Vehicle Armor Appendix

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Different kinds of armor play very important roles in the tank battles of the Empires universe. Select the appropriate type of armor and you will come out victorious.

A note regarding guns: There are two types of anti-vehicle weapons: guns and cannons. Cannons are anything that fires a shell that is affected by gravity. Includes rail guns. high explosive cannon. extended range cannon. These shots are affected by the the Speed To Damage Modifier. Guns fire projectiles that are not affected by gravity and have an instantaneous travel time. Includes bioMG. DUMG. HEMG. These shots are not affected by the the Speed To Damage Modifier.

Armor Weapon Table (for version 2.24):

To see which weapon is best against which armor have a look to the table below. But keep in mind, that this table only compares pure damage.

Armor Weapon Table

Armor (for Steampires)

Plain armor - Plain armor offers mild protection from damage.

Plain armor is regarded as the worst armor. It has poor health, and weight, but it makes up for this in it's price. Standard armor is fairly useless and has no advantages, as such it shouldn't be used after a better armor is researched.

Research Required: None

• Cost: 5
• Health: 30
• Weight: 15
• Damage Modifier: 0
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 0.1
• Speed To Damage Modifier: 0.008
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.025
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 1.5

Analysis Its better than nothing but should be replaced as soon as possable.

Composite armor - Composite armor consists of layers of steel, ceramic, and plastic honeycomb. and it's designed to offer protection from almost all types of projectiles equally well.

Research Required: Mechanical Engineering > Advanced Machining > Composite Armor

• Cost: 25
• Health: 80
• Weight: 10
• Damage Modifier: 0.85
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 0
• Speed To Damage Modifier: 0.005
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.025
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 1

Analysis

• Pros

Low weight High hp per plate -15% damage

• Cons

Cost +0.005 speed to damage

Composites strength is its brute hp approach. It is easy to max out your armor and weapons and still have a bit left over. The down side to this is that this will cost almost twice for your tanks armor package. Bio is somewhat a non issue due to the shear amount of hp that the armor has. The 15% damage reduction may seem impressive, but this is almost always outweighed by the +0.005 speed to damage. With the exception of very slow weapons, Composite takes more than the normal damage. Overall, composite is overrated at best, at worst, it is the fastest way to burn the 10k res that you have saved.

Reactive armor - Electrically charged armor is internally aligned with charged capacitors. When an incoming projectile makes contact. the capacitor discharges its energy into the projectile. disrupting it or possibly even vaporizing it.

Research Required: Electrical Engineering > Reactive Armor

• Cost: 20
• Health: 65
• Weight: 20
• Damage Modifier: 0.8
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 0.1
• Speed To Damage Modifier: -0.4%
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.025
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 0.5

Analysis

• Pros

Half damage from bio weapons -0.004 speed to damage 0.8 damage mod

• Cons

Weight Cost Low hp per plate

The -0.004 speed to damage and 0.8 damage mod are the major selling points for reactive. While this is the best armor to counter bio, the other team will simpley kill you with conventional weapons due to the low hp per plate. Reactive users will have to sacrifice armor or weapons due to the weight. Overall, reactive only works in the early game when tanks have lightweight weapons. Unfortinatley, you will have to research a lighter armor once you get to medium and heavy tanks.

Reflective armor - Reflective armor is able to deflect almost all of a projectile's kinetic energy away from the vehicle so long as the projectile does not hit perfectly perpendicular to the armor plating.

Research Required: Physics > Projectile Physics > Reflective Armor

• Cost: 15
• Health: 60
• Weight: 15
• Damage Modifier: 0
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 1
• Speed To Damage Modifier: -0.001
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.025
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 100%

Analysis

• Pros

Angle modifier

&Cons Low hp per plate Angle modifier

The only saving part of reflective armor is that if you can angle your tank, you can take 50% less damage. If you do, reflective is a well balanced armor with average cost and weight. If you cant get that angle, you will need to get a new tank as most weapons will cut through a full plate in a hit. To make matters worse, homing weapons have a tenancy to hit nearly perpendicular to the tank, making them very lethal to this armor. Overall, while this armor has great potential, you have to be able to maneuver to get the shots to hit at the right angle. Due to the rate of fire of the current weapons and the lack of room to maneuver, odds are your tank will be out of armor before you can get everything lined up. While vets might be able to make this armor work, new players will have trouble keeping there tanks alive.

Regenerative armor - Regenerative armor is engineered with living tissue designed to grow calcium carbonate as the protective medium. As it is newly formed. it is malleable enough to find its way into damaged areas where it solidifies and reinforces/replaces material that had been damaged/destroyed.

Research Required: Biology > Regenerative Armor

• Cost: 15
• Health: 75, Regeneration: 0.045
• Weight: 15
• Damage Modifier: 0
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 0
• Speed To Damage Modifier: 0.0032
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.03
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 2

Analysis

• Pros

Regenerates Above average hp (75)

• Cons

+0.0032 speed to damage Regeneration is slow Extra damage from bio

The one selling point is that regenerative armor heals by itself over time. The bad news is that this is slow and only works if you still have armor. Bio weapons are difficult to deal with, as you will not only take extra damage, but you will be taking damage faster than your armor can heal. Unlike composite that has a 15% damage reduction, you will be always be taking more than normal damage. This is somewhat offset by the regeneration capacity but dont count on it. Overall, regenerative armor is a nice way to get the other team to get bio weapons. In the long run this will probably cause more problems than it solves

Absorbant armor - Absorbant armor is engineered with strong materials able to undergo excessive plastic deformation. This allows the armor to reduce damage received as a projectile's speed increases.

Research Required: Chemistry > Absorbant Armor

• Cost: 10
• Health: 70
• Weight: 12.5
• Damage Modifier: 0
• Damage reduction due to angle (Angle Modifier): 0
• Speed To Damage Modifier: -0.008
• Damage To Heat Absorbed: 0.01
• Bioweapon Damage Modifier: 1

Analysis

• Pros

Low weight Low cost -0.008 speed to damage Average hp per plate

• Cons

...

The low cost and low weight of absorbant lets you carry max or near max armor with a lot of firepower. The -0.008 speed to damage gives absorbent a 30 to 50% damage reduction against cannons, and at least 20% damage reduction against missiles. Bio may be somewhat of an issue due to the average hp. Overall, if absorbant dies fast to something, every other armor will be worse.