Best Armor Combo Without Speed Penalties?

[Ducky]

I have been going through the wiki and am a bit overwhelmed with all the power armors and what not. I am wanting to suit my "normal" pawns with the best armor that does not provide speed penalties. I am aware that I can add bionic/archtype legs to counteract this, but I already plan to do this, but still want said armor combo.

[Astasia]

Recon armor. Helmets do not have speed penalties, so the best helm would be cataphract.

I feel like I need to mention the speed penalties on armor are flat penalties to c/s move speed, they are not percentage reductions. Humans move at 4.6 c/s, with marine armor equipped that slows to 4.2 c/s, which is less than a 10% decrease. With marine armor and bionic legs a colonist moves faster than any human enemy you are likely to encounter, short of an unarmored impid with the jogger trait.

But ya if for whatever reason you want to hit max speed on a colonist while still protecting them as much as possible, recon armor. Locust armor has less protection but also includes a jump pack, which would be even higher mobility. Prestige recon and mechlord armor have identical protection values to recon armor and also have no speed penalty, but provide bonuses to psycasting and mechs respectively.

[Swiggy]

You could always do Uranium plate armor or plasteel plate armor and give the colonist you equip it with a set of bionic legs. But I suppose that kinda strays from the question a bit.

[Sathreyn]

Astasia has already provided the best answer, Recon armour, which along with Locust armour is the only armour in the game (unmodded) that doesn't impact move speed at all, but an honourable mention is the Flak Vest. It causes a small -0.12 speed debuff and only protects the torso, neck and shoulders, but Torso and Neck are two of the most important body parts to protect and the protection it offers is pretty good. It's also cheap to produce, compared to any variety of power armour. While it doesn't fit the brief of having no speed penalty, it's probably the single best balance of protection, price and minimal speed impact for your average colonist.

Also worth mentioning is that all clothing items have armour values; while these are typically significantly smaller than purpose-built armour, a high quality clothing item made from a tough material (Devilstrand, Heavy Fur, Rhino leather etc. Thrumbofur or Hyperweave if you can get it) can sometimes be enough to save a life with a bit of luck.

In my experience, the best balance is achieved with a flak vest and a duster, plus the best helmet I can afford (As Astasia notes, none of the helmets impact move speed). The bonus to survival rates when stray shots or mad animals cross their path is well worth the penalty to speed. But it's perfectly reasonable to forgo the flak vest and just keep a store of vests close to your main defensive position so people can gear up when there's a raid - Just remember that equipping clothes isn't instant, and the last thing you want is raiders bursting in to your colony changing rooms before you're ready.

[Wasted]

you probably want marine armor over recon armor. and cataphract (dlc) armor on your melee tanks

I also use cataphract (dlc) helms on most pawns end game. otherwise marine helms.

recon armor is kind of under powered imo. i think a good duster , flak vest, flak pants etc might be better than recon depending.

[Astasia]

Just a flak vest by itself is slightly better at keeping a colonist alive than recon armor. The only thing recon armor really has over it is it protects the legs, so if you are kiting something then recon is going to be better than flak because it helps avoid getting leg injuries that slow down the colonist significantly. Practically though, I agree recon armor really doesn't have much role in the game, the cost in research and resources is too high compared to marine armor which is just much better, and the speed difference isn't meaningful at that stage of the game. Maybe if recon armor was like +0.4 c/s and was mid layer only, then it could have a strong niche. Or if recon dropped the advanced component cost and could be researched much earlier it could be a transitional armor. That's kind of how far off the mark I think it is anyway.