Lithodermis

    The color in the player's skin slowly grows darker in patches until he/she looks a light
    blue-grey. He/She claps, producing a rocky sort of thud.
    [ You've developed the 'lithodermis' mutation! ]

Lithodermis is the upgrade to High Density. Your skin becomes more dense and stony, helping you resist broken limbs, knockouts, beatings, falling, and brain damage. However your added weight impairs climbing and swimming and weighs you down, decreasing how much you can carry.

Location

In Adamant Canyon. There are rock leeches and apparitions here, which can pose a threat to low-level players. The canyon depths are also very dark, so bring a light! If you don't intend to suicide run the mutation, make sure you bring some climbing ropes and hang them as you go; Lithodermis debuffs your climb.

Once in the canyon's depths, go all the way south, past the climbs. Then, keep to the west and don't enter the water, traversing the climb and rope bridge. The mutation spot is just beyond the bridge.

Effects

This mutation grants:

    -3 to Climb
    -3 to Swim
    +70 generic broken limb resistance
    +60 knockout resistance
    +50 brain damage resistance
    +1-2 beat resistance
    +2-2 bullet resistance
    +25kg to player's weight (12.5kg to carried weight)
    Inability to be tattooed by a tattoo gun (must use an engraving tool instead)
    Reduced fall damage
    Increased bare fist damage

Advantages

• +60 KO resistance is very good. Getting knocked out is a death sentence in PvP and PvE. If you have low endurance, you're extra susceptible to KO, so this is even more helpful. If taken with Hooligan, you can reach 90 KO resistance.
• +70 broken limb resistance. Breakage isn't as serious as getting knocked out, but not having to worry about it is great.
• Beat and bullet are two very common damage types, so you'll get lots of value out of the extra soaks (though bullet is much, much less common if you are a Carebear).
• +50 brain damage resistance is convenient; you don't have to hassle someone for brain surgery every time you take a head crit.
• +25kg weight translates into much greater headbutt power if you have Hooligan. High-brawn lithodermis headbutts can outright kill some unprepared players. Incoming headbutts are reduced in power, because you have a harder head and big KO resistance.
• Reduced fall damage; falls of about 10m are usually safe. When you accidentally walk out of a hovering plane you probably won't die.
• Slightly increased damage on your bare fists (claws from Ripper, etc. are not affected).

Disadvantages

• -3 climb/swim. This isn't a big deal; both skills are very cheap and lots of people take Salamander anyway.
• Can't take Leapfrog or Flight.
• +25kg body weight can occasionally cause problems with weight limits in small planes.
• The extra weight also takes up about 19kg of inventory space (it's counted as "worn" weight, and so reduced by 25%). This is a significant amount, especially if you have low Brawn; Mule offsets it well, and the extra weight will prevent you from ever stressing too.
• Aside from the minor fall damage bonus, Lithodermis is the only T2 soak mutation that only affects combat, and offers no utility outside of fights.

Appearance

    His/Her skin has a bluish grey hue.