Overview
This guide is made to help people understand how armor protection works in the world of Kenshi.
1: Introduction
So you might be wondering how armor protection works in the world of Kenshi. Maybe you have asked yourself questions like “What kind of armor do Ninjas need?” or “What is the deal with plate armor?” All of these are really good questions.
2: Concepts
First thing you need to understand is what exactly makes up a full armor set. Depending on the race of a character, there can be different slots to place armor. Hive cannot equip boots, and neither can skeletons.The Hive characters also need special shirts to fit them. In addition to not being able to wear boots, skeletons cannot wear shirts, or helmets. Certain hive races, those with big heads also need certain helmets.
(Click to Enlarge)
So you might be thinking, “So what if I don’t have a shiny shirt? I can still seal club those beta male bandits right?” Well sure you can, but anyone can seal club dust bandits. When it really counts, having a chain mail shirt or even a leather undershirt can make a huge difference in battle. Just like having pants and boots can. When you first start out in Kenshi, focus on getting all of your slots filled in so that way you have max coverage.
If you take a close look at items like chain mail and pants, you will notice how much % coverage they offer for different parts of your body. There are also places where it tells you how much % protection they offer from different sources of damage. Always shoot to cover as much of your body as possible, so that way sneaky blows don’t 1 shot your chest or arms. Some people might try to tell you to try and aim for resistance against the types of enemies you face in Kenshi, but since everybody wants you dead, its kinda unrealistic to expect players to have 4 sets of armor for all the different sources of damage. Also, certain shirts like Dark Leather shirts can help improve your stealth stat.
3: Armor Classes
So this is where the fun begins (Insert star wars meme here). There are three main types of armor in the game. Heavy, Medium, and Light armor. If you hover over your armor, it will tell you what class it is in.
Heavy armor is where you will find most plate based armor. The items like Samurai chest plates, and Mercenary plate. These items offer the best cut resistance you can find. They also tend to offer better blunt and cleave protection, overall, the best protection wise. But plate is not for every character. To begin with, plate will automatically reduce your attack and defense stats. So if you throw a full suit of armor on a low stat character, you will get clapped, and rightly so. It is best to wait until your character has higher stats in the 30s before you give them a full set of plate. A full set of Samurai armor can reduce your attack stat by 12, so if you have only 16 attack, well now you only have 4. Be sure to check the stats of any armor you find before slapping it on. It should also be noted that heavy armor will reduce your attack speed, and many other factors. So if you lack stats to handle it, plate could easily get you killed.
Medium armor is a hybrid between the two, and makes to be good starter armor. It can quickly build up your strength stat, and offers good protection. While not the best in respect to damage resistance, it still allows your characters to doge, attack, and move around. Plate jacket is a good example, but there are many others.
(I usually don’t use hand to hand fighters, so the hit to martial arts doesn’t bother me. )
Light armor is most often used on characters who use stealth to their advantage. Ninja pants, Ninja rags, and Assassin rags are all light armor. While offering the least protection, they allow your characters to move freely and quietly. If your stealth characters are low stat, focus on avoiding or running away from your problems. Once you get those stats up, like attack and toughness, you can start to become more confident.
As you can see, while offering little protection, these items give major bonuses to your stats that you rely on. They are worth while.
4: In Depth
If you want the exact details on how the armor mechanics work in the game, here is a post from one of the head dudes. It really helped me understand how all of this worked.
[link]5: Conclusion
Hopefully now you have a decent idea of how to manage armor in your group. Now you probably understand why weapons like Katanas are not the best choice for every character you got. Remember to focus on coverage and stats that affect your combat abilities. Try to cover as much of your character as possible while maintaining stats needed to defeat your foes. Please leave a comment if you see an error, and I hope you have a great day!
And always get that shiny shirt!
