UPDATED VERSION OF THIS THREAD HERE: http://forums.spiralknights.com/en/node/80053

So I was talking to one Drdrj, and he said the following on steam:

5:56 PM - Ectropy: I have a friend with a skolve coat with shock max, stun max and poison max
5:56 PM - Ectropy: and a skolver cap with shock high, stun high and poison high
5:56 PM - Ectropy: why diversity if I can build the perfect gear with punch and lock uvs?

So I says-

5:57 PM - ‏: I'd really like to see new abilities.
5:57 PM - ‏: For armors.

And by that, I was thinking of this, which is somewhat relevant-

http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/perfect-imbalance

6:02 PM - ‏: Like.. skolver is a playstyle.
6:02 PM - ‏: It is swords.
6:03 PM - ‏: Or, swords for damage.
6:03 PM - ‏: Dread skelly doesn't [represent a play style].
6:04 PM - ‏: Spiral knights kind of fails at it.

The video used multiplayer examples, but it notably doesn't have to be limited to that.
We only really see the lack of cyclical imbalance that in lockdown- where armor hardly matters and everyone uses skolver. But you still see some other armors there.. but I don't know that thats really even the basis of the problem. Like:

Wolver: Various sword buffs = a play style. Swordy, sword-user, striker.......
Gunslinger: Various Gun buffs = a play style. Gunner, Gun-user...
Demo: Faster charge times [only volcanic and mercurial are used regularly- mercurial is more of a hybrid armor] = also a play style. Bombs, bomber...
Skelly: Shadow + poison + ice defense = not a play style. Like Zeddy's "Ask a shadow defender thread".
Dragon Scale Mail/Radiant silvermail/Valkyrie: Damage vs X = not a play style. It isn't feasible for players to be "beast killers" when there are other monster families to kill. Why would I limit myself to killing wolvers when I can kill undead and fiends and everything else too?

But the most interesting example of this is deadshot. Deadshot is over powered. Over powered, but only so when there are undead on that level and nothing else. It gives you handgun ASI low + undead med, which translates to damage med when all you're fighting are undead... which is global damage med, mind you. Thats like having a combination of bombastic, snarbolax and shadowsun, but only for the undead. And it resists them.

Now, I don't know about you, but I don't see everyone using deadshot... because it isn't a play style. Its specialized towards undead.

But what about 'class armors' that failed so to speak?-

Mercurial Armor: Faster movement = a play style. Like a scout from TF2 (Oh wait, that game is totally not comparable, my bad)
Plate Armor: Tank armor = a play style. Tank. Like a heavy from TF2 (My bad again)

Players don't use these because they value the buffs given from class armor more than the hardly noticeable Movement Speed Increase/defense buffs. MSI maxes out at med; all other buffs max out at maximum. This means that it isn't a viable play style- that even if my "play style" was moving quickly, getting mercurial armor wouldn't benefit me as much as getting vog would. Likewise, changing my play style to involve focusing on weapons would make me stronger than investing in 'tank armor'.

So my thought here is that these could be seen as simply needing more defining/balancing.

What if mercurial gave me MSI med or even high, and plate armor gave me something like "Health regenerates slowly to halfway when shielding. Attack speed decreased med, MSI decreased low, global damage low, bomb charge reduction low"? Just a thought. I mean, I know that mercurial has the whole "This is our way of testing whether its a worthy bonus..." thing going for it, but you can't just make an armor and then not commit to it. That'd be like giving vog fire resistance low and then being like 'well we're not too sure..." after giving every other armor 4 times as much benefit. But thats beside the point.

The other aspect of this is what happened with C42 and Dragon Scale

When C42 came out, someone pointed out that you could be immune to the oil spills with dragon scale, which also happened to resist everything but the normal damage there. Many players praised the devs for this- it meant that dragon scale was suddenly... viable as an armor set.

I am now the proud owner of a full set of dragon scale armor, which I crafted to see how it changed things, and I have to say that the relation it has makes the game quite a bit more superficial. That is, more pay to win than play to win- you can either practice and then bring average armor from your class, or you can bring dragon scale mail, which is an entire new set you'd have to craft, and win. I also discovered why people don't use dragon scale mail- beasts are easily dodged, and don't require a bonus to fight.. but on top of that, normal defense is a major benefit when fighting wolvers, which deal split normal/piercing. Likewise, elemental isn't much of a threat when fighting beasts.

If you look at who crafts dragon scale mail, you'll see it consists mostly of wealthy don't-have-much-better-to-do players that are serious about danger missions. These are the same players that craft deadshot from time to time- both are great armor for specific purposes, but aren't neccessary, and armor takes a while to craft. No one makes deadshot as their starting armor, and thats fine. But there are three major differences between deadshot and dragon scale mail.

The first difference, is that deadshot doesn't make legion of almire a cakewalk, even if you are using mostly handguns. There is still a large amount of skill needed to make it happen. Yes, its good, no its not neccessary. on the other hand, dragon scale mail demotes C42 from "hardest danger mission" to " slightly above average arcade level" in difficulty.

The second difference, is that deadshot is usable in many levels, whereas dragon scale mail is only really good for C42. Its like.. you're investing in just that one level with C42. Deadshot is good for FSC, graveyards, compounds, clockwork tunnels undead addition.. etc.

And the third difference, is that deadshot comes from gunner armor, whereas dragon scale is a stand alone type thing. If I were a new player, I would be encouraged to find a 'class' to play as. If I chose gunner, I would see deadshot on the list, and I would be confused a bit. Is it worth it? Is it something I should be getting? And the answer is no. Deadshot is not good starting armor, when it helps you more than other armors on a small proportion of the levels.

Then there is that deadshot isn't used very often
And that's for a number of reasons, namely that it isn't necessary. Dragon scale mail isn't always necessary for C42, so not everyone makes that, instead, they go for just the fire resistance, which is often enough. This is because of the heavy cost associated with it. But you know what is made often enough despite being arguably bad? Shadow Lair armor. For bragging rights, and because of the curiousness of its stats. And because it looks cool.

So what if we made things like deadshot harder to get, and earn-able in more creative ways? What if you had to painstakingly unlock it's recipes by finding a series of items in danger rooms and breaking your back for it? That would definitely make you seem more pro for your endeavors, and would really make you value those stats.

Armor is boring. Zeddy said that, and I agree with him. Why not make it less boring? Both in how it is attained, and in how it is used.

The other reason most players don't craft more than a couple of armor sets, is because its boring. I'm not making this up, you can go on google and find it. Most 5* knights have say, 1 or two 5* armor sets, and then a bunch of weapons. More than they have slots for, but the same for the number of slots, because Spiral Knights excels at making unique and cool weapons. See winmillion, cutter lines, troikas, even the more mundane, like brandishes, are cool. Bombs especially are cool- vortexes, haze bombs, all are unique and awesome.

Armor feels different.

When I wear vog armor and swiftstrike buckler, I feel powerful and glass cannony. And I am- I hit faster, deal damage at a faster rate. I feel strong and good.

When I wear my heavy armor, I feel sluggish and weak... but like I'm doing a ton of damage. When I wear that to any level, I feel like I'm not doing much damage, and that just leaves me with sluggish and weak.

Every other armor in the game just isn't so noticeable. Chroma armor feels like I'm killing slimes faster when I use it for that, but not when I go to fight something else. This is problematic, because slimes are rarely the only target on any given level. I want to be useful for everything.

Then I saw this-

"Sadly, it doesn't appear to have retained any of the Virulisk's ability to camouflage."

And why doesn't it? It could be done. We've seen that with lockdown. Why not have a passive cloaking ability on it? It could be balanced.

And-

"It retains many divine properties celestial beings possess"

What if it made all of your weapons deal fire damage to undead/fiend? That would be awesome! Balanced? Maybe not immediatly, but I'm sure it could be done. These armors don't have to be boring! They can be like weapons- cool.

I think that we, and the devs, are going about all of this balancing issue perhaps incorrectly.

1. All helmets/armors should serve one of two purposes: To be part of a 'class set' or to be specialized but not to the point of creating win conditions. There should be no plain sets, like dread skelly. Only sets that reflect a class, which doesn't neccessarily have to be "sword, gun or bomb".
2. All "class sets" should begin appropriately, as should all specialized sets. Normal class sets should begin at 2*. If a set starts at 3*, it should be 'advanced' and harder to use correctly, but stronger in the long run. Specialized armor should not haphazardly branch out of existing play styles. Deadshot should not come from gunner armor. Gunner armor should not start at 3*.
3. If a set is specialized, it should be harder to find/build, and should come with greater rewards. Sets like heavenly iron don't make very much sense when compared to snarbolax coat- why not make heavenly iron give say, sword damage med or the whole fire thing?
4. All armor that isn't directly class armor should be easier to attain, but only for players that have gear and are already set up. It should also require more effort in some other regard, and should be somewhat creative in how it is unlocked.
5. All specialized armor should be interesting in some manner, and should go with more than just stats much of the time. It should be an end in itself. All class armor should be noticeably good, like vog, but not entirely special. It should be the vanilla.
6. All armor should have some kind of intent behind it. Dragon scale mail should have a reason for not resisting normal attacks- like.. makes your bullets fly farther, or 'adds knockback' or something.

This isn't a suggestion- its an afterthought that I had and would like to discuss. In all of actuality, I don't know that this would be good to implement at the current time, given the heavy investment on the part of many players.

Oh! And-

6:06 PM - Ectropy: I started playing warframe