Difference between revisions of "Armor"

Revision as of 16:36, 3 January 2020

Cut Away View of Armor

Overview

Armor is ablative in nature. This means that it is generally destroyed or blown off when hit, but in the process of doing so, it absorbs enormous energies, protecting the unit it is mounted on. While powerful blows will still rock a vehicle, there will be little, if any, internal damage as long as armor plating still remains. It effectively functions as 'health' or 'hitpoints', as reducing armor on a component to zero typically results in it being destroyed. MWLL follows tabletop rules regarding armor in general, although some adjustments are made for specific cases. Armor can be repaired at a Repair Bay or in some Mech Hangars at the cost of CBills.

Mech

Excepting the legs, when the armor of a 'Mech component reaches zero, it is destroyed. Legs function slightly differently; they have internal structure values tied to them. As this structure is damaged, the 'Mech will suffer heavily reduced mobility and turning rates. Once the internal structure of a leg reaches zero the leg is effectively destroyed, causing the 'Mech to fall over. Due to the way 'Mechs are implemented in MWLL and the limitations of CryEngine, once one leg is destroyed, the other can no longer be hit.

Some 'Mechs like the Solitaire, Chimera and Hollander II have asymmetrical armor distribution to protect their main weapon(s) or easier-to-hit side torso. This extra protection does not come for free: their other side torso is always less armored and can be destroyed more easily.

Shooting a destroyed side torso will cause the damage to transfer to the centre torso. The amount of damage transferred depends on what engine the 'Mech has; Inner Sphere XLs suffer double damage, Clan XLs take 66% more, while 'Mechs with Standard (Std.) engines like the Atlas do not suffer any multiplier. Regardless of chassis asymmetry, or mounting an Inner Sphere XL, Clan XL, or Std. Engine- you will always have to chew through more hit points to destroy the Center Torso when going through a Side Torso, barring the clever utilization of splash damage weapons. While they're a slower route, side torsos can be harder to defend by twisting, and often hold vital weaponry that will become disabled on destruction.

If the rear torso is heavily damaged or destroyed, damage transfers to the centre torso with a x3 multiplier and the 'Mech loses half its maximum speed as well as some heat dissipation. This reflects the engine damage that can be dealt and also makes shooting the backs of 'Mechs much more effective.

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Vehicles

The turret for every vehicle is heavily armored, the Front panel will typically have the most armor of the panels, followed by either Left or Right panels having moderate armor, and the Back panel having the least armor. While it is quicker to focus fire on a weaker side or back panel, competent tank and hover pilots will rotate their chassis to hide their damaged panels as they wear out. While the turret is the most armored component, no amount of rotating can hide its visibility.

When a vehicle loses a side, it will suffer loss of mobility or turn rate, depending on which area is lost. If the turret is destroyed, its traverse rate is severely degraded but the vehicle will not lose any weapons.

Any damage dealt to a destroyed area on a vehicle transfers damage to its internal structure. If internal structure reaches zero, the vehicle is destroyed.

Hovercraft have most of their armor reinforcing their front panel, giving them some extra protection when peeking above terrain- however, this leaves their turrets only slightly more armored than either side panel.

Tanks and wheeled vehicles have most of their armor reinforcing their turret, having only slightly less armor than both of the side panels combined, making it extra important for tank drivers to keep their less-armored panels out of harms way.

The only exception to this is the Chevalier, a wheeled light tank that is unable to rotate in place. Both its left and right panels have the most armor, followed second by its front panel, turret- and rear. This makes the vehicle durable in strafing runs against the enemy, but also makes it vulnerable against pilots with a steady hand to focus its lightly armored turret.

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