# What is power armor anyway?

**URL:** https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-is-power-armor-anyway/15463
**Category:** The Bunker
**Created:** [May 9, 2018, 3:00am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-is-power-armor-anyway/15463 "2018-05-09T03:00:10Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 7

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### Author: ![darktoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@darktoes](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/darktoes)
#### Post date: [May 10, 2018, 12:28am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/what-is-power-armor-anyway/15463/7 "2018-05-10T00:28:58Z")

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> [@Armor Up! A mod to make armor more better. New PA Utilities pack!](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/armor-up-a-mod-to-make-armor-more-better-new-pa-utilities-pack/15449/15):
>
> Yes, and that’s where PA design was born. It is supposed to be not restrictive. And the added weight is countered by servos. Servos, dude. That’s not some steel hull from a scrapyard.

Servos are relative. I’m currently using 15$ servos to make an Arduino robot wander around a room. It’s just a motor with fine control systems, not military grade magic. Even if the servos could perfectly counter every bit of weight of the armor, the thickness of the armor would still restrict your movement. The more you armor the joints, the more restrictive the armor is. It’s not the weight of the armor, it’s the fact that your joints get smaller the more armor is around them.

> [@Armor Up! A mod to make armor more better. New PA Utilities pack!](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/armor-up-a-mod-to-make-armor-more-better-new-pa-utilities-pack/15449/15):
>
> Maybe. But even then, adding a gas filter is not really a problem, since the helmet already lacks holes and has 100% coverage, which means the presence of air intake tubes, which can be modded.

It isn’t sealed, so it doesn’t have air intakes, so it can’t have air filters. It can’t have air filters anymore than a hockey mask can.

> [@Armor Up! A mod to make armor more better. New PA Utilities pack!](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/armor-up-a-mod-to-make-armor-more-better-new-pa-utilities-pack/15449/15):
>
> If the ceramics are nonconductive, the shock won’t reach your body, nor will it have the way to travel to the ground (which is the destination). Electricity, man, 😏 Think about it.

Yes, but if the electricity hits a metal joint and the only path it has to the ground is your body, it will go through your body. Think about it.

Regardless of how electricity actually works, it’s handled oddly ingame. This bit is just balance, so don’t worry about it.

> [@Armor Up! A mod to make armor more better. New PA Utilities pack!](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/armor-up-a-mod-to-make-armor-more-better-new-pa-utilities-pack/15449/15):
>
> Maybe, maybe. I personally don’t think it’s hard to make the plastic covers, nor do I think the multi-million project is going to yield such a crude product. After all, it is supposed to be mass produced, even if it’s not as top notch as MkII-H/L.

ALL power armor ingame seems to be a prototype to some degree. Otherwise it would show up far more often in military installations. Just because the project cost millions doesn’t mean the product itself did, and completely sealing a moving object is far more difficult than you seem to think.

> [@Armor Up! A mod to make armor more better. New PA Utilities pack!](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/armor-up-a-mod-to-make-armor-more-better-new-pa-utilities-pack/15449/15):
>
> Depends on who you ask, really. Anyway, it’s either a prototype and rare as hell (and it isn’t at the moment), or the first model with some problems and flaws, but not like tin cans tied with duct tape over some exoskeleton with servos.

It basically is though, that’s why it’s basic. Some armor plating on an exoskeleton, that’s power armor at its most basic. That’s why it’s basic power armor.

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