Grognak's vs. Power Armor

[Gnarl]

So I'm melee spec, and at level 35 I finally found a second power armor suit. I was wondering is it possible to get the same damage boost out of PA for melee that I do out of Grognaks?

Also, my character has no crafting skills, is it therefor impossible to match the damage boost of Grognaks?

Thanks in advance.

[ChemicalBacon]

You can always buy armour mods from vendors such as Teagan and Rowdy
In all, a fully modded PA suit is better due to the protection, even if you need cores.
Go unarmed and get bonuses from bleed or shock on your PA arms. Or go melee and use the "fewer points used in VATS" servos.

The problem with Grognak's is that you will get shredded by harder enemies, espically those with automatic weapons or high melee dps.

[Morgian]

Grognak's gives you the same effect as STR +4 (= 40% damage boost in melee). What do you get out of your PA?
I'd say it depends if you want/need the better protection or the damage boost.

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by Morgian:

Grognak's gives you the same effect as STR +4 (= 40% damage boost in melee). What do you get out of your PA?
I'd say it depends if you want/need the better protection or the damage boost.

My logic is that the STR is useless if you can't get close enough to land blows.
IMHO i'd rather have the protection and higher maintenance costs than keep reloading from saves

[brian_va]

Originally posted by Chemicalbacon:

My logic is that the STR is useless if you can't get close enough to land blows.

Blitz will minimize or at least reduce this issue.

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by brian_va:

Originally posted by Chemicalbacon:

My logic is that the STR is useless if you can't get close enough to land blows.

Blitz will minimize or at least reduce this issue.

And against radscorpions, deathclaws and groups of enemies, this won't save you in the long run

If you lack protection, it's game over.

Depending on what difficulty the OP is on that is.

[brian_va]

Maybe. AP refilling can be sped up through character specs, chems, legendary armor and probably some others. Groups aren't generally a big issue, especially if you invest in sneak. But everyone has their way of playing, so do whatever works for you.

[Rez Elwin]

Power armor maxes your strength at 11, my melee character with no enhancments has a base of 12, when I enter power armor I do less damage. Not to mention you lose any armor bonuses as well, My character has 11 endurance as well with Ballistic weave, I don't need that much protection.

[Gnarl]

That's a bummer PA can't outperform a costume. The tradeoff of having to fuss with cores and with upgrades and repairs and pick specific perks makes PA seem inferior in every way. Maybe a DLC will fix it.

I play on survival. I'm level 36 now. I've melee'd a skull death scorpion, a couple deathclaws and a Behomoth (just did the behemoth an hour ago.) I usually soften them up with explosives or having them fight other things until it's only 3 or 4 swings to defeat them (including a vats critical.) That's wearing Grognaks or the Hazmat suit. I have max endurance and have some defensive stats like lifegiver and the DR one, so I can take some nasty hits. Like even take missle launchers at max health and can live.

Also, can Grognak's be upgraded defensively with that Railroad upgrade?

[Rez Elwin]

Originally posted by Gnarl:

Also, can Grognak's be upgraded defensively with that Railroad upgrade?

Nope unfortunately

[Spocks Toupee]

Originally posted by Rez Elwin:

Originally posted by Gnarl:

Also, can Grognak's be upgraded defensively with that Railroad upgrade?

Nope unfortunately

Unless you use Armorsmith Extended that allows you to add Ballistic weave to things like that

[Gnarl]

I just realized I can wear arm and leg armor with Grognak's. Now I really don't see why I'd use Power Armor as melee.

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by Gnarl:

I just realized I can wear arm and leg armor with Grognak's. Now I really don't see why I'd use Power Armor as melee.

Armour only protects the places it covers

[brian_va]

Depends on what you are going for. If you want to just smash in and be able to tank damage, roll with power armor. If you are going stealth, planning attacks out and taking advantage of the sneak attack being somewhat OP, go with Grognak's. Timed correclty, you can get sneak attacks on a few enemies in a row, and using something like pickmans blade or even a powerful machette will let you get tons of damage from the sneak attack multiplier and lots of VATS hits. As mentioned, you can use other pieces, and that can help to skyrocket your abilities, in the case of legendary armor pieces. Of course you can sneak in power armor, it just feels wrong to me to be able to do so.

[Z'Gok]

Originally posted by Gnarl:

That's a bummer PA can't outperform a costume. The tradeoff of having to fuss with cores and with upgrades and repairs and pick specific perks makes PA seem inferior in every way. Maybe a DLC will fix it.

Yeah, that fully upgradded power armor with its 200-300+ defense PER PART, Constant Damage AoE in Melee, Improved AP regen... Its not at all like it saved my ass countless times throughout my BEEFED UP legendary run (Increase all enemies damage further then normal)

This is like people who always chortled "HYUK MAGUK OP IN DA SKYRIMZ" and then you learned they played on hard and not legendary, where magic suddenly became useless.

Hell, I went PA Melee just to nerf myself since sneak + Rifle or a Sneak + Rooted + Sentinel Armor + Melee playthrough was akin to cheating.

[Gnarl]

Originally posted by Cancer:

Originally posted by Gnarl:

This is like people who always chortled "HYUK MAGUK OP IN DA SKYRIMZ" and then you learned they played on hard and not legendary, where magic suddenly became useless.

Hell, I went PA Melee just to nerf myself since sneak + Rifle or a Sneak + Rooted + Sentinel Armor + Melee playthrough was akin to cheating.

You realize you just "HYUK MAGUK OP IN DA SYRIMZ"'d yourself right?