The Swarm wear very little, if any armor at all.
Swarm Armor was the main body armor of the Swarm worn by it soldiers. In contrast to the armor worn by the Locust Horde, Swarm Armor is barely utilized and when it is, its usually incredibly primitive, simple and unsophisticated. This is not surprising given the lack of the industrial warmachine the Locust developed and matured overtime, so standardization remain lacking.
In general, these armor pieces consists of multiple crudely shaped metal plates, bound to its wearer via leather straps and chains. Largely inconsistent, due to its scavenged nature and the general lack of intelligence from its manufacturers, Swarm Armor most commonly protected the chest, arms and thighs of its wearer, and was supplemented by the naturally tough carapace formed by most Swarm creatures, including the Drones that most commonly wore it. Scions were known to wear heavy armor, with the most notable being the Speaker, who wore large shoulder armor and gauntlets, and the Wardens, who wore large metal helmets to protect their vulnerable heads, only part of their body not covered by their impenetrable crystal chrysalis.
Swarm Armor has bright red highlights in contrast to the orange-red of the Locust Horde.
Armor Types[]
Scrap Armor[]
Scrap Armor bolted on an Elite Sniper.
Like the COG's Custom Armor and Locust Scavenged Armor, Scrap Armor is the catch-all term to denote armor pieces worn by most Swarm Drones with the most notable stand out being the Elite Snipers of the Swarm.
Unlike conventional body armor which is fitted over and worn, Scrap Armor is wrapped around and even bolted on the tough carapace of a Swarm's skin. Sometimes, it is merely two ammo belts wrapped around the torso. These armor pieces are nothing more than large scraps of metal that has been hammered into shape to fit the torso, shoulder and legs of the Elite Sniper and Drone.
The only advance component of this armor set is the cybernetic eye which replaces the lost left eye of the Elite Sniper with Drones being exempt. This allows the Sniper to more accurately lay down his shots in a consistent manner. Due to the above-average technological resources needed to craft this set, the average Swarm Sniper do not get the luxury of wearing one.[1]
Hunter Rags[]
Hunter in her rags.
Essentially the Swarm equivalent of the Commando Armor worn by the Coalition.
The Hunters of the Swarm wore rags of light leather straps to reduce exposure and noise. Due to their nature as covert assassins and covert-ops, such light pieces of armor is necessary so as to not stand out in the open.
These rags are held together and festooned with a thick leather belt-like corset which also allows a Hunter to carry ammunition for either their Torque Bow or EMBAR. The Hunter's face is covered by a leather hood and scarf for better concealment purposes.
Elite Hunters are known to cloak before the first shot. It is unknown if this is a special biological attribute for the Hunters or the Swarm manage to reverse-engineer a small active camouflage system from JACK robots.[2]
Armored Overcoat[]
Elite Grenadier draped in his overcoat.
Only the most experienced and esteemed of Swarm Grenadiers are given the privilege in wearing full body armor, which can protect them from explosions from their own grenades. In a sense, it is the Swarm equivalent of the Destroyer Armor.
The Armored Overcoat is the primary armor of the Elite Grenadier. It is an extremely big and cumbersome armor piece that bares more resemblance to an armored apron. Despite this, Elite Grenadiers could move around them with ease and finesse. These overcoats is stitched from thick leather and is than reinforced by plates of metal.
An armored neckguard is present, although it seems fused to the skin of the Grenadier. Combine with the thick metal helmet that the Grenadier wears and the Armored Overcoat becomes a very protective shield despite its crudeness and simplicity.[3]
Scion Armor[]
Heavy Scion wearing armor.
Scion Armor consists of a mishmash of various armor pieces from the Locust Horde that was repurposed to suit the physiology of a Scion. Armored Scions wore the least amount of armor, with only a chest belt, left pauldron and armoured leg guards being present.
Scion Elites wore better armor, with two fully enclosed pauldrons and arm guards as well as an upgraded chest belt that defends the left breast of the Scion and a Boom Shield to protect the Scion Elite from attacks of the rear.
Heavy Scions, however, wore the most armor, with a fully enclose chest armor that covers both the breast and the back of the Scion's torso. Moreover, they wore a scavenged helmet from a Theron Guard, providing them protection from precision weapons.
As such, Scion Armor is the most heavily defended piece of protective armor found in the low-industrialised Swarm.
Known wearers:
Behind the Scenes[]
- The appearance of Swarm armor was first noted by Garron Paduk and his Nomads occupying the Vasgari Desert, at roughly the same time that the Swarm began producing and carrying the Claw Light Machine Gun as their primary assault rifle armament. The development the Swarm had achieved made it considerably harder to respond to Swarm incursions on Nomad controlled areas, which forced Paduk to enlist the help of old friend Damon Baird, and later, Corporal Kait Diaz and Lieutenant Delmont Walker, in providing weapons and assistance to meet the new threat. [4]
- Where the Swarm had previously salvaged light leather armor and the Hammerburst II from Locust burial sites to begin rebuilding their civilization, the sudden manifestation of new armor, tactics and weapons was hypothesized to have occurred as a result of the awakening of Queen Myrrah's conscience in the Swarm's hivemind, an inadvertent result of Kait Diaz's encounter with the Matriarch in the Mount Kadar Laboratory.[5]
- With a Queen to direct them, the Swarm began to grow a more advanced industry and cunning that challenged the COG's previous superiority over their new adversary. Elite troops with Swarm armor and Claw LMGs began to be stationed in key locations around Vasgar, and were first formally deployed against the COG during the Battle of Old Ephyra.[6]