I played in PA for the majority of the game - I've a decent set of X-01 with the Quantum paint and a T45 jetpack (I'll buy the X-01 jetpack plan when I have the caps).
I still use it quite a bit for PvE, but I've really enjoyed the perks from legendary armour.
I think that's probably why I mostly used PA - it took ages to build up a decent set of legendary armour. It was a no-brainer with standard armour - PA is WAY better.
I'm going to try and build a full set of decent (i.e. Robot, Trapper or Marine, since they have rad res):
- Unyielding (SPECIAL boost is awesome - Agi means I can run for MILES, plus Dodgy has a large pool of AP to pull from, plus vendor prices are pretty much as good as Max Hard Bargain, plus carry weight is more than even the Excavator armour! I get INTO my PA and I'm overemcumbered! , plus I can see enemy red dots on my HUD from MILES with that amount of Per)
- Bolstering (I want to experiment with this and Nerd Rage etc.)
- Vanguard (I'd also like to try the opposite - a high health + res build)
- Assassin (It's been nerfed, but I'd still like to try it in PvP)
- Life Saving (This is really useful in PvE - with 3 pieces, I'm pretty much "invincible"!)
- Chameleon (one is enough for the effect, but the sneak stacks. Very fun for PvP and griefing workshops in Adventure mode)
Hoping for some 3 stars and Sentinel's - not seen any yet.