I can't believe that Dogmeat: ATC made it to hotfiles and it's all thanks to everyone's interest and support so thank you very much!!
 Also a big thanks to BlindJudge for choosing this mod for staff pick of April 2017!!



    If you are anything like me and you have tried using Dogmeat as a companion you would have seen his downfalls and the sad amount of detail that was paid when it comes to combat. He is most likely the weakest companion added to any Bethesda game and his usefulness past distracting simple raiders is immediately apparent. Even then in the start of the game he doesn't manage to kill a single raider half the time before being gunned down and wasting valuable stimpacks. This is unacceptable in every way and makes it so the average player leaves him to permanently hang out in their settlement doghouse over using him as a companion.

  I've spent over a year tweaking him through multiple saves to turn him into the true companion everyone deserved and I hope to turn him once again into the Sole Survivor's best friend. All the work I've done on this mod has been based off of multiple things, special stats are based off of what real life dogs are capable of and what the raider owned dogs have. Damage and defense are based off of raider owned dogs have except they are improved all around, additionally I've added the abilities of Rex from Fallout 3 to his arsenal. Movement speed and combat AI have been based off of footage from German Shepherd police dogs in action as well as their possible carry weight. Everything has been carefully balanced for lore, enjoyment, and beginning to endgame gameplay.


Do note that the 1.3 updates have changed Dogmeat dramatically so be sure to read below!

EDITS MADE:

• Increased Dogmeat's base health from 150 to 200 since he has a lack of armor in the base game.
• Buffed Dogmeat's damage by a large amount on each version compared to the "Heel licks" he gave enemies beforehand. His running lunge attacks now cause knockdown similar to what Rex could do from Fallout 3 allowing you to take out enemies when they are temporarily on the ground. All of his attacks also trigger various amounts of stagger on enemies; power attacks cause more naturally. Each difficulty from Insanity and down scales damage dealt lower to balance out Dogmeat for each appropriate difficulty. (Previous versions had knockdown on all power attacks that is now replaced with forward moving power attack knockdowns only! Knockdown are now uncommon occurrences and should not ruin important battles by stun locking enemies like before. If you still feel like they are overpowered versions without knockdowns are available.)
• Increased Dogmeat's movement speed to mimic real dogs and how they move faster than humans, no more slowly trodding up to enemies and lagging behind (Unless the AI derps out)( Also do note that when being loaded into an active save that the movement speed may not carry over due to limitations of engine, this can be fixed by clicking on Dogmeat and typing into console : Setav SpeedMult 140.00 ).
• Added the ability for Dogmeat to receive the companion buffs from all appropriate Live and Love comics that you find because Dogmeat is a true companion!
• Added both Energy and Damage Resistance to Dogmeat which he had absolutely none of compared to sickly raider owned mutts (Why this was set like this baffles me!).
• Removed fall damage from Dogmeat entirely with a new custom perk! No more having your doggo following you up a ledge or precarious spot to have him fall all the way down forcing you to abandon or go after him. Dogmeat is a good boy and just because Bethesda's AI and pathing sucks doesn't mean that he has to suffer for it!
• Increased Dogmeat's natural carry weight to 200 exactly across all difficulties; no longer does he have the carry weight bug or pathetically low inventory space making him useless for lugging gear and scrap!  ------ (For people with ongoing saves you will need to use console to set his new carry weight due to engine limitations; the following information is thanks to DeJuanNOnley  . Open console and type in    prid 1d162   press enter and then put in   recycleactor  once that is done exit out of console and Dogmeat will be sent away. You now need to re-open the console and type in    moveto player    which brings Dogmeat back to you and you will then close the console and re-open it once again. Type in    modav strength 1   followed by    modav strength -1    to reset his strength stats so they are detected correctly; followed by closing and re-opening the console a final time. Lastly you need to type in    getav carryweight    which will then let you see Dogmeats carry weight; which at that point should say 200 )
• Improved Dogmeat's Special stats across the board giving him the highest perception and agility between all vanilla companions. Real life dogs, especially German Shepherds are very agile and have a very good sense of smell and hearing; far surpassing anything human and possibly synth.
  
• Added Perks to Dogmeat that would benefit and keep him alive - Sneak 4  which allows him to sneak around enemies without being detected often - Rooted 1 which lets him take less damage when standing still and biting enemies - Moving Target 1 which reduces damage taken while he sprints at enemies - Ricochet 1 which will very rarely deflect shots fired back at the enemies.
• Improved Dogmeat's combat AI so that he no longer stands in one place snarling at enemies while they shoot or in worse cases get to an enemy but then just stand there and do nothing. (Caused by him having an overwhelming 15 offense to 75 defense rating forcing him to always block and defend.) Dogmeat will still stick close to you and not attack much if at all while sneaking so if you want him to attack make sure to stand up!
  

• Gave Dogmeat a Stripe and Stars bandana since he was traveling with the Minutemen before bumping into you and it made sense that they would have marked him with something to show friendship and care.
  

  
  Please Note: Due to Creation Kit and Bethesda's decision, Dogmeat's damage numbers including knockdowns are irreversibly linked to all raider owned dogs so make note of their damage boost when in close quarters. They will still be weaker though due to lack of special stats, defense, and etc that Dogmeat has over them in every way so they are not as strong as Dogmeat. Thanks to Techprince we now have a mod that fixes this issue and makes it so that Dogmeats stats are separate and his own; please go and download  -
Better Companions Optional File - NoSharedDogmeatTemplate


  For those who are interested in adding mods for Dogmeat that make him better or changes his appearance or even add gear for him here are the following mods that I personally use and recommend.

• Dogmeat's Vault Suits (and Sunglasses) - All Vaults
• K-9 Harness -- Tactical Body Armor and Backpack for Dogmeat
• Floppy Eared Dogmeat
• Classic Dogmeat a.k.a. Pirate
• Better Companions Optional File - NoSharedDogmeatTemplate
• Bethesda's Creation Club Dog Collar and Dog Breeds
• Oppressor Dog Armor
  

   Please, remember to endorse this mod if you enjoyed it and think others would too; thank you!