Armor

Armor is protective body covering intended to prevent injury in combat, and is differentiated by species. Turians, krogan, quarians and humans all have specific types of armor; asari use human armor. There are, however, three general armor categories. These rate armor based on the protection it provides. Armor can be customised with upgrades to give better shields or health regeneration, improve cooldown times for tech abilities, or protect against melee attacks depending on individual preference.

Medium to heavy armor - and almost all turian and krogan armor - is classified as 'hardsuit' because it uses thick ceramic plating to protect non-flexible parts of the body. Each set of armor, regardless of its weight, has a kinetic barrier generator and an onboard computer that can give readouts on the environment, liaise with terminals to download data, and check local wildlife against the xenobiology database. Presumably this computer is also what gives Shepard readouts on the squad's current health and shield status, and helps differentiate between friend and foe during combat.

Light Armor
Light Armor offers a basic level of protection from enemy attacks and minimizes the movement penalties that affect weapon accuracy. All classes have the ability to use light armor from the start. Adept, Engineer, and Quarian Machinist classes will always be limited to light armor but can increase the effectiveness of armor with the Basic Armor talent. The Asari Scientist and Sentinel classes are limited to light armor and have no talents to improve armor use. Infiltrator, Vanguard, and Turian Agent classes can only use light armor unless they have invested enough points in Tactical Armor to unlock Medium Armor.

See Also
 * Human Light Armor
 * Quarian Light Armor
 * Turian Light Armor
 * Basic Armor
 * Tactical Armor

Medium Armor
Medium Armor offers an increased level of protection, but also increases the movement penalties that affect weapon accuracy. The Soldier and Krogan Battlemaster classes have the ability to use medium armor from the start and will rely on it until they have invested enough points in Combat Armor to use Heavy Armor. The Infiltrator, Vanguard, and Turian Agent classes can use medium armor once they have invested enough points in Tactical Armor to unlock it.

See Also
 * Human Medium Armor
 * Turian Medium Armor
 * Krogan Medium Armor
 * Combat Armor

Heavy Armor
Heavy armor offers the highest level of protection from enemy fire, but also has the highest movement penalties affecting weapon accuracy. The Soldier and Krogan Battlemaster classes are the only ones who can gain access to Heavy Armor, but only after acquiring 7 points in Combat Armor.

Heavy armor usually offers best damage protection and shields, but the most basic models offer very low protection against tech and biotic talents. Heavy armors that offer an acceptable amount of this protection are available only later on and are usually hard to find; heavy armor is rarely seen on non-combatants.

See Also
 * Human Heavy Armor
 * Krogan Heavy Armor

Armor Summary
Armor ratings can be calculated from a base value, plus an increase per level (I=1, II=2, III=3, etc).


 * Light: Base value, plus increase * level (i.e. I=1, II=2, III=3, etc), round down.


 * Medium: Damage +6 ranks, Shields +1 rank, Tech/Biotic -5 ranks.


 * Heavy: Damage +14 ranks, Shields +2.5 ranks, Tech/Biotic -10 ranks.

Example

 * Scorpion IV – Medium (Hahne-Kedar) has the following stats:
 * Damage Protection = 10 + 2 * (4 + 6) = 30
 * Shields = 60 + 24 * (4 + 1) = 180
 * Tech/Biotic Protection = 18 + 2 * (4 – 5) = 16

Hidden Properties
Some armors have certain properties not shown in the inventory screen. Armor manufactured by Devlon Industries provides immunity to environmental hazards on dangerous worlds. Phoenix Armor, made by the Sirta Foundation, regenerates health when worn.

Recommendations
The best shields (and great armor overall) is Predator L/M/H Armor, while the highest damage protection comes from Colossus Armor (Kassa Fabrication); both are found at level 7+ versions. The various Geth Armory armors (krogan) and the Phantom (turian), both 7+ versions, along with Mercenary Armor (Ariake Technologies), also have a slight edge over HK.

Generally, the various Hahne-Kedar armors (all models have the same stats), are the best in class of common armor, usually 1-2 levels better than the remaining manufacturers. The only other armor worth looking at is Titan Armor (Rosenkov Materials), which has higher damage protection than HK, but lower shields.

Other manufacturers are usually worse, even if a higher level or weight category, and once you outfit with HK you will probably stick with it until you find a higher level HK or one of the premium armors (Predator X/Colossus or Geth/Phantom/Mercenary).

Equip Any Armor Glitch
This glitch results in equipping any armor you have on any character in the party, regardless of restrictions. In the equipment menu, on armor selection, find the armor you wish to equip (greyed out or not). Count from that armor down to the bottom of the list of armor. Press X to enter upgrade selection. Select any upgrade, and hit Y to convert to Omnigel, but almost simultaneously press and hold A, and don't release. Once the prompt to confirm conversion to Omnigel appears, release A and press B. The selection screen will appear different - as if selecting armor, but with upgrades in the selection list, and the Icons describing the selection will appear strange (1 icon, then 3 other repeating icons) if done correctly. Scroll to the bottom of the list of upgrades, then scroll up the number you previously counted down from armors. Equip the 'upgrade', and the armor you previously picked will be equipped instead.

Note: This glitch does not appear to be able to forcibly give any armor with less than 3 upgrade slots, additional slots through upgrade-transferring.

Also Note: To be able to select all armors from the list, you need to have an equal or greater number of upgrades to armor.

Mass Effect 2
Available armor sets for Commander Shepard are the N7 Armor (default), Blood Dragon Armor, Terminus Assault Armor, Collector Armor and Inferno Armor (these 4 specific models being available through DLC).

The chosen armor set slightly affects multiple characteristics of Shepard such as field regeneration, health and size of thermal clip stores by about 3% to 10%.

The specific armor sets, although the starting bonus stats can be interesting (up to 20%, but limited number of bonuses), do not evolve, as these sets cannot be customized. In contrast, the standard N7 Armor set can be customized for look and characteristic bonuses. (Certain options are available immediately, while others can be retrieved during field missions or in some shops.)

Armors sets for your squadmates are pre-determined, though the characteristics can be improved through some upgrades and alternate appearances can be unlocked from the Loyalty missions.

DLC Armor Sets

 * Blood Dragon Armor [Bonus from Dragon Age: Origins] - Increases power damage by 15%, Increases shield strength by 10%
 * Terminus Assault Armor [Preorder Bonus] - Increases storm speed by 10%, Increases shields by 15%, Increases all weapons reserve ammo by +1
 * Inferno Armor [Preorder Bonus] - Negotiation bonus of 10%, Increases power damage by 10%, Increases storm speed by 10%
 * Collector Armor [Collector's Edition Bonus] - Regenerate 10% faster, Increases storm speed by 10%, Increases health by 20%
 * Cerberus Assault Armor [Requires Cerberus Network Activation] - Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by 10%, Increases shields by 10%, Increases health by 10%

Helmet

 * N7 Helmet - Increases health by 5%
 * N7 Breather Helmet - Increases health by 5%
 * Kuwashii Visor [Omega] - Increases headshot damage by 10%
 * Death Mask [Tuchanka] - Increases negotiation bonus by 10%
 * Umbra Visor [Dr. Pepper DLC] - Increases power damage by 5%
 * Recon Hood [Dr. Pepper DLC] - Increases weapon damage by 5%
 * Sentry Interface [Dr. Pepper DLC] - Increases shield strength by 5%

Chest

 * N7 Chestplate - Increases power damage by 3%
 * Capacitor Chestplate [Citadel/Omega] - Reduces the delay before your shields start regenerating by 10%
 * Aegis Vest [Citadel] - Increases health by 5%
 * Shield Harness [Tuchanka] - Increases shields by 5%

Shoulders

 * N7 Shoulder Guards - Increases weapon damage by 3%
 * Amplifier Plates [Illium] - Increases power damage by 5%
 * Strength Boost Pads [Omega] - Increases melee damage by 25%
 * Asymmetric Defense Layer [Tuchanka] - Increases health by 5%

Arms

 * N7 Gauntlets - Increases health by 3%
 * Heavy Damping Gauntlets [Tuchanka] - Increases shields by 5%
 * Off-Hand Ammo Pack [Citadel] - Increase spare ammo capacity by 10%
 * Stabilization Gauntlets [Omega] - Increase weapon damage by 5%

Legs

 * N7 Greaves - Increase shield strength by 3%
 * Stimulator Conduits [Omega] - Increase storm speed by 10%
 * Life Support Webbing [Citadel] - Increase health by 10%
 * Ordinance Packs [Omega] - Increase spare heavy weapon ammo by 10%