Y'all remember how CDPR was harping on and on about how style is the most important thing in Night City? Yeah, that didn't really pan out with how the game actually plays. They have us all running around in the lamest outfits because they just couldn't let go of the way TW3 handled armor and loot RNG. Kitsch? Neokitsch? Neomilitarism? Never heard of those, all I've seen so far is Entropism, Entropism and more Entropism; whatever gives me the higest armor rating is what I'm wearing (Getting the job done no matter how. The look? Who cares?).
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy the related memes as much as anyone and by all accounts, this isn't an issue unique to Cyberpunk. But considering that they made an entire trailer devoted to explaining the history and significance of styles in Night City, to end up with such a haphazard approach to equipment just feels wrong. I mean, we have miniskirts and tuxedos offering more protection than bulletproof vests and tactical clothing for god's sake! Shit, a raggeddy tank top with mustard stains can have more armor than the lower tiers of Integumentary Cyberware! Why the hell would anyone undergo surgery to install subdermal armor if they can get better protection from a single layer of clothing??? It just doesn't make sense.
So, it is in this spirit that I have though up the following changes to the way armor rating works, even though I am painfully aware CDPR will probably never read this let alone implement these changes, I just had to get this out of my system. Also note, I devised this rework with Normal Difficulty in mind, as I have not yet had time to play the higher difficulties so I don't know how it would scale but the core idea would be the same.
Clothing armor changes:
Integumentary armor changes:
That's really about the gist of it, any thoughts and/or discussion y'all might have are welome in the comments, even if it is unlikely CDPR will implement these changes in the foreseeable future (Or at all, for that matter).
Also yes, I'm aware Armadillo exists but you still need an available mod slot for it which you can only find on certain pieces of clothing, which is the whole point of this rework; Make all clothing more appealing regardless of rarity, if you want real armor then you better get chipped. Besides, since Armadillo works on a percentage basis I think it would work seamlessly with the rework without any need for modification, as a highly armored build will be able to reap immense benefits from the mod while a lightly armored build will still get great utility from it, albeit not to the same extent.
Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy the related memes as much as anyone and by all accounts, this isn't an issue unique to Cyberpunk. But considering that they made an entire trailer devoted to explaining the history and significance of styles in Night City, to end up with such a haphazard approach to equipment just feels wrong. I mean, we have miniskirts and tuxedos offering more protection than bulletproof vests and tactical clothing for god's sake! Shit, a raggeddy tank top with mustard stains can have more armor than the lower tiers of Integumentary Cyberware! Why the hell would anyone undergo surgery to install subdermal armor if they can get better protection from a single layer of clothing??? It just doesn't make sense.
So, it is in this spirit that I have though up the following changes to the way armor rating works, even though I am painfully aware CDPR will probably never read this let alone implement these changes, I just had to get this out of my system. Also note, I devised this rework with Normal Difficulty in mind, as I have not yet had time to play the higher difficulties so I don't know how it would scale but the core idea would be the same.
Clothing armor changes:
- Common - 10 armor MAX
- Uncommon - 20 armor MAX
- Rare - 30 armor MAX
- Epic - 40 armor MAX
- Legendary - 50 armor MAX
- Bulletproof helmets/vests/clothing - 40 armor MIN & 80 armor MAX
Integumentary armor changes:
- Common - 100 armor, no req
- Uncommon - 200 armor, no req
- Rare - 300 armor, no req (Maybe 8/10 body req but not sure it'd be a good idea)
- Epic - 500 armor, 12/14 body req
- Legendary - 700 armor, 16/18 body req
That's really about the gist of it, any thoughts and/or discussion y'all might have are welome in the comments, even if it is unlikely CDPR will implement these changes in the foreseeable future (Or at all, for that matter).
Also yes, I'm aware Armadillo exists but you still need an available mod slot for it which you can only find on certain pieces of clothing, which is the whole point of this rework; Make all clothing more appealing regardless of rarity, if you want real armor then you better get chipped. Besides, since Armadillo works on a percentage basis I think it would work seamlessly with the rework without any need for modification, as a highly armored build will be able to reap immense benefits from the mod while a lightly armored build will still get great utility from it, albeit not to the same extent.