While I haven't fully explored all the different sets out there, I have a fully repaired set of power armor waiting in my homestead that I vultured from some fallen Brotherhood of Steel rubes that died valiantly in the defense of yours truly. Obviously they recognized the magical camera floating behind my shoulder and realized that I was the main character of the story and that their lives would only become meaningful to me if they became martyrs to the plot. They didn't, but that's beside the point.
Unfortunately, that armor looks like it's only going to be a trophy of my adventures because I'm decked out in some swanky stuff that Reilly of Reilly's Rangers (a subsidary of Reilly LLC and represented by the Law Offices of Reilly & Reilly) gave me and it's looking like that's the best I'm going to manage. Ready for the punchline?
I'm playing a melee fighter who only touches guns when he's picking them off the flaming, dismembered corpses (Shishkabob: Great melee weapon, or greatest melee weapon?) in his wake and getting ready to sell them for more Stimpacks and Med-X to patch himself up in anticipation of another suicidal dash through bullets, missiles, shrapnel and body parts hurled by my enemies who all apparently suffer from the worst strain of leprosy imaginable.
So to put shortly what I've already put extremely longly, this needs to be resolved. Power Armor is the friggin' Holy Grail of the Fallout series; a veritable gift from on high that allows you to transcend into the halls of superhumans and do what no one else can. So what does that entail? Here's a comprehensive list of what I agree the Power Armor should be made to do by the all-powerful modding community:
- Absorb bullets. What's the highest Damage Resistance/Reduction/Rebukement (I have no idea what that R stands for, but it's good stuff.) in the game? 85%? Good. That's what Power Armor gives you. No questions asked. A critical hit will still ruin your day, since it's implied that the enemy hit your weak point (which even the mighty Power Armor has), and a swarm of enemies will still be able to overwhelm you eventually, but otherwise, no questions asked.
- Move mountains. I appreciate that Power Armor improves your Strength. Gold star, Bethsoft. Way to grasp the most basic concept behind the idea. However, the stumbling block is that the Power Armor stubbornly refuses to improve your Strength if you're already the strongest man on the planet. Apparently the mechanics in the suit watched me tear out a Raider's spine and strangle him to death with it, and said to themselves, "Well, he looks like he's doing fine on his own so I guess we'll just shut that function down and wait for him to start losing his kick in twenty some-odd years when he's officially over-the-hill." A score of ten in any one of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes is the peak of human ability. I can dig it. Power Armor can potentially put a weakling on the level of Rambo's skull-crushing tenacity. Awesome. What people forget, however, is that Power Armor makes you superhuman, so there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be pushing my pristine Strength over the 10 point limit, other than some idiot forgetting to program that possibility into the game. This must be fixed.
- Carry its own weight. The Power Armor's strength improvements (see the previous point) gives you extra carrying capacity, which implies that it's doing some of the work of being a pack mule for you. It's implied that the armor's own weight is included in that; otherwise, what's the point of wearing it? That said, ammunition doesn't weigh anything, so maybe making this armor weightless while equipped is one advantage too many. That's for greater men than myself to decide.
- Not hinder your Agility. I don't honestly see people sneaking about in these behemoths, and a 50 Sneak S.P. Minus wouldn't be unreasonable to demand as a price for being a walking, rocking man-tank. Also, unless they were working on a space station in orbit, I don't see people fine-tuning their car engines or picking locks while wearing the suits (Though 50 points from each of those abilities would be a bit ridiculous. 15's fine.). That said, people wage war in these things, and what makes them better than an extra-large set of Metal Armor is the fact that they make you harder, better, stronger, and also faster. If anything, they should grant you a small bonus to Agility, just because it's easier than ever to swing massive weapons around and let loose a barrage from an automatic weapon. More A.P. for more dakka'!
I hope this has been educational and inspirational. Look my avatar in his beady little eyes and you'll know that saving the Power Armor from my character's dusty closet is the right thing to do.
