When do you usually start building settlements? (And some other settlement questions)

[YouDoNotKnowMyName]

Good evening everybody!

 

I was just wondering how all of you deal with settlements, especially when during a playthrough you usually start to get involved with settlements.

And if you pick settlements that already have people living there (the Slog, Nordhagen Beach, ...) or the ones that are uninhabited (Croup Manor, Jamaica Plains, ...).

Do you keep one or more settlements just as a "player home", so no random settlers there, just a base for the player.

 

 

The reason why I am asking these questions is because I recently started a new playthrough.

Like always, I used the mod "Start Me Up" to start at a random location (at level 1 with no gear or weapons, except some clothing).

I started on one of those boat wrecks near Spectacle Island.

Long story short, I ended up swimming over to Fort Strong and after sneaking past the supermutants there (found a gauss rifle in that guardhouse that usually has power armor, at level 1) I reached Nordhagen Beach.

Usually I "settle down" at the first settlement I come across (technically Spectacle Island, but the Mirelurk Queen there is a bit too much at level 1, even with a gauss rifle ...).

So Nordhagen Beach is now my "home settlement".

 

As much as I love building stuff at settlements, it changes the gameplay A LOT.

As soon as I get a settlement I start picking up all sorrts of stuff because I need building materials.

And the game goes from "oh crap how do I deal with those supermutants at level 1 with almost no ammo" (which is exciting) to "slowly walking back to the settlement because I am carrying too much / running back to the settlement to store all the scrap for the 100000th time" (very tedious, feels like "work").

 

Just turning on godmode while in the settlement feels too "cheaty".

 

I know I am not the only one who has this "problem", so let me know if you have a solution for this, or if you want to just say whatever ...

[HeyYou]

I will usually do the sanctuary quests first thing, and make what'shisname happy. (beds, food, water, defense.) Just to make a few levels. I will perk up scrapper, and strong back, so that I can still run/fast travel while overencumbered. I tend to obsess over picking up ANYTHING that might be useful, and of course, every weapon and ammo I come across. Except pipe weapons.... though pipe rifles are a good source of copper...... :) I will do a few of Prestons quests, and I will build up those settlements a bit, just to keep happiness up, but, settlements are NOT my primary goal. I mostly explore, do quests I come across, and collect cool weapons. I usually use Starlight Drive-In as my base, and build a compound just for me there. No settlers at all.

[romalight]

Hello. At my final game with Fallout 4, i start build, with the needed things, beds, tables, chairs and a easy made vanilla building. Because i use a AIO power, i don't have to make things, produce power, water, defense and food. Then i build some robots for my settlements to defend it. This time i don't move any of the settlers to another settlement. i just let the settlements grow at number whatever they want. After i complete all the settlements, i return and start build something better, with pieces from mods - only the building. After i complete also with this, is time to put at the new buildings, from mods, beds, chairs, tables. Well, you understand where this is going on - complete and return, complete and return and also go and defend a settlement from enemies. This time, even i use scrap mods, i don't use the console command, scrapall, because before, after i scrap everything, settlers delay very much, to come to a settlement and don't grow to number. That's all. Thanks.

[NaiRae]

I play very similarly to how you do, where it can feel tedious to cart stuff back and forth after while, especially because I play exclusively on survival and my builds tend to have very low strength. I do have a few trips or methods to lower the tedium:

- You can cheat your encumbrance by dropping the heaviest item, and then carrying it using the 'holding E' method. If you drop all the scrap pieces of one kind in one lump sum (say, 200 steel you're carting around) it will drop as if it's one item. So you drop the 200 steel, hold E to carry it physically, and then run back to the settlement. this is also useful for getting heavy weapons like Fat Mans back to base if you're low on available carry weight. I rely on this a lot low level.

- Dogmeat's carry weight + Lone Wanderer boost are very good. This and the above tip let me clear out most beginner sized dungeon locations in one or two trips.

- After a few trips I start building, and see what all I want to make and what I am low on. I then go back to the locations I have cleared and grab the items with only the components I am low on instead of indiscriminately everything.

- To get ammo low level when you start in harder areas, I trade the high value scrap, like gold bars, cigar boxes and cigarette cartons, the paper money, watches, gold plated lighters, etc. I set these aside in a separate container so I don't accidentally use them for building. Also avoiding using more ammo than I need to, so roaches I melee always, and I don't use automatic weapons at all.


As for actual settlement building methods, I usually start off with a settlement that is easy to take, rather than ones with people living there I have to do a quest for. I like to set up water production and a bed right away, plus food supplies, since I play in survival. Other than that I don't care much of the order I take. I usually only put the beacon in one or two settlements that are set up to be recruitment centers (Sanctuary and Spectacle Island are good for these), and then I move them to permanent homes that I have set up to sustain so many settlers. Red Rocket or Hangman's Alley I usually set up as a me plus favored companions home, no settlers. :smile:

[Moksha8088]

I like to reserve Sanctuary for the Concord group and NPCs from the Settlers of the Commonwealth mod (much better dialogue). I keep the Red Rocket for my companions home base (vanilla and from quest mods).

[tm10067]

I build dem all to the brink - nuclear power station and living house/barracks plus defence are the minimum. Even when I started I made big junk fence around whole sanctuary (but pesky raiders always spawned inside it nevertheless). Sanctuary/Red Rocket/Abernathy is more like a Commonwealth capital aglomeration now. And yeah stronk back perk to carry whole the materials for it.

 

To say honestly I like building part of the game the most.

[RoNin1971]

For me it's different each play through. Mostly less each time. On my first run, many years ago, I build up each settlement to the max and later even beyond using the drop & store weapons trick.

But after restarting a few times the grind for resources and maintaining all those settlements becomes annoying.

 

On my previous run I even created batch files with all the building materials, so I don't have to spend hours collecting 'garbage' & only did a few settlements. (mostly the ones I got to 'help' from 'you know who'.)

On my current run I haven't even finished the quest for building up sanctuary yet. (They have enough beds, food, water & defense but I only checked in the beds quest so far.)

I have a bed at each settlement I own (about 8 ), but that's it for the moment.

 

edit:

Building up settlements does help to level up quickly though, if you wish.

Edited November 5, 2021 by RoNin1971