Fallout 4's vast wasteland is filled with countless humans, ghouls, synths, and other creatures with varying goals and motivations. Accordingly, different factions also vie for your favor. We introduce you to the Minutemen, Brotherhood of Steel, Railroad and the Institute and what advantages and disadvantages the factions have.
What factions are there in Fallout 4?
One thing in advance: In Fallout 4 you don't have to choose a faction, you can join everyone and complete quests for them. So there is no point in the game where you have to finally decide on a faction. Nevertheless, you may sympathize more with one or the other faction and take a certain side when making moral decisions. To help you make a better decision, we will introduce you to all the factions and also tell you where you can find them.
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In the following video we give you a compact overview of all the factions:
Do you want to help the creatures of the wasteland or are you just thinking about technical progress? Do you hate the Synths or do you want to free them from persecution? You will be confronted with these decisions again and again in Fallout 4 and the factions all have their own point of view on these questions. For a better overview, we compare the factions so that you can make your choice better. You can choose from:
MinutemenBrotherhood of SteelRailroadThe Institute
Minutemen: The Good Samaritans of the Wasteland
The Minutemen were once a large citizen militia, but were decimated by wars and internal strife. The Commonwealth Minutemen, led by Preston Garvey, are the first to encounter you in Fallout 4. They have made it their mission to protect the settlers of the wasteland from the numerous dangers.
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For this reason, you also help the Minutemen faction in numerous quests to free settlers and open up new settlements. With the help of the new workshop settlements you can expand them enormously, build supply routes and help the faction gain new strength.
The Brotherhood of Steel: Knowledge and Progress
The Brotherhood of Steel is a tightly organized military group that travels the wasteland using massive airships and fast Vertibirds (flying shuttles). They are led by Elder Maxson and are always looking for technological advances to further build their fleet.
Individual needs are put aside for the benefit of the brotherhood. They see themselves as the spearhead of humanity and hunt other creatures such as ghouls, super mutants and synths. However, they do not randomly send their units out on killing missions, but always pursue clear mission objectives.
You enter into contact with the Brotherhood via Paladin Danse as you move south to Boston. The military frequency AF95 leads you to Paladin Danse, who also recommends you as a recruit for the brotherhood. The question, whether you should join the brotherhood or notis not actually a question, because they bring you numerous advantages such as advanced power armor in the T-60 version.
Railroad: Guerrilla struggle against oppression
This organization of Railroad agents operates in secret and is the only faction that advocates for the rights of the Synths. However, they make enemies of both the Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute. To the outside world, the Railroad is nothing more than a whisper and rumor in the eyes of many.
Because of their numerical inferiority, they act extremely cautiously and communicate using various symbols and dead mailboxes. They offer refuge to fugitive synths from the Institute and try to give them a safe life.
To find her, you must walk the Path of Freedom, which begins in Boston Common. Here you follow a trail of bricks and have to solve a puzzle to get in touch with the Railroad.
The Institute: The Great Unknown
Every faction in the wasteland can agree on one common enemy – The Institute. Not much is known about this organization. Founded by a group of the brightest minds in the country, they are responsible for the development of synths.
These robots, which in their newer versions are physically indistinguishable from normal people, are sent by the Institute with the aim of eliminating real people and taking their place. In this way, the institute wants to secure long-term power in the Commonwealth. The synth agents who hunt down escaped synths are particularly dangerous.
During the main quest of Fallout 4, your task will be to gain access to the Institute and find out more about them. You may also like their ideals and decide to join them.