Body Armor
Armor is a protective body covering used to prevent injury and allow for longer periods of survival in hostile environments. Armor is differentiated by race. Turians, krogans, quarians and humans all have specific types of armor. Asari use human armor. There are, however, three general armor categories. These rate armor based on the protection it provides. Armor can be customised with upgrades to give better shields or health regeneration, improve cooldown times for tech abilities, or protect against melee attacks depending on individual preference.
Medium to heavy armor - and almost all turian and krogan armor - is classified as 'hardsuit' because it uses thick ceramic plating to protect non-flexible parts of the body. Each set of armor, regardless of its weight, has a kinetic barrier generator and an onboard computer that can give readouts on the environment, liaise with terminals to download data, and check local wildlife against the xenobiology database. This computer can also give a commanding officer readouts on his or her squad's current health and shield status, and helps differentiate between friend and foe during combat.
Kinetic Barriers
Kinetic barriers, more commonly called shields, are repulsive mass effect fields projected from tiny emitters, providing protection against most mass accelerator weapons. They safely deflect small objects traveling at rapid velocities. This affords protection from bullets and other dangerous projectiles, but still allows the user to sit down without knocking away their chair. The shielding afforded by kinetic barriers does not protect against extremes of temperature, toxins or radiation.
added 7-27-08
