So, you’ve spent countless hours exploring the vast world of Fallout 4, venturing through the desolate landscapes, uncovering the secrets of Boston’s ruins, and perhaps even taking a dip in the Glowing Sea. Adventures have been plentiful. But now, a thought creeps in: maybe it’s time to settle down and finally delve into those settlements you’ve been neglecting since Preston Garvey first nudged you towards planting some mutfruit.
You’re in luck! Because countless hours have been dedicated to mastering the art of settlement building since day one, and now, a wealth of knowledge is ready to be shared. These tips and tricks will streamline your settlement endeavors and help you create thriving communities in the wasteland.
Essential Perks for Fallout 4 Settlement Building
Before you even think about laying the first brick of your settlement empire, you need to prepare your character. Serious settlement building in Fallout 4 requires specific perks, most notably a significant investment in Charisma. If your current playthrough features a lone wanderer with minimal social skills, don’t worry! It’s not too late to adjust. Remember, the Parsons State Insane Asylum holds a Charisma Bobblehead, and you can always allocate perk points to your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats. Alternatively, consider starting a new character specifically tailored for crafting and building.
Aim for at least 6 Charisma to unlock two crucial perks: Local Leader (essential for supply lines) and Cap Collector (level two for better stores). Intelligence is also highly beneficial. The Gun Nut and Science! perks are almost indispensable for crafting advanced generators and powerful defense turrets. Furthermore, Scrapper is incredibly useful, allowing you to break down unwanted weapons into valuable components like copper, gears, and circuitry that are vital for construction.
It’s true that Fallout 4‘s crafting system somewhat steers you towards a specific character build. However, even with these stat requirements, there’s still ample room for creativity. The satisfaction of building a flourishing settlement from the ashes of the old world is a rewarding experience in itself.
Fallout 4 Settlement Building: The Basics
To ensure your settlement thrives and grows, you need to provide the essentials: water, food, beds, and a recruitment beacon. Each settler requires one unit of food and water daily and they need beds for happiness. Prioritize these needs first.
Start by planting crops (raiding nearby farms initially is a quick way to acquire seeds, and soon you’ll be self-sufficient). Install a few water pumps, and place down some beds. Don’t overbuild initially; settlements grow gradually. You can always expand as needed, and later crafting options may render early structures obsolete, so avoid wasting resources on temporary solutions.
A radio beacon is key to attracting new settlers. It requires power, so build a generator. Generators are useful for many things in settlements anyway. Remember to turn off the beacon once you’re satisfied with your settlement’s population, especially in smaller locations like the Red Rocket station, to avoid overcrowding.
Defense is crucial once your settlement is established. Turrets are the primary defense mechanism (hence the importance of Science! and Gun Nut for upgraded versions). Each turret, trap, or manned guard post adds to your settlement’s defense rating. Aim to keep your defense rating equal to or slightly higher than the combined food and water production to deter attacks.
When attacks occur, you’ll receive a notification on your Pip-Boy and can assist in defending your settlers. Settlement raids can be unpredictable. Expect anything from coordinated Super Mutant assaults to packs of feral ghouls appearing inside your walls. Strategic defense placement is vital – cover likely attack routes and protect populated areas where settlers will gather to fight.
Mastering Fallout 4 Settlement Construction
While you could simply utilize pre-existing structures, the real fun lies in creating your own unique settlements. Leave your mark on the Commonwealth by building sprawling apartment complexes, cozy homes, or formidable, militaristic outposts.
The settlement building interface in Fallout 4 can be challenging. Object placement can be finicky, in-game tutorials are minimal, and wall snapping mechanics can be frustrating. However, with patience and a few helpful tips, you can construct impressive settlements for your wastelanders. If someone can recreate complex structures like the piano scene from Big within Fallout 4, you can certainly build sturdy fences.
Start with a solid foundation and flooring. Uneven terrain complicates building, so level ground is preferable for easier construction.
Build vertically to maximize space. Many settlement locations have limited building areas due to debris or uneven landscapes. Utilize vertical space by building upwards. Ladders and staircases are essential for multi-story structures. A towering fort on top of the Red Rocket station is far more visually striking and space-efficient than ground-level boxes.
Establish supply lines from a central settlement to streamline resource management. Manually transporting resources between settlements is inefficient. The Local Leader perk enables you to assign settlers as provisioners to create supply lines. This allows settlements to share resources stored in workbenches (excluding weapons and armor).
Create a supply network by linking settlements in a chain: Settlement A to B, B to C, and so on. This ensures that resources deposited in any connected workbench are accessible across the network. Provisioners are resilient, similar to companions, so they can handle wasteland dangers.
Fences are invaluable for defense and aesthetics. They can channel attackers into kill zones and add a sense of security and order to your settlements. However, extensive fencing consumes significant amounts of steel and wood. Obtaining the Picket Fences magazine from Beantown Brewery unlocks picket fences which require no steel, offering a more resource-friendly and visually appealing option than chain-link fences.
Powering Your Fallout 4 Settlement Effectively
Settlement power management in Fallout 4 is poorly explained but crucial for advanced settlements. There are two categories of powered devices: active and passive. Active devices (like turrets and purifiers) require direct power connections from generators, with the generator’s output needing to meet their power demand. Passive devices (lights, traps) operate on the settlement’s power grid. Active devices need direct wiring, while passive devices connect to the grid via pylons or wall sockets.
Power pylons extend power from generators to distant devices or conduits. Wire length is limited and can be obstructed. Elevate generators to maximize wire reach. Pylons emit a power radius for passive devices. Conduits, when attached to walls, should power the entire structure, but their reliability can be inconsistent, often functioning similarly to pylons but being cheaper and more compact for connecting buildings.
Creating intricate power grids can be both frustrating and rewarding. The system is sensitive, and minor adjustments can disrupt entire setups. However, mastering it allows you to significantly enhance your settlements’ visual appeal and functionality.
Adding Shops to Enhance Your Fallout 4 Settlements
Settlement shops are incredibly beneficial. While the Local Leader and Cap Collector perk investment for larger shops is significant, the advantages of a shop network across your settlements are substantial.
Six types of shops are available, each with four tiers of value. All shops increase settler happiness and generate caps, but some are more practically useful in your main base. Weapon shops provide reliable ammo supplies, trade goods shops reduce scavenging time, clinics offer convenient and affordable addiction and radiation treatment, and bars supply ingredients for healing items. Armor and clothing shops offer variety but are less essential.
The first two shop tiers are accessible with Local Leader level two. They are functional, but investing in Cap Collector level two unlocks tier three shops, which stock much better items. Furthermore, tier three shops can attract special wandering vendors who can be recruited to create unique tier four stores with exclusive inventory.
Shops generate passive income, collected from your workbench periodically. However, income accrues slowly. The primary value of shops is convenience: on-demand access to merchants for trading, restocking, and refueling during your wasteland explorations, maximizing your scavenging efficiency.
Advanced Fallout 4 Settlement Tips and Tricks
The settlement system has many hidden mechanics. Here’s a deeper dive into advanced tips:
- Population Cap: Settlement population is linked to your Charisma stat: base 10 + Charisma stat. Normally, this is 11 settlers, up to 22 with max Charisma. Vault 88 (from the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC) has a base cap of 32. Charisma-boosting gear might exceed this, but results are inconsistent.
- Bed Spacing: Don’t cluster beds. Settlers become unhappy if too many beds are in one area. While exact numbers are unclear, limiting rooms to four beds seems optimal.
- Water Purifiers are Key: Essential for non-landlocked settlements. Industrial purifiers produce 40 water units, far exceeding settlement needs. Excess water is stored in the workbench as aid items, usable for healing or selling for caps.
- Equip Settlers: Outfit settlers for defense and role assignment. Equip spare weapons and a single unit of ammo (it will be infinite) on settlers. This enhances defense and visually distinguishes settler roles through coordinated outfits.
- Efficient Farming: Each settler assigned to crops can manage enough plants for six food units. Limit farmers to three or four per settlement to free up settlers for other tasks.
- Guard Post Patrols: Manned guard posts provide low defense (two points), but settlers assigned to a post patrol up to three posts, providing the defense of each post they patrol. One guard can effectively defend a wider area.
- Scavenging Stations: Settlers at scavenging stations passively generate junk resources. The amount is small, but it’s a bonus when settlers aren’t assigned elsewhere. They also patrol with weapons drawn, so equip them well for defense.
- Build a Bell: Found in miscellaneous resources, the bell summons settlers to your location, saving time when assigning tasks or equipping them, as settlers often wander and become hard to find.
- Bar Congregation: Settlers will gather at bars after work hours. Creating a pleasant bar area with seating enhances settlement atmosphere and happiness.
Fallout 4 Settlement Cheats and Console Commands
Building settlements can be time-consuming, especially resource gathering. If you find resource grinding tedious or regret your initial character build lacking Charisma, consider using cheats.
For PC players, console commands are easily accessible via the tilde (`) key. Console players on PS4 or Xbox One can use mods.
Numerous console commands simplify settlement building. The most impactful command is:
- tgm – Toggle God Mode
God mode provides infinite resources, effectively enabling a creative building mode. It also bypasses perk requirements for most items (excluding vendor perks).
Using cheats is a personal choice. While it can detract from the intended game experience initially, it can be a helpful option if you are deep into the game and struggling with resource scarcity or character build limitations, offering a way to fully enjoy settlement building without excessive grinding.
