With the workshop settlements and settlement construction, a big feature awaits you in Fallout 4, which you can spend hours with apart from exploring the wasteland. However, especially at the beginning, the options are overwhelming, which is why we explain to you in our large guide exactly how you have to build settlements, increase morale, assign settlers and set up the looting station.
Settlements allow you to build a new home for numerous wanderers who are looking for a new home in the wasteland. Within the green marked borders of around 30 workshop settlements in the game, you can recycle scrap, build structures and continually increase your population. You can find out more in our large settlement building guide Everything about building settlements, increasing morale, assigning people and building the looting station.
Advertisement
Locations of all settlements
Before you can start building the settlement, you have to find a suitable place where you can settle. You can find the first one right at the beginning after leaving Vault 111 in Sanctuary. In a tutorial quest series, Sturges from the Minutemen explains everything important about the workshop settlements. You can find out more about this in the tips and guide for the perfect introduction to Fallout 4. There are also 29 other places where you can settle down. They are all listed on the map below.
Unlock workshop settlements
Before you can start building settlements at a location, you must Activate the respective workshop, which can always be found in red at any point in the settlement. However, there are other requirements that must be met.
Some settlements are occupied by gangs (Raiders, Gunners) or wasteland creatures. Eliminate all threats to unlock the location for construction. You can activate a few workshop settlements just like that. Some locations are already inhabited and you can earn the right to expand by completing quests for the settlers. Complete the Minutemen quests, to gradually unlock more settlements.
Building Settlements: First Steps
There it is now in front of you, your first area to build on. In workshop settlements you can operate as you wish within the green marked boundaries. To start building, however, you need scrap and the basic components it contains. Before starting construction, it is best to consult the linked guide.
Advertisement
Before you start randomly building settlements, consider the following tips:
In a new settlement, first look around and recycle scrap that you don't need. There are usually old structures, decayed trees or other objects lying around everywhere that you can directly recycle and use as materials for construction. In every settlement, the settlers' requirements for food, water, energy, shelter and beds must be sufficiently met so that the residents are satisfied and morale increases. But you can also ignore the values at first. The residents will survive without your help. However, if you want to expand, you should always keep all values in the blue area. As a rule of thumb you can remember: Keep your protection value at least as high as the amount of food and water.You can always use beds. If there are already beds in a settlement, do not use them. Because your population can only grow if there are enough beds for everyone.
Useful perks for building settlements
Please note that not all building options are available to you right from the start. For some you need the following perks:
Local leader – Both ranks from level 14 and a Charisma value of 6: This allows you to set up supply routes between your settlements and build shops and work stations.Gun freak – Rank 3 from level 25 and an Intelligence value of 3: Allows you to build advanced gun emplacements such as missile turrets.Science – All ranks from level 1 and an Intelligence score of 6: Allows you to produce high-tech workshop objects (e.g. large generators or industrial water purifiers).hacker – All ranks from level 1 and an intelligence value of 4: Allows you to use additional functions from existing computer terminals in workshop settlements. This means you can remotely control guns or coordinate light sources.Physician – All ranks from level 1 and an Intelligence score of 2: Required to build some special shops.Master Dealer – Rank 2 from level 20 and a Charisma value of 1: Is required to build some special shops.
We give you further tips in our settlement building video:
Assign settlers and people
Many workshop objects that you build require a settler to take care of the respective resource. You can recognize this by the fact that a red Vault Boy symbol can be seen next to the respective object in the window. Therefore, click on a settler in the workshop menu and then on the unoccupied resource to assign it.
You can also use this method to assign settlers more complex tasks, such as manning guard posts or managing shops. Settlers, who are not assigned a specific resource, are dedicated to obtaining scrap, thereby helping to replenish your resources. You can also use each resident's trade window to give them weapons and armor so that they can defend themselves more effectively during raids.
If you have already trained the first rank of the “Local Leader” perk, you will also have the option to set up a supply route when assigning a settler. This settler thus becomes a traveler who moves along fixed routes between your settlements. In this way, your settlements share the same supplies and you no longer have to laboriously lug everything back and forth.
Build a looting station
The looting station in Fallout 4 can be found in construction mode under “Resources” and “Other”. It costs you 5x wood and 3x steel – every day. Once you have built the station, you have to assign a settler. He then roams around and loots materials, which he processes into valuable items using your daily payments. You can receive the following items:
SteelWoodRubberConcreteNuclear MaterialFertilizerScrewsTypewriterFabric
Which substances are in the looting station every day is random and changes. You will find scrap such as steel and wood more often, but nuclear material is rare.
If you build several looting stations and assign them to a settler, he will not work on both. However, you can build several and assign them to different settlers.
If you want to assign a settler, click on the workshop menu and walk to a settler. Select it and then go back to the Fallout 4 looting station to select “assign”. Don't worry: the settler won't start right away. If you want to be on the safe side, you have to click on the workshop menu again and then hover over the settler. The looting station should now be highlighted.
Increase morale and increase population
Of course, in order for your population to be happy and morale to increase, all of the settlers' needs must be met. You should also take the following tips into account:
You can attract new settlers by building radio stations. Connect this to a generator via a cable and the first residents will soon arrive. Do you want to quickly increase the population of a place? Go to your other settlements and ask the residents there to move to your settlement. You can also send your companions to your settlements. They are also part of the population, but not all of them can be assigned to specific tasks.Your Charisma value determines your maximum population capacity. A single workshop settlement can accommodate a maximum of 10 residents plus 1 resident for each of your attribute points in Charisma. Some Commonwealth NPCs can also be persuaded to move to one of your settlements through conversations. Some settlers have concerns or small tasks that you can take care of . This also has a positive effect on morale. If you meet all of your settlers' needs, their efficiency in assigned tasks also increases. You can actively increase morale by rushing to your settlement during attacks and completing a defense. The presence of Dogmeat also increases people's morale. Advanced buildings such as clinics and shops for weapons, clothes, food and drink also have a positive effect on morale.
Advanced tips for settlement building
If you are already familiar with the mechanisms in settlements, the following tips may help you:
Issues of Picket Fences magazine unlock some special furniture, plants, fences, and even statues or fountains to build in your settlements. You can unlock each faction's special flags to build after joining them. Go in Sanctuary in your house from the prologue. There is still Shaun's baby bed in there, which you can use and then rebuild in Sanctuary. Build on a proper foundation. If you want to achieve a clean look for your towns, use structures to create a flat base.Also think vertically and build up to save space. This gives you more space to grow food. Your settlers make use of weapons lying around and even climb into empty power armor. Your Brahmins are constantly getting in the way? Then build feeding troughs to fix them in one place. Settlements on the water have the advantage that you can use them optimally for water supply with water purifiers. Protect your generators in the center of your city and supply other devices to the outside via cables. This way you can maintain a power supply in emergency situations and better protect your generators from attacks by raiders. A high protection value makes your settlers happy. So make use of automated gun emplacements, set up guards and assign armed settlers, or even use traps that you can control via switches on a computer terminal.