So It appears that Boots are straight up better than Combat Boots in every aspect except Warmth. Is that intended behaviour ?
It is strange. I’ve literally never worn combat boots for this reason.
EDIT: I should point out though that your screenshot is a bad example as those combat boots are torn all to hell while the boots are in perfect condition. Normally combat boots have 9ish cut protection IIRC? All the same I’ve never found the numbers to be worth the extra encumberance.
Yes. Weapon and armor getting damaged lowers their effectiveness. One of the main reasons to reinforce your clothes in fact.
Last I played I often tweaked my cloths (stuff with wool or reinforced with x material), so sometimes it might be worth wearing 20 encumbrance if 25 is 50 warmth and a little less protection vs 30 base encumbrance, same warmth, and a little more protection. I suggest looking into the sewing kit modifiers, which give a broader range of applicability to clothing.
Get kevlar reinforced rubber boots. 36 encumbrance, 9/9 protection, and 9 acid protection. Foot encumbrance has very little effect on movement or running speed.
These combat boots are almost destroyed, the normal stats are 6 bash and 9 cut. Steeltoed boots are better than both tho.
More info please. I thought the movement points would be lowered when the encumbrance is so high?