I’m also a tank nerd, that stuff is cage/slat armor. Its not the same as the spaced armor found on a Super Pershing, which is still hardened armor plate and not just some 5mm thick mild steel angle iron welded into a hat. That “spaced armor” would never work against ballistic penetrators. The angled spaced armor on the front of a Leopard 2 turret you might bring up next is made to defeat APFSDS darts that aren’t long enough to pierce the turret face before leaving the angled plate. Its still hard plate.
I really like this idea. I have a couple questions or problems that need to be solved with it.
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it severely limits imagination/partcombination for those of use who do art builds. (and still let us que to fart around and hopefully make a few people laugh)
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What happens if I want to attach 3 light parts to a heavy part and another heavy part? I mean like a heavy part to say a light chameleon to heavy part? Because non spaced armor is going to require we do that.
I could probably tack weld a pretty good spaced armor setup in my shop from all the crap my grandpa saved for 70 years 
Most of the problem with spaced armor is the use of frames (if your vehicle is high enough) and other pass through parts. This affects dps and and burst damage weapons the same. The biggest problem with spaced armor and alpha strike weapons is the 7 block overpenetration limit for every weapon in the game. That round can have plenty of potential left in it, but it doesn’t matter with the 7 block hard limit. Every weapon has scorp pen distance in air.
I decided to do a little testing. Put all the pass through parts I could find in a wall, more than seven blocks from a cabin.
Tried it with equalizers/aurora, executioners, whirls, and pyralids.
Overall it’s more effective than it should be, but most pronounced against the cannons.
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Now is time for spaced armor, it’s ridiculous, everything in crossout should be nerfed in this forum, weapons too strong: nerf it, cabin too fast ? nerf it, items too good ? nerf it, is it possible you want nerf everything you are not able to kill ? There are too may brain kids in this game, play and enjoy it whatever you win or lose and if you lose too much change build or wait, it’s sure became your time for win… too much !
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I like spaced armor to be honest.
Its the easy button in XO 
Possible effects of stacking armor in Crossout for the benefit of humankind and other sentient species
By Omega616, PhD, Esq.
(The “Summary” section near the end of this comment briefly discusses the specific bonuses and their values. The gentle reader may prefer to skip to that section for the general idea.)
1. Introduction
One way to balance spaced armor is to grant armor parts (or any part type) a HP bonus based on the number of attachment points that are connected to something else. Say, +50% HP with all of such spots occupied. It stands to reason that welding layers of armor parts together would make them stronger. And such could be the benefit of using layered armor. Additionally, parts from different factions could have other effects to combine with the basic HP buff.
Incidentally, sloped armor parts would benefit the most, because those sloping surfaces don’t have attachment points, thus making it easier for such parts to get the full bonus. Which would reflect their purpose in real armored vehicles - sloped armor is designed for deflecting projectiles. Crossout doesn’t have a projectile deflecting mechanic, ricocheting, etc., but that could be represented by sloped parts getting the bonus easier. They would mostly be placed on the outside for maximum effectiveness, so tanks would look more like tanks.
I’m not yet sure if the bonus should be exactly 50%. Tests would need to be conducted to figure out the right value. But I like a requirement granting the full bonus at 100% of attachment points occupied, so that it’s not too easy to max out. If these incompetent developers (meaning mainly Mad King Alex and his Goth Princess Yuri) are having such a hard time balancing space armor, this mechanic could be treated as an easy to implement interim solution. To perhaps further refine in the future.
2. Part types to consider
Now, should it be just armor, or any part type? Using radars as armor would become easier, so that could be a problem. As for weapons, the Tackler would be very hard to get the full bonus for, while it would be very easy for weapons with mounting points only on the base. Maybe too easy. So probably not. What about fuel tanks, ammo, or other explosive modules? Maybe they’re too delicate to be considered for this ‘mutual part reinforcement’ mechanic. And modules that don’t explode, such as boosters (the Hermes is some good armor, BTW, I used to rock 7 in my Clarinet cars) or chameleons? Maybe not, because they’re kind of weak, hence not the best candidates for reinforcing other parts.
But with cabins - it would be interesting. A cabin is intended to encase and protect its internals, such as an engine, a generator, and a driver. It would make sense to additionally armor it. Yet, after we learn that it’s the last part to run out of HP during combat, we don’t do that. But if it the stacked armor bonus applied to cabins, armoring them would provide additional protection agains the Annihilator, or just cabin shots.
3. Faction bonuses
Now, let’s consider the factions. Why would it matter what faction an armor part is from? Armor already has different HP-to-weight ratios, depending on its faction. And including faction-specific bonuses would make gameplay more intricate. If it’s not too much for the engine and the servers to handle.
There could be faction-specific bonuses for armor parts:
- The Engineers: reduced weight - due to superb engineering.
- The Lunatics: pass-through or melee resistance.
- The Nomads: bullet resistance.
- The Scavengers: explosion resistance. Or maybe reduced weight - because their armor is heavy, so it would be a nice bonus, plus the boss sleeps with a welding torch on his pillow. Or a half of both bonuses.
- The Steppenwolves: inreased HP.
- The Space Children: energy damage resistance.
- The Firestarters: fire resistance.
- The Founders: energy damage resistance or reduced weight.
- The Syndicate: reduced weight or reduced cabin power consumption by movement parts. I also like them for acid resistance.
- The Hyperboreans: cold resistance (for when we get cold damage weapons), or just increased HP due to that armor being made for military submarines, hence resistant to extreme pressures. Or 50/50 increased HP and reduced weight, as the Mentor originates from the Engineers. Well, he did originate them.
These are just preliminary suggestions of faction-based bonuses. Also, the values could all just be +15%, or different values for different factions/bonus types.
Now, how would faction bonuses apply to stacking armor parts?
- Would the full faction bonus be unlocked at 100% of occupied slots?
- Should the faction bonus value be affected by combining parts from different factions?
Figure 1. Something about stacking armor from different factions. 2053, colorized.
For example, if we slapped together a Steppenwolf slab and a Firestarter slab with their flat sides, at 4x8x1 blocks, they’d both have 36% of their contact points occupied. 36% of a 15% faction bonus is 5%. Let’s say that attaching parts to ones from different factions reduced this bonus by half. That would leave us with 2.7%.
The basic HP bonus resulting from stacking armor parts would be +4.5%
But if we took a Tank Side Part or a Scorched, one of them sloped, the other rounded, and managed to fully attach them to parts from their respective factions, they would each get a 15% faction bonus, which seems like a lot. This should be further analyzed for balance.
Figure 2. Something about faction effects between related factions. 2053, colorized.
4. Effects between parts from related factions
Now, what about factoring in a relation between basic and advanced factions? For example, placing the above-mentioned Steppenwolf slab on a Scavenger slab. In such a case, should they both have their HP bonus from stacking armor reduced by half? Or maybe just one-third? Or 25%? Or maybe the Scavenger slab would benefit from being welded to the more technologically advanced Steppenwolf slab, but not the other way around? Or would they both benefit from their faction relation, but the more advanced part to a smaller degree? Let’s say, resulting in the faction bonus being reduced for the Scavenger slab by 10%, and for the Steppenwolf slab by 25%? And for non-related factions - would a 50% bonus reduction be OK? Or other values, but something along these lines, as shown appropriate by any further calculations and tests.
Now, the Founders, the Syndicate and the Hyperboreans don’t have basic factions. Though maybe the Hyperboreans could be linked for this purpose with the Engineers, through the Mentor. At any rate, such factions could get higher faction bonuses instead - to make up for not having a related faction, which would mean the’y only get a max. +25% HP bonus from parts from any faction other than its own.
Another thing to consider could be for armor parts to grant their faction-specific bonuses to parts from other factions they’re attached to. More carrot, this way. 
Such parts could confer up to 50% of their faction bonus, based on the percentage of the recipient part being covered by parts from another faction. It could be a simple formula to apply between any two factions, with no additional considerations for related factions.
Now, let us consider the following example, based on all the above propositions:
Figure 3. Something to do with faction effects for stacked armor. 2053, colorized.
In Figure 1, the following effects could be considered:
- Bonuses for the The Steppenwolf slab:
a) +7% HP (from the Scavenger Rear Cover: 14% contact * 37% HP bonus, from the DC Control Moodule: 9% contact * 25% HP bonus). (I’m not sure if all bonuses in Crossout are rounded up or down, I seem to rememember 0.5 is ignored in at least some cases. In this instance, it would probably be just +7%.)
b) +0.5% of explosion resistance and +0.5% reduced weight from the Scavenger Rear Cover (14% of the surface occupied by the Scavenger part, with the faction bonus at 15%, reduced by half because it’s buffing a part from another faction). These values are quite low. Establishing a minimum bonus of +1% could lead to exploits. But such exploits could also be used creatively, and with the current parts limits for vehicles, perhaps it wouldn’t be a game-breaking issue. Then there’s the question of analyzing and establishing all kinds of values for a multitude of parts and their various aspects. Meaning, it’s complicated.
c) +1% energy resistance from the DC Control Module (a 15% bonus divided by half, with the DC part occupying 9% of the Stepp part). - Bonuses for the Scavenger Rear Cover:
a) +21% HP from having 43% of its surface attached to the Stepp part.
b) +3% HP from the Stepp part’s faction bonus. - Bonuses for the DC Control Module:
a) +17% HP (due to having 66.67% of its surface attached to parts from unrelated factions, so only a +25% HP max. bonus applies).
b) +1% energy resistance, +1% fire resistance, +2% extra HP (due to having 4%, 4% and 8% of its surface attached to parts from other factions, respectively). - Bonuses for the Flaming Rakes:
a) +4% HP (from 18% of its surface being occupied the Control Module, with applying the 25% max. bonus).
b) +1% energy resistance.
5. A summary of bonuses applicable in this system
- The HP bonus for stacking armor:
a) Up to +50% HP from parts from the same faction, depending on the percentage of a part’s attachment points occupied by them.
b) If two parts from related factions are connected, the advanced faction’s bonus is reduced by 25%, and the basic faction’s by 10%, for a total maximum bonus of +37.5% and 45%, respectively.
c) Connecting to parts from unrelated factions reduces the HP bonus by half, for a maximum value of 25% with all attachment points connected to parts from such factions. - Faction-specific bonuses:
a) Up to 15% between parts from the same faction.
b) Up to 7.5% between parts from different factions.
6. Final notes
All these intricate mechanics may look interesting, but wouldn’t it be too much? Wouldn’t they make stacked armor OP in relation to space armor? Seeing as space armor allows a player to block a devastating explosion with just a flimsy piece of scrap hanging onto a 4x1x1 scrap stick, I’d say this comment rather seeks to explore ways to give stacked armor a chance against space armor. Space armor is magical, in essence. I believe that stacked armor should at least have a fair chance. That is, if it is decided to keep space armor the way it works now. Because all of the above-mentioned bonuses could as well be introduced in the form of debuffs for spacing armor out. In that case, any unoccupied block on an armor part would make it weaker. But that would be harder to implement - if only because we do not always intend to leave empty spaces on an armor part. It would be like what Alex did with the latest Twitch Droppings event (I’m saying “Alex” because I can see in the dev streams that it’s him who micromanages the game’s development). Not only were the Pink Lamps made unsalvageable, but the crafting cost for everything was increased by 2 cartridges. Just because the previous time they made a mistake and gave us up to 14 extra cartridges, enabling some to salvage up to 24 Small Pink Lamps for up to 1440 coin value in resources. Which was double punishment, affecting the most those new players for whom it was the first such event. There is a tendency in Crossout for punishing players in various aspects, and it should be avoided. All I’m trying to effect with this comment is improved gameplay balance, to make it more fair and fun for everyone.
Edit:
I put “sentient species” in the title for the benefit of those that only read titles. So they would know they don’t have to worry about this comment.
2 Likes
great idea, i always wondered what crossout would look like if every single build was a moving cube.
This just makes another set of problems.
Can I have ERA instead?
Very interesting concept. Wonder how they could implement it in their engine though.