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But the creme de la creme is ballistic polymer weave. Light weight, serious stopping power, and it looks just like normal clothing.Tinker Tom

The ballistic weave is an armor mod in Fallout 4 that allows improved defensive stats to certain clothing items, including outfits, clothing that can be worn under armor and a small number of hats.

This crafting ability can be learned from Tinker Tom after performing certain quests for the Railroad faction. Once this skill is learned, one can upgrade any applicable clothing item at an armor workbench.

Background[]

Ballistic polymer weave is an advanced protection technology used by the Defense Intelligence Agency,[1] for personal protection. The weave is lightweight, offers good protection, and can be applied to normal clothing without altering their appearance.[2] Supplies of this tough artificial fabric were stored in concealed DIA caches,[3] along with other technologies,[2] allowing agents to apply the weave in the field - and post-War factions to claim the technology as their own.[2][Fallout 2d20 1]

Characteristics[]

Unlocking weave mods[]

To unlock the ballistic weave, the player needs to find the first DIA cache for the Railroad, by completing Jackpot missions given by P.A.M. She starts offering them after completing Boston After Dark and Mercer Safehouse. Mercer Safehouse only becomes available after starting Butcher's Bill.

After completing the first or second Jackpot mission, Drummer Boy will approach the Sole Survivor at Railroad HQ and say that they need to speak to Tinker Tom. Tom will enthusiastically tell them about the ballistic fiber technology found in the DIA cache. Talking to him unlocks the ballistic weave mods at armor workbenches. Tom will also randomly sell some armored gear of his own.

Learning this mod only requires doing one or more Jackpot missions for P.A.M. If the player wishes to side with the Brotherhood or the Institute, they should be able to safely learn this mod and move on. The mod becomes unavailable if the player sides with the Institute and wipes out the Railroad, or if they complete Blind Betrayal. While Tactical Thinking is active, it's impossible to obtain radiant quests from P.A.M.

Properties[]

The player character must have the Armorer perk in order to apply this mod beyond the first level. Higher levels of the perk allow applying stronger versions of the mod, up to 110 Damage Resistance and 110 Energy Resistance on a single article of clothing.

The strongest resistance that can be obtained on a single item is achieved by adding weave to the Mechanist's armor, an Automatron add-on armor set, resulting in 182 Damage Resistance and 182 Energy Resistance. Adding weave to items that allow other armor slots to be used can bring the total resistance levels higher than 300.

This makes it very useful, if not essential while playing on Survival mode, due to the damage mitigation. Most of the companions' base outfits (and some hats) can be upgraded with the weave, making them a viable option in later stages of the game.

Available mods[]

Name Form ID Damage Resistance DR Energy Resistance ER Description Armorer Adhesive Ballistic fiber Fiberglass
Ballistic weave 0020DE42 30 30 Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. 0 4 8 6
Ballistic weave MkII 0022DC82 45 45 Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. 1 5 9 7
Ballistic weave MkIII 0022DC83 65 65 Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. 2 6 10 8
Ballistic weave MkIV 0022DC84 90 90 Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. 3 7 11 9
Ballistic weave MkV 0022DC85 110 110 Improves Damage and Energy Resistance. 4 8 12 10
Institute Killer weave 00226714 20 20 Grants 10% bonus damage against Institute members and synths. 0 0 0 0

Upgradable clothing[]

The following is a list of all clothing that can be upgraded, and which armor slots remain available while wearing it:

  • All means all armor slots and headwear can be worn, as it's considered an underarmor by the game.
  • If specific slots are mentioned, they can be worn in addition to the weaved item (headwear is considered available by default).
  • If "Headwear" is listed, any combination of hats and other headwear items like bandanas and such can be worn.
  • If "Non-hat headwear" is listed, the item is a hat and will block other hats and similar full-head objects, but will not block glasses, bandanas, and such.

Outfits that cover the head can't be upgraded with ballistic weave.

Clothing Free armor slots Base resistances Base effects
Agatha's dress Headwear Charisma +3
Architect's winter jacket Creation Club Headwear Perception +1
Army fatigues All Strength +1
Agility +1
Atom Cats jacket and jeans Legs Luck +2
Baseball uniform All Strength +1
Agility +1
Bathrobe Headwear Charisma +2
Battered fedora Non-hat headwear Luck +1
Black vest and slacks Headwear Endurance +2
Cabot's lab coat Headwear Intelligence +1
Casual outfit Headwear Perception +1
Charisma +1
Checkered shirt and slacks Headwear Charisma +2
Child of Atom rags Headwear RadiationRR 25 Endurance +2
Clean blue suit Headwear Charisma +2
Clean grey suit Headwear Charisma +2
Clean striped suit Headwear Charisma +2
Clean tan suit Headwear Charisma +2
Colonel uniform Headwear Damage resistanceDR 50 Perception +1
Courser uniform Headwear Damage resistanceDR 30

EnergyER 15
RadiationRR 15

Perception +1
Endurance +1
Dirty army fatigues All Strength +1
Agility +1
Dirty black suit Headwear Charisma +2
Dirty blue suit Headwear Charisma +2
Dirty grey suit Headwear Charisma +2
Dirty postman uniform Headwear Endurance +1
Dirty striped suit Headwear Charisma +2
Dirty tan suit Headwear Charisma +2
Dirty trench coat Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Faded trench coat Headwear Perception +2
Farmhand clothes Headwear Endurance +2
Father's lab coat Headwear Intelligence +2
Fatigues Headwear Agility +1
Feathered dress Headwear Charisma +2
Felt hat Creation Club Non-hat headwear Charisma +1
Geneva's ensemble Headwear Perception +1
Charisma +1
Graphic T-shirts Creation Club Arms, Head, Chest Damage resistanceDR 1 Charisma +2
Greaser jacket and jeans Legs Luck +2
Green rag hat Non-hat headwear EnergyER 10
Green shirt and combat boots All Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Hooded rags Headwear Endurance +2
Hunter's long coat Far Harbor (add-on) Headwear RadiationRR 2
Lab coat Headwear Intelligence +2
Laundered blue dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Laundered cream dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Laundered denim dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Laundered green dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Laundered loungewear Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Laundered pink dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Laundered rose dress Arms, Headwear Charisma +2
Legend of the Harbor Far Harbor (add-on) Headwear Perception +2
Mirelurk/Bug Damage reduced by 15%
Longshoreman outfit Headwear EnergyER 10
Lorenzo's suit Headwear Charisma +2
MacCready's duster Headwear Agility +1
Magician's tuxedo Nuka-World (add-on) Headwear Damage resistanceDR 12

EnergyER 17

Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Maxson's battlecoat Headwear Damage resistanceDR 50 Perception +1
Mechanic jumpsuit Headwear Intelligence +1
Perception +1
Mechanist's armor Automatron (add-on) Headwear Damage resistanceDR 72

EnergyER 72

Endurance +1
Robot Damage reduced by 15%
Military fatigues All EnergyER 5 Agility +2
Minuteman outfit All Perception +1
Agility +1
Newsboy cap Non-hat headwear Charisma +1
Nuka-World jumpsuit Nuka-World (add-on) Headwear Damage resistanceDR 2

RadiationRR 5

Perception +1
Intelligence +1
Padded blue jacket Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Pastor's vestments Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Patched three-piece suit Headwear Perception +1
Charisma +1
Postman uniform Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1
Ratty skirt Headwear Charisma +2
Red dress Arms, Head Charisma +2
Red frock coat Headwear Perception +1
Charisma +1
Reginald's suit Headwear Charisma +3
Red leather trench coat Headwear Charisma +1
Rex's suit Headwear
Robes of Atom's Devoted Far Harbor (add-on) Headwear Special radiation resistance
Sequin dress Arms, Head Charisma +2
Submariner uniform Headwear Endurance +2
Summer shorts Arms, Head, Legs Charisma +2
Surveyor outfit Headwear Endurance +1
Perception +1
Suspenders and slacks Headwear Endurance +2
Sweater vest and slacks Headwear Charisma +2
T-shirt and slacks Headwear Charisma +2
Tattered rags All Luck -1
Trilby hat Non-hat headwear Charisma +1
Tunnel Snakes outfit Creation Club Headwear +30 Poison Resistance
Tuxedo Headwear Perception +1
Charisma +1
Utility coveralls Headwear Damage resistanceDR 10 Carry Weight +5
Yellow trench coat Headwear Charisma +1
Endurance +1

Bugs[]

  • PCPC Due to the dialogue flag setting, it is possible to miss the chance of learning this mod. Drummer Boy will keep saying that Tinker Tom wanted to see the Sole Survivor but Tinker Tom will not initiate the corresponding dialogue. Console command SetStage 5BC93 260 will fix this.[verified]
    • One may also get this mod without doing P.A.M.'s mission with the following console commands:
      Set RailroadClothingArmorModAvailable to 1
      Set RailroadClothingArmor_ChanceNone to 0
  • PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Acquiring the weave may become impossible if one has already finished the game with the Minutemen.[verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Xbox OneXbox One The clean black suit is supposed to be moddable, but is currently bugged in-game and prevents the player character from upgrading it on an armor workbench; the only solution for this is to use console commands. Tinker Tom may occasionally sell armored clean black suits, but these will only have the first level of ballistic weave and cannot be upgraded further.[verified]

References[]

  1. The Sole Survivor: "Nice. That sounds pretty high tech."
    P.A.M.: "Correct. The cache belonged to the Defense Intelligence Agency. The DIA's technological capabilities were more advanced than many branches of the government. You only have to secure the cache. Runners will transport contents on a separate timetable. Terminating human/machine interface."
    (P.A.M.'s dialogue)
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Tinker Tom: "The DIA. Shit, man. That cache you found had some serious high tech. But the creme de la creme is ballistic polymer weave. Light weight, serious stopping power, and it looks just like normal clothing. I got some in stock now, but, oh, give me time. I got all sorts of ideas."
    (Tinker Tom's dialogue)
  3. Drummer Boy: "You're the one that scored the DIA cache, right? Tom's dying to talk to you about it."
    (Drummer Boy's dialogue)
Fallout 2d20
  1. Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook p. 126: "Ballistic polymer weave is an armor mod which improves the defensive abilities of some clothing items. A layer of this tough artificial fabric can be used as a lining in a variety of garments, giving them a limited ability to resist impacts, bullets, and energy blasts."
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