Good base in southern parts?

[urielseptim]

Since I've explored vast majority of northen map part for my second playthrough I've decided to make my home base in southern map parts.

 

Any good spot you can recommend, somewhere in middle of map? Settlement is fine but I even prefer loner outpost (was in red rocket truck stop last time)

Somewhere safe, with nice scenery perhaps?

 

 

[Moraelin]

Well, the most central is Hangman's Alley. I wouldn't really build a settlement there, because it has (or at least HAD, dunno if it was fixed in the meantime) a massive navmesh problem. But if you just need a base for yourself and a place to store your power armour collection, it will do just fine.

 

Bunker Hill is also pretty central and well defended, it has vendors, and is a stop for all caravans, but you can only get aligned to it at the very end of the game, so that doesn't help all that much. At that point, you already have a home base.

 

Pretty slim pickings other than that, though. There are a couple of good large locations down south, like Egret Tours Marina or the Castle, but that's the thing: they're down south, not in the middle of the map.

 

Scenery, hmm, maybe Spectacle Island? VERY large area too.

 

The other problem is the "safe" part. As you go further down, the level of the enemies rises, and by the lower band, it's no holds barred. When a settlement way down there gets attacked, you can get some level 100 legendary leading the assault, and (barring mods) they WILL destroy all defenses and knock all settlers on their ass. So basically when crap happens, you're like Ben Kenobi: their only hope. And you know how well it went for him :tongue:

 

Probably THE safest is Boston Airport after the Brotherhood drops by, since you have a bunch of knights and paladins in shiny armour and with miniguns within spitting distance.

 

Or if you have Automatron, the Mechanist's Lair is about as safe as a bunker. Since, you know, it is one. The view, though... I'd say it sucks, but more accurately it has no view. It's the inside of a concrete cube, with some metal walkways, and that's it. No amount of hanging pictures on the walls will make that one pretty.

Edited May 10, 2016 by Moraelin

[Moraelin]

Well, or have a look here and see for yourself. If you click on the map, it enlarges, btw: http://www.gosunoob.com/fallout-4/settlements-locations-and-tips/attachment/settlement-locations-map-fallout-4/

[virsia]

Jamaica plains just need some few tweaks and placing choke points, and pretty decent space. also not that far south so still comfortable as main base like hangman or bunker hill

[TheGadget1945]

Spectacle Island is nice if you use rdunlap's mod which rebuilds the hotel. I have completely refitted it as a hotel and it looks pretty sweet. Similarly if you use his mod for Jamaica Plain it opens up the boarded up house which otherwise is just a waste of space.

[Moraelin]

Yeah, that waste of space house is a main reason why I'm not very fond of Jamaica Plain.

[TheOriginalEvilD]

I really liked Hangman's Alley. I built up a 3 story complex there with one side completely open so each floor could see out over the rest of the settlement. It's a really easy settlement to defend too since it's all bottle necks leading in and out (well, theoretically speaking, since settlement attacks are spawned).

[Moraelin]

Yes, well, so did I. Then all the raiders spawned inside the building, well past all the gates and chokepoints.

[TheOriginalEvilD]

I think my favorite so far has been Outpost Zimonja. I've come to prefer smaller settlements because I always go way overkill with building, and Zimonja already has some nice foundations built into it. It's way out of the way of the rest of the map though which sucks if you don't fast travel.

[Moraelin]

Zimonja actually has quite a bit of free space, especially if you demolish the barricade in front. Definitely more than Hangman's or Jamaica Plain. So, yeah, I kinda like it.

 

But yeah, as you say, it's like the opposite of centrally located.

 

To return to the OP, though... hmm... you know, if you don't mind it being north side of the river, County Crossing is _fairly_ central, has decent space for a couple more buildings, has a good supply of pre-planted food, mini-lake (ok, puddle:p) for an industrial purifier, and is eminently defensible since it has flat land all around and low-to-mid level enemies. Put a couple of turrets and spotlights on the roof, and they'll shoot anything that gets anywhere near. The view isn't exactly gorgeous, but it's pretty ok for an apocalyptic world too. IMHO.

 

And it's easy to reach on foot, too. You can't really get lost on flat ground or anything.