How do legendaries work?

[CritFailSnail]

I havent bought the game but from watching legendaries confuse me. I know there are likely hoods of them tto spawn or have normal enemies spawn in their place and save and stuff can make it re roll. Im confused about if legendaries respawn though after you get your weapon and leave or are they perminetly dead. Also Im confused about if every legendary can drop every legendary weapon or can only certain ones drop certain gear. Ie if I farm 1 legendary do I ahve the chance of him dropping any legendary gear like explosive minigun or do only certain legendaries have the chance of dropping explosive minigun?

[Revan Tair]

It's totally random, you can lock in the item pool by loading a save from the legendary's location (autosave when you enter new location). You can have a legendary bloatfly drop the explosive minigun for you or a crap pool cue with instigating.

[CritFailSnail]

Originally posted by Revan Tair:

It's totally random, you can lock in the item pool by loading a save from the legendary's location (autosave when you enter new location). You can have a legendary bloatfly drop the explosive minigun for you or a crap pool cue with instigating.

so i could in theoryget a explosive mini gun from the first legendary I see? Thats a bit weird

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by CodyHawkCaster:

Originally posted by Revan Tair:

It's totally random, you can lock in the item pool by loading a save from the legendary's location (autosave when you enter new location). You can have a legendary bloatfly drop the explosive minigun for you or a crap pool cue with instigating.

so i could in theoryget a explosive mini gun from the first legendary I see? Thats a bit weird

And very slim.
A lot of legendaries are "tiered", meaning that mods which are the most powerful such as explosive and double shot drop far less frequently.

The drop also marginally depends on what the enemy type is.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Base objects are level-gated when it comes to random drops. You're not going to pull a legendary Gauss rifle off the first legendary enemy you meet. It's not gated to enemy type, however, and I wish it were; an instigating Gauss rifle would feel more 'earned' if taken off a legendary gunner who'd been shooting at me, than it if dropped from a legendary radstag, for instance.

Some legendary prefixes don't apply to all weapons or all armor. People dug through the game files and figured out that only ballistic guns can get the 'explosive' prefix, for instance -- everybody claiming to have gotten an explosive gatling laser simply cheated (console command or mod), it's not a legitimate drop. Medic's never drops. Furious only drops on melee weapons -- again, anybody showing off a furious minigun or gatling laser cheated to get it. Hunter's, OTOH, applies to any weapon (and is a fairly common prefix; I've gotten hunter's tire irons, hunter's pipe bolt action pistols, hunter's fat man...).

[The Changeling]

The loot pool is really just RNG. The game pre-rolls the outcome when you enter the area. This means I could get a Powerful Rolling Pin one time or a Double Shot Sniper Rifle from the very same legendary radroach. Really, it boils down to how long you're willing to save scum for that perfect legendary.

[Bored Peon]

As far as finding heavy armor with a legendary ability seems non-existant. The majority of armor is the normal type, and maybe one in ten is a sturdy piece.

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

As far as finding heavy armor with a legendary ability seems non-existant. The majority of armor is the normal type, and maybe one in ten is a sturdy piece.

Almost 400 hours and all I found was a "faster VATS recharge" heavy armour chestplate
Lots of leather and normal combat armour, no heavy combat/heavy metal.

[Hobo Misanthropus]

Originally posted by Chemicalbacon:

Originally posted by CodyHawkCaster:

so i could in theoryget a explosive mini gun from the first legendary I see? Thats a bit weird

And very slim.
A lot of legendaries are "tiered", meaning that mods which are the most powerful such as explosive and double shot drop far less frequently.

The drop also marginally depends on what the enemy type is.

Not entirely the case. Loot is leveled (+/- A luck modifier I think, as well) so no, you won't get an explosive minigun on your first Legendary kill, unless your first legendary kill as at level 30+.

You can however, get a Two-Shot 10mm Pistol or explosive Double Barrel Shotgun from your first legendary. as the modifiers are not leveled.

IN my opinion, this is Bethesda's greatest single contribution to the exploration meta since Daedric Armor only existed in two complete sets, spread across two expansion packs (in addition to the main game)

Originally posted by Bored Peon:

As far as finding heavy armor with a legendary ability seems non-existant. The majority of armor is the normal type, and maybe one in ten is a sturdy piece.

Read my above comment, it's tied to level. You'll only see "Heavy" legendary armor at like 25+ with increasing chances as you get higher and higher. At around 60, they're quite common actually. At least Heavy Metal and Heavy Leather is. Heavy Combat and Synth armor is very rare even 70+

Also, play on Survival to ensure the most legendary enemies spawn as possible.

[ChemicalBacon]

Originally posted by Hobo Misanthropus:

Originally posted by Chemicalbacon:

And very slim.
A lot of legendaries are "tiered", meaning that mods which are the most powerful such as explosive and double shot drop far less frequently.

The drop also marginally depends on what the enemy type is.

Not entirely the case. Loot is leveled (+/- A luck modifier I think, as well) so no, you won't get an explosive minigun on your first Legendary kill, unless your first legendary kill as at level 30+.

You can however, get a Two-Shot 10mm Pistol or explosive Double Barrel Shotgun from your first legendary. as the modifiers are not leveled.

IN my opinion, this is Bethesda's greatest single contribution to the exploration meta since Daedric Armor only existed in two complete sets, spread across two expansion packs (in addition to the main game)

I agree, i'm also levelling my luck up from 2 to hopefully 11