I have a few questions and a speculation about damage, armor and difficulty. I've seen some complaints that automatic weapons are sub-par due to reduced damage, as well as shotguns and miniguns. I have a feeling that a lot of people are playing the game at > normal difficulty, where player damage is reduced.

It's my understanding that the efficiency of Armor vs. Damage has a lot to do with the dmg per shot. A high dmg shot will have a naturally high % dmg penetration, and conversely armor is very efficient vs. lower dmg weapons. Question a) is "does the damage reduction on higher difficulties happen before or after armor calculations?" If it happens before armor is taken into account, it could explain why automatic weapons are so shunned, because I think they work wonders on normal difficulty, but they seem extraordinarily sub-par on higher difficulties.

Question is "how the hell do armor piercing work anyway?" I haven't been able to find any information on this. I'm running a commando game now, and my armor piercing 10mm gun seems to shred turrets like it's nobody's business, but I'd like some solid information on this.