There's danger in making a favored piece of gear too good when it ends up eclipsing something else while sharing none of the disadvantages. It's a good idea to be careful with that. Of course, some equipment and vehicles in this setting do forego the standard, like the Plumeria breaking the speed standard in what many consider a overt show of favoritism. If leaning in that direction is the case, my involvement is irrelevant.
On the offchance that my intervention could be helpful, I'll go on. I'm not going to go "I'm right, you're wrong" on Ame's account since she is a NTSE moderator and I respect the standards she's set elsewhere. All I can do is provide an extra perspective.
I don't personally agree with Ametheliana's choice of medium personnel-tier protection. I think it should be tier 1. I believe there's value in the first place in not calling it 'unarmored' for something that's so slim and streamlined.
But Ame's suggestion of Tier 2 is world's better than Tier 3. Please, don't go Tier 3. Tier 3 is like, thick hardsuits like the one Commander Shepard wears in Mass Effect.
I mean...
This is Riot armor. Believe it or not, it's tier 1:
This is a full suit of ballistic armor. It's Tier 2:
That stuff is actually really thick:
Tier 3 is more like bombsuits or hardsuits, like this one:
Usually, it's the material used that makes what looks like a very light-layer of protection outperform the common performance of its tier. For instance, unless you use anti-matter, plasma or aether, the Mindy IV can soak tons of punishment thanks to the zesuaium armor. For something skintight, a material like yarvex could pay off since its impervious to punctures (though you'll still feel the force behind the blow and the blunt trauma can still wound you).
In any case, your nice materials are likely the best medium to convey what the suit is best at resisting than the tier. In this case, I think that's the stonethread? (stonethread essentially being
+2 clothing of fire resistance >_>; ). But that's typically not fully expressed in the tier; that's why there's a section for describing your armor usually in articles.