I've pulled the following info together in the last few days. I don't actually have GA - this was based completely on research from the forums and web - and am not nearly as uber as some here, so please feel free to post corrections. Thanks
- Saerra
The Comprehensive Guide to Grid Armor (GA)
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Introduction.
This guide is being created to slow the ever-growing flood of requests for information about Grid Armor on the Fixer Forum. Most of the fixers on the forum are good, generous, helpful individuals who share what they know and what they have willingly, but several have recently been pushed to the brink of madness and despair by the repetitive GA questions, the same questions, every day, over and over and over and over again.
This guide will cover, as comprehensively as possible, the standard GA questions that are asked on the forum. References for more information are also provided.
Finally, as a non-GA-fixer who hasn't had to go through all this before, it will hopefully give you an idea of the incredible wealth of information already out there. This entire guide is being created by research of past postings on the forums and other GA guides on the web (i.e. not personal experience ). Corrections and clarifications by more experienced fixers are of course welcome.
Thanks, and enjoy.
- Saerra
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1. What is it?
2. Where/How do you get it?
2a. Finding the disk
- Where can I find it?
- What affects my chances of finding it?
- Finding GA while in a Team
2b. Buying the disk
- How much should I pay?
- How in the world can I ever get THAT much money?!?!
3. Usage: Levels, Effectiveness, IP Allocation
3a. What is the lowest level it's possible to get GA on?
3b. How long is GAx good for?
3c. Is it worth spending the IP to get on?
4. Creating the nano from the disk?
4a. How to do it?
4b. What should you bring?
4c. Who can you trust?
4d. Costs and tipping?
5. How do I get the most out of my GA?
6. What can I wear with GA?
7. General Stuff
7a. OMG - no GA in SL?
7b. What are the unintended side effects of GA?
7c. What the heck is so controversial about two lil' letters?
7d. Why do I get yelled at for asking about GA on the fixer board?
Need more Info?
- AO-fixer.com GA guide
- Mockers GA Guide
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1. What is it?
Grid Armor [GA] is a fixer-only, temporary, armor-like object that is worn to increase your AC (a little), some of your evades (a little), and your overall defense modifier (a LOT). It is acquired by casting the rare "Grid Armor MKx" nano (where x = 1, 2, 3, or 4; MK1 is the lowest level nano, MK4 is the highest). The AC and evade bonuses are not extraordinary, what makes GA really work well is the very high defense modifier (numbers provided below). The increase in your defense modifier allows you to "dodge" most attacks (the mobs completely miss you, thus doing no damage). You CAN be hit, it is just much less likely.
GA is classified as a "social armor". This restricts what things can be worn with GA (see section 6). These restrictions mean that while wearing GA, you will have _significantly_ less AC than you would wearing regular armor. In the end, your defense modifiers and evades will make you very hard to hit, but when you ARE hit, you will have less AC to absorb the damage (thus may take more damage than your well-armored counterparts).
For more information on attacks and the effects of your defense rating, please see Jynne's excellent post explaining everything you ever wanted to know about how attacks in AO work:
Jynne's Guide to Attacks
To see the database definitions for GA, check here:
Grid Armor MK1 (QL 60)
Grid Armor MK2 (QL 93)
Grid Armor MK3 (QL 116)
Grid Armor MK4 (QL 140)
What you really want to know though is what, in terms of specific numbers, does each GA do.
[Edit - Thanks to Kaghelion for pointing out that the Mocker's information that I originally quoted is out of date. Instead, I'm going to quote from the Anarchy Mainframe Armor Configuration Tool. To use this, go to the url above, then choose Grid Armor (MK-whatever) in the _back_ slot. Click the button at the bottom and the stats will appear. Thanks!]
GA 1:
- Increases Dodge Ranged, Evade Clsc, and Duck Explosives +100
- Increase Nanoresist +50
- Increases each AC type by +265
- Adds +50 MaxHealth
- Adds +25 NCU
- Adds +4 to all damage types
- Adds +870 to your overall defense modifier
GA2:
- Increases Dodge Ranged, Evade Clsc, and Duck Explosives +120
- Increase Nanoresist +100
- Increases each AC type by +750
- Adds +75 MaxHealth
- Adds +50 NCU
- Adds +7 to all damage types
- Adds +1350 to your overall defense modifier
GA3:
- Increases Dodge Ranged, Evade Clsc, and Duck Explosives +136
- Increase Nanoresist +200
- Increases each AC type by +1250
- Adds +100 MaxHealth
- Adds +75 NCU
- Adds +12 to all damage types
- Adds +1700 to your overall defense modifier
GA4:
- Increases Dodge Ranged, Evade Clsc, and Duck Explosives +150
- Increase Nanoresist +300
- Increases each AC type by +2000
- Adds +150 MaxHealth
- Adds +100 NCU
- Adds +20 to all damage types
- Adds +2100 to your overall defense modifier
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Continued in next post