Heavy metal armor

Metal armor is a set of armor in Fallout 4.

Background
A crude suit of armor crafted into a protective suit by a blacksmith - or a wastelander with a blowtorch. Metal armor is heavy, rugged, and can be readily manufactured from scrap, though requires skill to make an effective suit of armor that isn't a danger to its own wearer.

The suit consists of a protective plate with a prominent gorget, made out of shaped scrap sheet metal with additional protective plates attached via repurposed rebar to provide a degree of motion for the lower body. The plate forms a single-piece shell that extends over the shoulders to the upper back, worn with a thick layer of salvaged fabric for padding and to prevent chafing. A tire is tied to the lower back using leather straps and string, providing softer cover for vulnerable organs and a bit of comfort while sitting or leaning.

The shoulders are protected by a pair of axillary protectors, in the shape of medieval pauldrons with pronounced ridges and rings, and a cloth protector wrapped around the upper arm to avoid injury.

The limbs are covered by rudimentary protectors made out of salvaged sheet metal roughly hammered into its proper shape. Forearm sections are attached to thick cloth padding and held together with leather straps, while the shin guards are worn over trousers with two simple leather straps. The heavy armor reinforces both, with additional plating on the lower legs and crude blades on the forearms.

Four joint protectors for the knees and elbows complete the loadout, with four spikes in a square pattern attached on the elbows for that bit of extra grease in bar fights. The heavy variant also features a large utility belt with multiple pockets and additional, oversized plating on the thighs and knees, with more carry pouches bolted onto them. Finally, the armor boasts a large groin protector - or cod piece in some circles.

Characteristics
Metal armor consists of five different pieces that make up the entire set, one for each limb, and as well as a torso piece. They can be worn over thin clothing with ease, and can be modified with standard armor mods, although only material mods change the armor's appearance. Metal armor is tilted more toward protection against ballistic weapons although it does protect against energy based weaponry.

Although all these metal armor variants are post-War creations intended to be worn with the metal helmet, they are usually found sporadically. See also Cage armor and Helmeted cage armor.

Crafting
With the Contraptions Workshop add-on, all three levels of protection can be manufactured using a armor forge.

Modifications
This item has the following modification slots: Material, Misc. All numbers are relative to the base stats.
 * Material mods can't be swapped between arms and legs, even though they cost the same and provide the same bonuses.
 * Misc mods that are available to both arms and legs can be swapped.
 * You can find Muffled arms as loot, but this is a bug. If the Muffled mod is removed from the arms, it cannot be re-added. It also likely provides no benefit on the arms.

Locations

 * Dropped by high level raiders and sold at markets. The grade of metal armor spawning depends on player level: Light metal armor spawns starting with level one, sturdy with level 24, and heavy with level 39.