WOIN Question on high quality armor and defense

[Faolin]

Does high quality armor contribute to the defense pool?

 

[BlckKnght]

No. Higher quality armor adds extra SOAK. You can see how much in the Armor column of the quality table (page 80 in NEW 1.2):

Quality	Price	Rarity	Min. Skill	Upgrades	Armor
Improvised
Standard	Normal	Common
High-quality	x3 + 100	Uncommon	1 (1d6 pool)	+1	+2 SOAK
Exceptional	x5 + 250	Rare	3 (2d6)	+1	+4 SOAK
Mastercraft	x10 + 500	Very Rare	6 (3d6)	+2	+6 SOAK
Artisanal	x100 + 1000	Very Rare	10 (4d6)	+2	+8 SOAK
Legendary	x1000 + 2500	Unique	15 (5d6)	+3	+10 SOAK

You need enough ranks in an armor skill to get the benefit, just like for equipment that does give a dice pool bonus. So an exceptional basic battlesuit gives 14 soak (the normal 10 + 4 from quality) if you have at least 3 ranks in the heavy armor skill.

Armor skills can help your defense a little bit, as the size of your dice pool for an armor skill will reduce the defense penalties you take (for medium or heavy armor). With 3 ranks (for a 2d6 pool) in heavy armor, for instance, your defense penalty would be reduced from -4 to -2.

 

[knikpiw]

No. Higher quality armor adds extra SOAK. You can see how much in the Armor column of the quality table (page 80 in NEW 1.2):

Quality	Price	Rarity	Min. Skill	Upgrades	Armor
Improvised
Standard	Normal	Common
High-quality	x3 + 100	Uncommon	1 (1d6 pool)	+1	+2 SOAK
Exceptional	x5 + 250	Rare	3 (2d6)	+1	+4 SOAK
Mastercraft	x10 + 500	Very Rare	6 (3d6)	+2	+6 SOAK
Artisanal	x100 + 1000	Very Rare	10 (4d6)	+2	+8 SOAK
Legendary	x1000 + 2500	Unique	15 (5d6)	+3	+10 SOAK

You need enough ranks in an armor skill to get the benefit, just like for equipment that does give a dice pool bonus. So an exceptional basic battlesuit gives 14 soak (the normal 10 + 4 from quality) if you have at least 3 ranks in the heavy armor skill.

Armor skills can help your defense a little bit, as the size of your dice pool for an armor skill will reduce the defense penalties you take (for medium or heavy armor). With 3 ranks (for a 2d6 pool) in heavy armor, for instance, your defense penalty would be reduced from -4 to -2.

Unless we’re talking shields.

 

[kingpin000]

I would allow to use the armor skill + END to withstand a dangerous environment (like a blizzard, ashfall and so on...).

 

[BlckKnght]

I would allow to use the armor skill + END to withstand a dangerous environment (like a blizzard, ashfall and so on...).

That's a good point! Your armor's quality could add to your dice pools if a player and GM agree that there's a good reason to apply the armor skill to an attribute check. That just doesn't happen very often (and not on the pools that contribute to DEFENSE scores), but we shouldn't assume it never can happen.