These days, a lot of people are returning to the world of Fallout 4. This game is pretty old today, but it’s still a lot of fun, and there’s nothing better than going back and creating a completely new character for the first time. Many gamers today have probably gone through multiple playthroughs of Fallout 4, clocking hundreds of hours in the process. Even after so many years, there are probably still some things many players have been doing wrong this whole time.
Fallout 76 might be the most talked-about entry right now, but there are all kinds of features and tactics that are unique to Fallout 4. For better or for worse, Fallout 76 is without NPCs and pretty much devoid of a genuine story - at least in the way that we expect from a Fallout game. Because Fallout 4 is a much deeper narrative experience, there are all sorts of little tips and tricks that players use to get an advantage in this game.
Some of these tricks involve the VATS system, which has been massively overhauled in Fallout 76. Some of these tricks involve companions and NPCs, which are non-existent in Fallout 76. Some others tips just revolve around the story. You might be familiar with a few of these common mistakes that all Fallout 4 players make. We can pretty much guarantee that you’ve been doing something wrong in all your many hours playing this game.
Here are 20 Things Players Didn’t Know They Were Doing Wrong In Fallout 4.
Not Taking Dogmeat AND The Lone Wanderer Perk
Dogmeat has been around since the very first Fallout games, and he’s still a major fan favorite. For many players, this post-apocalyptic pooch was always going to be their first choice for companionship in the wasteland of Fallout 4. If you were one of the many people who played through the entire game with this dog at your side, you might have clued in to a pretty amazing trick in the game.
The Lone Wanderer Perk is pretty amazing. It allows you to carry more and be more effective in combat. The only downside is that you can’t take a companion of you’re using this perk. What a lot of people don’t know is that you can still take Dogmeat and get all of the benefits of the Lone Wanderer Perk! This is because Dogmeat doesn’t technically count as a companion - for whatever reason.
Not Choosing The Awareness Perk For VATS
VATS has been part of the Fallout franchise since Fallout 3, the very first game to exist in a First Person Shooter format. VATS adds a touch of turn based strategy to the game, as a homage to the original Fallout games. Most people love using VATS, although some complain that it can make the game a bit too easy. Using certain perks with VATS will make you almost unstoppable.
One of the perks that a lot of players overlook is the Awareness Perk. It’s a perk that you should really be taking early in the game, as it tells you all kinds of interesting information - such as what damage types enemies are most vulnerable to.
Not Stripping Good Mods From Bad Weapons
Most Fallout 4 fans are on an eternal quest to find the biggest, best weapons in the game. Even when we find the most powerful guns, we can take things a step further. Weapon mods allow players to push weapon effectiveness to insane levels, but getting your hands on those mods can be a difficult task. Crafting them takes tons of looting and scrapping. Even then, you need to level up your gunsmith perks to the max.
That’s why it’s often a better strategy to find existing mods on other weapons. The only problem is that a lot of players don’t even know that you can strip mods from weapons that you find in the wasteland. Simply replace the existing mod with another mod, and that mod is added to your inventory. You can then attach those mods to your best weapons for awesome results.
Choosing The Wrong Pip Boy Light Color
Your Pip Boy is your trusty, clunky computerized companion in the wasteland, and it’s very important. Sure, it might not be the most logical way to manage inventory in a game, but it definitely fits in with the game’s lore and art style. Players have discovered that they can customize their Pip Boys with various mods, and these often look beautiful. You can modify your Pip Boy in a simple way without even using a single mod: just change the color of the backlight.
You can choose pretty much any color you want, but which is the best choice? According to plenty of Fallout veterans out there, the best choice is a pure white. Why? Because white offers the most illumination, and that’ll be handy when you’re using your Pip Boy’s light feature in dark caves and rooms.
Ignoring Preston Garvey
Preston Garvey became one of the biggest memes of Fallout 4. Everyone knows that this guy just never stops reminding you that there are settlements out there that need your help. It’s easy to get annoyed at Preston. Some people even hate this dude, but in the end, he’s there for a reason. If you want to really succeed in Fallout 4, you might want to actually listen to him.
If you actually head out to those settlements and lend a hand, it’ll make life a lot easier for you. When you’ve got tons of Settlements under your influence, you get access to a lot more resources. Simply assign settlers to trade routes, and you can built an entire network of settlements around the wasteland. When you set this up, you can craft pretty much anything you can imagine because you’re using resources from the entire game world.
Not Playing On Survival Mode
Even when you’re playing on “Very Hard,” you quickly become a “God” in Fallout 4, and you can take down pretty much anything with just a few shots. That’s definitely not in keeping with the legacy of Fallout. The original games - Fallout 1 and 2 - were famous for being incredibly challenging. You needed to be smart, tactical, and heavily armed. Dying was common, and people had to save frequently.
Once you level up in Fallout 4, it becomes a little bit of a joke. This is especially true if you go with certain character builds. That’s why you’re just not getting the full, genuine Fallout experience unless you’re playing on Survival mode. In this difficulty mode, you’ll need to worry about food, sleep, water, and diseases. You’ll also only be able to save when you sleep. It’s an almost impossible challenge when you first start, but it’s seriously fun.
Fast Traveling Makes The Game Boring
On that same note, players who fast travel around from place to place are seriously missing out on the whole point of Fallout 4. These games are meant to be all about exploration. Not only that, but some of the best moments in the game are when you stumble into random situations and encounters. You’ll never have that joy of discovering a secret location if you’re just fast traveling from mission to mission. You’ll never meet random strangers on the long road through the wasteland.
Of course, in Survival mode, you won’t even get the opportunity to fast travel at all. Even on lower difficulty levels, players are seriously missing out if they don’t walk to their next destination. It doesn’t even take that long, either. Even a long trek should only take 5-10 minutes. Who knows what you might encounter on the way?
Not Using The Brotherhood Of Steel
We all know that you’re only allowed one companion at a time, right? Well, there are certain situations where you find yourself running around with an entire squad of NPCs. The most common way to do this is to ally with the Brotherhood of Steel. When you finally win permission to board the airship, you can take all kinds of different quests. Two of these quests involve escorting Brotherhood NPCs to certain objectives.
One is a Scribe and the other a Squire. Take both of these quests at once, and you’ll find yourself running around with a small Brotherhood squad. Of course, you never actually have to complete the objective. Theoretically, these squires and scribes will just keep following you around indefinitely. They’ll also lend a hand in a fight, just don’t expect them to survive for very long. Even if they do meet their demise, you can still return to the airship and turn in the quest for experience.
Not Building Random Objects For Quick Experience Boosts
One of the hardest things about starting a new character in Fallout 4 is leveling up. It only takes a few firefights for you to realize that you’re seriously weak at level one. How do you level up? Conventional wisdom says that you need to go out there and slay a mutant or two, but in reality, there are lots of other ways you can quickly and easily start leveling up your character without firing a single bullet.
Just build random stuff at settlements! Seriously, it’s that easy. Every time you build something, you get awarded a small amount of experience. When you’re just starting out, all you need to do is harvest a bunch of nearby trees and build some wooden structures. You can go nuts with this, and reach multiple levels right at the beginning of the game.
Not Going Full Melee Build
Melee builds are definitely viable in Fallout 4. Sure, this play style comes with its own downsides, but plenty of players have chosen this and loved it. It’s fun, it’s fast-paced, and it leads to some seriously epic in game moments. There’s one benefit of melee builds that stands out more than anything else, and that’s the fact that you never have to worry about ammo again.
A huge part of the game is spent rummaging through containers, looking for just a few .22 bullets so you can actually fight. If you’ve got a spiked baseball bat and you know how to use it, ammo just isn’t a concern.
Not Choosing The Idiot Savant Perk
There are plenty of perks out there that make life a lot easier when you’re just starting out with Fallout 4. You can research this on the internet, and you’ll find all kinds of guides about how to level up fast and become an unstoppable force just a few hours after creating your character. One simple way to start things out on the right foot is the Idiot Savant perk.
This perk comes with its downsides, but it also has some serious benefits. When you fully rank up this perk, you have the chance to gain a whopping five times the experience. Players have learned how to “hack” this perk even further. Before turning in a quest, save the game. You can then reload the save file as many times as you need, until you get that all-important 5X experience.
Forgetting To Sleep
Everybody knows that sleeping is actually pretty important in Fallout 4. In these games, it’s all about gaining as much experience as quickly as possible. That’s why it’s crucial to take advantage of every little boost possible. Sleeping is probably one of the easiest ways to get a quick experience boost. After sleeping for a certain amount of time, you get the “Well Rested” Perk, which temporarily gives you an experience boost (until you get tired again).
This is common knowledge, but what some players don’t know is that you can get even more experience by sleeping. Simply sleep in the same bed as a companion you’re romantically involved with, and that Well Rested bonus will get even better.
Not Eating Mentats Before Turning In A Quest
Turning in a massive quest results in some serious experience points. That’s why it’s always good to maximize the benefits of this moment. You can do this in a multitude of different ways, and the aforementioned Well Rested bonus is one way to help. Wwhat many people don’t know is that intelligence actually boosts the amount of experience you get in Fallout 4 - especially later in the game.
Sure, you could just max out your Intelligence for boosted experience. What if you’re role-playing as a character who isn’t particularly smart? What if you’ve decided to put those points towards strength or endurance instead? If that’s the case, then all you need to do is pop a few Mentats before turning in a quest. This will boost your intelligence, which will in turn boost the amount of experience you receive.
Reloading Without VATS
Anyone who’s played Fallout 4 for more than five minutes knows that you can actually reload while in VATS mode. When you do this, your reload speed is massively increased. A creature might be charging at you, full-speed, and yet somehow you manage to completely reload a finicky revolver and fire a shot before its jaws reach you.
How is this even possible? That’s just how VATS works! Expert players have learned to “hack” VATS by saving up action points in order to reload faster with VATS. Some people might not even like VATS, but if you want faster reload speeds, all you need to do is save that last shot for VATS, and then dump the rest of the action points into a reload.
Forgetting That You Can Aim Around Corners
Leaning around corners has been a pretty basic staple of First Person Shooters for over a decade now, but we’re betting that a lot of Fallout 4 players didn’t know that the game even featured this gameplay mechanic. It’s actually explained in a tutorial early on in the game, but most players just miss it completely - or forget about it in the next few hours.
Leaning around corners is actually a really good tactic. Enemies have less to aim at, and it’s great for sneaking around too. Pop around corners to check out if the coast is clear, and then make your move.
Using Power Armor In Deep Water
Let’s say you’ve just crafted a set of awesome power armor. You’ve modded it out, you’ve added a custom paint job, and you’re ready to take it for a spin. Then, a few hours later, you’ve had to abandon your power armor at the bottom of a murky pit of water, and you’ll never be able to get it back. Of course, you can still load a previous save, but this might just be an option if you’re playing on Survival mode.
In case it wasn’t obvious, Power Armor sinks. This makes swimming one of the few things that you can’t do while wearing Power Armor, and it can be seriously frustrating when you accidentally fall into water or find yourself at the bottom of a water pit.
Focusing Only On The Main Quests
Sure, the main quest is pretty interesting, but the side quests are where this game really shines. You can find a hidden Chinese submarine in the middle of the bay. You can make friends with a bunch of robot pirates who have their very own jet-powered ship! The list goes on and on.
The main quest doesn’t even make much sense if you’re just concerned about the story, anyway. You’re supposed to be concerned about your missing son, but then you find yourself looting nearby shacks for aluminium cans. The urgency of finding your child isn’t even logical in the context of the game. You might as well explore those side quests and forget about the main story for a while.
Not Swimming Around Dangerous Areas When You’re Low Level
This tactic can be used to great effect when playing on Survival mode for the first time. Trying to reach Diamond City to engage in some of the main quests at a low-level will result in repeated takedowns by Mirelurks and Raiders. The solution? Just swim around everything.
As long as you stick to the middle of the water, you’ll be safe from Mirelurks. Just keep popping RadAway and RadX, and you’ll stay healthy in that heavily irradiated liquid. Swimming is a great way to get around the map if you just keep getting taken out after taking five steps.
You Don’t Actually Have To Join A Faction
If you’re like many Fallout 4 players, you didn’t find any of the factions that exciting. The Brotherhood of Steel are a bunch of arrogant, self-righteous dictators. The Railroad seem to be in complete denial of the threats faced by the average citizens of the wasteland. Finally, the Institute are completely insane scientists who have lost every remnant of ethics and morals.
Many people choose the lesser of three evils in this situation, but some gamers might not be aware that choosing no one is actually an option. This is slightly similar to the “Yes Man” path in Fallout New Vegas– just not as interesting. Of course, you’ll automatically be aligned with the Minute Men, whatever you do. But honestly, they’re probably the most likable faction out there.
Wearing Clothes Without Ballistic Weave
The Railroad have their downsides, but if you side with them, you get some of the coolest benefits in the whole game. Ballistic weave is the best armor upgrade available. It allows you to mod normal clothing to the point where it’s on par with some of the best armor in the game.
It might not be quite as strong as power armor, but it’s up there. It also has the benefit of being quicker and more stealthy. You also won’t have to worry about fusion cores, and you’ll be able to swim with ease. Pretty much any outfit can be boosted with ballistic weave, which means you get to be stylish and bulletproof at the same time. If you don’t like the Railroad, you can always ally with them, get the ballistic weave, and then betray them later!
What other common mistakes do Fallout 4 players make? Share your tips in the comments!
