- New - A guide to making a Pistol/Gunslinger Build
- New - A guide to making a Melee Build
- New - Scav Magazine - All locations and details
- For New Players - Read the walkthrough.
- New - Open Season
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- New - Raider Outposts
- New - Nuka World Endings Guide - Options and Benefits
- The Grand Tour
- Faction Perks and New SPECIAL Ranks in Nuka World
- Gage (Companion)
Fallout 4: Ballistic Weave
Getting this Armor Mod from the Railroad Quests
Pam (right) will give you quests once you've done some work for the Railroad. Keep at it, and you'll eventually get 3 total DIA cache quests.
This is one of the main benefits of Joining the Railroad Faction in Fallout 4. If you're not a big fan of Power Armor, like myself, you may be very interested in getting the Railroad's special Ballistic Weave clothing mods. These let you turn hats into powerful pieces of armor. A number of full-body options are available, but the fatigues are probably the best option to upgrade with this, because it can be worn under normal armor. You can't upgrade your Vault 111 Jumpsuit, sadly. In order to do this, you must not become hostile to the Railroad in any way, at least until you learn how to get the tech.
Doing these quests that start with Jackpot will lead you to Ballistic Weave.
Getting Started
See my guide to The Folllow the Freedom Trail Quest and Joining the Railroad. Once you're in, you'll need to complete a couple of simple missions in order to earn their trust. You can begin the process of earning this recipe once you're able to get the first quest to retrieve a D.I.A. cache from P.A.M. - these are railroad caches that are not secure due to nearby enemies.
There are three total quests to be done, given in a random order. The enemies you face should be of appropriate level, so you can begin this process quite early in the game. You'll be sent to 3 places, all of which will show up on your map as usual. Enter the buildings, kill the goons, and make it to the cache and you're good. You can even loot it, despite it supposedly being picked up later by an agent. Who knows if this is a bug - just take the ammo and drugs!
Doing some of Tinker Tom's quests, or main railroad quests, may prompt P.A.M. to give the next Jackpot quest. Tinker tom talking about Ballistic Weave after the third DIA Cache is what allows you to make it yourself.
If PAM is not offering the next quest, you may need to do either wait or do another main quest for the Railroad. So long as you don't go so far as to complete one called Underground Undercover, you should be fine and will not risk any relationship with any faction. It should be able to be completed after The Molecular Level, no matter which Faction you're working with. If you've done this, waited, and Pam just won't offer a quest try working with other members of the faction until they come up.
The best armor mod requires Armorer Rank 4, but you can still get some nice boosts with only rank 3. This is free Damage and Energy resistance. Look to my guide on Finding Items, and tag Ballistic fiber for search. Visit Shopkeepers in order to buy items that contain it, and shipments of it, as well (if you're rich).
Getting the Ballistic Weave Recipe
Once you've done the third DIA Cache, Pam will send you to Tinker Tom, who will talk about how he can now upgrade clothing to be covert yet protective. At this point, you've now got the ability to make it yourself. I personally wasn't notified, but when I went to upgrade my Trilby hat, it was there. I also upgraded Army Fatigues. Other clothing that can be worn under armor are scarce, though a tuxedo or other full garment does match mid-range combat armor when you have Armorer 4 and can put the best Ballistic Weave on the clothing. You can get Army Fatigues at the National Guard Training Yard, located in the screenshot above.
When you have the Weave
You are free to do as you will - breaking ties with the Railroad will not take it from you. Hopefully Bethesda adds more hats that can be upgraded, I'd love one with Perception, though using a Battered Fedora (+1 Luck), I can at least wear glasses for Perception and have a useful combat stat on the hat.
Contact
I hope you found this guide helpful. If you think I've missed something that many people would like to know, please email [email protected] with a suggestion.
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