Combat: Armor Penetration
An armored enemy can be a challenge when you don’t have a way to get through their defenses. However, some attacks can penetrate armor. Armor penetration is a special aspect that allows the attack’s damage to ignore armor damage reduction. Not all armor penetration can bypass armor as the grade of the armor and, if it has energetic properties, make a difference. Regardless of the type of armor penetration, when attacking a target out of the weapon’s range, armor penetration is negated.
Base Armor Penetration
Armor penetration functions based on the grade of the weapon and armor in question. To puncture armor, the weapon has to be a higher grade than the armor. For example, a grade four weapon cannot penetrate any armor that is grade four or higher. However, a grade five weapon can penetrate any armor that is grade four or lower. This only applied to weapons that have the special ability of armor penetration.
For grade eight armor, special materials such as steel, titanium, Hotton steel, silver, and ironclad at grade eight are the only way to penetrate the armor. Any weapons of grade eight, made of iron, cannot penetrate grade eight armor. Only energetic weapons can penetrate armor made from the special materials.
Some features override the base armor penetration. See types of armor penetration below.
Types of Armor Penetration
Alchemical
Alchemical potions such as acid deal full damage to armor, bypassing the damage reduction, and half of it to the target wearing it. Armor durability needs to be converted to health to determine how much damage it takes. However, heavy armor of grade six or higher is unaffected by alchemical potions and the damage reduction still applies.
Ammunition, Arrows/Bolts
Arrows and bolts do not upgrade, so the armor penetration of the ranged weapon determines its effectiveness.
Ammunition, Bullets
A bullet shot from an arm only has armor penetration against armor that is lower than its grade. The bullet and arm have to be higher than the armor’s grade.
Critical Strikes
A critical strike with a weapon that has armor penetration damages the armor by one durability. This does not apply to a sneak attack or surprise attack.
Heavy Armor
Armor grade versus weapon grade determines damage reduction. Weapons can only penetrate through armor if their grade is higher than the armor’s grade. This applies to only metal armor.
Helmet
When a weapon that has armor penetration strikes a helmet (called shot to the head) of a lower grade helmet, it ignores damage reduction. If the helmet’s grade is higher than the weapons grade, the damage affects the helmet first. However, if the helmet is of a lower grade, the wearer takes any damage left after the helmet is destroyed.
Light Armor
Weapons with armor penetration can penetrate light armor of equal or lower armor grade.
Natural Damage Reduction
Creatures with natural damage reduction can only have their armor bypassed through sneak and surprise attacks.
Shields
When using Shield Defense (see the defense section in this chapter) the shield will negate the damage. If the shield’s grade is equal to or higher than the weapons grade, the damage is neglected. However, if the weapons grade is higher than the shields, it takes the damage and any remaining if the shield is destroyed applies to the target.
Sneak Attack
Sneak attack armor penetration functions as surprise attack’s armor penetration. The attack targets a gap in the armor to bypass its damage reduction. This type of armor penetration cannot cause durability damage to armor.
Surprise Attack
Surprising a target who is wearing armor allows you to strike an area between the armor that is unprotected. This type of armor penetration can be done with any type of attack/weapon.
