What’s the main association with Fallout series for you? For us, it’s the image of brutal guys armed with miniguns and equipped with power armor. Oh, yeah, this armor appeared in the 1st game only to become a symbol of Fallout. There are even pictures with a comparison of different power armor types from all games. But we will focus only on power armor represented in Fallout 3 so far as this section article is dedicated to it.
And that’s the first letdown: you cannot simply find cool power armor and equip it. First of all, you must unlock Power Armor Training perk. It’s possible in different ways.
Unlocking perk of the base game
The main story will lead you to the Citadel. Don’t worry, this place relates to several main missions, so you will not miss it if you want to finish the game. Directly after infiltrating into the Citadel you should speak with Owyn Lyons and gain his consent to free exploring of this location. Then find the Bailey which is the closest to the exit location. Locate Paladin Gunny among all soldiers there and ask him about training. That’s all!
Otherwise, you can ignore Gunny at all. Then the desired perk will be unlocked at the very end of American Dream quest. It’s obvious so far as all members of Lyons’ Pride can equip power armor. But you don’t want to wait this moment so far as it appears very late. That’s why we recommend finding Gunny as fast as possible. After unlocking Power Armor Training feature you can use all types of this equipment including armor itself and helmets.
Unlocking perk of the add-on
The other option to use power armor is to finish the main quest in the DLC called Operation: Anchorage. You will get the desired perk instantly after leaving the simulation at the end of this add-on. If you want to acquire cool armor at the beginning of the base game, simply install Operation: Anchorage, leave Vault 101 and read a message from Outcasts. Then head to the marked location and dive into the story.
Important hints
These pieces of advice can help you in finding, using and maintaining your powerful armor:
- The best regular items are Tesla armor and Hellfire armor that can be acquired from Enclave soldiers. Be sure to get the full set including armor and helmet.
- The best unique items can be obtained via You Gotta Shoot ‘Em in the Head mission, through Operation: Anchorage main story and in Old Olney.
- It’s almost impossible to repair your armor on your own. Look for Brotherhood mechanics or locate Canterbury Commons where the best engineers live.
- Human companions can wear such armor and it will not degrade on them. It’s useful when you don’t want to sell or throw out valuable equipment.
We wish you a good luck in flinging and using power armor. Turn yourself into the devastating machine with it!
