What do you consider well armored?

[jmikkone]

Mindlessly shuffling through the titan database, it seems that quite a few of the titans have similar amounts of armor on them.

This got me into thinking : Do all of the designs really NEED all their armor, and those that do, why so? Adding armor is a two-sided blade : Once you get into sacrificing firepower for armor, you don't need the extra armor anymore as your enemy will target the 'more dangerous' designs first.

One funny design of mine is the Hooch series. They all have max armor on every possible spot, but conversely they suck in armament. They seem to be quite a nuisance, though, and not too surprisingly they're the last ones to be targeted just because they take quite a while to beat down.

I hear that lights should have 20+ pts of armor, mediums 30+, heavies 40+ and assaults 50+. I just wonder, would titans that deviate from these averages a lot, fare better or worse?

[Thorgrim]

Well, it depends on the role the titan is intended for. Supports usually have less than that, CCs might have more. My heavies usually have ~55. I kinda like having thick armor, but I'll only sacrifice firepower for it if my overheating capability is excessive. I like having some overheating margin to work with in extreme situations.
You should also be aware of the damage allocation table, which gives you some indication of what body parts need more protection on average. It's in the latest guide.

[Lyhrrus]

Depends on the mix. I have an assault missile titan that has armor in 30-40s. Ducados slaughtered me with it while I was in a titan with 50s-60s armor. (Granted, it was in snow and I couldn't reach cover fast enough.)

If you specially design titans for your team, you can probably get away with more extreme ends of armor/armament spectrum. Right now I've done a titan design guide that generally outlines what tends to make a decent titan. It's being combined with a work of PCs and should hopefully be released soon. If you're interested in having a peek, let me know.