>>719170701
>at what point does power armor transition into being a mech.
That's actually a serious debate and we don't have official etymology because people use whatever they think sound cooler.
It's often said:
"power armor are worn"
"mecha are piloted"

Then you have dumbass who think that mimicking the movement of a machine that weight several times your mass and can't move without actuators somehow make it a "power armor".

IMO the line is crossed when the machine stop needing to use the human body to stand on its own. Reaching robot when they operate on their own. Meaning most of "Iron man" suit are robot capable of carrying a dumbass, not even needing the power source.
Then you can imagine edge case, where the lower part can walk on its own but the upper part can't support itself,
Or say a Dr.Octopus tentacles backpack, a mecha/robot that can also be carried by its operator.