Cyberlimbs, Rules as Intended? Options

[j2klbs]

Hi all,

I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something in the rules regarding cyberlimbs. When using cyberlimb hands/feet or lower arms/leg, per the cyberlimb rules, you do not use the STR/AGI of that cyberlimb for things like shooting, melee attacks, etc. Instead you use whatever your base character's STR/AGI is.

It seems to me that using cyberhands/feet is a great way to get a lot of armor dice and you don't need to worry about the STR/AGI ratings of the limbs. Let's look at the essence and nuyen cost of 4 cyberlimbs vs. dermal plating.

Item Armor Essence Nuyen
--------------------------------------------------------------
Cyberhands/feet (x4) 12 1.0 56,000Y
Dermal Plating-2 2 1.0 6,000Y

Looking at the numbers above, for the same essence cost, you are getting 6X more armor. If you scale up the cost of Dermal Plating linearly to what it hypothetically would cost to get 12 armor, it would cost 36,000Y, so cyberhands/limbs do cost 56% more per point of armor but at a fraction of the essence.

Do cyberhands/feet really work this way? It seems very powerful to get 12 points of stackable armor for those costs. It also seems a little strange that having armored hands and feet is really making a character that much more survivable since any shots would likely target the torso anyway.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
j2klbs