starcraft/warcraft gameplay mechanics: please explain

[DEATH eVADER]

Something has been bugging me ever since replaying starcraft. When a particular unit is upgraded, whether its armor or weapon, you will generally see stats for that armor/weapon displaying numbers such as:

Armor: 0+1
Weapon: 15+1
etc...

The thing is, I have no clue as to the purpose of this kind of mechanic. If the HP of a unit is 50 for example, would a 0+1 rating on armor give you an extra 1 HP?

Or is it 1% or 10% of the previous HP?

Please explain, it really bugs me, and it would be helpful for future reference.

 

[Cole]

You don't seem to understand what armor actually is.

Armor is anti-damage not health. So lets say a UnitA attacks UnitB. UnitA does 10 damage. UnitB has 3 armor. UnitA does 7 total damage.(Damage - Armor). Lets say UnitB has 50 health. That takes off 7 damage leaving it with 43.

Very very simple.

 

[Tagaziel]

Protos shields are the first type of armor for the Protoss though. You have to also remember that different damage types do different damage to differently sized buildings and armor.

 

[Stigmata]

The weapons and armor upgrades simply tack on an additional point of damage or armor onto the units.

A Marine with level 2 weapons upgrades will do 8+2 damage, which is 10 damage.

Other units like Siege Tanks have bigger modifiers. I believe the Arclite Cannon does 90 base damage, and each level of ground-vehicle weapons upgrades adds 5 damage to the tank's cannon. When not in siege mode, the cannon does 30 damage plus 2 damage per upgrade level. Something like that.

Armor levels simply subtract from each instance of damage against the unit. If a Firebat has an armor rating of 3, any damage done to him will be subtracted by 3 points. It's a compounded effect, in a way. A Marine with no upgrades would take about 7 attacks to kill an unarmored Firebat (50 health, 7 x 8 = 56 damage). If his weapons are upgraded to level 3, the Marine will kill the Firebat in 5 attacks (5 x (8+3) = 55 damage). If the Firebat's armor is also level 3, it will take 8 attacks for the Marine to kill him (8 x ((8+3)-3) = 56 damage).

[edit] Plus what Mikael said. Damage between varied unit types varies, so it's not as simple as what I've laid out.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

So in other words, the upgrades for terran marines level 1 armor is so negligible that its pointless to upgrade unless you trying to reach a higher level upgrade.

 

[Cole]

Not completely. Armor does mean a lot. I mean once you get to level 3 armor... your troops taking 12 or 9 damage can mean the difference between victory and defeat.

So yes you should upgrade and should be a priority(not your first priority, but a priority).

 

[Stigmata]

The higher your armor level is, the more likely it is that it will take any given enemy unit longer to kill one of your units.

 

[HunterSeeker]

So in other words, the upgrades for terran marines level 1 armor is so negligible that its pointless to upgrade unless you trying to reach a higher level upgrade.

Higher armor is generally more usefull against foes that deal less damage (ie zerglings). If somethings strikes you 20 times for 4 damage each but you have an armor of 3 that damage only becomes 20 instead of 80, a large difference. If a shock cannon hits you for 90 damage that armor of 3 is not something that will matter. In short, armour is certainly a help but not in all situations, upgrade.

 

[IchI]

Armor doesn't reduce damage of megaic smells also. Thats done by resistance.

Basiclly the same system at World of Warcraft, just a little simpler.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Armor doesn't reduce damage of Magic Spells also. Thats done by resistance.

Basiclly the same system at World of Warcraft, just a little simpler.

/fixed :thumbs: