Face mask

The face mask is a piece of apparel added by the Biotech DLC. 
== Acquisition ==
== Summary ==
Face masks increase Toxic Environment Resistance by , halving the severity gain from tox gas, toxic fallout, rot stink, and pollution. It does not protect from diseases, which are not contagious between pawns in RimWorld, nor does it prevent toxic buildup from attacks such as the cobra's bite. Quality does not impact this resistance.
Does not count as clothing for nudity. Wearable by both children and adults.
== Analysis ==
Face masks are relatively niche, but are very cheap to craft. As they only cover the jaw, they can be worn with a simple helmet or flak helmet. Unless full face headgear, like a gas mask or marine helmet is desired, there is little reason not to include face masks as a part of a default outfit. 
Due to the of most threats a colony faces, face masks offer essentially no protection from attacks unless made from high end materials, namely devilstrand and hyperweave. Even then, the face mask only covers the jaw, a small non-vital body part that can be replaced by a denture if destroyed. Usually, these high-end materials are better used for dusters and other protective apparel. Even when you have a surplus, face masks contribute towards wealth, increasing the size of raids. Therefore, the cheapest materials should be used.
Other than its use against toxic fallout or pollution, toxic resistance is useful for fighting manhunter packs and waster pirates. Scaria will cause manhunter corpses to instantly rot, which can infect colonists with lung rot, even during the battle. Meanwhile, wasters have a tendency to use tox gas weaponry against your colonists.
=== Comparisons ===
The gas mask offers Toxic Environmental Resistance, which equates to less toxins than the face mask. But as the face mask does not block helmets, it is much better for casual use. A face mask alone is usually enough to protect against rot stink, toxic fallout, and outdoors tox gas. For heavy-duty purposes, such as in an polluted area or when using tox grenades, the gas mask may be preferred. In terms of armor, the gas mask itself offers virtually 0 physical protection, even at legendary quality.
The Partial antitoxic lungs gene offers the same Toxic Environmental Resistance at the cost of metabolic efficiency. Both gene and face mask can be combined for 100% protection. Total antitoxic lungs gene offers full immunity to toxic gas, at the cost of metabolic efficiency. Both genes allow you to have toxic protection whilst wearing power armor helmets. Overall, the metabolic cost for these genes are small, but the real challenge is finding or extracting a genepack with either gene.
In the late game, you'll have access detoxifier kidneys or detoxifier lungs. These are expensive, and generally less important to install than other bionic parts. But, once you can afford them, 2 detoxifier lungs can offer full resistance against any environmental effect, whilst allowing pawns to wear power armor helmets. Other than cost, there is no downside to detoxifier lungs, while detoxifier kidneys have a small opportunity cost of not installing immunoenhancers instead.
== Version history ==
* Biotech DLC Release - Added.
Category:Clothing