Closed Buildings and Armour
Total Annihilation has no armour classes. A unit can have a damage modifier in its data, but the game uses it only while the unit's own script declares the unit closed. Open, the unit takes full damage.
The Rule
While a unit is closed, every hit on it is multiplied by its damage modifier. Then the unit's veterancy reduces the result further. A hit of 30,000 or more, such as the Commander's D-gun, ignores the modifier.
Only five units in the game have scripts that ever close them:
| Unit | Damage taken while closed | When it is closed |
|---|---|---|
| Solar Collector, Arm and Core | 33% | For 8 seconds after each hit |
| Ambusher | 28% | When it is not firing |
| Toaster | 15% | When it is not firing |
| Viper | 12.5% | When it is not firing |
The Ambusher, Toaster and Viper are pop-up guns from The Core Contingency. They open to fire and close again a few seconds after they stop aiming.
Modifiers That Do Nothing
Several other units have a damage modifier in their data, but their scripts never close them, so the modifier never applies. These units always take full damage:
| Unit | Modifier in the data |
|---|---|
| Annihilator | 0.5 |
| Doomsday Machine | 0.5 |
| Protector and Fortitude Missile Defense | 0.5 |
| Metal Maker, Arm | 0.5 |
| Advanced Sonar Station, Arm | 0.46 |
| Targeting Facility, Arm and Core | 0.7 |
| Moho Metal Maker, Core | 0.7 |
| Scarab and Hedgehog | 0.5 |
Worked Example
A Big Bertha shell does 2000 damage. Against an open Toaster it does the full 2000. Against a closed one it does about 300, so a closed Toaster with 1877 hit points survives 6 such shells instead of falling to the first.
A Solar Collector has 326 hit points, and a Hammer shell does 85. Against a collector that stayed open, 4 shells would do. But the first hit closes it, and each later shell does only 28, so the Hammer needs 10 shells in all. Each hit also keeps the collector shut down for another 8 seconds, so it makes no energy while it is under fire (see solar collectors).