Solution: Change the armor plates so that they keep their current HP buffs, but give them less of a movement penalty.
Perhaps basic should be 2% speed penalty, enhanced 3%, and complex 4% penalty. This way, there still is a penalty, but your speed isn't completely crushed when you stack more than one armor plate.

I'm not sure there is a balance issue.. but regardless, it makes sense that adding thicker and thicker armor plating slows you down because you are adding a lot of junk with that protective trunk.


I think, more towards your point, if there was a balance issue- it would make far more sense to just up the repair rate of the armor repper.

It however makes no sense that a scout can add on the same amount of plates as a heavy. And that those plates are of equal amount of protection.

Sorry OP, I agree but I disagree.

I WILL say that the armor plate penalties/bonuses should be REVIEWED.
I would give armor plates about 40% more HP, given the severe movement penalties incurred at anything beyond Basic...

...if you want people in armor to move slow like Heavies, you better give them durability too.


Armor plates shine with defensive setups/fittings, like holding a point or an objective. Armor practically eliminates fear of flux nades, and if you run regular armor-repping nanohives, armor is second-to-none defensively. Nanites do not regenerate shields.

So no, armor plates are NOT useless.
It depends on what circumstances you deploy them in.
If you're dense enough to try defending a point with shields, and you get fluxed or lasered... that's your fault.

I'm not sure there is a balance issue.. but regardless, it makes sense that adding thicker and thicker armor plating slows you down because you are adding a lot of junk with that protective trunk.


I think, more towards your point, if there was a balance issue- it would make far more sense to just up the repair rate of the armor repper.

There is a balance issue.
Shields don't bog you down, recharge on their own (and waaaay faster), and don't take away slots which can be used for CPU and PG upgrades (which makes armor tanking very hard to fit.) and you don't have to choose between armor regen speed or armor HP. You have both.
The only advantage armor has is that you can put damage modifiers without affecting your tanking... but oh wait, even with a proto suit since you can't use CPU and PG upgrades, you can't fit it all.
So shields rule.
If you can look at this list of advantages shield has vs armor and still say there is no imbalance, something is very wrong.

And its going to get worse when CCP puts in infantry shield transfers.

Think of it this way. Right now, armor add very little to a heavy suit (relative to the high HP they already have) and thus also affects them less because their speed is already slow...so % penalty doesn't lower it that much.

A scout on the other hand, can add a considerable amount of HP (relative to their base stats) but also is drastically affected because their base speed is so high, that they see a larger speed drop.

Put armor plates on a heavy and tell me the speed reduction is not massive.... The 10% penalty stack on each other and makes a huge difference. like your going to die difference.

Fair enough. My thought was this:
A heavy has a speed of 3.5ish (can't remember exactly what it is) If you give them a 20% speed reduction by stacking some plating, their speed goes down to 2.8. Very slow, and I agree with you... it'll get you killed that much faster.

But, a 20% reduction to a scout slows them down to around low-to-mid 4s for speed. That's logi speed, and with pretty low HP. I just felt that the scout gets hurt more by the speed reduction.

Perhaps you're right, but either way, both suits are hurt by the plating.

My point still stands. There is little reason to armor-tank in this game.

Since I love terrible ideas so much, I decided to roll an armor tanking heavy this build. I've learned a couple things, and here they are in a badly formatted list with a terrible segue -

1. Armor plating is all but f'ing useless on a heavy. Just run the numbers. Regen is the way to go if you are armor tanking. a basic armor plate gives 65 static hp, you take one or two rounds and the advantage is gone leaving you with only the penalty of choosing a terrible mod. Enhanced lets you take 1/2 an extra round, and complex lets you survive a whopping 4 extra rounds from a gek at the cost of 10% movement penalty and 10k a pop. Not freaking worth it. you'll be better off with a basic rep mod than a complex plate.

2. Armor regen has potential, but needs work. Having constant regen even under fire is nice. It let's me keep up the pressure as shield tankers pull back to try to give their shields time to power up again. Unfortunately the passive skill is broken and provides no boost to regen rate. Once they fix that and add racial suit skills to boost that even more (gallente heavy? yes please.)

3. We need resistance mods. whats the point of having a large buffer if you arent able to use it to it's full potential?

It however makes no sense that a scout can add on the same amount of plates as a heavy. And that those plates are of equal amount of protection.

Armor plating is even more depressing if you look at the numbers. If you stay alive a half minute after taking damage the reppers are much more effective, without a speed penalty. If you can't survive at least a minute as a heavy, you've got some issues.

numbers here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq3-BwhW0fDudE9JSV8ydkpJS3VyeFdZQWdfckFwdkE&usp=sharing


But there is hope, check out the image dump of the stuff Absolute Idiom II found in Sisi - http://imgur.com/a/JfzwX#5

Armor plate skills are getting separated into infantry and vehicle, with infantry granting a passive bonus of 5% per level, and armor rep skills got boosted to 5% per level from 3% per level.

The amarr logi suit has a passive bonus of a further 5% armor regen boost, so there might actually be a viable armor tanking fit next build.

It makes plenty of sense! 3% of a Scout's speed is greater than 3% of a heavy's speed. Therefore, scouts lose more speed than heavies, but of the same proportion.

What is this bunk logic that says scout's can't tank (BTW I'm not directing this part at 2 ton)? I see people suggesting that everything be based on percent, so that a scout will get less shields/armor from extenders/plates for the same CPU/PG as everyone else. Why? So heavies can get even MORE HP? Yes they are UP but adding more HP is a buff in the wrong direction sometimes....

On Topic: I honestly think that what the OP says is very true. People find Flux nades OP because they shield tank. But one thing to consider from armor plates is the CPU/PG use versus the HP given. Basic plates give you 65 more armor, for 1 PG and 10 CPU. That's a fricken steal compared to extenders.

I'm not sure there is a balance issue.. but regardless, it makes sense that adding thicker and thicker armor plating slows you down because you are adding a lot of junk with that protective trunk.


I think, more towards your point, if there was a balance issue- it would make far more sense to just up the repair rate of the armor repper.

Flux are fine. The armor movement penalty is fair and shields are fine. I think this is a non-issue.

I don't see what the problem is, Armor plates are low slot and damage boosters are high slot, you can fit an amazing tank onto a DPS monster, shield tanks can't do that.

Shield tanks can strafe better. Shield tanks don't get their turn speed lowered and therefore don't have to re-adjust their aim. Shield tanks can be out of a fight and comeback good as new in about 15 seconds.

There is a reason the Type-1 assault suits, or even A-series, are considered garbage.

Edit: not saying they don't have their uses, but shield tanks are more versatile.