I have personally played Fallout for decades, and FO4 for many years, playing with mods and without mods. So, I think I'm pretty well versed in the game. I've used the majority of the tips at some time or another and they work pretty well.
Although not a tip, per se, the following situation does arise quite frequently. One stand-out question I get asked in the sci-fi group by new players of FO4 is how to force a companion or NPC to take off the player's Power Armor, that essentially, they've stolen.
First, NEVER leave a fusion core in any armor, for the very reason I'm asked this question. Secondly, if an NPC is using your Power Armor and you need them to exit it, you can talk to the companion or NPC wearing the armor and navigate through the dialogue options to instruct them to exit. Usually, selecting the "Talk" option and then finding the prompt that lets you ask them to get out of the Power Armor will achieve this. If it’s a settler, you might need to directly command them through the settlement management interface to achieve the same result.
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Now on to the tips. I've compiled this list from our group dialogue and since the shared tips are spaced out over days, weeks, months and even years it has taken me some time to gather the ones I've posted. I'll try to go through the group chat to gather more tips, I just don't know when I'll be able to complete that.
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- Utilize Cooking Stations: Cooking meat from the creatures you hunt not only removes the radiation from the food but often provides significant stat boosts compared to pre-war food.
- - Hoard and Use Junk Efficiently: Almost everything can be used. Store your junk in workshop inventories, as they automatically get used when you craft or upgrade.
- - Companion Perks: Keep companions around long enough to gain their unique perks, which remain active even if you switch companions.
- - Join the Railroad Early: Gaining access to Ballistic Weave armor upgrades early in the game can give you a significant advantage in survivability.
- - Explore Underwater: There's a lot of hidden gear and items underwater that many players miss, so consider investing in the Aquaboy/Aquagirl perk.
- - Use Power Armor Strategically: Power armor isn't just for heavy combat; you can also use it to safely carry more items back to your base due to its increased carry weight.
- - Maximize the Intelligence Stat Early: Higher intelligence increases the rate at which you earn experience points, allowing you to level up faster throughout the game.
- - Take Advantage of Settlement Building: Building up settlements not only provides resources and a safe haven but also generates additional XP and income through water and crop production.
- - Save Often and in Different Slots: Fallout 4’s expansive world is filled with game-breaking bugs and "decision points" that you may want to revisit. Frequent saves can help prevent a lot of frustration.
- - Explore Vertical Spaces: Many buildings in Fallout 4 have multiple levels with valuable loot, so always look up and find ways to reach higher floors.
- - Leverage the "Scrapper" Perk: This perk allows you to salvage rare components like screws, aluminum, and copper from weapons and armor, crucial for crafting and upgrades.
- - Quick Save During Dialogue: You can quick save while in dialogue. This is useful for retrying speech challenges if they fail.
- - Tag for Search: When crafting, you can tag missing components. Tagged resources will have a magnifying glass icon next to them in the world, helping you find what you need.
- - Utilize Chems Wisely: Combining chems like Psycho and Med-X can give you a significant advantage in tough battles. Just watch out for addiction!
- - Silent Protagonist Option: Turning off the voice of the protagonist can speed up dialogue and create a more traditional RPG feel.
- - Build High: In settlements, building vertically can save space and resources. Structures can be stacked, and you can create complex apartments or defenses.
- - Deactivate Mines with Grab: You can deactivate mines safely by quickly entering and exiting the grab mode before they explode, allowing you to pick them up without detonation.
- - Leverage Companion Inventory: Companions can carry an unlimited number of items, as long as you command them to pick items up off the ground.
- - Collect Pre-War Money: Unlike other junk, pre-war money weighs nothing and can be used for cloth or sold for a decent number of caps without taking up inventory weight. So, collect a LOT of it.
- - Maximize Fusion Core Usage: Wait until your fusion core is nearly depleted before exiting your Power Armor. A core with 1% charge sells for the same amount as one with 100% charge.
- - Have Companions Search the Bodies: Have companions search the bodies of those killed, as done this way the companion can carry an unlimited amount of weight and you don't leave anything behind.
- - Use Verticality in Combat: Many enemies in Fallout 4 don't navigate vertical spaces well. Use high ground to avoid melee attacks and improve your shooting angles.
- - Critical Banking: The Luck perk "Critical Banker" allows you to save up critical hits during combat, which can be strategically released during tough battles.
- - Infinite Caps Trick: You can exploit vendor glitches for infinite caps by buying all of a particular item (like bullets) they have, selling a single one back and forth until their inventory increases, then selling it all back for more than you paid.
- - Power Armor Fast Exit: Tap the exit button twice rapidly to skip the animation of climbing out of Power Armor, saving precious seconds.
- - Stealth Swimming: Use the "Aqua Boy/Aqua Girl" perk to avoid radiation and sneak effectively in water, as most enemies do not follow or detect you easily in aquatic environments.
- - Weapon Mods Recycling: When you swap mods on a weapon, the old mod goes into your inventory. You can reuse these mods on other weapons instead of crafting new ones.
- - Companion Apparel Reset: Sometimes, if a companion gets stuck in their default apparel, you can equip them with an item and then remove it to reset their inventory.
- - Unlimited Adhesive Farming: Plant corn, "mutfruit", and "tatos" in your settlements and use them at the cooking station to make Vegetable Starch, which breaks down into adhesive, a crucial crafting component.
- - Settlement Defense Trick: Place a fast travel mat/rug near your defenses inside your settlements. When you fast travel there, you’ll spawn directly at a strategic point, ready to defend against attacks.
- - Reload During Sprint: You can reload your weapon while sprinting by initiating the reload and then starting to sprint. This allows you to keep up your pace without having to slow down during combat reloads.
These tips can help you explore more efficiently, manage resources better, and gain an edge in battles throughout the Commonwealth. Mostly meant for newbies, however these tips might help even the most experienced FO4 veterans. If you care to share your FO4 tips then please, join us!
Edit: I managed to cull a few more tips with the help of a couple of people, so I've added those new tips to the existing list.