The Perfect Fallout 4 Character Build
Every RPG has its quirks which make certain character build or classes better than others in some way. Fallout 4 brought some new and fun game mechanics to the fallout franchise.
Chief among these new features would be an intricate gun and armour modding system, a power armour revamp and buildable settlements. The settlements system can also become the foundation for the player’s own faction, the Minuteman.
Every Fallout has companion mechanics, but Fallout 4 companions can be romanced and yield special perks. There is also a survival mode which makes substantial and challenging changes to gameplay.
To really explore all these new features a very particular character build is required, The Junk Lord (see below). In this article we will show this perfect character build for Fallout 4. First we shall consider what stats and perks are wanted for each mechanic.
The Perks and SPECIAL needed for Fallout 4’s Unique Features.
Here we will look at all the perks and SPECIAL points needed to go deep on Fallout 4’s unique features.
Gun and Armour Modding
Gun Nut, Science, Armorer covers us for all the important mod recipies. We need an Intelligence of 6 and a Strength of 3 to buy these perks.
Optionally also bump up Strength to 4 to access Blacksmith for melee mods and take Perception 5 to buy Demolition Expert to craft explosives.
Mods need raw materials like screws, copper and fibre optics. Take the Scrapper Perk (Intelligence 5) for more of these. We can also invest in Charisma and / or Cap Collector perk to buy them at better prices.
Power Armour
Power Armour in Fallout offers enormous additional protection and a huge strength boost, but is high maintenance. It must be constantly repaired, which consumes raw materials and refuelled with fusion cores.
Scrapper will help with sourcing parts. And we will want Science and other mod perks to mod and upgrade the parts. If we can stretch to Intelligence 9, we can get the Nuclear Physicist perk for longer lasting fusion cores.
The other main perk for power armour is the Pain Train perk at Strength 10. I am not tempted by this because Strength 10 is a very intense investment especially for a power armour wearer since the suit itself gives the benefits of strength 11 for the purposes of melee damage and carry weight.
It is possible to collect a lot of power armour in Fallout 4. One use for these extra suits is to enhance companions, and even settlers of your settlements including those assigned to security and supply chains.
Settlements
Fallout 4’s settlements brings out a whole new gameplay to Fallout main of questing and fighting. Much of it is just interior decorating, but going deep down the settlement rabbit hole can have benefits for the questing and combat too, especially in survival mode, see more about that later.
An important benefit of settlements to the weapon modder is the ability to farm adhesive. Adhesive is a key ingredient in almost all mods and is fairly scare in loot. Adhesive however can also be created at cooking stations by combining mutfruit, corn, tatos and purified water. All these ingredients can be farmed in volume at settlements.
The important perks for settlements are Local Leader, Cap Collector, Medic, Gun Nut, Science, Armourer. All these are needed to unlock the crafting of settlement infrastructure like defence turrets, shops, power generators and work stations. Local leader also allows for the creation of supply chains between settlements for pooling resources.
An Intelligence of 6, Charisma of 6 and Strength of 3 is needed to unlock all these perks. High charisma will also allow for a higher population cap on each settlement. The formula is 10 + x = settler cap, where x is your charisma. So a Charisma of 10 allows for 20 settlers in each settlement.
Companions
Classically for Fallout Charisma is the main stat for exploiting companions. There are charisma perks that empower companions. Fallout 4 companions are special in that they can gift the player with unique perks and they can be “romanced”.
Romanced companions will multiply experience gain following sleeping when in their company. A high charisma helps with passing the speech checks that lead to romanced status, as does the perk Lady Killer / Black Widow.
Gaining a companion’s special perk is dependent on reaching “maximum affinity”. Affinity is not really Charisma based but depends on performing actions that align with the specific character’s likes and values while in their company.
Survival Mode
Fallout 4’s survival mode dramatically increases the damage output for both the player and other entities including enemies. Also the player needs regular food, water and sleep in order to stay in peak functioning. Fast travel is disabled and game saves can only be made by sleeping in a bed. Carrying capacity is significantly reduced to more realistic amounts and ammunition has weight.
All of Fallout 4’s special features take on increased value in survival mode. Power armour even more dramatically improves survivability under survival modes deadly combat dynamics. Settlements can keep a player well stocked in food and water. A network of settlements also provides a distribution of save points through beds.
Settlements help with managing reduced carrying capacity by providing a network of caches to drop off loot. Companions can also carry too.
When a supply line is established between two settlements, settlers called provisioners will actually travel to and from along the route between them. These settlers can be armed and armoured. This provides a source of potential allies on the road to help against enemy encounters when travelling.
Minutemen can also be called up to deal with enemies.
Junk Lord – Perfect Fallout 4 Build
Synthesising all of above we arrive at the perfect Fallout 4 build, the Junk Lord. The Junk Lord is a charming community leader and ingenious technologist.
Starting SPECIAL
Strength 3, Perception 5, Endurance 2, Charisma 6, Intelligence 6, Agility 3, Luck 3
Early Perks
Gun Nut, Scrapper, Armorer, Science to begin modding. Then when once you have a few settlements you can get Local Leader and Cap Collector.
Advanced SPECIAL
Strength 4, Perception 5, Endurance 2, Charisma 10, Intelligence 9, Agility 7, Luck 3
Advanced Perks
The Junk Lord wants to be rolling around in his power armour as much as possible as well as tinkering with robots. Investing more points into Intelligence will unlock Robotics Expert and Nuclear Physicist.
A Charisma of 6 to get Local Leader is just fine for the settlement game. However as you settlements grow you can invest more points into Charisma to increase the cap on the number of settlers in your settlements.
The laser musket can be modded to become one of the most powerful sniper weapons in the game. For stand off fights the Junk Lord could use a few more points into agility to get Ninja for more powerful sneak attacks with the modded laser musket.
The Junk Lord will continue investing into the higher ranks of all the modding perks, particularly Gun Nut, Science and Scrapper.
Signature Weapons
The Junk Lord uses a laser musket tricked out for powerful distance sniping. Sniping positions may also be protected by crafted landmines.
For close quarters fighting, the Junk Lord uses tricked out automatic pipe pistols. He uses power armour stomps and punches against enemies too trivial on which to waste ammo.
Besides this the Junk Lord is not necessarily a combat specialist. As a wealthy technologist, the Junk Lord relies mainly on superior gear rather than skills. Also as the Lord of a vast array of settlements and the leader of the Minutemen, the Junk Lord has the luxury of having many minions to support him battle and even calling in artillery strikes once the Castle is added to his domain.
There we go the perfect character build for exploring Fallout 4’s many unique features. What would you do differently?
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