So, what enhances "ranged defense" in BB if not armor?
Putting points into ranged defense enhances ranged defense.
That's the smartass answer, which I imagine you expected. ;-)
In game terms, ranged defense is probably supposed to take into account a variety of factors, including dodging, etc. At the end of the day, higher ranged defense means you are less likely to be hit by any ranged weapon.
It has been my observation, through hundreds of hours of play, that enemies with ranged weapons will often choose not to even attempt to shoot at BBs with high ranged defense, and will often concentrate their fire on the BB with the lowest ranged defense, which, IMHO, is a valid strategy.
Knowing this, I have made an effort to keep our ranged defense scores somewhat even, with the exception of our own ranged weapon guys, who I try to keep their ranged defense scores higher than our melee guys because I don't want our ranged weapon guys getting shot at, if that makes sense.
@Badger73 "the Bold" your own ranged defense score is 26, which is quite high, and you may have noted that you seldom become the target of concentrated ranged enemy fire.
Thus endeth the lesson.