Power armor

**Power armor** is the collective term for several apparel items in Fallout: FROST.

## Power Armor in FROST

FROST reuses the power armor as introduced by Fallout 4, leaving it largely unchanged.

Power armor in all of its available variations is the most protective armor available in FROST, providing exceptional resistances against all kinds of damage, including radiation, with even its lowest tier, the Raider power armor, easily surpassing what may be the most protective conventional armor available in FROST: Combat armor.

In contrast to other armor, power armor degrades when absorbing damage, though, requiring the Survivor to not only have the required capabilites to repair it, but also finding a power armor station and the materials to bring the armor back to full health. As in the base game, worn down power armor pieces become weightless, and can no longer be equipped until repaired.

Additionally, power armor requires to be powered by fusion cores, which are not sold by any merchant or randomly found in ammunition boxes (even if the Scrounger perk is taken) and thus are a finite resource in FROST. While some hostiles involved in random encounters can carry fusion cores, and thus provide a replenishing source, these are far and few, leaving the main sources of fusion cores to be fusion reactors, where they do not replenish.

While fusion cores now weigh in at 10lbs, instead of 4lbs as in the base game, they do not seem to drain faster, if used in power armor. Nonetheless, picking up the repair bobblehead still located at the Corvega assembly plant and aiming for rank 3 of the nuclear physicist perk should be considered, if power armor is to be used as main means of protection.

Entering power armor will, as in the base game, remove any effects of other apparel worn, like carry weight bonuses from pocketed armor pieces or backpacks, bonuses to sneaking from muffled and shadowed amor pieces and also poison resitances added by respective apparel items. The ever present ambient surface radiation, which requires Survivors to wear proper gas masks in exterior locations at all times, is equally filtered by power armor helmets.

Survivors wearing power armor will also experience vastly increased protection from hazardous weather conditions like radstorms, radioactive rain or fog. With intact Hazmat suits no longer being available, and the damaged Hazmat suit not providing protection from the ambient surface radiation, power armor can substantially increase quality of life. Survivors intending to reduce radiation intake when crossing deeper bodies of water by using power armor instead of, for example, a damaged Hazmat suit are reminded of the rather miserable bouyancy of power armor: None.

While very useful if facing many enemies at the same time, or if exploring highly irradiated areas like the Glowing Sea, power armor can, rather surprisingly, be penetrated by creatures like the Mutcrab, and thus does provide no protection from their poisonous bites.

Another, even more dangerous threat are hostiles wielding weaponry capable of making their target bleed continously, which power armor also provides no protection from. Survivors wearing power armor thus should always keep an eye out for continously dropping health, as that indicates they are bleeding out. If not carrying any consumables to counter the effect, Survivors should ~~run like hell~~ consider immedieate tactical retreat.

## Tips and tricks

### Battling hostile power armor wearers

Facing enemies in power armor in FROST can be a great challenge. Survivors with the goal to take down other enemies in power armor should always consider following strategies:

* **Aiming for the helmet/head:** The helmet can be destroyed, exposing the head of the wearer and reducing his overall damage resistances. Depending on model worn, up to 10-20 shots with around 100 damage may be needed to take down a power armor wearer with this strategy without sneak attacks.
* **Aiming for the fusion core**: Dealing enough damage to a fusion core can lead to its detonation, with the power armor wearing exiting the armor prior to the explosion. Raider power armor wearers will not exit their power armor, though, even if the core is about to detonate.
* **Sneak Attacks:** Sneak attacks are especially useful if one prefers melee combat in FROST. Stealth Boys can also be useful for this approach.
* **Chems**: Jet helps survivors with ranged weapons to land head shots better, and chems like Psycho increase the overall damage dealt.
* **Explosives:** They help to destroy the power armor, greatly reducing the damage resistance of the wearer.
* **Pickpocket:** Fusion cores can be pick pocketed, forcing the enemy to leave the Power Armor.
* **Intimidation:** Using the Intimidation perk, enemies in power armor may be pacified or even manipulated into to killing others. This strategy works better if the player is level 20 or higher, as many enemies in power armor are often at level 20. Enemies above the player's level can not be intimidated. The Awareness perk helps with identifying the enemy level. Also, intimidation attempts may fail, with the Survivor then almost allways being attacked immedieately.

### Obtaining and maintaining power armor

While power armor is worn by members of different factions, the power armor frames required for attaching the armor pieces in order to actually wear them can not be looted from their corpses. Also, the power armor's energy source, fusion cores, are a finite resource in FROST.

* **Power armor frames**: Available in various locations as free standing items, usually with varying amounts of power armor pieces attached. Often, but not always, also contain a fusion core. Forcing a power armor wearer out of their power armor by pickpocketing or detonating their fusion core will also yield a frame and the pieces attached. Strangely, Raider power armor wearers will not exit their power armor, if their fusion core is about to detonate.
* **Power armor pieces**: Can be obtained from power armor wearers by either forcing them out of their power armor (see above), or looting pieces from their corpse.
* **Fusion cores**: Largely finite resource, not sold by merchants, can not be found randomly in ammunition boxes (even with the Scrounger perk taken), very sparsely available as loose item, often pre-installed in free standing power armor frames, mostly found in fusion reactors. Random encounters may provide for additional opportunities to loot or pickpocket fusion cores. Obtaining the repair bobblehead, as well as rank 3 of the nuclear physicist perk should be considered.
* **Repair and upgrades**: Apart from a power armor station and materials, repairing and upgrading power armor may require perks at different ranks for different types of power armor. Survivors planning to depend on power armor may therefore want to pay close attention to the requirements.

### Using power armor

* **Fusion cores**: Will drain faster, if action points are used. Avoiding V.A.T.S. usage, and *above all avoiding unnecessary sprints* conserves their power.
* **Helmets**: Without helmet, Survivors will be subject to ambient surface radiation, and thus will want to wear a proper gas mask in exterior areas. Power armor helmets, unlike gas masks, will not reduce the Survivor's perception. Not wearing a helmet results in Survivors drowning more quickly when submerged.
* **Combat**: Power armor arms, even if unmodified, can deliver devastating blows, and Survivors may find blocking attacks with them to be substantially easier than blocking by other means. Power armor will degrade when taking damage from an attack, though. While power armor provides very high damage resitances, Survivors can still be taken down by a low number of hits from properly armed hostiles. Power armor does not provide resitance against being poisoned by for example Mutcrabs, nor does it protect the Survivor from bleeding out.

## Power armor locations

FROST does change the availability of power armor by preventing access to some locations, while adding free standing sets or hostiles wearing power armor to others.

While Army Remnants are the faction with the highest number of power armor wearers, other survivor groups also do make use of power armor. Survivors are reminded, that most power armor wearers can be forced to exit their armor, and that sometimes power armor is ignored by nearby survivors, ready for silently taking posession of it, unless they are alarmed, in which case they are likely to enter and use it. Survivors will ignore power armor missing its fusion core, though.

The following, incomplete list notes changes in power armor availability compared to the base game.

* Lexington
* Medford Memorial Hospital (added location, worn by a hostile)
* National Guard training yard armory (unavailable, door inside of the armory can not be opened)