Jacket Armor

 

Jacket Armor
Damage Absorption	30% against non-energy damage 0% against energy damage
Found in	Quake II
[Source]

In Quake II, Jacket Armor (also can be called the Flak Jacket) absorbs 30% of the damage inflicted by conventional means - weaponry as well as most other hazards such as slime. Each pickup of Jacket Armor gives you 25 armor points, to a maximum of 50 points. It offers no protection against energy damage such as the Hyperblaster, Blaster or BFG10k. Jacket Armor is the weakest type of armor in the game, but it is better than nothing and does increase your survivability against conventional weapons at least. It is Quake 2's equivalent of the Green Armor found in Quake 1.

To illustrate its effect, consider a player wearing Jacket Armor is hit by a rocket launcher fired by an Iron Maiden or a railgun fired by a Gladiator, either of which deal 50 damage. If the player was not wearing armor at all, they would lose 50 health. While wearing Jacket Armor, the armor absorbs 30% of that 50 damage, so the player would lose 15 armor and 35 health instead. Against energy damage, such as the blasters fired by a Flyer, Icarus or Tank, Jacket armor offers no protection and the damage is suffered by the player's health.

Even once a player has collected the superior Combat Armor or Body Armor, the Jacket Armor can still be picked up so long as the player has not achieved the maximum number of armor points (100 for Combat Armor, 200 for Body Armor), which will provide a bonus to the player's armor points while still enjoying their superior form of armor.

Strategies

Single Player

In single player, Jacket Armor is the most common type of armor in the game until you get out of the Factory hub. Early in the game, it provides good protection against the weak Guards and Enforcers, but it doesn't cut it against Gunners, Gladiators and Tanks. In any case, it is better than nothing.

Multiplayer

While the Jacket Armor has a low absorption percent, it will protect you from getting killed by a Railgun in one shot, so grab it as soon as you see it. It's better than nothing. Since it offers no protection against energy weapons, anyone spamming Blaster at you must be avoided.