This armor segment is damaged beyond repair.

[Shivan Hunter]

(sorry for creating so many threads lol)

I assume a drydock station has some pretty useful equipment- much better equipment than, say, a patcher arm or patch spider installed on my ship which has to work with no extra resources available, and can even repair me while I'm in combat. Why, then, can a patcher arm/patch spider repair armor even when it's at 0%, but a drydock refuses to repair armor after it's too damaged?

The way I see it, one of two things needs to happen here. Either patch devices should be nerfed- something like "they can repair totalled armor, but it might permanently lower the armor rating" or "their repair floor is even higher than a station's", or stations need to be fixed so they can repair any armor.

It just seems silly to be waiting outside a station for my patch spider to repair my armor enough so the station with extensive, specialized facilities (and probably better material to weld into the armor) can get it to 100%.

[PM]

Curiously, armor patches, repair kits, and other similar consumables can repair any armor, even overtech no one else can repair such as segments of neutronium armor or hierosteel armor. Moral of that story? Farm Ranx gunships for a renewable supply of repair items for any overleveled armor you use.

[Cimanyd]

It seems to me that station repair facilities would have repair paste/patches, or patcher arms/spiders, or something similar available. I think that if the armor is too damaged to repair normally, instead of it being impossible to repair at a station, the station should just charge more. It could be an added percentage (for using better repairing equipment, like a patch spider/arm) or a fixed amount (the price of some repair paste or an armor patch).

[PM]

If the player has no shield installed, the Domina power Restore repairs all armor segments damaged by less than 75% maxHP.

[Song]

Personally, I'd love to see armor degrading over time as you patch it, and a slower degradation each time it's repaired....affected by a pair of variables set on the armor segments, and possibly the stations technology level. That would probably require a lot of work, but it'd completely change armor management....less effective armors that are easier to keep working and can be repaired up to 99% of original condition (for example) in pretty much any station might actually be attractive if the alternative is better armor that will be unrepairable if it gets patched up too much. THis would add on to the "too damaged to repair" thing by making it essentially being: "If the armor is shredded, it's impossible to fix. If it's basically made of silicon, patches and welds, then it's going to perform more like a level 1-3 armor than a level 4-7, and will eventually be impossible to patch any further."

[Shivan Hunter]

Yeah, I liked the degradation of items if you try and repair them yourself in Diablo (not sure if it's in 3), and it's something I'd like to see in Trans. If an incoming shot melts away some armor or shears some off, you are losing material, and probably have nothing to replace it with. Stations should be able to fix that, but patch devices certainly shouldn't- and as the armor material gets better, the material in armor repair paste would get worse and worse by comparison. There are a number of balanced ways to fix this, but I think I have a decent proposal:

Patch devices

Around every (15 - level)% repaired, you lose one percent permanently, i.e. the armor goes from 50% to 51% and the repair ceiling drops from 100% to 99%. Armor with a repair ceiling other than 100% can be fully repaired at stations, but at triple the cost of a normal repair up to the ceiling (the menu lets you choose which one). Possibly: patch devices cannot repair sufficiently advanced armor such as Iocrym armor.

Armor repair paste

The problem here is the usefulness of the material; using repair paste on Iocrym armor would be like patching up Kevlar with tissue paper. Repair paste will patch up a number of hit points, not percent (not sure if this is how it currently works since I never use it), and this is also tied to the armor's level- it would be defined for each repair paste type as (n HP - m*Level). At level 10 this should be very near 0.

Station repair

Stations that repair you should be able to do so fully. They have dedicated facilities and materials to use (and it is possible they don't have the material you need- some stations already cannot repair advanced armors). For the normal cost, a station can repair an armor segment up to the repair ceiling imposed by patch devices, and (as mentioned above) should be able to fully repair the armor for an inflated price. Since stations would be able to patch in new material, an armor segment with a ceiling of 5% could be repaired up to 100%, but it would cost as much as the armor cost originally.

Extended station facilities

Stations capable of repairing you should also sell paste and patch arms/spiders (if their level is high enough) because why not. Same goes for stations that refuel you- they're already selling you fuel, so why not, um, sell you fuel?


This is a pretty extensive feature request, though. I'd settle for reversing the current roles (patch devices can't repair totalled armor, stations can) because at least that would make sense.

[FourFire]

The suggestions above are really good.
On one hand I really want this implemented because it would be much more realistic.
On the other hand I really don't want this implemented because it might make the game harder.

[PM]

Shivan Hunter: In Diablo I, warrior and sorcerer had skills that repaired equipment at the cost of maximum durability. I never used the repair skills. NPCs Griswold and Adria repaired items without removing durability.

If repair items reduce durability, but station services did not, I would never use repair items. Devices slots and cargo space are too precious to waste.

[PM]

Armor repair consumables usually repair a random number of hit points, like D&D's Cure X Wounds. (Occasionally, they backfire and cause damage instead). Since high level armor usually has more hit points than low level armor, you need more patches or higher level repair item that heals more to fix high level armor completely. The problem with consumables, in terms of balance, is they heal everything, including armor over level XII and/or armor reduced to 0 HP. (Ringers and patch spiders cannot repair armor over level XII.) Ranx gunships often have armor patches as loot. Thus, if your EI500 finds neutronium armor (tech level required to repair it is XXI), and you want to use it, farm Ranx gunships and loot as many patches as you need.

[PM]

Idea: If you want to represent patchwork being inferior to station services, do not let patches heal armor up to max HP, but 50% or some other percentage under 100% of max HP instead.

[Vachtra]

I think the current way it's done could also be accounted for.
As mentioned the patches only do so much and at times backfire as the player is learning to use them.
A station might not want to repair a piece of armor much like a tire place doesn't want to repair an old tire. There's liability and they really would rather you buy a new one or pay for the install at least.
As far as tech level goes I got nothing. Patches really shouldn't work for all armor but it helps keep things simple and fun. Otherwise at some point people throw their hands up and go to the next game.

[TVR]

I suggest that armor repair items and station repairs only be able to repair armor up to a certain % of maxHP depending on the repairing item's/facility's tech-level and the armor's repair tech-level, to represent how titanium armors are easily mended by basic welding and advanced armors require advanced repair techniques, but at a certain threshold of damage, any repair is better than no repair.