Why is there no Armour set in the game?

[Scarlet Shocker]

I was thinking of building a tank type toon, something I don't play often, ideally one that had an arsenal of weaponry inspired by a mix of the less-well-loved David Gemmell book, Knights of Dark Reknown and Garrison from the much-missed Atlas Reactor.

 

But when I looked I was saddened to see there's no actual armour power set per se. You can have stone armor, ice armor, bio armor, but nothing resembling an actual suit of armour, metallic or composite material.

 

This seems doubly strange given how many actual types of Armour we have in the Costume Creator. I'm a little bit gobsmacked by this to be fair. I know we could fake it - create a character with a suit of armour and the give them energy aura and say "there you go, you have a knining shite in armour" but that, for me at least, breaks the immersion. Maybe I want to create a character that has other powers; radioactive fingers, glue-ridden eyes etc, and wears the armour as a protection itself.

 

What I find even more remarkable is I don't ever recall seeing this even suggested or discussed. I'm a regular forumite as you possibly noticed (but I don't frequent all sections equally) so I allow that I may have missed it but in 20 years? Sure, I've not played many tanks. I had two on live and one got deleted pre-lvl 10. I've got a few more on HC and a Sentinel and a few Brutes so I'm less resistant to them than I used to be and perhaps that's why I noticed?

 

I'm also surprised that such a set doesn't exist from an RP perspective. Suits of well-crafted armour are almost as legendary as swords (qv Henery VIII's ceremonial suit now in the Royal Armouries at Leeds*) and the history of armour is exciting and interesting, far more so I would argue than Tanky Stank's** history with his suits. Is your armour a magically imbued suit? A famous family heirloom? Did you steal it? Was it jury rigged after you discovered your other (primary?) powers weren't enough to keep you upright while you did the job you set out to do?

 

I would love to see a basic "armour"*** set in game and I can't see how it would be difficult to write. A handy but not OP mix of Def and Res with a couple of quirks to make it unique and Robert will be your mother's brother. But this is less of a suggestion and more of a "WTF is this missing from the game?" question.

 

• _{*TYDKYDK; My brother rigged that suit in the Armouries about 25 years ago and they couldn't even get it insured it's that valuable.}
• _{** Don't bother even trying}
• _{***However you spell it you're almost certainly wrong.}

[Spaghetti Betty]

My first thought is because you can tailor yourself to be in a suit of armor and Invulnerability is very shiny!

[FupDup]

The current armor powers can be interpreted in different ways and could certainly fill this need if matched with an appropriate costume. Most specifically, Invuln can represent a more low-tech power armor that is protected by just layers of metal/composite/ceramics, while Energy Aura is more of a forcefield/energy shield type. Electric Armor is kinda borderline. 

 

But I do think there's still room for an actual "Power Armor" or "Mecha Armor" kind of powerset. I would use Invuln as the base (typed defense/resist hybrid), with the survivability reduced a bit in exchange for adding some offensive tools to the mix. Like an energy damage proc somewhere, Seeker Drones to eat an alpha, T9 as a transformation into "assault mode" for more damage (no survival bonus like other T9s, just pure offense). Maybe a ranged AOE concussive or toxic missile barrage (several armors have PBAOEs so why not a ranged AOE?). 

[Riverdusk]

7 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

My first thought is because you can tailor yourself to be in a suit of armor and Invulnerability is very shiny!

 

Exactly.  I always pictured Invuln as the set to use if you picture your character using an actual suit of armor, combined with adding it as your costume.

 

I think the problem with the suggestion would be what would the armor look like?  You'd be locked into the one 'look' that the powerset had.  Lot of people already don't like that granite armor locks you into a singular look.  Either that or it'd be a lot of work to have several different options.   

[Doomguide2005]

I think it's an interesting question.  But it basically says you either depict yourself in what goes under the armor or immediately change the appearance of your 'armor' from the armor set by layering a costume armor over the top of it.  

[Snarky]

22 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

My first thought is because you can tailor yourself to be in a suit of armor and Invulnerability is very shiny!

Yeah.  Man missed this logic train and is stubbornly standing on the platform waiting for…. 

[Scarlet Shocker]

19 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

 

I think the problem with the suggestion would be what would the armor look like?  You'd be locked into the one 'look' that the powerset had.  Lot of people already don't like that granite armor locks you into a singular look.  Either that or it'd be a lot of work to have several different options.   

 

Not at all. You only have to look at RDJ's look in the first couple of Marvel arcs to see how his armour refined. By Endgame he was basically wearing a track suit.

[Biff Pow]

I think the Tech power pool should be Power Armor instead of Gadgetry, with Iron Man-type powers. A blast that can come from your hands or eyes, flight with rocket effects on your feet, maybe a +ToHit targeting computer. Also add an aura like the H.U.D. display but more solid so you can have a faceplate that flips down when you're in combat.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I thought a bit about what an armour set might look like. I didn't want it to be too specific - so it's not based on tech or anything (remember, origin is what you make it) but I threw together this. I know it's gonna get a lot of hate because haters hate as a default setting and it's easy for them but building this was actually quite fun. Libre Office did not cooperate so formatting might be off

 

Armour Set

 

It’s Armour. It’s stuff you strap to your body to defend against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune – and bad guys. It’s not always beautiful or highly polished. It isn’t the ultimate defence but a decent suit of armour can work wonders with a wearer who knows the strengths and weaknesses of it. It might be metal, or composite materials, a blend of kevlar, magic and carbon nanotubes or it might just be a chunk of boilerplate strapped in strategic places. Either way, it’s yours and you have to get out there and use it.

 

1. Gambeson, Oh Gambeson: (Toggle) You gird your proverbial loins with a nicely padded undershirt of fibre and hard wearing material. Its airy construction gives you a resistance to temperature changes, so Ice and Fire are less effective and it absorbs damage from smashing and lethal blows.

2. I’m Alright Jack: (Toggle) An additional layer of material that boosts your defence to Smashing & Lethal damage. It also protects you from Toxic, Negative and Energy damage, giving you a small boost to your resistance

3. Hauberk: Often made of interlinked material, this layer gives you great protection against Lethal damage as well as some resistance to Energy and Negative damage. It also grants you a bonus against Knockback and Repel

4. Cuirass: A breastplate that gives a solid defence bonus to all damage types except Psionic

5. Lorica: light, flexible, tough, this armour allows you to move fast, giving a bonus to movement when running or flying, costing no endurance

6. The Challenge: You can challenge your foes with a mighty shout and they feel compelled to attack you. This taunt gives them -To Hit against anyone else in your proximity

7. Alright, Squire: You can repair damage to your armour on the fly giving you +Absorb and +Endurance.

8. The Tilt: Your armour is so clearly well crafted that your opponents instinctively know you’re a champion in battle and so are tremulous and fearful, giving them a -Damage and -To Hit penalty when in combat against you

9. Lord Helmet: You don your great helm, and your foes tremble before you. This boosts all defence and is the only power that gives protection against Psionics but it’s worth having.

[Snarky]

I really feel like this is two hands, … that are somehow missing clapping. 
 

the powers in the game have a set ability, with some customization.  
 

the costume AND THE BACKSTORY tell how the character became what they are, got their powers, and perhaps influenced their philosophy.  
 

it seems like you want the costume/powers to be all one thing and do the heavy lifting.  Like stone, this becomes a very defining everything about the character with zero room for anything besides “hi, i am mr rock 23456.”  

[WumpusRat]

I have several characters that have full suits of armor as their primary costume, and have whichever armor set I feel works for the concept.

 

A few examples:

 

The Fighter (from my 'reverse isekai'd D&D characters' group): Shield/Axe tanker. She has enormous amounts of defense, which thematically is from both her shield AND her plate armor that she wears. It's made of mithril, which makes it incredibly durable and light, so she can leap and run in it without hindrance. She also has capped smash/lethal resist, so that even if something DOES manage to get past her defenses, the "armor" still blocks most of the physical blow. 

 

The Power Armor Girl: Energy Blast/Invuln Sentinel. She's basically thematically similar to Iron Man, in that she's got a suit of armor that allows her to fly, shrug off attacks, and fire pewpew energy blasts at things. She's durable, and most damage just glances off the armor (due to high defense) or doesn't hit very hard if it does get a direct impact (resists). 

 

The Paladin (also from the reverse isekai group): Willpower/Katana tanker. Like the fighter, she wears full plate armor, but doesn't use a shield. So she doesn't have quite the defense that the fighter does. She does, however, have enormous melee defense due to her skill with a sword, able to parry and deflect attacks (set bonuses and frequent use of divine avalanche). The armor absorbs impacts (resists), and her abilities as a paladin can restore her health if she starts to falter (regen). 

 

I have a ton of other characters who wear armor (both medieval and high-tech) and simulate the protection through various armor powersets, or other abilities (toughness, epic/patron armor powers, etc). 

 

But it's pretty easy to come up with a "heavily armored" character and simulate that armor with one of the many armor sets. 

[Hopeling]

4 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

Not at all. You only have to look at RDJ's look in the first couple of Marvel arcs to see how his armour refined. By Endgame he was basically wearing a track suit.

That's exactly why you don't want the armor visuals tied to your powers instead of your costume. You wouldn't have nearly as much ability to customize.

[MrAxe]

Wasn't there rumours of a possible power armour epic at back in the day?

[Forager]

18 hours ago, Riverdusk said:

I think the problem with the suggestion would be what would the armor look like?  You'd be locked into the one 'look' that the powerset had. 

 

Easy fix! They could use existing pieces from the costume creator as power customization options...

[ZemX]

16 hours ago, Hopeling said:

That's exactly why you don't want the armor visuals tied to your powers instead of your costume. You wouldn't have nearly as much ability to customize.

 

Bingo.  It just makes way more sense to decouple what the powers do from what they look like when possible.  So you can be Invulnerable because your skin is invulnerable or because you're wearing really good armor.   Up to you.  Only thing we could probably use here is more "minimal/no VFX" options for various armor power sets that are still too overboard with particle effects. 

 

Like, as much as I love Rad Armor, for example, I haaaate the spinning ping-pong balls.  Ugh!

[Troo]

23 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I was thinking

 

Well there's problem one. Just kidding.

 

I never really thought of it the way you looking at it though it makes sense to think the gear has the power. That's how it is in lots of games. 

I think @Hopeling said what I'd say.

Here, our armour can be whatever we want; a cloak, scales, actual old school armour, high tech stuff, cat ears, a magic bunny tail, ect.

[Scarlet Shocker]

18 hours ago, Hopeling said:

That's exactly why you don't want the armor visuals tied to your powers instead of your costume. You wouldn't have nearly as much ability to customize.

 

Either I was not clear enough or you've misread my intent. I'm not in any way, shape or form suggesting that we have specific costume pieces harnessed to a particular power set. Quite the opposite. Any costume piece can be armoured as is most of the powers in this game it's just that you are somehow wearing some kind of armour. It might even be invisible, but it's still there. So you have a powerset with characteristics maybe similar to above, but with any costume piece you wish. In my vision, the power set is way more flexible than say Stone or Bio because those do have actual effects which override your costume itself.

 

TL;DR - it's as flexible as radiation armour or energy aura, just that the powerset itself is called Armour (or something similar)

 

 

[Hopeling]

What exactly is the difference between that, and playing Invulnerability or whatever other set with the power coming from your armor? The name of a powerset is pretty unimportant; people can and do routinely play Broadsword and actually wield a khopesh, or Water Blast and tint it green to make acid blast, or other such conceptual substitutions.

Is there some particular gameplay or aesthetic you'd hope to get out of an Armor set that none of the defensive sets currently do?

[Scarlet Shocker]

31 minutes ago, Hopeling said:

What exactly is the difference between that, and playing Invulnerability or whatever other set with the power coming from your armor? The name of a powerset is pretty unimportant; people can and do routinely play Broadsword and actually wield a khopesh, or Water Blast and tint it green to make acid blast, or other such conceptual substitutions.

Is there some particular gameplay or aesthetic you'd hope to get out of an Armor set that none of the defensive sets currently do?

 

In the simplest of terms hopefully with some work and imagination it could be a new powerset with a few differences to existing sets. It's variety and allows people to fulfil a concept a little more readily perhaps.

[Hopeling]

What differences would you want? Invulnerability and Willpower are already good all-purpose low-FX options, and elec or energy fit well for many power armor types.

 

I'm not just trying to dismiss the request; I'm legitimately not sure what you are looking for here.

[Scarlet Shocker]

well as I explained at the top of the thread, I was mostly asking why such a set didn't exist already. It seems there's plenty of spaces for new sets, and frankly the less work they are to implement, the more they might be likely to get made.

 

I suggest there's a gap in the market for an all-round set, reasonable defence, reasonable resistance, nothing too OP, not specialist in any single thing. But as I also explained, I'm no expert in tanker type toons so maybe I've got it a bit arse about face.

 

I was mostly just asking a question but frankly I'm beginning to wonder why I bothered.

[El D]

1 minute ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I suggest there's a gap in the market for an all-round set, reasonable defence, reasonable resistance, nothing too OP, not specialist in any single thing. But as I also explained, I'm no expert in tanker type toons so maybe I've got it a bit arse about face.

 

I was writing out an entire other post when I saw this thread get updated, so I'll just respond to this instead. Willpower. That description is Willpower. Mechanically, that's exactly what the set does. To make it work for the initial concept, just set it to minimal/no FX in power customization and use a few costume slots to show different levels of worn equipment. Works for any sort of armor that's meant just to be armor - steampunk, platemail, samurai, cybertech military gear, etc. - rather than high tech or magical or stuff like that. It's the 'I'm just a tough son-of-a-gun' option precisely to fulfill that particular niche.

[twozerofoxtrot]

Just to add to the pile you get a sample of what you're asking for with Shield Defense.

 

Do you dislike anything at all about how SD restricts certain character customization options? Consider that. 

 

Also, a lot of suit of armor type characters take SD. For the Armor.

[Hopeling]

4 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I suggest there's a gap in the market for an all-round set, reasonable defence, reasonable resistance, nothing too OP, not specialist in any single thing.

 

I don't think there is such a gap; literally a majority of armor sets have both resistance and defense. In particular it sounds like you're just describing Invulnerability here: it has some resists (but not great except to S/L), some defense (but not easily capped to everything like SR), even a little bit of healing in Dull Pain that you can either conceptualize as the wearer occasionally being able to power through the damage that their armor doesn't stop, OR as a limited self-healing capability like Infinity War Iron Man's nanites. It even has a psi hole, as you would expect physical armor to.

 

For a more street-level body armor like Batman or Punisher, Willpower fits great. For high-tech power armors, EA, Elec, or Rad can also fit very well.

 

Power sets tend to be designed based on what they do and not where they come from, so that the player has more freedom with concept. If bullets bounce off you, that's Invulnerability, whether it is due to armor or you just have unbreakable skin.