Anyone know how armor works exactly in SR:R?

[ArchAngel]

I really don't understand how armor works. I don't remember my character taking different damage based on their armor. I never seen enemy take reduced damage based on their armor.

Is it supposed to reduce incoming damage?
Does it lower enemy hit chance?
Does it somehow influence how often you get weak damage or critical damage?
Is it bugged and does nothing at all?
Anyone know?

[ArchAngel]

Anyone?

[TnJ]

In theory it's additional body dice used to reduce incoming damage.

[JoeShmo]

From what i have seen, it feels like its just straight damage reduction. 12 damage gun vs 4 dmg armor , means 8 damage overall; not including crits, damage modifiers, armor modifying spells, etc. Just an observation.

[Major Doom]

In the tabletop RPG version of Shadowrun, armor is supposed to reduce the damage after you get hit. The problem is, I don't think that is what is reaaly happening. If you get get hit with a shotgun, base damage of 20, and it gets a critical x2, you suffer 40 damage. There's is no damage reduction per se. Unless the game just rolls zero hits for damage resistance, then damn, that sucks. Anyway, this is purely conjecture, but armor could just add to your Dodge, for avoiding damage.

[nothing]

JoeShmo that is not what I've seen.
The damage is still there but the chance for you being crit is lowered.
The higher your armor the chance for you to take the weak damage is increased and the high dmg crit is lowered.

Also it looks like armor has a cap of 10 and won't go higher,

[JoeShmo]

Well, like i said, it was just my observation of damage in my game. If anything, the game just crits like crazy, be that me doing damage or the enemy lol.

I wouldnt be surprised if the armor system in thsi game was archaic, like something you mentioned nev.

[Apex_AV]

Ive found a bit about your armour question, from a Q&A with the developers:-
Q: How does armor work?
A: Armor is a big part of the calculation that determines the “staging” of damage. Our damage “stages” from 1/2 damage to 2x damage and the more armor you have the better your chances are for “staging” the damage down towards the 1/2 scale. On the other hand, increasing your weapon specialization increases your chance of “staging” up the damage.
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Find the rest of the Q&A here:
http://www.shadowrun.com/shadowrun-returns/823-2/