Armor and loadout

This page explains how coverage works, what the known armor pieces bring, and how to build around your weapon.

How coverage actually works

• Covered zones stop strikes. Plate does not reduce damage — it prevents the hit from landing on the tissue underneath.
• Gaps are permanent. Armpits, neck, face openings and anything the loadout does not cover remain targets all fight. Nobody "runs out of open spots"; a well-armored fighter is just a smaller map.
• Weight and cost are real. Heavier coverage changes what you can do and what it costs to bring — the game's loadout system (and the arena's economy in campaign) makes you pay for what you wear. The July 2026 update added the Full plackart, a new full-torso plate option, alongside new arenas and weapons.
• Everything is on the character model. Paint and visuals sit on top, but the physical coverage — which plates, which limbs — is what your opponent reads and aims at.

Known armor pieces

Confirmed armor pieces from official patch notes and the store page include:

• Full plackart — full torso plate coverage (added July 2026).
• Knight-style helmets and helms — head protection; the face opening remains the discussion point of every fight against a helmet.
• Limb armor — arm and shin pieces that protect the most-targeted zones, at the cost of leaving other zones bare.
• Shields (3 options) — shields are carried defense: an active answer to attacks your plates cannot cover.

The full piece list lives in the in-game loadout screen; we list what the official patch notes confirm and update this page as pieces are added.

Building around your weapon

1. Unarmed (Pugilist) or short blades: mobility is your armor. Take light coverage — you need the speed to stay inside their reach, and plates slow the one thing you sell: pressure at close range.
2. Sword and board: the shield is your defensive layer, so armor can skew toward legs and head. Let the shield answer the threats your coverage gives up.
3. Polearms: weight in the hands is already heavy. Moderate torso coverage keeps your spacings honest while your reach does the defending.
4. Blunt weapons: trade some armor for mass — stagger pressure means you benefit from ending exchanges fast, and the mace already answers armored opponents best.

Weak spots worth knowing

• The armpit — exposed whenever the arm raises. Every overhead attack briefly opens it.
• The neck — a gap in most helmet-and-torso combinations, and an artery target.
• The sword hand — armored fighters often leave hands light for weapon control; cutting off a hand disarms as well as wounds.
• The legs — the most commonly under-armored zone in Early Access footage, and the easiest place to start the attrition game by taking movement away.

Where to go next

• What damage actually does: Damage System
• What you are building around: Weapons List
• Custom attacks that hunt gaps: Move Editor

Last checked: September 20, 2026 — game version 1.0, patch 1.0.2.1. Behavior and piece names from official store and patch notes; point values intentionally omitted until they can be verified.