Fallout 4 Settlement Guide - Possible spoilers, A guide to finding, creating, and building settlements in Fallout 4 Options

[hazmick]

Thought I'd pop this thread here for those who want to talk about settlement building (i.e me). I'll talk about each individual settlement that can be discovered, cleared, and inhabited.

If you plan on building settlements then you need to be mindful of the necessary perks and SPECIAL stats. A character with 6 Charisma and 6 Science will have access to all the perks they need.

Most settlements need to be cleared of hostiles before you can build there. Once cleared, you can access the crafting workbench and get started.

Each settlement has 8 main things that you need to keep an eye on:

People - the number of people currently living there. Building a recruitment beacon will bring in new settlers. You can also invite some NPC's to move in, and move settlers between settlements. The maximum number of residents is 10 + [Your character's charisma].

Food - Planting crops and assigning a settler to tend them will give you food. Each settler needs 1 food to be happy, and each settler can produce 6 food while farming. Most plants give you 0.5 food each, but Mutfruit plants give you 1 food per plant so it's the most space-efficient.

Water - Water pumps and purifiers will give you water, and don't need settlers to run them. Each settler needs 1 water.

Power - Power isn't necessary for your settlers, but higher level turrets and water purifiers need power, as do lights. Build generators to provide power.

Defense - Building turrets and manned guard posts will increase defense. The defense rating acts as a deterrent for potential attackers. The higher your defense, the less likely you are to be attacked. Your defense rating should be [Food rating] + [Water rating] x2. If it's lower than this then settlers will be kidnapped and you'll need to keep rescuing them. For example; 15 people will need 15 food, 15 water, and 60 defense.

Beds - Each settler needs a bed, and will randomly claim an empty one when they first move in. This means that any beds in your home can be claimed by settlers.

Happiness - The overall mood of your settlement. In order to be happy a settler needs food, water, defense, and a job. Building trading stalls will also increase happiness, as will the presence of your character.

Size - This is the maximum amount of stuff in your settlement. Larger settlements allow you to build more stuff, and it's basically there so you don't go crazy and break the game by building too much.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Dec 6 2015, 06:11 PM

[hazmick]

Greentop Nursery
You'll need to head quite far to the Southeast from Outpost Zimonja to get here. It's inhabited by two settlers who live in a good sized house and work in a huge greenhouse. This means that the empty building space is very small. You'll need to do a quest for them before you can build here. I'd recommend just building some turrets and leaving them to it.

The Slog
East of Greentop is a pool, currently occupied by (friendly) Ghouls. Speaking to their leader, Wiseman, will start the quest needed to build here. It's a decent sized area, but already features a large building and swimming pool so there's not too much room for you to build on. There are 7 current residents, so there's not much for you to do other than patching up their fences and putting some turrets down. Enemies (usually Gunners) will spawn from the South and North.

Coastal Cottage
Head Northeast from The Slog to get here. You'll need to clear it of enemies (Raiders and Mirelurks). It's a pretty small patch of uneven ground, featuring a small shed, a ruined house, and a small cave. It's tricky to build on and isn't located near any major areas of importance. A Mirelurk Queen spawns on the plains nearby and there's a trader living just to the South, in a shack by the road.

Taffington Boathouse
East of the Drive In and Southwest of Greentop. This medium sized waterside settlement features a large house and small boathouse, with a surprising amount of surrounding land to build on. You'll need to clear it of Bloodbugs, and they'll continue to spawn just upriver, so be careful.

County Crossing
East and slightly South of the Boathouse, this mid-sized settlement is already inhabited by some farmers. They'll ask you to do a quest before you can build there. This settlement is very close to the Feral Ghoul-infested National Guard Training Yard, so you should keep an eye on that and pop some turrets down ASAP.

Nordhagen Beach
Southeast of County Crossing, on a small spit of land. This settlement is surprisingly large, but the uneven ground is tricky to build on. There are already some folks living here, in a small shack. You'll have to do a quest for them before you can build here. If you can get some walls up, this place could be quite a good settlement.

Finch Farm
South of The Slog, and Northeast of County Crossing, this small-medium sized settlement is inhabited by the Finch family. You can build here once you complete a quest for them. There's not much room for building, and the proximity to so many enemies (Raiders to the North, Super Mutants to the South) doesn't make this a decent place for a settlement.

Kingsport Lighthouse
East of Finch Farm, the lighthouse here is easy to spot from a distance. You'll have to clear this place of some Children of Atom (and a Glowing One at the top of the lighthouse). The size is difficult to gauge here, but it looks quite big. The ground is pretty uneven in places, with much of the area surrounded by cliffs (making it a good defensive spot). There's a big house, lighthouse, and docks already in place. There's a glitch (at least for me) which means a Child of Atom respawns in the house, which is incredibly annoying, but it's not a bad place for a settlement.

Croup Manor
South of the Lighthouse, on a little peninsula, is this manor house. You'll have to clear it of Feral Ghouls (There's a basement too) before you can build here. The area is medium sized with lots of flat land, but easy to defend since it's sitting on a cliff. The house is big and spacious, if a bit the worse for wear. This is the Easternmost settlement, and feels a bit far away from anything important, but it's a nice place.