need clarification on armor types

[thecyclemania]

Hello fellow SE4 players,

I have a question in regards to armor type.

Can someone explain the difference between emissive armor, stealth armor and scattering armor.

Please be detailed in your explanation.
An example of effect on gameplay would be very helpful.

For example, stealth armor. Is your ship invisible or not ?

What about the armor that says "any damage below 10 is ignored". Does this apply to the first 10 points of damage (substracts from it) or it "absorbs" any damage of 10 or less. In this case, it would not work agains 11+ points of damage.

Thanks,
thecyclemania

[Taqwus]

Stealth armor --

Acts as

a) normal armor (in that, if your opponents are NOT using armor-piercing weapons, it must be completely destroyed before components are hit)

b) weak ECM (provides a +5%/level defense bonus, IIRC)

c) weak cloaking device -- the stealth bit. Your ship is only invisible when cloaked, and it's weak cloaking -- *any* level of sensors, IIRC, will suffice to detect it.

When cloaked, no matter what the method (cloaking device or stealth armor)...

1. You cannot repair or build ships with it.
2. You cannot attack or be attacked, unless enemies can detect you.
3. You cannot blockade an enemy planet, AFAIK (*maybe* if they can detect you? Not sure).

Oh, and one catch -- you can't initiate or maintain cloak with 0 supplies, IIRC, even though keeping it on doesn't cost methinks.

Scattering armor:

Similar, but a) no cloaking, if memory serves, and b) it blocks long-range scanners. Folks who research the Scanner tree get a component that, from a distance (in the system -- i.e. up to 5 sectors away for the best Version) scan a detected enemy ship or unit that is not thusly protected (there is also a stand-alone Scanner Jammer that protects).

The scan will reveal supply, components (including whether or not they're damaged), cargo, and so forth. For satellite stacks, you find out what types and how many. And so forth. Might be especially nice to protect a carrier so nobody knows how many fighters are on board.

Emissive armor -- it's been reported (I haven't used this for a LONG time) that if that particular piece of armor would have taken at or below its threshold, no damage is sustained; otherwise, full damage to that piece occurs. That is, it only protects once shields are down (or bypassed), and it doesn't directly protect the other pieces of armor (except that every hit it absorbs is one they don't). It's not too useful because practically all damage exceeds the threshold.

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-- The thing that goes bump in the night

[Puke]

and if anyone was wondering, the bonuses are not cumulative.