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

[McBadgere]

An excellent guide!!!...Very much enjoyed reading down the list...

I've found that settlement building can be a bit...OCD flame fanning... ...And the bugs that creep in do make you question whether it's worth doing in the first place...

Admittedly, you can pacify the bugs - mostly the one where the Pip-Boy says there's no defence/water/beds/power etc - by not fast-travelling and just running into the next "Cell" where the area's name comes up at the bottom and then you can fast-travel...

So far, I've only properly built up Sanctuary Hills, The Castle and the Drive-In...Um...Starlight?...But am partway through building a thing at Red Rocket and re-purposing Covenant...As the previous occupants decided to try to have at me with burning brands and pitchforks...Or summat...They're all in the river now...So that's all good...

But certainly, anywhere where there was something or someone previously - including Dogmeat - is bugged to hell...As Sanctuary, Abernathy, Covenant and Red Rocket are all full of the "Dude, where's my bed/Dude, where's my water/Dude, where's the seventeen thousand turrets I put here just five minutes ago" type of bugs...

Again, an excellent guide...Very much enjoyed it...

Nice one!!...

*Applauds heartily*...

This post has been edited by McBadgere: Jan 10 2016, 05:28 AM