Fallout 4 really captures life after a nuclear holocaust. Not only is the world largely barren and full of mutants and straggling survivors, but it’s also a confusing place where traditional laws no longer make sense. It’s a world where robots can run a colonial-era ship and Blade Runner-esque android hunters are out on the prowl.
To help really create that lost-in-a-nuclear-wasteland feeling, Fallout 4 devs Bethesda generally just chuck you into their open world and let you have at it. For some players, that’s an excellent opportunity to get stuck in, for others, it’s daunting. In fact, there’s an awful lot of things, from simple UI tweaks to game-changing tactics, that Bethesda never actually explains. So, here’s our set of useful tips and tricks for Fallout 4.
Fallout 4: tips and tricks
1. Utilise Fallout 4’s secret cover system
Fed up of V.A.T.S and just fancy some good, old-fashioned shootin’? Fallout 4 lets you do that with no issue. However, if you’re finding things a little tough, Bethesda never lets you know that they built in a sensible cover shooting mechanic right into Fallout 4’s combat.
If you want to shoot from behind cover, simply approach a wall or an object large enough to hide or crouch behind. When you see your gun dip slightly, that means you’re in cover, now simply aim down your sights (right click, LT or L2) and you’ll pop out of cover and aim. Wonderful.
2. Fallout 4 actually lets you grab objects
In true Bethesda tradition, stuff tends to get in your way or lost behind objects or in textures in Fallout 4. Instead of becoming frustrated with that dead body blocking your way, simply look at it and hold down the action button (“X”, “A” or “E”) and you’ll pick it up, allowing you to move it absolutely anywhere.
3. Get the best mods by stripping them from found weapons
Weapon mods are the best way to ensure you kill your enemies swiftly and effectively. Unfortunately they can be quite hard to build – especially early on in Fallout 4. Thankfully there’s a really simple way to get some powerful mods quickly.
Essentially you need to craft basic weapon modifications at a workbench and then use those to replace mods you’re removing from found weapons you don’t want to use. Those mods can then be added to your favourite weapon. Remember, though, weapon mods take up weight so when you’re not using one on a weapon, make sure to put it in storage!
4. Pre-War money is worth big bucks in Fallout 4
Want to make money easily early on in Fallout 4? Keep hold of every Pre-War money stack you find out in the Commonwealth. While the US’ financial institutions may have collapsed, the dollar is still worth a pretty bottle cap. Be careful though, as it’s classed as a “Junk” object, you need to make sure you don’t accidentally dump it, scrap it or fire it out of the Junk Jet.
5. Hack Fallout 4 terminals like an absolute pro
If terminal hacking isn’t your forte, there’s an excellent little trick to learn to help you smash your way through those tricky computers.
If you look through the garbled code on a terminal screen carefully, you’ll spot sets of recurring characters. If you can find code contained within “<>”, “{}”, “[]” and “()” brackets, you can select them and remove dud passwords, reset your retries or instantly unlock the terminal in question. Unfortunately there’s no way to know exactly what each one does so it’s a bit of trial and error.
6. Armour your companions up to keep them safe
One handy point that Bethesda never explains is that you can actually armour up your companions and even dress Dogmeat in goggles, bandanas and some cool doggy armour to keep him safe.
To do so, simply open up your companion’s inventory and dump in the items you want them to wear. If they can wear it, you’ll see “Equip” pop up as a command option when you select an item. Press it and voila, they’ll slip that armour plating right on.
7. PC players can navigate menus and conversations with WASD
PC players will already know that navigating through conversation options can be a bit tiresome – nobody wants to use the arrow keys or move their hand needlessly to click on words. Thankfully, Bethesda let you use the WASD movement keys to select options. Simply hold down the Shift key and those arrow navigation options transform into WASD options. Excellent.
8. Get into drunken conversations in Fallout 4
While not helpful in absolutely any way, getting smashed and then entering into a conversation with your companion or settlers is an absolute hoot. Not only will your responses change into something a fair bit more curt, but when you skip conversation options you won’t be nodding along saying “uh, huh” and “yeah”, but something wholly different.
9. You can change the colour of your Fallout 4 Pip-Boy
CRT green is so 1970’s. Thankfully Bethesda let you mod your PipBoy HUD to whatever colour you like. Simply venture into the pause screen and its “Display” options and you’ll be able to alter a set of RGB slides to set your colour. This also changes the colour of your flashlight so perhaps red isn’t the best colour to opt for.
10. Make sure Luck is always on your side
Luck may seem like a pointless stat to invest in, but a high Luck perk opens up faster and more frequent critical hits, more ammo drops and higher bottle cap hauls. It offers you up more critical damage, full AP charges on all kills and you can even randomly deflect bullets and one-hit-kill enemies! Lady luck is definitely someone you want on your side.
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