It's worth pointing out ..... the gauntlets FFG introduced weren't cortosis (last I recalled). I suspect there was a balance reason for that.

F&D pg 172, Melee Weapons

Cortosis Gauntlets (Refined), Cortosis Shield, Cortosis Staff (Refined), Cortosis Sword

It's like Yogurt and the Schwartz up in here. "Cortosis the T-shirt, Cortosis the Coloring Book, Cortosis the Lunch Box, Cortosis the Breakfast Cereal, Cortosis the Flame Thrower!!!"

Yeah I hear you. It reminds me of playing Knights of the Old Republic. "What the hell? We can fight Jedi with regular swords?"

"Oh sure mate, we have this Macguffin substance called Cortosis. Now in a spray bottle!"

Actually I would consider the use of Reflect even with that shield thingie to be a display of Force Sensitivity. When this player was doing some undercover work I made it very clear that reflecting a blaster bolt, even with gauntlets, would be as much cause for alarm as whipping out an energy blade. Obviously one is more subtle, but he still only did it in situations where the other player would have gone "Full Saber".

I think part of what bugs me, is that Cortosis Gauntlets seem relatively common, and very easy to conceal. It doesn't say that they look any different from gloves you'd wear for any other reason. Whereas a Lightsaber hanging from your belt really can't be mistaken for anything other than a Lightsaber. So while your guy may draw attention swatting Blaster Bolts out of the air, he's just another guy the rest of the time. While someone with a Saber is more likely to draw attention regardless.

I was talking about the sheild gauntlets. They aren't corotis and I imagine there's a balance reason for why they didn't combine the two.

As for PCs equipping nothing but cortosis gear because rarity isn't factored in at char gen, GMs have final say over the final char sheet. If the GM doesn't say no then PCs being all decked in cortosis is his problem.

While I would not allow bare handed reflect (as it calls for a weapon in hand, but I'd allow using bracers...

The cortosis gauntlets as listed in FaD, which are actually refined cortosis gauntlets, have their own special property as described in detail on page 171, namely that if somebody with a lightsaber attacks the wearer and rolls 3 threat or a Despair, they can spend that to make the lightsaber switch off after the combat check's been resolved. Same can be done with 3 advantage or a Triumph if the wearer of the refined cortosis gauntlets makes a Brawl attack against a lightsaber wielder. Now the key element here is that in the description then concludes that while the shorted-out lightsaber can be switched back on as an incidental, it they can't do so until after the last initiative slot at end of the next combat round . So that potentially means that the 'saber wielder just lost not only their main offense, but probably their key defense if they relied on Parry and especially Reflect.

In the Beta playtest, I actually used a dark side adept with Enhance and these guantlets, shut down the lightsaber of the Niman Disciple (Knight Level) with his attack, take an extra maneuver to disengage, and then had two squads of stormtroopers (4 minions each) open fire on the PC to some pretty horrific results. A PC with said gauntlets could very easily do the same to an Inquisitor, leaving what should be a dangerous Nemesis very much open to the PC with the heavy firepower and cut to ribbon very quickly.

Plus, if you bring Legends into this, cortosis really isn't all that great at withstanding blaster fire or resisting damage in general. It's usage as a weave in KOTOR was a hand-wave for why the swords used by the NPCs wasn't hewed into pieces by the PC's lightsaber. Also in Legends, it was noted that cortosis only works by generally exploiting a minor design trait in how most lightsabers generate their energy blades, and at one point early on it was possible (though very difficult) to remove that particular trait so that cortosis got sliced through just like anything else. Sadly, other authors forgot (or didn't bother to verify) this particular item, so cortosis got inflated to be this anti-lightsaber material.

Of similar interest, Keeping the Peace has the energy buckler, which in theory is similar to the shield gauntlet in that both create a small defensive energy shield. And yet, the gauntlet provides no benefit vs. melee attacks but can be used with Reflect talent, while the thematically similar energy buckler provides defense vs. both ranged and melee attacks and if used to attack has the Concussive quality, but can't be used with the Reflect talent.

If the PC wanted something like phrik alloy bracers, something whose sole purpose was to enable the usage of Reflect (and perhaps Parry as well) but provided no other benefit aside from that and the Cortosis quality (i.e. no bonus to damage or improvement to crit rating to the base value of an unarmed attack, as well as no hard points), that is something that could be considered at least somewhat balanced, but I'd set the price tag and Rarity as fairly high given the utility of said bracers/gauntlets/vambraces.

The shield gauntlets don't need to be made of cortosis for the same reason that lghtsabers do not. It is energy, in this case in shield form.

It's worth pointing out ..... the gauntlets FFG introduced weren't cortosis (last I recalled). I suspect there was a balance reason for that.

F&D pg 172, Melee Weapons

Cortosis Gauntlets (Refined), Cortosis Shield, Cortosis Staff (Refined), Cortosis Sword

It's like

up in here. "Cortosis the T-shirt, Cortosis the Coloring Book, Cortosis the Lunch Box, Cortosis the Breakfast Cereal, Cortosis the Flame Thrower!!!"

I was talking about the shield gauntlets. They aren't corotis and I imagine there's a balance reason for why they didn't combine the two.

As for PCs equipping nothing but cortosis gear because rarity isn't factored in at char gen, GMs have final say over the final char sheet. If the GM doesn't say no then PCs being all decked in cortosis is his problem.

The shield gauntlets don't need to be made of cortosis for the same reason that lghtsabers do not. It is energy, in this case in shield form.

Sorry, I didn't realize you meant the Shield Gauntlets being made of Cortosis. We were talking about Cortosis Gauntlets b/c that's what OP's character wears.

The Shield Gauntlets don't need to be made of Cortosis, b/c they're generating an energy shield Buckler. That's why they can Reflect Blaster bolts, same as a Lightsaber. Energy vs energy.