Armor
General#
Armor in Outbreak does two completely separate jobs, and the pieces that do one do not do the other. Getting this backwards is the most common mistake a new survivor makes.
- Leather reduces radiation per hit and reduces infection chance.
- Iron and chainmail reduce damage taken and do nothing for infection.
- The Gas Mask ignores all of that and simply switches zombie melee off.
The Pieces#
| Item | What It Does | Craftable |
|---|---|---|
| Gas Mask | Blocks zombie melee entirely, immune to acid and gas | No |
| Leather Helmet, Chestplate, Leggings, Boots | Lowers infection chance and radiation per hit | No |
| Iron Helmet | Damage resistance | 5 Scrap Metal |
| Chainmail Chestplate | Damage resistance | 8 Scrap Metal |
| Chainmail Leggings | Damage resistance | 7 Scrap Metal |
| Iron Boots | Damage resistance | 4 Scrap Metal |
Leather cannot be crafted. If you want infection protection you have to find it, which is the reason to keep opening ordinary chests even after you have good gear.
Leather and Infection#
The infection roll counts leather pieces only:
| Leather worn | Radiation per hit | Infection chance |
|---|---|---|
| 4 pieces | +1 | None, the roll is skipped |
| 2 or 3 pieces | +2 | 1% |
| 1 or none | +3 | 2% |
A full leather set makes you immune to ordinary bite infection and cuts incoming radiation to a third. That is an enormous difference over a twelve minute round.
The catch is that it is the weakest armor in the game against actual damage, and the Hellhound can still infect you through it at 5 percent a bite.
The Trade#
There is a genuine decision here and no universally right answer:
- Full leather means you will not be infected by ordinary zombies, and you take radiation slowly. You will die faster to damage.
- Full chainmail and iron means you survive far more punishment, and every single hit rolls infection at the full 2 percent while adding 3 radiation.
- Mixed sets are worse than they look. Dropping from four leather pieces to three re-opens the infection roll completely.
Because turning is the actual failure state and dying is just a faster way of turning, leather is generally the stronger choice, and chainmail is for players who expect to be shot at by grenades and acid rather than punched.
The Gas Mask#
The best item in the game, and it is a helmet, so it competes with a leather helmet rather than replacing the whole set.
A zombie melee hit against a player wearing it does nothing at all: no damage roll for infection, no radiation. It also grants:
- Immunity to Spitter acid pools
- Immunity to Nuker radiation clouds
- Immunity to Hellhound bites
- Immunity to being possessed by a Parasite
It is also the rarest armor drop in the game, at well under 1 percent of the armor category in an ordinary chest. It is sold in the Item Shop for 200 gold, which is comfortably the best value purchase available.
| Chest tier | Gas Mask chance within the armor category |
|---|---|
| Common | 0.4% |
| Rare | 2.1% |
| Legendary | 4.8% |
Where Armor Drops#
Leather is a common-chest item and gets rarer as chests improve. Chainmail and iron do the opposite.
| Item | Common | Rare | Legendary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leather Chestplate | 21.3% | 7.9% | 5.0% |
| Leather Leggings | 21.3% | 7.9% | 5.0% |
| Leather Helmet | 17.0% | 7.9% | 5.0% |
| Leather Boots | 17.0% | 7.9% | 5.0% |
| Chainmail Chestplate | 7.2% | 18.5% | 23.8% |
| Chainmail Leggings | 6.4% | 18.5% | 23.8% |
| Iron Helmet | 5.1% | 15.9% | 19.8% |
| Iron Boots | 4.3% | 13.2% | 19.8% |
| Gas Mask | 0.4% | 2.1% | 4.8% |
A player who only opens the good chests will finish the round in full chainmail with no infection protection whatsoever. Ordinary chests are where the leather is.