Power armor ( Fallout 4 ) Power armor is a unique form of external armor in " Fallout 4 " . General information . Power armor is a multi - component armor unit , compromised of a base frame , with assorted armor pieces mounted on it . For power armor to function it requires a fusion core as a source of power , which drains over time ; actions that consume AP will increase the rate of depletion . Once depleted , the unit will still be operable , but movement is heavily restricted as it is a dead weight . Comparison to previous portrayals . Power armor in " Fallout 4 " requires no training to use as it did in " Fallout 3 " and " " , and is unique in other aspects as well . Firstly , the separate armor segments are mounted on a frame , as opposed to previous suits which existed as holistic entities that were worn whole , aside from the helmet . The individual armor pieces can be reclaimed from deceased persons , however the frame cannot be recovered as the corpse cannot be ejected from the frame . Secondly , characters interact with the frame in the world to use the power armor , instead of equipping the power armor via the inventory . Power armor now uses fusion cores as ' fuel ' to power them for a few hours . This is similar to how T - 45d was supposed to use small energy cells as a fuel source in " Van Buren " . Once the fusion core is drained ( or if there is no core installed in the armor at all ) , the user will still be able to slowly walk in the armor , but will be over - encumbered and unable to use V . A . T . S . Power armor negates falling damage , as well as damaging others near the point of impact . Third , however , is the most ' accurate ' rendition to date with regards to the size of the armor , its general movement and abilities . Unlike the descriptions regarding power armor from previous " Fallout " games , the power armor frame does not appear to make use of any recognizable form of unified hydraulics system for strength enhancing purposes , although they could somehow be contained within the armor segments or the base frame itself . It instead appears to solely derive its strength boosting abilities entirely from servo motors strategically placed within key points of the frame . Finally , instead of gloves and boots , the power armor frame has a set of fully articulated mechanical hands and feet , which mimic the wearer ' s hand and foot movements via controls in the shins and forearms . This increases the wearer ' s arm length and overall height by approximately one foot . Power armor is capable of boosting the Sole Survivor ' s strength beyond the normal S . P . E . C . I . A . L . limit of 10 , potentially going as high as 14 with the appropriate modifications . Wearing power armor negates any bonuses given by standard armor . Power armor helmets have fully functional headlamps that are used in place of the Pip - Boy lights , which is disabled while wearing the armor . Unlike previous renditions of power armor , each power armor piece has its own hit point counter which depletes as damage is taken , as opposed to being spread across the full suit . Broken power armor pieces cannot be mounted on a power armor frame , but can be dropped and displayed . They can also be sold for the same price as a piece in perfect condition . In " Fallout 4 " power armor has had several alterations in regards to its physics ( as the frames with their plates affixed are heavy enough to crush bear traps by stepping on them ) . This weight adjustment renders the wearer incapable of swimming , with the user instead walking across the bed of any given body of water . This makes wearing power armor at places like Libertalia risky as falling off the walkways will cause the wearer to sink to the bottom and have to walk to shore . Handheld or wrist mounted weapons such as knuckles , cannot be equipped due to the significant difference in fist and wrist size . Power armor also completely negates all fall damage , with or without any pieces of armor attached , enabling the wearer to hop down from even the tallest of skyscrapers without any harm to either health or the armor itself . This however , causes a very loud thud , and will alert any nearby enemies of the player character ' s position . Landing on or in close proximity to an enemy or even friendly NPC deals a great deal of damage to them from the fall as well , which may cause them to become hostile . The elevation indicator on the compass disappears while wearing power armor , making all foes appear as if they are on the same floor on the compass . All distance values disappear as well , which can potentially result in some unpleasant surprises when marked threats are actually much closer already than one thought . Companions . Companions can be instructed to enter power armor via the companion command system . This is done by selecting Talk when facing a companion , the instructing them to Enter power armor when the player character ' s crosshair is over the power armor suit they wish for them to occupy . Certain companions ( e . g . Nick and Hancock , ) will remove the helmet by default . One can force them to wear the helmet by equipping it from the companions inventory , as with standard armor pieces . To have a companion exit power armor , select the Talk dialogue option and Relationship will have been replaced by Exit Power Armor . Some companions however are unable , or will refuse to use power armor . Paladin Danse will refuse to exit his power armor and cannot be assigned to another suit . His power armor also does not degrade from combat or fall damage . Companion worn power armor does not drain the fusion core if it has one installed and can use core - less frames without penalty . Maintenance and modification . The parts may be repaired and modified at power armor station s located around the Commonwealth , where a power armor frame is installed at , or within close proximity of the station . The armor and can neither be renamed nor scrapped for component materials . Power armor stations can be built at settlement locations under the crafting tab in workshop mode , if the player character has the necessary perks . The amounts of materials required for upgrading power armor pieces are fixed for each specific item , which means improving an armor piece from tier E to F has the same material cost as upgrading it from tier A to F . Depending on the player character ' s current situation , it might sometimes be wiser to postpone the next upgrade until higher ( or the maximum ) ranks of Armorer and Science ! have been unlocked in order to save resources . This is especially true for the more advanced power armor models as they require much larger quantities of increasingly rare and specialized materials for their upgrades than for example T - 45 or raider power armor . Each model of power armor ( except the raider power armor ) , can be modified with a unique paint scheme , most of which are acquired by progressing through the questlines of the four main factions . Some paints ( Minutemen , Railroad ) unlock after only a handful of quests while others like the Institute Paint require the completion of the entire corresponding questline . All of them grant the wearer a bonus to a specific SPECIAL stat if all six armor pieces are painted the same : The helmet ' s lamp can even be customized with different colored light filters or a more intense white light in place of the default one . Variants . Empty frame . Empty power armor frames are rare to find in the Commonwealth , but can be purchased from several merchants . These are the base units on which all power armor types are mounted . They also have the secondary function of acting as a stand within power armor stations for the Sole Survivor to repair and upgrade power armor pieces . Raider power armor . Raider power armor is a makeshift suit made from scrap metal and other salvageable components . Due to the nature of its design , raider power armor is weak compared to its counterparts and has limited scope for modification . T - 45 power armor . T - 45 power armor was the first set of armor manufactured for military and to a lesser degree domestic and commercial use . It is often the first suit to be encountered in the Commonwealth during the quest When Freedom Calls . It is relatively weak compared to its more advanced counter parts . T - 51 power armor . T - 51 was the most advanced power armor in wide commercial use before the outbreak of the Great War . In the Commonwealth , the T - 51 is suit of choice for the Railroad . T - 60 power armor . Developed in early 2077 after the Anchorage Reclamation , the T - 60 series of power armor was designed to eventually replace the T - 51 power armor as the pinnacle of powered armor technology in the U . S . military arsenal . The Brotherhood of Steel use them extensively across the US . X - 01 power armor . The X - 01 power armor is a set of power armor created shortly before the bombs fell . It was later engineered by remnants of the U . S . military after the Great War . Leveled power armor . Most power armor located around the Commonwealth is level scaled . For example , at lower levels one will find T - 45 power armor though at higher levels it can range from T - 51 power armor up to X - 01 power armor . Leveled frames spawn with T - 45 pieces at levels 1 - 13 , T - 51 pieces at levels 14 - 20 , T - 60 pieces at levels 21 - 27 and X - 01 pieces at level 28 and above . The upgrade level of armor pieces also increases within these ranges , e . g . T - 45b armor will spawn starting at level 11 . The armor pieces generated do not include previous levels , e . g . a leveled frame encountered at level 26 will only have T - 60 pieces . Frames sometimes spawn with incomplete sets of armor . Randomized frames can spawn with raider pieces at any level , T - 45 pieces starting at level 15 , T - 51 pieces starting at level 25 , T - 60 pieces starting at level 35 and X - 01 pieces starting at level 45 . The armor pieces generated include all previous levels , e . g . a randomized frame encountered at level 26 can spawn with any combination of T - 51 , T - 45 and raider armor pieces . The leveled power armor list ( ) adds additional armor sets at following player character levels : The only exception to this is the suit of randomized parts , which have their own separate pool ( per component ) to draw from : Locations . The parts of armor ( ex . body , head etc ) are in fixed number and type for each spawn point . Some frames appear to spawn different parts by loading a save from before ever entering that area , but type of armor ( e . g . T - 45 , T - 51 , X - 01 etc . ) depends on the player character ' s level when entering the area for the first time . Additional power armor pieces of any type can be purchased from Rowdy at the Atom Cats Garage . Unowned . < section begin = " unowned " / > < section end = unowned / > Owned . If worn , frames can be stolen by destroying or pickpocketing the fusion core . Whenever a player character enters a stolen frame , if there are power armor pieces equipped on the frame while doing so , companions that the player character currently has in tow , or within the area , will consider the act as " stealing " and the player character ' s affinity with them will be lowered .