The ballistic weave is an armor mod in Fallout 4 that allows improved defensive stats to certain clothing items, including outfits, clothing that can be worn under armor and a small number of hats.
This crafting ability can be learned from Tinker Tom after performing certain quests for the Railroad faction. Once this skill is learned, one can upgrade any applicable clothing item at an armor workbench.
Background[]
Ballistic polymer weave is an advanced protection technology used by the Defense Intelligence Agency,[1] for personal protection. The weave is lightweight, offers good protection, and can be applied to normal clothing without altering their appearance.[2] Supplies of this tough artificial fabric were stored in concealed DIA caches,[3] along with other technologies,[2] allowing agents to apply the weave in the field - and post-War factions to claim the technology as their own.[2][Fallout 2d20 1]
Characteristics[]
Unlocking weave mods[]
To unlock the ballistic weave, the player needs to find the first DIA cache for the Railroad, by completing Jackpot missions given by P.A.M. She starts offering them after completing Boston After Dark and Mercer Safehouse. Mercer Safehouse only becomes available after starting Butcher's Bill.
After completing the first or second Jackpot mission, Drummer Boy will approach the Sole Survivor at Railroad HQ and say that they need to speak to Tinker Tom. Tom will enthusiastically tell them about the ballistic fiber technology found in the DIA cache. Talking to him unlocks the ballistic weave mods at armor workbenches. Tom will also randomly sell some armored gear of his own.
Learning this mod only requires doing one or more Jackpot missions for P.A.M. If the player wishes to side with the Brotherhood or the Institute, they should be able to safely learn this mod and move on. The mod becomes unavailable if the player sides with the Institute and wipes out the Railroad, or if they complete Blind Betrayal. While Tactical Thinking is active, it's impossible to obtain radiant quests from P.A.M.
Properties[]
The player character must have the Armorer perk in order to apply this mod beyond the first level. Higher levels of the perk allow applying stronger versions of the mod, up to 110 Damage Resistance and 110 Energy Resistance on a single article of clothing.
The strongest resistance that can be obtained on a single item is achieved by adding weave to the Mechanist's armor, an Automatron add-on armor set, resulting in 182 Damage Resistance and 182 Energy Resistance. Adding weave to items that allow other armor slots to be used can bring the total resistance levels higher than 300.
This makes it very useful, if not essential while playing on Survival mode, due to the damage mitigation. Most of the companions' base outfits (and some hats) can be upgraded with the weave, making them a viable option in later stages of the game.
Available mods[]
Name | Form ID | DR | ER | Description | Armorer | Adhesive | Ballistic fiber | Fiberglass |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ballistic weave | 0020DE42 | 30 | 30 | Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. | 0 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
Ballistic weave MkII | 0022DC82 | 45 | 45 | Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. | 1 | 5 | 9 | 7 |
Ballistic weave MkIII | 0022DC83 | 65 | 65 | Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. | 2 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
Ballistic weave MkIV | 0022DC84 | 90 | 90 | Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. | 3 | 7 | 11 | 9 |
Ballistic weave MkV | 0022DC85 | 110 | 110 | Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. | 4 | 8 | 12 | 10 |
Institute Killer weave | 00226714 | 20 | 20 | Grants 10% bonus damage against Institute members and synths. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Upgradable clothing[]
The following is a list of all clothing that can be upgraded, and which armor slots remain available while wearing it:
- All means all armor slots and headwear can be worn, as it's considered an underarmor by the game.
- If specific slots are mentioned, they can be worn in addition to the weaved item (headwear is considered available by default).
- If "Headwear" is listed, any combination of hats and other headwear items like bandanas and such can be worn.
- If "Non-hat headwear" is listed, the item is a hat and will block other hats and similar full-head objects, but will not block glasses, bandanas, and such.
Outfits that cover the head can't be upgraded with ballistic weave.
Clothing | Free armor slots | Base resistances | Base effects |
---|---|---|---|
Agatha's dress | Headwear | Charisma +3 | |
Architect's winter jacket | Headwear | Perception +1 | |
Army fatigues | All | Strength +1 Agility +1 | |
Atom Cats jacket and jeans | Legs | Luck +2 | |
Baseball uniform | All | Strength +1 Agility +1 | |
Bathrobe | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Battered fedora | Non-hat headwear | Luck +1 | |
Black vest and slacks | Headwear | Endurance +2 | |
Cabot's lab coat | Headwear | Intelligence +1 | |
Casual outfit | Headwear | Perception +1 Charisma +1 | |
Checkered shirt and slacks | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Child of Atom rags | Headwear | RR 25 | Endurance +2 |
Clean blue suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Clean grey suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Clean striped suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Clean tan suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Colonel uniform | Headwear | DR 50 | Perception +1 |
Courser uniform | Headwear | DR 30 | Perception +1 Endurance +1 |
Dirty army fatigues | All | Strength +1 Agility +1 | |
Dirty black suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Dirty blue suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Dirty grey suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Dirty postman uniform | Headwear | Endurance +1 | |
Dirty striped suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Dirty tan suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Dirty trench coat | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Faded trench coat | Headwear | Perception +2 | |
Farmhand clothes | Headwear | Endurance +2 | |
Father's lab coat | Headwear | Intelligence +2 | |
Fatigues | Headwear | Agility +1 | |
Feathered dress | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Felt hat | Non-hat headwear | Charisma +1 | |
Geneva's ensemble | Headwear | Perception +1 Charisma +1 | |
Graphic T-shirts | Arms, Head, Chest | DR 1 | Charisma +2 |
Greaser jacket and jeans | Legs | Luck +2 | |
Green rag hat | Non-hat headwear | ER 10 | |
Green shirt and combat boots | All | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Hooded rags | Headwear | Endurance +2 | |
Hunter's long coat | Headwear | RR 2 | |
Lab coat | Headwear | Intelligence +2 | |
Laundered blue dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Laundered cream dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Laundered denim dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Laundered green dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Laundered loungewear | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Laundered pink dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Laundered rose dress | Arms, Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Legend of the Harbor | Headwear | Perception +2 Mirelurk/Bug Damage reduced by 15% | |
Longshoreman outfit | Headwear | ER 10 | |
Lorenzo's suit | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
MacCready's duster | Headwear | Agility +1 | |
Magician's tuxedo | Headwear | DR 12
ER 17 |
Charisma +1 Endurance +1 |
Maxson's battlecoat | Headwear | DR 50 | Perception +1 |
Mechanic jumpsuit | Headwear | Intelligence +1 Perception +1 | |
Mechanist's armor | Headwear | DR 72
ER 72 |
Endurance +1 Robot Damage reduced by 15% |
Military fatigues | All | ER 5 | Agility +2 |
Minuteman outfit | All | Perception +1 Agility +1 | |
Newsboy cap | Non-hat headwear | Charisma +1 | |
Nuka-World jumpsuit | Headwear | DR 2
RR 5 |
Perception +1 Intelligence +1 |
Padded blue jacket | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Pastor's vestments | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Patched three-piece suit | Headwear | Perception +1 Charisma +1 | |
Postman uniform | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 | |
Ratty skirt | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Red dress | Arms, Head | Charisma +2 | |
Red frock coat | Headwear | Perception +1 Charisma +1 | |
Reginald's suit | Headwear | Charisma +3 | |
Red leather trench coat | Headwear | Charisma +1 | |
Rex's suit | Headwear | ||
Robes of Atom's Devoted | Headwear | Special radiation resistance | |
Sequin dress | Arms, Head | Charisma +2 | |
Submariner uniform | Headwear | Endurance +2 | |
Summer shorts | Arms, Head, Legs | Charisma +2 | |
Surveyor outfit | Headwear | Endurance +1 Perception +1 | |
Suspenders and slacks | Headwear | Endurance +2 | |
Sweater vest and slacks | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
T-shirt and slacks | Headwear | Charisma +2 | |
Tattered rags | All | Luck -1 | |
Trilby hat | Non-hat headwear | Charisma +1 | |
Tunnel Snakes outfit | Headwear | +30 Poison Resistance | |
Tuxedo | Headwear | Perception +1 Charisma +1 | |
Utility coveralls | Headwear | DR 10 | Carry Weight +5 |
Yellow trench coat | Headwear | Charisma +1 Endurance +1 |
Bugs[]
- SetStage 5BC93 260 will fix this.[verified]
- One may also get this mod without doing P.A.M.'s mission with the following console commands:
Set RailroadClothingArmorModAvailable to 1
Set RailroadClothingArmor_ChanceNone to 0
Due to the dialogue flag setting, it is possible to miss the chance of learning this mod. Drummer Boy will keep saying that Tinker Tom wanted to see the Sole Survivor but Tinker Tom will not initiate the corresponding dialogue. Console command - One may also get this mod without doing P.A.M.'s mission with the following console commands:
- Acquiring the weave may become impossible if one has already finished the game with the Minutemen.[verified]
- The clean black suit is supposed to be moddable, but is currently bugged in-game and prevents the player character from upgrading it on an armor workbench; the only solution for this is to use console commands. Tinker Tom may occasionally sell armored clean black suits, but these will only have the first level of ballistic weave and cannot be upgraded further.[verified]
References[]
- ↑ The Sole Survivor: "Nice. That sounds pretty high tech."
P.A.M.: "Correct. The cache belonged to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA's technological capabilities were more advanced than many branches of the government. You only have to secure the cache. Runners will transport contents on a separate timetable. Terminating human/machine interface."
(P.A.M.'s dialogue) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tinker Tom: "The DIA. Shit, man. That cache you found had some serious high tech. But the creme de la creme is ballistic polymer weave. Light weight, serious stopping power, and it looks just like normal clothing. I got some in stock now, but, oh, give me time. I got all sorts of ideas."
(Tinker Tom's dialogue) - ↑ Drummer Boy: "You're the one that scored the DIA cache, right? Tom's dying to talk to you about it."
(Drummer Boy's dialogue)
- Fallout 2d20
- ↑ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook p. 126: "Ballistic polymer weave is an armor mod which improves the defensive abilities of some clothing items. A layer of this tough artificial fabric can be used as a lining in a variety of garments, giving them a limited ability to resist impacts, bullets, and energy blasts."