I just finished play number 5 with a character that was only allowed to work in .44 magnum and .50 but could only use bullets she made. So as i am working my way across the dam i am using the Trail Carbine for longer shots, and the generic .44 magnum for closer targets when it hit me. I shoot a legionaire center mass with a .44 magnum at no more than 25 feet and he still keeps comming. At this point i am like WTF, calling total [censored] on it because out to 100 feet there is enough ballistic energy in a .44 magnum swc to at least knock him off his feet. You could be wearing a vest or a steel plate (although it would be really heavy) that in theory could catch or stop the round. Regardless you still have ballistic energy to deal with and there is enough at 25 to 100 feet (a .44 magnum has the same killing power as a 30-06 out to 100 feet it does drop off after) that he should have at at the very least been knocked down. They still kept comming though, finally after a restart i stayed with the trail carbine preffering to take my time to shoot only heads, effective but way slower and alot of securitrons and rangers died while i picked shots.
One more point on the play through after a few restarts trying to kill Lanius (the legion leader at the end of the game) i got to his camp and the gate closes, again weirdness but ok. So Lanius comes charging down the hill and i set up a nice shot center mass with the AMR hand load, bang i hit him center mass and again i might as well have been using spit wads for all the effect it had. I had to shoot him 3 more times center mass, clean hits, before he stopped and once more when he was down, (closed casket for you [censored]). I know Lanius bad and stuff but really, 4 AMRs to the chest to kill him seriously? They were on target because i did see some health drop with each round, and not a crit to be had either. It is not a complaint really he still died because i am that good, yea i said it and i meant it
though set up saved me some skin but even still the fight was closer than it should have been.
I have no problem with serious ballistic adaptations in the game, but it has to mean something, just pilling on massive hit points on an adversary running around of football pads even if they were very pretty and shinny it is still football pads. To make armor thick enough to stop a .50mg hand load would make it so heavy the speed he moves at would be impossible. Again the ballistic energy of a .50 mg bullet caught in your armor is more than enough to knock any human from thier feet and seriously ring thier bell which Lanius seemed impervious to.
Not a gripe but more of an observation, some weirdness to consider.
Asai