Armor
Each armor set item has its own health (condition), DT (damage threshold) and DR (damage reduction).
When u get hit wearing armor, all incoming damage is multiplied with damage reduction and then applied to armor’ damage. Once armor health reaches zero, armor breaks and provide protection no longer - as if u was not wearing it.
Whenever you need, armor might be repaired (it’s a continious action from the engineering skill line) using appropriate resources.
Armor plates are consumable items that require no repair skill for application and are basically medpacks for armor (repair N’ armor HP per use).
Shields
In the same time any item you are carrying in your hands (primarily, weapons) have a small change to consume all incoming damage. More weight & volume that item have, higher the chance is. Only shots taken in front of you can be shielded.
Beware some weapons might explode when broken.
Evasion & melee block
Unlike ranged attacks, melee attacks can be completely blocked using melee block ability, given that u managed to activate it in time. Also there is a small chance attack will be evaded automatically given that your character have enough agility points.
Close fight
What’s good about melee fight - melee attacks might neglect a part of damage threshold of target’ armor, also there are numerous active abilities that might disarm, creeple, immobilize, paralyze or knock out targets. Most of melee attacks and abilities that use actual melee weapons can be performed in close-to-medium range (tho you shall need to throw out your weapon).
Successfull melee attack wont break you out of stealth and will not attract attention of nearby NPCs given that it was not performed in their clear sight.
Close-to-mid fight combat
Pistols, SMGs and shotguns are the most deadly weapons on this range.
SMGs and shotguns allow you to flood the whole sector in front of you with fire.
Pistols provide much higher accuracy and much shorter eqipment time and are weapons of choice if not everyone if front of you are your enemies.
Mid-to-ranged combat
Rifles and automatic rifles take place here.
Rifles are usually more accurate than automatic ones, but provide much less supression effects to targets. Equipment time for both is similar.
Ranged combat
Sniper rifles are the only kings here, however they also have the most impactful field of view restriction.
Field of View
Every weapon has hipfire and aimed attack modes. Second one means you recieve a significant bonus to accuracy, but your field of you suffers. For example, while using sniper rifles in aimed mode you will have like 30-60 degree cone of FoV. Longer the range of application of your weapon class, higher is FoV restriction.
Supression
As it was told, every character has physical and mental health. Supression is an effect caused mostly by automatic weapons that applies a huge amount of damage to the last one. Fully supressed targets wont fight back, however more supression you cause - higher you are in NPCs targeting list which, taking into account amount of noise you cause, might lead all the NPCs on the location to try killing you prior to other targets. Use silenced weapons to neglect that.
Bullets, laser or plasma
Bullets cause piercing and crushing damage. Laser causes various blinding effects, crushing, thermal and radiation damage (vary from non lethal blinding guns to heavy laser rifes causing explosions on hit). Plasma guns cause high AOE thermal damage and huge mental one on each hit. Flamethrowers are considered plasma weapons.
Cover
Regarding free targeting and everything written above, all firearms fights are fast and unforgiving. Closer the range - harder it is to avoid being hit.
However, there are some tricks that might help you to survive.
Every time you stand beside the large object it drastically reduces amount of incoming mental damage and highly reduces your change to get hit.
If you want to neglect all chances being hit, you can blindfire around the corners (with a high accuracy penalty).
In the same way, but just partially, ex-stealth (now crouching) ability also lowers the chance to get a random hit.
Crouching (ex-stealth ability) and laid down (fall front/back ability) targets are not highlighted in targeting interface. Crouching targets have twice less chance to be hit by a random bullet, fallen targets can not be randomly hit by a bullet unless you have specifically aimed your gun to the body. Cover bonuses for both are also higher.
Explosives
There is a five second cooldown between grenade activation and explosion.
Assault grenades cause small explosion damage on hit, but produce a high amount of shotgun-like pellets being shot in all directions on explosion. If you try to use it not out of corner, most likely you’ll get hit.
Standart grenades and dynamite cause high AOE explosion damage on hit.
All explosives can be used as a trap.
Flash grenades have a chance to stun enemies and most probably will make anyone in blast radius blind for a few real world minutes.
EMP grenates have a chance to instantly shut down robots and turrets, break electronic locks or laser/plasma weapons in hands of your enemies.
All explosives have a chance to destroy equipped items of enemies inside the blast radius as well as break locks of all kinds.
Molotovs will cause fire.
Explosives caught in explosions or by fire might explode on themselves. The same applies to explosives your character carries around in his inventory as well.
Gas and fire
Smoke grenades limit enemy FoV.
Stun grenades produce gas that spreads around immobilyzing your targets.
Gas grenades product gas that cause chocking.
Radiation sources might spawn wandering radioactive clouds from time to time.
Fire is now a threat that can spread around just like the gas litting characters and items on fire. Large areas of fire produce unbreathable gas just like the gas grenades.
Farther from the initial spawn point, less time gas clouds can live.
Gas that spread out in underground location does not fade on itself.
Ammo recovery
Plasma cells and firearm shells can be restored, but will consume additional resources for crafting.
Laser weapons use batteries that can be recharged at the nearest power source (which might consume resources to work).
to be continued