Editing Power Armour (section)

== Tau Battlesuits ==
''Main Article: [[Battlesuit]]

[[image:XV22 CommanderShadowSun.jpg|The blueberry's battlequeen with her XV22|200px|right|thumb]]

The Tau take on "power armor" is a bit more diverse compared to the Imperium because it encompasses both personal protective suits, like stealth suits, and giant weapons platforms, like Riptides. Essentially, the Tau classify everything from enhanced flight suits to nearly Knight-class units as "Battlesuits".

Pound for pound, Tau battlesuits generally have lower raw protective capabilities than their Imperial counterparts. However, they make up for this by having extremely advanced subsystems, high mobility, and devastating weaponry. The Tau Empire is also capable of mass-producing all its suits, in contrast to the Imperium which often resorts to assembling such advanced battlegear in an inefficient, individually handmade, boutique-style fashion.

It is important to note that Tau battlesuits can vary quite widely in form and function. Suits like the XV15, XV22, and XV25 are the closest in form to what the Imperium would consider true "worn" power armor. Meanwhile all medium-sized suits, which includes most designations from the XV8 through X104, are essentially small [[Mecha]], with the pilot fully enclosed in a cocoon-like cockpit. Tau suits are certainly quite durable, but in contrast to Imperial designs sheer protection is not necessarily their most important function. Finally, the Tau place the largest units such as the KV128 and KX139 in a different category called Ballistic Suits, and do not consider them battlesuits as such.

<gallery>
XV15 black.jpg|XV15
XV22 Shadowsun.jpg|XV22
XV25 White.jpg|XV25
</gallery>
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