Power armor has to be found on the world map in order to upgrade the player's power armor suit. While it may appear otherwise, there are very few "guaranteed" spawns - most of the time, the player will find a power armor frame with randomly generated, level-dependent pieces present.
Spawning rules[]
Which pieces spawn is determined by:
- Player character level
- The level of the cell.
In general, T-60 and X-01 power armor spawns are limited to cells which have a high minimum difficulty level set (such as the South Boston military checkpoint, which has a 25-30 cell level) and the level, according to the following table:
Character level | 1-10 | 10-18 | 18-27 | 28+ |
---|---|---|---|---|
Power armor model spawning | T-45 Power Armor | T-51 Power Armor | T-60 Power Armor | X-01 Power Armor |
Note that entering a cell that contains a spawning power armor will lock that cell to that level, making it impossible to get a higher level armor. The safest way is to either reload or hold off exploring the high threat areas until reaching level 28.
Partial power armor spawns[]
All of these locations will produce armor with just a couple of pieces present.
Location | Image | Description | Map image | Power armor models | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T-45 power armor | T-51 power armor | T-60 power armor | X-01 power armor | ||||
Abandoned shack (Federal Surveillance Center K21-B) | Located under the stairs at the lowest level. | ||||||
Military convoy (Neponset Park elevated freeway) | Submerged in the water, top parts of the helmet may be visible. | ||||||
Military checkpoint (West Roxbury) | Near the IFV | ||||||
Fort Strong | Inside the guard post before the bridge leading to the base. | ||||||
Goodneighbor (The Dig) | Use Sonya to blast apart the fragile wall next to the generator containing the fusion core. It's the wall that does not lead to the subway area. | ||||||
Mass Pike Interchange | In front of the Gunner outpost on the upper level of the interchange. | ||||||
Military checkpoint (south zone 3) | Hidden behind one of the containers, near the IFV. | ||||||
National Guard training yard (Armory) | Inside the locked side room. | ||||||
At the military APCs northeast of Poseiden Energy Turbine 18-F | Among the aircraft wreckage behind the infantry fighting vehicles. | ||||||
Crashed vertibird (near Robotics disposal ground) | Located in front of the Vertibird fuselage, northwest of station Olivia. | ||||||
Crashed vertibird (Covenant Lake) | Near the Vertibird crashed at the bottom of the lake | ||||||
Power armor warehouse (Fort Hagen) | Inside the eastern warehouse in the south of Fort Hagen township. | ||||||
Crashed vertibird (Murkwater construction site) | Standing in the water, near the crashed Vertibird | ||||||
Unloading barge (Nahant Sherrif's Department) | Inside the southernmost blue container, opening faces the Atlantic | ||||||
Military convoy (National Guard training yard) | Inside the trailer. | ||||||
Fiddler's Green Trailer Estates | Inside one of the trailers. | ||||||
Military armor transport (Lexington) | Inside a cage on the flatbed, in the crashed train west of Lexington. | ||||||
Military checkpoint (Cambridge outskirts) | In a cage at the checkpoint northwest of the location. | ||||||
Military armor transport (Tenpines Bluff) | Inside a cage on the crashed train just northeast, under the cliff. | ||||||
Military checkpoint (Lake Cochituate) | Sitting in the grass on a burned out road, very close to edge of Glowing Sea. In between Natick Police Department and Federal supply cache 84NE. Armor under Big Arrow shown. | ||||||
Nuka-World, Morton residence | Standing in the power armor station within the garage. | {{}} | {{}} | {{}} | {{}} | ||
Nuka-World, near Safari Adventure area by parking lot | In the shed, standing in a nook on the far side of the building from the door. |
Complete power armor spawns[]
Location or nearest marker | Image | Description | Map image | Power armor models | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
T-45 power armor | T-51 power armor | T-60 power armor | X-01 power armor | ||||
35 Court | Inside a locked compartment, unlocked by buttons inside the rooms with an Assaultron and a Sentry bot. | ||||||
South Boston military checkpoint | Inside the cage at the checkpoint. | ||||||
Crashed Vertibird (East Boston police station military barge) | Inside the cage on the barge, among the infantry fighting vehicles. | ||||||
Crashed Vertibird (Corvega Assembly Plant elevated freeway) | Next to a crashed Vertibird on top of the highway SSW of the plant. |
Guaranteed spawns[]
Location or nearest marker | Image | Description | Map image | Power armor model |
---|---|---|---|---|
Atom Cats garage | In the back near "finish line." It is marked as owned, so the player has to steal it. The optimal way is to either sneak or attract monsters to the front and get it when they are distracted.
The player will not be able to fast travel until the combat ends. It's impossible to verify if the player is successful until the Atom Cats deal with the threat. Alternatively, the armor can by purchased from Rowdy (expensive). Killing the Atom Cats will preclude purchasing their custom T-60 paint job. |
T-60 power armor. the armor lacks a helmet. | ||
Cave (Glowing Sea) | Inside one of the tunnels. | Raider power armor | ||
Mass Bay Medical Center | Radiology ward, overlooking the conflagration. | T-45 power armor The armor lacks a helmet. | ||
Concord (Museum of Freedom) | Next to the crashed Vertibird on the roof. | T-45 power armor | ||
The Prydwen (Main deck) | Inside the power armor repair bay | 3xT-60 power armor (Knight livery) T-60 power armor (Paladin livery after promotion) Note: Taking any suit other than the player's counts as stealing) | ||
Mount Desert Island (Vim! Pop factory) | Power armor repair bay. | T-51 power armor (Vim! Pop livery) | ||
Mount Desert Island (the ambassador truck north of the National Park visitor's center) | Within the trailer. | T-51 power armor (Vim! Pop livery) | ||
Nuka-World (World of Refreshment) | Behind the display. | T-51 power armor (Nuka-Cola livery) | ||
Nuka-World (Starport Nuka) | Inside the main exhibit. | Quantum X-01 power armor |
Enemies wearing power armor (pieces)[]
Location or nearest marker | Image | Description | Map image | Power armor model |
---|---|---|---|---|
Federal Ration Stockpile | A raider spawns here wearing what looks like raider power armor but is actually T-51. | Raider power armor, either full suit or pieces. | ||
Revere Beach Station | A raider spawns here wearing raider power armor. | Raider power armor, either full suit or pieces. | ||
Dunwich Borers | Raider on the far side of the quarry wearing raider power armor. | Raider power armor, either full suit or pieces. | ||
Quarry at Vault 88 | A raider spawns at the bottom of the quarry wearing T-51 power armor (potentially different levels available here). | T-51 power armor. | ||
Scrapyard (Hub City Auto Wreckers) | Gunner commander. | T-45 power armor minus helmet. | ||
Quincy | On the Gunner commander. | T-45 power armor minus helmet. | ||
Outside Switchboard (first Railroad quest, roughly between Super Duper Mart and Lexington) | There is a catwalk between two buildings just outside the Switchboard location behind a big Slocum's Joe billboard, the raider spawns up on that catwalk and has a missile launcher (potentially only at higher levels). | Raider power armor minus helmet. | ||
Nuka-World (Cola-cars arena; Overboss Colter) | This unique variant can be acquired during Taken for a Ride, from Overboss Colter upon his defeat. Colter is vulnerable after turning the power off. | Overboss power armor |