Heavy VS Medium

[BellieusMaximus]

i run 12 swords in my fighter group and currently 16 eagle cross. the crossbows are all in light armor. i noticed that heavy armor hurts dodge and melee attack pretty bad, my swords are basically just meat shields. so on an experiment i made a couple guys a set of medium armor but they are still in the sword squad. they do not have attack penalties and they dodge really well, all in all i think the medium armor makes them more effective. im curious, is this an effective change because the stats on this group are nearing 50, or would this have been a good way to go the whole time? what do you think?

on another note might it be good to equip them in heavy armor, use foreign sabers or other weapons with high defense, and toggle taunt and block on so they defend while my group of crossbows does it thing?

[Shaw]

i'm working on making my tanks increase their dexterity to about 40 then I will just give them fragment axes for that aoe dmg

if you got 12 swords and 16 eagles then your swords are probaby taking more damage from the eagles than enemies lol

[Danny Danger]

Just compare the armors and go with what you think is better. If you get extremely high quality heavy armor you take little damage from most sources but your sacrificing a few skills to do so.
That being said the skills you do lose from HA are usually either not something a tank is going to be using (stealth, assassination, etc) or minimal like a drop in 10 attack skill which matters little when you got a high level in it.

[SnugSnug]

Here's my 10p

Depends on what your facing and how you like to play.

If one wears light medium armour they tend to have stats and skills that aren't hindered, and may be boosted allowing ones characters to compete above their stat line.

The problem arises when one does get hit. They take more damge, alot more in some instances. As soon as they take damage their stat line plummets opening them up to more damage, and the cycle continues. Having no real protection will result in greater injuries maybe even limb loss or outright death if they take a large blow. (eg leviathan)

Heavy armour comes with major penalties. It reduces your stat line and makes your characters perform subpar. However, they're more likely to take a hit and mitigate the damage. Meaning that alough they start sub par they retain that stat line further into the fight, making them more reliable and less prone to a lucky or large hit.

So now comes the playstyle choice, how good is your stat line compared to your regular enemy types and what sort of combat do you usually have, prolonged large battles or a couple of small skirmishes on the move.

Heavy armour is great for settlements, they attract attention regularly and one doesn't have much interest in moving quickly or sneaking etc and the lighter injuries can be slept off quickly. Light/medium armour allows one to be much more mobile and even stealth effectively allowing one to pick and choose their conflict outright avoid it if desired, something that heavy armour doesn't usually allow.

Personally i mix and match, and my light armoured people are strong enough to pick up my heavy armoured people and run with them if i need a burst of speed, but that's not always going to be the case for everyone.

Dodge skill is used by everyone to avoid hits if they've been staggered, high dodge is good universally. Dodge/block taunt tanks with decent damage mitigation is perfectly viable... also a good way of training weaker recruits in many stats.

[Singrave]

Originally posted by SnugSnug:

Here's my 10p

Depends on what your facing and how you like to play.

If one wears light medium armour they tend to have stats and skills that aren't hindered, and may be boosted allowing ones characters to compete above their stat line.

The problem arises when one does get hit. They take more damge, alot more in some instances. As soon as they take damage their stat line plummets opening them up to more damage, and the cycle continues. Having no real protection will result in greater injuries maybe even limb loss or outright death if they take a large blow. (eg leviathan)

Heavy armour comes with major penalties. It reduces your stat line and makes your characters perform subpar. However, they're more likely to take a hit and mitigate the damage. Meaning that alough they start sub par they retain that stat line further into the fight, making them more reliable and less prone to a lucky or large hit.

So now comes the playstyle choice, how good is your stat line compared to your regular enemy types and what sort of combat do you usually have, prolonged large battles or a couple of small skirmishes on the move.

Heavy armour is great for settlements, they attract attention regularly and one doesn't have much interest in moving quickly or sneaking etc and the lighter injuries can be slept off quickly. Light/medium armour allows one to be much more mobile and even stealth effectively allowing one to pick and choose their conflict outright avoid it if desired, something that heavy armour doesn't usually allow.

Personally i mix and match, and my light armoured people are strong enough to pick up my heavy armoured people and run with them if i need a burst of speed, but that's not always going to be the case for everyone.

Dodge skill is used by everyone to avoid hits if they've been staggered, high dodge is good universally. Dodge/block taunt tanks with decent damage mitigation is perfectly viable... also a good way of training weaker recruits in many stats.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Danny Danger]

Yea gotta agree SnugSnug explained it perfectly.

[D3m0nK1ng]

Originally posted by SnugSnug:

Here's my 10p

Depends on what your facing and how you like to play.

If one wears light medium armour they tend to have stats and skills that aren't hindered, and may be boosted allowing ones characters to compete above their stat line.

The problem arises when one does get hit. They take more damge, alot more in some instances. As soon as they take damage their stat line plummets opening them up to more damage, and the cycle continues. Having no real protection will result in greater injuries maybe even limb loss or outright death if they take a large blow. (eg leviathan)

Heavy armour comes with major penalties. It reduces your stat line and makes your characters perform subpar. However, they're more likely to take a hit and mitigate the damage. Meaning that alough they start sub par they retain that stat line further into the fight, making them more reliable and less prone to a lucky or large hit.

So now comes the playstyle choice, how good is your stat line compared to your regular enemy types and what sort of combat do you usually have, prolonged large battles or a couple of small skirmishes on the move.

Heavy armour is great for settlements, they attract attention regularly and one doesn't have much interest in moving quickly or sneaking etc and the lighter injuries can be slept off quickly. Light/medium armour allows one to be much more mobile and even stealth effectively allowing one to pick and choose their conflict outright avoid it if desired, something that heavy armour doesn't usually allow.

Personally i mix and match, and my light armoured people are strong enough to pick up my heavy armoured people and run with them if i need a burst of speed, but that's not always going to be the case for everyone.

Dodge skill is used by everyone to avoid hits if they've been staggered, high dodge is good universally. Dodge/block taunt tanks with decent damage mitigation is perfectly viable... also a good way of training weaker recruits in many stats.

Originally posted by ThatSneakyNeenja:

Yea gotta agree SnugSnug explained it perfectly.

This is the best way I have seen it discribed

[Germania516]

I have an army of 5 girls all in light armour swinging nodachis lol Against most bandits and dangerous tribes lower to mid level I will win with the way my army is set up as far as gear and weapons go. I have high dexterity,and with the armour I am wearing {full light} I block alot ,and I hit hard with my nodachis plus I can run away,and get away if I am losing or the battle doesn't go my way.

Just make sure you either have a high dodge or block and you will be amazing. Eventually when you do fight the Holy Nation ,and you do have a strong and large army I would switch to plate/heavy armour and use a heavy weapon or hacker.

For early fights I would go all light or if you are duoing go medium or even have a mix of medium in front and light in back stabbing,and fighting sneaky. Your medium armour will be taunting,and aoeing hard {Using a heavy weapon} and your light wearer assassins will be untouchable and stabbing with light katanas or whatever you fancy.

So many different ways you can play, and a it's all about experimenting what works, and I would advise to jump in most battles to see how hard you are getting hit by certain factions or tribes,and change it if you are getting hit hard or you can't move.

Also study what that faction you are fighting is wearing because memorizing armour and the stats will bring a win in battles. I can look at any npcs or enemies gear right now,and say what they are wearing because I fought so many battles,and studied all the gear. Knowing the gear and armour is the key to knowing what you should wear

[Germania516]

Originally posted by SnugSnug:

Here's my 10p

Depends on what your facing and how you like to play.

If one wears light medium armour they tend to have stats and skills that aren't hindered, and may be boosted allowing ones characters to compete above their stat line.

The problem arises when one does get hit. They take more damge, alot more in some instances. As soon as they take damage their stat line plummets opening them up to more damage, and the cycle continues. Having no real protection will result in greater injuries maybe even limb loss or outright death if they take a large blow. (eg leviathan)

Heavy armour comes with major penalties. It reduces your stat line and makes your characters perform subpar. However, they're more likely to take a hit and mitigate the damage. Meaning that alough they start sub par they retain that stat line further into the fight, making them more reliable and less prone to a lucky or large hit.

So now comes the playstyle choice, how good is your stat line compared to your regular enemy types and what sort of combat do you usually have, prolonged large battles or a couple of small skirmishes on the move.

Heavy armour is great for settlements, they attract attention regularly and one doesn't have much interest in moving quickly or sneaking etc and the lighter injuries can be slept off quickly. Light/medium armour allows one to be much more mobile and even stealth effectively allowing one to pick and choose their conflict outright avoid it if desired, something that heavy armour doesn't usually allow.

Personally i mix and match, and my light armoured people are strong enough to pick up my heavy armoured people and run with them if i need a burst of speed, but that's not always going to be the case for everyone.

Dodge skill is used by everyone to avoid hits if they've been staggered, high dodge is good universally. Dodge/block taunt tanks with decent damage mitigation is perfectly viable... also a good way of training weaker recruits in many stats.

Well spoken :D

[mr_bman]

If your characters are beating up bandits without taking any damage then you want to give them nerfs so they get more XP. You don't get much XP if you're able to end fights quickly. It's a balancing act. You don't want your guys getting killed because they're nerfed down too much. Your best armor is your sword and your toughness. A character with high toughness doesn't even need armor. When you get a high level character it gets harder and harder to get them to level up - that's why you want to be nerfing them down to make fights last longer.
Equip a guy with a refitted blade, the heaviest armor you can, carrying a backpack full of iron while carrying a dead body = lots of XP for high level characters. But they need to be tough.

[Erei]

There is a bit of confusion it seems on heavy in general. The important point is that not all pieces of armor are treated equally. As such, one shouldn't use blanket statement over the entire sets.

There are 2 types of penalty on armor. The one that really penalize you no matter your skill level, and the one that can be mitigated heavily to the point you will not notice.
Stuff like dex penalty and attack speed are major, but combat skill are minor. And of the major, dexterity is the worst.

Let's take the best heavy armor and arguably the best armor in the game, the samurai armor. First, this is for general use, not MA/crossbows, as they require a specific set.

The major penalties are all on the torso and legs. And before someone say "but the boots !", the penalty disappear on masterwork quality boots. For the sake of argumentation, I take the masterwork, since that's what you are going to try to have, and it's just a matter of time (and luck) before you have it.
Which mean, you can equip the helmet and boots without any major penalties whatsoever. In short, it's the absolute best for the slot.

Now, there is also something else. See, most (if not all) medium-heavy armor have a dexterity penalty. Of all the penalties, this is the worst. Not only it affects the attack speed for cut weapons, but it will also decrease your blocking speed with ALL weapons. This is big, because it means more hit goes straight to you, that would have been blocked otherwise.


Finally, in Kenshi, the more you are wounded, the less effective in combat you are (defensive and offensive). Which also mean that the little gain you can have from an "offense" based armor will quickly fade, while the more "tanky" armor will prevent you from suffering the penalties. This is specially true if you go from fight to fight will little rest, or massive battle.

Essentially, the more the fight goes on, this gap will increase. In short, in a long fight, the samurai armored guys will have the edge over the lightly armored opponent.




Eventually, if you have enough combat skills (above 20 I'd say, perhaps 30) I consider the best armor for head and foot are samurai, no arguments really.
Then for torso and legs, well, samurai is eventually going to be the best.

If you don't want to be "op" and a walking tank, then mixing with medium armor (I go for white plate and samurai clothpants myself) is good.

[ambi]

If you're playing ironman / bronzeman, I'd go with light or medium. Reason being, you'll need the speed to GTFO when you're being chased, or a fight is going against you. Go heavy if you're powergaming and savecumming as I found heavy fighters tend to outlast the lighter fighters (which makes sense).