Light, medium and heavy armor finally play differently.
Each armor class gets its own protection against shots by body region, melee damage reduction, movement speed and weapon ergonomics. Helmets soften melee hits to the head. Every armor model can be set to standard or
reinforced in the Armory.
This is an addition on top of the original armor system, not a replacement: the game's armor rating still gives its normal damage resistance, and the mod's regional protection and melee reduction stack on top of it.
Balance
Every bonus has a cost: heavier armor protects more but slows you down and hurts ergonomics, while light armor is fast but fragile. Lethal blows stay lethal, and the Charger, Bile Titan, Impaler, acid, explosions and fire are never reduced. The mod only changes your own character and never affects other players or enemies. Play in private lobbies or with friends.
What changes
Choosing standard or reinforced
In the Armory armor list, click the small protection indicator under the armor. Hover to preview the values: a body silhouette colors each region by its armor value, with a legend. The choice is saved per armor model.
Installation
Game updates
The mod checks the exact game version on startup. After a game patch it turns itself off and shows a message on screen until it is updated.
Compatibility
Mods that change the same values (armor stats, character movement speed or weapon ergonomics) may conflict. In that case the mod refuses to write instead of stacking changes. Tested together with Realistic Resistances and Tactical Combat Overhaul without problems.
Transmog and cosmetic armor mods have not been tested yet. They should work fine, but if the armor class or values look wrong with one of them, please let me know.
Known issue: friendly fire from other players is not blocked or reduced yet, because in multiplayer the shooter's game decides that damage. Enemy attacks are reduced normally. A fix is planned for a future update.
Feedback
Feedback is very welcome! Bug reports, balance suggestions and enemies whose melee hits don't seem to be reduced all help make the next versions better. If something goes wrong, the mod's log is at %LOCALAPPDATA%\CowboyBingus\Helldivers2\Logs\HelldiversArmorBridge.log (send it before restarting the game, since it resets on every start).
Update post / changelog (1.1.0):
Armor Reimagined 1.1.0
New
Balance
Fixes
A personal note about medium armor
Honestly, I still feel medium armor is missing a clear identity. Right now it sits between light and heavy mostly by numbers, and I want it to feel different to play, not just "a bit less heavy".
Credits
Each armor class gets its own protection against shots by body region, melee damage reduction, movement speed and weapon ergonomics. Helmets soften melee hits to the head. Every armor model can be set to standard or
reinforced in the Armory.
This is an addition on top of the original armor system, not a replacement: the game's armor rating still gives its normal damage resistance, and the mod's regional protection and melee reduction stack on top of it.
Balance
Every bonus has a cost: heavier armor protects more but slows you down and hurts ergonomics, while light armor is fast but fragile. Lethal blows stay lethal, and the Charger, Bile Titan, Impaler, acid, explosions and fire are never reduced. The mod only changes your own character and never affects other players or enemies. Play in private lobbies or with friends.
What changes
| Armor | Shots (armor value) | Melee reduction (torso / limbs) | Primary ergonomics | Movement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light standard | Torso AV2, shoulders AV2 | 15% / 0% | +15% | +10% |
| Light reinforced | Torso AV2, shoulders AV3, rest of limbs AV1 | 15% / 10% | +10% | +5% |
| Medium standard | Upper chest, shoulders and shins AV3, rest AV2 | Chest 20%, rest and limbs 15% | 0% | 0% |
| Medium reinforced | Upper chest, shoulders, forearms and shins AV3, rest AV2 | Chest 25%, rest and limbs 20% | -10% | 0% |
| Heavy standard | Torso, arms and legs AV3 | 25% / 20% | -20% | -5% |
| Heavy reinforced | Upper chest AV4, rest of torso, arms and legs AV3 | 35% / 25% | -20% | -10% |
- Shots: penetration below the armor value is blocked, equal penetration keeps 65% of the damage, higher penetration deals full damage. Shotgun pellets are checked one by one.
- Melee: any physical strike from an enemy right next to you gets the armor reduction, including enemies the mod has never seen.
- Slow when hit: damage your armor did not fully block slows light armor by 25% for 1.5 s and medium armor by 15% for 1 s. Heavy armor is not slowed, and a blocked shot never slows you.
- Gaps in arm and leg armor (on by default, heavy armor only): a shot blocked on an arm or leg has a 20% chance to get through the joint with full damage. Can be turned off in the MODS menu.
- Angled plates (optional, off by default, medium and heavy): when a shot hits at an angle steep enough for the game itself to lower its penetration, the armor also counts one level higher. In my tests this is very strong, so only turn it on if you don't mind.
- Helmets: every helmet counts as AV3 against shots and reduces melee hits to the head by 20%.
- Fire: flamethrowers and burning always deal the game's own damage. Only the game's fire-resistance passives reduce it.
- Light armor: light standard has no plating on forearms and legs (shots there deal normal damage), only AV2 shoulders. The reinforced version adds AV1 to the limbs and AV3 shoulders. Both light versions let you swim without running out of breath.
- On screen: a short BLOCKED or ARMOR -X flash under the crosshair, with the body part that was hit, whenever your armor stops or softens a hit, and an Armor Report at the end of each mission (after the statistics screen).
Choosing standard or reinforced
In the Armory armor list, click the small protection indicator under the armor. Hover to preview the values: a body silhouette colors each region by its armor value, with a legend. The choice is saved per armor model.
Installation
- Requires Bingus Shared Loader. Keep it at the bottom of the mod list.
- Import the ZIP in Arsenal (or HD2MM), replacing any older version. Keep only one version enabled.
- Deploy, then restart the game.
- The MODS menu has four settings: language (English, Português do Brasil, Español), on-screen armor feedback (flash and end-of-mission report, on by default), gaps in arm and leg armor (on by default) and angled plates (experimental, off by default).
Game updates
The mod checks the exact game version on startup. After a game patch it turns itself off and shows a message on screen until it is updated.
Compatibility
Mods that change the same values (armor stats, character movement speed or weapon ergonomics) may conflict. In that case the mod refuses to write instead of stacking changes. Tested together with Realistic Resistances and Tactical Combat Overhaul without problems.
Transmog and cosmetic armor mods have not been tested yet. They should work fine, but if the armor class or values look wrong with one of them, please let me know.
Known issue: friendly fire from other players is not blocked or reduced yet, because in multiplayer the shooter's game decides that damage. Enemy attacks are reduced normally. A fix is planned for a future update.
Feedback
Feedback is very welcome! Bug reports, balance suggestions and enemies whose melee hits don't seem to be reduced all help make the next versions better. If something goes wrong, the mod's log is at %LOCALAPPDATA%\CowboyBingus\Helldivers2\Logs\HelldiversArmorBridge.log (send it before restarting the game, since it resets on every start).
Update post / changelog (1.1.0):
Armor Reimagined 1.1.0
New
- On-screen feedback: a short BLOCKED / ARMOR -X flash under the crosshair showing the exact body part that was hit, and an Armor Report at the end of each mission (after the statistics screen). Can be turned off in the MODS menu.
- Armory silhouette: hover an armor to see a body silhouette with the armor value of each region, with a color legend.
- Slow when hit: light armor is slowed by 25% for 1.5 s and medium by 15% for 1 s when a hit gets through. Heavy is never slowed, and blocked shots never slow you.
- Gaps in arm and leg armor (on by default, heavy armor only): a blocked shot on an arm or leg has a 20% chance to get through the joint with full damage.
- Angled plates (optional, off by default): medium and heavy count one armor level higher against glancing shots. Very strong in my tests, so it's up to you.
Balance
- Heavy: legs and the whole arm (shoulder to hand) are now AV3. Ergonomics penalty is now -20% on both standard and reinforced.
- Medium: shoulders and shins are now AV3 (upper chest stays AV3). Reinforced medium also gets AV3 forearms, with a -10% ergonomics penalty.
- Light: shoulders AV2 (standard) / AV3 (reinforced).
- Both light versions can now swim without running out of breath (before, only standard).
Fixes
- Shotgun pellets could sometimes skip the armor check. Every pellet is now checked one by one.
- Enemy flamethrowers (Pyro Trooper, Hulk Scorcher, Hulk Firebomber) could have part of the stream blocked by chest armor. Fire now always deals the game's own damage.
- Lower memory use per frame (less work for the Lua garbage collector in long missions).
- The mod could turn itself off on startup ("Installation refused; code 42") when another mod had changed the memory protection of the same game pointer it hooks. That case is now accepted, so the armor selector and protection work again.
A personal note about medium armor
Honestly, I still feel medium armor is missing a clear identity. Right now it sits between light and heavy mostly by numbers, and I want it to feel different to play, not just "a bit less heavy".
Credits
- CowboyBingus - Bingus Shared Loader. Without it this mod would certainly not have been possible.
- ChaosOfficerOnyx, author of Helldivers' Ammunition: the Armory UI style was inspired by his mod.
- ice36656, author of HD2 Entity Summoner: made testing every melee attack possible.
- SkyeShade / HD2Runtime: public research on the game's entity and health structures.
- The community concept image of a Helldiver unarmored, in light and in medium armor. Author unknown - it inspired this mod. If you made it, get in touch to be credited by name.
