Armor

Using cover is the best way to avoid taking damage, but there is really no way to avoid getting shot at some point in the game. Bullets are designed to be deadly, but fortunately there are numerous pieces of armor to help protect your mercs when they get hit.

Armor is your only defense to keep your mercs alive, and it is important to cover them from head to toe and keep an eye on the current state of their armor.

As a general rule, always check your squads' armor after a messy encounter and make sure to upgrade and replace armor whenever you can.

Body Zones

Mercs have four different body zones that can be covered in armor; these include the head, torso, legs, and feet.

For their heads, there are lots of interesting hats, but they offer little protection. Any real solider will have a helmet. Keep an eye out for the helmets with night vision goggles because they are very useful in night ops and only cost a small amount more. Buying the goggles separately is a lot more expensive than getting them with the helmet.

For torsos, mercs can wear a vast assortment of t-shirts, but it’s best to find some type of uniform that offers more protection. In addition to the choice of shirt, you need to pick a vest. This is one of the most important pieces of armor because most damage seems to target the body. Start out with light flak jackets but as soon as you can afford it, upgrade to Kevlar and Spectra vests.

Pants offer decent protection for the mercs' legs, but eventually you want to upgrade to leggings that have twice the protection.

There is not a huge difference in the armor rating for footwear, but in general boots are always better than shoes.

Wear and Tear

Armor, like weapons, has a durability rating. When you first acquire it, it will be brand new and its armor rating is the actual value it has. However, when you take incoming fire, the armor on that part of the body will begin to degrade. Repeated contact will erode the armor’s durability and effectiveness.

The durability is shown by the vertical bar next to the item. As it goes to yellow, and eventually red, the armor becomes less effective. Even if you have a Guardian Vest with a 24 armor rating, after numerous direct hits it will start to wear. Its current protection value will be displayed in parentheses next to its original specs.

This current armor rating is what you need to monitor for all body parts. The numbers in parentheses represent the actual protection you have. It is very easy to forget to check this stat and just assume you are protected. After any serious fire fight, check your mercs and make a mental note to replace any armor that has been significantly damaged.

Unlike weapons, armor cannot be repaired. It is best to use it as long as you can and ditch it when it is reduced into the red zone. Upgrade your armor whenever you can, but more importantly replace terribly damaged items because they are equivalent to having nothing at all.

Camouflage

Choosing armor isn’t as complex a decision as finding the best gun. For the most part, armor is simply chosen by the amount of protection it offers. However, there is a factor that makes choosing armor more than a simple number crunch.

Each piece of armor has unique camouflage types and ratings. There are four major types: woods, urban, desert, and night. Some have higher values in one category while others have lower values and cover several types of situations. It would be nice to simply swap out your entire squad’s camo each time you enter a new terrain, but that is not possible.

The best bet is to pick a focused variety and concentrate on camo that represents the areas where you do most of your difficult fighting. For example, if you like to get in close and sneak around buildings, then urban camo is a good choice. However, if you have a squad with night ops, the clear move is to go with night camo.

One other approach is to get a decent variety of camo for the entire squad and rearrange the armor to give your most stealthy merc a complete set of camo that matches their environment. This will give that merc the best chance to remain unseen and get into an excellent offensive position.

Head Gear

Beret (blue)
Beret (white)
Bandana (urban)
Bandana (jungle)
Bandana (night)
Bandana (desert)
Military cap (5% desert/urban/woods)
Military cap (25% urban)
Military cap (10% woods/desert)
Military cap (10% woods/urban)
Military cap (night)
Cap (green)
Woolen cap (brown)
Woolen cap (gray)
Bucket hat (gray)
Bucket hat (urban)
Bucket hat (desert)
Bucket hat (Arulco)
Boonie hat (beige)
Boonie hat (woods)
Boonie hat (desert)
Boonie hat (green)
Boonie hat (white)
Beret (red)
Bearskin hat (brown)
Steel helmet
Kevlar helmet (urban)
Kevlar helmet (desert)
Kevlar helmet (5% des/urb/woods)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (desert)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (night)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (jungle)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (5% des/urb/woods)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (10%urban/woods)
Kevlar helmet + goggles (10%urban/desert)
Kevlar nightvision helmet (25%night)
Kevlar nightvision helmet (urban)
Kevlar nightvision helmet (Arulco)

Face Gear

Glasses
Superior Sunglasses
Protective Glasses
Sunglasses
Gassmask

Chest Gear

T-shirt (lucha verde)
T-shirt (eagle)
T-shirt (MaximumMetal)
T-shirt (Biggy)
T-shirt (Black Cat)
T-shirt (Snake Dagger)
Coat (15% desert)
Unifom (brown)
Uniform (green)
Uniform (gray)
Uniform (night)
Uniform (urban)
Uniform (woods)
Uniform (10% woods/desert)
Uniform( 10% night,5%urban/woods)
Uniform (10% desert/urban)
T-shirt (black)

Flak Jacket MKII
Spectra Vest
Kevlar Vest
Guardian Vest

Boots

Cowboy Boots
The Academic
Coreplayer
Military Boots (black)
Military Boots (brown)

Leg Gear

Kevlar Pants (night)
Kevlar Pants (10% woods)
Kevlar Pants (10%night, 5% urban/woods)
Kevlar Pants (white)
Spectra Leggins (urban)
Spectra Leggins (5% urban/wood/desert)
Spectra Leggins (15% desert)
Spectra Leggins (10% woods)
Kevlar Pants (25% urban)
Spectra Leggins (10% urban)
Spectra Leggins (white)
Spectra Leggins (10%desert/woods/urban)
Spectra Leggins (5%desert/woods)
Spectra Leggins (10%desert/urban)
Spectra Leggins (10%night, 5% urban/woods)
Spectra Leggins (4urban,3woods,2night)
Jeans (blue)

Head Gear

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Bandana	A bandana wound around the head to keep hair and sweat where it should be during combat: Not in your eyes.	$10	95 gr	0	10
Bearskin hat	Another warming invention from Russia besides Vodka.	$200	95 gr	1	10
Beret	A beret. In various colors. Enough said.	$190	90 gr	2	10
Boonie hat	The hat of the patient. Fishermen, hunters and snipers rely on the disguising nature of the boonie hat.	$190	120 gr	2	10
Bucket hat	A hat American tourists and their enemies like to wear when things start getting sunny.	$150	100 gr	2	10
Cap	A gray sun-blocking cap, used by soldiers, gangsters and baseball players.	$15	95 gr	1	10
Kevlar helmet	The latest craze in head protection is made of minimum weight/maximum efficiency- Kevlar compounds and comes in a variety of camouflage flavors, to fit every combatant's needs.	$3,150	1.65 kg	17	10
Kevlar helmet + goggles	The latest craze in head protection is made of minimum weight/maximum efficiency- Kevlar compounds and camouflage patterns. This one also adds protective goggles for a clean sight.	$3,400	1.85 kg	17	10
Kevlar nightvision helmet	The latest craze in head protection is made of minimum weight/maximum efficiency- Kevlar compounds and camouflage patterns. This one also adds nightvision goggles for a superior sight under all circumstances. For example darkness.	$3,650	2.15 kg	17	10
Military cap	A sun-blocking night camouflage cap, used by soldiers, gangsters and baseball players.	$15	95 gr	1	10
Steel helmet	From grandpa to grandchildren – everybody loves the durability and the timeless design of an untreated steel helmet.	$2,700	2.25 kg	15	10
Woolen cap	The friend of every cold forehead and receding hairline.	$20	95 gr	1	10

Face Gear

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Gasmask	Mask to be put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling "airborne pollutants" and toxic gases, like dichloroethyl sulphide, flatulences, or any other toxic gases.	$450	300 gr	2	10
Glasses	For anyone in need of sharper vision and a nerdy look, you can’t go past these correction lenses in a decent black/brown frame.	$5	25 gr	0	10
Night vision Goggles	Night Vision enhancing goggles, ideal for infiltration or surveillance tasks. At night of course.	$1,250	500 gr	1	10
Protective Glasses	Wanna go to combat, or skiing? Doesn't matter with these protective glasses used by the military.	$110	200 gr	0	10
Sunglasses	Shoot outs in high noon – no problem. These sunglasses increase vision in daylight but decrease it at night, though they look cool in both situations.	$110	50 gr	0	10
Superior Sunglasses	Ever wanted to have the look and the vision of a 70s highway cop? Remember to put it down at nighttime.	$10	50 gr	0	10

Chest Gear

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Coat	A durable coat for every profession, protecting 70% of the human body.	$100	2.15 kg	1	10
Military dress-shirt	Long-sleeved shirt, hiding scars and tattoos under well-sewed fair-trade cotton. It comes in a differnt camouflage patterns and is adequate in household and combat situations.	$80	200 gr	1	10
Military t-shirt	Short-sleeved shirt for hot summer days, or dirty fistfights. It comes in a various camouflage patterns and is shipped with two spare buttons.	$25	100 gr	1	10
Motorcycle Jacket	Tough, tougher, a motorcycle jacket. This leather build will keep you safe on the battlefield, or grinding down a highway at 60 mph.	$350	3.15 kg	3	10
T-shirt	Cotton t-shirt is the world's most worn piece of clothing. Tight fit and numerous styles.	$35	100 gr	1	10
Uniform	The general of military clothing is the uniform. It adds functional leather gear to a durable denim, which is only penetrable by bullets or blades. It never keeps up with fashion and comes in a functional camouflage patterns.	$120	500 fr	2	10

Body Armor

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Flak Jacket	Olive-green flag jacket with additional combat gear. Wearable over any outerwear from uniform to the bare chest. It protects from shrapnel and other indirect low velocity projectiles, like flying debris and beer cans.	$1,600	3.10 kg	8	10
Flak Jacket MKII	Olive-green flag jacket with additional combat gear. Wearable over any outerwear from uniform to the bare chest Provides exrta protects compared to the standard issue flack jacket.	$2,400	3.10 kg	12	10
Guardian Vest	This high quality ballistic vest is manufactured from 36 piles of Kevlar by Guardian Armories, Inc.	$4,800	4.80 kg	24	10
Kevlar Vest	Gray Kevlar vest with additional combat gear. Wearable over any outerwear from uniform to the bare chest. It helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles. Look out for headshots!	$3,200	3.10 kg	16	10
Light Flak Jacket	The Armorshield ultra-light flak jacket is a highly protective sleeveless vest with a neck protector and pelvic plate. Its Velcro fasteners are concealed on the sides.	$800	3.10 kg	4	10
Spectra Vest	This vest is made of Spectra Shield, an ultra high-performance ballistic sheet that dramatically reduces blunt trauma from multiple hits and angled shots.	$4,000	3.10 kg	20	10

Leg Gear

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Jeans	A pair of jeans. Blue denim and tight fit in the bottom area.	$150	1 kg	1	10
Kevlar Pants	The ballistic panels on these leggings are made from 28 piles of protective Kevlar.	$1,250	2.40 kg	6	10
Spectra Leggings	Spectra pants with knee protection are the superior trousers when it comes to taking cover, grinding on your knees, or praying. These come in a many camouflage patterns.	$2,100	3.90 kg	12	10
Trousers	Convenient, white pair of trousers, for everyday usage. Be it the daily work, going for a walk, or the ambush on enemy units - with these pants you'll always be dressed for the part.	$120	800 gr	1	10

Foot Gear

Item	Description	Price	Weight	Armor	Durabilty
Cowboy Boots	Be it on horseback, or on an opponent’s face, a pair of these boots shows attitude and gives off a good breeze of self-righteousness. Black color	$350	1 kg	3	10
Military Boots	The toughest shoes for the toughest purpose. If war had feet, it would wear these extraordinary boots. Brown color	$300	1.25 kg	6	10
Shoes (vary slightly in weight and price)	Buck Gaylor Wall Mars, The Academic, Coreplayer, Casuals	$100-$450	200-400 gr	2	10