(Be sure to read A Treatise on Loadout Point Costs: Wargear as well!) Hello and welcome back to the second installment of “A Treatise on Loadout Point Costs.” This time we will be going over something that is a bit more important to pretty much every loadout: Armor. Once again, I will be evaluating the Loadout Point (LP) costs of the items, their value, diminishing returns, and other such thoughts. Since all the armor for the factions is pretty much unique, this thread will be broken down into four major sections: Loyalist Space Marines (LSM), Chaos Space Marines (CSM), Eldar, and Orks. At the beginning of each section, I will show the basic armor stats for the faction so it will be easier to draw comparisons. Once again, while I play every faction, I main LSM, so everything I say will be skewed as such. Anyway, let us begin. Loyalist Space Marines Basic Armor – 0 LP · Armor 120 · Toughness 100 · Armor Regen Speed 0.25/sec (25%/sec) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 10 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Artificer Armor – 250 LP · Armor 135 (+15) · Toughness 125 (+25) · Armor Regen Speed 29%/sec (+4%) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec (-/+ 0 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 9.45 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 19% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 7% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Alright, so let’s analyze this. If you would remember from my previous thread, the +12 (Minor) Armor Wargear is worth 50 LP, and the +3 (Minor) Armor Trinket is worth 10 LP. So the +15 armor you get from this tier of armor is worth 60 LP. The +25 Toughness Wargear (Ork Boss Plate) is worth 130 LP. So with those two combined, so far the value is 190 LP. The +4% Armor Regen Speed is fairly minor, but does ensure you regen your armor about half a second faster than normal. Since a 15% (Minor) Armor Regen Delay is worth 50 LP, and reduces the total time by 0.9 seconds, we’ll say the Regen Speed is worth about… 20 LP. So the actual, flat value of this armor is 210 LP, but due to all the combined goodness you get from this item, the 250 LP cost is a very fair value. Relic Armor – 400 LP · Armor 140 (+20) [+5] · Toughness 135 (+35) [+10] · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) [+2%] · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec ([-1 sec]) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 22% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 10% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% So this armor is a bit more pricey than the previous, so let’s find out if it’s worth the price hike. Combining the Minor Armor Wargear with both the trinkets will give you +19 armor for 80 LP, so that 5 extra armor isn’t valued too highly. However, you do get +10 more Toughness over the last armor, bringing your total up to 135 Toughness. The Mark of Nurgle (MoN) Wargear gives you 35 Toughness and is valued at 150 LP, but this has no downside. If the +25 Toughness for the previous armor tier was worth 130 LP, let’s say this one is worth 200 LP. Also let’s say the Armor Regen Speed of +6%, which provides about .77 faster ‘shot to full’, is worth 40 LP. As the -1 second Armor Regen Delay is just a tad better than the Minor Wargear, let’s say it’s worth 60 LP. So all those combined gives us a grand total of… 380 LP. So while you may or may not agree all that Toughness is worth half the cost of the armor, it does provide for 22% mitigation against low (80) penetration weapons, which is equal to about 90.4 combined HP/Armor against them. Obviously, it’s still worthless against Plasma/Power weapons, which have 140 penetration, and is only marginally effective against 110 penetration weapons, but it’s still something. That being said, I’d say it provides a good value for its LP Cost, especially since it’s only 20 LP more than its flat cost. Chaos Space Marines Basic Armor – 0 LP · Armor 120 · Toughness 100 · Armor Regen Speed 0.25/sec (25%/sec) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 10 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Warp-Touched Armor – 170 LP · Armor 132 (+12) · Toughness 115 (+15) · Armor Regen Speed 29%/sec (+4%) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec (-/+ 0 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 9.45 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 15% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 2% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% This armor piece is 80 LP less than its LSM counterpart, so let’s see how it fares when we examine its LP value. It only gets +12 armor, which is worth exactly 50 LP. The toughness it provides has been nearly halved as compared to the LSM armor, so we’ll say it’s worth… 80 LP. Armor Regen Speed is identical, so that’s 20 LP. All those combined equal 150 LP. Seeing as the armor is only worth 170 LP, it provides a good amount of value for its LP cost. Daemonforged Armor – 300 LP · Armor 140 (+17) [+7] · Toughness 120 (+20) [+5] · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) [+2%] · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec ([-1 sec]) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 17% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 4% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% So this armor is 100 LP less than its LSM counterpart, but provides much less toughness. Armor value is the same, so it will be valued at 80 LP. Toughness is a little higher… 5 points short of the Ork Boss Plate, so let’s say this toughness is worth 100 LP. Since the Armor Regen Speed and Delay is identical to the Relic Armor, that is also valued at 100 LP combined. Add all that up, and the actual value of the Daemonforged Armor is 280 LP, only 20 LP shy of its LP cost. Like the previous tier, this armor has a great value for its LP cost, and has less diminishing returns. Cursed Raptor Armor – 250 LP · Armor 132 (+17) · Toughness 115 (+15) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 15% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 2% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% So this armor is a little interesting, as it has the Armor and Toughness of the Warp-Touched, but the Armor Regen Speed and Delay of the Daemonforged. We’ve found that both of those values on the Warp-Touched Armor were found to be a combined 130 LP, while on the Daemonforged, the latter two values were found to be 100 LP. So we see that the actual value of this item is 230 LP, with the LP cost being 250 LP. Another great value, and I have to say that so far I am quite pleased with the diminishing returns of the armors. Let’s hope that the Eldar armors keep their value in the same way. Eldar So before we go on, let me say that the Eldar go about their armors a bit differently than the other three races. Instead of having just two armors to buy with Advancement Points, or three in the case of Chaos, Eldar have seven: One for each class. They also have different toughness values depending on their class, which you can review below. Basic Light Armor – 0 LP · Equipped on: Warlock, Swooping Hawk, Dire Avenger, Banshee · Armor 100 · Toughness 80 · Armor Regen Speed 0.25/sec (25%/sec) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 10 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Basic Heavy Armor – 0 LP · Equipped on: Striking Scorpion, Fire Dragon, Dark Reaper · Armor 100 · Toughness 100 · Armor Regen Speed 0.25/sec (25%/sec) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 10 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Advanced Rune (Warlock) Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 110 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 13% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Now all the advanced armors for the Eldar have +25 Armor, which is the same as the Major Armor Wargear; in my previous thread, we found that the actual value of that wargear was around 120 LP, so we’ll be using that value, as opposed to the current cost of 150 LP. They also gain +30 Toughness (except for the Banshee), which is in-between the Artificer and Relic Armors for LSM. With that in mind, we will value their toughness at 170 LP, which is a tad more than halfway between both of their values. Since the Armor Regen Speed and Delay are the same as the Relic Armor, we’ll take its value of 100 LP as well. So with all those combined, we find that the actual value of this Eldar armor is… 390 LP. That is a slightly better value than the others, so it seems that Eldar take the cake for having the most cost effective armors. And we haven’t even gotten to the Banshee’s yet, which will fare even better. 390 LP value for 400 LP cost is a very good value. Perhaps this is because the Eldar have no middle-tier option available to them. Advanced Swooping Hawk Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 110 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 13% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The gains for this armor are identical to the previous one, so the same value of 390 LP actual for 400 LP cost stands. Advanced Dire Avenger Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 110 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 13% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The gains for this armor are identical to the previous one, so the same value of 390 LP actual for 400 LP cost stands. Advanced Banshee Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 120 (+40) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 17% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 4% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The Banshee’s Advanced Armor is the same as all the others, save for the fact that they get even more Toughness on theirs. In fact, this armor gives the most Toughness out of any other armor in the game. Giving 5 more than even the Relic Armor (which has its Toughness valued at 200 LP), I’ll have to value this one at about 250 LP. This seems fair since the two LSM tiers of armor go up by 10 Toughness, and their LP increase was valued at 70 LP for the toughness. The Banshee’s will be valued at 80 LP more for its increase from 30 to 40, due to diminishing returns. Factoring in the other stats that we’ve already established earlier, the Banshee’s armor is valued at an amazing 470 LP, as opposed to its current LP cost of 400 LP. Wow. Expensive but more than worth it. Advanced Striking Scorpion Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 130 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 21% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The gains for this armor are identical to the Warlock, so the same value of 390 LP actual for 400 LP cost stands. Advanced Fire Dragon Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 130 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 21% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The gains for this armor are identical to the previous one, so the same value of 390 LP actual for 400 LP cost stands. Advanced Dark Reaper Armor – 400 LP · Armor 125 (+25) · Toughness 130 (+30) · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec (-1 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 21% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% The gains for this armor are identical to the previous one, so the same value of 390 LP actual for 400 LP cost stands. Orks Basic Armor – 0 LP · Armor 100 · Toughness 100 · Armor Regen Speed 0.25/sec (25%/sec) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 10 seconds o 80 Penetration Weapons: 9% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 0% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% ‘Ard Armor – 250 LP · Armor 115 (+15) · Toughness 125 (+25) · Armor Regen Speed 29%/sec (+4%) · Armor Regen Delay 6 sec (-/+ 0 sec) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 9.45 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 19% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 7% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Not much to say about this that hasn’t been said about the LSM Artificer Armor. The plus to stats are exactly the same, so the value of this is 210 LP flat, but 250 LP is a fair trade for the amount of different stats you get from it. Keep in mind that although the Orks have a lower base armor value, they do have a higher base HP, so the mitigation afforded by the toughness is more effective. ‘Eavy Armor – 400 LP · Armor 140 (+20) [+5] · Toughness 135 (+35) [+10] · Armor Regen Speed 31%/sec (+6%) [+2%] · Armor Regen Delay 5 sec ([-1 sec]) · Total time to regen armor from ‘just shot’ to ‘full’ – 8.23 seconds · Mitigation Against: o 80 Penetration Weapons: 22% o 110 Penetration Weapons: 10% o 140 Penetration Weapons: 0% Once again, a duplicate of the LSM Relic Armor, so the value is even better than the ‘Ard Armor. 380 LP flat; that’s more than worth the 400 LP cost. Keep in mind that although the Orks have a lower base armor value, they do have a higher base HP, so the mitigation afforded by the toughness is more effective. So that’s it. That covers all the available armors in the game. If I got anything wrong please make a post telling me what the correct information is. Just as a disclaimer, this post was in no way made to display one race overpowered or underpowered compared to any other race. I just analyzed what each piece of armor did, found similar LP costs for other items, and used that as a base to determine the value. Edit: Goofed on some math with the Eldar armors. Even though I said I was going to take the 120 LP value for armor, I still looked at the 150 LP I mentioned in the same sentence.
It occurs to me now that I forgot to tag a couple people when creating this thread. Oops. I will do so now. @MichaelChan @NoahWard @Oveur Also, if you have not already done so, please take a look at my original thread here.
Yes, the problems with Wargear and such were discussed in this post here. I talked about the Halos and their horrible diminishing returns ad nauseaum. Let's try to keep the discussion about the Armors available please, people.
btw I don't like this artificer/relic armor system, I am up for different MK armors. it will give more variety.
I'd like in the future to have different armors, not just better versions. Like...keep the current 2 sets everyone gets, but also have things like: Armor that gives a huge Toughness only Armor that gives massive Armor only Armor that gives no Armor but a mix of Toughness/Health Further specialize how we like to play our characters and let us free up our 2 war gear slots for some other kind of unique stats or stack even more of a single one.
