magnetic, as some systems can siphon them as power (these more advanced systems are less common, but their batteries can be overloaded).

Magnetic type attempts to redirect projectiles with a magnetic field. It works better on ferromagnetic projectiles, & even then, if the projectile still connects, the damage is only reduced & not entirely eliminated. Basically, accuracy against users of this system is reduced, forcing players to go for pot shots instead of pinpoint shots against weak points. The downside is that the user is also less accurate. Pure cold damage works best against this system (more accurate & the damage isn't as reduced). Magnetic damage is at risk of being absorbed into the user's field, temporarily strengthening the field (increased size &/or effect).

Thickening type is strengthened from impacts, with the increased strength radiating out from the hit & diminishing. The impact point itself becomes weaker, but the surrounding area becomes stronger against physical damage. It only works on physical damage, not elements. This armor is capable of being worn by normal individuals & soldiers. It is excessively used by the Grineer to make up for their lack of technology in other areas, & to bolster their vast stock & use of metal type armor. This armor design only works on >metal type armor<, but it can be combined with the other reactive armors. Try to hit the same place more than once to defeat this armor.

Motion type uses surface motion to reduce damage consistently. It can be active indefinitely when used by heavy & over-sized ordnance & field bosses. Try to disrupt the electrical systems powering the motion to defeat this armor (magnetic & electric).

Vaporizing type is extremely situational. When energy beams, pulses, & plasma contact this armor, the impact vaporizes into a cloud of dust that disperses the energy. This armor is polymer, composite, or possibly* ceramic. The downside is further reduced armor value. This can be used by individual soldiers & grunts.

Mirror type is similar to vaporizing, except it reflects the beam entirely. It doesn't work on plasma pulses, only works up to a certain amount of beam damage before it melts or shatters, & is extremely flimsy against all other damage. This can be used by individual soldiers & grunts.

Absorbing type uses the energy of beams & other pure energy sources to power other systems. This is not very accessible to the Grineer as it is difficult to make, but the Corpus might use it if they feel their shields aren't cutting it. When used by Grineer, it's just a solid plate, waiting to be hit, & it doesn't deal with physical & raw cold & corrosive damage very well, & it can be overloaded because the energy transfer is slow. If used by the Corpus, they get creative. Corpus units that use absorbing reactive armor can potentially, but not always, take the form of floating drones of various abstract shapes, like discs, rings, & rectangular prisms, that are deployed as a team, where one drone takes hits to start spinning from the momentum (higher damage, higher momentum), & the others surround it to use magnetic induction from that motion to gain power. If an element is used against the drones, at least one or two of them is specialized to absorb raw energy just like the absorbing plates used by Grineer. Try using raw cold & corrosive damage against these drones. If that's not possible, remember that they can still only take so much damage, they can only move so fast, & that they're a team of separate drones. Separate them. (The absorption drone team is an ordnance & Spec Ops unit, so only expect them in endless missions & events).

Individual soldiers can utilize reactive armor by wielding shields armed with those systems. Explosive reactive shields, electric reactive shields, spinning motion shields etc. etc., but they are that much more limited by their size, with more limitations, such as electric reactive shields having limited battery, & spinning reactive shields are more vulnerable at the axis of their spin (the center) & can only move for a limited duration at a time (motor cool down). Rollers can utilize their motors to spin in place to reduce damage & deflect solid projectiles.

• Scaled Armor

This applies to heavy armor only. Think chain mail & reptile/fish scales. Small flat discs or other plates are linked & overlap each other. This armor design exists because it's easier to form fit over the body than riveted plates & plates in general, & allows more mobility (users are faster). It is more difficult to make than riveted plate, but easier to make than form fit shaped plates, & lasts longer (failure integrity threshold increases modestly). Because there is more surface area, the strengths & weaknesses are increased somewhat (I suggest ~20% at base). The size of the discs affects the failure integrity threshold, where numerous smaller scales last longer than larger ones, but are harder to manufacture & thus less common, & further amplify the strengths & weaknesses (capped at 50% or 2.5x the base of 20%). It is usually used by Spec Ops light units, but is sometimes worn under heavier plate for heavy units.

• Foam Armor

This applies to heavy armor only. Foam armor is the use of air pockets to increase the resilience of armor in some respects, but weakening them in others. The degree of change in the resistances & weaknesses is affected by how much air is in the plate. The weight of the plate goes down as well because less solid material is being used, offering a modest boost in mobility.

Minimum values:

90% weight of solid plate; 10% lighter

Minimum integrity can be 10% lower before failure

11% greater resistances & weaknesses

Maximum values:

5% weight of solid plate; 95% lighter

Minimum integrity can be 95% lower before failure

2000% greater resistances & weaknesses (you read that right; that's 2k%)

Maximum values bestow a movement speed buff of 15-25% that scales downward with the values.

Other rules of foam is that as the values get closer to the maximum (5% weight) the boosts almost* always end up transforming physical damage weaknesses into resistances, & elemental resistances into weaknesses. This is because there is more surface area for elements to react with, & the physical mechanics of gyroids (google 'gyroid research') prevent physical damage no matter the direction or type. However, if physical damage is obscenely high, or the physical damage is the result of a kinetic beam, the armor will still be overwhelmed. There is a maximum cap of physical damage that can be nullified by foam armor before it will still inevitably fail, & instantly & explosively at that (yet to be determined, but will probably scale with the max armor value, coupled with the foam values, respective to the enemy). One example of a kinetic beam is Opticor, & an example of obscenely high physical damage is melee weapons (people don't usually know this, but the energy behind the swing of a warhammer is higher than the energy in the flying projectiles of small caliber firearms, but that also explains why our heavy melee weapons have such high physical damage stats even when compared to snipers). That said, solid plates have the benefit of having a higher max cap before instant failure, but this mechanic of solid plate is only really noticeable against gigantic enemies, because against individual grunts, the armor value is too small for such a feature to take effect.

• Nanite Armor

Composed of nanites. Is used mostly* by Warframes, Infested, Sentient, & Orokin remnants. Can regenerate, but is slow to do so (certain abilities & equipment can improve that). Nanite armor can take characteristics of any armor category, except most of the reactive types. There is no failure threshold. There is no max damage cap before instant failure. This armor fully covers users, form fitting, & only limits mobility by how much weight (armor value) it takes.

• Adaptive Nanite

Utilized by Sentients, Amalgams, & certain Warframes exclusively. As it is attacked, it will transform between every aspect over every armor category, but still excluding most of the reactive types. However, it still has upper limits, & >cannot< be resistant or immune to everything at once. Adaptive nanites must choose a specific formation that will always have its strengths & weaknesses. There is a best formation, & that best formation is Diamondoid Crystal Foam, but takes a very long time to be achieved, even by Sentients, because diamond requires so much pressure that they have to generate it within specialized "fabricator cells" that are always forced to maintain a variable environment so that they can create other things as well, & thus are kept deep within their outer shells, limiting transport of the diamond as well. The reason Sentients don't just show up like that all the time is because diamond is extremely nonreactive & barely contributes to the biological processes required to keep them alive, & fabricating diamond is a major drain to their internal energy/fuel/reactors, not to mention that whenever a Sentient adapts, it is sacrificing its own material. All of those negatives to diamond combine to cause their movement to become sluggish (they are becoming turtles basically). Also, Sentients are so effective at war-making that the other factions are too pathetically weak before them to warrant the use of diamond. So, if the player fails to dispatch a Sentient fast enough, they will try to form diamond depending on how the player tries to battle them, but they really don't like it & are only doing it for survival because they know the danger of the Tenno. As for Amalgams, because they are Sentients hybridized with normal creatures, their adaptive process is much slower, but for certain it does still exist.

• Additional Rules Of Armor

As I mentioned in the Foam section, armor has a max damage cap before it spectacularly evaporates instantly. The max damage cap on 5% weight foam is very low, so if a railgun like Lanka or Velocitus is present, or it takes a good ol' blow by a warhammer, it shatters. This is because less mass is less mass, & that means that it will store less vibrational energy. Gyroids do not vibrate as well as solids, especially when made of things that are already brittle to begin with. This max cap also changes based on how light the foam is & how much air the foam has. Solid plates on the other hand have extremely high max damage caps before instant failure, but that cap is so high, as I stated before, it doesn't become apparent until going up against the gigantic & colossal enemies. When it comes to the Death Star (Balor Fomorian) though, when it comes to armor, the best bet is to choose a spot to bore a hole into & kill it from the inside (using Omega Isotopes against the Fomorian is infinitely easier though). This effect scales with the currently available armor value, coupled with the foam values, & possibly the minimum threshold as well (such that the max damage cap on crystal foam is higher than metal foam).

The foam & scaled modifiers can exist together. & plated foam can be used with the reactive types.

Multiple armor types can be layered. I mentioned before that heavy units might wear light armor under heavier plate. This is possible, but the individual layers are weaker (less max armor value), it slows the wearer further, or both, than if they chose one or the other.

Edited December 9, 2019 by (PS4)VagueWisdom