Armor adds its rating to the characters soak pool against Bashing, Lethal and Aggravated Damage. Armor also subtracts a number of dice from dice pools related to coordination and agility. (ALL dexterity based pools) The number subtracted is equal to the armors penalty.

Attackers can target unprotected portions of the defender and thus ignore the armor rating. Penalties for such targeting use the following system:

Class I-III armors: +1 diff to target unprotected spot.
Class IV-V armors: +2 diff to target unprotected spot.

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ARMOR-

Class I: Armor Rating: 1, Penalty: 0
-Reinforced clothing, heavy leather coat.

Class II: Armor rating: 2, Penalty: 1
-Armor T-shirt, common ballistics vest, flak vest. This is the typical armor most cops wear.

Class III: Armor rating: 3, Penalty: 2
-Kevlar vest, bulkier heavier bullet proof vest.

Class IV: Armor rating: 4, Penalty: 3
-Flak Jacket, this armor usually incorporates thigh/groin/neck protection.

Class V: Armor rating: 5, Penalty: 4
-Full Riot gear including full body protection, helmet and usually a shield.
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Archaic forms of armor such as plate mail or chainmail were never designed to deflect bullets and are in most cases, useless against firearms (usually with the exception of shotguns).

The armor rating for these types of armor are applied to bashing damage and lethal attacks from most melee weapons.