Armor
Armor, like weapons, use random generation. You will also be able to wear vanity items which allow you to change the look of your character and keep your armor's stats. There will be a very diverse set of armor and vanity pieces, although little is yet known about what will be in the game specifically.
Confirmed Sets
- Knight Armor
Armor Seen in Screenshots
- Swim Wear
- Hazmat Suit
- Ninja Gear
- Tiy's Suit
- Military Suits
- Generic Jumpsuits
- Multiple Lab Suits
- Dresses
- Cowboy Hats
- Fedoras
- A high tech Space Suit - pictured on the right
Shields
Touching (most) enemies in Starbound won’t damage the player directly, instead enemies must go through an attack animation to damage the player. This opens up the gameplay massively to blocking and counter attacks. And that’s where shields come in.
Once equipped to the left or right hand, shields are brought out by holding the corresponding mouse button. If the player is attacked during this period they take a small percentage (depending on the level of the shield) of regular damage that’s applied to the players health bar as white “recoverable” health.
Once combat is over this health will regenerate, however if the player is hit they’ll lose all of their white health. If the player strikes an enemy shortly after blocking an attack the player gets a “counter attack” which is a guaranteed critical hit. We’re experimenting with increasing the counter attack damage further based on the amount of white health the player currently has. Block many attacks and your next counter attack will be devastating.. but slip up and lose it all. Major risk/reward gameplay.
On top of all of this, it won’t just be you making use of shields. Humanoid enemies will use them too and some creatures may have natural shields.
