Penetration

Penetration is a game mechanic used to determine the damage of Weapons and Creatures against targets with or without Armor. It impacts how effective that weapon is against another prospector depending on the target's armor. It also determines the damage a weapon does against creatures and the damage creatures do against players.

Formula
To determine the penetration multiplier to be applied to the damage of the attack, the following step by step formulae are used.

Variables: $$\begin{align} multiplier & = 1/ ( 1 + \vert pen - armor \vert \cdot scale ) \\ & = 2 - multiplier~ \{ \mbox{if }pen - armor > 0 \} \\ & = max~ \{ \mbox{if }multiplier > max \} \\ & = min~ \{ \mbox{if }multiplier < min \} \end{align} $$
 * Scale is equal to the armor scaling of the target (0.03 for players)
 * min is equal to the targets minimum penetration multiplier
 * max is equal to the targets maximum penetration multiplier
 * pen is equal to the weapon's / creature's attack penetration value
 * armor is equal to the target's armor value

Chart

 * min = 0.3
 * max = 2.0
 * scale = 0.03

Using the above formula a chart like this is created for players.