Summary
When wandering around the Wasteland inFallout 4, players will occasionally come across Legendary enemies that will be marked with a star icon next to their name. They’re tougher than normal enemies, but the loot they drop can be really useful, if not valuable to those who want to sell whatever they drop. When looting a Legendary enemy, players are sure to find a weapon or armor piece that will also have a star next to it. This marks an item that has a Legendary effect on it.
These effects are generated from an existing pool of perks that can vary when it comes to how useful they are. While most people will be happy to see the majority of legendary armor effects that can appear in the game, some effects are bound to be more useful than others. Players will be glad to see how much more effective they are in the game with this legendary armor on, making every piece a joy to attain after a tough battle with larger-than-life enemies.
Updated July 01, 2025 by Ritwik Mitra:Fallout 4’s loot system encourages players to explore and defeat powerful enemies to attain legendary equipment. Unlike regular pieces of armor that provide a base defense boost, these legendary armor sets come paired with effects that are a lot of fun to mess around with.
That being said, some legendary effects are more useful than others and make a world of difference for players who tailor their playstyle around these armor effects.
1Assassin
Reduces Damage From Humans By 15%
WhileFallout 4is a game full of varied enemies, there’s no denying that a major chunk of enemies in the game whom players need to deal with are humans. Whether they be raiders, security, faction members, or anything else along the same lines, players must make it a point to protect themselves from these attacks if players don’t want to be overwhelmed.
For these players, any legendary armor with the Assassin effect does a great job of mitigating the damage that players incur during these combat scenarios. With this additional protection, players can easily tank through most battles and barrel through opponents with their attacks.
2Quantum
Increases Action Point Refresh Speed With The Full Power Armor Set
The Quantum X-01 Power Armor is one of the best suits of armor that players can get in the game. Given how much fun it already is to use Power Armor in the game, it’s easy to see why specialized Power Armor suits like this one are great to use.
The entire set gives players the Quantum perk, which increases the speed at which Action Points are regained. This lets players move around in this armor without feeling too weighed down, with VATS getting a great bonus too.
3Cavalier
Reduces Damage By 15% While Blocking Or Sprinting
Running around to hit foes is a great way to makeFallout 4’s combat system more fast-paced yet engaging at the same time. This is made even easier with the Destroyer armor set.
The left arm has the Cavalier’s perk, which reduces damage while blocking or sprinting by 15%. It’s not the most mind-blowing perk around, but players who want to opt for a great run-and-gun build will have a great time with this particular perk.
4Cryogenic
10% Chance To Freeze Melee Attackers Once Every 20 Seconds
Freezing enemies in their tracksis pretty satisfying inFallout 4. With the Cryogenic perk, this effect can be naturally triggered by the player with little to no effort from their end!
Melee attackers who make the mistake of mobbing the player suffer a 10% chance of being frozen with every hit. Its cooldown lasts for 20 seconds but the overall novelty of this perk more than makes up for its downsides.
5Duelist
10% Chance To Disarm Melee Attacker On Hit
Guns are a huge part ofFallout 4’s combat, with the majority of players using the many guns present in this game to riddle their enemies with bullets. While enemies that only attack in melee range can be easily disposed of with this method, they can still close the distance and hit for high damage with their powerful weapons.
With the Duelist’s perk, players have a 10% disarm melee enemies simply by shooting them. It’s a simple perk that will always be beneficial when triggered, although it might not be the most reliable perk in the game to make a build around.
6Incendiary
30% Chance To Ignite Melee Attackers Once Every 20 Seconds
Watching enemies burst into flames inFallout 4is almost always amusing.Players who love burning their enemies to a crispcan trigger this effect more frequently with the Incendiary perk.
This perk gives players a 30% chance to burn enemies that use melee attacks, sporting a cooldown of 20 seconds. The higher percentage of success with this perk is what makes it stand a cut above the rest of its contemporaries.
7Almost Unbreakable
Quadruples Durability
The Power Armor is easily one of the most exciting aspects of anyFallouttitle. This fact makes it all the more painful to witness these powerful suits of armor being rendered useless after their durability is brought down all the way to zero.
This is where the Almost Unbreakable Legendary armor effect could come into the picture since it quadruples the durability of a Power Armor piece. Unfortunately, this perk is only reserved for Tessa’s Fist, which makes this perk rather useless in the long haul.
8Safecracker
Makes Lockpicking Easier By Increasing The Sweet Spot
This modifier can make easy locks even easier to pick, and harder locks a bit more bearable. The Safecracker’s modifier can help the player when they’re wearing whatever piece of Legendary armor has this name because it widens the pickable areas in a lock.
If players have a difficult time picking locks that are Very Hard, Hard, or even Average, this modifier can make all the other levels seem easier and the Very Hard level seem nonexistent. Some players might not feel like they have too much trouble picking any lock, but everyone is bound to break a bobby pin every once in a while, and this modifier can help save their stash.
9Low Weight
Carry Weight Of Said Item Is Lower
Unfortunately, the Low Weight modifier is only on power armor pieces, but that still makes it incredibly useful for players who always want to have power armor ready to use.
The Low Weight modifier is pretty self-explanatory. It decreases the weight of the power armor piece so it won’t take up so much spacein the player’s inventory. While it would be nice if this modifier could also be used on regular armor pieces, it does make the most sense to put it on power armor, since it can be a pain to carry the armor around when it weighs so much.
10Punishing
Reflects 10% Of Melee Damage Back Onto The Attacker
It can be really annoying when fighting a group of enemies, and some of them are shooting while others are attacking withmelee weapons. Well, the Punishing modifier can help defend players from these attacks a bit.
When wearing armor with this effect on it, enemies that hit the player with melee attacks will have 10% of that damage put back on them. If players stack this effect with more armor that has the same Punishing modifier, it can start to do some serious damage to enemies that attempt to kill them with melee weapons.
