[quote=EnderDragonFire]
I get what you are saying about DT. That is why I take everything in context. I don;t ask myself "is 15 DT reasonable for bronze armor?" I ask myself "is 15 DT reasonable for bronze armor in a world where leather has between 6 and 15 (gecko backed reinforced) and scrap metal has 10?" Basically, compared to other armors in the game, is 15 DT reflect the protection gap between leather, bronze, and steel?And I think that the answer is yes.
As for why Lanius would wear bronze, it is because it reflects the basic ideals of the legion. Wearing armor that is known to be outdated as a sign of your strength and non-reliance on advanced technology basically enbodies everything that they stand for.
As to weather he is a mutant, we really do not know. As far as I can tell, nobody has ever done genetic analysis on him. How do we know that he does not have some normal mutation, like gigantism? Caesar claims to reject all mutants, but if that was true he would be like the enclave, and only accept vault dwellers, as everyone born in the wastes is mutated in some way.
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In FNV context, the term 'mutant' usually refers to something obviously recognizable like Supermutants, Centaurs, Ghouls or Trogs. Everyone (except isolated vault-dwellers) is contaminated with small amounts of the original raw FEV (and has developed a limited immunity to such small amounts of FEV), which got released into the planets whole ecosphere during the great war. For a normal human in FNV setting to reach a large size and SPECIAL stat of Strength:9 (Lanius) does not require any assistance from FEV, it is just very rare random genetic occurrence combined with the right nurture/training/lifestyle.
In general, DT seems to be quite an abstract statistic, this one number needs to take into account both the fraction of torso, limbs or head actually covered by armor as well as the armors toughness.. Frex, when one puts on a bullet resistant vest, the whole abstract DT value rises up for both the torso and all limbs, although the limbs are not even covered at all by that armor.. IMHO gecko backing a leather armor propably should not add a whopping +5DT for only 3Lbs of added gecko leather, this is OP as heck. By this rationale, if one made a whole 15 Lbs leather armor outfit out of only hardened gecko-leather, it would have something like DT:25 which is obviously utterly ridiculous. Something tells me that these DT values for leather armor are overtly inflated for some as of yet unknown gameplay reason that has absolutely nothing to do with plausibility or realism.
Anyhow, take a close look at this picture on the falloutwikia site; http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130404182214/fallout/images/b/bb/Lanius.png
The picture clearly shows gray steel in places like the helmet and the pauldrons (kneeguards are all steel), it seems as if bronze (or bronze-plated or gold-plated) pieces have actually been attached over steel armor plates, and some of the steel armor underneath can still be seen in places, like around the edges of the pauldrons. I think this is quite clear visual evidence that Lanius' armor is a layered design using several different metals - It could be bronze or brass on top for appearance, and steel underneath for the real protection.
In reality modern steel plate offers way more resistance to bullets than bronze, both per thickness and per unit of weight over surface area. To stop any given bullet, IIRC one would propably need something like at least six times the weight of modern armorplate steel in bronze, also the bronze would deform quite easily and could not take several bullet hits, like the steel armor can - Another problem with all-bronze armor would be more pronounced spalling effects from bullet hits, I mean that even stopped high velocity bullets could eventually kill the wearer as the armor deforms by spitting pieces and slivers of bronze inside. Yet another problem with modern bronze armor IRL is that armor-piercing hardcore projectiles would go through it like a hot knife through butter. By using a steel+bronze sandwiched armor design, it is possible to get both the outward appearance of bronze and the practical protection of the steel without going totally outlandishly overboard with armor weight. I mean that the bronze contributes a little bit to the DT value there, but it seems quite certain that the largest fraction of Legate Armor's DT comes from steel.
