Editing Plate armor

{{infobox main
| name = Plate armor
| image = Plate_armor.png
| description = Overlapping solid plates of armor covering the entire body from neck to feet.
| type = Gear
| type2 = Armor
| tech level = Medieval
| hp = 290
| production facility 1 = Fueled smithy
| production facility 2 = Electric smithy
| research = Plate armor
| work to make = 38000
| resource 1 = Stuff
| resource 1 amount = 170
| stuff tags = Metallic, Woody
| insulationheatfactor = 0.0
| insulationcoldfactor = 1.0
| armorsharpfactor= 0.73
| armorbluntfactor= 0.73
| armorheatfactor= 0.73
| skill 1 = Crafting
| skill 1 level = 7
| mass base = 15
| coverage = Torso, Neck, Left Shoulder, Left Arm, Right Shoulder, Right Arm, Left Leg, Right Leg
| layer = Middle, Outer
| thingCategories = ApparelArmor
| tags = MedievalMilitary
| defaultOutfitTags = Soldier
| thingSetMakerTags = RewardStandardLowFreq, RewardStandardQualitySuper
}}
'''Plate armor''' is a type of [[apparel]] ([[armor]]) that functions as low-tech full body armor. It can be crafted out of various materials.

It has a heavy [[move speed]] penalty of -0.8 {{CS}} when worn. As such, it may be wise to leave it in a stockpile until entering combat.

== Acquisition ==
Plate armor can be crafted at a [[{{P|Production Facility 1}}]] or [[{{P|Production Facility 2}}]] once the [[Research#{{P|Required Research}}|{{P|Required Research}}]] research project has been completed. They require {{Required Resources}}, {{Ticks|{{P|Work To Make}}}} of work, and a [[{{P|Skill 1}}]] skill of {{P|Skill 1 Level}}.

It can also be found on the following [[Raider#Humanlike|raider]] kinds:

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Raider Kind !! Chance !! Average Quality !! Health
|-
| [[Tribals#Archer chief|Archer chief]] || 100% || Normal || 100%
|-
| [[Tribals#Berserker chief|Berserker chief]] || 100% || Normal || 100%
|-
| [[Empire#Champion|Champion]] {{RoyaltyIcon}} || 100% || Normal || 70-100%
|}

== Analysis ==
Overall, plate armor is rarely worth it. A non-[[wood]] set of plate is a large resource investment in the early game. Wood plate armor offers minimal protection, and still takes a lot of work to create. All sets of plate armor slow the user by -0.8c/s - the highest movement penalty in the game, tied with [[cataphract armor]]{{RoyaltyIcon}}.

Usually, it is worth it to wait until the [[Research#Flak armor|Flak vests]] research has completed, as [[flak vest]]s are ''much'' cheaper, ''much'' more protective against arrows and bullets, and do not slow the wearer nearly as much. Flak research is not terribly hard to acquire once you've researched Plate armor already. Flak can also be obtained from [[raiders]] or through [[trade]], meaning that even tribal colonies can replace plate armor relatively quickly. 

===Compared to flak===
Flak vests cost {{Required Resources|Flak vest}}, cheaper than a set of steel plate armor, which costs {{icon Small|steel||170}}. The vest alone has 100% Sharp and 36% Blunt armor. This is slightly better Blunt and much better Sharp protection than steel plate. Sharp damage is the most common form of damage. 

Vests protect the torso, neck, and vital organs. Unlike plate, vests do not cover the arms or legs. While the limbs are important to pawn function, plate offers much worse protection to the torso - the body part most likely to be hit. In addition, vests offer its superior protection to every vital body part ''except'' for the head and brain, which plate won't protect, either. The rare chance of losing a leg is worth the reduced chance of outright dying.

Flak vests can also be worn with [[flak jacket]]s and [[flak pants]], the full combination being a fair bit more expensive than steel plate ({{icon Small|steel||190}} + {{icon Small|cloth||110}} + {{icon Small|component||3}}). Jackets and pants protect the arms / legs, respectively, but are still worse than steel plate. The jacket also protects the torso and neck, for an even larger disparity in those areas. In addition, vests can be worn with [[duster]]s of a protective material like [[devilstrand]] or [[thrumbofur]] for even greater protection for the torso, neck, arms, and legs. In any case, plate still ends up better for limb protection, in part because you can wear regular [[pants]] with it.

Steel / plasteel plate armor always has higher Heat armor than the flak combination. However, a [[devilstrand]] [[duster]] beats any set of plate against Heat. Each piece of flak armor has 200 HP, while the entire set of steel plate has 290 HP. Plate armor also has -0.8c/s movement speed, while each piece of flak armor only gives -0.12c/s.

===Compared to power armor===
A set of plasteel plate armor is more expensive in value than [[recon armor]]; it protects the same body parts, is worse against Sharp damage, and ''very'' slightly better against Blunt / Heat.  Its movement penalty is heavier at -0.8c/s, compared to no penalty for recon armor. 

Plasteel plate has 2 advantages: one is that it doesn't require [[advanced component]]s. The second, is that with 810 hp, it lasts much longer than the recon and marine armor, which have 280 HP or 340 HP respectively. However, these are not usually worth it, unless you have a large surplus on plasteel and are unable to create power armor.

A ''legendary'' steel plate armor is equivalent to normal [[cataphract armor]]{{RoyaltyIcon}} at 1/3 of the market value, while legendary plasteel plate armor is equivalent to excellent cataphract while costing 40 less plasteel to produce. With a [[Ideoligion#Roles|Production Specialist]]{{IdeologyIcon}} and a [[Genies|Genie]]{{BiotechIcon}} (or anyone with the Great Crafting gene), masterwork and legendary quality armors can be created from the beginning of the game.

{{Apparel Material Table}}

== Protection Charts ==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sharp Armor !! Blunt Armor
|-
| {{Apparel Protection Chart
|set1name= Steel Plate armor (Sharp)       | set1armor1= {{#expr:{{P|Armor Factor - Sharp}}*{{Q|Steel|Armor - Sharp Factor}}*100}}
|set2name= Flak Armor Set [Torso] (Sharp)  | set2armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Sharp}} | set2armor2= {{Q|Flak vest|Armor - Sharp}}
<!-- Comment this -->
|set3name= Flak Armor Set [Limbs] (Sharp)  | set3armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Sharp}}
<!-- Uncomment this
|set3name= Flak Armor Set [Arms] (Sharp)   <th> set3armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Sharp}}
|set4name= Flak Armor Set [Legs] (Sharp)   <th> set4armor1= {{Q|Flak pants|Armor - Sharp}}
-->
}}
{{#ifeq: {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Sharp}} | {{Q|Flak pants|Armor - Sharp}}||Uncomment the above code, as the armor values of flak pants and jacket have become uneven}}
| {{Apparel Protection Chart
|set1name= Steel Plate armor (Blunt)       | set1armor1= {{#expr:{{P|Armor Factor - Blunt}}*{{Q|Steel|Armor - Blunt Factor}}*100}}
|set2name= Flak Armor Set [Torso] (Blunt)  | set2armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Blunt}} | set2armor2= {{Q|Flak vest|Armor - Blunt}}
<!-- Comment this -->
|set3name= Flak Armor Set [Limbs] (Blunt)  | set3armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Blunt}}
<!-- Uncomment this
|set3name= Flak Armor Set [Arms] (Blunt)   <th> set3armor1= {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Blunt}}
|set4name= Flak Armor Set [Legs] (Blunt)   <th> set4armor1= {{Q|Flak pants|Armor - Blunt}}
-->
}}
{{#ifeq: {{Q|Flak jacket|Armor - Blunt}} | {{Q|Flak pants|Armor - Blunt}}||Uncomment the above code, as the armor values of flak pants and jacket have become uneven}}
|}


{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Sharp Armor !! Blunt Armor
|-
| {{Apparel Protection Chart
|set1name= Plasteel Plate armor (Sharp)       | set1armor1= {{#expr:{{P|Armor Factor - Sharp}}*{{Q|Plasteel|Armor - Sharp Factor}}*100}}
|set2name= Marine armor (Sharp)               | set2armor1= {{Q|Marine armor|Armor - Sharp}}
}}
| {{Apparel Protection Chart
|set1name= Plasteel Plate armor (Blunt)       | set1armor1= {{#expr:{{P|Armor Factor - Blunt}}*{{Q|Plasteel|Armor - Blunt Factor}}*100}}
|set2name= Marine armor (Blunt)               | set2armor1= {{Q|Marine armor|Armor - Blunt}}
}}
|}

== Trivia ==
Every set of plate armor found on an [[Empire#Champion|Imperial Champion]] will be white.

==Version history==
* [[Version/0.19.2009|0.19.2009]] - Added.
* [[Version/1.1.0|1.1.0]] - Can now be [[Electric smelter|smelted]], except wooden plate armor which is now burnable.

[[Category:Armor]]
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