Armor? What's that?

We all know what armor is for in reality, but how will it function here? If you go by the Star Wars movies, the original Trilogy especially, you will find that it is more for looks than for function. After all, if a Stormtrooper's armor cant defend against a pointed rock tied to a stick, what good is it for? (I should watch Return of the Jedi more for fun rather than to poke at all the details, oh well)

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This is one problem presented by Star Wars: The Old Republic. It has been stated many times that Bioware is trying to make our characters similar to iconic heroes (and villains) from the movies. Will we inherit the same weaknesses as the movies, or was the fact that the armor made the stormtroopers anonymous henchmen the thing that killed them, rather than the weakness of the armor itself?

Another problem I can see form with armor is the continuation of the trilogy with a "Tank" to get the most armor on and just stand still while a Rancor will crush him into the ground for ten minutes. Along with the extra mitigation it provides, it will also make balancing for pvp more difficult. Will it make the wearer slower than if he wore cloth, because it would be a huge burden on the classes that need armor to function while making an advantage for faster people. Who knows the answers to all of these, perhaps we may get answers next week from Germany. As far as where my bets are going, it will likely be similar to the armor classes in KotOR as well as WoW, yet with more focus on trying not to get hit in the first place.

Comments

  • #7 RogueJedi86
    Maybe they'll do like LotRO, with you being able to wear one set of armor for stats, but have another set as your visible set. Cosmetic armor if you will. If you go by KotOR and Mass Effect, it won't happen, but a guy can dream.
  • #10 Zoid
    You mean Frodo could wear a mithril shirt under his regular clothes so he could pass as normal and not be super shiny, yet still protected from attacks?
  • #12 RogueJedi86
    Wow, that actually makes such complete sense that I can't believe I never realized that cosmetic gear fit with the pre-existing LotR books and movies. You have amazed me, I clap at your epiphany.
  • #13 Zoid
    The only Star Wars example I can think of this is covering up robot hands with gloves.
  • #14 DirectX
    We're all robots on the inside.
  • #9 DirectX
    How was the balance in LotRO? I've never tried that one.
  • #11 RogueJedi86
    LotRO didn't have much PvP, so there was no worry about balance. In PvMP, they did disable your cosmetic gear so as not to be unbalanced though.

    Or do you mean some other sort of balance?
  • #8 DirectX
    *broken record* Guild Wars did a great job with armor. But then again, the whole point was to make it easy to get max-armor (balanced gameplay).

    All armor past the noob areas was max-stats, and you added your own runes & insignias to customize it to fit your build.
  • #2 DirectX
    I agree. They'll have armor play a roll in damage mitigation. My hope is that they make the statistics separate. I don't want to be forced to wear a set because it's the best for stats. Then all the hard-core players would look the same.
  • #3 Zoid
    I hope they use underlays for the stats so you can make any gear you want have the stats you need.
  • #6 nevi
    if only.
  • #1 TaboriHK
    I highly doubt it's going to function the way you see in the movies. Remember that they are making a game first, and adherence to the series is inevitably secondary. No one will play this game if everyone can be killed in one hit. I'm positive it will work out the same way KOTOR did in terms of armor and weapon damage. Because arguably a lightsaber could cut everyone into ribbons instantly but you don't see that demonstrated in the videos.
  • #4 Zoid
    I doubt it too, but seeing ewoks kill the emperor's elite legion upsets me so I need somewhere to vent it.
  • #5 TaboriHK
    Yeah...that was...yeah.
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