The Skat-9 Bulat military armoured suit (eng. Stingray-9 Persian Steel), also known as the military stalker Suit, is an armour that appears in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. It is a usable armour in the latter two titles.
Overview
The Skat-9 military armoured suit is another armour built in the same line as the Skat-9M military armoured suit, allowing greater mobility at the expense of protection.
It is very similar to in overall shape to the Skat-9M military armoured suit that succeeded it. It is distinctively different, as instead of grey urban camo, it features an European woodland pattern and instead of a tactical vest, an armoured breastplate on the front.
Appearances
Build 2205
The SKAT-9 armour first appears as a wearable armour in Build 2205. It is fully functional, complete with an inventory icon and player model. It provides protection which overall (within Build 2205) is slightly below that of the SKAT-9M armour (later named the Bulat armour) but elevated in certain curious areas, notably psionic and firearm protection.
Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl includes a partially functional version of the SKAT-9 armour, similar to the status of the Army Outfit; the in-game models and textures remain, but the wearer appearance graphic and inventory icons have been removed (the former to make room for the icon corresponding to the PSZ-9Md Universal Protection armour). By default no Stalkers are equipped with the armour, but there is a low probability that one wearing it may appear. However, at least one in-game image features the SKAT-9 armour, which can be seen by going to the Encyclopedia entry for "Military Stalkers" in the in-game PDA.
If the armour is somehow obtained in-game and worn by the player it provides complete (100%) protection and immunity from all damage sources, including Psionic damage.
Clear Sky
Having 60 bulletproof AND night vision out-of-box, Bulat armour is a great choice for Stalkers who like to engage in aggressive gunfights. It is fully upgradable - with an additional cost of many rubles and extra weight. With armoured Kevlar plates and/or durability/integrity upgrades, the Bulat suit can protect wearer from rifle bursts. But this armour has 2 major flaws: heavy weight, and it can only be upgraded to include two artifact containers. The suit will be available for purchase from Sakharov after repairing the cooling system of Lab X16 or from Duty, it costs at least 27,500 rubles and weighs 12.00kg. As the description says, it's capable of greatly dampening bullet damage, even without upgrades, however grenades exploding at close range will still be able to deal massive damage and even death. The suit is expensive to modify, but if fully modified for durability, armour integrity and with dual composite armour plates almost any type of assault rifle round fired from medium range to long range will barely do any noticeable damage; making the player a walking dreadnought with the right weaponry! If fully upgraded for anomaly protection, it can include full protection from psy-emissions. The suit is a combination between the Exoskeleton and the SEVA suit, as it combines great bullet protection and moderate anomaly protection (perhaps the highest of any unmodified combat oriented suit). Also, the Bulat enables the wearer to sprint, although it doesn't increase the wearer's strength.
Call of Pripyat
In Call of Pripyat the Bulat remains a high-end armour. Unupgraded it has same bulletproof protection as fully upgraded Berill-5M armoured suit, and its anomaly protection is only slightly worse than that of CS-3a body armour. Fully upgraded it loses only to the Exoskeleton; hovewer the Bulat can still use a helmet taking advantage of helmet upgrades as well as the superior night vision of Sphere-12 helmet or infravision of Tactical helmet.
It can be purchased from Owl late in the game or acquired for free along with a Sphere-12 helmet from the Military stationed inside the Laundromat, simply by asking them for an armour(this is recommended as the player will most likely be in SEVA at this point). It has no artifact slots by default and can be upgraded to two.
Upgrades
Bulat has four upgrade paths. While the +2 artifact slots upgrade requires the Calibration Kit, since you will most likely get Bulat in Pripyat itself you shouldn't need to wait long before unlocking the suit's full potential. It has both weight reduction and carry weight upgrades, as well as relatively strong utility(health, bleeding, etc.) upgrades.
Trivia
- Bulat is the name for a Russian steel alloy, having origins from the Persian word "Pulad" which means steel in Persian. It was frequently mentioned in Russian legends as the metal of choice for cold steel.
- The Ukrainian army also has a modernized variant of the T-64 Battle tank with the unique designation T-64 Bulat.
See also
- Army outfit - Another Military armour which was removed from Shadow of Chernobyl
- Skat-9M military armoured suit - Also known as the SKAT-9M Military Armoured Suit, a variant of the SKAT-9 armour.
Behind the scenes
- Originally, the armour had a substantially different appearance - the upper torso was protected by an armoured plate, with a black jumpsuit underneath (see below).
Gallery
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