Armor is a critical element of the game, providing resistance fighters with increased Hit Points, additional utility slots, and eventually armor that reduces the magnitude of incoming damage.
All soldiers begin with a set of basic Kevlar Armor, which confers no benefits beyond allowing a single Utility Item to be equipped.
Further upgrades require Plated or Powered Armor Technologies. Each must then be manufactured individually by completing the required Proving Ground project, with the exception of Predator, Warden and SPARK armors, which are Squad upgrades built directly at Engineering.
Armor stats[]
Health
All armor classes increase a soldier's Health value significantly, while only select models increase the Armor value. This distinction is notable to the effect that armors primarily increase a soldier's Health pool, and not their Armor value.
Armor points
Armor points is a concept separate from Health and wearable armors, and represents a soldier's damage reduction capability. Yellow pips to the right the Health bar represent Armor points, available on select suits of armor and certain abilities. Any incoming damage, except for Armor Piercing (armor-ignoring) damage, will be reduced by this amount, applied before the Armor is shredded. Armor is only depleted when shredded and will otherwise continue to offer full protection.
Regular Armors[]
Light Armors
Light Armors grant the wearer extra mobility and dodge, focusing less on Health and more on the movement flexibility of the wearer. All Light Armors share the ability to deploy a Grappling Hook to reach elevated surfaces, and in extreme cases will allow the user to pass through solid objects with Wraith.
Medium Armors
Medium armors are general purpose armors which balance mobility with protection, allowing for an additional Utility Item to be equipped, while Icarus Armor* is able to quickly shift positions and vault over objects and walls.
Heavy Armors
Heavy Armors focus on the survivability of the wearer, increasing both Health and Armor points, and each possesses the ability to mount a single Heavy Weapon.
- Reinforced Underlay upgrade provides +1 health to all vests.
- Grenadier ability Blast Padding provides +1 Armor Point and reduces Explosion damage by 66%.
Resistance Armors[]
Reapers, Skirmishers, and Templars each have their own faction-specific set of armors, which share characteristics with Kevlar, Predator and Warden armors minus a few Utility Item slots. They are only available in the XCOM 2: War of the Chosen expansion.
Resistance Armors | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Health | Armor | Mobility | Dodge | Utility Slots | ||
Reapers | Skirmishers, Templars | ||||||
Resistance Armor | 0* | 1* | |||||
Plated Resistance Armor | +4 | ||||||
Powered Resistance Armor | +6 | +1 |
- * Tactical Rigging ability, randomly available to Reapers and Skirmishers as an XCOM skill (costs 11 Ability Points), provides +1 additional Utility Item slot.
- Skirmishers have Grapple ability by default.
SPARK Armors[]
SPARK Armors are exclusive to Shen's Last Gift DLC, and can only be equipped on SPARK units. They do not confer any particular attributes or abilities, but each iteration will grant additional Health, mobility, and an extra point of Armor.
SPARK Armors | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Health | Armor | Mobility | Dodge | Utility Slots | |
SPARK Armor | n/a | |||||
Reinforced Frame | +3 | +1 | +1 | |||
Annodized Chassis | +5 | +2 | +2 |
- SPARK ability Bulwark provides +1 armor.
- SPARK ability Sacrifice provides +2 armor and +20 defense every 3 turns.
Trivia[]
Legacy Armors
Resistance Warrior Kevlar Armor, Improvised Field Armor, Enhanced Field Plate and Experimental Power Armor are alternate appearances for standard armors that share identical characteristics, included in the Resistance Warrior Pack and Tactical Legacy Pack.