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ArmorSmith Guide
The Complete Guide to Armor and Armorsmithing
This guide was created in order to provide both users and makers of
armor with a comprehensive handbook about this highly important set of
equipment. It is a composite of many of the helpful postings armorsmiths
have made on the SOE armorcrafters board. You are welcome to copy all or
portions of this document, provided that you include the 'credits'
section with every copy.
Credits: Jaato Waals (editor), Zigmund, Castigar, SWBarker12,
EasyMcRhinopants, Tobold, Aircartman, Arlissa, Xrande, and the entire
armorcrafting community.
Contents:
I. Types of Armor
II. Armor Terms
III. Damage Types
IV. Examples of Armor Attributes in Action
V. Wearing Armor
VI. Crafting Armor
VII. The Mathematics Behind Armorcrafting
Appendices
A. Frequently Asked Questions
B. Grinding Macro
C. Looted Items and their effects
D. Critical Bugs
E. Trainer Locations
Part I � Types of Armor
Bone Armor
Special Resistance: Energy
Vulnerabilities: Kinetic, Blast, Stun, Heat, Cold, Acid
Bone armor is the only type of armor craftable by an artisan who is
untrained in armorsmithing. It provides decent protection against energy
attacks and, while it has a number of vulnerabilities, can serve as
perfectly acceptable armor in many situations when made by a master
artisan using high quality components.
Mabari Armorweave
Special Resistance: Heat, Blast
Vulnerabilities: Energy, Stun, Acid
Mabari is a great starter set of armor because it's lightweight and
usually priced low enough that nearly anyone can get a hold of it.
Mabari is pretty much the lightest suit of armor you are going to come
across. It may not offer the massive protective elements of some armor
but it does give you a light armor rating against damage types that it
is not vulnerable to. Add in a voritor scale or light energy layer and
its biggest vulnerability, energy, becomes a special resistance. Mabari
is also easy to make because each piece takes only one segment, so you
don't need to use factory made segments.
Chitin
Special Resistance: Kinetic
Vulnerabilities: Stun, Heat, Cold, Electricity
This is an medium weight armor made out of insect carapaces that
protects well against kinetic damage. If you do a lot of PvE against
mobs that do kinetic damage then this is one of two primary armor
options you have. It doesn't come in a very many colors combinations but
looks very cool.
Tantel Armor
Special Resistance: Energy
Vulnerabilities: none*
Tantel is an ancient armor that consists of a helm, boots and chest
plate. There are no tantel arms, legs, or gloves. Tantel comes in a wide
variety of colors and is also very light. It is a favorite among those
who do PvP as it's main protective element is energy. For those that
like a low encumbrance armor then Tantel is the way to go. *Note that
currently armor that has "no" vulnerabilities is subject to the resist
shift bug. Vulnerabilities will randomly appear and disappear as you
cross server boundaries. Check the list of known bugs at the end of this
Guide for more information.
Ubese Armor
Special Resistance: Kinetic
Vulnerabilities: Heat, Stun, Cold
Ubese armor is the second option for players who are frequently attacked
by enemies dealing kinetic damage. It offers more kinetic protection
than chitin and, when made with advanced segements and layered, can have
kinetic resists as high as 80%. A full suit of well made ubese is fairly
light, certainly more so than composite. Note that a ubese jacket covers
both the chest and upper arms, resulting in significantly lower HAM
costs than other types of armor. Ubese shirts can also be made that,
while they provide no protection, can be worn under other types of armor
and provide a non-attackable place to put armor attachments (since they
can be made with sockets).
Padded Armor
Special Resistance: Blast
Vulnerabilities: Stun, Heat, Acid
Padded armor is an unusual armor that can be made either very heavy,
with decent resists, or very light, with next to no resists. It also is
the most colorful armor available. The main protective element of padded
armor is blast protection, although the secondary protections are decent
enough.
Composite Armor
Special Resistance: Electricity
Vulnerabilities: Stun
Composite is heavy and powerful. It offers very high resists (30%+, with
50% plus being fairly common) across the board, with the exception of
stun damage, which it is vulnerable to. Its special protection is
electricity. Furthermore, up to three layers can be added to advanced
composite segments, resulting in extremely high special protections. All
of this protection comes at a fairly high cost, however. Composite armor
has tremendously high HAM costs, so high, in fact, that very few
characters can wear it unsliced without engaging in heavy stat
migration.
Personal Shield Generators (PSG�s)
Special Resistance: Energy
Vulnerabilities: none*
Not properly a type of armor, these nevertheless provide armor-like
protection. Personal shield generators, or PSGs, are a great little
device that can save your life in a sticky situation. If you read above
then you know now that wearing armor gives you a rating of light armor
so that 50+% of the damage you take (remember only the damage that the
armor is not vulnerable to) is absorbed by the armor.
When your PSG is active and you are hit with a damage type that it is
not vulnerable to then the PSG will first reduce damage as if it were
armor. The leftover damage is then further reduced by your armor. As you
can see that is a considerable amount of damage being blocked. When
wearing a suit of 90% composite (possible with a good effectiveness
slice) and a PSG with bare resists (4-5%), you will take 2-3 points of
damage for every hundred done to you. Even with lower resists on your
armor you'll still take half the damage while wearing a PSG than you
would without. This why SOE has made PSGs so fragile.
The drawback to PSG�s is their very low durability, meaning that they
wear out very quickly. While they can be repaired, they still have very
limited lifespans. Nevertheless, PSG�s are a lifesaver in a variety of
situations and are the only armor a wookiee can wear. *note: PSG's are
currently affected by the shifting resistance bug. Check your PSG before
equiping it to make sure it is resistant to the type of damage you
expect to take. It is generally recommended to carry 4-5 to make sure
you have a couple that will not be vulnerable to the type of damage you
expect to take.
Part II � Armor Terms
AP = Armor Piercing; This is a value that weapons have. When you examine
your weapon you will see a field labeled "Armor Piercing" which will be
followed by one of the following: none, light, medium, heavy. When
players talk about armor piercing they usually use a number instead of
the word. AP:0 = none, AP:1 = light, AP:2 = medium and AP:3 = heavy.
AR = Armor Rating; This is a value that armor has. When you examine your
armor you will see a field labeled "Armor Rating" which will be followed
by one of the following: none, light, medium, heavy. As with AP, when
players talk about AR they usually use a number instead of the word.
AR:0 = none, AR:1 = light, AR:2 = medium, and AR:3 = heavy. All player
armor is AR:1.
Damage Type. This is the type of damage being done. Most melee weapons
do kinetic (also known as physical) damage and most guns do energy
damage. There are a number of other damage types in the game however:
blast (explosive damage, like grenades and rocket launchers), heat
(flame thrower), electricity (lightning canon) and cold. (I may be
missing a few, but it doesn't matter for this guide)
Part III - Armor Attributes
There are six different sets of attributes that make up a given piece of
armor: Condition, Armor Rating, Effectiveness, Special Protection,
Vulnerability, and Encumbrance. Let's go through each of these using
freshly crafted bone gloves as an example.
Condition:
Condition is a measure of how much damage the armor can absorb before
becoming useless. It is expressed as two numbers, the current value and
the maximum value. The amount of damage taken is equal to the damage
that penetrates its defenses divided by a factor particular to the armor
type. Therefore, if the armor absorbs 30 points from a 100-point shot,
it takes 70 points of damage multiplied by a particular factor depending
on the type of armor. For example, a mk.1 PSG has a factor of roughly
.10. If 70 points of damage were to get past it, it would lose 7
condition. Once at 0 condition, the armor no longer provides protection
and cannot be repaired. An armor repair tool can be used to restore
condition at the cost of lowering the armor's maximum as long as
condition is not below a certain minimum.
Armor Rating:
Armor Ratings have four possible values: None, Light, Medium, and Heavy.
Personal armor always falls into the Light category with None being
reserved for those with no armor and the other two values being reserved
for armored vehicles and especially nasty critters.
Armor Rating expresses the minimum Armor Piercing value of a weapon
needed for the weapon to do its full damage. If the armor's Armor Rating
is equal to the weapon's Armor Piercing, there is no effect. If the
Armor Rating is higher, however, there is a 50% reduction for each level
difference. Therefore for the bone gloves against this CDEF Pistol's
Armor Rating of None, damage is reduced by 50% off of the top. But in
the case of the Power Hammer, its Armor Piercing is higher than the
Armor Rating. It therefore does 25% more damage. Note that the 50%
reduction or 25% increase occurs for each level. So if that CDEF were to
be used against an AT-ST whose Armor Rating is Heavy, there would be a
three level difference. So damage would be reduced by 50%, then another
50%, and another 50% for merely 12.5% of the initial damage.
Effectiveness:
Effectiveness measures the percent damage the armor absorbs against any
damage type in which it does not have a Vulnerability or Special
Protection (we'll get to those attributes in a bit). In this case, our
Effectiveness is 15%. Don't be confused by the listing of multiple
damage types under this section in the examination UI. All values here
reflect the current Effectiveness value. They are listed verbosely to
make it clear that Effectiveness protects against all damage types not
listed as Vulnerabilities or Special Protections.
The damage reduced by Effectiveness occurs after adjustments are made
due to Armor Rating.
Special Protection:
Special Protections are values that override the Effectiveness. In our
case, the armor has a Special Protection of 27% against Energy. This
means that whenever the armor is hit by Energy damage, it uses the 27%
value instead of the Effectiveness of 15%. Although Special Protections
are usually higher than the armor's Effectiveness, they can potentially
be lower. In that case, the armor would actually be weaker against that
Damage Type.
Vulnerability:
Vulnerability denotes Damage Types in which the armor offers no
protection whatsoever. Our bone armor has quite a few of these: Kinetic,
Blast, Stun, Heat, Cold, and Acid. Whenever the armor is hit by one of
these Damage Types, all of the damage goes through. The target wearing
this armor would also have an Armor Rating of None against any of these
Vulnerabilities.
Encumbrance:
Encumbrance is a measure in the reduction of statistics when the armor
is worn. The reduction occurs only in the secondary stats and not the
pools. This means that the bone gloves Health Encumbrance of 11 would
reduce Strength and Constitution by 11 points. If the Encumbrance is
such that it would ever reduce a stat below 1, the armor may not be
worn. The following are a list of rumors I've heard from people who
don't know how armor really works and have been misinformed: armor
causes you to take more damage because your secondary stats dictate
damage you take (untrue), armor makes me run slower (untrue), armor
makes me attack slower (untrue), armor makes me take longer to heal
(yup...true like I said), and armor makes my special moves hurt me more
(yup, this is true too).
Color:
Not properly an official armor attribute, color is just as important as
anything else. Color can lend style to your armor and without style, why
bother wearing armor? I mean, if you�re going to engage in PvP, do you
want to be referred to as �That jerk d00d in the ugly gray armor� or
�The assassin in the sleek black suit�? Look at the armor before you buy
it and make sure it�ll look good.
Part III - Damage Types
Not all Damage Types are created equal. Some Damage Types are far more
common to encounter than others and armors as a whole tend to fare
better or worse against certain Damage Types. While there's no steadfast
rule for this, here are some general trends. These tend to apply to both
players as well as creatures.
(Note that these are not in order of importance; the type of damage you
receive can vary greatly depending on your particular situation).
Kinetic: Kinetic is most common form of melee damage. Most melee weapons
and creatures do kinetic damage and, since pets are so popular in PvP,
having an armor with kinetic resists can be very important. Most armor
(both player and creature) offers at least some protection against this;
some armor protects against this greatly. Kinetic damage from ranged
attacks is limited to a few projectile weapons. Ubese armor is the
primary defense against Kinetic damage.
Energy: Energy is the most common form of ranged damage. Rifles, most
carbines, faction pets, and laser weapons all do energy damage. However,
while most blasters do this type of damage you should not assume that
just because you are fighting an enemy with a ranged attack that he or
she is using a weapon that does energy damage. Like Kinetic, most armor
protects against this to some degree. Both Chitin and Bone armor provide
special protection against blast damage.
Blast: Blast is a moderately common form of damage.. Most armor offers
at least some protection against this form of attack. Commando special
weapons and Power Hammers are the primary weapons that do Blast damage.
Padded armor�s special resistance is blast damage.
Cold : anecdotal damage type. Weak SG82 rifles, cryoban grenades. A rare
and minor damage type
Heat: Along with kinetic and energy, heat is probably THE most critical
PvP resist. Sure, only a handful of weapons use heat damage ... but they
are the most widely used everywhere. The flame thrower (used by the
highly popular commando class), and "the" bread and butter pistol, the
FWG5 both do heat damage. Mabari armor�s special resistance is heat.
Acid: A very, very important damage type. Basically, most of the pistols
used in PvP that are not FWG5 will be probably either Scatter (BH and
the famous eye shots) or DX2 (pistoleers) which both do acid damage.
Some mobs' attack types, the rarely used commando acid launcher, and the
DXR6 carbine also do acid damage.
Electrical: Not a very widely used damage type, but many bounty hunters
like to play "commando lite" with their LLCs. Composite armor�s special
resistance is electricity.
Stun: Stun damage is the bane of armor, player and creature alike. Most
armor is vulnerable to this Damage Type. Fortunately, only a few
specialized (and generally poor overall) PvP weapons deal stun damage (jawa
ion rifles and tangler pistols. The lone exception is fencers, who tend
to use stun batons very frequently.
Part IV - Examples of Armor Attributes in
Action AP:0 vs AR:0, no resistances
Now, let's start with the most basic form of combat. AP:0 vs AR:0, no
resistances. We'll use the example of Bob is attacking Joe. Bob is using
his unarmed skill and not wielding any form of weapon (AP:0). Joe is
only wearing clothing, and no armor (AR:0, no resistances). When Bob
attacks Joe he will get notified of how much damage he did in the combat
window. Let's say 100 damage. Joe will also receive notification of this
in his combat window. And above Joe's head a number will float up
displaying how much damage was done. In this example all three locations
will display 100 as the amount of damage done and Joe will lose 100
points of HAM. This is a very simple and easy scenario.
What is going on here: When you attack an enemy wearing no armor with a
non-armor piercing weapon, the damage you do to your target is applied
directly to it with no bonuses or penalties.
AP:1 vs AR:1, resistances to that damage type:
Again we have Bob and Joe. Bob has decided to attack this time with his
new set of Vibro Knuckles (AP:1, kinetic), and while Bob was out working
hard to earn his Knuckles Joe managed to get his hands on some composite
armor (AR:1) that has 40% resistance to all damage types. Bob attacks
Joe and once again does 100 damage. In Bob's combat window he sees that
he did 100 damage. In Joe's combat window he sees that Bob did 100
damage, however right after that it says that 40 damage was prevented by
the armor! Both Bob and Joe see the number 60 float over Joe's head. So,
we are seeing 3 different numbers here, let's go over what each one
means. The number displayed in Bob's combat window is the amount of
damage he did, this is before armor is taken into account. The first
number in Joe's combat window will always be the same, it is the damage
done before armor. The second number that Joe sees is how much damage
his armor "absorbed". The number which appears over Joe's head is the
actual amount of damage that is removed from his HAM pool. This is the
number you want to look at to find out exactly how much damage you are
doing to your opponent as it is always the final amount, after all
modifiers are considered. Unfortunately, every time damage is done to
you it is also done to your armor- so while Joe suffers 60 points of
damage, his armor also takes damage (20% in the case of composite).
What is going on here: When you attack an enemy who has the same armor
level as your weapon, your weapon pierces the armor but still must
contend with the resistances. As a result, 40% of the damage in this
case is blocked by the resistances.
AP:1 vs AR:0 with no resistances to that damage type
This is where things start to get tricky. Bob is now attacking Joe with
his vibroknuckles (AP:1, kinetic) and Joe, caught unaware has no armor
equipped (AR:0, no resistances). Bob hits Joe for his standard 100
damage hit. In Bob and Joe's chat window they both see that Bob did 100
damage. Indeed, the number floating over Joe's head shows 100!
What is going on here: When you attack a target vulnerable to your
damage type (a completely unarmored character is treated as vulnerable
to all damage types), there is neither a damage bonus nor a damage
penalty. As a result, the amount of damage you do to the target is the
amount of damage the target sustains. *Note: this is believed to be a
bug. Presumably an AP weapon should receive the same damage bonuses to
an unarmored/vulnerable target as it does to a lower-armored target with
resists.
AP:0 vs AR:1
This time Bob forgot his Vibro Knuckles at home (AP:0) and Joe
remembered to get dressed this morning (AR:1+40%). Bob hits Joe for a
whopping 100 damage! Bob and Joe's combat windows both say that Bob hit
for 100 damage. However, Joe's window also says something else. It
claims that his composite armor prevented 70 damage! Oh lucky day for
Joe. Above Joe's head floats the number 30. Now, at first glance this
doesn't work out right. Bob's armor just absorbed 70% of the damage done
to him, even though it is only +40% to kinetic (the damage type Bob is
attacking with). This is because Bob is attacking with an AP level lower
than Joe's AR. What happens is this that Joe's armor absorbs 50% of the
damage just because it has a higher AR than Bob has AP. Then, after that
calculation is made, Joe's armor absorbs another 40% of what is left
because of it's resistance to kinetic damage. So 100(initial damage) *
0.5(AR is higher than AP) = 50 damage prevented by the armor and the
other 50 goes on to the next step. Of the remaining 50 damage (which
hasn't gotten to Joe yet), 40% of it is absorbed by the kinetic resists.
So 50 * 0.4 = 20. The armor has successfully blocked 70 points of damage
and Joe gets hit for a measly 30 points.
What is going on here: When you attack an armored target with either a
non-armor piercing weapon or an armor piercing weapon with an AP rating
that's lower than your target, your damage is reduced. If your AP rating
is one point below the AR of the target (AP0 versus AR1, for example),
damage is reduced by 50%. If the AP rating is two points below the
target (AP1 versus AR3 (heavy) armor, damage is reduced by 75% (one half
of one half). In the unlucky situation where you're attacking an enemy
whose AR is 3 points above your weapon (AP0 versus AR3), damage is
reduced by 87.5% (half of half of half). Note that all of this is before
resistances are taken into account, so attacking something with heavy
armor with 50% resists to that damage type would result in 6 points of
damage suffered out of every 100 dealt.
AP:2 vs AR:0
Time to bring out the big guns. Bob, realizing that he was doing so
little damage to Joe has decided to become a pikeman. He picks up a
master made Long Vibro Axe which is reported to do an awesome 100 damage
per hit! Before using his weapon on Joe, Bob decides to test it out on a
kreetle (AR0, 10% resists to kinetic). Bob, sneaks up on the kreetle and
lashes out with his new Vibro Axe, dealing 100 points of damage. In
Bob's combat window we see the same 100 damage we always see. However,
over the kreetle's head the number 140 is displayed. The kreetle dies.
What is going on here: When you attack at target that has a lower AR
than your AP level and is not vulnerable to your damage type (remember,
a completely unarmored player is treated as being vulnerable to all
damage types), you receive a bonus depending on the degree to which your
AP is greater than the target's AR. For each step your AP is greater
than the target's AR, the damage you do is multiplied by 25%. So,
against a target with AR0 (assuming it has no vulnerablility to that
damage type), you receive a 25% bonus to damage. Likewise, when using an
AP 2 weapon against an AR) target with no vulnerability to that damage
type, the bonus is 56% (125% + 25%(125%). Finally, when using an AP3
weapon against an AR0 target with no vulnerabilities to that damage
type, you receive a 95% bonus to damage (156% + 25%(156%). Note that
resistances still apply- so in the case of the kreetle, the damage bonus
resulted in total damage of 156 that was then reduced by 10% (16
points). Note that when attacking mobs that don't have a particular
damage type listed as either a resist or a vulnerability you will
generally see the bonus added in.
AP:2 vs AR:1 with resist to that damage type
Payback. After testing his axe on the kreetle, Bob is ready for his
showdown with Joe. Joe grabs his armor (AR:1+40%) and rushes out to meet
Bob in mortal combat. Bob is in the middle of showing off his Long Vibro
Axe (AP:2) when Joe bursts in the door and rushes him. Bob being as fast
as he is still manages to get the jump on Joe and hits him for 100
damage. Joe figures no problem though, he has his trusty armor on and it
should absorb 70% of the damage leaving him sitting pretty. Joe is
wrong. Although the numbers in the combat window still show 100,
the magical floating number is displaying 75! Oh not-so-lucky day for
Joe!
What is going on: When you attack an enemy with an armor piercing weapon
that is greater than your target's AR, you receive the damage bonus (25%
in this case, because AP2 is one step greater than AR1). However, your
resists still apply. In this case, Bob's damage is first increased to
125, then reduced by 40% (50 points).
AP:0 vs AR:3
Joe is now very annoyed with his inability to do anything about Bob's
new form of attack. So he runs out and gets himself a quick 12,250
imperial faction points points to rank up and buy an AT-ST for himself
(AR:3 + 75% kinetic). He then immediately rushes back to the cantina and
finds that Bob has lent someone else his Long Vibro Axe leaving Bob with
his fists again. Bob, being in the drunken stupor that he is, attacks
the AT-ST without regard for his wellbeing. Bob immediately strikes a
critical blow on the AT-ST for 100 damage (as both Joe and Bob can see
in their combat windows). However, above the AT-ST's head a little 3
floats away. Bob, suddenly coming out of his drunken state, contemplates
what has happened. He quickly realizes that it is futile to attack the
AT-ST. Unfortunately Joe only trained the AT-ST to sit and stay. While
he is busy training his over-sized pet to attack Bob beats Joe into the
ground.
What is going on here: The AT-ST has an AR three levels higher than
Bob's weapon. So before anything else happens he is hit with the 50%
penalty 3 times. The 100 damage is reduced to 12.5 damage
(100*0.5*0.5*0.5). Then, on top of all that, the AT-ST's resistance
kicks in for another 75% reduction leaving bob with a measly 3.125
damage (12.5*0.25).
AP:2 vs AR:3+Vulnerability
Bob, now worried for his life, runs out and buys himself a nice Power
Hammer (AP:2 Blast damage) as well as trains up to novice swordsman. In
the meantime Joe runs around slaughtering the innocent with his war
machine (AR:3+Vulnerability to Blast), but is unable to heal his AT-ST
and it is eventually reduced to 100 health. But that's okay. He will
save his AT-ST for the final battle with Bob. There is no fear of losing
his AT-ST for Bob can only do 3 damage at a time to the mighty machine.
To make a long story short, Bob attacks Joe's AT-ST with his Power
Hammer for 100 damage (as displayed in the combat windows). The number
100 floats away above the AT-ST's head and it collapses in a heap of
twisted steel.
What is going on here: Bob attacked the AT-ST with a weapon that does a
type of damage (blast) that it is vulnerable to. When you attack an
opponent that is vulnerable to your damage type, the armor has no
effect. Likewise, you receive no damage bonus. As a result, the amount
of damage you do to the target is the same as the amount of damage it
suffers. *Note: this is believed to be a bug and may change at some
point in time.
AP:0 vs AR:1(70% resists to kinetic) and a PSG
Joe's revenge. After weeks of mourning Joe decides that he is done with
beating Bob. He has found peace in his life and takes up the carebear
ways of entertainers and artisans. After shopping around for many
minutes he sees a beautiful set of Ubese armor. It is a stunning gold
color and makes him look dead sexy. So, using the money he earned as a
dancer during his period of mourning he buys a full set of the armor
(AR:1 Special Protection vs Kinetic: +70%) as well as a Personal Shield
Generator (kinetic resist: 10%). Enter Bob stage left. While dancing the
night away one evening, however, Joe sees Bob walk into the cantina. At
the sight of Bob Joe is sent into a frenzy and, forgetting all past
oaths, he rushes at Bob in a final assault against his arch enemy.
Unfortunately, Joe took the attack button off his hotbar and replaced it
with an emote and Bob gets the first shot in and hit's Joe for a
surprising 100 damage. Joe, feeling that the battle is over already, is
quite surprised. Bob's combat window shows 100 damage, but the number
floating over Joe's head is is only 8! Joe's combat window shows that
his PSG absorbed 55 points of damage and his Ubese armor absorbed
another 42 points of damage! Joe is ecstatic, and he has a sudden
revelation about how armor works.
What is going on here: Before Bob even gets close to Joe, his blow is
stopped by the PSG. Functioning as a first level of defense, the PSG
absorbs 55 points of damage (50 points because it is light armor plus
another 10% of the remainder due to the kinetic resist), passing 45
points of damage on to the armor. Because Joe's composite armor is AR1,
50% of this damage is blocked, leaving 23 points remaining. Finally,
Joe's armor has a high resistance to kinetic attacks (70%, the fact that
it is called a "special protection" is irrelevent) and Bob's attack is
kinetic, so Joe's armor blocks 70% of the remaining damage, resulting in
Joe suffereing 7 points of damage. *Note: some bugs with PSG's may
prevent them from working properly. Check the resistances on your PSG
and unequip/re-equip it; this generally solves the problem.
AP:2(kinetic) vs AR:1(70% resists to kinetic) and a PSG
Bob, realizing that he cannot defeat Golden Joe with his bare hands,
whips out his Vibro Axe one last time. Dodging Joe's wild swing, he
slashes at Joe, dealing 100 points of damage. Above Joe's head floats
the number 37 and Joe, puzzled at the amount of damage he suffered while
wearing his beautiful armor and PSG, dies.
What is going on here: To begin with, when an armor piercing attack
penetrates a PSG, the PSG blocks no damage, even if it is resistant to
that damage type. Next, Bob's attack was AP2, which is one step greater
than Joe's armor (AP1). As a result, his damage is boosted by 25%.
Finally, because Joe's ubese armor has a 70% resistance to kinetic, the
total damage is reduced by 70%, resulting in 27 points of damage.
Part V � Wearing Armor
Regardless of what type of armor you�re wearing, it�s going to impact
your secondary HAM pools considerably. There are a number of ways to
reduce the HAM impact of armor.
A. Get the armor sliced:
Just as smugglers can slice weapons, they can also slice armor. There
are two armor attributes that smugglers can slice: base resists and
encumbrance. There is no way to choose one over the other on any given
slice. Generally, a master smuggler will slice encumbrance for 20-45%
while base resist (effectiveness) slices will range from 15-35%.
With a basic 20% encumbrance slice across the board on a standard
500/400/500 suit the total HAM will be reduced to 400/329/400. Now that
is almost within wearable range for some people, but for the majority of
the player community that I have dealt with Focus and Mind (the
secondaries for Mind) in particular are problem areas. The good news is
that now that you know what the total encumbrance is, you can start
working toward making sure you can wear it.
B. Boost Secondary Stats
Since armor encumbrance only impacts the secondary stats, you need to
boost them up to make sure you can offset the armor's encumbrance. To do
this there are three primary options available to the player.
Option #1 - Stat migration to wear armor, buffs to regain stats - In
this scenario you would migrate your stats to were your secondary stats
were all just high enough to wear all the armor. You would then use
buffs (food,spice,medical) to then raise your secondary stats back up to
usable levels. The advantage of this method is if you run out of buffs,
you can still put your armor on/off without any issues. The disadvantage
of this method is your primary stats will have to be lowered.
Personally, I recommend this option because it seems to be the easiest
road to take. There are also some reports that a stealth change went
into affect that does not allow option # 2 to fully work.
Option #2 - Buff to wear armor - In this scenario you could
(potentially) do stat migration to your primaries, assuming you are
going to be buffing yourself. You would then use buffs to give your
secondary stats a major boost which would then allow you to wear the
armor. The advantage of this is your primaries will be high. The
disadvantage is if you run out of buffs, at best you have to keep the
armor on, at worst you can not put it back on until you get another
batch of buffs. Note that following the November patch, you must be able
to wear the armor unbuffed- even if buffs would otherwise permit you to
wear it. Buffs are still useful, however, because you can set your
secondary skills at the bare minimm that allows you to wear the armor.
Option #3 - Combo of the above - In this scenario you would pick your
favorite buff then do stat migration in other areas. For instance, you
know a good chef that makes a great food buff that impacts Focus and
Willpower and you can always get a good supply from him. So you do stat
migration to cover your Health and Action secondary stats, and use the
buffs to cover Focus and Willpower. This option saves more of your
primary stats, but also forces you to rely on buffs.
C. The Armor Macro
The armor macro is critical for proper usage of armor. Learn it, love
it, live it. If you are NOT being hit, and you can anticipate if you
will start to get hit, then you should NOT have your armor on.
Keep the armor off since it provides no benefits if you are not being
hit, then put it on via an armor macro the second you are being
threatened. Once the threat has passed (for instance an animal changing
course and going after a group mate) then immediately use the macro
again to take the armor off. Unless you are soloing, dueling, or engaged
in a major PVP event where being targeted is too hard to predict, you
should definitely NOT have your armor on all the time.
Before going over how to setup an armor macro, please realize that all
the user interface buttons are numbered starting with zero, not with
one. So the first button on the left for toolbar number 1 is actually
Slot00,Pane00. That last button (the 24th) on the first tool bar would
be Slot23.
That being said, you can choose any pane and any slots you want, so the
ones I am picking are just for example. To now setup your armor macro
please follow the steps outlined below.
Step 1: Pick a tool bar - I have selected the toolbar marked in game as
3 (so for programming Pane02)
Step 2: Hotkey your armor - Drag all your armor pieces (for me eight of
them) into the buttons starting at the left (so for programming, Slot00
through Slot08).
Step 3: Create a macro - Create a new macro, name it, pick the icon and
enter the following lines.
/ui action toolbarPane02; /ui action toolbarSlot00; /ui action
toolbarSlot01; /ui action toolbarSlot02; /ui action toolbarSlot03; /ui
action toolbarSlot04; /ui action toolbarSlot05; /ui action
toolbarSlot06; /ui action toolbarSlot07; /ui action toolbarSlot08; /ui
action toolbarPane00;
Step 4: Place macro on toolbar - Place the macro you created on your
primary toolbar, which for my example I use the 1st one (notice I used
Pane00 at the end). So now that the macro is setup, whenever you hit the
button on the primary toolbar, the macro immediately switches to the
toolbar that has all the armor on it, it selects every armor piece, then
goes back to the toolbar you used the macro on. The end result is an
immediate equipment/unequip without ever leaving your primary toolbar.
Personally I have two macros setup. One for armor, one for clothing. So
if I want to armor up I select the armor one, if I want to take armor
off I use the clothing one. If you used just one macro you would be
going back and forth between naked and armored which I would prefer not
to do.
Part VI - Crafting Armor
So, you want to be an armorsmith? While being an armorsmith is a long
and difficult process, armorsmiths are certainly one of the highest-paid
artisan professions. Why? In order to provide have full protection, a
character needs nine different pieces of armor. Most armor types are
also extremely complicated, requiring multiple rare resources and
cross-profession components. Furthermore, each of these pieces of armor
degrades over time based on the amount of damage it blocks. On top of
this you can make PSGs, which have a very short lifespan. As a result,
Armorsmiths demand substantial compensation for their time.
A. Becoming a master armorsmith:
To begin with, being a successful armorsmith does not require you to
make master. An armorsmith with Tech 4 and Personal Armor 1 can make a
suit of mabari armorweave that, with the right components, is almost as
good as one made by a Master. Since each type of armor has its own
benefits and drawbacks, this means that even low-level armorsmiths are
in demand.
As with any crafting profession, there are two ways to gain xp: make
products for sale or "grind". An armorsmith who just makes products for
sale and relies on the XP gained from making those products is in for a
long, slow ride to the top. This is made worse by the fact that your
armor really isn't comparable to what other armorsmiths can make until
you hit Tech 3 or 4. As a result, you will find that the market for your
products is rather small initially. On the other hand, 'grinding' can be
a very tedious process. Most armorsmiths advance through a combination
of the two techniques. Grind until you hit tech 3 or 4, then start
making mabari suits or, if you prefer, grind up the PSG line to PSG 2
and make Mark I PSGs. Generally, armorsmiths tend to leave the 'layers'
line until last.
If you do choose to grind, there are four items that most armorsmiths
mass produce at some point in their careers. Armor Upgrade Kits (Novice
Armorsmith), Mabari Chest Plates (Novice Armorsmith), Mk1 Personal
Shield Generators and their subcomponents (PSG 1 and 2) and Ubese Shirts
(Personal Armor 3). Mass producing each of these has its own advantages
and difficulties (AUK's only give 60xp, but only take 2 resources while
Mabari Chest Plates give around 500 xp, but require subcomponents and
hides, which can be difficult to come by in sufficient quantities to
grind with). Use of a crafting macro is highly recommended; a useful one
is listed in Appendix B.
B. Making Armor:
Each suit of armor is made up of up to nine different pieces, although
some types of armor have far fewer. Each of these pieces has numerous
subcomponents. Note that oftentimes schematics call for identical
components. This means that they must all have the same serial number -
i.e.: from the same factory run (crated) or from the same mob (dropped).
The most common are listed below:
1. Tailor components: reinforced fiber panel, synthetic cloth,
fibroplast panel. These require varying levels of tailoring skill.
Fibroplast panels can be made by most artisans, synth cloth can be made
by novice tailors and reinforced fiber panels can be made by a tailor
with Field Wear 2. It is highly recommended that you either take a few
steps in the tailoring line or develop a sound relationship with a
tailor who is willing to provide you with large-run schematics of both
synth cloth and reinforced fiber panels. Experimentation does not matter
on these items (indeed, it cannot be done). It is not clear whether
material quality matters, but it probably does not.
2. Segments: These come in two forms: dropped segments and crafted
segments. Dropped segments can be used directly in armor as a component
and include, among other things, the famous Krayt Dragon Segment that is
used to make spectacular composite armor. See Appendix C for a list of
these components and their effects. Crafted segments are made from a
variety of materials and are the type of segment used in most armor.
There are two types of crafted segments for most types of armor: regular
and advanced. Advanced segments use more specialized resources and tend
to give higher results. Generally lower armor using advanced segments is
superior to the armor 'above' it. Note that crafted segments can and
should be experimented on.
3. Segment enhancers: these are dropped items that can be placed into
segments to give special bonuses. See Appendix C for a list of known
enhancers.
4. Layers: these are special protective subcomponents
that can be placed into segments. Layers provide an additional bonus
against a particular type of damage but increase the HAM costs of the
segment in the process. Note that if a layer for a particular type of
damage is added to armor vulnerable to that type of damage it will
cancel that vulnerability. Note that layers were fixed in a recent patch
so that now their special protection is in addition to the base
resistances of the armor rather than in place of.
C. Resource Choice:
Using high quality resources is very important to the armorsmith and
care should be taken when selecting them. There are four traits that
matter to armorsmiths: Overall Quality, Unit Toughness, Shock Resistance
and Malleability. Each of these affects different things.
Overall Quality: The single most important trait. OQ provides 50% of all
armor traits. Choosing resources with high OQ is imperative when
crafting armor.
Unit Toughness: Affects the durability of the armor. Generally,
customers don't pay attention to this value and, as a result, neither do
armorsmiths. The small benefit in terms of armor durability you might
see from choosing a material with a high UT is almost always outweighed
by lower OQ, SR, or Mall attributes, all of which are more important.
Shock Resistance: Affects both the general and special resistances of
the armor segment. Generally you want to keep this as high as possible,
although sometimes you might want to stress Mall more if you are very
concerned about HAM costs.
Malleability: This resource affects HAM costs. The higher the Mall, the
lower the HAM costs. There are also theories that it affects success
rates - a high Mall results in fewer fails and more successes in both
crafting and experimentation.
D. Experimentation
Armorcrafting is all about experimentation. This is where you
distinguish yourself as a true master armorcrafter. Basically, there are
three things you can experiment on:
Durability (relates to HAM costs and maximum condition)
Quality (relates to general resistances)
Resistance (relates to the armor's special resistance)
Depending on where you place your skill points, you can make an armor
that's maxed for its special resistance but has a high HAM and low
general resistances, or you can make an armor with relatively low HAM
and low resistances. Section VII discusses some of the mathematics
behind experimentation. Just knowing the equations isn't enough,
however- the only way to really get a feel for experimentation is to
actually do some yourself. Make a whole bunch of gloves of different
types of armor and see how putting experimentation points into each
category changes the outcome of the armor.
E. Skill enhancing attachments
There are a variety of skill enhancing attachments that are designed to
fit into slots in armor, rather than clothes. With the November patch,
it is now possible to make armor with sockets, into which armor-specific
skill attachment can be placed. Once the armor is made, simply drop the
attachment onto the armor, just as you would with a powerup. Once
placed, the attachment cannot be removed. Note that placing skill
enhancing attachments into various required tailor components does
nothing to the final piece of armor (it simply goes poof!).
F. Coloring and naming armor
When naming your armor, it is highly suggested that you include some
information about each piece in the title. Generally, stating the
resistances and the HAM costs is a must if you want people to buy your
armor. Doing so also allows the buyer to easily check and see if the
armor has been sliced (by comparing the stats in the title to the ones
in the delve details).
Sophisticated armorsmiths often use colors in their titles as well. To
make a color a title, simply insert \#xxxxxx imediately before the text.
Replace the "xxxxxx" with a six-digit hex color code. For example,
\#FF0000 will make the text yellow. A hex color chart can be found by
simply typing 'hex color' into any search engine. Colored titles are
also useful for organizing your inventory by enabling you to quickly see
which components are which.
You'll also want to color your armor. This feature is both your best
friend and your worst nightmare. It's your best friend because it allows
your items to be unique, increasing the demand and value of your
products. It's also your worst nightmare, because making custom suits of
armor that are different colors means no factory runs. And as a
craftsman who wants to sell a lot of products, factory runs are your
friend. The solution: decide to either be a custom craftsman and make
each piece to order (and charge a ton for them) or mass produce suits of
armor that are all the same color (allowing your customers to have any
color on their armor�as long as it's black).
For a list of colors, see this thread:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=armorsmith&message.id=13917
Part VII: The mathmatics behind
armorcrafting
This section is provided as a starting point for armorcrafters to
understand a bit more about how they get the results they do. Since the
actual equations behind crafting have not been released by the game
developers, this section may not be fully accurate. However, it does
describe the best understanding we have of how the system actually
works.
In order to understand how the final result is produced, you first need
to understand the basic formula. Essentially, the game calculates a
minimum experimental statistic. This minimum experimental statistic is a
function of the weighted average experimental quality. By spending
experimentation points, you can increase this experimental statistic
above the minimum at a fixed rate. The degree to which you can raise the
experimental statistic is capped, a limit that is also a function of the
weighted average experimental quality. The final experimental stastic is
then mapped to an actual statistic in the final item.
A. How the weighted average experimental quality is calculated
This section describes how the weighted average experimental quality is
calculated based on resource attributes. Essentially, for each
experimental statistic there is weighted average quality that depends on
a)the attributes of each resource used, b)the amount of each resource
required by the schematic and c) the weighting of each attribute.
Depending on the number of resources and attributes, this can be very
simple (for example, in the case of batteries, only one resource and one
attribute) or very complex (multiple resources and multiple attributes,
each with different weights). In order to simplify the explanation, base
resists will be used.
When you experiment on a piece of armor, you get three options, one of
which is Experimental Quality. Experimenting on experimental quality
raises the base resists of the item. However, in order to know how
experimentation will effect the base item, you first need to calculate
the weighted average quality of the item for that particular
experimental statistic.
The weighted average quality for Experimental Quality on all armor is
based on the Overall Quality and Shock Resistance at a 50-50 ratio. The
shock resistance of each material multiplied by the quantity used
divided by the sum of the total quantites of the materials used. This
will give you the average shock resistance for the item. The same
process is performed for Overall Quality and a weighted average of the
two (50/50 in this case) is determined. For materials that do not have
one of the values (for example solid petrochem fuel), the equation
simply removes that factor from the calculation.
For example, say you're making a composite helm using the following
materials (we're only going to list the OQ/Shock of these theoretical
materials, since that's all applies to resistances):
Intrusive Ore 800 OQ 900 Shock Solid Petrochem Fuel 950 OQ Nabooian
Fiberplast 700 OQ 900 Shock Aluminum 600 OQ 800 Shock Beyrllius Copper
700 OQ 400 Shock Wooly Hide 900 OQ 600 Shock
You're looking effectively using the following total quality of
material...
((((70*800) + (70*950) + (35*700) + (40*600) + (30*700) + (30*900)) /
(70 + 70 + 35 + 40 + 30 + 30 )) + (((70*900) + (35*900) + (40*800) +
(30*400) + (30*600)) / (70 + 36 + 40 + 30 + 30)))) / 2
In the above equations, the average OQ would be 796 while the average SR
would be 729. Consequently, the weighted average material rating for
this experimental attribute would be 762.5.
The full equation for finding the weighted average attribute quality is
described below:
General equation:
OQ1: Material 1 Overall Quality
SR1: Material 1 Shock Resistance
n1: Number of Material 1 required in schematic
OQ2: Material 2 Overall Quality
Material 2 does not have a Shock Resistance
n2: Number of Material 2 required in schematic
OQ3: Material 3 Overall Quality
SR3: Material 3 Shock Resistance
n3: Number of Material 3 required in schematic
( ( ((OQ1*n1) + (OQ2*n2) + (OQ3*n3)) ) + ( ((SR1*n1) + (SR3*n3)) ) )
(n1+n2+n3) (n1+n3)
_______________________________________________
( 2 )
B. Experimental minimums and maximums
Experimental minimums and maximums are directly related to the average
weighted quality of the resources used. Currently, the benefit gained
from using each experimentation point is fixed at 7%, regardless of
resource, although this will almost certainly change at some point in
the future.
1. Each point of experimentation placed into the object resulted in a 7%
gain, regardless of material, as was expected.
2. There is a fairly clear linear relationship between average material
quality and starting/final percentages. The fit is not perfect,
suggesting that there is a more complicated relationship at work, but
this fit is very close (R2 = 99, n=6), which is good enough for pratical
purposes. Any deviations are in the fractions of single percents and
won't affect our work.
Basic Equations:
starting experimental percentage y = 0.0003x - 0.0369
max experimental percentage y = 0.001x - 0.0012
incremental gain: .07 (7%)
Ultimate equation:
x = average material quality for the relevant attribute
EM>n = number of experimentation points spent
final attribute percentage = (0.0003x - 0.0369) + (n*(.07)), but capped
at 0.001x - 0.0012
Note that depending on how many experimentation points you have and the
resource qualities, you may have points left over that can be spent in
other areas.
C. Mapping experimental percentages to actual statistics
Here are the results of some tests that mapped percentages to actual
base resistance statistics on various armor segments. Note that resource
attributes are immaterial at this stage- all that matters is the final
experimentation statistic. All that resource attributes do is adjust the
starting point and the maximum up or down.
a. maberi armorweave segment:
11% - 1% resistance
25% - 2% resistance
53% - 3% resistance
b. composite armorweave segment
23% - 3% resistance
37% - 4% resistance
51% - 5% resistance
59% - 6% resistance>
73% - 7% resistance
Note that these are not absolute cut off points. They are limited by the
starting points offered by the particular resource I was using. Using
resources with different qualities will allow us to hone in on where the
actual cut-off points are, which will enable us to better spend
experimentation points (i.e.: not spending that last experimentation
point in resistance, for example, if you know it will not put you over
the cutoff to the next % of resistance). Of course, this assumes that
there are discrete intervals of resistance. It is possible that there
are decimals involved as well, but that they are hidden behind the
scenes.
D. Armor resource attribute ratios
When selecting resources for making armor, it is important to know which
attributes are the most important. Fortunately, this is fairly simple,
since experimental attributes are the same on all armors.
Resists % is determined by --> OQ and SR at a 50-50 ratio
HAM/encumberence cost --> OQ and MA at a 50-50 ratio
Durability --> OQ and UT at a 50-50 ratio
Examples: -
- 1000 OQ + 1000 SR + 70 MA = Uber resists + mediocre HAM costs
- 1000 OQ + 99 SR + 70 = mediocre resists + mediocre HAM costs
- 1000 OQ + 70 SR + 999 MA = mediocre resists + Excellent HAM costs
- 70 OQ + 999 SR + 1000 MA = mediocre resist + mediocre HAM costs
- 70 OQ + 70 SR + 70 MA = horrible resists + horrible HAM costs
The most powerful combination: High 900s of OQ + SR + MA + UT = this
will yield the best stats for armor. As you can tell, it does not matter
if one of the stats is really high but the other is terrible. It needs
to be balanced. As a general rule of thumb, if two stats together =
1600, that's usually pretty good. Note that when you are performing
these calculations, you need to take the stats of all resources into
account at the ratios they are used.
E. Adding in segments
Once you have the base resist of the armor, you can add in segments.
Note that segments provide a benefit to the armor over and above that of
the basic resists- their resists are add-ons, not multipliers. Segments
use the same ratios of quality / quantities of materials to determine
the maximum effectiveness available. Once crafted, the segments are
added to the totals provided by the armor experimentation to get the
final values.
Thus, if you had a 16% base segment, and created armor with the above
materials, you should end up with a 48% base effectiveness composite
helm (assuming you managed to hit the cap of 76% in Experimental
Quality).
F. Layering
Layers are a way to boost both the base resistances of a segment as well
as the special resistances, but this benefit comes at the cost of
greater encumbrance. This section discesses how to effectively use
layers in such a way as to keep HAM costs low.
Using good materials is pretty much a must. Find stuff with high
malleability and high overall quality first and foremost. Pick a single
damage type. Using multiple damage type layers on one piece of armor
seems to lead to less desireable, less sliceable armor. Using more than
one type of layer gives you less of a boost to the damage types, and
since the layers move the resist to special protection, its going to
stay there no matter what the slice does. This is why krayt scales are
often not the best thing to place in armor, as they only leave one type
of resist in base effectiveness, making effectiveness slices virtually
useless.
So pick one type, say - heat (one of the easiest to make). Find some
good resources, throw together a layer... Use as many points as you can
in "experimental durabilty" on the layer to get it down to 2-2-2 or
thereabouts... 4-4-4 is decent, 6-6-6 is about the highest you'll want
to go. (Keep in mind, the system isn't perfect, and sometimes if you
have 8 possible points to put into durability, only 6 may be needed to
get the layer down to its minimum H/A/M rating.) Hopefully, with decent
materials, you'll be able to accomplish this using 6 or 7 points. The
remaining points you can use to boost the resist % of the layer. At
first the %'s may not look like much, but added up X3 they can be pretty
significant. For this example, the heat layers are 5% heat 2% base (x3 =
15ish extra heat, 6ish extra base), which is a great setup if you can
get 2-4 H/A/M on the pieces. The HAM costs of the heat layers are 3-3-3
(9/9/9 or so added on to the final piece).
Make a LOT of layers... Then throw together a segment. This part is a
little trickier, as the H/A/M costs's on the segment will throw you off
a little bit and make you think it stinks, but proceed as normal -
keeping in mind what your usual unlayered composite segment base
effectiveness % is - and bring the base effectiveness (experimental
quality) up at least on par with that. Unlayered adv comp segments can
easily have a resist of 19%, but bumping it up even further for the few
points it takes is well worth it, as segments, like actual armor pieces,
dont benefit very much from durability(H/A/M) experimentation. In
addition, the special protection given by the layer stacks ON TOP of the
base effectiveness, so the higher the base, the higher the special.
In our example, we bump the base effectiveness on the heat segs to 25%,
put the last few points into H/A/M reduction, and it comes out at 25%
base, 2541 integrity (very nice condition improvement) 19/19/21 ham (the
unlayered examples are 9/9/11), 16% heat(clearly some decimal work going
on here we dont see, cuz 5x3 != 16 ), 8% electrical. Blammo, make a
bunch of segments (they eat up layers faaaast beware of this), and throw
them together... With one amazing success on quality experimentation
(4+4 points) and 2 points into H/A/M reduction, here's an example of how
an Acid helmet came out:
Composite Helmet Condition: 36818/36818 Special Protection:
Acid: 79.0% (77.0% without amazing suc.) Electricity: 67.0%
Effectiveness:
*: 59.0% (57.0% without amazing suc.)
Vuln:
Stun: -
Encumberance:
Health: 46 Action:43 Mind: 286
Without layers, these helmets are 53% bases, 60-something electrical,
with a HAM of 34/31/281. Some versions of the helmets go as low as
40/40/281, some a bit higher like 48/45/289, all depending on the
quality of the resources used in the layers.
There's an important lesson in this. Encumberance reduction via
experimentation works similar to a slice. It's all a percentage. A
reduction of 2 points on H/A/M brings the M on that helmet down from
about 305 to 286(almost eliminating the M added by the layers) but the
HA only drops 1 or 2 points. The same pretty much holds true on the
chest/pants, so stick to making just those three pieces with layers.
Using the layers on the smaller pieces with small ham hits, even with
2-2-2 layers, still make the suit way too heavy. But for a sacrifice of
about 30 overall H/A/M, that is one killer set of armor. One important
thing to note when doing this is that two layers with low HAM costs are
better than one layer with a higher HAM cost. This seems to be due to
the basic 1%/4% benefit you get when making the layer that makes
multiples better than singles. One suggestion for an effective suit is
to make an Acid special helm(scatter eye-shot), Heat special chest(fwg5
torso/stopping), and Energy special legs (carbine stuff). It just about
covers the most popular damage types and the 3 targetable areas.
Appendix A: Frequently Asked Questions:
Is bone armor with 20% energy better than composite with 5% energy?
Protection ratings are absolutes. A higher value is a higher value.
Their meanings don't change based on the armor type. So in this case,
the bone is better against energy. Although the maximum potential
protection for composite is higher than bone, it is possible for lighter
superbly made armor to protect better than a poorly made heavy one.
I tried on some high level armor, and it had encumbrances so high, I
couldn't wear it. Will I never be able to use that type of armor?
Depending on the materials used and the skill of the smith, armor can
have better or worse stats, and higher or lower encumbrances. That
encumbrance can be further lowered by a slicer. If you shop around, you
may find lower encumbrance armor that you're able to wear, or get a
slicer to slice your existing armor. Also, stat-boosting food, spice,
and medicine can allow you wear high-encumbrance armor.
Is it a good idea to wear my armor all the time?
Not if you do non-combat things that use Health, Action or Mind. The
encumbrances lower your secondary attributes, thereby decreasing your
regeneration rate and increase the cost for using abilities.
Do Personal Shield generators work the same as armor?
The attributes work the same as armor. There are some differences,
however. Shields have no encumbrance penalties and act as a second layer
of armor. Damage is first absorbed by the shield and whatever remains
goes to the armor. Shields also have an innate protection again Stun
damage which no other crafted armor has. The trade off, however, is that
shields are extremely fragile. They wear out quickly, making it an
expensive proposition to use them continuously.
Do I get usage xp when other people use my armor?
You get a small amount of usage xp when others wear your armor provided
that you are online, nearby, and the person is taking damage. Currently
you do not get any usage xp from PSG's.
Does a crafting station with a high "rating" do anything?
There is absolutely no evidence that a crafting station with a higher
rating works better than one with a lower rating, either in terms of
fewer critical failures, more great successes, or better experimentation
results. Numerous tests have been run on this and all have indicated the
same thing: crafting station and tool rating above zero means nothing
(it is inconclusive whether a rating below zero has any effect).
What species have restrictions to wearing armor?
Armor is technically clothing so it follows the same rules (Trandoshans
can't wear boots, Wookiees can't wear much...)
What is RIS Armor?
RIS armor is a type of armor craftable only by Master Armorsmiths who
complete a particular quest. The quest is given by a hermit on Dantooine
who can be found at loc 6806 6022 on Dantooine (by the abandoned rebel
base in the FAR NW corner) (props to EpocAmid for being the first to
post his location and Drummerboychris for being the first to post on the
Armorsmith board). Building the armor requires several rare components
that drop off of mobs. These include: a Giant Dune Kimogila Scale [Lok],
a Reclusive Gurk King Hide [Lok], a Woolamander Harrower Bone Fragment [Yavin
IV], and a Peko Peko Albatross feather [Naboo].
What types of resources should armorsmiths/resource suppliers be on the
lookout for?
Armorsmiths need a huge variety of inorganic resources, more than can be
easily listed here. For a complete listing, check the schematics on
SWGCraft.com. Organics are easier to detail- all types of high OQ/SR/Mall
wooly, scaley, leathery and bristley hides are needed, with wooly hides
being the most important. Special organics include: Avian bones (tantel
armor), Yavinian Wooly Hide, and Lokian Leathery Hide (Padded armor).
How long does it take to become a master armorsmith?
Short answer: a long time. Even grinding straight up the tree takes a
considerable amount of time. The analysis below is provided for
informational purposes only and should not be attempted by anyone who
wishes to retain their sanity.
In order to complete all four Armorsmith skill lines using the fastest
possible method (Armor Upgrade Kits until Personal Armor 3, then Ubese
Armor Shirts*), you will need to use a total of 358,400 resources.
Assuming you are making all of these items in practice mode, you will
need to make 1,450 AUK's and 4,941 Ubese Armor Shirts.
If you use a high powered macro on an average computer and are good with
a mouse, you can make do about eight combines a minute with a low error
rate. Given one critical failure per eight combines, this works out to
roughly seven combines per minute. This means that it will take you 913
minutes, or fifteen hours and thirteen minutes of solid crafting.
In making these items you will need 14,500 units of chemical, 28,900
units of metal, 49,410 units of fiberplast, 98,820 units of iron and
148,230 units of steel.
*You can substitute Mabari Chest Plates for the UAK's, but these require
a larger variety of resources including a significant amount of hides
and synthetic cloth from a factory crate.
What is the maximum resistance an armor can have?
80% pre-slice. Any experimentation above this is wasted and will do
nothing. Slicing the armor can raise it above this up to a max of 90%.
Note that in order to achieve such high resists you need extraordinary
resources (995+), a master armorsmith, high qual krayt dragon segments,
layers, and someone who really knows what they're doing. In addition,
this armor will probably have extremely high HAM costs.
Where is the Advanced Tantel Segment in my schematic list?
It doesn't exist
Appendix B: Grinding Macro
This is one variation on the grinding macro. You will need to play with
it to adapt it to your own use.
/ui action toolbarSlot01; /selectDraftSchematic 47; /pause 20; /nextC; /nextC;
/nextC; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype practice no
item; /pause 3; /ui action toolbarSlot02; /selectDraftSchematic 47;
/pause 20; /nextC; /nextC; /nextC; /createPrototype practice no item; /createPrototype
practice no item; /pause 3; /ui action toolbarSlot03; /selectDraftSchematic
47; /pause 20; /nextC; /nextC; /nextC; /createPrototype practice no
item; /createPrototype practice no item; /ui action toolbarSlot00;
With the macro in the first toolbar slot and three armor crafting tools
in the next three slots. This macro opens each of the tools in turn,
selects the schematic for Mabari chest plate, gives you 20 seconds to
select the resources, and then makes the item in practice mode. So you
get the 5% experience bonus, and no Mabari chest plate.
After the third tool, the macro calls itself, thereby starting again at
the first tool. If you make something less complicated (You need 14
double-clicks for the resources of the Mabari chest plate), you can make
the pause for adding the resources shorter, but then you might need to
add a 4th tool and macro part for it.
Appendix C - Looted items and their effects
1. Difference between looted segment enhancers and segments
Segment enhancers are items that you can put into a segment that will
give it a bonus of some sort. Examples of these include Krayt scales.
Currently, many of the segment enhancers are bugged.
Segments are items that can be placed directly into a suit of armor.
They tend to have different bonuses that the normal segments you can
make for your suits. For example, a Voritor Lizard Hide Segment can be
placed into a suit of bone armor and will grant the bone armor both an
energy special resist and a kinetic special resist (normal bone armor is
vulnerable to kinetic). Segments are tied directly to a particular type
of armor and can only be used when crafting that armor.
How will looted segments affect the armor I make? Lets take these
variables using a segment of Krayt armor.
Y = Your composite segment base effectiveness %
K = Krayt segment base
effectiveness %
R = Your Composite Armor resist % using your composite segments
X = Your Krayt Composite Armor resist %
and apply them to this formula...
X = R + (K - Y)
For example, a while back before my server had colat iron, my composite
segments were 9%. the resist % on my composite was 42%. Using a 10%
krayt segment, i got 43% composite (sometimes 44). So basically add the
difference between your segment and the krayt segment to your usual
resist %, and you will find your answer. If you are using advanced
segments normally, its most likely going to be more than 10%, which
makes those *somewhat* useless. Of course, lower HAM values may make
Krayt segments more valuable.
2. Current list of dropped segments/segment enhancers
Note that this list simply shows examples of the segments each creature
can drop and the type of stats you can expect to find on them.
Particular drops may have higher or lower resists and HAM costs than are
shown below.
Segments
Brackaset Plate Segment
Used in: Chitin
Dropped by: Brackasets
Location: Dathomir
Base Effectiveness: 4%
Integrity: 650
Action Encumbrance: 20
Mind Encumbrance: 24
Blast Effectiveness: 4%
Fambaa Hide Segment
Used in: Padded
Dropped by: Fambaa
Location: Naboo
Base Effectiveness: 5%
Integrity: 450
Action Encumbrance: 13
Mind Encumbrance: 16
Cold Effectiveness: 4%
Kimogila Scale Segment
Used in: Bone
Dropped by: Kimogilas
Location: Lok
Base Effectiveness: 8%
Integrity: 750
Action Encumbrance: 12
Mind Encumbrance: 6
Heat Effectiveness: 7%
Cold Effectiveness: 7%
Kliknick Chitin Armor Segment
Used in: Chitin
Dropped by: Kliknicks (Queens?)
Location: Yavin IV
Base Effectiveness: 3%
Integrity: 500
Action Encumbrance: -7
Mind Encumbrance: -7
Krayt Dragon Composite Armor Segment
Used in: Composite
Dropped by: Krayt Dragons
Location: Tatooine
Base Effectiveness: 10%
Integrity: 5000
Rancor Hide Segment
there is a rancor hide segment separate from the hides described below;
stats are unknown
Sharnaff Plating Segment
Used in: Chitin
Dropped by: Sharnaffs
Location: Corellia
Base Effectiveness: 15%
Integrity: 800
Action Encumbrance: 24
Mind Encumbrance: 28
Cold Effectiveness: 5%
Heat Effectiveness: 5%
Acid Effectiveness: 5%
Voritor Lizard Hide Segment
Used in: Bone
Dropped by: Voritor Dashers, Trackers, Hunters
Location: Dantooine
Base Effectiveness: 5%
Integrity: 500
Action Encumbrance: 15
Mind Encumbrance: 8
Energy Effectiveness: 5%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 6%
Segment Enhancers
Brackaset Plates
Dropped by: Brackasets
Location: Dathomir
Action Encumbrance: 4
Mind Encumbrance: 4
Blast Effectiveness: 3%
Fambaa Hide
Dropped by: Fambaa
Location: Naboo
Action Encumbrance: ?
Mind Encumbrance: ?
Cold Effectiveness: ?
Janta Hide
Dropped by: Janta tribemembers
Location: Dantooine
Base Effectiveness: 3%?
Kimogila Scales
Dropped by Kimogilas
Location: Lok
Action Encumbrance: 4
Mind Encumbrance: 4
Heat Effectiveness: 4%
Cold Effectiveness: 4%
Krayt Dragon Scale
Dropped by: Krayt Dragons
Location: Tatooine
Cold Effectiveness: 4%
Blast Effectiveness: 4%
Energy Effectiveness: 4%
Acid Effectiveness: 4%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 4%
Heat Effectiveness: 4%
Nightsister Shard
Dropped by: Nightsisters (Elders?)
Location: Dathomir
Action Encumbrance: -10?
Mind Encumbrance: -10?
Other stats?
Rancor Hide
Dropped by: Rancors
Location: Dathomir
Base Effectiveness: 2%
Integrity: 1000
Action Encumbrance: 8
Mind Encumbrance: 10
Energy Effectiveness: 5%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 5%
Sharnaff Plates
Dropped by: Sharnaff
Location: Corellia
Stats?
Voritor Lizard Scales
Dropped by: Voritor Dashers, Trackers, Hunters
Location: Dantooine
Action Encumbrance: 5
Mind Encumbrance: 5
Energy Effectiveness: 3%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 4%
Brackaset Plates
Dropped by: Brackasets
Location: Dathomir
Action Encumbrance: 4
Mind Encumbrance: 4
Blast Effectiveness: 3%
Fambaa Hide
Dropped by: Fambaa
Location: Naboo
Action Encumbrance: ?
Mind Encumbrance: ?
Cold Effectiveness: ?
Janta Hide
Dropped by: Janta tribemembers
Location: Dantooine
Base Effectiveness: 3%?
Kimogila Scales
Dropped by Kimogilas
Location: Lok
Action Encumbrance: 4
Mind Encumbrance: 4
Heat Effectiveness: 4%
Cold Effectiveness: 4%
Krayt Dragon Scale
Dropped by: Krayt Dragons
Location: Tatooine
Cold Effectiveness: 4%
Blast Effectiveness: 4%
Energy Effectiveness: 4%
Acid Effectiveness: 4%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 4%
Heat Effectiveness: 4%
Nightsister Shard?
Dropped by: Nightsisters (Elders?)
Location: Dathomir
Action Encumbrance: -10?
Mind Encumbrance: -10?
Other stats?
Rancor Hide
Dropped by: Rancors
Location: Dathomir
Base Effectiveness: 2%
Integrity: 1000
Action Encumbrance: 8
Mind Encumbrance: 10
Energy Effectiveness: 5%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 5%
Sharnaff Plates
Dropped by: Sharnaff
Location: Corellia
Stats?
Voritor Lizard Scales
Dropped by: Voritor Dashers, Trackers, Hunters
Location: Dantooine
Action Encumbrance: 5
Mind Encumbrance: 5
Energy Effectiveness: 3%
Kinetic Effectiveness: 4%
Appendix D: Critical Bugs
Before purchasing or making a suit of armor, it is important to
recognize the current bugs that may prevent it from having its full
effectiveness. Below are some of the current critical bugs. Be sure and
check the SOE armorsmithing profession board for the must up to date
information on armor bugs.
Armor Hole
The original armor hole, relating to wearing certain items such as
backpacks and belts and discovered by EnragedMonkey, has apparently been
fixed by the Devs. There are also reports of a second armor hole that is
unrelated to the one discovered by EngragedMonkey, but no one has
managed to figure out the cause of this hole. It appears to be much
rarer than the hole discussed above.
Personal Shield Generator and Tantel Armor resists shifts
The resists on both PSGs and Tantel armor tend to shift randomly for no
apparent reason. One theory is that they shift when you log/cross a
server boundary. Regardless of the reason, this bug can be very
frustrating if you just purchased a PSG with the general resists you
want (most commonly one with kinetic or stun resists) and it morphs into
one with cold and electricity resists. The only solution is to carry
several independently made PSGs and equip the one that has the resists
you want at that time. When buying a set of PSGs for this purpose is is
advised that you buy ones with different serial numbers, as it is not
known whether PSGs from the same crate shift in unison. Further tests
are needed in this area, but it is hoped that this issue will be patched
soon.
Armor not working when you cross server boundaries
If you have your armor equipped, sometimes it will stop working after
you cross a server boundary. One way to avoid this problem is to use an
armor macro and only don your armor when you are being targeted by an
enemy. Removing and re-equipping your armor *may* solve this problem.
Special resists not providing additional protection against AP weapons
of that damage type
Recent testing has indicated that special resists do not provide an
additional bonus against AP weapons of that damage type. The previous
understanding of special resists was that even if the armor was struck
by an AP weapon, if the armor had a special resist against that damage
type the Armor Piercing nature of the weapon would be nullified. This is
not the case, although it may be fixed/changed in a future patch.
PSGs do not function against AP weapons
Personal Shield Generators do nothing against armor piercing weapons.
This may or may not be a bug, but be aware that your PSG will do nothing
(not even function as light armor) against that sniper with a T-21.
Food Bug
Currently food is bugged and can have serious negative effects on your
stats. The Chef community is screaming to have this fixed, so hopefully
it will be rectified soon. Also note that additional bugs with food may
limit its effectiveness.
PSGs are fragile
Whether this is a bug or not is open to debate. The consensus is that
PSGs have a very low condition to balance out the fact that they have
zero HAM costs, cover the entire body with just one piece, and are
easier to make than most pieces of armor (six components, all within the
armorsmithing/artisan line, and no rare resources). It is unlikely that
this will be adjusted.
Armor not functioning properly against AP weapons
Sometimes armor works against AP weapons, sometimes it doesn't. The way
armor is apparently supposed to work is that if it has a special resist
against energy then it functions normally against AP weapons of that
type. However, sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. In
particular, composite seems to work properly, some other armors work to
a lesser extent, and lower tier armors (bone and mabari) seem not to
block any damage.
Appendix E: Armorsmith Trainers
Corellia Bela Vistal 6872, -5429
Tatooine Bestine -1245, -3505
Corellia Doaba Guerfel 3127, 5291
Talus Dearic 351, -2867
Talus Dearic 599, -3070
Naboo Kaadara 5139, 6813
Naboo Keren 1801, 2565
Naboo Keren 1890, 2767
Corellia Kor Vella -3164, 2791
Corellia Kor Vella -3701, 3071
Naboo Moenia 4792, -5000
Tatooine Mos Eisley 3349, -4691
Tatooine Mos Entha 1247, 3248
Tatooine Mos Entha 1302, 3394
Tatooine Mos Espa -3073, 2057
Rori Narmle -5025, -2417
Rori Narmle -5248, -2358
Talus Nashal 4275, 5102
Rori Restuss 5370, 5608
Naboo Theed -5465, 3996
Corellia Tyrena -5118, -2337
Corellia Tyrena -5521, -2666
Corellia Coronet City 37, -4455
Rori Rori Rebel Military Outpost 3676, -6419 0
Naboo Dee'ja Peak 4770, -1274
Dantooine Abandoned Rebel Base -6947, 5614
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