Are you ready for your Fallout 4 adventure? We’ve listed some important tips and tactics for new players…
Fallout 4 is a complex role-playing game about survival in a post-nuclear world. The game is known for its rich storytelling and extensive exploration. A challenging game like Fallout 4 can be complex and confusing for beginners. We’ve put together the basics and strategies you need to succeed in such situations, especially in the dangerous lands of the Commonwealth.
When starting out, you need the right tools and knowledge to understand and influence the world around you. This guide focuses on basic skills such as resource gathering, settlement construction, weapon modifications and companion management. Every object is a potential resource and effective use is key to your survival. Improving your weapons and armor gives you an edge in the fight against enemies. In this guide, you’ll find strategies for avoiding hazards, overcoming challenging situations, and guidance on how to prepare for the various challenges you may encounter throughout the game. Here are 10 important tips for newcomers to Fallout 4…
Collect everything for production and label resources to find what you need
Make use of all the scrap materials you collect to upgrade your armor, modify your weapons and more. Boards, tin cans, table fans – anything that seems worthless actually has value. Always check your workbenches and then use the “tag for search” function to see what components are missing from what you want to build. From then on, your PipBoy will conveniently highlight what you need as you gather valuable things from areas. So you can get the pieces you need quickly and easily. Don’t forget to remove the tags when you’ve found enough things though. Otherwise you will have to search for everything.
Process scrap and build bigger things in settlements
Some items, such as sinks or tires, can be collected in an area close to a workbench, such as the Red Rocket gas station or the town of Sanctuary. In locations like these, you can scrap trees, cars, traffic poles, street lamps, mailboxes, ruined houses, pretty much anything. This will all be broken down into its components and stored in your workbenches, and each bench in an area will share its materials with all the other benches in the same area. So dump the scrap you collect from the wasteland on the most suitable workbench.
Remember that only stalls in a single settlement share resources. So if you want to use all the steel you collected in Starlight Drive-In to build a house in Sanctuary, you will need to physically pick it up and transport it. Almost anything will do, but you might want to check your construction options to see which elements you need the most.
Utilize abilities to get the best results in weapon modifications
Upgrading weapons and armor is part of mastery and a good way to keep weapons up to date as you find more challenging enemies. You can also add scopes to pistols or different barrels to laser rifles to turn them into laser shotguns. To get the best results from the start, you need to invest in mod-specific abilities (perks) that will allow you to use modifications in later levels. These abilities differ for melee weapons and firearms. You will still need to find the necessary components to build these mods. But every little bit helps when surviving in a post-nuclear wasteland.
Choose the right companion for the mission and remember where you are sending them
Fallout 4 features many companions with different skills, strengths and weaknesses. The most obvious ones are Dogmeat, your loyal dog who is great for searching for resources, or Codsworth, who is quite good in battle and quite durable. You can talk to them, learn about their past and even unlock unique companion quests when you reach certain affinities with them. However, keeping track of your companions can be difficult. So take note of where they are or where they go when you send them.
Strengthen your home defenses while building settlements
Fallout 4 gives you settlements that you can manage, expand and customize. Sanctuary Hills is your character’s first stop before battle and is the hub for your operations. You can build your own house, create shelters and basic necessities for settlers. However, these places can attract looters, so strengthen your defenses. Be careful with your resources and use them more efficiently by scrapping almost everything around you. Always be alert and flexible.
Avoid swimming because the radiation levels can kill you
The water in Fallout 4 can kill you quickly because it’s full of deadly radiation. Radiation is inevitable in the wasteland and can be hard to recover from in the first few hours. So stay away from water that will ‘immerse’ you in radiation. Physical damage can be easily healed, but the radiation stays with you. If you cannot find Radaway or certain foods, it will be difficult to get rid of it. So be careful.
Pip-Boy does more than you think
Pip-Boy keeps your character’s physical health, abilities, status effects, inventory, clothing options, world and local maps, radio and all the information you need to become a hero. It also lets you listen to the holotapes you’ll find during your explorations, so you can discover side stories about places and even unlock quest lines.
First, strengthen your abilities such as strength, charisma and intelligence
In Fallout 4, at the beginning it is important to strengthen your abilities such as strength, charisma and intelligence. These upgrades will increase your physical abilities, your speaking skills and your leveling capacity. As you progress through the game, you’ll need to invest in skills like opening doors or using computers, as access to some areas depends on your skill level. It’s also worth investing in skills for building settlements and making modifications.
Keep your radio on while exploring
The radio in your PipBoy in Fallout 4 keeps you company on your adventures, playing upbeat 1950s songs about uranium fever and slow songs about heartbreak. But look carefully at the radio stations you can pick up during your explorations. You will notice that many stations go and come and go as you move from place to place. Tuning in while radio stations are active can give clues about specific hiding places or people in need of help, and can reveal entire quest lines.
Manage your ammunition wisely and melee weak enemies
Ammunition can be scarce in Fallout 4 and you may need to switch between weapons regularly. So make sure you always carry a variety of weapons. When times are tough and you’re running low on bullets, don’t forget about pipe guns, which are among the most commonly used weapons in the Commonwealth. Having a pipe gun in your inventory is a surefire way to make sure you always have a backup you can rely on when you need it.
The weak enemies you’ll encounter early in the game, mostly radroaches and bloatflies, don’t really do much damage. They may startle you and get in your face, but one or two hits with any melee weapon will take them down quickly. So save your ammo. A police baton is a good option to start with, but you’ll soon find machetes, baseball bats and combat knives. To deal with less dangerous enemies, always have a weapon ready in your weapon wheel. This way you won’t waste precious bullets.
