Yeah, having like some +50% range or something on grenadier & phoenix sounds like it would make sense. Have to test that ingame a bit, since I haven't played the game myself in so long, I don't even remember the current values, but 150% range doesn't sound too much at least.

Not sure about the locust - I have some vague memory that the jump-Comp is pretty limited in what you can tweak, so not sure what can be done there without custom code, which is currently outside my skillset unfortunately. Might be an option in the future, but nothing I can do immediately at least...

One thought that came to mind was that maybe just slightly tweaking the abilities AND also giving those specialist armors specialized stats might be more in line with their idea & the mod itself. Like the phoenix already has increased heat & fire insulation/immunity. Would probably make sense to bring the other two more in line with that as well.

Right now I can't think too much about specifics, but some ideas;

- locust jetpacks (since integrated) are connected to the internal power source of the armor, allowing the wearer to use it as support for regular movement. The ingame effect could reach from locust having increased movespeed offsets, to actually making the wearer 'hover/fly' (which could need support from some optional frameworks - depending on integration.)

- the first thing that comes to mind for the grenadier are aim/shooting oriented stat-buffs, like you could make up the armor having some improved gyros to stabilize the user or whatever.

- unsure about the phoenix, besides further increased fire-protection I guess. With some framework-support and a more fancy integration, I could think about some interesting things. Like giving the armor some stasis-feature that protects the wearer when downed or similar, fitting for the 'phoenix' theme...

The more fancy aspects might not fit the theme of THIS mod though. In fact, I HAVE an actual 'armor overhaul' mod planned for a long time. Something that actually changes how they work mechanically. Unfortunately some aspects are harder now to achieve, since some frameworks I would have used for that are currently dying due to lack of maintenance.

Some of the ideas included into that concept;

- Modular power armor (armor offering module-slots, modules to upgrade and enhance stats, abilities, etc. - currently uncertain due to Athena FW being the bottleneck)
- Wearing power armor without specific 'plug suits' is uncomfortable and impractical. Meaning; wearing power armor without the necessary equipment gives pawns mood/comfort debuffs and movement is extremely slow. Those debuffs are countered by wearing specialized undersuits (biocoded?) meant to be used with power armors. This changes the ingame balance in a way that makes 'looting' power armor still possible, while also only unlocking their full potential as soon as the player is able to actually build them (or the undersuits.)
- Following the former aspect, taint from looted armor & quality could be removed from the armors completely (if the modular system is in place, that would be ideal anyways) - optinally, looted power armor could be treated as 'second hand' which is significantly worse than those built by the player and 'pristine'...

Main goal there being to make researching power armor actually worth it. From my personal experience, it's usually meaningless to unlock their research because at the time that's feasible, you usually already have your guys stuffed out with power armor protection from looting ADs and similar, making the research similarly useless as charge weaponry - since looting/buying is just more reliable than researching & building them yourself.

That are just some of my thoughts on the topic at large. I might look if I can add a simple 'improvement tweak' for the specialist armors in the coming days - given it's only three items (+3 prestige variants from mods) it should be easy enough to slot in.

But for the more elaborate 'upgrade' I might first have to re-organize my balance-documents and think a bit more about the topic. So it might take a bit. I'm currently stuck in making a useable re-texture for the marine helmet (and maybe recon) which takes longer than expected :D

Well everything sounds fantastic. You have good collected thoughts about the matter, so I will just sit back and see what you bring to the table. I essentially agree with you, and so far you got me hooked to your concepts. I do agree vanilla Power Armor feels lackluster, so we are on the same page pretty much.

Take your time, dont burn out and most importantly, have fun! Can't wait to see how you progress, you have amazing and interesting ideas.