Best Power Armor Fallout 76: All Power Armors Ranked [2024]

The world of Fallout 76 is a dangerous one. Players will have to protect themselves from super mutants, raiders, and Mirelurks to name just a few. You will have to use everything in your arsenal to fend off these creatures as well as other players. This is where the Power Armor comes into play. 

Comparison Of Power Armors

Here is a comparison table of my best Power Armors in Fallout 76 . Each stat can be sorted to view the highest and lowest values, which has been done for your convenience:

No.	Armors	Type	Level	Damage Resistance	Energy Resistance	Radiation Resistance
1	Ultracite Power Armor	Power Armor	50	453	393	393
2	X-01 Power Armor	Power Armor	40/50	332 / 398	374 / 453	374 / 453
3	T-60 Power Armor	Power Armor	40/50	334 / 400	304 / 370	350 / 415
4	Excavator Power Armor	Power Armor	25/35/45	163 / 201 / 240	163 / 201 / 240	234 / 300 / 36
5	T-51 Power Armor Set	Power Armor	30/40/50	300/374/454	300/374/454	181/220/305
6	Raider Power Armor	Power Armor	15 / 25 / 35 / 45	160 / 220 / 281 / 341	160 / 220 / 281 / 341	160 / 220 / 281 / 341
7	Strangler Heart Power Armor	Power Armor	50	453	393	500
8	T-45 Power Armor	Power Armor	25 / 35 / 45	228 / 294 / 360	228 / 294 / 360	228 / 294 / 360
9	Hellcat Power Armor	Power Armor	50	436	320	320
10	T-65 Power Armor	Power Armor	50	565	565	470

Comparison Table. 

Ultracite Power Armor

Best All-Rounder Power Armor.

Type	Power Armor
Level	50
Damage Resistance	453
Energy Resistance	393
Radiation Resistance	393
Variant(s)	Strangler heart power armor

Ultracite Power Armor Stats Table. 

Starting with the Brotherhood of Steel Ultracite Power Armor which can be obtained for free. When you are rewarded with this armor, it will already be level 50. Considering that you get this in the late game after finishing the Brotherhood of Steel questline, this is one of the best options. It offers superb stats that are sure to help you get through the end game and post-game content.

1. As mentioned earlier, you can get this after completing the Brotherhood of Steel questline.
2. To begin, you must start the first of four different quests. Head over to Abbie’s Bunker and find her terminal.
3. Accessing her terminal will present you with a few options.
4. One of those options will be called “Fort Defiance”.
5. Press it to trigger the quest and follow it until you reach the end.
6. For an in-depth guide on how to get this armor, check out our Ultracite Armor Location and Mods guide.

The best part about this armor is that you are guaranteed to receive it without farming or wasting too much time collecting its parts. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend going for this armor as it has some of the higher stats out of any other Power Armor.

Plus, it looks good which makes it even better to equip and galivant through the wasteland.

X-01 Power Armor

Best Mid-Tier Power Armor.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	• 42% damage reduction • 90% rad reduction
Level	40/50
Damage Resistance	332 / 398
Energy Resistance	374 / 453
Radiation Resistance	374 / 453

X-01 Power Armor Stats Table.

Moving on to my second-best power armor, which is preferred by most players – the X-01 Power Armor. You will get this armor in the form of plans and you will have to craft it to use it.

1. To obtain it, you will have to complete the Enclave quest.
2. Keep in mind that this quest is relatively lengthy and will take a lot of time and resources.
3. Plus, since this is late-game armor, you are guaranteed to get good stats.
4. After looking at the stats of this armor, it is easy to conclude that it is better against energy and radiation damage.
5. This much resistance against those types of damage is crucial, especially in the latter stages of the game.
6. Also, unlike the Ultracite, the mods are extremely convenient to find and apply for this armor.

Another thing to note is that once you get all the plans for this armor, you have the option to either craft the level 40 variant or the level 50 one. I suggest choosing the latter because it is more effective.

As with most armor, you can apply paint on the X-01 to customize the armor according to your taste.

1. To start the quest, you’ll have to go to the Abandoned Waste Dump and make your way through the cave.
2. I wouldn’t recommend low-level players to go in this area as there are a few Deathclaws that are tough to deal with.
3. About halfway through, you’ll come across a corpse that will have a “Blackwell Summary” on it.
4. Looting it will automatically trigger the quest and all you have to do is follow the markers.

T-60 Power Armor

Best Defensive Power Armor.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	• 42% damage reduction • 90% rad reduction
Level	40/50
Damage Resistance	334 / 400
Energy Resistance	304 / 370
Radiation Resistance	350 / 415

T-60 Power Armor Stats Table. 

Although this is extremely good armor, getting it can be quite a cumbersome task. In my experience, it is heavily dependent on your luck and where you find the parts for this armor.

You will have to travel to various Power Armor locations and hope that they include parts for this. One thing to note is that the T-60 parts you find will either be modded or not. As I said before, it is totally dependent on your luck.

Like the previous armor, the T-60 is available at level 40 but I would suggest going for the level 50 variants as they are better. One of the best parts about this armor is that it is cheap to repair.

Unlike other armors – which require a ton of materials – you can repair this with only steel, plastic, and aluminum.

Now that we have glanced over the stats, let’s talk about where exactly can you find this armor. Below is a map attached with the locations of all the Power Armors.

Since it depends on your luck, I suggest going to various armors and looting them. Hopefully, you’ll find the T-60 set swiftly without wasting much time.

Excavator Power Armor

Best Power Armor for Farming.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	x4 ore mining bonus +100 carry weight 42% damage reduction 90% rad reduction
Level	25 / 35 / 45
Damage Resistance	163 / 201 / 240
Energy Resistance	163 / 201 / 240
Radiation Resistance	234 / 300 / 36

This is a unique Power Armor that assists you greatly in speeding up the material-collecting process. If you are going to farm some materials, I highly suggest equipping this armor beforehand.

1. Getting this armor is quite tedious and will require rare materials.
2. Firstly, let’s discuss how you can get this armor.
3. To get it, you must be at least level 25 and start the Miner Miracles quest.
4. During the quest, you’ll come across the plans for this armor which will allow you to craft it.
5. After getting the plans, go to any Power Armor Station and craft it once you have the materials.
6. Unlike other armor, the Excavator armor has a max level of 45.
7. Its stats are quite decent but nothing to write home about.

The main reason players use this armor is because it increases your carrying weight a lot – by +100. On top of that, you get a bonus when you’re mining ores which speeds up the entire process.

T-51 Power Armor Set

Best Power Armor for Physical and Energy Resistance.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	42% damage negation • (7% per piece) 90% radiation negation • (15% per piece)
Level	30 / 40 / 50
Damage Resistance	300/374/454
Energy Resistance	300/374/454
Radiation Resistance	181/220/305

T-51 Power Armor Stats Table.

The T-51 is one of my favorite and most effective late-game Power Armor. The fully maxed-out version is surprisingly extremely powerful.

It lacks severely in the radiation resistance department which makes it questionable in the nuke-zone areas. Everything else is quite good as it offers good resistance and looks good.

One aspect where I can see it lacking is that the mods are difficult to find. But, that is certainly not a deal-breaker because this Power Armor is one of the best.

Just like the T-60 armor, getting it is heavily dependent on your luck. I would suggest following the map provided in the T-60 section and looting as many Power Armors as you can. Eventually, you will find the parts for this, and if you are lucky, they will be already modded.

Raider Power Armor

Best Power Armor for Beginners.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	• 42% damage reduction • 90% rad reduction
Level	15 / 25 / 35 / 45
Damage Resistance	160 / 220 / 281 / 341
Energy Resistance	160 / 220 / 281 / 341
Radiation Resistance	160 / 220 / 281 / 341

Raider Power Armor Stats Table. 

As many of you already know, Power Armors are not the individual item in the game. These are a set of unique pieces that you can craft yourself or find scattered around the wasteland.

Since the sunshine state of West Virginia stretches many miles, it is hard to cover every location and obtain every item or content the game has to offer.

The same goes for the power armors that spawn in random locations. Raider power armor, in particular, is the most sought-after power armor with credibility for being the best power armor for beginner players.

Although, the Raider power armors have a level requirement of 15. But still, it is known among the starter power armors in the game. If you are already on character level 15, you can obtain power armor quickly from some of the guaranteed locations in the game.

Since it is a Raider power armor, all the pieces look rusty and unappealing. But the number of damage resistance it offers to the players earlier in the game can be a great assistance.

1. Obtaining the complete set of Raider power armor is relatively easy.
2. You can purchase a plan from Resin, the Vendor Bot in Appalachia.
3. Or you can visit one of the guaranteed spawning locations for the complete set of Raider power armor.
4. All you need to do is visit a location near Hawke’s Refuge.
5. You will have to head into the forest to find the Raider power armor.
6. Please beware of the sheepsquatch as it may also spawn and increase the risk of fighting with your character.
7. Bring good weapons with your character and avoid confrontations to obtain the complete Raider Power armor set quickly.

After reaching the location, players can find Raider power armor to claim by themselves. If you have not seen it on the first try, some other player may have already acquired it.

All you need to do is hop into another server and go to the exact location to get your set of Raider power armor.

Strangler Heart Power Armor

Best Power Armor for Radiation Resistance.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	• 42% damage reduction • It adds acid damage to all armed attacks and makes nearby enemies take acid damage. • 90% rad reduction
Level	50
Damage Resistance	453
Energy Resistance	393
Radiation Resistance	500

Strangler Heart Power Armor Stats Table. 

Strangler Hearth’s power armor is both mighty and the most unique-looking set you can get. It is the unique Ultracite power armor variant containing flora and strangler vines from Vault 94, which is the location we will discuss later.

Strangler Heart power armor is immensely overpowered compared to other power armor in the set.

Since most players always consider Ultracite power armor as their go-to option, they never pay attention to the Strangler variant of the power armor.

The lack of information and definitive guides to obtain the Stranger Heart power armor is another reason it is not common in the game. On top of that, the rarity of this power armor wants players to grind the infamous Vault 94 raid.

Strangler Heart power armor has some of the best stats among other power armor. This power armor grants a total of 453 Damage Resistance, 393 Energy Resistance, and a whopping 500 Energy Resistance.

If you plan to nuke the wild Appalachia, this power armor might be the prime choice to keep a safe side from radiation damage. The cherry on top is the unique effects it grants to your character wearing the complete set of power armor.

While wearing the Stranger Heart Power Armor, your character will enjoy 42% damage reduction and 90% radiation reduction. Not just that, but this power armor also adds acid damage to each attack your character does on the enemies.

This will turn your character into a heavy damage-dealing juggernaut, completely unstoppable, despite their level.

1. Acquiring this power armor is pretty much a grind as it is a unique set.
2. You may not find it lying around the map for yourself like Raider power armor. You will have to craft the Strangler Heart Power armor all by yourself by getting the plans for each of its pieces.
3. Getting these plans is not going to be an easy feat as it involves painful grinding for raids
4. There are a total of 6 plans to craft a complete set of Strangler Heart power armor.
5. One and the most straightforward approach to get these is by purchasing six plans from Regs, a vendor in Vault 79.
6. The only problem is that they are crazy expensive and can only be purchased for Gold Bullion.
7. Or, if you prefer the grinding approach, players will have to grind through the Vault 94 raids continuously until you collect all six plans.
8. These six plans include the helmet, the torso, two arms, and two legs.
9. This grinding can quickly become tedious because of the difficulty and the end rewards.
10. The main reason behind this is that no matter what difficulty you are playing the raid on, the plan rewards for Strangler Power armor are entirely random.

T-45 Power Armor

Best Post-Apocalyptic Power Armor.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	•42% damage reduction • 90% rad reduction
Level	25 / 35 / 45
Damage Resistance	228 / 294 / 360
Energy Resistance	228 / 294 / 360
Radiation Resistance	228 / 294 / 360
Variant(s)	Father Winter helmet

T-45 Power Armor Stats Table. 

T-45 has its roots in Fallout 4 and is known as among the best-looking armors in the post-apocalyptic Fallout series. It once again makes a return in the latest Fallout 76 with a bang of special effects for your character and stats for mid-level players.

Fortunately, this power armor is easily accessible and can be found around the map or crafted with the plans.

T-45 Power Armor is available for players at least level 25, with better variants available at levels 35 and 45. The base variant at level 25 yields a Damage, Energy, and Radiation Resistance of 228. Meanwhile, if your character is at a higher level of 45, you will be able to push T-45 Power armor stats up to 360.

On top of that, players will enjoy a total of 42% Damage Reduction and 90% Rad Reduction. These stats push the defensive quality of the T-45 power armor even further.

Once again, you will be farming a location to acquire the T-45 power armor. As said earlier, power armors are not individual items. You will be farming for different pieces that make up the T-45 power armor.

1. All you need to do is visit or fast-travel to Solomon’s Pond.
2. Please beware of the lurking enemies, as they will always want a piece of your flesh in the nuclear-battered wasteland of Appalachia.
3. You will mostly encounter Deadly Floater Gnashers that might be painful to put down.
4. So make sure to bring your best arsenal to clean the place before getting heavy damage quickly.

Just across the location, you will be able to see a metal shack with a complete set of T-45 power armor. This location will not have T-45 power armor in some cases, which means another player already took it in the current server’s world.

But do not worry, as refreshing the server will spawn another power armor at the exact location.

Or, if you want to save all the hassle and have some money to invest, you can purchase the T-45 power armor plans from vendors available in Watoga Shopping Plaza. You might want to talk to Vendor Bot Phoenix.

This bot will always have plans. Otherwise, you can server-hop again to purchase the plans for a perfect price.

Hellcat Power Armor

Best for PvP Battles.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	42% damage reduction 90% radiation damage reduction 12% ballistic damage reduction
Level	50
Damage Resistance	436
Energy Resistance	320
Radiation Resistance	320

Hellcat Power Armor Stats Table. 

Hellcat Power Armor is another good-looking and powerful armor set that looks straight from futuristic hell. Once again, this power armor comes as a legendary drop with unique effects for players to enjoy.

Unfortunately, Hellcat is an endgame power armor. This means players with level 50 will find and acquire this armor.

Players with earlier levels will not be able to spawn or purchase the secret crafting plans from the vendors available in Fallout 76. Another essential thing to note is that this armor is part of the Steel Reign update.

This is a free update for the base game that added new story content and the Hellcat Power Armor.

1. Since it is part of the Steel Reign update, it is only rewarded after completing the Steel Reign story.
2. So if you have not played the update’s questline, you might have to finish them to obtain your complete set of Hellcat power armor.
3. After completing the final quest, you will be rewarded with the Hellcat Power armor.
4. Players who missed the reward can claim the armor plans after completing the final quest known as “The Catalyst.”

T-65 Power Armor

Best for All Types of Resistance.

Type	Power Armor
Effects	• 42% damage reduction • 90% rad reduction
Level	50
Damage Resistance	565
Energy Resistance	565
Radiation Resistance	470

T-65 Power Armor Stats Table. 

Last but not least, the T-65 Power Armor was a particular part of the Secret Service in Vault 79. This power armor tops the list for the highest stats in Damage protection for your character.

On the other side, it is also an endgame item, making it a successor among other power armor sets.

T-65 is a highly durable power armor that stands out in the enemy encounter and offers a great deal of protection during Player vs. Player battles.

Like every other power armor, the T-65 complete set contains a total of six pieces that will be contributing the complete Damage protection to your character.

1. There is only one way to get the T-65 power armor.
2. You can purchase the T-65 power armor pieces plans for a hefty price from Regs in Vault 79.
3. This is only possible after completing the endgame quest “All That Glitters.”
4. After the quest, you will be notified to unlock the Gold Bullion used to purchase the T-65 armor plans.
5. Additionally, you will be investing a total of 6900 Gold Bullions in purchasing a total of six plans for all the pieces.
6. That is the fixed price to claim your own complete set of T-65 power armor.
7. Higher Charisma character or Bartering perks are not going to assist either in lowering this price of Gold Bullions.
8. In that case, you might want to grind some Gold Bullion before considering purchasing the plans from Regs.

Why Other Power Armors Were Not Chosen

Here are some of the Power Armors that I didn’t shortlist for my guide:

• Union Power Armor: Its plans can only be bought, which requires heavy investment.
• T-51b Power Armor: Although it has decent stats, its radiation resistance is pretty low.

What Would I Recommend?

This brings us to the end of this guide. I hope this helps you choose the best Power Armor for your play style. I personally endorse the T-65 Power Armor, but since it requires a heavy investment, you can’t go wrong with the Hellcat Power Armor.