Carapace

Carapace is a physical mutation that grants the natural equipment, granting bonus AV, heat resistance, and cold resistance at the cost of decreased DV.

Carapace grants the "Tighten Carapace" ability, which allows player to tighten their carapace, doubling their AV bonus but decreasing their DV by an additional 2 points. Tightening one's carapace is an action that takes one standard turn length. Taking most actions other than passing the turn will loosen the carapace, causing the player's AV and DV to return to standard values; however, most mental mutations can be used without loosening the carapace.

Formulas
The following formulas are used to determine AV bonus (rounded down), heat resistance, and cold resistance by mutation level.

Advantages

 * Gives excellent armor which scales extremely well with level
 * Is naturally sturdy, preventing it from being cracked
 * Gives heat resist and cold resist which scale well with level
 * Completely weightless
 * Causes members of the Tortoise faction to start friendly to the player
 * At 10th level, is equivalent to a with a higher heat and cold resistance, though no acid/electric resistance.
 * If Rapid Advancement is used on the Carapace mutation, and / or if it is combined with Adrenal Control, it can exceed the best armor in the game in effectiveness.

Disadvantages

 * At low levels, the DV penalty is strong enough to outweigh the AV bonus
 * Permanently takes up the player's body slot
 * Can't be modded, unlike regular body armor.
 * In the very late game, a modded suit of will be superior to even level 10 Carapace in most respects, without costing any mutation points.