How does armor work in combat?

[jacob4408]

I recently acquired basic power armor. (WOOT!) Prior to this I was running around with little more than a hoodie and cargo pants so I thought I would see a HUGE difference in the damage I took during fights. Not so much. Even though the description shows 180 bash/180 cut protection on my combat armor (yes it’s powered up) a normal Z can still damage me relatively easy.

Am I missing something? How does the combat calculation work?

[MarkB]

Power armour has made a huge difference for me. Zombies don’t scratch me at all anymore, and even the more powerful critters tend not to make a dent. About the only things that have injured my character recently were falling down a sinkhole, and being next to an exploding smoker.

Then again, I do also have titanium plating over my whole body.

[Sirquote]

Yo dawg, I heard you like metal skin, so we put an armor in yo armor, now you can clank while you clank.

But seriously, I never ever found power armor useful even with all the right cbms/power, it just felt too restraining compared to my usual plkaystyle. I have a full set just sitting in my base gathering dust.

One day I’ll just throw it on, power it up and jump on a bike to do some life ending mayhem.