Ballistic weave (2024)

The ballistic weave is an armor mod inFallout 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	DR	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	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	RR 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	DR 50	Perception +1
Courser uniform	Headwear	DR 30 ER 15 RR 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	Non-hat headwear		Charisma +1
Geneva's ensemble	Headwear		Perception +1 Charisma +1
Graphic T-shirts	Arms, Head, Chest	DR 1	Charisma +2
Greaser jacket and jeans	Legs		Luck +2
Green rag hat	Non-hat headwear	ER 10
Green shirt and combat boots	All		Charisma +1 Endurance +1
Hooded rags	Headwear		Endurance +2
Hunter's long coat	Headwear	RR 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	Headwear		Perception +2 Mirelurk/Bug Damage reduced by 15%
Longshoreman outfit	Headwear	ER 10
Lorenzo's suit	Headwear		Charisma +2
MacCready's duster	Headwear		Agility +1
Magician's tuxedo	Headwear	DR 12 ER 17	Charisma +1 Endurance +1
Maxson's battlecoat	Headwear	DR 50	Perception +1
Mechanic jumpsuit	Headwear		Intelligence +1 Perception +1
Mechanist's armor	Headwear	DR 72 ER 72	Endurance +1 Robot Damage reduced by 15%
Military fatigues	All	ER 5	Agility +2
Minuteman outfit	All		Perception +1 Agility +1
Newsboy cap	Non-hat headwear		Charisma +1
Nuka-World jumpsuit	Headwear	DR 2 RR 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	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	Headwear	+30 Poison Resistance
Tuxedo	Headwear		Perception +1 Charisma +1
Utility coveralls	Headwear	DR 10	Carry Weight +5
Yellow trench coat	Headwear		Charisma +1 Endurance +1

Bugs[]

• 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
• Acquiring the weave may become impossible if one has already finished the game with the Minutemen.^[verified]
• 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[]

Fallout 2d20