So, since getting the game (no DLC), I have been playing as engineer, because I want to decipher messages the fastest. It seems like my biggest problem is losing my armor (jumpsuit). Many enemies seem to do durability damage to this armor with every attack. I do my best to keep my armor repaired, but sometimes I get zerged, and there is no way to escape and save my armor. With no armor, I have to hope I find a replacement soon, or it is pretty much game over eventually. I get grabbed by a powerful monster like a toxoid, or mass attacked by security bots and easily killed.

What I discovered is that heavier armors don't take nearly so much durability loss from attacks, on top of having higher durability levels. It seems the single most determining factor on how far I get is based on if and what kind of armor I find while playing. Anyone else agree?

Since getting the DLC a while ago, I think the difficulty has definitely increased. Depending on which character you take, your going to face problems almost from the get go. If you choose the marine, he is like a walking tank who brushes off disease very quickly.. but has almost no computer and or electronic skills so your going to be relying heavily on monster drops. Things with engineers is that, as you say.. his armor erodes quickly, but his skill set is high.

Each character has their pros and cons, its just about adjusting your play style accordingly. I know i'm still learning!

This game can be so random. On one playthrough, I think I found the heaviest armor in the game on floor 5. If I remember correctly, it was called "Brawler PDA". As an engineer, it slowed me down to 1 square per turn. At first, I was just using it to clear rooms full of security bots, and using my jumpsuit for most of the rooms. This worked fine until I lost my jumpsuit, like usual. By floor 11, I was using the Brawler armor full time, because going naked can get an engineer killed at that level. I finally died on floor 14 from disease. I was having severe food problems, and was in the "starving" state while diseased with no cure. The disease just got worse until I died.

On another engineer playthrough, I had great luck from around floor 7 to 14 as far as weapon and armor drops. Auto rifle, lightning sar, laser pistol, machine pistol, laser rifle. You name it. I even found the ceramic armor, which had amazing protection and durability. On floor 18, I got ambushed and grabbed by a large protean, admittedly by my own sloppiness. Wow, this thing ruined me. It destroyed my armor, which still had 41 durability before the encounter, and about 3 of my weapons. After that, it was a huge struggle. I played carefully, and actually made it all the way down to floor 25. I was losing durability, and forced to use duct tape to hold my weapons together. The loot from floor 18 to 25 was terrible. On floor 25 I was finally cornered by a war bot mk1 and heavy security bot mk2, which finished me off. Those high level bots are brutal. I can only imagine how much a nightmare it must be to fight a war bot mk3. They should be worth more xp, if you ask me.

Here is what I learned. Never, ever, EVER, let a large protean touch you. Even if you need to retreat into other enemies, taking heavy damage, it is still better than being touched by a large protean. The auto rifle is one of the most flexible, useful, and ammo plentiful weapons in the game. The liir health amulet is a wonderful support item, that will give you so much health over the long term, it may be unbalanced. I really love this game. It is so addicting.