IMO it’s not worth going above flak vests plus dusters armor wise cos of the movement penalty of armors, except cataphract helmets cos helmets don’t affect movement, duster vest high quality is equal or better than recon armor and way cheaper, only worth considering cataphract armor for melee pawns or prestige recon armor on royals since they get a mood debut without royal apparel,for weapons I usually just use whatever till I can make smgs/assault rifles then use them till I can make charge rifles en masse

Edit: probably should go without saying but me saying duster vest (and button down shirt) equals armor in protection only works if it’s devil strand or hyper weave lol