What's your favorite armor system in games?

[Li'l devil]

Do you like Doom-style armor system where the armor offers constant protection until it drains out?

Or do you like when armor acts as just a second health bar, when health begins depleting only after the armor is gone?

Or do you like it when the more armor points you have, the more protection you get?

Or do you like any of the above, but also when the armors protect differently against different types of damage?

Or maybe there's some other, entirely different armor system that you like?

 

For me, I like all armor systems except when they act as a second health bar. And the more complicated the armor in the game is, the more I like it.

[DNSKILL5]

I like how the armor works in Quake the most. Each level of armor feels like a true upgrade from the lower tier, and it is clear how important armor is when you die so quickly without any. 

[Chezza]

I prefer an armour system that protects based on its quality and % of protection is influenced by its durability / damage.
Also, I prefer the armour pickups not to stack like a retro Doom / FPs, rather the player needs to pick it up and replace or repair it. Therefore a 50% top tier armour still may be more worth while than a 100% low quality armour.

 

Also in some cases, I wouldn't mind including Halo's armour / shield system that grants the player invulnerability until it drains and can recharge, maybe as a added bonus to a top tier set or unique character class  / upgrade.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Chezza

[Mr. Freeze]

I like Path of Exile's system. 

 

Armour mitigates physical damage from hits, with the exact amount of damage reduction depending on the relative magnitude of the character's armour value and the physical damage of the hit. If the armour value is significantly larger than the damage, most of that damage is prevented. If the armour value is similar to or less than the incoming damage, only a small percentage of that damage will be prevented. 
 

To prevent one third of damage (33%), you need armour 2.5 times the damage (e.g. 250 armour for 100 damage)

To prevent half of damage (50%), you need armour 5 times the damage (e.g. 500 armour for 100 damage)

To prevent two thirds of damage (66%), you need armour 10 times the damage (e.g. 1000 armour for 100 damage)

To prevent three quarters of damage (75%), you need armour 15 times the damage (e.g. 1500 armour for 100 damage)

To prevent 90% of damage, you need armour 45 times the damage (e.g. 4500 armour for 100 damage)

Armour will never prevent more damage than its value divided by 5 (e.g. 1000 armour will never prevent more than 200 damage)

 

It also gave us this, the GOAT armor.

[Sonikkumania]

I liked Half Life because it's so satisfying to find that automat after a energy consuming battle.

[Thomased22]

I like the armor in my Doom TTRPG a lot. It synergizes well with the shooting mechanics, especially when it comes to shotguns , rifles, and pistols. Armor is among the more complex mechanics but it's what allows all the different weapon types to have different roles in combat, and balances them. :)

This is to say, an armor system that works in a somewhat realistic way (helps against rifle and pistol rounds, very effective against shotguns, etc) has rarely been explored in video games and is kind of cool.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Thomased22

[Wo0p]

The system I like doesn't exist and I'm far too incompetent of a coder to write it myself. #Feelsbad

 

Edit: But I suppose that which comes closest is Kenshi's armour system.

Edited November 23, 2023 by Wo0p

[Lila Feuer]

Soldier of Fortune's was good, shotguns found little purchase against heavily armored foes but armor piercing rounds ate right through. The first Postal also makes you feel like a god even if it isn't very realistic (where the hell is he getting level III plates in 1997? anybody know when that debuted?)

 

I'll say what my least favorite armor is...Doom 3 vanilla. I was under the impression initially armor acts like green armor in the original with 33% damage negation, but it's in fact worse at 20% making it the least effective armor in the entire series. Postal 2's armor is also a joke and does not scale with difficulty so you can be wearing the best vest in the game and it's gone after a couple encounters.

[Li'l devil]

1 hour ago, Lila Feuer said:

I'll say what my least favorite armor is...Doom 3 vanilla. I was under the impression initially armor acts like green armor in the original with 33% damage negation, but it's in fact worse at 20% making it the least effective armor in the entire series.

Oh yeah. I used to wonder why my armor in Doom 3 is always so high. Well it's because of that. I don't know why the devs did that. I can only presume that they found that higher armor percentage to ruin the balance somehow.

[ReaperAA]

10 hours ago, DNSKILL5 said:

I like how the armor works in Quake the most. Each level of armor feels like a true upgrade from the lower tier, and it is clear how important armor is when you die so quickly without any. 

 

^This. Quake 1/2 style armor system is simple to understand and also isn't "just another health bar" like armors in some games (cough NuDooms) 

 

4 hours ago, Lila Feuer said:

I'll say what my least favorite armor is...Doom 3 vanilla. I was under the impression initially armor acts like green armor in the original with 33% damage negation, but it's in fact worse at 20% making it the least effective armor in the entire series. Postal 2's armor is also a joke and does not scale with difficulty so you can be wearing the best vest in the game and it's gone after a couple encounters.

 

Funny thing is, the armor in Doom 3's multiplayer is actually really good since, there it is 60% damage protection instead of measly 20%. Even just modding it to around 40% damage protection makes it much much more useful.

 

Similar story with the shotgun in Doom 3's mp being much more reliable due to having tighter spread.

Edited November 23, 2023 by ReaperAA

[Gmg]

I like the energy shield from Halo.

[Murdoch]

My favourite is whichever one just stopped me from dying a horrible bleedy/burny/explodey/dismembery death.

[LexiMax]

I actually really liked the armor and shield system in Overwatch.

 

 

Instead of having a separate bar for each, they're all a part of the same health bar, and the makeup of the bar is unique to the character.  If you get hit by something, it will eat away at the bar from right to left following these rules:

• White bars are HP and act like normal hit points
• Yellow bars are armor, and applies damage reduction to incoming damage before taking the hit.  Each attack it absorbs is reduced by 5HP, or half, whichever is lower.
  • This is more effective against multi-hit attacks, and weak against single-target burst damage.
• Blue bars are shield, and will regenerate at 20 HP per second if you avoid damage for 3 seconds.

There are a lot of interesting ramifications to this system, and it accomplishes this without introducing damage types.

Edited November 24, 2023 by LexiMax

[Sonikkumania]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have traditional armors but they also have items known as Artifacts. Each Artifact has it's pros and cons, one might provide protection against radiation but reduces health as a tradeoff. So while not technically an armor, I feel like including them because they do shield you from different hazards. You can either trade them for a notable sum of Rubles or strategically use them for your own needs.

[MrFroz]

On 11/22/2023 at 7:55 PM, Li'l devil said:

Or do you like when armor acts as just a second health bar, when health begins depleting only after the armor is gone?

 

Duke Nukem once said: "Power armor is for pussies".

 

I always thought that Warcraft III's armor system was pretty interesting and I believe that the game proper didn't use it to its fullest potential, but the custom maps certainly did.