Super Mutant (Fallout 4)

Super mutants are the variant of Super Mutant found throughout the Commonwealth, Nuka-World and the Island $$

Background
These mutants were created by the Institute by means of exposure to the Forced Evolutionary Virus. They are large, muscle-bound creatures with innate immunity to radiation and disease. They are most frequently encountered in central Boston, and can also be found in Fallon's Department Store, Fort Strong, Trinity Tower, Revere satellite array, Big John's Salvage, The Gwinnett Restaurant and several other locations all throughout the Commonwealth, most of which can be identified by hanging meat bags, twisted girders protruding out of the ground, cages and gory waste piles.

In Far Harbor, a group of super mutants have traveled to the Island and are located in the Vim! Pop factory, National Park HQ and Aldersea Day Spa. In Nuka-World, small bands of mutants can occasionally be found roaming the plains and foothills surrounding the amusement park. They consider themselves the superior race of the Commonwealth. They express an interest in locating FEV, or "green stuff," to produce more mutants.

Institute
Research on samples acquired by the team was authorized by the directorate and the program began despite the objections of BioScience. Citizens were abducted from the Commonwealth and submerged in the Institute's modified FEV, their mutations carefully tracked and investigated. The first super mutants attacked human settlements as early as 2180.

Despite perfecting two FEV strains, the accumulated radiation damage in test subjects was a barrier to further development. The FEV research effort continued for several more decades, despite producing no useful data, except for manufacturing more super mutants for the surface to contend with.

In April 2286, Dr. Brian Virgil succeeded Dr. Syverson as head of the project, and it quickly became evident to him that the FEV program had run its course, having produced no new data within the past ten years. As Virgil's conscience took its toll, the scientist lodged a formal complaint with the directorate. They did not respond and Virgil rebelled, escaping the Institute after destroying as much of the project as he could. This became known as "Incident V" within the Institute. He then proceeded to transform himself into a super mutant using a unique strain of FEV to flee into the Glowing Sea. At the time of the Sole Survivor's arrival at the Institute, the research wing remains in a security lockdown.

Gameplay attributes
Super mutants can randomly be encountered around the Commonwealth in small groups, usually raiding parties, which can attack settlements allied with the player character. Much larger groups can be found infesting various buildings throughout the wastes. They have developed a unique relationship with mutant hounds and will utilize these beastly creatures as attack dogs, usually encountered in groups of 1-3. Mutant hounds are exclusively used by super mutants in the Commonwealth, instead of the centaurs that have normally accompanied them in past installments of the game series.

Lower-level mutants are normally armed with various pipe weapons, hunting rifles and Molotov cocktails. For melee, they will often utilize wooden boards.

Higher-level mutants can appear with heavier weapons such as miniguns, missile launchers, Gauss rifles, laser weapons, assault rifles and fragmentation grenades. For melee, they normally wield large sledgehammers and super sledges.

Super mutant
This is the most common and weakest variety of super mutant. They usually carry a pipe weapon or a board and drop minor and low-tech loot on death. They can often be found among more powerful varieties of super mutant such as skirmishers.

Super mutant suicider
A super mutant that will run at its enemy with a beeping mini nuke in its arm. It will then detonate itself while in close proximity, killing its enemy and itself in a fiery, nuclear explosion. Shooting the mini nuke in the suicider's hand or targeting the right arm in V.A.T.S. will cause the mutant to explode prematurely, killing it instantly. The suicider can be detected before it is seen by listening for the beeping of its mini nuke. If the suicider is killed without detonating the payload, which can be done with a headshot or body shot, a Mini Nuke can be looted from its corpse; otherwise, only nuclear material will be found on its remains.

Locations
The quantity and location of super mutant suiciders can be found here:
 * Three are located at Fallon's Department Store.
 * One is seen patrolling the exterior entrance of Medford Memorial Hospital and one is seated within the lobby.
 * One is northwest of the fast travel point of the General Atomics factory.
 * One is also in the scrap palace.

Super mutant skirmisher
Super mutant skirmishers are significantly tougher than regular super mutants, taking more damage and usually carrying more powerful weapons. Skirmishers will appear more frequently once the Sole Survivor reaches level 10.

Super mutant brute
Super mutant brutes are a significant step up from skirmishers. Brutes, much like their namesake, take even more damage to put down and are far stronger than their lower-leveled brothers, and wear an aviator hat of some kind.

Super mutant enforcer
The super mutant enforcer is significantly stronger than the brute and is more likely to be more heavily armored than the lower-level super mutants.

Super mutant butcher
Super mutant butchers appear more often at higher levels. They are normally very heavily armored and often use heavy weapons and they are much stronger than the enforcer.

Super mutant master
Super mutant masters have an extremely high Hit Point pool and superior Damage Resistance compared to their weaker brethren. They are generally equipped with heavy weapons such as the missile launcher or minigun. They can be generally found in locations with a large mutant concentration, an example being Big John's Salvage.

Super mutant overlord
A super mutant overlord is much stronger than most mutants. They may be seen traveling in pairs.

Super mutant primus
The primus spawns at level 45+ and is seen with large groups of super mutants, most commonly at major super mutant outposts. They commonly wield super sledges or assault rifles, but may also be seen with missile launchers and, rarely, Fat Man launchers.

Super mutant warlord
The warlord is the most powerful super mutant variant, not counting behemoths. Their extremely high Hit Point total means that they can withstand multiple head or limb shots from extremely powerful weapons such as Gauss rifles without being crippled.

Appearances
Super mutants appear in Fallout 4 and its add-ons Far Harbor and Nuka-World.

Bugs

 * After detonating a super mutant suicider's mini nuke and killing nearby enemies, no additional XP is gained for these kills.
 * Upon re-entering a world space where a super mutant suicider detonated, the super mutant may detonate again.
 * After looting the mini nuke from a super mutant suicider, it may remain in his hand and may still detonate afterward.
 * Stunning a super mutant in V.A.T.S. will result in it becoming stuck in a T-pose, unable to do anything but follow its target around while stuck in the pose, with occasional vocalizations from its dialogue options.

Behind the scenes

 * Jonah Lobe originally designed the Fallout 4 Super Mutants to have a "softer, more approachable humanity", and "wanted them to have more speaking roles, and to be potentially loveable". In the end, Bethesda Game Studios "went for a more thuggish design".