Overview: Knowing what kind of environment your dropping into should have a major impact on your choice of armour type. Would you take reactive armour into a drop against a team of black knights? Or would you take reflective armour into a destruction match where everyone has LBX? I wouldn't and I know it’s a pain to go in and change your armour around every time so I will tell you what I do. When I find a good mech configuration that works for me I make an exact copy of that mech (using windows explorer) and only change the armour type and mech name. Use a mech naming scheme that works for you i.e. Killer-REF (Reflective), Killer-REA (Reactive), Killer (FF) Ferro Fibrous. To find out how to copy mechs using windows explorer email me at leigh000@ns.sympatico.ca and I will be glad to help.

The days of vengeance and its no heat/unlimited ammo have come and gone for most of use but none the less if your dropping in a no heat game where teams are involved pack your mech with lots of reflective armour and don't get shot. With all the gauss and missile exchanges in most heat games one would start to wonder how well reflective armour is. I use it on occasion when I see mechs like Black Knights and Nova Cats on the other team. It’s a gamble but when your right and they are packing energy you're laughing.

15 Minutes of exchanging fire with the use of reflective armour will be covered.

Free for all matches, destruction matches, any map where infighting against other mechs packing ballistics will be present calls for reactive armour. Once again even in these scenarios take a good hard look at the mechs in the drop. Look for mechs you know will be packing large LBX's or Gauss. Words of caution when using reactive armour in any match, look out for missiles! I find missiles go through reactive armour like a hot knife through butter, even more so than reflective armour. Although there is no proof of this its what I have noticed. Critical hits are very likely also, I have lost weapons on my mad cat after a single missile volley and still having 3/4 armour on most areas! Be sure you know what could lie ahead and use reactive armour when you are almost certain your up against ballistics and can stay out of the way of energy and missile weapons.

15 Minutes of exchanging fire with the use of reactive armour will be covered, including missiles vs reactive armour.

Generally speaking when you honestly don't know what you're going to be up against choose Ferro Fibrous. Most heat mechs are so packed with heat sinks and weapons that the only armour that offers any protection with the remaining tonnage is Ferro Fibrous. None the less on the mad cat and other mechs also you will notice the maximum amount of armour that can be allocated on the center torso and other areas is less than if you had of chose Reactive or Reflective. This reason is enough to make me choose against the use of Ferro Fibrous armour on the Mad Cat mech most times. I want as much armour on the three front torso areas as possible. I will drop two heat sinks if I have to get my CT (Center Torso) at full (because it sticks out like a sore thumb) and my LT (Left Torso) and RT (Right Torso) above 3/4 armour. If I get led a stray and get caught in a volley of missiles I may lose some weapons but I will still have a good amount of torso armour left to play with against energy or ballistics depending on what I chose. The Thor on the other hand has a much smaller CT and therefore can afford to use Ferro Fibrous armour in exchange for more firepower and speed.

15 Minutes of fighting will take place using Ferro Fibrous armour. There may be additional drops required so every freeŁancer completely sees the effects of the varying types of armour.

Every drop is different and it’s a learning experience to choose the right type of armour. Knowing what armour is suited for what scenario will help you greatly but when you learn to pilot and equip your mech to suit the type of armour you have is when you as a freeŁancer will get the most out of your mechs armour. Try all three types and see which one suits your scenario and your style.

Documentation is copyright© of Leigh Davison. Some images were provided by Mektek and/or Microsoft