Having never completed FO1 nor ever played FO2 I'm personally limiting myself to the games mentioned in the title but feel free to elaborate beyond that for those who have played all the games.

I can honestly say I NEVER put power armor on my character. I'll put it on others like Veronica in FONV but in FO3 my preference was Reilly's Combat Armor (for the stats and it looked cool) and in FONV it's a mix of combat and leather armor until I get to the Dead Money DLC where I always wear the assassin suit (again, cool stats and looks cool). As for the upcoming FO4, I don't see myself straying too far from that play type. Medium or light armors are still my go-to armor choices though it seems I am in the minority on that but who knows...

So what is you preference and how do you plan to play FO4 in regards to your gear and play style?

For the orginal Fallouts including Fallout Tactics Power Armour really does make you into a walking tank compaired to how utterly useless it is in Fallout 3. New Vegas does it somewhat better because of the damage threshold being brought back, but it still isn't as good as the orginals.

For Fallout New Vegas I tend to go with medium Armours, until I work myself up to dealing with the BoS or doing Arcade's quest line.

Power armor in the first two games. You know, back when it was good.

Medium armor or Power armor in 3.

Light in New Vegas.

Gotta side with Styles. In Fallout/Fallout 2, I always wore Power Armour by the end. But in Fallout 3 it's Combat Armour, in New Vegas I wear Combat Armour Mk ll. The only time I don't is when I get to General Oliver, I wear the US Army General outfit for purpose of Roleplay.

Power armour in them all, it's too good to not use in fo1 and fo2 while in fonv and fo3 it's not as borderline overpowered it still aids you in combat.
But if we are talking about the perfect armour nothing can challenge the Chinese stealth suite.

In the older games, Power Armor.

In the newer games, it depends. I generally stick to Light Armor because I cannot stand speed reduction penalties, but I often wear Medium or Power Armor in 3 when I go out expecting a fight. In F:NV I'll use light armor until late-end game, when I switch to Medium for better protection, but I still keep a Light suit around for when I'm traveling long distances or know I won't be facing too many dangerous opponents. Against NV Deathclaws, I always wear light because I know that once they get into melee range there's no armor in the game that will save me, and my only hope is to run away or hide before they get the chance to hit me.


Considering I know nothing about F4 yet, I'm not really ready to choose. I mean, all the Medium armors could svck, like Morrowind. Or there could be no really protective light armor. Or power armor could be so incredibly OP that choosing anything else is self-gimping.
And we don't know about the world, either. Most combat and questing could take place in dungeons or close quarters, or outdoors with long lines of sight. Maybe the game will be in a heavily forested area where stealth is aided by tall trees but they're so close together in such a large space that it's hard to see long distances. Maybe we'll be in a plains region where the long range combat is the most abundant. Or a ruined city with tight, rubble-strewn streets.

There's just not enough information. There's no information.

Ranger Battle Armor in FO3 and, what was it, Elite Riot Gear in FONV.

I used power armor in Fallout, for the same reason as everyone else: It was stupid not to. I wasn't much into roleplaying at the time, though, so I didn't have a character so much as I had a bunch of numbers on a computer screen, and numbers don't care if they look cool or fit in the setting. Fast forward to New Vegas I primarily run around in plain clothes (wasteland doctor's fatigues, a ranger grey hat, and authority glasses, to be exact), though I'll change into Joshua Graham's armor when I'm expecting trouble or elite riot gear if I'm instigating trouble. I figure it's way too hot in the desert to be running to the grocery store in full combat armor, and my character isn't the power armor type, air conditioning be damned.

We'll see about Fallout 4 when it comes out. What I'll wear will depend on 1) whether I like the game or not, 2) what I think looks cool, and 3) what I think fits my character the best.

Was a big fan of the Leather Rebel leather armor and the Talon Company Armor from FO3. With new vegas, i find myself going with the light armor more often. Theres a lot of hiking it up and down the highways, so the extra speed is nice. Can't go wrong with the courier dusters. For medium armor, I really enjoy using the US Army Combat Armor.

I like the look of the Riot Gear armors or NCR Ranger Combat Armor, but I CANNOT tolerate how riffles clip into the back of the duster. This is by far my biggest pet peeve about this game.

Well, without PA it was a little bit too difficult to stay alive in Fallout 1/2 so I used it there, but in Fallout 3 I never really liked the design all that much, I ended up using Talon Combat Armor instead cause of it's slick dark design and in Fallout: New Vegas it varies, that's what I love about it, all armors can be used and not feel useless as it all depends on your play style and they also have a large variety which all looks fantastic. My latest armors were Recruit Legion Armor, Old World Duster and Combat Armor MK II.

As to Fallout 4, I want it like New Vegas where no armor us completely useless. Sure if you used the top tier stuff then enemies were a bit too easy, I hope that the difficulty setting for FO4 isn't as bad as in FO3/FNV/Skyrim and that it actually does more than +/- in health and damage. Even so, I like it that I could use light armor for my speedy characters and not be punished for it and the huge variety in clothing and armors offered a lot of different choices for RP reasons.

In Fallout 1/2/T, I use the best armour I can find. I don't really care about looks in these games, I care about the defensive bonuses. And there's not really as much variety among the armour to begin with.
In Fallout 3/NV though, I use clothes or light armour. Mostly clothes, though. I dress in what looks cool and like a regular wastelander, don't care much for defensive bonuses. I just avoid getting shot instead. Adds to the difficulty.

in f3 i used power armor, mainly the t51-b because it was the coolest armor i could find. In new vegas i tended to wear armor that upped crit%, so i mostly rocked joshua's armor...also it looked so frickin cool

Medium armor all the way, use power armor when you become a bullet magnet.

Always wore Power Armor in the Fallout, Fallout 2 (especially Fallout 2) and in Fallout 3. In New Vegas it took me a while to get some decent power armor I liked, but after getting the Advanced Power Armor I was all set. However, in most recent news, I have been wearing the Assassin suit and it has done me better considering my character is more for the stealth approach.

Power armors,along with energy weapons.

Power Armor, because I like the way it looks.

Or in New Vegas, medium armor because it is the most practical.

Vault Suits all the way. In 1,2 and beyond.

Except in 3 and NV I use armored 101 suit and armored V13 suits respectively.

In 2 I will sometimes wear APA....but by the time I get there I am a eye shooting BB gun sniper and combat is nothing to fear.

pretty much sums it up for me. As with weapons I'd like to see properly balanced armors, but i'll probably just end up wearing whatever looks coolest.

This.

Well, Power armor has a special place in my heart from Fo1/Fo2. But I only use it in Fo3 and NV for giggles. Fo3 and NV are so easy that I just go with whatever looks neatest, or works with what my character story is.

I don't wear Power Armor in neither Fallout 3 nor New Vegas. Ever. The movement penalty speed that comes with them became utterly annoying to bear with and I shall not suffer it anymore. Now most characters I play tend to wear light armor. No preferences really, but as SavageBeatings has said he/she wears light armor/cloths to make the game more difficult. I guess that's why I do it too, so that I can agree with.

for me even in the originals it was all about trying to get combat armor ASAP then upgrading to Powered armor afterwards. Combat armor was the primary protection for most of the game for me. Literally a few times in the originals I went from leather mk1 to combat armor or the bridge keeper robes pretty quickly.

Power Armor for life.

I should get that tattooed on my PCs in Gangsta script. 'Powa 4 Lyfe'

Hahaha, yes! Though I'm not sure everyone http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=234572780461 Power Armour.