Code:
Hello All,
Recently, I was curious as to whether the benefits of the
type 3 armor outweighed its drawback of its heavier weight.
During my research, I came across this most useful forum
thread on weapons' penetration capabilities:
[url]http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=123079&highl
ight=penetration+plates[/url].
I decided to follow through on what I read by experimenting
on my own and then tabulating the results. In particular, I
decided to focus the majority of my experimentation on the
latest weapons that were added to INF.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the map that
allows testing for weapons' penetration, it's a simple room
with two rows of nine plates. The left row is thin, and the
right row is thick. I fired several rounds into each row of plates, and then
counted up the number of plates that were COMPLETELY
penetrated.
After this initial set of experiments were concluded, I
started up a match with a single friendly bot whom I
carefully took aim at to be my test target for armor vests
Type 3a and Type 2, and also on a Kevlar Helmet. Each shot
was made at point blank range, with special attention to
keep the spread tight for the shotguns. Extra care was also
given to shoot as directly as possible the front and backs
of each type of armor vest. The numbers that are listed for
the vests and helmet indicate the number of rounds that were
required to completely neutralize the target.
My results are as below. Please note that data was not
entered under column "TYPE 2" if there was no change in
results between wearing the Type 3a vest and the Type 2
vest.
============================================================
TYPE 3A TYPE 2
WEAPON: THIN: THICK: Front/Back-Helmet F/B
--=Assault=--
G3A3 9 5 2/2-1
G36K 9 4 3/3-1
FAMAS 9 4 3/3-1
M16A4 9 4 3/3-1
SG 551 9 4 3/3-1
SOPMOD M4 9 4 3/3-1
XM8 9 4 3/3-1
--=Submachine=--
AKMSU 9 5 3/3-1
P90 4 2 *4/4-1
MP5K PDW 4 2 13/10-1 5/5
Mini Uzi 4 1 18/8-1 5/5
Micro Uzi 4 1 18/18-1 8/8
--=Machinegun=--
Minimi 9 4 *3.5/3.5-1 *2.5/2.5
--=Sniper=--
RC50 9 9 1/1-1
PSG1 9 6 2/1-1 1/1
--=Shotgun=--
MAG-7 4 1 5/2-2 4/4
M1S90 4 1 4/2-2 1/1
--=Pistols=--
5-7 4 2 5/4-1 4/4
Ber. M93R 3 2 *35/16-2 8/8
*=APPARENT ANOMALIES
P90: It was amazing to me how often a one shot kill was
obtained with this weapon, even when the shot was aimed
precisely at the same spot as on another attempt when it
didn't kill. I chalk this up to UT's hit zones.
Minimi: It was extremely difficult for me to get just one
round off with this weapon. As a result, an average number
was given of the spent cartridges I counted on the floor
after the target dropped.
Ber. M93R: "Yes," the average number of times I had to
hit the front of the Type 3a vest in order to drop the
target WAS indeed 35 times. After the third time of
obtaining approximately 35 hits on the respawned bot, I gave
up on experimenting anymore with this pistol. It takes a
LOT of time to hit a target 35 times on the first try alone,
let alone another two more attempts. Anyone who doubts this
figure is more than welcome to give this extremely boring
process a go him/herself.
============================================================
MY MAJOR CONCLUSIONS:
In regards to protecting oneself from assault rifles the
type of vest one wears matters little. It might matter
more if one's behind some cover, and said cover's thickness
is folded into the protection from penetration equation.
In regards to protection from sniper rifles, the Type 3a
vest makes it more likely that an extra round from a PSG1
will be needed to drop the target if he's being hit from the
front. Without question the RC50 is the King of the
Battlefield when it comes to inflicting damage.
Submachine guns are, in general, at a more severe
disadvantage against those targets wearing the Type 3a
armor.
The effectiveness of shotguns is also greatly reduced when
one's target is wearing the heavier vest. I was pretty
surprised at how poorly the MAG-7 performs in comparison to
the M1S90.
It's difficult for me to come to a general consensus about
pistols, as I only tested two of them out. Without
question, I'm going to stick with a 5-7 in future matches,
unless someone else goes through the trouble of testing out
the rest of the pistols that are available in game, and can
demonstrate even better results for other handguns.
Helmets seem to lend protection primarily against shotguns
and certain pistols. When being struck by any of the
assault rifles, one's just as dead with the helmet on as
without it.
I hope all of you find this information useful when it comes
to building and refining your future loadouts. It's
definately going to affect how I put mine together.
YOURS!
Kyle
Dec. 22, 2004
Last edited:
