Armor
Armor is essentially anything that gives your bot more Hitpoints to protect your robot from harm. Armor's main purpose is to protect it's control board from getting destroyed (because if it does get destroyed, the robot no longer functions). It also can be used to protect other Components which are susceptible to damage (like wheels, motors, etc). Because most other robots do damage, armor is a major part of bot building (though some builders do think of armor as less important than Drive or Weapons. Armor in RA2 can be either chassis armor or component armor.
Chassis Armor
- Main article: Chassis Armor
Chassis armor, as name implies, is the armor that is applied to your robot's chassis. It is selectable with the Armor button available in the Chassis tab of the bot lab, and covers the entire chassis. Chassis armor basically alters the number of Hitpoints your bot's chassis has and how much it weighs. When some damaging component (typically a weapon, but not necessarily) hits the chassis, damage will be done (Not that Piercing damage from a weapon deals more chassis damage on average that Concussion damage). When all of the bot's health is gone the chassis armor no longer protects the control board and is then at risk of getting destroyed with just a few blows from the opponent's weapons. Note that all the opponent has to do to destroy the control board is to hit the chassis when all of the bots health is depleted, electricity will spark around the bot indicating that the bots control board is being hit (note that you will have to deal at least more that 41 damage points to damage the control board, corresponding to the chassis's Fracture value). In order to add even more protection, the builder can apply additional armor. This is known as Component Armor.
Component Armor
Component armor is the armor that the builder applies outside the chassis of the bot, made from components (as name implies). While component armor can be made of virtually anything that has hitpoints, components best suited for this function are Ram Plates and Snowplows for stock robots, and various Metal sheets for DSL. These defensive components usually have a lot of hit points for their weight. Additional armor can be used to protect motors and wheels as well.