Some simulation games are easier than others, but many in the genre have a reputation for difficulty. That makes sense, given the complexity of the worlds they're meant to simulate. It's hard to protect soldiers and keep governments running in the real world, so it should probably be difficult in fictional worlds too.
Things tend to fall apart in RimWorld. That applies to buildings, citizens' minds, and even entire colonies. It's a tough and complicated game in which, despite the best planning, many things to go wrong. Considering how lethal things can become, it's wise to understand armor. Staying safe in RimWorld is a complicated business, however. Here's what every player should know about the best armor in the game.
Armor Fundamentals
Armor is more complicated in RimWorld than it is in many games, due to how the game calculates damage and how many great weapons there are to kill colonists off. There are three damage types, Blunt, Sharp, and Heat. Whenever an attack strikes the player, the game does an RNG calculation to determine whether a layer of armor stops the damage or not.
Damage can either be dealt in full, halved, or negated entirely, depending upon the armor's strength and the RNG roll. If the colonist is wearing multiple layers of armor, damage it rolled against outer layers before working its way inward, making layers extremely important for survival. To further complicate things, all armor has a Quality (ranked from Awful to Legendary) as well as a Material, both of which affect damage dealt. With the right armor, a colonist won't need the best Traits just to survive a single battle.
The Best Armor
When it comes to negating Sharp and Blunt damage, PlasteelandUranium are the best Materials. The best armor against those damage types will always be constructed with those materials. Unfortunately, Plasteel and Uranium can be hard to come by, so it's important to know the best armor for budget builds, as well. Steel is best for Sharp and Wood is best for Blunt if the player has limited funds, but the player should upgrade as soon as it is feasible.
Perhaps the most important thing to note when it comes to Materials is that Cloth makes for poor armor and should be avoided if at all possible. If the player doesn't have the resources for even Steel or Wood armor, Leather is an acceptable temporary substitute and a significant upgrade over cloth. It can be difficult to maintain a healthy economy that meets all the colonists' needs, so this situation is a common one, especially for new players.
Even with all of this in mind, there is still room for a healthy debate about which specific armor types are best. This is because the best loadout will always depend both upon the resources that are available to the player and the amount of insulation required by the colony's biome. The following is a good rule of thumb for what armor is best to keep colonists alive and keep moods high:
- Early Game: Leather Dusters, shirts, and pants
- Mid Game: Devilstrand Dusters, Flak Vests, and high quality clothing
- Late Game: Marine armor (ranged colonists), Recon armor and a shield belt (melee colonists), and Prestige armor (noble colonists)
RimWorld is available now for PC.