How to make totally self-sufficient Fallout 4 settlements without fast travel
The upcoming overhauled Survival Mode in Fallout 4 is reported to disable fast travel (this report was linked to by Bethesda).
This got me thinking about whether it's possible to have a network of self-sufficient settlements without fast travel. It sounds like a worthy challenge.
My first Fallout 4 character had a large network of settlements and occasionally one would be attacked - even when the Defence rating was higher than Food + Water. With fast travel I could easily "warp" to the settlement and wipe out the attackers.
With my second character I never used fast travel and avoided settling up even one populated settlement. Without fast travel I couldn't see how I'll be able to traverse across the map in time to "save" the settlement from attack, and could see my entire gameplay involving trekking from settlement to settlement dealing with raiding parties.
So - is it possible to create properly self-sufficient settlements which remain undamaged and happy - even if I never visit them after the original setup?
Best Answer
Your question is based on a false premise.
Time passes in game when you fast travel. Not only that, but it can actually be faster to run there.
Keep in mind that there are still fast travel options in the survival game which you can use to speed things up, even though you can't just teleport anywhere. You can use Brotherhood vertibirds after clearing Fort Strong for Elder Maxson. These are faster than running, so should be even faster than fast travel. You can also teleport to the Institute after finishing Institutionalized, but can only teleport back out to the CIT Ruins. Still, if CIT is closer to the settlement than you currently are, this can save you a lot of time.
Furthermore, in my experienc,e failing to participate in a settlement defense often has little to no noticeable penalty, assuming that your defenses are sufficient. You may need to visit and repair a few things.
After a couple days of play time on survival, I don't find managing my settlements to be any more difficult than it was previously
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How do you maximize settlements in Fallout 4?
Food, water, and bed stat numbers must be higher than your number of settlers. Build 20+ beds, 20+ water, and 20+ food. Go nuts with defense. Build turrets until you've got 160-185 defense in your settlement.What is the max amount of settlers in a settlement Fallout 4?
Each settlement has a default max population of 10 settlers plus each point of Charisma the character has, which has a base max of 22 (10 from leveling and +1 from bobblehead and You're SPECIAL! magazine respectively ) before factoring in extra charisma from armor and consumables.Can I ignore the settlement Fallout 4?
Yep, it's completely optional. You don't have to do build a single settlement if you don't want to. Unless you want to work with the Minutemen, because some of the quests you'll get from them will require you to at least build a radio beacon so settlers can move on to a place you clear.Fallout 4 Starlight Drive-In Settlement Build - NO MODS
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Answer 2
I can confirm that if you do build defenses high enough, even if you do not defend the settlement you CAN get a successful mission without stepping in at all. I would try keeping defenses a more considerable amount higher than food + water. My settlements that have a smaller gap between defenses and resources don’t stand as much of a chance without my intervention. Try with defenses at least 10+ but maybe even 20+ Over your total resources, as widely spread as possible, and test it. Like someone else mentioned, there aren’t huge negative consequences if they do lose and you get a fail. Just beef them up a little more and test again. Also seems that the higher your resources the higher numbers in raiding parties but that could be coincidence or related to level? Again spreading out and keeping a significant gap helps loads. Another thing to keep in mind, loot extra weapons and armor even if they are crappy or useless to your build and drop them off among settments that get attacked more frequently. If they have more munitions they can defend themselves more effectively without you. Even lengendary weapons and armor that are not as useful to your build, any extras can give you settlements a huge boost. There’s enough scrap out in the commonwealth without needing to scrap weapons and armor too.
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