NCPD Power armor, a viable alternative?

[Mr. Chainsaw]

One of my alts is a low tech pistol PE. I've been doing a few epics with him and am thinking of eventually settling down in Cityadmin. Is NCPD power armor a viable alternative to the usual 4th level PA PEs use? I've looked at the stats, and here's what I've been thinking:

-NCPD armor has better resists (in its unbroken form)
-PE PA has dex and pistol combat bonuses, but if all I'm using is a Liberator or Wyatt Earp, I can hit the Dex requirements on my own and probably cap the damage with pistol combat easily with the points saved on tech combat.
-NCPD has no stat drawbacks, unlike PE armor, so I can use my psychic abilities to their fullest (lvl 35 isn't so full, but every bit helps).
-I like to look and act like a copbot.

My biggest concern at this moment, since I don't entirely understand how epic items work, is: is there a chance I will drop the NCPD armor when I die? I thought I'd heard that you cannot drop epic items on death, but I want to be sure it wasn't just a rumor. There'd be no point to building a character with the NCPD armor in mind if I were eventually going to permanently lose it.

[MkVenner]

No u cant drop Epic items...wether gun chip or armour

[Mr. Chainsaw]

w00t, thanks MkVenner. I think I shall explore this possibility more then :):):)

[KramerTheWeird]

You never drop permanent epic items. This includes all epic items but DoY Raygun in the placeholder anti-city epics.

I don't really like the copbot armor at first, but after seeing this PA explosion and everyone and their mother using one, it's nice to see the NCPD PA around again for some variety at least. Sad that it's better looking than the PE PA!

[Mr. Chainsaw]

Yeah, you just wait till my NCPD Not-quite-Copbot swings around the P.I.M.P. courner and futily tells you criminals to move along Kramer :P

"Move along citizens, there is no loitering in this courner."
"No."
"If you do not leave I will be forced to attempt to draw my weapon and be told by my fellow law enforcement officers that I am not allowed to....please stop pouring water on me, you're getting my cardboard wet..."

[KramerTheWeird]

hey, we bought you guys off for that corner remember, and you gave us a bench!

[Strych9]

My melee PE uses it, and it works great. He a hacker that is geared to fight WBs. He has Duranit 4 Helm, NCPD PA, Duranit 4 trousers, light energy belt, and the new Duranium boots (medium pair).

Toss in Gamma Bones and health energy/xray resists and a shelter, and he is good to go.

But if you check the protection, the NCPD PA is pretty damn nice.

[Quede]

Originally posted by Strych9
My melee PE uses it, and it works great. He a hacker that is geared to fight WBs. He has Duranit 4 Helm, NCPD PA, Duranit 4 trousers, light energy belt, and the new Duranium boots (medium pair).

Toss in Gamma Bones and health energy/xray resists and a shelter, and he is good to go.

But if you check the protection, the NCPD PA is pretty damn nice.

Depends, for myself as a Pistol PE I have the choice of my
NCPD armor or PE PA3, which means there is no choice :P

45 PRC, 45FOR, 30ENR vs 32 PRC 28 FOR 26 ENR +4DEX and
that all so needed +10PC. Since I am a pistol user my FOR
resist from STR is plenty high enough, 4 ENR for 4DEX/10PC
is basically what it comes down to.

It's a shame they didn't factor the epic armor in when they
released the new PA's into the wild. Its usefulness has been
severely negated.

[Whitestuff]

Well, I would wear it now, but the thing is broken. They nerfed its stats and they really need to get cracking to fix it back. I would so totally go Tangent Gat Can and NCPD armor instead of Tank PA 2 and CS if it were fixed.

[Mr. Chainsaw]

I think I'll try it out, since I can't drop it and lose it permanently, the extra bit of armor and cooler look are big bonuses compared to a little extra dex and p-c which I don't really need.

I'll just continue to do epics until it gets fixed....what the heck will I do with a tangent speed gun I wonder, perhaps mount it in a custom appartment? :P

[Strych9]

Well sure, for a pistol PE. But I am a melee PE, and you will see I said "check the protection"... not that it was overall a good choice for a PE. 45/45/30 is VERY good in terms of PA protection out there.

Oh and it IS fixed, as of last patch. It WAS broken to where it had almost exactly half the stats it should have (22/22/16) but it is back to normal now.

Its only downside is that it is pretty heavy (not sure what normal PE PA weighs). But its not too bad.

EDIT: It also disguises your class. :) You could be a Spy, PE, or Tank wearing it. Too many people assume I am a tank when they see someone in PE PA weilding a Vein Ripper... until they see me cast Shelter. :)

[Mr. Chainsaw]

I meant to say the pistol combat bonus isn't huge since I have dex points to burn with no tech combat (I don't use stealth activators....on0z!!! :P ), and I don't need the dex because I can hit the dex needed for a liberator just with a few implants.

As long as it doesn't rain and get my cardboard wet I'm good to go.

::Edit:: Hehe, I forgot about disguising my class. I should join a clan and have my clan title something like "Genetank enforcer" or something :P

[Quede]

Originally posted by Mr. Chainsaw
I meant to say the pistol combat bonus isn't huge since I have dex points to burn with no tech combat (I don't use stealth activators....on0z!!! :P ), and I don't need the dex because I can hit the dex needed for a liberator just with a few implants.

As long as it doesn't rain and get my cardboard wet I'm good to go.

::Edit:: Hehe, I forgot about disguising my class. I should join a clan and have my clan title something like "Genetank enforcer" or something :P

I don't require the PA to get the DEX to use my liberator either.

BUT, if I lose the 10PC I gain from the PA I will be extra gimped.

With all imps and pistol 1 buff I get 116 WEP, 180PC, 97DEX
and with a 4slot all artifact Liberator I only get 178% DAM
267% AIM, 361/Min ROF, 88M Range. Take away the PA and
I only get 334/Min, 85M Range. I use tech pistols so the gap
is much more pronounced with them. Everything is so specialized
these days :P