Armor has two ratings. Ballistic defends against bullets and explosions; Impact defends against melee weapons, thrown attacks, and falls. When you take that kind of damage, add the matching rating to your Body for the Damage Resistance Test. Concealability is how easily the armor hides under clothing (higher = easier); weight feeds the encumbrance rules. As with all gear, lower Street Index means a cheaper black-market price.

You generally can't free-stack armor — wearing several pieces doesn't simply add every rating, and some items (like Form-Fitting Body Armor) explicitly can't be combined with other body armor, while shields add to worn armor. Heavy armor whose rating outstrips your Body also imposes a Quickness/encumbrance penalty. The exact stacking and encumbrance math is in the Combat chapter (SR2 p. 100+); per-item layering quirks are noted on the cards below.

When buying at chargen you ignore Availability and Street Index — just pay the listed nuyen (SR2 p. 46). Note SR2 core prints no legality column for armor, so those cards show Legal —; armor restriction laws vary by jurisdiction in play.