Recon Armor (Fallout 3)

The Recon Armor is a specialized suit issued to Capital Wasteland Brotherhood of Steel Initiates, and is basically the underarmor of the Capital Wasteland Brotherhood Power Armor. It is, essentially, a padded jumpsuit covering the entire body, integrated with the interface for the power armor. Unlike the underarmor for the T-51b models, this one is designed to offer limited protection.

Procurement
A fully repaired suit of Recon Armor can be acquired in Fallout 3 after you complete the Finding the Garden of Eden quest. Towards the end of the quest of The American Dream you will head to the Citadel. Follow the objective marker until you meet up with The Lyons' Pride. You will go into a HUD-less cinematic. During this cinematic, you will be asked about the G.E.C.K. When the conversations are over, you will speak to Sarah Lyons. She will offer you Power Armor or Recon Armor. You can also find suits of this armor in the lockers in the vaults.

Recon Armor can also be acquired from vendors early game (river city and megaton at flak's), although it is fairly scarce. Once the 200+500 tribute has been paid to crow at canturbery via the mayor, multiple copies can be acquired with which it can be maintained at acceptable cost, assuming a high enough repair rating (~70). It degrades at pretty much the same rate as combat or talon armor. Failing that, the travelling vendors (once paid tribute to) will immediately improve their repair ratings to the 70 range should the player be dependant on external repair sourcing.

The armor (although not full condition) can sometimes be purchased early from Karl in Meresti when attempting the Blood Ties quest. It can also be stolen from a crate/locker in Karl's shop (right side of the shop when standing in front of the counter facing Karl).

Moira Brown in Megaton has also been seen selling this armor early-game (Other merchants in the game have been seen selling this armor).

The armor, along with the Recon Helmet, can also be found early on in an abandoned "Bait and Tackle" shop just north of the Citadel, across the river. It may also be purchaseable through Flak and Shrapnels shop in Rivet City - I found it there on my first run-through of the city.

The armor, along with the helmet, can also be found randomly in seperate lockers in the Anchorage Memorial. They are not fully repaired.

The armor can also be found in the remains of a house located immediately behind the crashed UFO north of the power station. There is a footlocker near the toilet, the armor occurs randomly here.

A suit may be found in Vault 106 in a locker on the left as you enter the livng quarters, as well as random suits/helmets in the rest of that vault.

A Suit and Helmet may be foundin Vault 92 in a footlocker in one of the living quarters in the Overseer's Office Area.

A suit can be found the Vault-Tec Headquarters, corporate offices, second floor. It is located in the northeast corner of the map, inside a footlocker sitting on top of a wooden bookcase.

Strategy
Apparently, no other armor types can be used to repair Recon Armor (true, recon can be used to repair combat/talon, but the neither can be used to repair recce armor; only recce armor fixes recce armor). Combined with its relative scarcity, this makes it difficult to keep Recon Armor in good repair (**not true once a tribute to crow has been paid). However, its good DR and its Sneak bonus make it an attractive choice for early-game characters.

Recon armor is an attractive option for stealth and snipe mercantile-based characters who seek an alternative to combat, talon or bodyguard armor. Recon armor is a poor choice for paladins.