Armour (Hardmode)
Armour represents one of the most important areas of warfare development that X-COM can invest into. Armour not only increases the chances of a soldier surviving an attack, in addition to decreasing the amount of time a soldier must spend in the medical bay. Soldiers cannot learn from their mistakes if they die.
Predicting significant casualties in the coming war, X-COM can invest research time into devising a way to recover and repair armour that was destroyed alongside the soldier wearing it for a fraction of the cost to construct a new set of armour, this provides a stronger incentive to armour up soldiers as the financial penalty for losing a soldier with armour will not be as crippling now that the armour can be quickly repaired.
Repair and Upgrading
If a soldier wearing armour is killed then the armour they were wearing is also damaged, so long as the armour can be recovered after the battle (either by winning or evacuating with the corpse on the transport) then the damaged armour is returned to X-Com, which can be repaired back to service. The cost to repair is typically half the cost of constructing a new armour set.
Furthermore all armours can be upgraded to their successor armour when researched, the cost to upgrade takes into account the base cost of the new armour while subtracting the cost already payed for the old armour. This prevents X-Com from getting a discount for upgrading old armour instead of building it from scratch. The benefits of upgrading is twofold; it means old armour is not wasted, and X-Com will pay less resources if they upgrade existing armour.
Armour Types
X-COM Standard Issue
Coveralls
Standard issue X-COM uniforms with Kevlar inserts. Provides bare minimum levels of protection. Only expected to protect from light friendly fire incidents. Unchanged from vanilla.
Armoured Vest
Standard issue X-COM ceramic ballistic vest. Provides slightly increased protection from enemy fire. Bulky to wear.
Researchable Armours
Alloy Vest
A standard Armoured Vest reinforced with alien alloys, provides increased protection and durability.
Personal Armour
Incorporating alien alloys in armour construction from the ground up, Personal Armour provides superior protection.
Power Suit
Heavy alloy plates with an Elerium-powered muscle/strength assistance system and an independent air-filtration system. The Power Suit transforms your soldiers into veritable tanks.
Flying Suit
Taking a Power Suit, slightly reinforcing it and attaching an anti-gravity harness. Grants the user the ability to fly through the air.
Reinforced Power Suit
Improved alloy plating and powered actuators. This suit provides increased protection to the user, as well as boosting the energy and time units of its operator.
Reinforced Flying Suit
Reinforced Power Suit made compatible with an anti-gravity harness. Provides increased protection and a boost to the users energy and time units.
Quick Comparison
| Armour | Front | Left/Right | Rear | Under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coveralls | 12 | 8 | 5 | 2 |
| Armoured Vest | 20 | 16 | 8 | 8 |
| Alloy Vest | 30 | 20 | 16 | 16 |
| Personal Armour | 50 | 40 | 30 | 30 |
| Power Suit* | 100 | 80 | 70 | 60 |
| Flying Suit* | 110 | 90 | 80 | 70 |
| Reinforced Power Suit** | 120 | 100 | 90 | 80 |
| Reinforced Flying Suit** | 130 | 110 | 100 | 90 |
* Provides a bonus of -10 weight and +30 stamina to the user, immunity to Incendiary/Fire damage and immunity to Stun damage from smoke
** Provides a bonus of +10 time units, -10 weight and +30 stamina to the user, in addition to immunity to Incindiary/Fire damage and immunity to Stun damage from smoke.