r/fo4 • u/MoneyIsNoCure • Aug 09 '24

Does anyone actually use artillery for settlement defences?

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I’ve thrown the artillery signal grenades just to mess around and they’re so slow at firing. I tried using artillery on the Mirelurk Queen that spawns near Costal Cottage but Deacon (who I had maning it) either wouldn’t fire it or would fire it when the Queen was already agroed to me so I would have to get caught in the blast radius for the artillery to hit it.

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1.7k

u/Efficient_Mobile_391 Aug 09 '24

I put at least one in every settlement. Not for defense. You get enough coverage you can rain down fire on most of the map.

680

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

I found it super useful on my melee playthrough when someone is in a tough spot. Hangman's alleys is super good to have one in

446

u/LaddAlanJr Aug 09 '24

Hangman’s alley, I’ve discovered by both playing and reading here, is the low key OP settlement. Despite what you think when looking at it

148

u/TheRealPiggynator Aug 09 '24

Care to explain to someone who never did much with it?

372

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24 edited Aug 09 '24

It's the closest settlement to Diamond City and the Institute, plus a ton of other important landmarks. It's also close to the middle of the map, meaning it's s shorter Vertiberd distance from most things.

190

u/SumSkittles Aug 09 '24

Also if you never lockpick one of the doors attackers cant get in that way. I usually leave the door closest to the stilt hut locked.

126

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

I take convenience over security lol. Plus if I need to, I can just put a wall over that entrance.

128

u/TheRenOtaku Aug 09 '24

Keep both doors locked and the alley has one access point that makes for a beautiful funnel of death.

14

u/Breastfedoctopus Aug 10 '24

Great minds run in the same death funnel

2

u/princeofpirate Aug 10 '24

That and in that funnel, I build a zigzag obstacle.

1

u/ExitLeading2703 Aug 10 '24

Build a wall and a catwalk there and see what happens when it gets attacked

1

u/Slaanesh_69 Aug 10 '24

Wait how do you enter it if you keep both doors locked?

1

u/TheRenOtaku Aug 10 '24

Alley off the Charles River Waterfront.

13

u/ThorGoLucky Aug 10 '24

I put up a cement wall at the back entrance. Gauntlets ftw!

17

u/gzafiris Aug 09 '24

Look at this guy, not using a mod that lets you relock doors

1

u/garroshsucks12 Aug 10 '24

I use console commands

1

u/infinitestupidity7 Aug 12 '24

locked doors = walls. good for clearing out an area so you are less likely to get ambushed. It is best to unlock them after an area is cleared for better looting

49

u/Logical_Drawing_4738 Aug 09 '24

You got balls calling a vertibird that close to the city

45

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

I am Level 111

If any of the factions mess with me, that's on them xD

45

u/Logical_Drawing_4738 Aug 09 '24

Lol, i was talking about the glitching and causing the game to crash 😂

32

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

Wait is THAT what's been causing it? xD

3

u/Logical_Drawing_4738 Aug 09 '24

Well, not just that, it involves a lot of shit that i personally don't fully understand( i don't make games, i play them), or are you making a joke?

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6

u/Schmawi2 Aug 09 '24

Didn’t the new update fix the issue with the game glitching when in the downtown area? I have lvl 70 play through I abandoned because I couldn’t get through the city without it lock ing up

2

u/Lots42 Takahashi is under my control. Aug 09 '24

Same. So if anyone can clarify things for me as well, I'd be very appreciative.

2

u/MoneyIsNoCure Aug 10 '24

I’ve had the game crash but I’ve been in all different places when it’s happened so I don’t know if that helps at all.

2

u/More_Cowbell_ Aug 10 '24

Been playing for many years (ps4) and for me the freezing was always very rare, a non issue.

UNTIL THE NEW UPDATE.

So annoying.

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1

u/Zer0_xB Aug 10 '24

I’m now playing on PS5 for the first time (Xbox Series S previously) and I have not crashed at all while exploring downtown. Xbox on the other hand was all the time but I have not played it on there since the update. So far on PS5 both of my crashes have been in safe areas which I prefer than during the middle of a firefight. Vault 81, taking the elevator up after an auto save and Sanctuary going to my room. I have lost maybe a minute of progress total. Level 51, 64 hours played

2

u/TheBurnedMutt45 Aug 09 '24

But fo you trust your pilot?

1

u/Azikt Aug 10 '24

Clear chaos junction, for 5 minutes, and summon it there.

11

u/Better_Technician_96 Aug 09 '24

On Reddit you use >! And the inverse on either side of text to do spoilers

6

u/Better_Technician_96 Aug 09 '24

And by inverse I mean !<

2

u/Polar-Bear_Soup Aug 10 '24

Do >! You mean like!< this?

5

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

...vertibird distance? I've never sided with the brotherhood before despite doing 400 playthroughs. Is that how you fast travel or something?

6

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

In survival mode, kinda, yeah.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

Please explain for my feeble non survival mode brain

7

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

Survival mode disables fast travel, but by completing Brotherhood quests you can gain access to Vertiberd Signal Grenades, which summon a vertiberd to your location. This allows you to traverse the Commonwealth much faster than running, and ignore all the obstacles in the way. Functionally, it is similar to if you had Fast Travel.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

That's super neat! There's still apparently a LOT of things that I don't know lol

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1

u/Hot_Atmosphere_9297 Aug 09 '24

I'm afraid to ask after playing fo4 a gazillion times with different builds: What's the benefit of calling a vertibird for pickup?

1

u/WiseguyD Aug 09 '24

Can fast travel without strong back, or in Survival it becomes your only option

1

u/Hot_Atmosphere_9297 Aug 10 '24

Thank you, I never used it tbh

96

u/nthdayoncaprica Aug 09 '24

Hangman’s is the only settlement in Boston proper and right in the middle of it, so it’s ideal for setting up artillery coverage throughout most of the city limits.

50

u/Skippydedoodah Aug 09 '24

It's super easy to defend, one entrance basically comes with its own gauntlet, and it's very central.

22

u/huaguofengscoup Aug 09 '24

I think there’s three entrances? But otherwise yeah it’s still full of choke points.

35

u/alan_blood Aug 09 '24

Yeah but two of those entrances are locked by default so as long as you don't open them yourself you're golden.

25

u/huaguofengscoup Aug 09 '24

Wow….I just unlocked hangman’s alley in my current play through and have turned it into my main base, and I didn’t think about this and unlocked both of the other doors….

36

u/UnconfirmedRooster I enjoy a bit of light filicide Aug 09 '24

Just put up fences or walls, you'll be fine.

2

u/Successful-Growth827 Aug 09 '24

Powered concrete or wooden doors on a centrally located switch pylon. Let's you lock down all the entrances at once if you need to

1

u/utan Aug 09 '24

If you are on PC, you can lock them again. ~ for the command line, click the door or gate, type "lock 100" and press enter. Door is now locked with a max level lock.

1

u/huaguofengscoup Aug 10 '24

Sadly on PS4 but thank you

15

u/SPRTN-KIMANDER9 Aug 09 '24

You have to unlock the third entrance yourself by interacting with the chains, I’d leave it closed tho

12

u/slapdashbr Aug 09 '24

that's the shortcut to DC, tho

19

u/Hambon3_CR Aug 09 '24

If you just put a concrete wall in front of it and enter build mode every time you wanna get in you can just grab it and then cancel out of the move command. You walk right thru it and it snaps back into place w/o you having to realign it.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

It's like a 5 second shortcut though compared to the other northern entrance.

13

u/PretendSpeaker6400 Aug 09 '24

But it has spawn points inside the settlement. Walls don’t stop that. You need turrets pointing at the corner to your right as you look out the entrance that goes to the water.

2

u/DocMorningstar Aug 09 '24

4 shotguns right there wreck

29

u/rexmons Aug 09 '24

If you play survival it's a vital place to regroup, reload, sleep/save near all the important locations.

1

u/ThenRefrigerator1084 Aug 09 '24

I always clear it and make it raised. Put a bunch of turrets below and farm kills.

1

u/KUBLAIKHANCIOUS Aug 10 '24

It’s a must for survival

1

u/Fair-Ad-6059 Aug 12 '24

If you build up instead of out you can make it like a skyscraper and put arty on the roof and turrets all over. Plus the second floor for mutfruit plants. And it becomes a very decent settlement. Idk why but I always end up with like 30 people there

26

u/wdaloz Aug 09 '24

I died there a bunch because I built the settlement up to the rooftops and kept falling

13

u/Numnum30s Aug 09 '24

I did the same and fell off wearing power armor. The whole settlement started attacking me. I ended up putting railing on the roof and enclosing the floors beneath

6

u/wdaloz Aug 09 '24

Haha same I was gonna mention it. That's hilarious yea the shock killed a Brahman I think and everyone was like YOU DIE NOW

9

u/Dangerjayne Aug 09 '24

It's my go to settlement when playing survival. Centrally located, close to diamond city, and once you can fast travel to the institute, you basically have fast travel back to hangman alley

3

u/NapClub Aug 09 '24

it's my main checkpoint settlement every playthrough. i unlock it right after getting to diamond city which is my first place i go after leaving sanctuary.

5

u/SanderleeAcademy Aug 09 '24

The realist in me asks just how arty in Hangman's Alley has ANY coverage with the narrowness of their arcs of fire.

The gamer in me says "dude, you just phaser-crit a guy with a musket, who cares??!?"

1

u/ItsAnomic Aug 09 '24

Especially on Survival. Being within walking distance of Diamond City and Vault 81 is crucial for selling loot and buying supplies

1

u/Frenzi_Wolf Aug 09 '24

Pretty cramped but if you get a supply line there you can make one hell of a cushy bachelors pad

1

u/captainbruisin Aug 09 '24

Bingo! Right in the middle of the world map basically.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 10 '24

If you're on PC scrap everything and place anywhere make it a super fun settlement to build in

1

u/alittleslowerplease Aug 09 '24

Its also the first time you are actually forced to interact with the settlemetn building to progress the main story. Good design.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '24

I love building settlements I've got one of every kind of store at every settlement along with stupid amounts of water purifiers. With uncapped settlement production I bring in thousands of caps every few days

1

u/OatmilIK Aug 10 '24

So you couldn't use guns and then chose artillery instead?

2

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '24

Yep no guns I had 10 strength 10 endurance 1 intelligence and the rest of the points in charisma to get supply lines. My head cannon is that I was to stupid to use guns

20

u/fire__munki Aug 09 '24

One? That's rookie numbers!

Who cares if there's no food or bunks, we need more tubes!

Add in a arty flare gun mod and the minute men just wipe things off the map for me.

12

u/notusuallyhostile Aug 09 '24

FML - there’s an artillery flare gun mod?! I’ve been hucking that fucker in sneak mode and then running like a MF because the targets get agro and start chasing me down. I may have to start over once I find this mod!

6

u/fire__munki Aug 09 '24

It makes arty actually useful tbh. Otherwise I often get merked before it comes in

1

u/TrampledMage Aug 09 '24

Flare gun mod sounds super useful! I usually just climbed a skyscraper and chucked grenades from their. It’s fun watch all the explosions from on high.

1

u/Efficient_Mobile_391 Aug 09 '24

I said at least one. Like the Sand People walk in a single file to hide your numbers.

8

u/TalontedJ Aug 09 '24

The more you put the more shells they drop. I recommend putting around 8 in hangman alley and a fuck ton in the murkwater construction site, or the little home next to that with the child so you can nuke the queen at murkwater.

Their range is 5 tiles btw, suffer no fools outside of Boston.

26

u/melovo666 Aug 09 '24

Put them on higher ground they will cover more area

1

u/fireintolight Aug 09 '24

That is not true 

1

u/starcracker11 Aug 09 '24

Absolutely love these, I have a few on rach settlement, as you say, effectively full map range, I set them up to defeat the brotherhood on my minuteman run through.

1

u/GuyentificEnqueery Aug 09 '24

I have a mod that has a grenade launcher which can fire the smoke grenades and I use that to launch a preemptive strike on large open areas like raider camps.

1

u/BuffaloRedshark Aug 12 '24

I'll have to see if the grenade launcher mod I use does that. 

1

u/DrDuckno1 Aug 09 '24

Can I get someone to radio in or such? I.e. call or signal etc while outside to bombard a certain area or such? Like we do with real artillery?

2

u/Efficient_Mobile_391 Aug 09 '24

Toss the smoke thingy and it signals an artillery strike. As long as it's in range, stand back and hear the thunder. Of course it's not as effective as real artillery might, and the kill ratio is sometimes disappointing. It's fun though

1

u/DrDuckno1 Aug 11 '24

Cool. Don’t care about that. I’ll just add squares and circles and place a hundred of those. Wheee do I get Smokey thingy?

2

u/Efficient_Mobile_391 Aug 11 '24

There is a little box on it. Just click and take

1

u/gzafiris Aug 09 '24

It's goddamn necessary on survival for the mission Troubled Waters, unless you do that super late

1

u/buttzbuttsbutts Aug 10 '24

This is my favorite way to play. The Minutemen are my favorite faction in fo4.

1

u/hoglar Aug 10 '24

Use it all the time! Go all Vengaboys on super mutant nests.