Mass Effect Character Armor

Armor and Suits

Combat hard-suits are a dual-layer system to protect the wearer. The inner layer consists of fabric armor with kinetic padding. Areas that don't need to be flexible, such as the chest or shins, are reinforced with sheets of a lightweight ablative ceramic called Dura-Tanium. Dura-Tanium, or Durable Titanium Alloy, is a thin mesh that is strong and light. It is applied in layers on the non-flexible parts of armors. Because Dura-Tanium gets stronger with each layer, it can be used in all types of armors: from non-restrictive "scout armors" that offer some defense and no movement penalties, to heavy "juggernaut" armors that can stop a large powered round, but reduced movement. The downside to Dura-Tanium is its tendency to disrupt signals from Biotic Amps or interfere with Omni-Tools at higher layers. Therefore, most Biotics and Tech Specialists abhor the heavier armors, while soldiers and those that don't use Biotics or Tech Talents employ the heavier suits. The outer layer consists of automatically-generated kinetic barriers.

Kinetic barriers, commonly called "shields", provide against most mass accelerator weapons. Whether on a starship or a soldier's suit of armor, the basic principle remains the same. Kinetic barriers are repulsive mass effect fields projected from tiny emitters. These kinetic barriers safely deflect small objects traveling at rapid velocities. This affords protections from bullets and other dangerous projects, but still allows the user to sit down without knocking away their chair. The shielding afforded by kinetic barriers does not protect against extremes of temperature, toxins or radiation. Armored combat suits are sealable to protect the wearer from extremes of temperature and atmosphere. All armors and combat suits have three weapon hardpoints two at the back of the armor and one at the hip. More weapons have to be carried in a backpack. Standard armor has 4 grenade slots. Any other grenades have to be carried in a backpack or on a special upgrade.

Damage Protection and Kinetic Barriers

All armors have two basic stats:

Damage Protection or DR, is the number added to your own DR whenever you suffer damage, whether it be from a sword, shotgun or even a fist.

KB or Kinetic Barriers, is the number added when you suffer damage from certain sources, such as a ranged weapon, shrapnel from an explosion, or other high velocity projectiles.

When you take damage from a source that activates kinetic barriers, you add your own Damage Resistance, Damage Resistance of the Armor and Kinetic Barriers to resist the damage.

The kinetic barriers work like additional hit points that you subtract before even your DR’s are applied. When your KB drop to 0 they fail and offer no more protection. But don’t worry the barriers will regenerate after time. Unmodded barriers on character armors restore at a rate of 3 per round if you are not taking damage. You must last 2 rounds without taking damage for the regeneration to begin. For example, if your character is wearing a Field Vest that offers +3 DR and +3KB and gets hit by a shotgun blast for 15 damage. You add your DR(let’s say 3) and your armors DR (in this case 3) and KB (also 3). You suffer 6 damage and your kinetic barriers lose fail. You now have 0 KB. If you don't take any damage in the next 2 rounds, at the end of the 2nd round you regain 3 of your kinetic barriers and can then add it to before taking next damage.

Armor Classes and Types

Modern armors fall into three classes based on how many layers of Dura-Tanium is used, how many kinetic barrier batteries they carry and the resulting weight that comes with it. Within these classes are different types of based on how much of the body they protect, what extra abilities are standard issue.

Armor – Is worn mostly on class M worlds where no suits are needed. The armor provides total body cover from head to toe, it has 5 weapon hardpoints to which the weapons may be latched to. It is very rare for a civilian to carry armor, on most capital worlds you will need to possess a license to wear one.

Light - Armor in this category have relatively few layers of Dura-Tanium and a low number of shield emitters, resulting in lower weight and more flexibility in movement, no Biotic Amp signal degradation and no Omni-Tool lag.

Medium - Dura-Tanium layers and Shield emitters are higher in this category causing higher weights and impaired movements, Biotic Amp signal degradation and lag with Omni-Tools.

Heavy - With the most layers of Dura-Tanium and the highest number of emitters, these armors are inflexible and cause heavy Biotic Amp signal degradation and large Omni-Tool lag.

Combat Suits - With a helmet that can be sealed against vacuum with 1 hour of breathable atmosphere standard, protection for the torso, shoulders, upper and lower arms, hands thighs and shins, and boots that can be magnetized in zero G environments. Suits can be also divided into light, medium and heavy.

Armor Table

Armor	Manufacturer	C	DR	KB	Tech/Biotic	MS	Human	Salarian	Krogan	Quarian	Turian	Price
Thermal	Devlon Industries	L	3	3	0	1			turians only			1,000
Agent	Aldin Labs	L	5	4	0	1			turians only			6,000
Liberator	Devlon Industries	L	3	4	0	2	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	2,500
Hydra	Aldin Labs	L	3	6	0	1	Yes	Yes	-	-	-	3,000
Duelist	Elanus Risk Control	L	6	6	0	1	Yes	Yes	-	-	Yes	12,000
Guardian	Elanus Risk Control	M	7	3	-3Dex/Str,-6Bi/Tc	1	Yes	Yes	Yes	-	Yes	15,000
Mercenary	Ariake Technologies	M	7	6	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	1	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	13,000
Mantis	Hahne-Kedar	M	7	9	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	1	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	15,000
Scorpion	Hahne-Kedar	M	8	9	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	2	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	20,000
Ursa	Hahne-Kedar	H	9	9	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	22,000
Titan	Rosenkov Materials	H	12	6	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	28,000

Combat Suit Table

Armor	Manufacturer	C	DR	KB	Tech/Biotic	MS	Human	Salarian	Krogan	Quarian	Turian	Price
Explorer	Devlon Industries	L	3	3	0	0	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	2,500
Survivor	Devlon Industries	L	3	4	0	1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	5,500
Onyx	Aldrin Labs	L	3	5	0	1	Yes	-	Yes	Yes	Yes	7,000
Phoenix	Sirta Foundation	L	3	7	0	1	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	8,000
Ajax	Cerberus Skunkworks	L	6	8	0	2			humans only			Unknown
Predator	Hahne-Kedar	L	6	9	0	2	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	16,000
Assassin	Elkoss Combine	L	7	9	0	2	Yes	Yes	-	-	Yes	24,000
Infiltrator	Aldrin Labs	L	7	6	0	2	Yes	-	-	Yes	Yes	22,000
Silverback	Hahne-Kedar	M	8	9	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	2			turians only			19,000
Gladiator	Elkoss Combine	M	8	9	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	2	Yes	Yes	-	-	-	34,000
Phantom	Serrice Council	M	8	12	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	3			turians only			30,000
Assault	Cerberus Skunkworks	M	9	10	-6Dex/Str,-9Bi/Tc	3			turians only			Unknown
Terminus	Batarian State Arms	H	9	12	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2			batarians only			25,000
Inferno	Kassa Fabricaton	H	9	9	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2	Yes	Yes	-	-	-	40,000
N7	Systems Alliance	H	9	12	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2			humans only			Unknown
Predator X	Armax Arsenal	H	10	9	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	3	Yes	-	Yes	-	Yes	45,000
Colossus	Kassa Fabrication	H	10	12	-9Dex/Str,-15Bi/Tc	2	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	50,000
Warlord	Elanus Risk Control	H	12	12	-9Dex/Str,-24Bi/Tc	3			krogan only			52,000