Armor

The single most useful sentence in our armor and legendary effects guide is easy to skim past: under armor does not replace anything, so once you find a suit you simply keep it on. That one line reframes the whole category, because it means Fallout 76 armor is not a set of slots you fill but a stack of layers you build up.

Work outward from your skin and the six pages in this bucket line up in order.

Layer one: under armor

This is the layer people forget exists, and it is free protection. Under armor sits beneath everything else, adds its own damage, energy and radiation resistance, and often carries a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bonus on top. The Fireman Uniform gives a point of Charisma, the Forest and Urban Operative under armors give Perception, the Vault 76 and Vault-Tec University jumpsuits give Luck, and Long Johns of all things give Agility.

The numbers are small, one or two points of resistance each, which is exactly why it gets ignored. It is also why ignoring it is a mistake: nothing you put on over the top takes that away.

Layer two: the armor pieces themselves

Over the under armor go the actual pieces, one per limb plus a chest, in three weights that our armor guide separates as Sturdy, Light and Heavy. These are the numbers that matter, and they scale hard with level.

A chest piece more than triples in protection between level 20 and level 45, which is the clearest argument in the folder for revisiting the armor workbench rather than wearing what you found. Our guide is blunt about this: the quality of what you can craft rises with your level, so a piece made at 20 and the same piece made at 45 are not the same object.

Watch the weight column as well. Armor is heavy, it is worn on five slots at once, and a character carrying too much loses the ability to fast travel back to camp, which is the connection between this bucket and our stash box guide.

Layer three: the prefix on the name

Legendary armor is not a separate kind of armor, it is ordinary armor with a modifier attached to the front of its name, which is how you spot one: Mutant's Metal Torso, Assassin's Leather Right Arm. The effect is the whole point and it is independent of the piece it lands on.

• Acrobat's cuts falling damage in half.
• Assassin's takes fifteen percent off damage from other humans, which in an online game means other players.
• Bolstering raises damage and energy resistance the lower your health goes.

Legendary pieces drop from enemies and quest rewards, but since the Steel Reign update they can also be made and re-rolled deliberately, which our legendary crafting guide covers. An effect you dislike is now a supply problem rather than a reason to throw the armor away.

Layer four: the suit that replaces the stack

Power Armor works differently from everything above it. You do not wear it, you climb into it, and it starts with a Chassis that the parts bolt onto. The frames are independent of the parts, so a chassis you find in the Toxic Valley will carry Excavator pieces just as happily as Raider ones.

Two things about the chassis are worth knowing before you go looking. It carries a flat 60 in all three resistances with no level requirement at all, while every part on it has its own level range, so the naked frame is usable long before the pieces are. And nothing in it moves without a Fusion Core, which makes power armor the only equipment in the game with a fuel bill.

Hellcat Power Armor is the Steel Reign addition and gets its own page for its stats, mods and the benefits that separate it from the older sets. Since Steel Reign, power armor can also take legendary effects at any Power Armor Station, including Weightless, which removes nine tenths of what the suit weighs and turns the heaviest thing in the game into something you can keep in a stash.

The two suits that answer a specific problem

Two pieces sit outside the stack because they exist for one job each.

The Hazmat Suit is the radiation answer, and it is the only unique apparel item in the folder that is not a quest reward. You find it rather than earn it, which is why it has a locations page rather than an unlock walkthrough. Our diseases guide recommends it or a gas mask for anywhere toxic, which is most of the interesting parts of the map.

The Chinese Stealth Armor arrived with Wastelanders and does the opposite job: not surviving being seen, but not being seen. Our compound bow guide pairs the two directly, since a silent weapon and a suit that hides you are the same build.

Layer five: what you wear for the look

Unique apparel goes over the top and is mostly about not looking like everybody else, but the page's table lists a bonus against nearly every entry as well. The Diver Suit cuts radiation damage. The Eye of Ra ties into the Mistress of Mystery regalia from the Order of Mysteries questline.

Every item on that page but the Hazmat Suit is unlocked by finishing one specific quest, which makes apparel the most honest status symbol in Appalachia. It is the only layer where what you are wearing tells other players what you have actually done.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need under armor if I have good armor?

Yes, because it does not compete for the slot. Under armor sits beneath your pieces and its resistance and S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bonus stack on top of whatever you are already wearing.

When can I use Power Armor?

As soon as you find a chassis, since the frame itself has no level requirement and carries 60 in every resistance. The parts are what gate you, and each one has its own level range.

Should I re-craft armor as I level?

Yes. The same recipe produces a stronger piece at a higher level, and the gap is large: a level 45 chest piece carries roughly three times the damage resistance of a level 20 one.

Is legendary armor worth chasing?

Chase the effect, not the piece. Since Steel Reign you can attach and re-roll legendary effects yourself, so a good base piece with a bad prefix is worth keeping and fixing.

What is the best defensive setup overall?

Under armor with a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bonus, the highest level pieces you can currently craft over it, a legendary effect that suits your build, and a Power Armor chassis stored at your camp for anything radioactive or heavily defended.