The Lore of T-51 Power Armor

The first power armor to ever grace our screens, the T-51 has been through a lot as the Fallout series has progressed. We examine the lore from each game and how the lore and the armor itself has changed over time.
Fallout: 00:48
Fallout 2: 09:04
Fallout 3: 13:14
Fallout New Vegas: 23:02
Fallout 4: 25:03
Fallout 76 36:06
Comment Highlights: 40:52

[@hannes5437]

The T45 in Fallout 3 makes, at least to me, a lot of sense. Most of the T51b was used in the War with China and the weaker T45 was still pretty hefty so it was used for crowd control in the own country.

[@philosophos_a1522]

Power Armor remains Power Armor heh

[@hannes5437]

@@philosophos_a1522 Sure, let two men fight with bare hands and then give one a knife. Even a small knife is still a good weapon.

[@philosophos_a1522]

@@hannes5437 What I Tried to say is that a T45 is good enough to deal with simple civilians conflicts. I doubt a simple civilian would had something more than a simple . 32 pistol and perhaps a couple hunting rifles. Except if they was people with emp weapons which I doubt about it...

[@hannes5437]

@@philosophos_a1522 Ah sorry, really hard at times to differentiate between sarcasms and honesty on the internet, especially on a topic like fallout and Bethesda.

[@MediumRareOpinions]

@@philosophos_a1522 In the later years of the British Empire you could still find "obsolete" armored cars being used by troops stationed in overseas territory, they could no longer be counted on for protection on a battlefield but there was a threat of local rebel groups ambushing patrols with hunting rifles and such from high vantage points. The idea makes a lot of sense. If rioting breaks out the Power Armor units will be more or less immune to anything the mob can throw at them.

[@ZeonicFenrir]

The T-51b at Fort Constantine seems to have been a last minute change, based on the fact that the terminal where you disable the force field says that inside should be the Medical Armor Prototype, which you instead find below Old Olney.

[@tbush6657]

And it would sound better that a Brotherhood squad went through Old Olney on their way from Pittsburgh to the Pentagon where they found enough T45s to suit their entire army. But Ashur also had T45, so maybe they found a smaller stockpile that tipped them off to the Pentagon in or before Pittsburgh

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

The Medical Armor is my go-to on FO3 next to the Chinese Stealth Armor gameplay wise I liked how the Stealth Suit MKII combined elements of both in FNV Old World Blues

[@stealthSGMB]

@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor It’s a shame there was never an option to fully complete Medical T-45, by that I mean allowing it inject Stimpaks or even change which chems it injects, since it does state that it was a prototype and the complete model would feature all that.

[@Spiketrooper]

​@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor Winterized T-51B armor is literally invincible just so you know it has a glitch where both the helmet and armor have a massive durability pool that will never break for a looooooonng time

[@jimbob4447]

@@Spiketrooper No it's not invincible, it will eventually break but the item health is so stupidly high you would have to play for a very long time for it to do so.

[@Pigness7]

Imo T51 being the pinnacle of prewar PA tech doesn't exactly have to conflict with T60's existence. T60, in my head canon, is not as technically advanced as 51, but instead a post anchorage retrofit of old 45 suits using TECHNOLOGY they developed for T51. 76 does fix these stats tho.

[@hermos3602]

In my head canon for so long was that T-60 was actually modified T-45 T-45 Power Armor the BoS worked on to improve their production over the 10 years they've been in the Capital Wasteland. And I know, there are some soldiers wearing T-60 suits during the day the bombs fall in the prologue.

[@MediumRareOpinions]

@@hermos3602 I think its plausible that the US Army wanted more Power Armor, but T51 production was at peak, another company saw an opportunity to put forward a proposal to modernise the T45 and put it into production. The army is eager to get more suits as soon as possible and approves the programme adopting it as T60. The Brotherhood at some stage recovers technical data relating to the modernisation programme and finds it more practical to retrofit T45 to the T60 standard than it would be to build new T51.

[@IWannaBTheGuy]

I'm assuming that when the game meant "pre-war", it basically means before the Chinese and the US saw combat against each other, so it's perfectly reasonable to say that the 51 is best at the time. It was like saying the M3 Lee was the pinnacle of US pre-WWII tank design when the M4 existed.

[@blackore64]

I like to think of it as upgrade proposed by West-tek team responsible for T-45 power armor (as T-45 and T-51 don't really share much components) that was reusing as many components as possible from the T-45 assembly line, and was adopted by the US military as limited standard, meanwhile the army was standardizing on T-51. I like to think that T-60 was considered too expensive to really replace T-51 before the war, but Army still kept on buying them on limited numbers.

[@elimgarak8785]

I always imagined that the T-60 was the compromise design between the two, T-45 was cheap and they could make enough to meet demand, while T-51 was amazing, but couldn’t be produced in quantities the army needed, so they developed T-60 which could be made easier than the T-51, but not as good.

[@reginleif6703]

I like the 4’s design more. It makes me think armor when I see it and not a metal hazmat suit.

[@RandomAllen]

I was happy that 4 brought back the old aesthetic and feel of Power Armor from 1 and 2. The 3 and NV version looks too skinny and isn't distinctive enough like it should be.

[@Captianmex1C0]

Yeah i can't physically understand how they could possibly make a Thin armor that somehow doesn't crush your bones while you get slammed by Tank rounds.

[@joeycampbell940]

Yeah honestly the 4 and 76 versions just make more sense. It's a big set of hydraulic armor with life support built in so a big exosuit with a limited battery fits the fallout style more for me. If they could run power armor for so long with a battery in the first 3 games then why would energy weapons still use single shot cells instead of a similar long lasting energy source.

[@ホフマン日向]

@@joeycampbell940 because Bethesda

[@johnnycruelty5195]

eh I really dislike 4's t51b the chest plate is too small, the limbs are too close together the pauldrons are tiny I wish it looked more like the classic fallout t51b

[@frankrino]

In Fallout 4, the canonical reason why you're able to immediately access the Power Armor, instead of having to undergo special training, is because the protagonist is a pre-Nuclear War Army veteran, so it's very likely he/she already knew how to operate one. Great video by the by!

[@eur0be4t3r]

Specifically Nate (male survivor) meanwhile Nora (female survivor) was a Secret Service Operative

[@Paulnoter55]

@@eur0be4t3r I had known about Nate being a Veteran, but had no idea that Nora was Secret Service. Is that something in a log I missed?

[@deadshot4245]

@@Paulnoter55 I thought she was a lawyer or whatever

[@amadeusagripino6862]

Nora was a lawyer, not military or Secret Service. She wasn't even working because she just gave birth to Shawn. About power armor training, both Fallout 1 and 2 didn't had it. Bethesda just made this up because in Fallout 3 there was a chance you could, right after leaving Vault 101, stumble upon some power armor wearing NPCs, like Outcasts, being destroyed by a deathclaw, which means you could grab a set of power armor just before you reach the first town.

[@fumothfan9]

My headcannon (even though bethesda goes all over the place) is that Nate taught Nora about PA while she was preggers. Just how to use and maintain it and describes how it functioned. Then again even settlers knowing how to use it with PA all around the CW after 200 years that even raiders know how to use it is a bit of a stretch

[@ez-bakeoven6797]

I think that Bethesda should add the Power Armor training perk back in for the next fallout game, but not as something that locks it away, I think it should work more like the books from 3 or the unarmed takedowns from New Vegas. I think it'd work best where if you were to pick up a suit before attaining the perk, you would receive harsher movement, weight, and perception debuffs, and when you do get the perk, it'd mitigate or completely get rid of the aforementioned debuffs. I also think it could work good for upgrading power armor, as the more you know about how it works, the more ways you can find to improve it.

[@fellduncan6218]

Yes that is such a great idea!

[@futuristicgaming5376]

Yup love this

[@Pigness7]

Retcon the retcon's retcon

[@ComfortsSpecter]

@@Pigness7 “I feel like a retcon”

[@luish8056]

I'd be down for that.

[@Idazmi7]

The Enclave Armor in Fallout 3 being inferior to T-51b actually makes some lore sense when you remember how badly the Enclave was destroyed in Fallout 2: it's essentially a miracle that the Enclave still exists at all, so they're definitely running on inferior equipment compared to what they used before, regardless of name. There's also a historical precedent: the M3 submachine gun of WWII was inferior to the earlier M1 in _every single area_ except cost and weight, but the military went with the M3 anyway to save money.

[@blackore64]

Actually Grease gun has a nice, low rate of fire which makes it very controlable, and can fit well into compact spaces. Thompson is a hefty gun. I think Sten is what you're looking for.

[@Idazmi7]

@@blackore64 I said exactly what I meant, actually. The Thompson's weight absorbs a lot of the recoil, making it control much better than you'd think. The longer barrel effectively doubles it's effective range, gives more muzzle power, _and_ a better sight picture, the charging handle is _actually a charging handle,_ and the benefit of the higher firing rate should be self explanatory. And when all else fails, it can be a great bludgeon or club.

[@Idazmi7]

@@joshwist556 _"Bruh, just watch a little bit of Forgotten Weapons will just disprove most of these notions. (...)"_ I watch that guy religiously, and I saw his videos on the thompson variants: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZ7LhZiBbblmqMk 😀 You might notice the video you referred doesn't actually *_compare_* the M3 to the Thompson directly. If it did, you'd have actually made an argument.

[@Idazmi7]

@@joshwist556 In fact, in the comments below that video of yours, there's this gem by a John Dilday: _"My dad carried an M1 model Thompson for a while during WW2. He loved it, (...) All the Thompsons were supposedly requisitioned for the airborne troops, and was issued an M3 "grease gun" instead. He didn't like it, he said because it was "cheaply made" and had , according to him, too slow of a cyclic rate."_

[@LogicAndCompassion]

@@joshwist556 You are correct. In fact, if i remember correctly, I believe Ian said that the Grease Gun was far more accurate compared to the Thompson. It was something like: "Two teams of soldiers were told to fire fully automatic at a target that was 30yrs away. One team was equipped with Thompsons and on average hit 50% of their shots. The other team was equipped with grease guns and on average hit 80-90% of their shots."

[@NemFX]

T-51 was in Fallout Tactics. In the introduction where it's flipping through the book, the armour shows is T-51. Fallout sounds like the kind of reality where they would advertise something as being awesome, even if it isn't. Take Quantum, for example, saying that they have double the calories.

[@charlescrocco7896]

I don’t remember if RadKing mentioned it in the Fallout drinks, but I think Quantum was meant to be a parody of Jolt Cola. Like Quantum, it’s advertised as great even though it’s not as good as advertising implies.

[@taxman3749]

Well, since you asked for my opinion, in military terms, "hardening" is a fairly vague term. A hardened M1A1 Abrams has additional components installed to make it more durable against certain sorts of attacks. For example, mines. With this in mind, it could be that the hardened power armor has had additional components installed. In addition to the chemical process, maybe it has additional plates installed, to reinforce some weak points that already existed in the base model.

[@le_floofy_sniper_ducko]

in the context of how it was used its more likely that it is referring to face hardening the armor nor do i really have a clue what you mean by a "hardened M1A1 Abrams" if you wanted to make it more durable to mines you would clear the mines? if your referring to urban combat thats just the TUSK package

[@AsymmetricalCrimes]

I've never heard of a "hardened" M1A1 Abrams. The only variants I know of are the A1, A2, SEP variants 1-4, and the TUSK variant. Acronyms: SEP stands for "system Enhancement Package" TUSK stands for "Tank Urban Survival Kit"

[@le_floofy_sniper_ducko]

@@AsymmetricalCrimes there is TUSK 1 AND TUSK 2 technically speaking and Sepv4 is still not accepted as its under development as of now

[@AsymmetricalCrimes]

​@@le_floofy_sniper_ducko Forgot there was a TUSK 2... I more of an aircraft guy, they don't teach us alot about MBTs in tech school.

[@le_floofy_sniper_ducko]

@@AsymmetricalCrimes i dont blame ya most people dont realize there are 2 variations of TUSK i tend to deep dive into tanks as i find them from an engineering and resource standpoint interesting to learn about

[@Roozhy]

**I have some input on the 10 micron thick silver coating found on the T-51 power armor. It will surprise you.** I have experience working with copper busbar epoxy coating and platting lines at an ABB Electrification facility. The minimum silver plate range is 1 micron and a maximum range is 40 microns. Although our ranges where 3-7 microns. With some of these 15KVAC busbars running 6000 Amps. (That's 37.452 Sextillion electrons per second or 90 million watts) The thickness being dependent on what type of corrosion/friction resistants you needed for that particular busbar. A 10 micron thickness of silver is fairly high for most applications. Consider that friction and corrosion resistant silver plated roll bearings have a range of 1-6 microns. With all that said, is 10 microns enough to provide resistance to lasers and endure conventional bullets? I'd say. Yes. It would in fact endure a moderate amount of ballistic damage and completely ignore electron based weapons like the laser rifle or Gatling Laser. Which produce about 3047.62 amps (45,714,300 watts) per shot. **I have all the math for electron based weapons just ask if you want too see it**

[@RelativelyBest]

Yeah! _Science,_ bitch!

[@HenningGu]

I feel like that this is plausible but just looks like a shitpost to me because I have practically no knowledge about the topic 🤔

[@RelativelyBest]

@@HenningGu A sufficiently nerdy statement of fact is indistinguishable from shitposting.

[@Roozhy]

@@HenningGu I used shoddycast's video on Lazer Rifles as the basis for my amp calculations. The plating facts are from my work experience. If you don't understand amps, watts, microns, ect then I implore you to watch an video on it. Especially one by an electrician explaining how to wire an electrical box.

[@spiceweasel]

My brothers an electrician and when I asked him if any of this information was valid he told me to “Shut up Nerd!”

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

If I had to guess, the inferior nature of the F3 enclave gear to T-51 might be because of the lack of resources they had compared to F2. They may have lost research data, blue prints, manufacturing capabilities, and scientists key to making the armors better than T-51

[@rockyhorrorfreakshow5091]

They were definitely at a disadvantage after what happened at the Oil Rig, as that was their main BOA. The FO2 enclave probably had some means of mass production there, unlike FO3's

[@theace8502]

I could maybe see that being an excuse, but from what I remember it was supposed to be an upgrade from fo2 enclave power armour

[@highlordlaughterofcanada8685]

@@theace8502 Fair point

[@Mantiscular12]

X01 is retro style where X02 is futuristic style

[@fumothfan9]

​@@rockyhorrorfreakshow5091 yeah they did Ghoul slaves

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

" we lost so much in the explosion , the President , Horrigan, the Cheifs of staff , our home and worst of all nearly a century of scientific progress and advanced manufacturing techniques . We managed to make it out with only some of the RnD departments data as we fled the Oil Rig , but even then it wasn't until we made it to Raven Rock that we could restart manufacturing T-51 equivalent armors again with the help of the bases facilities and that computer they have in the basement . However it seems that it might be decades before we can recover enough lost knowledge to build the original Advanced power Armour type again ."

[@exitioregem8466]

Oh shit, where is this quoted from?

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

@@exitioregem8466 I wrote it here on the spot . Didn't realize it was any good.

[@Idazmi7]

Thus, you did better than the entire writing staff at Bethesda.

[@sanguiniusonvacation1803]

@@Idazmi7 that is not a accomplishment unfortunately.

[@ElliFong]

@@Idazmi7 the bar isn't really that high, most faithful fallout fans can write better than Bethesda writers

[@Pigness7]

The T51 on the oil rig I always thought was one of the old suits that they brought with them to the rig when they went there before the great war. Just never scrapped that one for their APA suits

[@Rad_King]

Honestly that seems reasonable. Maybe they even used t-51 quite a bit before their APA could be produced in any significant quantity.

[@rddrpar8349]

Maybe a stop gap suit like if they don’t got enough resources to make there armor or they need gear ASAP they grab that there could be a entire locked room of old power armor that plan to be use in the future if things get desperate

[@Briskyyy]

I think its also hinted that T-51 would be used for recruits or enclave trainees

[@WastelandWeaponistics]

Bethesda semi broke the lore of their own power armor in the same game it was introduced. The Strangler heart power armor messes with the lore of the ultracite power armor. Strangler heart power armor is a set of Ultracite power armor infested with strangler heart vines. The Strangler heart power armor set was originally a reward from Vault 94s vault raid (Before Bethesda removed the vault raids). The reason vault 94 is covered in strangler heart vines is because Free States members ( I believe they were Free States they were from Harpers Ferry) went into the vault and thought the GECK was a mind control device so they shot it with a minigun causing it to explode. This happened in November of 2078 only a year after the great war. So where did they get a set of Ultracite power armor for it to be infected? Because Vault 94 was a vault without any weapons or armor.

[@couchpotato2222]

cause why keep a lore Bible? "video games are like porn, you don't play them for the plot" /s

[@J4Koro]

Fallout 76 is not cannon. Tod said so on his e3 reveal that is using the fallout ip to build a semi cannon game in which multiplayer aspect will take priority. I'd be OK thinking that t51 was just the latest mass produced mid war., with xo1 for special forces and t50s and t60s veriants being prototypes for future models.

[@BatMan-sg9kh]

@@J4Koro Todd didn't say that, in fact Bethesda went through a lot of convincing to sell the fan base on the BoS making a return seemingly 200 years before they should've

[@BatMan-sg9kh]

As for the Strangler Heart, simple answer is that the player themselves made it. You don't get the armor itself from completing the raid so nothing directly states that it was found within. It's just ultracite was the new PA Bethesda was pushing at the time and as such made it the canonical PA to receive the makeover. Even if you insist on there being a suit already covered in the vines within the Vault, I'm sure the BoS would've been keen to investigate the source of the radiation and as such sent in a team and lost them; the ambassadors don't have any codes on them so who knows who took them.

[@amadeusagripino6862]

Fallout 76 isn't canon, a Fallout game or even a good game by its own. It's just an abomination.

[@exitioregem8466]

Maybe the D.C Enclave power armor is weaker than the T-51b because they would have to mass produce the armor, and the Enclave of that region is weaker than when they came from their main base back at the California coast.

[@Idazmi7]

Exactly.

[@Mestari1Gaming]

That could be a possibility.

[@LordDarthHarry]

Could be. But most likely it's just balancing because T-51 is like an iconic artifact in Fallout 3 and being beaten out by something you can just loot of enemies would cheapen it.

[@КонстантинЯлынычев]

That 2500 Joules of absorption probably refers to armor being able to absorb energy damage like plasma and lasers

[@wastelesslearning1245]

Yeah cause if it actually refers to ballistic impact that will only stop pistol rounds consistently which makes little sense. Honestly fallout power armor makes little sense in general considering Paliden Dance tanks a rocket thruster to the face in arc-jet in inferior armor which needless to say a plasma rocket thruster is orders of magnitudes more energy then pistol rounds. Also we have level 3-4 body armor plates now that takes a few shots form rifles now so doubt fallout universe will receir power armor protection. But they do say power armor is more to Cary heavy weapons and with VATS capadability I can see it’s use outside protection. But we should probably judge by feats instead of numbers.

[@tzimiscelord8483]

@@wastelesslearning1245 another consideration is that the balance has changed and I don't necessarily know if the gameplay of power armor is necessarily meant to match the lore

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

I agree, but if laser and plasma weapons put out less energy, then why are they better than ballistic rifles (in most cases) in the lore?

[@tzimiscelord8483]

@@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem in this particular case that may be down to the fact that T51 is meant to reflect most laser fire instead of absorbing it, maybe that's the fraction left over after reflecting say 95% of the shot

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

@@tzimiscelord8483 That makes sense, thanks.

[@jessethomas6245]

Winterized Armor buff is due to it being locked behind a stasis field and taking little to no degradation. All other power armor suits we’ve seen have been in use for a long time. To my knowledge anyway. So I think it’s just simply that it’s a prime and mint condition suit.

[@rjsennett9]

Wow this is brilliant. The radiation effecting all the other suits would cause them to become brittle. It makes perfect sense. Especially a composite material like T-51.

[@Justowner]

Actually its a glitch. There are two variants of winterized in the code. The Anchorage simulation version has an item health so high you would never need to repair it, because the simulation doesn't let you do any repairing. The glitch is that the second version, the version with much lower item health and also higher DR, the version you are supposed to get, doesn't spawn. Instead, only the anchorage version actually appears in the game.

[@FlyJonat]

If I remember well, the enclave use the t-51 to train soldiers to use power armors and to perform manual labor because they are less advanced and cheaper than the advanced power armor.

[@mattguy1773]

Power armor will always be my favorite part of fallout

[@feralhawg867]

It’s so badass

[@TheEgatron]

truth

[@MyArchive930]

Regarding the joules, perhaps it’s talking about literal energy, such as laser damage? Edit: Thank you, Matt.

[@mattsmechanicalssi5833]

That would be joules, not jewels.

[@Pigness7]

Thanks for reminding me that I have rights

[@MyArchive930]

@@Pigness7 No, thank YOU for calling!

[@darthXreven]

it....Saul good-man....ugh I should go

[@dukas54]

A few things to note is that, I remember reading that the reason that the Winterized T-51b armor doesn't degrade is due to the process of "winterizing" it for the conditions on the Alaskain front. As materials tend to degrade pretty quickly under such harsh conditions so what ever they did to make the armor withstand the conditions of Alaska made it extremely resistant to degradation. Also the Quantum X01 Power Armor was a cutting edge prototype that was a product of Project Cobalt, so yes it technically was a pre-war suit of Power Armor but it was never put into production before the Great War which makes the statement that the T-51b armor was the pinacle of Power Armor technoligy partially true. For you comment about how the Fallout 3 T-51b armor doesnt look like a machine and such you have to remember that when you create an armor peice for a character in a game you usually have to base that armor off the skeleton for the character model which can limit how you make the armor look and behave. In order to make the leg gap wider and make other changes that would make it feel more like an actual machine instead of something you put on over clothes they probably would have had to make a completely new skeleton rig which can take alot of time to do.

[@fumothfan9]

So basically peak mass produced PA. Makes sense imo. All other PA are found around fallout are usually very specific or say its a prototype. That or you find them on displays meaning they probably WERE mass produced but bombs fell areas destroyed armors never made it into circulation blah blah. That or others within the 200yrs+ already raided and hoarded the PA and have them in some secure location or scrapped them for parts.

[@einfachignorieren6156]

nope its just a bug, bethesda huh. funny tho made the game alot easier

[@HighEffortUsername]

The winterized T-51 has a variant with normal durability in the files, so it was most likely an oversight and they forgot to swap it once out of the simulation.

[@lazydragon2551]

T-51 is my most favorite of all. The streamlined look and rounded appearance is just so cool! Especially around the helmet it looks so menacing and mean.

[@jk3jk35]

@@lazydragon2551 because it's modeled after the American Football player

[@_me___]

The hardening is probably achieved trough heating up and compressing the Metal, and then adding an additional layer

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Or it could be "hardened" against radiation? Lead lining is heavy and would add _some_ ballistic protection.

[@Idazmi7]

Fallout 1 and 2 both reveal it to be a chemical process.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

@@Idazmi7 "chemical process" is pretty vague; could be anything from a specialty alloy to an ablative coating.

[@Idazmi7]

@@the_inquisitive_inquisitor As in, you gather unspecified chemicals, provide them and a T-51b suit to a scientist, who instructs you to wait 24 hours for the "bonding" to complete. Whatever it is, it changes the composition of the outer armor by means of a chemical bath.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

@@Idazmi7 Take 2 That sounds like the silver alloy coating that adds Energy Weapon resistance. I would assume it would be electroplated onto the armor panels or something like that. The only problem is that the base T-51 armor already has that.

[@natejames6102]

Also I think that the influx of T 45 power armor could be because of the increased presence of the national guard in DC which in theory would have some of the older models of power armor such as T 45 due to the national guard effectively receiving hand me downs from the army

[@TheOriginalRaxin]

I actually liked it being relatively difficult to get in fallout 3

[@stevenclark1662]

Operation Anchorage ruined that. I usually save that DLC til mid-late game because of that. A lot of people rush to it right out of 101

[@TheOriginalRaxin]

@@stevenclark1662 yeah, even though I like the winterized look

[@odessanlo2]

No shame in saving it for Point Lookout.

[@zacoman2225]

@Big Teddies Then it removes all the fun and challenge of the game

[@mesprout]

@@zacoman2225 challenge isnt the same thing as fun for some people

[@S0ulGh0st]

Maybe the Enclave PAs are "worse" in FO3 because of some manufacturing issue. Having less resources made them change the schematics or something? Btw, I love the RoboCop feeling of T-51 in the first two games, but in FO4 and F76m you become an Iron Man!

[@Rad_King]

That’s a great way to describe it! Robocop to iron man haha

[@mahazkei7709]

I had this discussion of T-51 becoming less viable than other versions and seemingly not being the most advanced as time goes on with my friend Tankz, and essentially the argument boiled down to this: T-series power armors were made pre-war, and are official designation and service models in the US Army. The T-45 came first, and was serviceable pre-Anchorage, but was decidedly too heavy (giving to its all-metal construction) for not enough protection (though it was better at absorbing radiation and energy), and thus a replacement was put into development. The T-51 came out and was put into service just as Anchorage was being retaken, and was a substantial improvement over T-45, in that the armor (while not as rad absorbent due to its construction) was better suited to ballistic and fragmentation protection against the Chinese who to this point had not yet developed energy weapons beyond EMP (which was seemingly enough for them, but wasn't man-portaboe, limited to fields being pre-installed at various sites), and thus did not need more resources and possibly more weight to energy (and by consequence, radiation) protection, thus increasing the costs. It was found to be an acceptable platform for the most reasonable production cost with as little downsides as possible. T-51U (my designation for the Brotherhood's Ultracite program) was made to directly address the T-51's weakness to radiation hazards in a post-nuclear world, but was difficult to nail down as the first prototypes had heating issues (probably too much energy/radiation absorbtion in the wrong places, making it insulating around high energy capacity components that when encased by the new shielding caused overheating and malfunctions, if not outright failures) and subsequent testing required resources that were different to acquire, especially since they were mostly present in high radiologically active zones that the T-51 was ill-suited to handle (irony), on top of the active threats from mutants and the like. T-60 is a midlife service refit of T-45 that sought to improve the ballistic and consequentially energy resistance for future combat. It could have been predicted that the Chinese, if given enough time, might make energy weapons that would negate the T-51's advantages, and thus the refit program was given the green light. However, the T-51 was doing well abroad after Anchorage, and there was no consensus to send the T-60 to the West Coast and beyond. Instead, with rising tensions internally, the newly rebuilt T-60s were used as civil enforcement units to quell riots and unrest while the food shortages and curfews were in effect. These were perfectly suited to resisting civilian grade weapons (some of which included limited laser and plasma sidearm fire), and protected the image the T-51 had cultivated by being a liberator rather than an oppressor, giving more reason to convert aging T-45 suits into T-60s and shipping them across the country to where civil unrest was highest in order to suppress the population from causing a scene. This would help to explain a few things. Civil unrest on the West Coast would be lower due to a higher involvement in the war, sending resources to China, so there wouldn't need to be many, if any T-60s assigned there. If any were there when the Great War began, they were lost to time or damage, and not numerous enough to cobble together into a single suit we could see in 1, 2, or NV. There were T-45s in the Pentagon, because they were likely going to see a refit before the bombs dropped. The Neo-Maxson Brotherhood in Boston has T-60s from refitting their T-45s before they left DC. The T-65 is a limited run refit program for the T-60 exclusive to members of the Secret Service, and was considerably more expensive besides, hence its rarity. The X-series of power armors were not in active service pre-war to the US Army, or any other military branch, as they were eXperimental, hence the designation (My reasoning is that all modern armor and aircraft undergo experimental testing, and then prototype testing before becoming actual service units, bearing the designation of X and Y respectively. Jets like the F-22 were once called the X and Y-22 before they were adopted by the USAF as a service unit). They were likely to be long-term planned replacements for the active T-series at the time, counting the T-45, the T-51, and T-60. The X-series (of which we have only one canonically) likely used lessons learned from the T-51 and T-60 to improve both ballistic and energy resistance for future power armor post-war (planned if the Great War had not occurred) to retain power armor dominance over the globe, rather than use models that had been in service for years and had noticable shortcomings that could be exploited by opposing powers or entities, given enough time. However, the X-series program was cut short in the trial runs of experimental prototypes as the Great War had begun. Any surviving X-01 suits within USG control were shipped to the Poseidon Oil Rig off the West Coast for further development and testing, which resulted in the Advanced Power Armor Mark I, which looks identical to X-01, but is a production-run model that was streamlined for mass production and ease of production and maintenance. The APA (Advanced Power Armor) Mk I saw select units being modified to improve energy resistance against advanced opponents and rogue military hardware, and allow improved operation of energy weaponry through a synergy with the suit itself, the ATPA (Advanced Tesla Power Armor) Mk I was only given to special or officer units that proved capable of handling more difficult threats to Enclave operations and security (Ganon Family Tesla Armor). The X-02 (assuming such programs still continued under Enclave supervision) and subsequent APA Mk II (better known as East Coast "Black Devil" Enclave power armor) was used on a limited scale on the West Coast, and most of the program was transmitted to the East Coast Enclave for mass production. The APA Mk II was given an alternative run similar to that of the ATPA Mk I, but was made far more available to East Coast Enclave operatives at their discretion in light of the loss of the Poseidon Oil Rig a few years earlier (FO3 Tesla Power Armor). The APA Mk III (under the designation of Project Hellfire) was an exclusively East Coast Enclave suit meant to handle extreme temperatures, and was produced in response to the loss of the Poseidon Oil Rig, meant to be manufactured under diminished manufacturing and resourcing capabilities likely to be experienced during focused strikes against Enclave units. Paired with the program was a flame projector meant to incinerate targets from range greater than most flamers, while resisting the heat themselves should they fire too close to themselves. The plans were shipped to the West Coast in the event they would be intercepted by any surviving West Coast Enclave, but it is unknown if they ever were received. Any other letter subdesignations of power armor were likely specialist suits or specific lifetime refits of that line of suits meant to improve their condition, provided the resources to upgrade them across the entirety of the series were available, hence why T-45 got as far as "d" and not "f" before the bombs fell, as that was the furthest they were generally upgraded to by the US Army for their cost, and why T-51 only got as far as "b", as it was generally accepted to be "good enough" that to go any higher had to be done on a per case basis, and was considered to be too expensive for the whole series to undergo. That, dear Radking, is what we considered, given the entirety of the Fallout history, to be the case regarding power armor, and especially T-51 in the middle of it all. Is it a lot? *Oh fuck the hell, yes.* Is it logical? More than you would think, especially with graft, bureaucracy, and politics interfering with military efficiency and operations. Is it 100% what actually happened, not counting gameplay differences and changes over time? I don't think so. But it's what I like to *think* is the most likely to have happened. See you in the next video in the comments end sequence!

[@vulpesrosarum4795]

As a military nerd myself, I loved reading all of this

[@mahazkei7709]

-EDIT- I need to add this as a second comment since YT isn't letting me edit the original post for some reason. The X-01 never saw any (that I know of) field testing or trials in battlefield conditions to determine if the advanced nature was up to the task without fail. As it stands, any X-01 found in the wild should not be battle ready, and should suffer malfunctions or critical weaknesses in combat. If the X-01, in name and production, was mass produced (hence why we could possibly see more of it in Boston and elsewhere) before the kinks were worked out, the X-01 is officially a Mackie. Anyone who understands that reference, good on you. The X-series likely was to be the first in a line of next generation power armors designed to either A): prove superiority against oppositional power armor held by other nations and/or polities, or B): prove superiority against opposition that cannot effectively field power armor in any capacity, and at best can only manage token vehicular resistance or massed infantry resistance. If the Enclave's work in Fallout 2 is any indication, I'd suggest they succeeded on that end. But they probably did so at great personal cost developing the suit line (now the most expensive line on record) at all, because they already had suits that performed the job they were using them for, and in great number, as the T-60 was pretty much a riot control unit and effective combat unit in high energy and radiation output environments (rogue robots and/or military hardware and radiological environments), with sufficient ballistic coverage. Take note: the Enclave does not believe in "good enough", and that they should leave well enough alone if something already works. ...huh. I was going to be sarcastic and say "big shocker", but that really explains a lot about the Enclave. Not only are they the descendants of USG senators, military personnel, and scientists, they still suffer from the same issues the USG had at the time of their collapse. Namely, in that they just throw money at a problem to make it go away rather than address issues in the development of any of their many programs, which results in poorer products that were not minor iterations of existing designs, and were made to be so new and revolutionary that they didn't even stop to think or test if any of their newest designs actually worked as intended before putting it into mass production and widespread service (deathclaw mind control). The APA Mk III never saw a tesla (or equivalent) refit before the extermination of the East Coast Enclave. If any plans were drawn up for such a suit, they are now lost to the dead, and/or buried in the remains and databanks of Raven Rock and Enclave Crawler One. It's possible all tesla armors were designed to counter other power armored units, and could perform a short radius EMP or directional shorting out via the nodes mounted on the armor. If so, the Enclave's probable usage of ATPA Mk I against the Brotherhood of Steel on the West Coast was probably the one thing they did right with design and deployment. If you want to see my inspiration for this ridiculous thesis-sized post, I recommend Tex of the Black Pants Legion, and his videos on BattleTech's Mackie and Warhammer as primary examples of the above, and put into context so clear that the point made is almost comedic. Any questions?

[@achair7265]

T-45 wasn't made pre anchorage, it was made as a stop gap and deployed within a month after the initial invasion of Anchorage. The U.S government was caught off guard while making the transition from heavy vehicles to exo suits. T-45 was the product of needing something quickly to stop the Chinese assault. And within the month was designed, produced and deployed.

[@mahazkei7709]

@@achair7265 Okay. So while I was wrong, what you just said proved one thing. T-45 was definitely not a finalized product that should have been shipped in the state it was in. That's probably the whole reason they needed refits to T-60. That almost literally makes the T-45 into a Mackie. Except the Chinese didn't turn and run at the sight of T-45s, did they? They did (supposedly) at T-51, but not T-45, did they?

[@achair7265]

@@mahazkei7709 No they didn't, the stopgap design made it so while they halted the Chinese advance they couldn't lead a counter attack. Exposed wireing and joints. lack of movement because of the weight. Overall not capable of withstanding the same punishment as future models. Even the power source was a issue. If I remember correctly some of the earliest T-45 lore wise didn't even have a core.

[@VunderGuy]

Thanks so much! Literally had a fight with people who said the UNSC from Halo wouldn't have benefitted from having access to Fallout power armor before the war broke out. Other tech too, but seriously! Can you imagine UNSC marines or ODST's equipped with Haloized Fallout armor and the faces on grunts when having to deal with robo people carrying heavy crew served weapons everywhere and needing more elites or brutes with harder hitting weapons to deal with them? You'd be hearing the grunts shouting, 'Run away!' and chucking more nades do often you could make a symphony from it.

[@scowler7200]

They did. HRUNTING-YIGGDRASIL.

[@Aetius_of_Astora]

I think the 2500 joules is the amount the material can withstand per square millimeter, if that is the case and looking at how thick the plates are; that armor would be able to withstand almost anything infantry could throw at it.

[@fankgaming7753]

The thing about the .308 round getting stopped by body armor; it will eventually defeat it. Each shot is 'unhealthy' for the plate so to speak. If you repeatedly hit the armor, especially in the same spot, it'll weaken its integrity and eventually break. Could be similar for the T-51 3:25

[@spareiChan]

If the 2500J is correct it might just been the damage threshold part, meaning that any impacts below that are 100% absorbed and cause no damage, where as impacts above 2500J can cause damage to the armor or suits systems. It could be the impact with an object but that would likely be newtons and not joules.

[@SPECTRA_87]

My guess of the difference in enclave armors is that the east coast enclave was separated from the west coast. Just like how the DC chapter of the brotherhood lost contact with the west coast, Raven Rock probably lost contact to the west coast. There was even the former enclave soldier that you can find his journal and he mentioned how there was a different president than he remembered. Along the line of development they lost contact and had to finish the Mk.1 and Mk.2 with different research and got different results.

[@markmagician2471]

T 51 Power armor is my favorite set I like it's look especially the helmets. It feels like its own suit. I always feel like T 60 is just the upgraded form of t 45

[@_me___]

Maybe the APA from fo2 was to expensive for raven rock to produce, so they switched to a simpler, cheaper design

[@thenerdcage3292]

Honestly Fallout 4 made sense that you could use power armor right away. Nate ether used power armor and more than likely could have told his wife how the training was, since the armor was a game changer. Therefore Nora remembering what her husband had said could also use it “technically without training “ now the raiders, one could assume trial and error was there main efforts. Or if you wanna believe in the theory that the sole survivor is a synth. Since he is able to use V.A.T.S. Without a pipboy equipped.

[@MutantCyborg001]

Yeah we heard this shit for years, face it that Fallout 4 is really shitty lol

[@nap0038]

@@MutantCyborg001 it’s my favorite game out of the series though I acknowledge 3 and NVs superior story/RPG gameplay/dialogue/etc. Although I think Nora using PA is bullshit, Nate could’ve certainly learned basic usage in basic training as power armor was the future. Saying this, should they have given the player a full suit of shitty PA at the beginning of the game? Probably not. Was it fun when I first played it? Yes.

[@MutantCyborg001]

@@nap0038 yeah i agree with you, it was fun till it stopped being fun though, don't like the power armors using those orange dildos, power armors are supposed to be end game loot, one of the reasons why i prefer Fallout 3 and New Vegas

[@eur0be4t3r]

@@nap0038 Nora maybe had some training in the Secret Service

[@eur0be4t3r]

@@MutantCyborg001 *yellow

[@darkkira1332]

I think the main reason why T-51 was scarce in the capital wasteland was due to the fact that all T-51 units were sent to the front lines, mostly in the Chinese mainland and mostly in the West coast where it's close to the fighting. The large number of T-45 meant that those are reserves or units being refurbished. They appear in Boston as they are being transported as seen in several locations. Edit: I'd also like to think that the reason why the Advance Power Armor MK2 in FO3 is weaker compared to FO2 is because it's not the same Powe Armor, but rather another design that is either built before APA as one of the failed prototypes or after the Oil rig was destroyed and they lost the schematics for the APA series and had to rebuild from scratch.

[@EXAMsystem00]

When you get to hellcat PA, be aware that in the fo4 intro the news anchor mentions hellcat units tho it's not clarified to be PA units

[@Pigness7]

It always felt like Ron Pearlman was using hellcat as slang there

[@EXAMsystem00]

@@Pigness7 for their own units?

[@KorianHUN]

2500 joules might be explained as 2500 J on a given area. 2500J/mm2 would be a very strong armor, while 2500J/cm2 or sq inch would be quite weak. It might be an area not specified in game.

[@wastelesslearning1245]

I like that explanation, I always thought it was a typo on the author’s part. You’ll be surprised how many people forget the “kilo” in kilowatt or kilojoules. It’s a common irl typo. 🤷‍♂️

[@ThatZenoGuy]

@@wastelesslearning1245 2500 kilojoules would be way too much energy lmao, power armor simply isn't as strong as most people think it is.

[@Luizi08]

just wanted to say that the quality of your videos has been increasing so much, it really shows how much effort you put into these. Thanks

[@yesirskis7864]

another great video I can't wait to get through this one you've just made my day once again rad King I absolutely love your contact man thank you thank you thank you I've been waiting for this forever you always make my day better whenever I see your video pop up

[@Rad_King]

Thanks so much! Makes me happy to make your day a bit better

[@yesirskis7864]

@@Rad_King thank you for always liking my comments makes me feel appreciated

[@hisgreasiness]

In the world of ballistic armor, absorb means it can take that amount of energy before projectiles pass through. Armor plate however is different. A tank's armor rating means it can take repeated hits below threshold but has diminishing resistance beyond that point.

[@raziyatheseeker]

Huh! Given that power armor is basically a walking tank, I could see it being like armor plating instead of absorption.

[@hisgreasiness]

@@raziyatheseeker exactly

[@Idazmi7]

THAT makes sense.

[@ThatZenoGuy]

@@raziyatheseeker Power armor isn't like a walking tank though.

[@flare9757]

My theory behind hardening the armor is, well, it may have been sitting around in less than ideal conditions for a very long time. It also mentions it was composite armor if I recall correctly. So it is multiple different materials alloyed into a single plate of various layers. I think what happens is some of those layers are "rotten" and don't provide as much protection as they should. So, in hardening the armor, they pull the plates apart and replace some layers of the composite matrix. A good example of this is steel. In use as armor it is often face hardened, which can degrade over a by rust and radiation (from what I have seen, current research indicates that radiation does affect the composition of steel, just not a lot). Filling holes or pits in the steel and rehardening it could explain this issue, and patching ceramic and glass layers could also fix that problem as well.

[@Idazmi7]

The problem with that is in Fallout 1 the only Power Armor that can be obtained in the first place is a freshly made suit from the Brotherhood of Steel.

[@The_Malpais_Legate]

Fusion cores can last for hundreds of years? Thats funny. They last about 10 seconds for me.

[@whee38]

After sitting for hundreds of years

[@thesweetone]

From what I have seen T-60 was being finalized hence the T-60 name tag but not mass produced. The x-01 was in prototype stage and the enclave had that data using it to make their power armor. While the T-65 was designed for secret service only - hence top secret and not known outside the secret service

[@sethoquinn7122]

I love these long ass lore videos so much man your channel is awesome

[@le_floofy_sniper_ducko]

personally when i look at T-60 and X-01 they can be around pre-war in a limited numbers of the USA as in early models and field tests but T-51 would still reign as the best mass produced armor that is widely fielded

[@shadenox8164]

Right its not that big of an issue, they were experimenting with upgraded models but they were not ready for mass production yet so the ones which could be mass produced were considered the pinnacle.

[@brando31799]

Ooooh man I am SO ready for this video! T-51 is my favorite model of Power Armor. Thank you for this video your grace!

[@aaronmorton9308]

I did research a few years back on X-01 lore to win an argument, because I'm petty like that. But through research I found out X-01 is both prewar and post war. The X-01 as we know it in game is designed by the Enclave, but they got the base blueprints from prewar designs, with some prewar X-01 prototypes being used in select private sectors, such as the Secret Service to protect the president. So that would explain how a set of custom X-01 power armor made its way into a Nuka-Cola park.

[@gordonfreeman1931]

I don't see how it being used in secret service could explain nuka cola having one. Way I see it there really isn't a plausible lore explanation to it and it's just down to bethesda messing up. Even assuming it existed pre-war, it would be used pretty much at the 11th hour before the war itself and only in limited numbers like you said. I don't see the gvt giving away what is effectively a b-2 stealth bomber on legs in terms of cost and technology. Maybe they could give away an older model of power armor like the 45 AT MOST, but a more feasible explanation would be that the nuka cola company bought a surplus 45 unit that the military was trying to get rid of (possibly tying in to the resource wars). I wish we lived in a world where we could win access to top-secret military technology at a park, but sadly we don't.

[@AsymmetricalCrimes]

X-01 is a pre-war experimental Power Armor whose blueprints were given to the Enclave at the Oil Rig in 2077. Those blueprints would later be used to develop APA Mk. 1 which is why X-01 and APA look similar. X-01 in itself was not invented by the Enclave otherwise there would of been no need to send the blueprints to themselves in 2077 (unless the organization was not communicating with each other on secret projects). Sources: Real world military naming designations and Fallout 76 Whitesprings Terminal.

[@aaronmorton9308]

@@gordonfreeman1931 The Nuka-Cola company and the US military had deep ties and did alot of work together. The X-01 being loaned to Nuka-World was a collaboration project, and presumably would have been a PR stunt that would garner support and possibly recruits.

[@Snow.Frostborne_Ch]

I just wish fusion cores were used as coolant cores instead I mean cryo cells exist, not to mention every Red Rocket station sells coolant like it’s petrol. This was power armour still had a fuel mechanic and the lore of the micro fusion cell would somewhat still be more intact.

[@bryguytyguy]

I’m playing fallout new Vegas and just got my power armor training from Elder McNamara. Such a fitting moment for this upload lol.

[@Rad_King]

Nice! What power armor are you going to rock?

[@Cj.M9]

Had a bad day at work today. So glad you posted, really made my day a whole lot better 🙏🏼❤️

[@RangerJackWalker]

While I do agree that fusion cores were introduced as a means of balance, that design philosophy would have been in place long, long before any specific quests were ever written.

[@spartanonxy]

It actually can be pretty easily mixed into lore as well. Brotherhood suits definitely have more maintenance. And so would enclave. So parts of their power systems would not have degraded. All it takes is for a few parts to corrode or even break and all the sudden a core that should last years instead dies in hrs.

[@AceVendetta]

My thought on the enclave mk2 is that it's actually something of a retrograde in order to make the suit more mass production friendly. This allows them to arm more soldiers with it. The old suits were more advanced, but as the enclave pushed into the wastes, they realized that A) they didn't need such an advanced suits, B) they needed more to be able to effectively fight forces like the brotherhood, and C) resources are very limited, so they needed to make more with less

[@NCR_vet_ranger2347]

A little late but X-01 was not meant for military or civilian use, it was a prototype and wasn't even in use during the war

[@sodog44]

The Medic armor of Fallout 3 cracked me up when it would talk smack to you while healing you.

[@BaChewieChewieChomp]

An answer to a lot of these questions usually can be: Bethesda doesn't care about lore, and refuses to acknowledge or respect any FOs that weren't made by them.

[@midgetman4206]

It don't feel to great. They bought the rights only because they did see the potential of such a setting and ideas. Sucks that they neglect it like that.

[@shadenox8164]

@@midgetman4206 Except a lot of these things is lore they themselves made. Like the power armor training. The FO4 power armor is actually closer to the first two in that they're more intuitive to use for example. Also an experimental suit doesn't really invalidate the ones in mass production.

[@undaijoubunii-chan586]

great vid man can't wait for the rest of your (possible) armor lores for fallout

[@themrlupo3591]

In my head T-60 armour was built for heavy defence and T-51 was built for shock troop style combat

[@raziyatheseeker]

The confusion about the joules that Power Armor can resist reminds me of the plasma rifles in The Terminator. Particularly, that the joules don't necessarily relate to a hunting rifle's bullet velocity itself, but absorption and distribution of that kind of energy a la real-life ballistics armor. For my tangent, the famous line "Plasma rifle in the 40-watt range" could mean two things. One, the blaster somehow uses the same electrical energy as a low-end light bulb. Two, that the watts refer to the plasma itself -- heavy industrial lasers in the 80s projected beams in the 20-watt range, and the Resistance-gibbing plasma was twice as powerful. Anywho, I assume Black Isle just goofed on the ballistics. But I want to present that a lack of clarity might give ZAX's data different meaning, instead of different physics in-canon compared to ours.

[@yungpatawan5360]

Playing fallout 4 modded on ps4, look down for a second and see two T45 wearing BoS members staring into each other’s eyes saying things like “you have wonderful eyes” and “you make my Geiger counter go crazy” had me chuckle, when one moved after being beckoned I chuckled again, but I lost it when they pixelated. Quality

[@eur0be4t3r]

Bizarre

[@Rad_King]

Things get weird in the brotherhood!

[@jesseharlan2884]

I couldn't agree with you more the Fallout 4 and onward depiction of T-51 and all other power armors is by far my favorite. I love the the way the T-51 helmet looks, vary retro sci-fi. From is gasmask like muzzle to its slit visor that's ever so slightly narrowed in the middle. It gives it an angry look. Though I'm not a big fan of the shoulders and the chest, I prefer the more boxxy look of the T-45 and the T-60 shoulders. I will say there's no power armor that takes a graphic paint job better then the T-51 is more smooth and flat surface is a perfect canvas for Nuka-Cola, cleaner and snack cakes. I especially like the Vim paint job and wouldn't mind a Grognak or The Unstoppables paint job. As for the weakness of Enclave power armor, I would assume you could explain it away in a lore friendly way by saying that the west coast Enclave invented and developed it. They have the knowledge and hands on experience in the production of the advanced power armor. The east coast Enclave were forwarded the schematics so they were gifted the knowledge but not the hands on experience that the west coast Enclave had it its development? Maybe that's the best "fix" I can come up with off the top of my head lol.

[@Rad_King]

I would have no issues if that was Bethesda’s official stance.

[@jesseharlan2884]

It does makes me wonder how robust is the communication between the east and west Enclaves. I suppose the same question could be asked for the BoS and other factions as well. With the Brotherhood for example it seems as if they have at least some communication between the east and west, but overall are autonomous from each other. News and rumors are surely spread by caravans, but there's no way the Enclave or the Bos would trust caravans to deliver messages. Maybe coded radio or satellite transmission? I don't know any lore about active communication satellites. Most orbits have probably degraded over 200 years, there has to be a few satellites left, even if its something like a weather satellite. A easier explanation is a spy could easily take up a job as a caravan guard I imagine there turn over rate is high and wouldn't be suspicious. Even if they meet an unfortunate end it's probably on a encrypted halo tape.

[@peterparker2389]

Good vid. I just really wish the design from 1 and 2 had an official full body 3D render.

[@kpmh2001]

Easily my favorite of the armors, thanks for covering it in detail.

[@Ryan-ix2nv]

I remember hearing somewhere that T-60 was originally meant to be a post war armor created by the Brotherhood, as an upgrade to the T-45 power armor, which would explain the visual similarities between the two armors, as well as the reason the in-game stats are better than T-51 in Fallout 4.

[@neal_rigga90]

Fighting the brotherhood of steel in FO:4 in my X-01 power armor was my favorite moment in that game. And gettin that sick ass coat the elder wore is just a plus.

[@TacDyne]

"It has enough power to last hundreds of years, likely meaning that the suits of power armor being worn in Fallout are using their original power sources" Fallout 4 has entered the chat.

[@erek3034]

It was a way to balance the game they made it way stronger and more powerful and useable they had to add sm thing to hold it hadk

[@diamond_tango]

Fallout 4 is 2287. Two hundred years postwar, and long enough to barely qualify as “hundreds” Clearly marketing blurbs for the power supply were exaggerated.

[@J0J0Reference]

I absolutely love T-51, it’s easily my favorite power armor design in the whole series. It is to Fallout’s image what Mjolnir Mark 6 is to Halo’s. I used to roll with the Prototype X-01 armor in Fallout 76, but after learning how to craft T-51 I’ve repped that Brotherhood drip all across Appalachia since shortly after the Wastelanders expansion dropped. She’s served me well in many a Scorchbeast Queen and Wendigo Colossus fight and she will continue too for the foreseeable future. (Mainly because I really don’t want to grind for gold bouillon to buy the T-65 lol)

[@MS07B3-G0UF]

The T-65 is definitely worth it though. Getting a matching legendary set is a pain. I’m rolling in T-51 just because I love it and it’s a bolstering sent set.

[@Hervoo]

bro ive just ended watchin episode of over power tech in fallout, ya know it was my birthday or what maketh you to make so mutch episodes? thank you!

[@Rad_King]

I do it for the people!

[@NativeMain]

I have been binge watching u for the past couple of days and love your videos, your very underrated

[@Rad_King]

Thank you, rest assured there is a lot more content to come

[@KaiserDeclan]

21:45 The simplest answer is supply issues. Armour is expensive to keep in pee condition. And considering the enclave suffered a apocalyptic defeat, they wouldn’t have the resources to maintain higher quality armour even after 100 years to recover. The other possibility is also related to supply issues. Since the brotherhood is far more open in fallout 3 they could be willing to trade for valuable resources. Which could allow them to reinforce their already existing armour.

[@rypszjedendwatrzy1186]

The thing with stopping bullets is that its kinetic energy is spread over larger area (or even time if you consider cushioning) rather than dissipated. That means that even if your armour is not pierced by .308, you still can be knocked over by the impact. So that number of joules could be how much kinetic energy is needed to induce any knockback whatsoever. I mean its pretty reasonable to think you might not even notice being shot with some small pistol round while wearing that beasty chunk of metal/polymer/ceramic

[@oppotatoes3043]

The biggest lore break is the American military calling it T-51 and not M-51

[@dundabird3203]

Yeah, odd choice, I wonder why they went with T. The "T" designator in the military marks a training aircraft.

[@ianbarnard5883]

I like videos like this that don't hurt replay value via talking about a specific quest I'd rather experience myself & rather deep dives into specific items

[@ashmalachai1934]

Actually fusion cores are easy to find (if you know where to look) early in fallout 4. One in the museum, another in the mole den under red rocket, 3 are available in the robotics disposal ground (one in a chest and 2 in the sentrybot, use the holotape.) And the last in satellite olivia for a total starting count of 6. Plus the perks scrounger and nuclear physicist make it even easier. And the repair bobblehead.

[@shadenox8164]

You'll have some, not a lot. That's what he was saying.

[@quinaquen298]

Love that the T-51 has its own video I didn't play the older games so finding out about the origins is awesome. As far as Tech I would love to know more about the tech used by Mr. House both life support systems and what he uses to control the Strip.

[@JTL1776]

@RADKING. Do you agree/like the idea. T45. T51. GEN 1. Power armor. T60. T65. GEN 2. Power armor. HELLFIRE. TESLA. special purpose.

[@Rad_King]

Honestly, that makes sense to me. Throw X-01 into Gen 2 as a prototype and have the post war generation include all the enclave armor and we are golden.

[@PSEUDOSOPHER]

Man I really loved how the first Fallout games treated power armor, as in making it the ultimate end-game apparel that you barely even see before you reach the last leg of your journey. That’s what I want power armor to be - a rare and sought after piece of equipment that makes you absolutely overpowered

[@AidenRKrone]

Power armor was supposed to be rare and special. It was supposed to be tough to obtain but a rewarding experience to use. Bethesda turned it into a collectable commodity. It's a gimmick now.

[@AHHHHHHHH21]

Which they tried to fix in 76 and most likely will work out the balancing kinks for 5 (when it comes)

[@poleslaw4916]

There is actually a t-51c power armor helmet in one of the display cases on the second floor in star control, a location in the fallout 4 nuka world dlc (galactic zone park to be more exact). this would suggest that the t-51c variant was already finished pre-war

[@harold3835]

The regular T-51b is found in a rnd section of the fort so they could have been improving it before the war happened and the winterized 1. Is a different sub model of T-51b 2. Is is a special reward from a simulation from pre war

[@cgbailey01]

I love that power armor in 4 and 76 is a suit you have to get into.

[@Manfromthenorth0551]

So the thing about fusion cores depleting quickly in F4/76 is that time in game is much faster than Real Time. So while a fusion core can only last about 20-30 minutes in real time. In-game it lasts hours. It's still much shorter than the original description of the power armors power supply. But within the universe they don't drain as quickly as we think.

[@Idazmi7]

Even so, 10 hours vs 876600 hours is a massive difference.

[@Manfromthenorth0551]

@@Idazmi7 True, but 10 hours of battery is still more than enough juice for a pre-war power armor soldier to be effective in prolonged combat. All they'd need to do is carry an extra fusion core and they'd be good for just about a whole day.

[@Idazmi7]

@@Manfromthenorth0551 And for a week?

[@eur0be4t3r]

@@Idazmi7 they probably had atleast 5 or more extra cores

[@Idazmi7]

@@eur0be4t3r So they can only operate for a few days at most.

[@brotherhoodofsteel4751]

A possible reason for why the Brotherhood uses the t45 exclusively in Fallout 3 is that they already had some to begin with. We know that Ashur in the pit DLC wear a modified version of the t45 which is more than likely the suit he was wearing during the scourge of the pit when he was presumed dead. There is also a another t45 in the pit but this could also just been pre-war suit and not one brought in by the Brotherhood. In Fallout New Vegas is confirmed that at least the Mojave chapter has access to t45 though they tend to favor the t-51 as not only can you purchase it through them but by completing all the Brotherhood of Steel quest you'll be given a complete suit. There's also the fact that the NCR has t45 through the heavy troopers and the scorched Sierra variant. With all this in mind it's safe to assume that the West Coast Brotherhood did have access to t45 power armor but prioritizes t-51 as they have it in abundance it's more than likely when the East Coast expedition was sent out they would be equipped with power armor that they would be more willing to lose and that would be easier to repair. As to explain the overabundance of t45 in comparison to t-51 in the capital wasteland, we know that t45 was the first model to see combat and was quickly phased out by the t-51s the thing is the government would still have an abundance of t45 that they would have to put to use so it would make sense to give them to locations such as reserve units or national guard units in areas that were less likely to be invaded by Chinese forces so it would make sense for the capital wasteland to have a lot of power armor as it's a strategic asset but also have a more older model as it's highly unlikely it would have been invaded at the time. A possible explanation for The fallout 3 enclave armor being less powerful than its Fallout 2 counterpart is that part of its advancement could possibly be that it sacrificed some of its protection to be mass-produced at a higher rate.

[@jonv9954]

and a "jet"pack that keeps you high as fuck :P thanks for the new vid Radking. Enlightening and educational as always.

[@djkiltech]

I always treated the joules thing like Damage Reduction in D&D: anything under 2,500 joules is absorbed with absolutely no effect, where 2,501 joules is the minimum before any damage is done to the armor layers. So anything less than a .308 won't take down any of the armor's HP. (So like 200+ .308 rounds hitting the torso before actually taking out that one piece of armor)

[@kazuhiramiller7945]

I think the T-51 helmet looks too round in Fallout 3. The eyes for example look much less aggressive than the original and the coloration is off. Fallout 4 found the best of both worlds with it looking much sharper and true to the og design while also having elements like the helmet flashlight although I would love an option to remove it.

[@MarieGoldBrand]

I've had this head cannon for a while but, what if power armor training just makes it so you can move easily in power armor without a fusion core? Like without a core in Fallout 4 your slow and its basically not worth wearing the armor, so what if the power armor wearors in 3 and New Vegas just don't have any cores and have to have special training to use the armor without power?

[@MS07B3-G0UF]

Except no form of training is going to give you the ability to force servos and hydraulics to move like you weren’t even wearing it. When the energy runs out, and your walking snail pace is exactly what would happen and it’d tire you out real quick.

[@shadenox8164]

@@MS07B3-G0UF There is no way its moving just under the power of your own strength, there's gotta be some auxiliary power to help.

[@SymphonicConvergence]

Damn let's go! Best New series!

[@katchupmachined1914]

Definitely my favorite Power Armor! Amazing retro design, looks amazing in FO4 and 76. And love that it gets proper respect in 76, being all over the marketing for the game and having one of the best resistance pools in the game. It just FEELS good to use.

[@Hardrada_129]

When I first started playing Fallout, I thought the T-51b was ugly as hell. However, when I played Fallout 1 and saw my favorite faction (the Brotherhood of Steel) in their og state, it grew on me. I love it's simple look and how iconic it is to the series. It may not have the aggressive look of the T-45d or the bulk of the T-60c, but it does have a special place in my heart.

[@spartanonxy]

Oh it is ugly as sin. It does not try to be pretty. It looks like something forge for battle not parade. It is meant to do one thing and one thing only win wars.

[@RandomAllen]

@@spartanonxy Ugly as sin? It's literally one of the benchmarks for the whole series aesthetic. It's an iconic design that most people prefer over the T-45

[@spartanonxy]

@@RandomAllen To be frank its ugliness is what makes it a amazing looking design. Take a look at most power armor in fiction it look nice almost like armored up designer clothes or are so small from a visuals perspective you don't notice. The T-51 looks like war and it WORKS. The T-45 looks clunky and looks like what it is described as a stopgap. From a purely objective standpoint both armors are ugly. But they are as said not trying to be objectively pretty. Badass? Oh most certainly. Powerful looking? YES. Looks like you decided to weld a tank to yourself? CHECK. But pretty? NO! TLDR yes they look amazing but more for the badass factor then being objectively pretty.

[@Aurablocky]

i havent watched a lore video in a good while and i think its a sign that i got this in my recommendation

[@Rad_King]

It’s a sign from Atom himself.

[@derekhenschel3191]

Wait... Did you forget about the vim refresh armor??

[@wr1ght939]

Hey awesome vid! I had fun playing with you!

[@P4NZ3RSR34K]

I see fusion cores as the fuel to the reactor like fuel rods are to a real reactor

[@thegentlemanghostronaut4426]

My head canon for the fusion cores in Fallout 4 is that the original long-life power cores have either been looted or were shipped seperate to the armour itself, and the scavengers in the wasteland have to use a messy workaround to use fusion cores, which due to not being made for the armour are drained quickly.

[@doctorgrubious7725]

T-51 will always be the best looking one, I dislike X-01, even in 2 and 3 it looks dumb

[@MediumRareOpinions]

Its got a kind of "bug/insect" vibe that fits with the Vertibirds. An acquired taste perhaps.

[@hermos3602]

There is a set of T-51 Power armor in the Vim Pop factory with the Vim paint job in the Far Harbor DLC.

[@vengeance160]

T-51b in fallout 2 was actually used by Enclave for soldiers who are lower in ranks, since APA is surely expensive and maybe it was not distributed to all military personnel. I also would not be surprised if Enclave was able to produce T-51b as well.

[@WildLastFrontier]

T-45 power armor will always be my favorite, since I started with Fallout 3 and it's the first kind I got. While definitely outclassed by other armors (especially the Enclave Tesla Armor, my 2nd favorite), there's something nostalgic about it. In Fallout 4, I typically go out of my way to fix, upgrade, and paint a set of T-45 to be pristine rather than pursuing better versions. When fully upgraded it's strong enough that the benefits other armors give over T-45 fade into the background. Sorry Mr. Raider, your pipe pistol means nothing to me!

[@DogHouseEntertainmentINC]

Gosh i wished a modder would take ALL of these guy's ideas and implement them. They're SO GOOD.

[@azynkron]

The issue in FO4 and onwards is that it's introduced too early. For it to be balanced against the low level foes, it had to be nerfed to a point where it's only RAD and carry cap useful. It's metal, a gun with lead ammunition e.g. a shotgun can't penetrate it. But that's what happens due to the balance. Hence, it's not the powerhouse that you expect it to be and takes away the magic. The power armour [sic!] should be a tool that you need towards the really nasty enemies.