Guide to Defense

To be good at combat, you must be able to survive an encounter with anything; Nuclear Operatives, Wizards, Assistants and such. While some may say that the best defense is a robust offense (which can be true in some cases), knowing how to protect yourself is a vital skill needed to be robust.

Armor

Armor is a great passive way to keep you from getting hurt too badly in a fight. Some jobs will have difficulty acquiring armor. Some armor, like hardsuits, will slow you, as well.

Armor will reduce all damage of a certain type, on parts of your body that are protected by the armor. You will see "Your armor has protected your X." when your armor blocks damage. "Your armor absorbs the blow!" appears to also indicate full protection. The defense values are indicated by an armor's percent protection from different damage types, for example basic Armor has a melee protection rate of 50, as such it will always block 50% of all melee damage to the chest.

Armor only protects the region that it covers on your body. No armor protects your entire body.

Item	How to acquire	Protection	Defense values %	Notes
Captain's Armor	Captain's Quarters	Offers moderate protection from most sources.	melee = 65 bullet = 50 laser = 50 energy = 25 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 50	The Captain will usually wear this. It's also space-worthy, but it will slow you down. Wearing this while not the Captain is a good way to get robusted.
Engineering Hardsuit	Engineering	Gives low protection from melee attacks and explosions.	melee = 10 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 10 bio = 100 rad = 75	See here for information on the different styles.
Atmo Hardsuit	Atmospherics	Identical to normal RIG however it is one of the only items that grants complete protection from Fire at the cost of no Radiation protection.	melee = 10 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 10 bio = 100	See here for information on the different styles.
Mining Hardsuit	Mining	Gives quite good protection from melee attacks and explosions.	melee = 40 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 50	See here for information on the different styles.
CE Hardsuit	Chief Engineer	Gives good protection from melee attacks, near complete Radiation protection and complete protection against Fire.	melee = 40 bullet = 5 laser = 10 energy = 5 bomb = 50 bio = 100 rad = 90	See here for information on the different styles.
Security Hardsuit	E.V.A.	Gives slightly increased protection against all damage sources.	melee = 30 bullet = 15 laser = 30 energy = 10 bomb = 10 bio = 100 rad = 50	See here for information on the different styles.
Ablative Armor Vest	Armory	Gvives excellent protection against Laser and Energy attack's and can even deflect them.	melee = 10 bullet = 10 laser = 80 energy = 50	It will sometimes deflect energy projectiles, which includes Taser shots! It's also a traitor objective.
Bulletproof Vest	Armory	Makes the wearer very resilient to bullets at the cost of any other damage.	melee = 10 bullet = 80 laser = 10 energy = 10	Rarely used, because lasers are the main weapon of choice for those who can get them.
Body Armor	Captain, HoS, HoP, Security	Protects moderately against melee and lasers, which are common things to be harmed by.	melee = 50 bullet = 15 laser = 50 energy = 10 bomb = 25	Captain usually will usually wear his space armor instead. Also sometimes found on Ian.
Riot Suit	Armory	This, combined with the riot shield, will make you be the nightmare of fire extinguisher -wielding assistants everywhere. Gives complete protection to the entire body.	melee = 80 bullet = 10 laser = 10 energy = 10	It's very resistant to melee attacks, BUT it's less protective against lasers than standard armor. Slows you down slightly
Armored Coat	HoS	The most protective armor available on the station, and the HoS starts with it. Gives complete protection to most of the body.	melee = 65 bullet = 30 laser = 50 energy = 10 bomb = 25	Wear this as your rightful trophy if you manage to outrobust him.

Stuns and Incapacitation

Having the ability to stun at a moment's notice will protect you from getting robusted quite often (as long as you don't get stunned first).

Icon	Item	How to acquire	Counter	Notes
	Stun Baton	Security	Hulk	Not being security, and having this out, is likely to land you in the brig.
	Flash	Security, Heads, Bridge, Sec Checkpoint, Tech Storage	Sunglasses, Welding Helmet	Cyborgs are vulnerable to this method of stunning.
File:Taser.png	Taser	Security	Hulk, Ablative Armor Vest	A ranged stun, which sets Sec apart from everyone else. Has five charges.
File:Egun.png	E-Gun	Captain, HoS, HoP, Armory	Hulk, Ablative Armor Vest	Like a Taser, but with more charges, and the option to kill, if needed. HoS is the only person on station to start with one at round start.
	Disarm Intent	Have arms	Dangerous to do	You have a chance to disarm (make someone drop their weapon) or push someone down when attacking with the disarm intent. Someone pushed down will also drop their weapon.
	Chloral Hydrate	Chemistry	Coffee	Typically used with a syringe gun, Hypospray, or Smoke Grenade. This puts anyone to sleep for an extended period of time. Large doses can kill someone (30+ units).
	Flashbang	Security	Sunglasses + Earmuffs	Very good for stunning a whole room. Not wearing ear protection will make you deaf for awhile.
	Laser Pointer	Lawyer, Librarian, Research Director		Has a chance of blinding people and cyborgs, like a Flash; a fully upgraded laser pointer has a 100% chance.
File:Hud-target.png	Knockout	Have arms	Helmets might protect you	When you hit someone in the head/mouth, there's a fairly low chance for them to be knocked out.

Damage Prevention

A few items, when used, can completely block damage.

Item	How to acquire	Protection	Notes
Riot Shield	Armory	Blocks melee and projectile attacks to the chest.	Note that attacks aimed at other parts of the body (commonly the head) may miss, and have a chance of hitting another part instead, usually your chest.
Energy Combat Shield	Nuke ops	Blocks most melee and ranged projectiles	This will also block Tasers, making Nuclear Operatives very hard to kill, unless they're surrounded.
Reactive Teleport Armor	Research Director's Office	Teleports you randomly if you're hit.	It could end badly if you get spaced due to this, but it'll still improve your odds of surviving.
Energy Sword	Syndicate Uplinks	Blocks most projectiles	Needs to be turned on to work. You're still vulnerable to melee attacks with this.