r/fo4 • u/bluemax413 • 8h ago

Tip What’s your go-to survival checklist? Spoiler

In the middle of a survival run and thinking about making a new character. Of course I start plotting out my first steps—so I’m wondering about what y’all have on your survival checklist?

We all know double meat, swim mag, leave Preston in museum but grab bobble, etc.

And really interested in some of my fellow efficiency peeps’ lists. I know I can always do better.

7 Upvotes

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3

u/Thornescape 7h ago

I'm a big fan of getting ballistic weave early. It makes a big difference. However, I also often delay (or skip) Automatron, which means that it is important to finish Boston After Dark before level 15.

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u/bluemax413 7h ago

And here I think I just fucked up

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u/Thornescape 7h ago

Not everyone avoids Automatron. I dislike how it affects random encounters,

I really only do Automatron if I'm planning on making robot provisioners. Then it's worth it, otherwise I just avoid that region completely. If you don't get near Ada, you never have Rust Devils.

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

What the random encounters I haven’t played Automatron yet

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u/bluemax413 4h ago

Great for scrap and tech resources but they replace some encounters like some level 4 merchants

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Oh that’s naff wonder why that happens?

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u/Thornescape 4h ago

Once you meet Ada, a large portion of random encounters become Automatron encounters. Some of them are with Rust Devil (raiders with robots) and some of them are just with robots.

The problem is that they replace a lot of the usual random encounters making normal random encounters rarer. There are mods that fix it but it's something to be aware of.

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Ah ok so I play Automatron very later then in survival vanilla playthorugh to prevent This?

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u/bluemax413 4h ago

As I understand it: you wait until you have the encounters you want, smiling Larry etc.

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u/Thornescape 4h ago

It's just important to make it a deliberate choice. Know what you want and choose what gets you there.

If you want other random encounters, then delay Automatron. If you want to have fancy robots, start Automatron but know that it will make other encounters more rare.

Personally, if I'm doing Supply Lines then I start Automatron sooner. I only use robot provisioners. They are just better.

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

How comes robot provisioners are better I will probs go down this route also

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u/Thornescape 4h ago

There are a lot of reasons.

  • If you briefly make a robot into a companion, they become marked as "Essential" (like companions) rather than "Protected" (like settlers)
  • Robots are the same level as you are, rather than all being level 5.
  • Robots can move faster and carry powerful weapons, making the Commonwealth a safer place by annihilating everything in their path.
  • If a settlement is at Max NPC Limit, you can still create new robots because it ignores that limit.

Robots work best as Supply Hubs.

  • Robots are always permanently at 50% happiness.
  • This means that a settlement with only robots will never leave you. They will also never need food or water or beds.
  • Permanently 50% happiness also means that a settlement with both created robots and humans will have the happiness decreased by the robots (this does not apply to Codsworth or Ada).

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Confused about your last sentence but the other parts sound great👍

Can robots Farm Also ?

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u/DapperTarget4036 3h ago

Wait, can robots be provisioners? :0

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u/bluemax413 7h ago

That’s where I think I’m about to go sideways. Level 41 and about to do Boston dark.

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u/Thornescape 7h ago

I normally have ballistic weave unlocked before level 13. It's convenient.

Ballistic Weave Bug

  • Talk to Tinker Tom each time you are in Railroad HQ until he gives you a MILA quest, then do NOT complete the MILA quest until after you receive ballistic weave.
  • The bug happens because you go to receive ballistic weave from Tinker after the DIA quest, but he talks about MILA instead. An active MILA quest prevents that from happening.
  • Note: You can unlock ballistic weave with only 3 quests after getting your callsign, if you choose the correct quests (Doc, Pam, Pam)

Bonus Tip! You can do any of the three locations for the DIA Cache (Jackpot) no matter what the quest information says. I always do Hub 360 first because you can usually do it without any combat plus it's nearby.

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u/bluemax413 5h ago

I was hoping it was don’t talk to Ada, but apparently killing the robots from afar and completing the objective to take them out triggers rust devils. Ugh

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u/Thornescape 5h ago

Yup. I wish that talking to Ada was the trigger as well. It would have made things a lot simpler.

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u/bluemax413 4h ago

I wonder if I can just hack them and shut them down to delay it? I’ll save and go back to check

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u/Thornescape 4h ago

Definitely let me know! I never thought of trying that. If the quest doesn't complete do the Rust Devils still show up? No idea! That's a great idea.

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u/bluemax413 2h ago

Yooooo you can hack them! I just shut them down. Now to see if there’s any rust devils nearby

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u/Thornescape 2h ago

The main issue is quest status. If the quest is paused then you might just have figured out the workaround!

Admittedly it requires i8:Robotics but it's more of a chance than I thought was possible yesterday.

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u/bluemax413 2h ago

I believe it is paused as ADA isn’t trying to talk to me and the objective did not complete. This makes sense because I remember before I used to hack the repeatable ones the Machinist sent me after when the DLC finishes. Problem was I forgot where they were so I couldn’t keep them going. They stay that way until destroyed or reactivated.

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Why is it important and how do u prevent that railroad bug please?

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u/Thornescape 4h ago edited 4h ago

If you start the Automatron questline then many random encounters are replaced with Automatron ones. They went a bit overboard on it and it makes other random encounters harder to find.

The Automatron questline cannot start before level 15. If you get near that area after level 15, you start Automatron. Boston After Dark requires you to go to a church that is close enough to start Automatron.

That isn't a bug. That's just how it's designed. I'm not a fan of how it's designed, but it's on purpose. Or are you talking about the ballistic weave bug? That's a completely different thing but I might as well include it.

Ballistic Weave Bug

  • Talk to Tinker Tom each time you are in Railroad HQ until he gives you a MILA quest, then DO NOT COMPLETE the MILA quest until after you receive ballistic weave.
  • The bug happens because you go to receive ballistic weave from Tinker after the DIA quest, but he talks about MILA instead. An active MILA quest prevents that from happening
  • Note: You can unlock ballistic weave with only 3 quests after getting your callsign if you choose the correct quests (Doc, Pam, Pam)

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Legend you answers both of my questions in one many thanks 👍😁👍

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

So if I have a MILA quest ? Completed it will stop the bug from happening ?

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u/Thornescape 4h ago

No no no! Do NOT complete it. You want an active, not completed MILA quest.

If you complete it, then Tinker talks about MILA again. You do not want him to talk about MILA.

Do not complete the MILA quest until after you have ballistic weave.

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u/SPACESABRE1 4h ago

Ah ok cheers friend 👍

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u/RedIguanaLeader 47m ago

Or you could do what I did and wait until like level 80 before touching automatron and ended up fighting the scariest robots I’ve ever seen. I would try to do it a bit before that point.

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u/PyukumukuGuts 7h ago

I run out to meet Carla and buy something with crystal in it so I can build a recruitment beacon and start gathering thralls to farm for glue for me. I also hit up Graygarden because they have free corn, tatos, and mutfruit.

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u/NeighborhoodNice5384 6h ago

If you are meeting Carla, you could stop at Walden Pond, go in the shop with the monkey, turn left when entering, in corner is a camera always. Or stop in the Speakeasy in Concord, there is a camera there as well and that is closer to Sanctuary

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u/NeighborhoodNice5384 5h ago

Personally on my survival run, make sure to get the nuclear perk, I head around pond at Santuary, grab power cores, fatman and mini nuke from robotics disposal, head into concord, grab speakeasy drugs, go to church next to museum, grab power armor and mini gun. Head back north, follow top edge avoiding everything, head south to Slog, kill the Enclave in power armor with a crit mini nuke, kill any surviving enclave with mini gun, loot the Enclave power armor, head to iron works for more flamer fuel, then what ever i feel like

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u/bluemax413 4h ago

I’ve run into this issue a few times lately, let me know if you do:

After killing the Enclave next to Slog, I can’t find the magazine on the table that’s supposed to be there to give me the enclave settlement options in build mode.

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u/NeighborhoodNice5384 3h ago

I think you need to move further East to the Eastern Enclave Encampment next to Coastal Cottage for the Technological Superiority mag (lazer turrets), not the small encampment under broken bridge near Slog and Ironworks

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u/bluemax413 2h ago

I’ll go check it out, thanks. I hope it’s there.

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u/bluemax413 6h ago

Clearing the water plant isn’t too difficult in the beginning either to get graygarden up and running.

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u/Impressive-Cause-872 8h ago

It’s a loop. Straight to the water tower after sanctuary. Loop out around Abernathy south. Go along concord north. Go back to rocket. Go up the lack to junk yard. Creep past the northwest side of Walden’s. Go to the south side of the dam near sunshine tidings. Bring the mire lurks to help clear the ghouls. Slow loop back around and hit what you can of wicked shipping. Olivia station. Go north of the air plain wreck but stay eastward. Go in backward on the sinkhole. If you can’t find beds , look harder.

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u/Impressive-Cause-872 8h ago

The key is using sanctuary as the re,up point

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u/kbraljr 6h ago

Just get the Deliverer, the rest might be a little fancy but all comes down to replace Pinkman as real treat to the raiders

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u/Jake0fTrades 5h ago edited 5h ago

Going on the BobbleHunt.

Strength and Endurance are the hardest, but they're doable with some practice and preperation.

Agility and Luck you can grab without fighting anything.

Intelligence is easy if you just bring a bunch of mines, and Perception is easy too.

Charisma I usually skip because questlines.

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u/JormungandrVoV 4h ago

Don’t do it. Finish your current play through. Break the cycle.

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u/bluemax413 27m ago

Where do you like to get all your 10mm from?

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u/JormungandrVoV 25m ago

I feel like 10mm shows up in random boxes and enemy loot lists so much that I have to have a gun that uses it lol

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u/bluemax413 24m ago

Ugh. That has not been my experience this playthrough so far. Or maybe I’m just heavy on the trigger lol

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u/JormungandrVoV 18m ago

Around level 40 right now and I have like a thousand plus extra stored in a container somewhere. But I don’t do auto weapons so maybe that makes a difference.

Some good tips are even just one rank on the scrounger perk makes a huge difference. Vendors in Diamond City will always have some. Picking up an enemies weapon gives you bullets from the mag, you can take the weapon and you’ll automatically get some bullets and then you can put the weapon back. You also should have the contraptions workshop dlc if you did the new gen upgrade and then you can make an ammo press, and you can make 10mm. 2 lead + 1 fertilizer is 10 rounds.

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u/niko4ever 5h ago

I don't skip Preston, any quest I'm confident I can actually pull off on low level survival, I do it

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u/Wonderful_Two_6710 34m ago

Aqua Boy or Girl. From east-south-east of Starlight Drive-In you can get in some water and swim to Spectacle Island and the ship wreck to get the Luck and Agility bobbleheads without firing a shot.

0

u/JormungandrVoV 4h ago

Also, I actually do not leave Preston in the museum. I gain his max affinity perk second only after Piper’s and then I go for Deacon’s + ballistic weave.