Who wants to travel the wasteland of post-apocalyptic Boston alone when you can bring a companion along? Some of you might, but for the rest of us, Fallout 4 provides a few options for getting a companion to tag along on your quests. These characters will help fight enemies, spot things you might have missed, and probably stand in a doorway staring at you for five minutes straight (which you can now fix by commanding them to go stand in a corner instead). Still, despite that last one being the worst companion perk possible, the first two make it all worthwhile, so here’s a list of the best characters in Fallout 4 and where to find them in the Commonwealth.

The Best Fallout 4 Companions

• Dogmeat – The first companion you meet in the game might be the only one you need
• Codsworth – Robot companion that has flamethrower and melee attacks
• Cait – Human companion that is handy with a shotgun
• Strong – Super Mutant companion that has strong sledgehammer attacks
• Nick Valentine – Android companion that has strong computer skills
• Paladin Danse – Human companion that wears Power Armor

Dogmeat

Dogmeat will probably be the people’s choice for best Fallout 4 companion on any list and is certainly a good and reliable companion in the game who can help in both combat and exploration. Luckily, he is also the easiest to find. Simply start the game and get the first real mission. This will take you to the Red Rocket gas station, the dog will walk right up to you. Ask Dogmeat to tag along and you’ve already earned a friend for life. Dogmeat will sniff out objects hidden around the wasteland, while also taking out enemies in combat with ease. His strong move is when he jumps on top of guys, which can usually end in their death, but also lets you pop off a couple of headshots.  Plus who doesn’t love dogs?

Codsworth – Mr. Handy

Codsworth is one of the first characters you come across after awakening from your time in a 200 year slumber. After a bit of work this robot will offer to follow you around. He is one of the characters that can be found at Sanctuary, as long as you didn’t send him somewhere else.  This robot companion has plenty of perks.  Most of his attacks are melee in nature, except for his flamethrower which is a very strong attack. A good companion to keep around, Codsworth brings some levity to the experience of Fallout 4, flinging out robot quips and jokes about how his cleaning procedure is being activated by the disgusting nature of the wasteland.  Definitely one of the best Fallout 4 companions on this list with a combination of strong perks and humor.

Cait

Not all your companions have to be guys.  This sassy Irish lady can be found at Combat Zone where she spends her days beating the crap out of any Raider that dares walk into her combat ring. You should stumble across this while playing through the main missions, as it is just east of Diamond City. Clear the place out of all the Raiders and the local owner will offer Cait’s services to you. Cait’s strong perk is that she’s pretty good with a shotgun, so get her in close and she should help out with whatever you come across in your Fallout 4 adventures through the Commonwealth. Be careful though, Cait is pretty picky about who she travels with. Don’t bring in the caps on your quests, or deliver enough violence and bloodshed, and she might decide that you aren’t worth the time.

Strong – The Super Mutant

Wandering around outside of Diamond City, in downtown Boston? You probably noticed a new radio signal coming in from Trinity Tower. This is coming from a man that has been trapped by Super Mutants at the top of the tower. You’ll find Trinity Tower just east of Diamond City, near the public library and Trinity Plaza. Storm the tower, save the trapped guys, and you’ll also find Strong, a super mutant with a certain affinity for Shakespeare. Make it out of the tower with Strong and he’ll offer to join you as a companion on your adventures. A super mutant at your back should be quite good in Fallout 4’s wasteland.  What are the perks for Strong, you ask?  Well, he’s a Super Mutant and a pretty powerful companion. Be careful though, Strong doesn’t like it when you break through security, such playing the hacking or lockpicking games, and he seems to not be a fan of donning Power Armor on his quests.

Piper

Piper is Fallout 4’s version of Lois Lane. The intrepid reporter is always looking for a story, and you happen to be the best source in the Commonwealth for interesting ones. Found just outside of Diamond City, Piper helps you get in, by helping herself at the same time, of course. Once inside you can head to the offices of Publick Occurrences and speak with her. Give Piper an interview, telling her all about your frozen trip into the post-apocalyptic world of Fallout 4, and she’ll offer to follow you around as a companion.

Nick Valentine

Nick Valentine is another great companion in Fallout 4. This is because Nick is easy to find, has nice perks, as he is a big part of the main story. Just play the mission list involving the detective and you’ll encounter him, ultimately be able to have him tag along on quests. The reason he’s one of the best in Fallout 4 is because he has strong computer skills. With this guy following you around you’ll likely never have to hack a computer again.

This list of Companions are just some of our favorites, but there are a lot more to be found around Boston. Let us know in the comments who your favorite companion in this list is and where you found them.  Your companions are just part of the equation in Fallout 4.  You’ll also need to find the Best Weapons and Best Armor to survive.

Fallout 4 Nuka-World seems to have a minor obsession with fetch quests. It seems like no matter where you are, you’re being asked to go find X and bring it to Y. The biggest of these, though maybe not the hardest when compared to the Hidden Cappys, is easily the Star Core challenge in Nuka-World’s Galactic Zone. If you haven’t gotten there already then just know that you will have to scour both the Galactic Zone itself, as well as other areas around Nuka-World. There are 35 Star Cores to find in total, but unless you really want that shiny new Power Armor, you can get by with just 20 of them. After much toiling I found all 35 anyway, so I’m gonna show you where to find Star Cores in Fallout 4 Nuka-World.

Note: I’m not going to walk through the combat needed, or even the keys required at times. You’ll have to figure that stuff out on your own, this is just to show you where to find Star Cores.

In total there are the following number of Star Cores in each area: Galactic Zone main area – 7, Nuka-Galaxy – 7, Starlight Interstellar Theater – 4, Vault-Tec: Among the Stars – 6, Robco Battlezone – 6, and outside of the Galactic Zone – 5.

Nuka-World Galactic Zone – Seven Star Cores

The first Star Core you should find is right inside of Starport Nuka, beside the dead body of one of the crew who was trying to fix the homicidal robots. Outside the Starport area, around the back (to the left if facing the entrance) you’ll find a gated area. Head in here and to the left to find some junk and a dead person with another Star Core. Go to the second level of the Starport, unlock the locked door and grab the Manager’s key, use this to unlock the display case with another Star Core. At the top of Arcjet G-Force, found just outside of Nuka Galaxy, is another Star Core. To the right of Nuka Galaxy’s entrance is Splashdown, head to the control room on the left, past the gate to get another. Outside of the door to the Robco Battlezone, to the left is the Spacewalk lower entrance, here is a console with a Star Core. The last Star Core you are likely to find requires you to restore power to Nuka-World, which is a quest at the end of the DLC, then just go to the second floor of the Starport and take the elevator.

Vault-Tec Among the Stars – Six Star Cores

Head in the lower entrance and go straight, this will likely require some lockpicking on your part. Once you get to an office head to the left and on the left wall is another sliding door. Inside you’ll find three Star Cores. Head through the next room, past the baby’s crib and into the mock household. Straight ahead is a broken wall with a reactor inside, it’s radioactive so be careful. Walk past it to find the fourth Star Core. Head back into the mock room and into the door in the corner to the right of the atrium walkway to find the fifth one. Finally head up the stairs to the Atrium. Keep going, through the Vault door and into the fake space area, head behind the left-side rocks to get the sixth and final Star Core for this area.

Robco Battlezone – Six Star Cores

Head inside, fighting off any robots that attack you. Before entering the Battlezone itself you can go into the employee only area on the left, above the seating area. Go in here and up to the projection booth to find two Star Cores. Also, under the bleachers on the left side, there is a Star Core behind the bar here. Also before entering the fray, head all the way to the right of the Battlezone and down some stairs to find another Star Core. This would be a good time to head back to the Starport to insert your Star Cores and use them to shut down some of the robots. Finally, go into the Battlezone itself to get two Star Cores, just be ready for a lot of combat.

Starlight Interstellar Theater – Four Star Cores

Head inside and to the theater area, at the back is a bar that has the first Star Core. Go to the far back corner and into the restroom, in a broken alcove is a dead man with another Star Core. On the opposite side of the theater you’ll find an elevator, first go to the hallway to its right, through the kitchen, unlock the door, and grab the third Star Core. Go back and up the elevator, head to the far corner to find a door. Enter it and go down the stairs to get to the projection room to grab the final Star Core.

Nuka-Galaxy – Seven Star Cores

Head inside and through the line, then take a left to get to the front of the coaster. Inside the control room on the right is the first Star Core. Go out the back and up the short stairs in the corner, follow this path until you hit the large, open room, then find the large metal staircase that heads down. In the hallway down here is the second Star Core. Continue moving down and hop on the elevator, go into the cavelike room on your right to grab another on the consoles here. Find the doorway in the corner of this room, which should lead to a large set of stairs that lead up, just keep moving up until you hit a square room with stairs in the corner, take those to get the enxt Star Core. Take the other path out of this room and keep taking the way that leads you up, past the roller coaster and to the exit area of the ride, where you’ll find another Star Core. Hop over the tracks and into the back area, up some stairs to get the final two Star Cores.

Outside of the Galactic Zone – Five Star Cores

More of a list for this one, since it’s such a large area. In a barn outside and toward the North East of the Nuka-World junkyard (where the Hubologists’ ship is found). On the ground, near a dead body in Dry Rock Gulch, South of Doc Phosphate’s, and under a streetlight. Inside of Nuka-Cade, to the back right from the entrance in a work area. Right near Nuka-Town, USA’s main area, in the Market; the Star Core is on a table to the right if coming in the front entrance of the park, look for the red “Sale” signs. In the Nuka-Cola Bottling Plant, head right if looking right at the Quantum bottling area, it’s near a dead body again.

That’s it, put all 35 into the Starport computer and you can open up the display case and grab your brand new Power Armor.

Fallout 4 Nuka-World adds a huge new area to explore, which means all new fetch quests that force you to discover every nook and cranny within this new world. One of the first missions given to you is by a desperate Nuka-Cola fan. Apparently there are hidden Cappys all around Nuka-World, and if you discover them all, with the right pair of glasses on, they unlock a code that can be used to access the office of Nuka-Cola’s creator. The reward could be great, with the mysterious Nuka-Cola formula on the line. But to get it you need to find all ten of these hidden Cappys, and they are very well hidden, so here’s our guide on where to find the hidden Cappys in Fallout 4 Nuka-World.

Note: There is also a video walkthrough below if you don’t feel like reading.

The first Hidden Cappy can be found right in Nuka-Town, USA. This main hub is already controlled by your gangs, so it should be easy to explore. Just head toward your apartment at the end of town. When you get to the large lake in the middle, head to the left. The hidden Cappy is found behind the nearby buildings seen below.

Heading next to the Galactic Zone, there are two Hidden Cappys to find here. First head to the Starport Nuka area at the center of the Galactic Zone. Right behind it on the left side, just outside the gate to the employee-only area is the next hidden Cappy. The second one is just outside the Spacewalk. It’s technically the exit of the small walkway, so, from the main entrance head up the Spacewalk and then turn to the right. In the grass and weeds of this alcove you’ll find another Hidden Cappy.

Next let’s go over to the Dry Rock Gulch, where another two Hidden Cappys can be found. The easier one to locate is within Mad Mulligan’s Minecart Coaster, an area you’ll definitely want to have cleared before tackling this particular mission. In fact, you probably want to complete your entire tour of the park, clearing every section and assigning it to your three gangs before you tackle the Hidden Cappy mission. Once cleared just head inside and look for the open area with the small building. The first hidden Cappy can be found on its outer wall near the door. For the second on in Dry Rock Gulch head outside and toward the south west. To the west of the Dry Rock Gulch Theater is a cemetery, with the second hidden Cappy on the back of one of the gravestones.

Next up is the Safari Zone, home to another two hidden Cappys. Head to the primate house where you met the gorilla family to find the first one. It is on the back of the gorilla statue just outside the entrance to the primate house itself, just head toward the entrance and look to the right. The other hidden Cappy in the Safari Zone isn’t too tough to find though, even if it is in a hedgemaze. Just check out the bottom right corner of the hedgemaze, otherwise known as Cappy’s Treehouse, and you’ll find it on a flat, concrete wall.

Now head over to the Nuka-Cola Bottling Plant, or the World of Refreshment to find another hidden Cappy. Another somewhat easy find, just head inside via the river entrance in the front of the plant, this should put you in the Nuka-Cola Quantum river inside. Follow the path until you come to Nuka-Wild area. It’s the one that looks like a western theme. On the side of the building pictured below you’ll find what should be your eighth hidden Cappy.

For the ninth and tenth hidden Cappys you need to hit the Kiddie Kingdom. One is found inside of the Fun House, behind one of the many doors in the rotating room. It’s a red door a few to the left, if you’re facing the exit, or entrance if you came in the back way. Just open all of the doors here and you should spot it pretty easily, there’s even a spotlight to help you out. Now head outside and toward the castle, which is shown on your map as the main Kiddie Kingdom location. Out front of here is a tall tower, which you should be able to spot from nearby. At the top of it you’ll find the last hidden Cappy in Fallout 4 Nuka-World.

Hopefully this helps you figure out where to find the hidden Cappys in Fallout 4 Nuka-World. It’s a tough journey, but worth it for those who wish to know the secrets of Nuka-Cola.

Where to Find the Hidden Cappys in Fallout 4 Nuka-World

Fallout 4 Nuka-World is the sixth and final piece of DLC for the hugely popular first-person game. However, it is only the second one to feature a huge new landmass, and a bunch of new missions. As with Far Harbor, there are some restrictions on how and when players can access the new content though. And even with those fulfilled, you might miss the very quick prompt when starting up the game. So, here’s how to start Fallout 4 Nuka-World DLC.

First up, the level restriction. Players will need to be level 30 or higher to start Fallout 4 Nuka-World and its long string of missions. Well, you can be lower than that, but it won’t auto-trigger the mission, and really, Fallout 4 Nuka-World is meant for more endgame players, so you’ll want to be higher than level 30 to really enjoy the experience. You can access it at this point or earlier though, it’ll just be a much tougher ride.

Once you hit level 30 and meet the requirements for the DLC you should get a pop up for a mission called All Aboard. All you have to do to get things going is open up your Pip-Boy and tune your radio to the Nuka-Cola Family Radio Station. This will trigger a message about the Nuka-World theme park, directing you to the transit center. Luckily this adds the area onto your map, so it’s pretty easy going from here.

Open up your map and fast travel to the nearest location to the Nuka-World Transit Center. It should be far to the west, off the usual map and near the middle. Head over there and fight off the raiders. Enter the Nuka-World Transit Center and you’ll run into a wounded man, speak with him and he’ll direct you to the monorail, which you can get up and running fairly easily. Hop on and you’ll soon arrive in Fallout 4 Nuka-World proper. From here you’re on your won, well you can check out our guides for some help.

If you’ve been playing Fallout 4 for a while then you’re probably well familiar with its workshop feature. However, the mechanic is one of those easy to learn, but hard to master style elements that has a lot of hidden depth throughout. Those who’ve spent dozens of hours building up their settlements will likely breeze through the new DLC, Fallout 4 Vault-Tec Workshop, but others could struggle with a few of the requirements that it asks of the player. We’re here to help though, and one mission could be tough, just because its requirements are a bit hidden away in the workshop menu. So, here’s our guide on how to build and use a terminal in Fallout 4 Vault-Tec Workshop.

About halfway through the Vault-Tec Workshop missions you’ll begin actually running tests on your vault dwellers. These will require a few different things to be built. Most of them will appear in the “Special” area of the workshop menu, but a few are outside of it. One of these is the terminal, which you have to build to manipulate the mechanical bike that you are using for your tests.

To build it, just open up the workshop menu then navigate to Power and Miscellaneous. It is then the second option in this menu, right after the Settlement Beacon. Place it somewhere near whatever object you are trying to control and power it up. I recommend putting in a generator next to this area that at least produces five units of energy. Attach a wire to the terminal (check the bottom of the screen for the specific button necessary), then attach the other end to whatever device you want the terminal to control. Then just activate it as normal, and navigate through the menu for whichever option you want to use for your test.

You can even re-use this same terminal throughout Fallout 4 Vault-Tec Workshop, attaching it to whatever the new device is that the mission requires. With that you should be all set. Fallout 4 Vault-Tec Workshop has a lot of new stuff, but most of it is optional. If anything troubles you too much be sure to let us know in the comments.

Fallout 4 will be getting its fifth and penultimate DLC expansion today with Fallout 4: Vault-Tec Worshop. The new DLC puts players in control of their very own Vault-Tec vault, allowing them to build an underground bunker and run tests on its inhabitants. But to do all of that you’ll need to start the very first mission of the DLC, so here’s how to start the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC in Fallout 4.

If you’re a high enough level you should have the mission pop up immediately upon starting Fallout 4 after downloading the Vault-Tec Workshop DLC. This mission is called Vault-Tec Calling, and has you tune into a new radio station named “Vault 88 Radio Beacon”. One thing to note: if you are currently in Far Harbor this mission will not show up. Fast travel back to the Commonwealth and it should appear on your screen. Whether this pops up for you or not, you need to get to Vault 88 to start the full mission line that this DLC offers.

Vault 88 is found deep inside of Quincy Quarries. This is very far to the south, just below Jamaica Plain and to the west of Quincy Ruins. Fast travel to the nearest spot and head toward Quincy Quarries, but be prepared for a fight. The quarry has been inhabited by a bunch of raiders, and you’ll have to fight through them. Just keep heading down and near the bottom you should find a hallway that leads back into the rock. There you will find the entrance to Vault 88. Even at lower levels I believe this will trigger the full DLC to open up for you (let me know in the comments if it doesn’t happen this way).

Once you fight off the raiders that are storming the gate, you can activate the nearby panel to open Vault 88. Inside you’ll find Overseer Barstow, and begin your new life with Vault-Tec.

One of the best things that Fallout 4 Far Harbor did was expand the variety of quests that were offered in the game. Many felt that Fallout 4 lacked a lot of the richer quests that previous games had, with most boiling down to travelling somewhere and killing everything you saw. However, one of these unique missions is causing a bit of controversy, with some having a lot of trouble figuring it out. This is the Dima’s memory puzzle quest, better known as “Best Left Forgotten”

This quest puts you into a computer simulation where you need to retrieve the memories of Dima, the synth leader. To do this, you need to use all of your Workshop knowledge and skills, because there is no direct combat. Instead, you have to destroy walls, and build bridges so that little computer bots can get to the memories. Some of these are pretty easy, but they ramp up in difficulty fast. So, here are the memory puzzle solutions for Fallout 4 Far Harbor.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Memory Puzzle 1

This is the easiest memory puzzle found in Far Harbor, but they still don’t start you off all that easy. Thankfully, Dima’s voice will help you along. Just grab the nearby blocks, or store them for use later. Use them to build a bridge to the next platform. Here you are introduced to the red walls that will block your progress throughout. To get rid of it, you need the green laser beam to hit the cube on the wall. Move the block that is in the way, and it will disappear. Build another bridge and the bots will have all the access they need. Drones will begin flying in to take them out though, so build your turrets along the path they take and you should be good to go.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Memory Puzzle 2

Walk forward just a little bit and there will be a platform on the left. Head down there and grab the block to free up the green laser. Then just follow the pathway forward, storing any blocks along the way, and clearing the path of the green laser. Eventually you’ll find a new decoder relay, which is able to redirect the green laser beam. Put it on the stack of two, with the green side facing the right, or where you want the green beam to go. If you sent it through the hole on the right then it should clear away the red wall, but there is one more left. You now need to grab the code blocks and decoder relay on the left, and all around the platform, then build a tower (two code blocks, and the decoder) in the green beam’s path, sending it toward the key block in the final red wall. Build a bridge to the final platform, and set up some turrets here, and near the original entrance, and you’re all set.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Memory Puzzle 3

Go ahead and store the code blocks in front of you, then use them to build a bridge to the next platform. turn left and hop up the stairs, then build a way across to the alcove above the red wall. Store everything inside, and retrieve the blocks used for the walkway, then head back down. You now need to get rid of the large red wall nearby, so build another tower. This one should be two code blocks tall, with the decoder relay on top, and be sure to place it so the green beam will hit the blue block inside the wall.

This should open up a new alcove full of blocks, so just store them all for later use. Behind these you should see a “decoder beam array” wedge into the wall (it’s the glowing block beneath the green section). Move your previous block tower so that the green beam hits this block. You can go ahead and place some turrets here if you want, they’ll be needed later. Also, go ahead and build a bridge across to the platform on the right.

You aren’t going there just yet though. Head back upstairs where the green beam is now travelling. Far down the path is another red wall with a blue block inside, build another two code block tall tower right in the path of the beam and place a decoder relay on top pointing right at it. This clears away the last wall, so just build bridges to the final platform, and place some turrets along the walkway to finish up.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Memory Puzzle 4

Alright, things are starting to really heat up. Turn right and grab all of these blocks, then build into the center area so that you have a tower of two code blocks right in the center. Place the newly acquired decoder relay on the top, facing to the left so that it hits the red wall there. Head in and store all of the items inside, then move back to the center. Remove one block and move the decoder relay down, pointing it now toward the front. Now look to the right corner where you will see the glowing blue cube. Build a bridge in front of the current decoder relay tower you have built, so that you can set the second decoder relay where it will direct the beam to the other key block, which should be three out, and one code block high, with the decoder relay on top. Once the wall disappears you should store all the blocks used here for further use.

Now head downstairs via the stairs on the right. Toward the back, where the green beam is, build a bridge out and place a decoder relay on top, pointing forward (toward the end). Now follow the beam to the broken section, and look to the right to see where you need to hit. Put one code block in the ground under the beam, and the decoder relay on top, pointing right to hit the decoder array. This will eliminate the final red wall, so just go through and build your bridges and turrets where necessary.

Fallout 4: Far Harbor Memory Puzzle 5

Alright, this is the real tough one. Memory puzzle 5 puts everything you’ve learned so far in Far Harbor’s memory quest and puts it to the test. It’s really one of Fallout 4’s toughest missions, but it is also optional. However, without it you can’t get the best armor in the entire game. To start off, just grab every block you see around the platform, storing them for later use.

Now, with your back to the red firewall, build a bridge to the right platform. Explore this whole section, storing every block you find, then head back. Do the same to the platform on the left (again, facing away from the end firewall), building a bridge and grabbing all of the blocks there (if you need more blocks just head to the center platform. Be sure to grab the blocks you used for the bridges, you’ll need all you can get.

Once you’ve raided all of the nearby platforms, head to the center area where you’ll find the green beam firing from the ceiling and hitting the center of a pyramid. Store all the blocks here if you haven’t already, and use the decoder relay in the center to eliminate the red wall to the left. This just requires two code blocks in the middle, with the relay on the top. Build a bridge and set up a tower in the middle that is three code blocks tall, with a decoder relay at the top, pointing toward the red firewall at the back corner. Grab the blocks, but leave the decoder relay in place, then head back to the center.

Now head straight toward the back, building a bridge as you go. Store all of the blocks on this massive platform, then build a bridge to the platform at the back left, grabbing the decoder relay there. Set up a tower that is three blocks high, and place the decoder relay right in the path of the beam, pointing it back the way you came. This should have the beam heading right through the previous platform and into the decoder array at the back right. If not, make sure you grabbed all of the code blocks here.

You should now see the green beam firing up all the way to the left (facing back toward the last red firewall). You need to use this to eliminate the last two walls, so head to the platform that it is firing into, and go to the top of it. The green beam should be hitting the ceiling of a small room. Collect any code blocks you missed, and set up a decoder relay so that it fires back the way you came, via the lower hole. So just build one block on the floor, and the decoder attached to it. This clears one of the red walls, where you can go and grab the final decoder relay.

Now, you need to go back to the large, center pyramid and build a bridge out to the right, where the beam is firing up from below. Build a tower that is two blocks taller than your bridge and place a decoder relay on top, facing toward the final red wall (to the right of your bridge). Then delete the tower and bridge blocks. Head all the way back to the beginning, and off to the right where the beam is flying by. On the edge of this platform, with the beam over your head, build a tower that is two blocks tall with the decoder relay on top, pointing to the right, toward the red wall again. Head back to the original spawn point and build another tower two blocks tall, with the decoder relay pointing right at the key block on the final red firewall. Build your bridge and a few turrets and you’re finally done.

That was certainly one of the toughest, but also more unique missions in Fallout 4 Far Harbor. Hopefully this guide helps you get through it. And check out our other guides for more tips, including where to find that armor that you just earned.

Sure, Fallout 4 Far Harbor adds a massive new island to explore, full of interesting characters, and long, engaging quests. But for those who have invested dozens, or even hundreds of hours into the game, getting a new weapon could be the best part of the whole thing. And Far Harbor doesn’t disappoint in this regard, with a couple of new weapons that really impress, none more so than the Harpoon Gun. But where do you find the Harpoon Gun in Fallout 4 Far Harbor? We’ll show you.

There are actually a few places you can, and likely will find a Harpoon Gun. However, you also need to find harpoons to go with it. To get both, and a decent quantity of them, without exploring the entire island of Far Harbor, there is one place to go above all the rest: The Oceanarium.

Found in the North West corner of the Far Harbor map, The Oceanarium has been taken over by an especially aquatic band of Trappers. While a lot of what you encounter in Fallout 4 is a bit random, the odds are extremely high that enemies in The Oceanarium will have a Harpoon Gun, and some harpoons to go with it.

In fact, while I was exploring the area I came across a Legendary Trapper who had a specially modified version of the Harpoon Gun, giving me an even better beast of a weapon than the other one I found nearby. Just be sure to check the bodies of all of the Trappers, and explore all of the cabins very thoroughly. The harpoons that you’ll need for ammo can be found inside as well, but many of them are laying around, scattered on top of tables and boxes.

Once you have a nice set you can go ahead and explore the island some more, and you should come across some more harpoons soon. The shops in the actual city of Far Harbor will also stock harpoons and in greater number than you’re likely to find scattered around the island, so that should be your main source once you use up your first supply. The shops also have Harpoon Guns available if you feel like burning through your caps instead of doing some fun adventuring. While harpoons are reusable if you miss, they aren’t if you actually hit your target, so don’t go shooting them at anything that wanders into your path.

Aside from your level, and what weapon you are using, your armor is the most important thing you have on you in Fallout 4. There are many different kinds of armor, with some being better than others, but with the release of Fallout 4 Far Harbor there is little doubt of which is the very best.

The Marine Combat Armor, which can be found throughout the island is easily the best armor you can find in the game, outside of just using Power Armor. However, all the stuff you find on Trappers and other characters is beaten, and used. There is one set of untouched Marine Armor though, but it can be pretty tough to find. So, here’s our guide on how to find the Marine Armor in Fallout 4 Far Harbor.

This is actually a miscellaneous quest that you discover by playing through the main storyline of the Far Harbor DLC expansion. Just keep pushing through this questline and you’ll come to a mission called Best Left Forgotten. Complete it and the “Find the Marine Combat Armor” mission will be added under Miscellaneous. The armor is out there to be found, but you need to have this mission in your questlog if you wanna get it.

The Marine Armor is split into three separate parts, and scattered around the outskirts of Far Harbor island. To locate the whole set you’ll need to head to these locations and grab the goods. Starting on the far west side of the island, the shipment is deep underwater in a shipping container. Head to Rayburn Point, then out into the water at a south west angle. You should spot the container at the bottom of the ocean with a chest inside with the first few pieces of the armor.

The second set is more toward the south, though still off the west coast of Far Harbor. The closes fast-travel point that I found was the Children of Atom Shrine that you encountered during the main quest. Go here and head south west once again, though a bit more west than south this time around. Swim out into the ocean again and you’ll eventually see a ship on the bottom. Inside is the second set of Marine Armor pieces.

Finally, the third shipment of Marine Armor in Fallout 4 Far Harbor is found off the east coast, to the south. It is almost due east from the Harbor Grand Hotel, so head there and swim out one more time. Another sunken ship is found here, so head to the box on board and grab the final pieces. Now you have the best armor in the entire game of Fallout 4. Of course, you can still mod it a bit to give it some more edge, but not by much.

Where to Get the Marine Armor; the Best Armor in the Game

Fallout 4 Far Harbor adds a massive new island to explore, but it isn’t just sitting off the coast of Boston. Instead, it is way up north, near Maine. Getting there requires you to start and complete some specific missions, but what do you do once you are there? How do you get back to the Commonwealth, without riding that stupid boat again?

Luckily, you can always fast travel, but it isn’t completely obvious how to do it just by playing through Fallout 4. So, here’s our quick guide on how to fast travel to and from Far Harbor in Fallout 4’s first big expansion.

This is one of those things that is actually pretty easy once you notice it, but many players could play for hours without seeing it. You do not need to go to the docks and get on the boat every time you want to travel between Far Harbor and the Commonwealth.

Instead, just pull up your Pip-Boy and head to the Map section. If you are in the Commonwealth and have already visited Far Harbor, go all the way to the top-right of the map. Here you will see a symbol that has some wavy, water lines on it. This is Far Harbor, and choosing it will take you right to the main town.

If you’re looking to do the opposite, fast travel from Far Harbor to the Commonwealth, then just look off the coast of the actual town of Far Harbor. This is all the way on the east, and a bit to the north, though it’s closer to the middle of the coast. Here you should see some tall buildings, choosing these will take you back to the Commonwealth, dropping you off at the Coastal Cottage.

Let us know in the comments if you’re having any other trouble with Fallout 4 Far Harbor, and check out our other guides for help.

There are a whole lot of companions in Fallout 4. Throughout your adventures in the Wasteland you’ll meet synths, super mutants, humans, and other creatures, many of which will ask to tag along on your quests. However, you can only have one with you at a time, leaving you to send the others away somewhere. Most players have done this a bunch, and have companions scattered around the Wasteland, hiding in various settlements.

But what do you do if you need to find one? With the release of Fallout 4 Far Harbor, it’s likely that many players will be asking this question, since you should really have him with you on the quest. How do you find Nick Valentine or other lost companions around the world? Well, there are some tips, but unless you’re on PC it won’t be easy.

Let’s get the easy part out of the way. If you are playing Fallout 4 on PC, then you have the wonderful ability to find anything and everything using the console command. By hitting ~ you will bring up the text prompt, with which you can easily locate any lost companion, including Nick Valentine. Just enter “player.moveto 0002f25”. This will actually move you directly to Nick Valentine. The last bit his is ID number, each companion has one.

Here are some other companion’s ID numbers, in case you want to find them as well: “Dogmeat 0001D162. Piper 00002f1f. Cait 00079305. Strong 0003f2bb. Garvey 0001a4d7. Codsworth 0001ca7d. Deacon 00050976. Curie 00102249. Hancock 00022615. Danse 0005de4d.

Now, that was for the PC players out there. Unfortunately console players cannot enter commands like this, so you’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. When you dismiss a companion you have to send them to one of your settlements. Essentially, you need to go to each settlement and look for him there. There is one trick that makes it easier, but not by much.

The bell, an item that you can build in Workshop mode by going to Resources and Miscellaneous. This item will call all people at the settlement to it. They’ll move slowly, but they will get there. So, if you have no other choice, the best option is to go to each settlement, one at a time, build a bell, call the settlers over, and look for Nick Valentine, or any other companion you have lost.

I wish there was a better option on console, but that’s it until Bethesda changes anything. Keep checking back for more Fallout 4 Far Harbor guides.

If you’re still playing the game, or just picking it up again due to the DLC, you’ve likely already put in dozens of hours in Fallout 4. With the release of Fallout 4 Far Harbor though, everything has changed. You now have a massive new island to explore, which is filled with new enemies, as well as some cool new weapons and gear. There are also new groups of survivors to contend with, either befriending them, or wiping them out completely. So, to help you out, here’s our beginner’s guide full of tips for getting started in Fallout 4 Far Harbor.

How to Start

We have a nice guide just to help you get started on your new adventure. You do not need to be a certain level to get it going, but you do have to have done some of the main story missions. Check out that guide for more, but also keep in mind that Far Harbor is a high level area. It is full of tough enemies to fight, so while you don’t have to be a level 50 character to go through it, you might want to level up a bit, if you never got very far in the base game.

Bring Nick Valentine

Fallout 4 Far Harbor has a very deep and rich storyline attached to it. Kicking things off, you are sent here thanks to a request made to Nick Valentine and his detective agency. You’ll want to find him (here’s a guide on how to do that if you lost him), and bring him along. We won’t get into why to avoid spoilers, but just do it, and avoid swapping him, even for the new companion you meet on the island.

Prepare for Radiation

One of the key features of Far Harbor is the fact that it is constantly covered in thick, radioactive fog. As you wander around the island you’ll have to contend with this fog, and the many sources of radiation that seem to be feeding it. You should be well versed in dealing with radiation simply from playing Fallout 4, but be extra prepared when heading to Far Harbor. Bring a Hazmat Suit if you have one, or just be sure to wear Power Armor. Both of these will keep you from getting infected in the first place, but have some Radaway and RadX with you just in case.

Grab the New Weapons and Armor

Far Harbor has some of the best weapons and gear in all of Fallout 4. As a high level, endgame sort of area, Bethesda loaded it with nice new items for players to try out. These include the Harpoon Gun and the Marine Combat Armor. Click those links to see how to get these new pieces of equipment, and get ready to use them, because the enemies found on Far Harbor are pretty nasty.

Get Ready to Make Some Tough Choices

Fallout 4 had a lot of missions that featured the illusion of choice, or ones that just skipped choice entirely. The simplified missions bothered a lot of longtime Bethesda fans, who wanted more of a classic RPG experience. Well, while that might not be entirely back, the developer certainly pushed choice more as a feature in Far Harbor, and its quests. Big decisions seem to pop up all the time, and these aren’t some sort of illusion. You might send your character, or the characters around you down a path that you really didn’t intend, if you aren’t paying close attention to what the ramifications might be. Save often, and think through your choices, or you might find yourself in a very bad spot.

Explore the Island

Far Harbor itself is a real treat to explore. The island has been billed as the largest landmass that Bethesda has ever added to a game via DLC, and it really shows in both size, and the number of things to do there. Immediately upon your arrival you’ll be tasked with some missions, which will then branch out into other missions, and so on. However, you should take time away from these quests to simply explore. Far Harbor has a lot to offer players, even outside of the quests you’ll come across in regular play, so try just walking around for a while, and get lost. You can always fast-travel back to a city if you need to. Just be sure to save often, and be ready to face some tough enemies.

That’s it for now, but Fallout 4 Far Harbor is a huge chunk of new content, so more will certainly be discovered the longer people have access to it. Hopefully these tips help you get started though, but be sure to post any questions or concerns in the comments below.

Fallout 4 just received its first major piece of DLC expansion content with Far Harbor. This new DLC adds a whole new island to explore, full of mysteries, and some fun new quests. But you won’t be able to enjoy any of it if you don’t know how to even get started, so here’s a quick guide on how to start the Far Harbor DLC in Fallout 4. For actual tips on what to do once you are on Far Harbor island, click here.

First off, make sure you’ve downloaded the update. With this being the biggest landmass that Bethesda has ever added to one of their games via DLC, it’s a pretty big download. Once it’s all on your hard drive and installed you can start up the game.

There is now level requirement for Fallout 4 Far Harbor, however, you will have had to complete the mission “Getting a Clue”. This is the first mission where you are introduced to Nick Valentine, who plays a critical role in the Far Harbor expansion. This mission is pretty early on in the game, and is a part of the main questline, so most players should have completed it by now. And really, while there’s no specific level you have to be to go to Far Harbor, it is certainly a high level area, so make sure you are well equipped.

Once you have completed that mission, and started the game with Far Harbor installed you should be prompted with the mission “Far From Home”. This will pop immediately upon starting the game, and tells you to listen to Valentine’s Detective Agency Radio. Switching to this radio station will task you with heading to Nick’s office in Diamond City. Head there and speak to his assistant to get the details.

After this you’ll begin a new mission that takes you way to the north east of the Wasteland. Head up there and perform the required tasks and you should very quickly be on your way to Far Harbor.

You’ve spent hundreds of hours wandering the wasteland of Fallout 4, killing random enemies and animals, and sometimes collecting their meat. Unfortunately, this was a total afterthought, possibly looking to see how much HP the meat gave you compared to the weight it took up in your inventory. This means you didn’t really collect all that much, which was fine.

However, with the release of Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop, meat is very important. The most important seems to be Yao Guai meat, as this is used to attract and catch a Deathclaw. If you wanna do it, you’ll need to find some, so here’s a quick rundown of where to find yao guai meat in Fallout 4.

There are, of course, a few locations for this. We haven’t tagged every single one yet, but some stand out as more common for having yao guai, and being easily accessible. These are the small park to the southwest of the Boston Bugle building, where one yao guai usually spawns, the Fairline Hills Estate in the middle of the map, where 2 yao guai usually spawn, and the Rocky Narrows Park to the west, where another 2 will spawn.

Topping all of these though is a small ravine to the northwest of the Coastal Cottage, north of Dunwich Borers. This is pictured above on the map to help out. What makes this place so good? First of all, it can spawn around 3 or 4 yao guai, and they are all dead. They still have their meat though, so it’s all the benefit without the work…right? No. Unfortunately an Alpha Deathclaw has made this spot his home, so you either need to sneak it to grab the meat, or face it head on.

These are just some of the more common locations though, so don’t be surprised to see them elsewhere. If you’re hunting to find yao guai these are the best spots though, so hit them first and grab all the meat you can. After that you should be able to build the cage needed to catch a Deathclaw of your very own in Fallout 4: Wasteland Workshop.

For a final bonus, be sure to grab the Wasteland Survival Guide that is found in the Sunshine Trading’s Co-op. This powerup will double the amount of meat you find on dead animals, making hunting for more much easier.

Fallout 4’s first set of DLC, Automatron, is all about a quest to stop The Mechanist. This dastardly foe has been sending out robo-brain equipped robots to seemingly destroy anything in their path, killing tons of survivors in the wasteland. Of course, there is much more to this story than you first suspect, and while we won’t spoil too much, we wanted to give you some tips for how to beat the Mechanist in Fallout 4: Automatron.

First off, we won’t walk you through the entirety of The Mechanist’s lair. Just keep pushing through the walls of robots and you’ll eventually reach the sub-basement where you truly encounter the enemy leader. If you have the Silver Shroud set of armor, we really recommend equipping it for this confrontation, as there are dialogue options that unlock with it that are pretty great.

Also, make sure you grab a ton of ammo, and have alternate weapons. Focus on weapons that deal extra damage to robots, if you don’t have something like the Overseer’s Guardian that is your preferred method of killing. Explosive will be helpful as well, as enemies will come in waves, and you can littler the ground with mines, or toss some grenades.

Anyway, once you reach this final confrontation, The Mechanist will send everything he has at you, flooding the room with robots. The best way to defeat them is to perch on the walkways above, using the stairs as funnels for the enemy robots. Mines work well here, so lay them down whenever you get a break. Keep moving though, as you don’t want to get surrounded. There aren’t a ton of overly powerful enemies in here, but when three or four of them surround you, they can take you out pretty quickly.

Stick to the rafters, picking off robots as you can, and eventually there will be nice stopping points. Be sure to quick save whenever the combat seems to slow, which on Fallout 4 PC is the F5 key. This will ensure that you don’t have to repeat too much combat in the event of your death.

After a few waves the power shuts down, and The Mechanist is willing to talk. At this point you can just attack him, ending his reign of terror. However, the better, and more ethical method is to talk to him. If you talked enough to the other characters in Fallout 4: Automatron then you know that the robots might be misinterpreting their orders. Explaining this to The Mechanist can end the conflict without bloodshed.

Make sure your charisma is high enough for this discussion, reference our other guide on how to get through persuasion checks if you have trouble, but be sure to save often so you can go back if necessary. Choose the right dialogue and you’ll discover a whole lot of interesting info about The Mechanist.

Fallout 4 has finally gotten its first piece of DLC with the Automatron expansion that hit earlier today. Fans might have some trouble downloading the expansion, which you can find some help for here, but once they have it the question is how to get started. To help out, here’s our guide on how to start Automatron in Fallout 4.

To begin, you need to listen to a specific distress signal. This can be done anywhere in the Fallout 4 map, so open up your Pip-Boy and head to the Radio section. There you will see the Caravan Distress Call, which is part of the Mechanical Menace quest. Listen to this to trigger the next step in your mission.

The signal will bring you to a bunch of robots who are being attacked east of Watts Consumer Electronics. If you haven’t discovered this location in your regular Fallout 4 travels, then just know that it is north of the Institute and the CIT, to the west of the curved road you’ll see there. Check this area and you should stumble upon it soon.

Once you find it you should be able to follow the next few prompts that the game gives you and complete the quest, unlocking the abilities that the Fallout 4 Automatron DLC offers.

Fallout 4 fans finally have something new to check out in the Wasteland. Those who have put hundreds of hours in should rejoice at the chance to try out the robot customization that the Automatron DLC offers. However, some have been having trouble just getting the DLC to actually download and install, so here’s a qucik guide to help you out.

For this we referenced Bethesda’s own how to on the topic, giving players on PS4, Xbox One, and PC hints as to how to download and install the Fallout 4 Automatron DLC. The steps are pretty easy, but there have been problems along the way that give some players a lot of trouble.

If you are playing Fallout 4 Automatron on PC via Steam then do the following: Log in to your Steam account. Navigate to Library. Right-click on Fallout 4. Select View Downloadable Content. Ensure the Install checkbox is enabled for the Automatron DLC to begin the download. Note: you may need to uncheck and the re-check the box to ensure the download begins. This last bit is important, as I had to do it for both the Automatron DLC and the Fallout 4 Season Pass.

If you are playing Fallout 4 Automatron on Xbox One then do the following: From the Home screen, hold [RT] and press [A] to navigate to the My games and apps menu. Navigate to Fallout 4 and press [Menu]. Select Manage game. From the Ready to install column, select the Automatron add-on to begin the download.

If you are playing Fallout 4 Automatron on PS4 then do the following:From the PS4 menu, navigate to your Library. Navigate to Fallout 4 and press [X]. From the product page, select Related items. Select My add-ons. Select the Automatron add-on download icon on the left to begin the download.

Once you have the Fallout 4 Automatron DLC, you might need help getting started on the mission. Check out this guide for help there.

We’ve done a whole lot of guides for Fallout 4, including one that give you tips for getting started. However, with the holidays coming up, and probably a whole lot of people taking their first steps into the Fallout 4 wasteland, we wanted to revisit the very beginning, giving you a straight beginner’s guide to Fallout 4. You can, of course, check out our other guides to get more in-depth info, but this will give just the basics to get you going.

Starting Out

To begin the game you’ll have to run through some quick story bits, and build your character. Here is where you’ll decide to play as a male or a female, and determine what that character will look like. None of the appearance stuff will impact the game, so just make them look however you want them to. Thanks to the new dialogue system, you’ll actually be looking at your character’s face quite a bit, so make sure you like what you see before moving on. You will get a chance to change it once you exit Vault 111, so if you just want to get started, rush through this and fix it then.

Here you’ll also get to decide how your first S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points are distributed. This is Fallout 4’s leveling system, and it actually is important for how your character will work in the game. Strength will give you more carrying capacity, and harder punches, Perception determines how you see the world including determining dangers, Endurance gives you more HP and general athletic ability, Charisma helps you pass dialogue checks and lowers prices, Intelligence has a lot of functions, Agility gives you more points for VATS, and Luck is sort of a random modifier, giving you more good things and random encounters.

Which is best really comes down to how you want to play the game, so just focus on what’s best for the type of character you want to have. You’ll level up pretty fast after this, so you can always adjust as needed, so don’t spend a ton of time worrying about this part.

Perks

Leveling up more beyond the intro is where Perks come in. Many people take a while to figure these out, but essentially, when you level up you can put a point into one of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. perks, or pick a wholly new one further down the menu. These offer special abilities, like breathing under water, recruiting new settlers for your towns, or being able to modify your weapons and armor. Some of these are really important, and some are almost worthless. Just be smart about what you pick early on, cause later in the game it will take a while to level up and gain more Perks.

Of course, you have to meet certain qualifications for some Perks, so if they are grayed out, just see what you are missing. You might need to up your base stat in that category to unlock it, or you might have to reach a certain level. Many Perks also have extra levels of their own, some of which will be important, like the Science, Lockpicking, or Hacking perks. If you pick the wrong one a couple of times it isn’t the end of the world though. Fallout 4 has no level cap, so you can always grab the right ones later.

Companions

You don’t have to wander the Fallout 4 wasteland all alone, so why should you? The game has multiple companions, including Dogmeat, Codsworth, Piper, Cait, Paladin Danse, Curie, and many more. You can click here to see where to find a few of them. These characters act as the moral compass of Fallout 4, so keep one around that agrees with how you play the game. For example: if you are generally good, and pick a lot of locks, Piper will really love you.

Make the companion like you enough and you’ll be able to romance many of them, giving you an XP boost for a short time after sleeping near them. Even if you can’t romance them, getting a companion to max affinity will give you a special Perk that can be pretty useful.

The Workshop

Really, as we said in our first tips guide, if you’re just starting out you don’t want to worry too much about the Workshop. This feature allows you to gain the allegiance of various settlements across the wasteland, but many of its elements are not well explained. In fact, it isn’t really that useful until later on in the game, so aside from gathering and storing various resource heavy “junk” items, I would skip the Workshop stuff until you are more comfortable with the game as a whole.

Once you do feel more comfortable, just get ready to do a lot of Googling, or check out our other guides right here. The system needs a bit of work from Bethesda, specifically in the way supply lines work, and how you assign workers, so hopefully an update hits with some improvements before you get too deep into the system.

Missions

To start, try to stick to the main storyline for a few missions. This will eventually take you to Diamond City, where Fallout 4 really starts to open up. At this point you can probably feel safe exploring a little more, and trying out the side missions. However, you’ll sometimes encounter tougher enemies than you can handle, especially if you are lower level, or head too far to the south. Keep at the story missions and you’ll also unlock a few other locations and factions to deal with, which gives you more options when working on side missions, or just exploring the wasteland. Eventually you’ll reach a point where you’ll want to stop doing main story missions though, as many of them will cause you to become an enemy of another faction. Just save these for when you’re really ready to choose between them.

Power Armor

Power Armor is really, really different in Fallout 4 compared to how it worked before. Now you need to have a Fusion Core to power it, and it will deplete this power source fairly quickly. Later in the game you’ll have plenty of Power Armor suits, and Fusion Cores to power them, but starting out you’ll likely just have a few. Save your Fusion Cores for tougher missions at first, and try to gather more and more Power Armor suits and armor pieces before you start modifying it. There is a hierarchy to the Power Armor, with the X-01 Mk. III being the top tier. Here is our guide on how to find this rare piece of equipment, along with another guide to get you started with a few Fusion Cores (many more will appear later, but these should get you going).

Weapons

As far as weapons go, there’s a few really good ones, but you won’t find them at the very beginning of the game. You’ll also only unlock the true potential of a weapon once you can mod it, but that comes way later on. To start, just stick with 10mm guns, or whatever you have ammo for. You don’t need to save the weapons you find, unless you’re planning way ahead and want the parts when you can scrap them later on. Just use whatever you find in your adventures and you should be OK until you start to stumble across much better stuff later on.

That should be enough to get you started with Fallout 4, but if you have any questions just check out our selection of other guides, or let us know in the comments below. Good luck out there!

Fallout 4 made major changes to one of the most iconic elements in the entire series. The Power Armor, formerly just the best armor you could find in the game, has now become an entirely new gameplay element. First you have to find a Power Armor suit, then you have to trick it out with the best pieces of armor that you have. Finding good ones can be tough, but there’s one surefire way to nab the biggest and best set of Power Armor in Fallout 4. Here’s our Power Armor locations guide on where to find a full suit of X-01 Mk. III Power Armor in Fallout 4.

One important thing to note here is that this set spawns based on your level. There’s a few pieces to the equation, but the general consensus is that if you’re above level 26, you should be in the clear. The higher you are above that the more sure you can be that the suit you find will be the X-01. Just try to wait as long as you can before heading here to be sure you get what you really want.

So, down to business. The X-01 is hidden away on a roof in downtown Boston, in an unmarked building that is guarded by some fierce robots. Being unmarked, it can be pretty tough to spot, but if you know where to look it isn’t a real problem. Your starting location should be Goodneighbor, so head there and then leave the town. You’ll want to head east, toward the coast, though it’s only part of the way there.

The location you are looking for is Custom House Tower, an inauspicious building amid the rubble. This isn’t where the X-01 Power Armor is though, but it’ll get you close. Once you find Custom House Tower face toward the entrance and look to the left. There will be two teal buildings, you are looking for the taller and further away one. Head toward it and on the left side should be an entrance that is marked 35 Court.

Enter the building and go up the elevator. This will stop halfway up the building, so look around for the other elevator on this level and take it to the roof. This is where the X-01 is, but you need to do a bit of combat first. And by a bit of combat, I mean you have to fight off an Assaultron and a Sentry Bot. By utilizing the outer scaffolding you might be able to kill these guys with minimal fight, but it’s going to be tough no matter what you do.

One strategy that I enjoyed was tossing a few mines down as soon as I got to the roof, then throwing an Artillery Smoke Grenade, and hiding down below. The Assaultron will still come down, but you can take him out while the artillery takes care of the Sentry Bot. However you do it though, just kill these two robots and hit the buttons in their containment chambers to unlock the Power Armor. If you did it all right there should be a full suit of X-01 Mk. III Power Armor, the best and rarest set in Fallout 4.

We’ve already shown you how to find and join the Institute in Fallout 4, but what about how to leave the Institute. And I don’t mean how do you piss them off enough to make you no longer their friend, that’ll happen deeper into the story when you have to choose a faction to side with. I mean, the whole thing is situated in an underground bunker with no doors. The only way you got in was to teleport via a huge machine of your own construction. You don’t see any of those things just sitting around, so how do you get out. Most will figure it out on their own, but some players have had some trouble, so here’s a quick guide to explain how to leave the Institute in Fallout 4.

Once you arrive at the Institute you’ll be directed down a narrow pathway. Eventually you will meet Father, the enigmatic leader of the Institute and learn the secret of the main storyline. I won’t spoil it here, but essentially you’ll be given the choice to join the Institute, or at least learn more about it. Eventually, after following this quest for a bit, you’ll be told to meet up with all four of the department heads of the Institute.

Load up this quest and follow its instructions, meeting with all four leaders. One of them, Dr. Li in Advanced Systems, will mention that they are installing a chip to let you fast travel in and out of the Institute, but this isn’t unlocked just yet. Finish with your tour and head back to Father. Once you complete this dialogue your Pip-Boy will be fully upgraded. You can then pull it up, go to the map and fast travel to any other location in the Fallout 4 wasteland.

As long as you are on good terms with the Institute you can continue to fast travel in and out of their location without any trouble. Alternatively, if you reject Father and the Institue you will have to retrace your steps to the room where you were transported in. After loading the Network Scanner at any terminal, you can teleport out via this room.

However, it is important to note that there are some bugs and glitches involved here. If you’ve done all of this and still can’t fast travel out you might have encountered one. Unfortunately the only cure for this is to load a previous save from before you entered the Institute.

Are you pushing twenty or more hours in Fallout 4 and just noticed a little indicator on your Pip-Boy that says you have something called Molerat Disease? You’re not along, this pesky sickness has infected a large portion of the Fallout 4 player population, but many aren’t sure what it is or how to cure it. The answers to the questions are simple, but many won’t like them.

First off, what is Molerat Disease? Well, if you have it then you probably remember Vault 81. This underground fortress featured a little mission called Hole in the Wall, which tasked you with finding a cure for a sick little boy who had been bitten by a molerat. Sound familiar? Yeah, apparently Bethesda wasn’t playing around with this thing.

If you got bit on this mission, or even if your companion was bit, or you had blood splashed onto you, then you were infected. This means you’re stuck with the disease unless you can cure it, which will give you a permanent -10 hit to your HP. Very late in the game this won’t be a huge deal, but you’ll never build that perfect character without the cure.

So, how do you cure Molerat Disease in Fallout 4? At the end of that mission you were given a choice to keep the cure, split the cure, or give it all to Austin, the sick boy from Vault 81. If you chose the latter then unfortunately the cure is all gone (though there’s a little hop if you’re on PC so keep reading). If you split or saved the cure then you can easily cure yourself by using that item.

If you’re still at this point in the story there is hope for you. A bug, which might be patched out later, can be used to get all the good of giving away the cure, while actually keeping and using it for yourself. During the dialogue with the doctor, when he asks if you will give up the cure, simply move around until you break the conversation, go into your Pip-Boy, and use the cure. When you look at the doctor again you should still be able to pick to option to give away the cure.

If you’re playing on PC then there is only one other option, though it feels a bit like a cheat, much like the exploit above. By going into the command line by pressing ~ you can add the cure back to your inventory by using the command “player.additem 00055F10”. Do this and you’ll have the cure again, use it and you’ll be right as rain.

Fallout 4 is a game that doesn’t really require you to buy that many items. Scrounging around, scavenging what you need is usually enough to get you by. However, the really good stuff, like the Overseer’s Rifle, the Big Boy mini-nuke launcher, or even some spare ammo if you are running low will require you to have some caps on hand to buy what you need. Sure, you can do it the hard way, finding them on Feral Ghoul bodies, or picking the locks on safes. There’s an easier way though, one that requires very little effort on your part, but will supply you with nearly infinite caps if you put in a little bit of time. So, here’s a quick guide on how to make caps the easy way in Fallout 4.

First off, the method here isn’t some cheat. There are glitches and cheats out there to get infinite caps, but I’m not going to go into them. Those break the game in many ways, making it so your experience might seem better at first, but in the end feels hollow and meaningless. Instead my method requires a bit of work up front, but will pay off in the end, creating a system that will always supply you with caps for your Fallout 4 experience.

First, bone up on the Workshop and how it functions as it’s important for how to make caps in Fallout 4. Once you’re ready you’ll want to head to Sanctuary as it’s the best settlement for this method. The plan is to generate tons of Purified Water, which can then be sold at around 7 caps a piece, depending on the perks you have setup for your Fallout 4 character.

Head to the river to the south and start building Industrial Water Purifiers in there. You’ll also need generators to power them, so check out that guide if you need help, and click here if you need some of the rarer resources. Mostly you’ll require oil, copper, ceramic, and screws, along with the common stuff like steel.

Build as many Industrial Water Purifiers as you can, along with the generators required to power them. Finally you’ll want to build defenses, as production will cease if you don’t have enough defense to cover everything in town. Build a few heavy defense turrets for each Industrial Water Purifier if you have the resources, but you can also supplement with artillery units and other methods of defense if you run out.

Once it’s all setup you should have a good water purification network going. Excess water will be stored in the Workshop station as Purified Water, which you’ll want to grab every day or two if you’re looking to maximize your cap production. If you have the Local Leader perk maxed out you can even build stores inside of Sanctuary, where you can sell or trade the Purified Water.

If you don’t have the resources necessary to set everything up properly just do your best and get some water going. After a while you should have enough Purified Water to sell off and buy the necessary resources, or just check our guide linked above to find rare stuff. Either way, after the heavy lifting is all done you should have all the Purified Water you need to sell, which will give you all the caps you might need to take on the Fallout 4 wasteland.

Artillery is one of the most effective and fun weapons in Fallout 4. By throwing an artillery smoke grenade you can call down fire from the sky, obliterating any enemy in your path. We’ve shown you how to unlock and use artillery, as well as how to get more artillery smoke grenades so you can keep destroying the wasteland piece by piece, but one aspect of the weapon seems to be confusing a lot of players. How far is the artillery range in Fallout 4? Well, there’s unfortunately no easy answer, with the game not giving a firm indicator, but some tests have narrowed it down to one easy to use metric.

Five and a half squares. That’s the best estimate from myself and many players as to how far the artillery range is in Fallout 4. What does that mean? Well, pull out your Pip-Boy, go to your map, and zoom in. Faintly placed in the background you will see small squares delineating distance on the map. Measure out five and a half of these from the settlement where you have your artillery station and you should have an approximate idea of how far your artillery range is.

This means, for example, that the artillery station at the Castle can just about reach the outskirts of downtown Boston, probably making it to Goodneighbor or just outside of it. Sanctuary can just reach the USAF Satellite Station Olivia to its East, and should easily hit Thicket Excavations. Just keep your radio tuned to Radio Freedom when deploying your artillery smoke grenades and you should get informed if the target is out of range, then check your map to see what might be going wrong.

The best method of alleviating even the concern of range is to populate all of your Fallout 4 settlements with artillery stations. Once you do they’ll cover a wide enough area that it shouldn’t be a problem. Just be sure to get as many settlements recruited as possible, and get extra settlers to come there so you have people to assign.

Fallout 4’s artillery is truly something to behold. Watching as bombs fall from the sky, obliterating anything in their range really solidifies your dominance of the wasteland. We already showed you how to unlock, build, and use artillery. However, to use it often you need to have plenty of artillery smoke grenades, which are required to call in the support. You shouldn’t have a problem getting them, but the method isn’t really intuitive, so here’s a quick guide on how to get more artillery smoke grenades in Fallout 4.

Basically you don’t have to do anything to get them, you just have to pick them up. You see, wherever you make an artillery station and assign a worker (see the guide linked above for details) you’ll begin generating more artillery smoke grenades. You should build plenty of these, as their range is limited, making it so having one at each of your settlements is the wisest option. Just be sure you’ve established supply lines between all of your settlements and you should have enough resources for the job.

Give it some time and swing back by your settlements and they’ll have extra artillery smoke grenades waiting for you. They’ll be in the Workshop inventory, so head to the station and hit the Transfer button to check out all that it has available. If you’ve let enough time pass, which should be about three in-game days, then there will be more artillery smoke grenades for you to enjoy.

The Castle is a bit different though, as it will also respawn artillery smoke grenades in the box where you originally got them in the first place. Head back to the armory inside of the Castle to find them. After a while you can probably skip this though, as your various artillery stations will produce plenty of grenades, unless you’re really going crazy out there in the Fallout 4 wasteland.

Fallout 4 is full of different ways to kill your enemies. One of these is the ability to call on your allies to swing in and help out if you’re in a bind. While getting a Vertibird full of Brotherhood Knights to come to your aid is cool, sometimes you just want to blow some stuff up. For that Fallout 4 provides you with artillery, but it’s tricky to unlock, build, and use. Here’s a quick guide to get you started with them, and check out our other guide to see how to get more artillery smoke grenades, so you can keep raining terror down on the wasteland.

To first gain the ability to use artillery you’ll have to get very far into the Minutemen’s quest line. Keep chatting with Preston Garvey and eventually he’ll have you take back the Castle, a former Minutemen fortress on the east coast of the Boston wasteland. Once you gain this spot just do what the missions say, which should have you establishing a new base here complete with a recruitment beacon.

After a while you’ll be told to head back here, check in with Preston Garvey often if you’re getting anxious. Once there you’ll run into a former Minutemen soldier who walks you through the base looking for a way into the armory. Use the Workshop to scrap the debris blocking the hallway and head into the basement. Be ready for a fight here, as you’ll encounter a ton of land mines and a particularly difficult robot.

Once you’ve taken them out head into the armory to grab the artillery plans and some supplies. Now you can build the artillery guns by using the Special option in the Workshop menu. Build one and grab a nearby settler to assign to it (check here to see how to do that). Once that’s complete the game will walk you through exactly how to use the artillery.

The short version is to equip the artillery smoke grenade, head toward your target, toss the grenade and get back…far back. You can tune the radio on your Pip-Boy to Radio Freedom to get updates on the status of the artillery. If you’re within range of an artillery station they’ll fire on the target and bombs will rain down on whatever is there. That range is a bit tricky though, as there’s no definite measurement. Check out our guide to see what the best estimates are at this time.

To gain the ability to use it in more places across the Fallout 4 wasteland just build an artillery station at each of your settlements. You’ll need the supplies and enough settlers to assign one to it, so check here to see how to get more at your settlements. Once you have them built all across the wasteland you should have one nearby whenever necessary. If not you’ll probably want to look around for more settlements to recruit to the cause.

Fallout 4 is a huge, complicated game. We’ve shown you how to do tons of things within this world, including finding the best weapons, building your settlement, establishing supply lines, and much more (which you can read more of in the side panel). However, it’s the small stuff that has been tripping up most new players, with Fallout 4 not doing the best job explaining itself. One of these small things that has caused some players frustration is the simple quest of building a chair. Here’s a quick guide on how to build Mama Murphy’s chair in Sanctuary.

Mama Murphy is the crazy, drug fueled fortune teller in Fallout 4. Give her whatever drug she’s asking for and she’ll tell you your future, essentially giving you a hint as to where to go and what to do next in the main story. But, when she first arrives at Sanctuary her only request is for her special chair. I say special chair, because that’s exactly what it is.

Most players will immediately put down a chair from the furniture menu of the Fallout 4 Workshop. This simply won’t do though. In order to build Mama Murphy’s chair you have to back out of the furniture menu and go to the Special section of the Workshop menu.

This is found all the way at the beginning of the menu, so back out as far as you can without exiting Workshop mode, then scroll all the way to the left. Here you’ll see the Special section, where you should see Mama Murphy’s chair. Unless you have other missions at this point it should be the only item in the menu. Build the chair found here using wood, cloth, and steel (check out our Resource guide if you need to find some) and you are all set, she’ll find it herself without any prodding on your part.

This menu will come up again later, but not often at all, so keep it in mind for when you’re tasked with building any other special objects in Fallout 4.

The Cryolator is easily one of the best weapons found in Fallout 4. There’s some other great ones, which you can read about in this guide, but with its freezing ability the Cryolator has something that the rest don’t. Of course, that special ability comes at a cost, with ammo being extremely scarce. You start out with 200 shots, but finding more can be extremely difficult, so here’s a quick guide on where to get more cryo ammo for the Cryolator.

You can, very rarely, stumble upon cryo ammo in the wasteland. You can’t rely on this happening, but if you have the Scrounger perk boosted enough it might happen a little more often. Still, even with this set to max you probably won’t find enough to keep using the Cryolator long term.

The only large source of cryo ammo (cryo cells actually, but who wants to call them that) are two shops found in major cities in downtown Boston. Inside of Diamond City you’ll find the Commonwealth Weaponry store. Here you can buy 150 units of cryo ammo. Of course, rare ammo like this doesn’t come cheap, so it’ll cost you 26 caps per unit. Get your barter and Charisma skills up high enough and you might make this affordable.

Kill or be Killed, the weapon shop in Goodneighbor, also has cryo ammo for sale. A little bit more than its counterpart in Diamond City in fact. They can be purchased for the same price though, so make sure you stock up on some caps, or junk items that you can trade to bring the price down a bit.

Buying up the stock at both of these store will more than double the amount of cryo ammo that you have for your Cryolator. It’ll cost you a ton, but it should be worth it in the end when you realize just how effective that freezing ability is on this thing.

We’ve already shown you where to get the Fat Man mini-nuke launcher in Fallout 4, but the game is full of interesting and powerful weapons to find. However, that last bit can be pretty tough, as the world is gigantic and full of items to sift through. If you want to get the best weapons in the Fallout 4 wasteland then you’ll have to know where to look, so here’s a quick guide. This Fallout 4 Weapons Guide will show you how to get the best melee weapons, missile launchers, automatic rifles, assault rifles, energy guns and other legendary weapons that you’ll encounter in the world of Fallout 4 giving you your best odds for survival.

The Best Weapons in Fallout 4

• Cryolator – High Damage with the ability to freeze enemies
• Righteous Authority – Energy Weapon that makes critical shots do more damage
• Junk Jet – Can be loaded with junk inventory for ammunition
• Furious Power Fist – High Damage Melee Weapon
• Big Boy – Most powerful weapon in the game fires two mini-nukes
• Deliverer – Silenced gun that uses 10mm ammunition
• Alien Blaster – Energy weapon that does high damage
• Spray N’ Pray – Fires explosive rounds that do high damage
• Harpoon Gun – Fires deadly harpoon rounds
• Fat Man – Fires a single Mini-Nuke

The Best Fallout 4 Weapons and How to Find Them

Cryolator

Where to find The Cryolator

This weapon is great for a couple of reasons. First off, it’s right there in Vault 111 from the beginning of the game. Second, it does decent damage and can become pretty formidable when modded properly. Finally, it usually freezes its target, sometimes causing a one-shot kill. It’s downside is that it has very little ammo available, but you can check out our other guide to find more.

To find the weapon itself you just need to head to Vault 111. In the Overseer’s room you probably saw the Cryolator locked behind a Master lock. If you have leveled up enough you can just pick this lock and get to it. If not you should grab Dogmeat and bring him hear. Telling him to find an item will usually get you the Cryolator, but be sure to get the ammo off Dogmeat as well.

Righteous Authority

Where to find Righteous Authority

Probably one of the best early energy weapons in Fallout 4, Righteous Authority is easy to get and should cover your needs well into the main story. To get this gun just complete the Call to Arms quest given to you by Paladin Danse at Cambridge Police Station. The gun has some nice modifiers on it, making your critical shots do more damage, and allowing the meter to fill faster.

Junk Jet

Where to find The Junk Jet

The Junk Jet is a pretty unique weapon in Fallout 4, as it doesn’t require any real ammo. Instead, as the name implies, the gun uses junk. Any item that goes into the junk category of your inventory can be loaded and fired from this thing, causing some serious damage. Whether it’s a teddy bear, desk fan, or a bowling ball, the Junk Jet will fire it and can easily take down a few feral ghouls. You’ll just have to be careful if you’re doing a lot of workshop building, as there’s actually a lot of stuff to do with all of that junk in Fallout 4.

Furious Power Fist

Where to find Furious Power Fist 

This epic melee contraption will be pretty tough to get ahold of. It is found in Swan Pond inside of the Boston Common. Unfortunately it’s being guarded by a gigantic monster. Taking him out will be very difficult, so bring explosives and whatever else might be helpful. I’d suggest waiting until you have some spare mini-nukes and are a pretty high level character before even attempting this though. Once he’s down just loot the body to find the Furious Power Fist.

Big Boy

Where to find Big Boy in Fallout 4

The slightly more insane alternative to the Fat Man. The Big Boy is probably the most powerful weapon in all of Fallout 4. It can be found only at a merchant, the Commonwealth Weaponry shop in Diamond City to be specific. This modified Fat Man will actually fire off two mini-nukes at once and will give radiation damage. Of course, this thing doesn’t come cheap, costing over 13,000 caps. Get your Charisma and Barter up high enough and you can drop this a bit, but never to a reasonable point.

Deliverer

Where to find the Deliverer 

This gun has quickly become my day-to-day weapon in Fallout 4. The main advantage the Deliverer has over others is that it uses simple 10mm ammo, which can be found in nearly every ammo crate, chest, or box in the wasteland. The gun comes standard with VATS and action point boosters, and the already modded silencer makes it great for those sneak attacks. To get it you need to follow the Freedom Trail and join the Railroad. Keep doing the quests here until you complete Tradecraft and you’ll be handed the Deliverer.

Alien Blaster

Where to find Alien Blaster

Easily one of the best guns in the game, as long as you have a high enough Science perk to modify it to use Fusion Cells. The Alien Blaster is pretty unique in how you find it. We put together a full guide on triggering the event and finding the weapon once it happens, so check it out here for all the details.

Spary N’ Pray

Where to find Spray N’ Pray

This is the machine gun you’ll want to carry in Fallout 4. Spray N’ Pray can be found only from a traveling merchant named Cricket, so if you see her be sure to check out her stock. The gun does a decent amount of damage on its own, but the big bonus is that the bullets explode on impact, dealing extra damage, along with an area-of-effect boost.

Harpoon Gun

Where to find the Harpoon Gun 

As the name says this gun fires harpoons at your enemies.  The Harpoon Gun is found in The Oceanarium and will likely have ammunition there as well.  The only downside to this powerful weapon is that the harpoons that you use for ammunition are hard to come by.  You can stumble across this ammunition in the Far Harbor DLC, but if you want to stock up you can head to the shops in Far Harbor to purchase harpoons directly.  If you’re having trouble finding the Harpoon Gun, check out this guide to Far Harbor.

Fat Man

Where to Find the Fat Man

The Fat Man is the Big Boy’s little brother when it comes to weapons in Fallout 4.  This powerful launcher weapon can be loaded with mini-nukes, one of the most powerful explosives in the game.  The Fat Man can be found in numerous locations in Fallout 4, but you’ll definitely find one in Outpost Zimonja.  This is smack dab in the middle of The Wasteland.  You’ll need to beat a tough foe to get it so prepare before heading out to find this powerful weapon.  You can find the Fat Man right here.

Looking for Power Armor to go along with your weapons?  Find the most powerful armor in Fallout 4 here.

Fallout 4, more than any Bethesda game before it, will have you carrying around a ton of stuff. Weapons, armor, and other items will fill your inventory, but also a ton of “junk” items that are actually extremely important. This means you’ll constantly be pushing the limits to what you can carry, but in Fallout 4 there are a bunch of ways to get around this. Here’s a quick guide for how to carry more items in Fallout 4.

First up is the easy stuff, though it actually takes a lot more time than the other options. Raise you Strength stat and for each point you’ll be able to carry 10 pounds more. Raise it high enough and you’ll find the Strong Back perk. This perk will instantly give you a 25 pound boost to your carry capacity at just rank 1. Rank 2 raises that to 50, and beyond that allows you to run and fast travel when overencumbered. You can also grab the Lone Wanderer perk, which gives you a boost to carry capacity. This will mean you can’t use any companion other than Dogmeat though.

You can also give yourself a temporary boost using certain chems. Buffout, Bufftats, and other chems that raise your Strength stat will temporarily boost your carry capacity. Grab everything you want to carry, pop one or two of these, and fast travel to a spot where you can dump everything.

This is just if you want your character to be able to carry more though, and even that only gets you so far. How about if you need to carry more, but have to use those perks for something else? That’s where your companion comes in.

Each of the companions in Fallout 4 can carry a ton of items, usually close to the amount you can carry, even Dogmeat. Grab all the stuff you want to carry and speak with your companion. Tell them you want to trade with them and start sending items over into their inventory. Start with the heavy stuff, like Power Armor parts.

Eventually it will say that they can’t carry anymore, but that just means they can’t take that item. Start trying to hand them smaller and smaller items and eventually you’ll find that they have a little bit of capacity left. Once they have everything and you’re back below your threshold you can fast travel out to Sanctuary, or wherever it is you store all that “junk”.

Starting out in Fallout 4 you’ll pretty quickly locate at least two factions. A third and fourth get added along the way, making up the entirety of the faction choices contained in Fallout 4. These are the Minutemen, the Brotherhood of Steel, the Railroad, and the Institute. We’ve previously shown you how to find and join two of these, click here for the Railroad and here for the Institute. However, the question that comes up later in the game is, which faction to choose as a permanent spot.

At first you should definitely join all four. You can even progress a decent amount in each of their quest lines before any real choice has to be made. However, at certain points the objectives of each group will diverge, and you can quickly become a permanent enemy of one faction or another. Where these divergence points are will be easily identifiable, as a warning will come up letting you know that taking on this mission will have permanent ramifications. If you reach one of these points you might want to stop and do some of the other faction’s missions for a while, until you’ve decided which to choose.

So, which faction should you choose? Each has their own pluses and minuses, so the one you end up with is totally up to you. We’ll run down some of the differences between the groups to help you decide which to stick with permanently.

The Minutemen

This is probably the first group that you joined, and is one of the easiest to stick with throughout the game. The Minutemen are dedicated to improving the lives of the Commonwealth citizens. This means you’ll go on quests to help out different settlements, and try to recruit them to the cause. If you want to be the hero of the wasteland, shaping it into a better world for those that live in it, then you can’t go wrong by sticking with the Minutemen.

The Brotherhood of Steel

On the other hand you have the Brotherhood of Steel, whose military and technological power is nearly unmet by any other group in the wasteland, perhaps aside from the Institute. The Brotherhood has an interesting philosophy though, and you might have trouble agreeing with all of their actions. The Brotherhood of Steel in Fallout 4 is more like their west coast counterparts from previous games, with all of the xenophobia included. Don’t think that you can stick with these guys, while keeping your friendship with synths and super mutants. However, they’ll definitely make you a truly powerful force to be reckoned with.

The Railroad

Do you feel that the oppression and destruction of synths is bad? Then you’ll probably want to stick with the Railroad as saving synths is their modus operandi. You’ll be doing more covert work too, so if you like espionage then this is the faction for you. However, this ragtag group of freedom fighters don’t really provide the sort of provisions that others will. They aren’t technologically advanced, and their supplies are always just above what they need to survive, so sticking with them could mean a lot of extra work for you and your character. If you feel the plight of the synth though then there isn’t really any other choice.

The Institute

However, if you feel that synths are just tools to be used by humans as they see fit then you’re in luck. The Institute is the greatest technological powerhouse in the Commonwealth, though their fighting is done using synth Coursers rather than Power Armor laden soldiers. You will quickly find that the Institute has a lot to offer, but the moral questions might become a problem. Their hoarding of technology will also put you at odds with the Brotherhood of Steel, and might make you wonder why they won’t help all the people suffering in the wasteland above. If none of this bothers you though, then the Institute has a ton to offer you.

Some of these factions can work together, but the further you get into Fallout 4 the more they’ll start to become enemies. Working for all of them is impossible throughout the end of the game, but you might be able to swing one, two, or maybe even three if you’re very careful. Choose wisely and let us know in the comments which faction you went with for your Fallout 4 playthrough.

Fallout 4 is full of factions you can join. We’ve already shown you how to locate the Railroad, by following the Freedom Trail. However, one faction is even tougher to locate and join. The Institute, the shadowy organization that came together in the remnants of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, can only be discovered by following through on a bunch of missions, and building a special device. So here’s a quick guide on how to join the Institute in Fallout 4.

The Institute can only be joined by following through on the main storyline. Keep pushing the quest to locate your son Shaun. You’ll eventually fight a Courser, get his implant, and have it worked on. Finally you’ll come to the mission Institutionalized” which will task you with building a teleportation device that will get you into the Institute. You can build this with the help of any factions you’ve already joined, including the Minutemen in Sanctuary.

Once you’ve progressed far enough and asked the right people for help you can build the device, which takes quite a few parts. These are all placed in a special menu within the Workshop, so you can go there to see what needs to be built. You’ll need a lot of power for this thing, so having the Science perk is helpful, as it allows you to build the biggest generator.

Build each piece of the teleporter, power it up, and you’re good to go. Save your game, as you might want to retry this if anything goes wrong, and step into the teleporter. This will send you deep underground to the Institute. Just follow the hallways, and listen to the announcer, and you’ll come to your final spot. Speak with Father and you’ll be given the chance to join the Institute.

No matter how you feel, you’ll want to say yes here. After meeting with the various department heads you can begin fast traveling in and out of the Institute, and can decide how you want to proceed. If you want, you can keep helping the Institute, or you can rebel against them, the choice is yours.

Sure your wife/husband was just murdered in front of your eyes, and yeah your son is missing in a post apocalyptic wasteland, but that doesn’t mean it’s not the right time to start dating again. Fallout 4 has a bunch of companions that you can choose from for your romantic interests too, so you have a few options. The big questions is how to romance them in Fallout 4. Below you’ll find a guide explaining how to romance a few of the more popular companions, including Piper and Cait.

First up, let’s answer the question of who you can romance in Fallout 4. Codsworth, Nick Valentine, X6-88, Strong, Dogmeat, and Deacon are all off the table, for various reasons of course. Everyone else is available to be wooed by the player, regardless of your character’s sex or theirs. Want to romance Cait, but you chose a female character? That’s just fine in Fallout 4.

So, how do you actually romance a companion in Fallout 4? Essentially you just do a bunch of stuff that they like, and avoid doing stuff that they don’t while they are around. For example: Piper likes good guys who help everyone around them. If you’re taking missions from strangers and helping them out then you’ll see “Piper liked that” pop up in the top left of the screen, showing that her affinity for you has gone up. Conversely, Cait likes it when you are violent and steal stuff, so you’ll see “Cait hated that” if you do the same with her.

Do enough of the stuff that they like and you’ll begin to see Flirt options pop in in dialogue with them. These perform a Charisma check, so be sure to have that a bit high, and/or throw on some clothes that raise that stat, such as the Red Dress (which works for male characters as well). Each time you flirt successfully you raise the affinity again, and will get another chance to flirt later on. Do it enough times and you’ll get a fade-to-black scene signifying the completion of your romance.

Figuring out what your companions like and dislike is a big part of the experience, so I won’t list them all out here. Here’s a few tips though, along with the ones above for Piper and Cait. Preston Garvey and Curie are similar to Piper, John Hancock and MacReady are more like Cait, Paladan Danse is all about the Brotherhood of Steel,

Finally, let’s answer the question of why to romance characters. Aside from just being an interesting mechanic that opens up some story choices and enjoyable dialogue, romance offers a few other perks. I use that word specifically, because that’s exactly what they unlock. Each character that you romance unlocks a special perk that will be permanently unlocked. Also you will gain an additional experience boost for a short time after sleeping in a bed with them nearby.

These special perks aren’t only for romance options either, as you can gain one by maxing out your affinity with any companion, excluding Dogmeat. Some examples include: Piper – Gift of Gab (You receive double XP for speech challenges and discovering new locations), Cait – Trigger Rush (Action Points regenerate faster if your HP falls below 25%), Paladan Danse – Know your enemy (You deal 20% more damage against Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants and Synths), Curie – Combat Medic (Once per day, Curie will heal you for 100HP when your health falls below 10%), and Preston Garvey – United We Stand (You deal 20% more damage and gain +20 Damage resistance when facing three or more opponents).

Did you waste hours in the opening sections of Fallout 4 trying to get your character just right, only to have them look all wrong once you set it in stone? Well you’re in luck, because Fallout 4 offers you the chance to actually change your appearance in the game, but you need to know where to go and what to do in order to accomplish it. Here’s a quick guide for how to change your appearance in Fallout 4.

There are two major ways to change your appearance in Fallout 4. You can change your hair, or your entire face. Luckily, both of these options can be found in Diamond City, located in downtown Boston. Head here if you want to change your appearance in any way, but you’ll need to go to specific spots for each.

If all you want to do is change your hair, including your facial hair, you need to head to the barber. The barber in Diamond City can be found just inside the gate and to the left, near the bar in the middle of town. Look for the guy wearing a red jacket and you’ll be in the right place. Speak with the barber and pay him 15 caps to get a haircut. Sit in the nearby chair and a menu will then pop up offering you both the original hair styles from the beginning of the game, and a few new ones only available here. Hit Square or X to manipulate your facial hair.

If you want a total facial reconstruction then you need to find the local plastic surgeon. His office is to the left of the local doctor, called the Mega Surgery Center. For 100 caps you can alter your entire face, including the hair that was offered at the barber. Here as well you have a few new options, such as making your character dirty. Essentially you get a bunch of new options and can recreate your character as you see fit.

So that’s how to change your appearance in Fallout 4. Let us know in the comments if you have any questions.

In case you didn’t play the wonderful Fallout 3 DLC, or haven’t been lucky enough to stumble upon them before, here’s some info for you: there are aliens in Fallout 4. They are tough to find, only popping up at seemingly random points in the game, but play enough and eventually you’ll come upon one. However, the interaction will usually consist of seeing their ship streak across the sky and hearing it crash at some unknown location. There seem to be a couple spots where this can happen, but by far the most common is right around Diamond City, so here’s how to find the crashed UFO and the Alien Blaster weapon that it brings.

First up, this is not a totally random event. The UFO will appear and crash only once you’ve completed certain missions. Unfortunately we aren’t totally sure what those are at this time, but many are reporting that clearing out Vault 75 does it. I personally hadn’t completed this mission, but I had just done some work for the Railroad, and finished the Silver Shroud intro quest. I’d recommend trying these if you still need to trigger the UFO crash.

Once you’ve done the right set of missions you’ll hear  something pop in the sky, your companion might respond, saying something like “did you just see that?” If you look up at the right time you should see the ship fly across the sky, leaving a trail behind. You’ll then hear the crash off in the distance, which you’ll have to locate.

To do so you’ll want to travel to the area between the Beantown Brewery and Oberland Station, to the northwest of Diamond City. The ship will be nearby, so just walk to the east and you should spot the remnants of a forest fire. In this area you’ll find the crashed ship, but you’ll have to do some more work to locate the Alien Blaster.

To the right/starboard side of the ship should be a spot of green blood. Follow this trail for a little bit and you’ll come upon a cave. Inside will be the alien, holding the Alien Blaster that you seek. He won’t be too happy to see you, so enter the cave prepped for a fight. Once he’s down you can grab the Alien Blaster.

This weapon is actually pretty powerful, featuring a damage rating of 50 and decent stats all around. It’s also worth over 1500 caps, in case you’re not a fan of energy weapons. One issue with it is that it uses the specific alien ammo that you get here, making it pretty hard to use long term. However, you can mod the weapon to use standard Fusion Cells, so I’d recommend that if you’re planning to utilize the Alien Blaster a bunch throughout Fallout 4.

Like I said, there are a couple of other places that this might happen in Fallout 4, but this is by far the most common for players. Follow these steps and you should be blasting away with your fancy new alien weapon in no time.

We’ve went pretty in-depth into the Workshop mode in Fallout 4 with this guide. However, some elements have been especially troublesome for many players. Fallout 4’s Workshop is really great, allowing you to build pretty much anything you can imagine in the game, but it has very little in the way of a tutorial. So, check out this quick guide if you want to find out how to connect power in Fallout 4’s Workshop.

Obviously, the first step to this is building the item you want to hook up to power, and a generator to produce the electricity. These items should be covered in the link above, so just read through it to get an idea of what to do. If you’re lacking some items you can check out our other guide on how to find copper, circuitry, and other rare resources in Fallout 4.

Once you have what you need you just have to hook them up. To do this go into the Workshop mode as normal and head toward the generator. At the bottom of the screen you should see a prompt for “Attach Wire”. This should be the Space Bar on PC, Y on Xbox One, and Triangle on PS4 but check to be sure in case you’ve switched your controls around at all.

The key ingredient for wire is copper, so refer to the other guide if you need to find some. If you have the required resources the wire will attach to the generator and you can walk over to the object that needs the power. Hit the Attach Wire button again and it will complete the circuit.

Of course, to do this the two items need to be close enough to each other for the wire to stretch. If you are powering up multiple things, or need to do some fancy arrangements for some reason, then you’ll need a little extra to get everything hooked up. Inside of the Workshop menu you’ll find poles that will let you connect wire to them and transfer power. Just pop up a couple of these along the path and you should be good to go.

Let us know if this helps in the comments below, and feel free to post any other Fallout 4 questions you might have.

Dogmeat might be the mos trustworthy and faithful companion found in Fallout 4, but if you send him to Sanctuary then you might have some trouble even finding him. We’ve all been there, we all want to have Dogmeat by our side, but sometimes a mission calls for someone else. Whether it was Nick Valentine, Piper, or Strong, the end result is the same, you sent Dogmeat back to Sanctuary, and now you can’t find him. Well here’s a quick guide to help you out.

Note: This guide is mostly for if you already had Dogmeat and intentionally sent him to Sanctuary. If you haven’t found him, or lost him for some unknown reason, then check Red Rocket to the south east of Sanctuary.

The problem with Dogmeat in Sanctuary is that he doesn’t follow the usual rules of a Fallout 4 settler. Ringing the bell that summons them all won’t pull in Dogmeat, so you actually have to know where to look if you want to find him.

The key to finding Dogmeat in Fallout 4’s Sanctuary is to look for the red dog houses found in many of the backyards. He will almost always be near one of these, whether hanging out inside or wandering nearby. There’s no telling which one of the dog houses Dogmeat decided to make his home, so be sure to check them all if you are really having trouble finding him. There are a few of these, so just do a run around the outside of the town, including at the very end of the cul-de-sac, to locate them all.

If you find this annoying and don’t want to keep doing it over and over again you might want to start sending Dogmeat to a smaller settlement when you don’t want him by your side. Red Rocket would likely be a better pick than Sanctuary, but some of the other settlements are even smaller, making it easier to find Dogmeat once you need him again.

Hopefully this helped, so let us know in the comments if you have any questions. And have fun with Fallout 4!

You’ve done it. You’ve found the Power Armor in Fallout 4, and you got enough Fusion Cores to keep it all powered up (if not, then check out this guide). But there’s a problem. You ran into a Legendary Radscorpion out in the wasteland and he damaged or destroyed some of the parts that make up your epic suit of badassery. Well, here’s a quick guide for how to repair Power Armor in Fallout 4 to help you out.

The key to repairing Power Armor in Fallout 4 is to get to a Power Armor Station. These yellow stations can be found in many settlements, as well as various garages or bases of the Brotherhood of Steel. You should have one of these from the start of the game, positioned in the garage at Red Rocket, just south of Sanctuary. Here’s where you’ll wanna go to repair your Power Armor in Fallout 4.

Simply exit the Power Armor near the station (if you aren’t sure how to do this then check out our other guide as well). This will then allow you to walk up to the Power Armor station and press a button to “Craft”, this should be A on Xbox One, X on PS4, and E on PC, but check the bottom of the screen to be sure.

Now you can repair the item you need, so scroll through the menu checking out which parts are damaged. The health of the Power Armor piece is displayed on the left. Hit the Repair button (Y/Triangle/T for Xbox/PS4/PC). This will require different resources depending on the particular piece you are repairing.

Mostly they’ll need Steel, but some might also require circuitry or other rare resources, which this guide will help you to locate if you’re having trouble. Once you have the required resources and hit the button the Power Armor part should be as good as new. Head back out into the wasteland of Fallout 4 and get ready to repair again one that Deathclaw gets ahold of you.

Have you read through our comprehensive Fallout 4 Workshop guide and found yourself a little stuck? You want to make the biggest and the best town you can, but you just don’t have the resources or people? We’ve shown you how to find copper and other rare resources, and we’ve shown you how to establish supply lines between your settlements so you can share the inventory, but what if you don’t have enough settlers to manage all of this? Check out this guide for how to get more settlers in your settlement to find out.

First up, if you want more settlers in your town, such as Sanctuary, then you need to make sure you have the bases covered. You’ll need to have beds and food for everyone, so build some beds and check out this guide for where to find food. Once you have that all covered, there are two main ways to get more settlers.

First up is just wandering around and talking to people. Many random NPCs will talk to you about their woes, and you can provide them with a solution: come to Sanctuary. Once you’ve said all of the right things the settler or random person will ask if they can actually stay, at which point you can direct them to whichever of your owned settlements you want them to go to. I prefer having a centralized hub, so I usually have them head to Sanctuary, but you can spread them around, especially if you need settlers for supply lines.

The other method, which is a bit more reliable as it doesn’t depend so much on randomly finding the right people, is the Recruitment Beacon. This item, which can be found within the Electricity section of the Workshop menu, will send out a signal informing would-be settlers of your location. To build it you need 10 Steel, 2 Circuitry, 3 Ceramic, 2 Crystal, 6 Copper, and 1 Rubber, so reference that guide linked above if you need any of these items.

You’ll also need one unit of electricity, so make sure you place it near an existing generator with some extra juice, or make a new one for it to use. Once the beacon is built and hooked up to power just activate it and the signal should draw in a few new people. Once Sanctuary gets too crowded you can always repeat this process at one of your smaller settlements.

Radiation is practically synonymous with Fallout 4. Those annoying little rads can sneak up on you in the weirdest places, causing you to have to run far far away. But if you’re too slow, or you come across too many piles of nuclear waste, then the rads will add up. Unlike in past games, Fallout 4 doesn’t have a separate radiation level, instead having it eat away at your available HP, which can be very annoying and troublesome when you’re fighting raiders and radscorpions left and right. If you wanna get rid of them, you’ll have to cure them, so here’s a quick guide on how to cure radiation in Fallout 4.

The easiest way, but probably the most inefficient, is to use RadAway. This elixir can be found all over the place in the wasteland, or you can craft it at a chemistry station. The ingredients are pretty tough to find though: you’ll need 2 Antiseptic, 3 Glowing Fungus, 1 Plastic, and 1 Purified Water. One dose of RadAway will cure 300 points of radiation, so it should clear up quite a bit, but might not do the whole job.

Of course, you can take another dose, but be careful. RadAway is addictive and can cause other side effects, such as headaches and even hair loss. If you find yourself constantly being dosed with radiation you might want to take some other methods of curing it, or even preventing it.

To cure without the side effects or risk of addiction, just head to any local doctor. These can usually be found within any city, such as Diamond City or Goodneighbor. For 40 caps these doctors will totally cure your radiation poisoning. But what if you want to stop the radiation before it starts?

For that you’ll use RadX. This handy medicine will raise your radiation resistance factor by quite a lot. Pop a couple before heading into a radiation zone and you should stop it from ever infecting you. Of course, the same addiction concerns apply here, so you might want to try another method as well.

Power Armor is essentially the best radiation suit that you can use. If you’re heading somewhere that you know contains a bunch of radiation, say the Glowing Lake for example, then you’ll want to don your Power Armor suit before heading there.

So that’s about it, with this guide you should be able to prevent radiation from getting to you, but if it does it also showed you how to cure it. Now head out into the wasteland and good luck.

Looking for information on how to cure radiation in Fallout 76 instead?  Try this:  How to Cure Radiation in Fallout 76

Tired of your companion succumbing to the dangers of the wasteland of Fallout 4? Did you stumble across some super mutant or dog armor and wonder how to get your companions to wear them? It’s actually fairly simple, but not as easy as just passing the items to them and hoping that they use them. Instead you have to specifically choose to have them equip armor and other gear. Here’s a quick guide on how to put armor and gear on Dogmeat, or any other companion in Fallout 4.

To do this simply walk up to the companion and select the option to transfer items. Most players will simply transfer the item over thinking the companion will equip them, but instead you have to push the button displayed at the bottom that specifically makes them equip it. This should be Y on Xbox One, Triangle on PS4, and T on PC.

If the item is equippable for that particular companion, so human items for a human/ghoul, dog items for Dogmeat, and super mutant items for Strong, then it should work immediately. Having your companions use this armor and gear should make them much tougher during your travels, so it’s almost essential in the later portions of the game.

Of course, it’s not like your companion can die in Fallout 4, and most are pretty useless in combat, so maybe the fun of watching them kneel down in the middle of a fight is worth just skipping this entirely. Probably not, but I just had to vent.