Task Search
Checklists
How creative can you get with your first free checklist?
All Interactive Maps and Locations
How to Manage a Settlement
Creating a settlement in Fallout 4 can be overwhelming at first, but once you get down the basics, you'll have settlements sprouting up all over the Commonwealth. To get a better understanding of how settlements operate, take a look at the eight main components to a successful settlement.
Why Settle?
Why grow a Settlement? In addition to the experience you gain from Crafting settlements and from recruiting missions, settlements attract traders, who in turn bring great gear and weapons to sell.
If you're looking for the pieces you need to build your new home, check out our huge guide to Crafting Components.
advertisement
Settlement Maintenance Overview
You can see the overview of your settlements from your Pip-Boy under Data > Workshops > [Settlement Name]. From here you can see the numbers of your settlements specs and more importantly if your settlement is doing well.
If your settlement is doing well, you will simply see the settlement name in the list. If there is something that needs to be addressed, you will see a caution symbol next to the settlement name. You can highlight that settlement in the list to see what area needs attending too.
It's good to have your settlements doing well because that deters outside forces from attacking, keeping everything and everyone there safe.
People
In order to have a settlement, you have to have people who will manage and populate the area. You can recruit people from all over the Commonwealth.
Typically, the people you can recruit to one of your settlements will be isolated from an already existing quest or group, and they will normally have an official name, rather than a standard title. You can also find recruits by installing items like the Recruitment Radio Beacon in your settlement.
Build an Awesome 2 Story House
Confused about the Local Leader perk and establishing supply routes? Once you have the required perk and at least two settlements, enter the Workshop mode and find a settler you will assign to handle the supply line. Highlight the person and select the Supply Line option to send them on their way.
This will allow you to share resources between the two settlements. If you get to the second level of Local Leader, you'll be able to start opening up trade stores.
advertisement
Curious about which settler is assigned to what? While there isn't a way to see a list of each settler and their duties, you can highlight a single person in the Workshop mode and see their assignments highlighted as well.
Food
You won't get much done if you can't provide for the your settlers. Find food samples like Corn and Tato through random traders or even scattered about the Commonweatlh.
Use these to plant a garden in your settlement. Create a garden big enough to satisfy the number of people!
Adhesive is a crucial element to crafting, but you won't find it so easily out in the Commonwealth. But fear not! The breakdown of Vegetable Starch will provide you with an incredible five Adhesive! Vegetable Starch requires three Mutfruit, three Corn, and three Tato to make, along with one Purified Water.
Have all these plants planted in your settlement and you'll be able to replenish these ingredients over time. You'll have to find the Purified Water yourself, but once you have enough material for a Water Purifier, install it and you won't have to search for this either.
Water
Just like food, water is essential element to keep your settlers happy and, of course, alive. This one is easy to supply. Just plop down however many Water Pumps you need! Later on when you have better resources, you'll be able to install items like the Water Purifier. Purifiers must be built in water, and you'll need a secondary generator to get it working.
Power
While power is not at first required for a just starting settlement, it is something you will want to consider if you plan to have your settlement grow and prosper.
advertisement
Want to use an item that requires power? Place the generator with appropriate output of power in the area where you want to establish your item. Place your item, then have either the item or the generator highlighted and then hit the option to connect a wire. Connect the two objects (look for a white wire!) to pass along the power!
Defense
A settlement is no good if enemies can waltz right in. Set up a perimeter for your settlement with the fence items.
Make sure to include a gate for settlers to get in and out. With that set, start placing defense items like the Guard Tower or a Machinegun Turret to increase your Defense stat.
After some time passes, you'll want to check up on your defense items and repair them if need be. Otherwise, you might come back to find them completely missing, forcing you to spend resources on a brand new machine.
NOTE: Though it might not be red when in workshop mode, to keep your settlement doing well you need to raise your defense to at least the value of your water + food.
For example, if you have 2 people at a location, an appropriate layout might be:
- People: 2
- Food: 4
- Water: 3
- Power: 5
- Defense: 10 ( >= 4 + 3 )
- Beds: 3
- Happiness: 50
Beds
Look, if you're going to have settlers join your settlement, at least provide a bed for each settler in the camp. To stay on the safe side, always have a few beds extra in case new settlers come in.
advertisement
IGN Cribs: Build a Great Settlement
Happiness
Fulfill all the requirements above to improve the happiness of your settlers! Make your settlement a little more luxurious with various Furniture objects and Decorations to increase this stat.
Keep morale high to continue growth of your settlement. However, the higher you want this stat to go, the more it will cost you. Placing televisions and other decorations and furniture will help, but many of these will require power and other resources!
Size
Keep an eye on your size meter. This will tell you how many items you have placed and how close you are to reaching your limit. There is only a certain amount you can have in your settlement, so make sure your optimizing everything you create and only using items where needed!
If you're reaching you're limit, take a look around your settlement and make sure you don't have scrap laying around. Things like ruined homes, fallen trees, old fences, and abandoned cars will take up some of this size. Scrap 'em and start building again!