How to Get Your First Power Armor in Fallout 76
Here’s everything you need to know about Fallout 76’s power armor.
Normally, you might not expect power armor to be available and easily accessible minutes away from your starting vault. You also might not expect that you’d be able to equip such an early game advantage in an MMO with survival aspects right from level 2.
But it’s true! You’ll find this stat-boosting loot well within the early game area of Fallout 76, and you’ll even be able to equip it right away (but not completely, more on that later). We’ve found a number of power armor locations in Fallout 76, so we’ve listed them all for you down below.
Where to Find Power Armor in Fallout 76
As we just mentioned, you can find one set of power armor easily and quickly after you exit Vault 76. Simply turn left, and head due east to a location called Morgantown Trainyard.
The easiest (and safest) way for your fragile level 2 self to make it to this location would be to set a marker on your map, and then to head in as straight a line as possible toward your destination.
This bee-line route will take you through wooded and craggy foothills that slowly descend to the Landview Lighthouse area after about a minute’s worth of walking. There’s a hilarious holotape on the picnic benches just outside, and within the lighthouse itself are more useful goodies.
You may encounter a low-level mole rat or two, nothing you can’t handle with even your fist, but if you want to avoid combat completely, skirt around towards the north and avoid this location entirely. You’ll then bump into a major road.
Continue along, as straight as possible, toward your map marker, following along the decrepit roadways. If it’s day, you should be okay to stay on the road. If it’s nighttime, however, you may soon encounter a small herd of feral ghouls.
You probably want to avoid using all of your Stimpacks and ammo at this point, so veer to the left into a slowly inclining field.
You’ll soon reach the train yard outskirts, and you should be able to see the large structure towards the center of the area. Stealth in this direction, or go in guns a-blazing to take on the mostly harmless Scorched in this area. In no time you should soon see a train car emblazoned with a star and “USA.”
There are a few train cars that look like this. The one you’re looking for is right next to the main structure, has a ramp leading up to it, and has an abandoned air stream trailer opposite it.
Head inside and, hopefully, you’ll see something like this:
We’ve found a number of other power armor locations in Fallout 76, which we’ve listed for you down below, should you want to start building a collection.
Power Armor Location 2 in Fallout 76
As you can see on the map, this power armor location is really close to the first set in this guide, making it another great option for even level 2 players. This second set of armor is located in a garage between the Morgantown Trainyard and the Mama Dolce food processing plant. But watch out: the place is booby-trapped with landmines and a punji board (a spiky board on the ground by the entrance).
You can access this location straight from Vault 76 by following the same instructions as the first set of power armor. If the first set has been claimed by another player, pop over to see if this one is available. If they’re both gone, try quitting to the main menu and then re-entering the game. Chances are you’ll find yourself on a new server, with a new opportunity to score one (or both) of these two nearby power armor sets.
You can try this trick with all power armor sets in this guide, and really with any collectible item in Fallout 76.
Power Armor Location 3 in Fallout 76
This next set of armor is approximately just as far from Vault 76 as the last two sets, but to the west this time. You’ll need to head to Point Pleasant, near the Mothman Museum. The journey is easily doable for a player fresh-out-the-vault, but the town of Point Pleasant is crawling with scorched and other enemies.
They’re all low level, and if you shoot-up enough Stimpacks anything is possible; but it’ll be a little bit more conflict-filled than the previous two sets of power armor.
Arrive at the northern part of the town, by the entrance to a large bridge like the one depicted on the map. The town is scattered with ramshackle scaffolding and catwalks and you’ll see such a pathway on your left, leading up and through destroyed buildings. The point is to head to the beams that criss-cross the top of the bridge you were just in front of.
Cross over the top of the bridge and the set of power armor you’re looking for will be waiting for you in a small camp area.
Remember, if it’s not there, quit out and log back in– you should find yourself on a new server, with a new shot at the power armor respawn window.
Power Armor Location 4 in Fallout 76
This set is not possible to obtain until you are level 5 (or you’re with someone who is level 5) because you need to possess the Picklock skill to enter the building that houses the power armor. To find this building, you’ll want to head northwest of Vault 76, to almost exactly where you see the “94” highway marking on the map.
There you’ll find a sprawling farm with three large grain silos and a few low-level feral ghouls shuffling around. Behind one of the silos is a small garage, and in this garage, protected by a lock requiring skill level 1, is the power armor you’re after. The journey to this location is a little long, but not difficult. As soon as you acquire the picklock skill you’re ready to head on over.
What If They’re Not There?
We say “hopefully” because, like many items in the shared Fallout 76 world, sets of power armor can be claimed by one player, and then will have to respawn before another player can grab it.
It’s not known at this point how often items respawn, or if there are different respawn rates for certain items. But what we do know for sure is that the Power Armor will respawn. When we first encountered the first power armor location in this Fallout 76 guide area, the armor was missing.
After about 30 minutes of exploring, we fast traveled back to the train yard in the first location listed above and the power armor was back for the claiming. We recommend you do exactly that if you find any of the power armor sets we’ve noted above in Fallout 76 are not there, or, better yet, place your CAMP down and wait it out!
Power Armor in Fallout 76 features a frame and armor pieces added onto this frame, just like Fallout 4.
You will not be able to equip the armor pieces that come with some sets of power armor until much later in Fallout 76; however, you can add them to your inventory for when you can, and then hop into the frame itself to still receive a huge early-game benefit.
What Power Armor Does in Fallout 76
You might be feeling a little discouraged at this point, but you really shouldn’t. The power armor frame alone will boost all of your resistances to 60 when equipped, and will instantly boost your strength to 10! Strength governs melee damage, and maximum carry weight in Fallout 76 – two things that are extremely useful early in the game.
You will also be immune to all fall damage when wearing the PA frame. We haven’t tested this in extremely high locations yet, so if any of you are feeling brave enough to jump off the New River Gorge Bridge… let us know how it goes.
But wait, it gets even better. Your power armor, once claimed, cannot be taken by anyone else in Fallout 76 when you decide to hop out of it to use crafting benches, sleep, etc.
If you don’t get back into it immediately, after a certain amount of time it will automatically teleport back to your inventory – where it only has a carry weight of 10! Forget flimsy radiation suits, a power armor frame is what you should keep in your back pocket when entering a heavily irradiated area!
While it is a bit immersion-breaking, the quick path to power armor in the first location is also a great way to stock up on precious consumables, ammo, and weapons right away.
And, with the bonus of being able to fast travel back to Vault 76 free of charge, you can pick up your main quest journey right where you left off after you’ve claimed your power armor. Only now, you’ll be more prepared than ever to track down the Overseer and/or smash a mole rat in the face with a golf club.
That does it with how to get Power Armor in Fallout 76 as well as what it does. If you’re looking for more help with the game, be sure to check out our Fallout 76 guide wiki for more tips and tricks. And let us know in the comments if you have any questions finding this (occasionally) elusive armor, or understanding the stat benefits it brings.
