Plate armor

Plate armor is a type of apparel (armor) that functions as low-tech full body armor. It can be crafted out of various materials.

It has a heavy move speed penalty of -0.8 c/s when worn. As such, it may be wise to leave it in a stockpile until entering combat.

Acquisition

Plate armor can be crafted at a Fueled smithy or Electric smithy once the Plate armor research project has been completed. They require 170 Stuff (Metallic/Woody, 1700 for SMVs), 38,000 ticks (10.56 mins) of work, and a Crafting skill of 7.

It can also be found on the following raider kinds:

Raider Kind	Chance	Average Quality	Health
Archer chief	100%	Normal	100%
Berserker chief	100%	Normal	100%
Champion	100%	Normal	70-100%

Analysis

Overall, plate armor is rarely worth it. A non-wood set of plate is a large resource investment in the early game. Wood plate armor offers minimal protection, and still takes a lot of work to create. All sets of plate armor slow the user by -0.8c/s - the highest movement penalty in the game, tied with cataphract armor.

Usually, it is worth it to wait until the Research#Flak armor research has completed, as flak vests are much cheaper and much more protective against arrows and bullets. This research is not terribly hard to acquire once you've researched Plate armor already. Flak can also be obtained from raiders or through trade, meaning that even tribal colonies can replace plate armor relatively quickly.

Compared to flak

Flak vests cost 60 Steel, 30 Cloth, 1 Component, cheaper than a set of steel plate armor, at 170. The vest alone has 100% Sharp and 36% Blunt armor. This is slightly better Blunt and much better Sharp protection than steel plate. Sharp damage is the most common form of damage. Vests protect the torso, neck, and vital organs, while plate also covers the arms and legs. While the limbs are important to pawn function, plate offers much worse protection to the torso - the body part most likely to be hit. Flak vests cover every vital body part except for the head and brain, which plate armor doesn't protect either.

Flak vests can also be worn with flak jackets and flak pants, the full combination being a fair bit more expensive than steel plate ( 190 + 110 + 3). Jackets and pants protect the arms / legs, respectively, but are still worse than steel plate. The jacket also protects the torso and neck, for an even larger disparity in those area. In addition, vests can be worn with dusters of a protective material like devilstrand or thrumbofur for even greater protection for the torso, neck, arms, and legs. In any case, plate still ends up better for limb protection, in part because you can wear regular pants with it.

Steel/plasteel plate armor always has higher Heat armor than the flak combination. However, a devilstrand duster beats any set of plate against Heat. Plate armor also has -0.8c/s movement speed, while each piece of flak armor only gives -0.12c/s. Each piece of flak armor has 200 HP, while the entire set of steel plate has 290 HP.

Compared to power armor

A set of plasteel plate armor is more expensive in value than recon armor; it protects the same body parts, is worse against Sharp damage, and very slightly better against Blunt / Heat. Its movement penalty is heavier at -0.8c/s, compared to no penalty for recon armor.

Plasteel plate has 2 advantages: one is that it doesn't require advanced components. The second, is that with 810 hp, it lasts much longer than the recon and marine armor, which have 280 HP or 340 HP respectively. However, these are not usually worth it, unless you have a large surplus on plasteel and are unable to create power armor.

A legendary steel plate armor is equivalent to normal cataphract armor at 1/3 of the market value, while legendary plasteel plate armor is equivalent to excellent cataphract while costing 40 less plasteel to produce. With a Production Specialist and a Genie (or anyone with the Great Crafting gene), masterwork and legendary quality armors can be created from the beginning of the game.

Material table

Material	Sharp	Blunt	Heat	Item HP	Insulation - Cold	Insulation - Heat	Market Value
Wooden Plate armor	39.42%	39.42%	29.2%	188.5	-8 °C (-14.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	300
Bioferrite Plate armor	80.3%	36.5%	36.5%	580	-2.5 °C (-4.5 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	470
Golden Plate armor	52.56%	26.28%	26.28%	174	-3 °C (-5.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	17125
Plasteel Plate armor	83.22%	40.15%	47.45%	812	-3 °C (-5.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	1830
Silver Plate armor	52.56%	26.28%	26.28%	203	-3 °C (-5.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	1835
Steel Plate armor	65.7%	32.85%	43.8%	290	-3 °C (-5.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	460
Uranium Plate armor	78.84%	39.42%	47.45%	725	-3 °C (-5.4 °F)	+0 °C (0 °F)	1280

^{Assuming Normal quality, for the effect of other qualities, see Quality.}

Protection Charts

Sharp Armor	Blunt Armor

Sharp Armor	Blunt Armor

Trivia

Every set of plate armor found on an Imperial Champion will be white.

Version history

0.19.2009 - Added.
1.1.0 - Can now be smelted, except wooden plate armor which is now burnable.

Apparel

Torso | Clothing: Button-down shirt • T-shirt (Kid ) • Tribalwear (Kid )
: Corset • Eltex shirt • Eltex vest • Formal vest • Formal shirt
: Slave collar
: Sash • Kid romper
Armor: Flak vest
Legs | Clothing: Pants (Kid )
Armor: Flak pants
Shell | Clothing: Duster • Jacket • Parka (Kid ) • Robe
: Cape • Eltex robe • Prestige robe
: Burka • Slave body strap
: Heavy bandolier
: Lab coat
Armor: Flak jacket • Marine armor (Prestige , Grenadier ) • Plate armor • Recon armor (Prestige , Locust , Mechlord ) • Cataphract armor (Prestige , Phoenix )
Head | Clothing: Bowler hat • Cowboy hat • Hood • Psychic foil helmet • Tuque • Tribal headdress • Veil • War mask
: Beret • Coronet • Crown • Eltex helmet • Eltex skullcap • Ladies hat • Stellic crown • Top hat
: Authority cap • Blindfold • Broadwrap • Flophat • Headwrap • Shadecone • Slicecap • Tailcap • Torture crown • Visage mask
: Airwire headset • Array headset • Gas mask • Face mask
: Ceremonial hood • Ritual mask
Armor: Flak helmet • Marine helmet (Prestige/Samurai helmet ) • Recon helmet (Prestige , Mechlord ) • Simple helmet (Kid ) • Cataphract helmet (Prestige ) • Gunlink • Integrator headset • Mechcommander helmet