Assaultsuit

The assaultsuit is a hardsuit, something between powered armor and a full blown mech. It is a design derived from the venerable battlesuit, which it replaces within the ARMed forces. Where the battlesuit is a massive brute of a vehicle, the assaultsuit looks scrawny by comparison; It has the same shiny chrome exterior, but its limbs are all much thinner, and the central cockpit is a fraction of the size. Combined with the large number of black cameras dotted about, an assaultsuit almost looks like a diseased, emaciated version of the battlesuit.
Despite the ugly appearance of the vehicle, the assaultsuit improves upon the battlesuit in almost every area. The most notable improvements come in the area of mobility; a battlesuit is essentially incapable of entering buildings, and is very restricted within tight, urban areas. The assaultsuit is fully capable of squeezing through doors, and is less limited in close quarters. The assaultsuit is also more resilient to attacks than the battlesuit, because its armor utilizes tech optimized against traditional anti-armor weapons. It is slightly more vulnerable to small arms fire, however. Lastly, there are less variants of assaultsuit than battlesuit, although several variants are redundant with the improvements that assaultsuits already have.
== Built-in Equipment ==
* Composite armor, which is strong enough to withstand heavy punishment.
* Each arm has a built-in kinetic amp
** Can have their fist weapons customized at the time of purchase. Options are Swiss Army Pimpknuckles, Exotic Pimpknuckles, and Force Monoswords. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=135884.msg6767059#msg6767059
**The force monoswords are also retractable, but are 2/3 the length of standard monoswords to compensate.
* Vision modes: normal, thermal, motion tracking. Special viewmode cameras are in main optical cluster on the front, many extra cameras all over the suit. There are no blindspots.
** All cameras have plastic 'eyelids' which can help to protect and clean them.
* Overdrive mode: removes the strength inhibitors and allows for greater lifting power and such. Be warned though, one could tear off the arms if he tries to overdo it.
* Emergency eject pod
* Electrified surface defense system
* Wheels, which allow fast transit on solid surfaces. They do not hinder standard movement
* Riding handles on the back, which can support two people comfortably, while allowing them to fire overtop the AS.
** Pilot-activated claymores are positioned to blow off these handles and kill anyone who grabs on. These are the only claymores on the suit.
* An improved exoskeleton system; an assaultsuit is twice as strong as a battlesuit.
* Standard variants are controlled by a link directly to the pilot's brain, utilizing a Man-Machine Interface, or a braincase. Optionally, you can buy an assaultsuit which uses older analog style controls.
== Assaultsuit Armor ==
Assaultsuits utilizes cutting edge advanced armor developed by ARM, alongside the tried-and-true battlesuit plate used on, well, battlesuits. Much like a battlesuit, an assaultsuit's armor is layered. On top is a four inch layer of standard battlesuit plate, which is practically impervious to small arms fire, although it will fail against heavy weapons. Below that are two sets of 'hex composite'--each a sandwich of three individual layers. The layers in a set of hex composite are:
* A half-inch of hexsand. This material, through arcane processes, "eats" energy. All directed energy weapons, up to and including a plasma projector, are simply absorbed harmlessly. However, there is a maximum amount of energy this layer can absorb within a certain span of time, so don't expect it to keep you safe against a dive into a sun. This layer is weak against kinetic weapons, and can be damaged and shattered, even by low-grade weapons like gauss rifles.
* An inch of sharkplate padding. This weak material isn't very effective as an actual armor, but acts as a soft bedding for the hexsand layer. When the hexsand is cracked by kinetics, it tends to stick into this sharkplate rather than dropping away, retaining some of its anti-energy ability.
* An inch of hexbug plating. This exceptionally tough and heavy material is the anti-kinetic layer. It can be shot by a gauss cannon or piezoelectric shard launcher at point blank range, and should take no damage. However, it is vulnerable to any sort of directed energy weapon--Even the humble laser rifle can melt through this layer after several seconds of concentrated fire.
Please note that this armor does not make you invincible, and can be defeated with sufficiently large weapons, or sufficiently concentrated fire. It only makes you very difficult to kill--not impossible.
== Available Variants ==
* Standard
* Mobility
** This variant trades one layer of hex composite for improved flight rockets which allow flight similar to a MK III suit, although not as maneuverable.
* 2PEW (+8 tokens, designed by Anton Chernozorov)
** This modification can be applied to any assaultsuit variant which doesn't modify the arms. It adds an internal Piercing Energy Weapon to each arm, and utilizes the assaultsuit's hexsand armor as a heat sink, essentially granting infinite coldplate ammunition. However, both arms lose half their strength, and the fist weapons are removed. The Electric Surface Defence System is also removed.
** If applied to a mobility variant, the PEWs essentially share a cooldown; there's half as much hexsand armor to sink heat with, so firing both PEWs at the same time risks slagging one of the suit's arms.
All variants normally come with a bare coffin of a cockpit along with a complementary Man-Machine Interface, and are controlled via direct link to the pilot's brain. Optionally, you can purchase an assaultsuit which has more traditional analog controls instead, for no price increase.
== Vulnerabilities ==
*The normal armor thins greatly at all joints on the limbs, and is therefore vulnerable to most weapons. To compensate, there is a sharkplate 'sleeve' over all joints, but it can only protect from a small amount of damage before being destroyed. Like all sharkplate, it can be repaired with carbon-containing materials.
*There is an external emergency release switch to open the cockpit. When pressed, the pilot has only a few seconds to override it before the cockpit automatically opens. It's in a different position than on the battlesuit, so normal enemy forces shouldn't be able to use it.
*While assaultsuits have very good armor, there is no in-built protection against space magic. A simple 3-token microwave amp is just as effective against an assaultsuit's pilot as it is against a standard grunt.
*As you may have been able to tell from the armor descriptions, an assaultsuit can be taken down by concentrated fire from multiple types of small arms, after the top layer of armor is destroyed. It is actually more vulnerable than a battlesuit to infantry weapons. However, the amount of damage that it needs to take in a localized area to be seriously threatened is considered less of a weakness than the risk of being killed with one shot from a heavy weapon.
*While the UWM has not been known to use acidic weapons, the assaultsuit is just as vulnerable to extremely strong acids as the battlesuit.
*Monoswords can be broken if the assaultsuit (not HRB under normal circumstances, due to reduced strength) has the limiters turned off. When broken, their explosion completely destroys that arm. Monoswords can also be broken if they are hit by a strong enough external force or their projector in the forearm is damaged.
=References=
Category:Player-Designed Item