Introduction

(If you dont want to read my maniac ramblings, go directly to the "Stats and Balancing" section)

When I build my own "The Mechanist Suit" through the quest of the TheTalkieToasters  RobCo Certified Mechanists Edition mod, I found it dissatisfying that the Mechanist from the Superhuman Gambit quest uses the exact same Armor: They look the same, they give the same benefits. That is'nt very  immersive and i wanted MORE! So the heroic quest for this mod began...

This mod does not only introduce a new set of armor, it also changes their benefits. My aim was to make them apropriate gadget costumes for a robot wrangling tech geek super hero figure, as well as prime equipment for a RobCo Certifieds perks based playthrough.
Most important, both armor suits grant the benefits introduced by RobCo Mechanist Edition: they make robots allies, they give acces to the robot buffing hero poses and NEW: they increas your robot cap!  (Of course in any combination, including the Mechanist Powerarmor).

The Mechanist received a new set of armor that looks more professional and has better stats, as he is the fulltime nerd spending all his time beeing the Mechanist and hanging out in the workshop. Uncle Roe does say afterall that he did build himself some mechanical armor. The Armor you build yourself through the RobCo mod is the classic version.

As I have no skills in making new armor myself,  I looked for a suitable replacer and decided for the VaultTec Power Armor as the helmet looks quite robotic and the chest part is similar to the original mechanist suit:
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41279/? 
You will have to download that mod, but only drop the meshes and textures folders in FO3 data folder.


Stats and Balancing:

General special effects :

• Wearing both Suits (in any combination) will make Robots friendly (Robot Faction, Talon Robots etc are stil hostile; This is a RobCo Certified mechanist Edition functionality, I only ported it to the new Armor)
  

• NEW: Both Suits increas your robot cap by 1 (any combination, except for the Mechanist Power Armor, it gives +2)
  

New Armor Set Stats:
The new suit will be in line with the Heavy Combat Armor Mark II from FWE, but heavier (think of it that it is made out of an aluminium alloy, looks similar to power armor, but is lighter, less protective and wears dow faster)

• Weight and DR are both 38, (5 and 8 for the helmet)
• Armor effects:  +5 Repair, +5 Energy Weapons, -1 Agility
• Helmet effects: + 1 Perception, - 1 Charisma
  

• New special Effects: Wearing both the Helmet and the Suit gives you the Perk "Hero Gatgets". It enables Nightvision and allows you to deactivate robots while sneaking - The Mechanist Idolizes robots after all, he would never shoot them down in order to rebuild them for himselfe (robotics expert perk effect; I also uploaded a version without this abilitiy if you find it OP). That also works with the combination of The Mechanist Helmet and The Mechanist Power Armor.
  

Classic Armor Set Stats (The DIY Mechanist Armor)

• Weight and DR are 16 and 25 (4 and 6 for the helmet) - This should be FWE standard
• Armor effects:  +5 Repair, +5 Energy Weapons, -1 Charisma
• Helmet effects:  - 1 Charisma
  

RobCos Mechaynist Power Armor
The selfmade Mechanist Power Armor remains as the best armor version and gives the most benefits.

• Weight and DR unchanged (90 and 70 with FWE, without FWE, the armor has only 50% DR)
• Armor effects:  only changed +1 Endurance to +5 Energy Weapons (other RobCo defaults (with FWE): +10 Repair, +2 Strenght, -1 Agility, Carry Weight +90, Radresist +5)
• Increases the robot cap by +2 (works with both helmets)
  

Requirements

• RobCo Certified wih RobCo certified Mechanist editionhttps://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/712?
  

• The Meshes and textures from the VualTec Power Armourhttps://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41279/? 
• FWE.esm (I made the balancing based on FWE, the only actual dependency on FWE is the night vision ability. I also uploaded a version without nightvision that does not need Fallout Wanderer Edition)
  

Installation

• Drop the meshes and textures folders of the VualTec Power Armor mod into your FO3 data folder
• Install this mod with your mod manager or drop the esp in your FO3 data folder.
• This mod must be loaded below the  RobCo Certified Mechanist Edition.esp
  
  

Warning: If you have already build your own mechanist suit, it will be the new one!
If you have not yet build the mechanist power armor, you need the self build costume, so you can't! For a solution see the bugs section below.


Credits

https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/4287# by saamziel
I used his mod as a basis to develop this one. Thanks for declaring it puplic property and thanks for some of the ground work!

Thanks to TheTalkieToaster for his great RobCo Certified (Mechanists Edition) mods. They introduce so much fun gameplay content that I was motivated to improve on this little detail! Afterall, The Mechanist is the Idol / Personification of the robco robot wrangling build.
Most functionalyties described here are from his mod, I only made them work on the new armor entity as well.

Credits for the Armor goes to the author of the original mod (again: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/41279/?tab=posts&BH=0)
Please endorse his mod if you like the work.

One script is from FWE and is part of the night vision functionality, i just patched in a variable to make it work with the content of this mod.


Bugs and Incompatibilities

If you have already build your own Mechanist suit before installing this mod, it will also be changed to the new model (unavoidable, as both "your" armor and the one from the Mechanist have the same object ID).  If you have not yet build the mechanist power armor, you need the self made one (that looks like the classic version).
Solution: the Form ID is [    'XX'001BF9    ]; (console command: [   player.additem 'XX'001BF9 1  ]; 'XX' is a placeholder for the position of this mod in your load order) 
I fyou don't now what that means, you should first read some articles about console commands in fallout as well as using FO3edit /FO3edit master update.

Weapons holstered on the back haveclipping issues (see last screenshots)

Wearing only either a Helmet or Armor is enough to make Robots friendly. This is an feature/issue of the RobCo certified mod. 

Mods that alter the mechanist armor are incompatible
Antagonizer Companion https://www.nexusmods.com/fallout3/mods/20497

• The Antagonizer may give the player an retextured Mechanist suit depending on progression. As I replaced the base armor with the new model, there will be missing or missalinged texture problems for that specific item . That should not break the mod or the companion progress (not tested yet). If requested, I could try to make a patch. Everyone else is allowed to do that as well.
  

Mods that change the FWE nightvision script or the a0aRobcoFunctionCalcLimitScript



Moding nerd talk

I replaced the meshes and textures of The Mechanist Armor with the new ones and used the clasic assets in the new items. The main motivation for this approach was that I did'nt find the script or quest entry where the Mechanist gives the player the armor (I managed to make the Mechanist wear a different Amor item, but he would give the player the original one), but I found the perk used by the RobCo Mechanist Edition when the player builds the armors.

For the nightvision functionality, I modified the DLNVScript of the FWE .esm instead of adding the Helmet into the NVhat FormId-list.
This was purely for balance, as nightvision is activated when the gadget perk is present. Meaning, it activates only only when the new helmet is worn with the new armor or the Mechanist Power Armor, it cant be used to easily get a nightvision helmet for a sneaking build early in game.
Please leave me a message If modifying that script should be connsidered problematic (for reasons like stability or incombatibility with popular mods for example).


I tried to change the mod behaviour so that only wearing both a mechanist suit and a mechanist helmet makes the robot faction an ally.
I know  how I had to modify the RobCo script that manages the ally or enemy state between the player and the robot faction.
It was impossile to save the changed script in GECK as it reported an error and aborted the recompilation of the script. (It had issues  with the exhort tokens (used for giving the mechanist robot buffs) which are also modified by this script.
Does someone know how to work arround this problem?