I've had Preston as a Companion for about as long as he could be a Companion. Naturally, when I got my second set of PA, I put him in it.

BIG mistake. Pretty much EVERY time we go out adventuring, he gets all six pieces of armor trashed. Charge! It's like he feels invincible and must therefore charge into the muzzles of our enemies. The cost in repairs destroyed my stockpiles of Steel, Aluminum, and whatever else it takes to repair PA.

Upon reflection, I pondered why should I provide him such decent armor? He is, after all Essential and can't be killed. And unlike PA, all other kinds of armor NEVER degrade. So suit him up in the best non-PA armor I can find for him and go ahead and let him become a projectile magnet. Better him than me... because I can die.

You can just leave him in the frame alone if you want to. It'll still provide extra damage resistance but it won't break.

That being said, not all of the characters are optimized for using power armor. I rarely even use power armor in the first place, but when I do I always have my companion suit up as well. I can't say that I've had many problems with all of the components getting wrecked. They have at times, yes, but I wouldn't call it a consistent thing.

Can you actually "waste power armor" in this game? I have well over a dozen suits of power armor and could easily have more if i bothered.

I don't put power armor on companions anymore. I just put them in the heaviest combat armor I can find just so I don't have to keep repairing it over and over. After awhile the materials required for repairs on 2 sets really adds up. They do fine in combat armor.

Exactly. I have probably around 20 power armor frames. I have a ridiculous amount of Raider power armor, probably three full suits of T-45, two suits of T-51, five or six suits of T-60, and two full suits of X-01, plus a bunch of other partial suits. I don't even know what to do with it all. I have a workshop with all of my crafting stations and 9 power armor stations just to display some of them. I've got the Raider Power II, T-45 both with and without the Minutemen paint job, T-51 both with and without the Railroad paint job, T-60 both with and without the BOS paint job, and two full suits of X-01, all of which are fully modded. I've got a bunch of steamer trunks full of the extra power armor pieces sorted by model, and I have an extra 10-11 power armor frames just lined up in one of the empty houses at Sanctuary. I feel like they went a bit overboard on the power armor in this game. Especially with giving you a set within the first hour or so. I remember in previous Fallout games finding a suit of power armor was more of a "holy [censored]!" moment, whereas in Fallout 4 it's more like "Oh, another suit of power armor. Well I guess I better get this back home and add it to the collection."

One of the types of things it's better to use when you don't have to. When your killing one or a few things quickly and moving on. I put them in it sometimes for style but not too helpful and I like the pip boy light but not directly in front of me. I don't think they use the abilities so theirs can be base or low model versions like type A or mkI. I'll also give them a raider armor so it's just steel to repair. A chain gun and ammo seems to do them better.


With so many lying around I was going to go ahead and leave them at settlements.

That's a worthwhile point. Giving them Raider power armor means that repairs are much cheaper but still provide a big boost in damage resistance.

The only ones I really use anymore though are my BOS T-60 when doing BOS quests, and my X-01 whenever I'm using it for other quests. I typically have Danse as my companion for the BOS quests, so I like to match. When I'm using it during other quests me and my companion typically wear matching X-01.

T-45, especially when not upgraded deteriorates VERY fast, in comparison my fully upgraded X-01 Power Armor will usually last several fights worth of heavy damage before I even have to think about repairing it.


I switched out Preston garvey's cowboy hat for a coast guard hat and he looks far more professional now

The frame will give the wearer a Strength boost, but that's it. Having the frame on nullifies ALL armor effects that may be worn under it. For example, the carrying capacity of the the "skin" armor (Pocketed and Deep Pocketed) does NOT apply while inside a PA frame (with or without armor pieces). And once a PA is zeroed, it gets removed and shifted into Inventory. (So if the PA had Calibrated Legs, that extra carrying capacity is gone once those two pieces get zeroed.) So even if the wearer has 100+ Damage protection in the skin armor he's wearing, if his PA has lost all six pieces, his Armor rating is effectively ZERO. (You may just have not noticed because the frame was worn by an Essential Companion.)

The power armor frame alone has a general damage resistance of 60, and an energy resistance of 60. It's pretty easy to get well over this value with regular armor though, so this isn't really a very good solution in either case. However, the damage resistance of the frame definitely is not zero.

Soooo, then unlike the PA pieces that attach to the frame, the frame is more like skin armor that does NOT degrade, ever?

Yup. You still get some pretty nifty bonuses from just the frame, the plates and pieces are just where the bells and whistles and extra armor come from.

I guess if one were so inclined, you could fashion your companions as the PA Frame Club. Lord knows there's enough frames laying around.

Yeah, pretty much. It increases your carry weight, and provides 60 damage and 60 energy resistance. It also makes you immune to fall damage.

LOL, companions are utter rubbish. They're more of a liability than aid.

Anyway, if you're willing to be frustrated by the companions that behave like they get a big fat ZERO for IQ tests, you do not need to put them in power armour unless you use the mod http://www.nexusmods.com/fallout4/mods/837/? (which I do, but I don't use the rubbish companions).

That's not always true. The frame negates whatever beneficial mods that are given by the skin armor underneath. For example, deep-pocketed torso, legs, and arm armor can provide a greater amount of carry capacity than the frame alone. (And as only the PA leggings can enhance carry weight -- "calibrated" -- the skin armor combination can still exceed the PA carry capacity.)

Why would you waste anything on Preston Garvey? Weapons, Armor, or time that could be better spent being with or talking to literally anything else?

1) Unlike Dogmeat and Codsworth, he has a ranged weapon.

2) Like every other Companion, he can carry things for me.

3) He attracts enemy attacks that otherwise would have been aimed at me had I been alone.

In my game, the first potential Companion that I encountered after Garvey was Honest Dan in Covenant -- which I didn't encounter until after more than 300 hours of gameplay.

Maybe not, but it's always been true in my experience. My typical outfit includes deep pocketed polymer combat armor. I've got SPECIAL maxed out, and I've got Strong Back maxed out. I still have a greater carry weight with power armor.

You must be really bad then, companions can be found like Water in this game.

Ah. So the answer is maschism.

Don't be so judgmental. If a player hooks up with Garvey and concentrates on settlement building (as I have), it's quite possible to NOT encounter potential Companions. One must deviate away from the Minuteman quests to encounter those others, as they are off doing their own things, unconnected from the Minuteman quest line.

I used to let Nick wear my spare PA, but I stopped that because it was eating through all my aluminum to fix it.

They can't die anyways.

Well.. I keep thinking that if I remove the fusion core he will go all, "For the love of God, Montresor!" on me. Yes, I am saying that I want to wall the guy alive in the power armor, in some remote place.