Heh, my character’s a martial artist so… Nothing nearly so encumbering. I think right now it’s survivor duster + full light survivor gear (apart from I think a heavy survivor hood?). Every encumbrance apart from torso is hovering right around nine, torso’s just a touch over 20 I think b/c I had to double to wear a harness and utility belt, hopefully I’ll find an integrated toolset soon but not yet, unfortunately.[/quote]
No longer mid-game but my default light armor goes like this:
Thermal electric suit, for full body coverage on albino characters, to no longer need an umbrella. Hooked to a UPS mod w/UPS CBM, or atomic modded for winter and ice lab use.
Light survivor boots and gloves, for zero encumbrance.
Two helmet nettings, for storage.
Survivor trenchcoat.
Survivor cargo pants. If you don’t mind some leg encumbrance, you can add a second pair.
Heavy survivor helmet, since head encumbrance doesn’t really matter, might as well go with the one with the highest protection value.
Elbow pads. Since it’s strapped to the arms, it can be added to the set for extra protection.
Light survivor mask. I use a normal one but that increases mouth and eye encumbrance, but the light mask on the chesthole tileset doesn’t cover the face. Normal mask looks cooler.
Drop leg pouches. Strapped to the leg. Again, if having some extra leg encumbrance is okay, then get a second one.
Survivor harness or belt. Torso layered on the waist. Harness has more storage but if you have add extra clothing to this list the belt has less encumbrance. Then again, the harness has 2 encumbrance if it fits and the belt if fits has 1, so it’s a tiny difference while the harness gives 3 more volume space than the belt.
That set, including the double cargo pants and drop leg pouches, and with the addition of internal storage, gives you a total of 144 volume space on a packmule trait survivor. No torso encumbrance - just one point short before you do get some. The double layers of cargo pants and leg pouches reduces your run speed by four points, dodge skill by .5, and swimming costs 44 extra which might not be such a bad tradeoff.
Of course, non-packmule characters will have a lot more trouble with this setup if you’re carrying a ton of stuff without a wheelbarrow. With internal storage, you only get 103 volume space without packmule. In general, warmth can also be a problem as it doesn’t provide a ton during cold days unless you use the electric suit - and in some cases you may get too much warmth to be warm.
Also, instead of a survivor harness, you can try a survivor runner pack instead. Harness has 15 volume storage while runner pack has 18… though, you won’t be able to holster pistols with it.
You can top it off with a light survivor suit if you don’t mind some torso encumbrance. 186 volume with packmule and internal storage, 133 without - so you pretty much need packmule if you want to make adding torso encumbrance worth it.
Total body encumbrance with the light survivor suit is as such: (note, with the light survivor suit added, you need to turn that trenchcoat sleeveless, otherwise you get arm encumbrance.
Torso: 16, 7 extra due to the light survivor suit. More importantly for melee characters, 16 move points added to attacks.
Head: 30 plus 2. Doesn’t really matter.
Eyes: If using normal survivor mask and glasses: 12. Tiny reduction in perception, 1/.5. If using light, won’t go over encumbrance for eyes and mouth.
Mouth: 10. Same as above.
L&R arm: 7, if survivor trenchcoat is sleeveless.
L&R hand: 5. You can add one or two glove liners for extra warmth and the encumbrance penalty won’t go over 10.
Left and right leg: the highest encumbrance in the set, due to the extra cargo pants and drop leg pouches and the addition of the light survivor suit. 25+16 encumbrance. Running costs 6 extra move points, swimming costs 60 extra, dodge skill minus 1 level. Honestly, not a bad trade-off.
Left and right foot: 6. A pair of socks may be added for extra warmth.
Offers a decent amount of protection against normal turrets. Addition of light survivor suit makes storage quite decent, but going without makes a faster-hitting martial artist. Milspecs and above will still kill you, but then again anything short of power armor won’t do a great job anyway.
