Fallout 4 armor and clothing Overview . In " Fallout 4 " the wardrobe system allows the Sole Survivor to piece together their outfit from a variety of clothing and armor choices . The system is broken up into 9 slots , and 2 layers : Many wardrobe items take up multiple slots , including armor slots , limiting what other pieces they can be combined with . Each item on every layer can offer bonuses , such as different kinds of damage resistance . All of these items and their unique bonuses are detailed below . Furthermore , armor mods can be applied to select items , providing additional bonuses . Characters can enter power armor wearing any combination of clothing , adding an additional layer of armor . However , wearing power armor nullifies all bonuses provided by the lower layers . Each piece of armor falls under one of these classifications : Normal , Legendary or Unique . Normal armors have no special bonuses applied to them . Legendary armors come with random bonuses and are mostly dropped by Legendary enemies . Unique armors are pre - named , have a special legendary bonus and are only available through certain merchants and quest rewards . Body armor parts . Raider armor . Raider armor is usually the most common armor type , and can be seen as a tier 1 armor . Providing the least energy and ballistic resistance out of all armor types - in some cases , excluding the DC guard armor type - it ' s the armor most commonly worn by raiders . Images IDs Stats Leather armor . Leather armor , along with the metal armor below , can be seen as tier 2 armor types , serving as counterparts to each other . Leather provides superior energy resistance but inferior ballistic resistance when compared to metal armor . The standard and sturdy variants of leather armor have inferior ballistic and energy resistances compared to the tier 3 combat armor , but heavy leather , and sturdy legs , have slightly superior energy resistance at the expense of considerably weaker ballistic resistance . Images IDs Stats Metal armor . Metal armor , along with the leather armor above , can be seen as tier 2 armor types , serving as counterparts to each other . Metal provides superior ballistic resistance but inferior energy resistance when compared to leather armor . The standard variant of metal armor has inferior ballistic and energy resistances compared to the tier 3 combat armor , but the sturdy and heavy variants of metal have slightly superior ballistic resistance at the expense of considerably weaker energy resistance . Images IDs Stats Combat armor . Combat armor can be seen as a tier 3 armor type , providing the best of both from the tier 2 armor types leather and metal . The standard variant has superior energy and ballistic resistance to both leather and metal . Although heavy leather armor has superior energy resistance and heavy metal armor has superior ballistic resistance , combat armor has better ballistic resistance than leather and better energy resistance than metal , making it better geared for all - purpose use . " While all other armor has identical stats for the left and right variants of limbs , combat armor has different weights for left and right legs . " Images IDs Stats Synth armor . Synth armor can be seen as a tier 4 armor type . The standard and sturdy variants have somewhat to slightly weaker ballistic resistances compared to the tier 3 combat armor , but the heavy variant has slightly better ballistic resistance , and all variants have superior energy resistance . The end result is a standard variant that ' s only slightly weaker than combat armor for all - purpose use , a sturdy variant that ' s somewhat better for all - purpose use and a heavy variant that ' s better all around . Unique armor for this armor type can be obtained from The Institute by the synth requisition officer and through tier 4 settlement armor stands . " Both the Synth helmet and the Synth field helmet occupy all three head slots . " Images IDs Stats DC guard armor . DC guard armor can be seen as a tier 1 to 3 armor type . Unlike other armors , it lacks standard , sturdy and heavy variants . Compared to standard - variant armor , DC guard armor is on par with tier 2 to 3 armors , but compared to sturdy - variant armor , it ' s only tier 1 to 2 , and almost any heavy - variant armor is better . Because of this , its value will be higher at low levels , while being almost useless at high levels . DC guard armor is used almost exclusively by guards in Diamond City and can only be obtained from their corpse , making acquisition of this armor a little less practical . However , guard armor may rarely be obtained from named Gunner enemies in Tessa ' s area . Images Vault - Tec security armor . Images Robot armor . Robot armor is an armor found exclusively in the " Automatron " add - on worn by the raider tribe the Rust Devils . It is an advanced equivalent of the metal armor found in the base game , being heavier but having proportionately more resistance to ballistic attacks and a similar weakness to energy based weapons . Images IDs Stats Trapper armor . It is an armor set that trappers commonly use , and can fit over thin clothing . The standard version is slightly more protective than sturdy raider armor . The heavy version looks identical but has stats that are slightly improved from heavy raider armor . There is no sturdy variant . Images IDs Stats Marine armor . Marine armor is an advanced form of combat armor found in the Far Harbor add - on . The three variants ( Zealot , Inquisitor , Assault ) are not distinct items , but are instead the result of modifying the armor at an armor workbench . However , the Zealot and Inquisitor variants look identical . Additionally , the helmet is only available in the Assault variant , and cannot be modified . Images IDs Stats Disciples armor . The Disciples armor is worn by members of the Disciples gang , found in the Nuka - World add - on . Images Stats Operators armor . The Operators armor is worn by members of the Operators gang , found in the Nuka - World add - on . Images Stats Pack armor . The Pack armor is worn by members of The Pack gang , found in the Nuka - World add - on . Images Stats Unique body armor parts . Unique body armor parts are legendaries that come pre - named and are not randomized , but are otherwise no different from regular legendaries . They can be obtained from various merchants , sometimes ( as with the Freefall Legs ) at set locations , and possibly as quest rewards . ¹This Nanofiliment material is different from another Nanofiliment material that the player character can create , possibly a bug . It provides less energy and ballistic resistance than the normal one , showing two versions of the same thing . There is still an option to upgrade to the normal Nanofiliment material . Clothing . Clothing that can be worn under body armor parts and are potentially the best for defensive purposes . Unless the ballistic weave armor mod has been unlocked , the only clothing pieces that can be upgraded on an armor workbench are the vault jumpsuits . Outfits . " These count as both clothing and body armor . Most will take up all armor slots , but some will allow additional armor . " Headwear . Full headwear . " These count as hats , eyewear , and masks . " ! Image ! Name ! Dam Resist ! Eng Resist ! Rad Resist ! Weight ! Value ! Limit ! Effect ! Mods ! Base ID