Settlements in Fallout 4 are specific areas that you can turn into your own home. These places are specific locations in the Fallout 4 universe that you can take control of. In order to do so, you will need to unlock a specific settlement’s workshop, which can be done in numerous ways. This is where this Fallout 4 Settlements Guide comes in.
For more help on Fallout 4, read our Character Builds Guide, Romance Guide, Magazines Guide, and Companions Guide.
Fallout 4 Settlements
Once you unlock a workshop, the workshop can be used by you to create a utopia or stronghold of your choice in the settlement. It can be a daunting task at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will be wanting to have multiple settlements across the map.
Unlocking Workshops
If a settlement is occupied by an enemy gang or dangerous creatures, you will need to eliminate all the threats before you can access a workshop and create a settlement in that region. There are also regions occupied by friendly NPCs.
In such cases, you will have to earn their trust by doing quests in order to use the workshop, after which the workshop can practically be yours. In rare cases, unlocking a workshop is as easy as walking up to it and activating it.
Until you have access to the workshop, it will not be possible for you to do anything with the settlement. The workshop works as a cornerstone of each settlement. Whether you are trying to liberate Far Harbor or trying to unlock a difficult settlement so that you can show it off to your friends, understanding how the workshop works and what you need to do in order to get access to it is quintessential to the building of your settlements.
Remember that there is a fair chance that your settlement gets attacked. Although this will not really happen a lot with settlements that are middle of the road, if you do have a settlement that has low defenses or a settlement that is quite large and thus attracts more people, then your settlement will be a hot topic among potential enemies and will garner many assaults.
Settlements Locations
There are plenty of settlements in Fallout 4 to discover. As stated above, you will need to unlock their workshop in order to gain control of the settlement and influence it. Here are all the settlements in the game, along with their prerequisite:
Abernathy Farm
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “Returning the Favor.”
Boston Airport
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “Shadow of Steel.”
Bunker Hill
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “The Battle of Bunker Hill.”
Castle
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Coastal Cottage
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
County Crossing
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Covenant
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “Human Error” or defeat the current residents.
Croup Manor
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Egret Tours Marina
Prerequisite: Placate or defeat Phyllis Daily.
Finch Farm
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “Out of the Fire.”
Graygarden
Prerequisite: Complete the quest “Troubled Waters.”
Greentop Nursery
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Hangman’s Alley
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Jamaica Plain
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Kingsport Lighthouse
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Murkwater Construction Site
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Nordhagen Beach
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Oberland Station
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Outpost Zimonja
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Red Rocket Truck Stop
Prerequisite:
Sanctuary Hills
Prerequisite:
The Slog
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Somerville Place
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Spectacle Island
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Starlight Drive-in
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Sunshine Tidings Co-op
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Taffington Boathouse
Prerequisite: Clear the area of hostiles.
Tenpines Bluff
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Warwick Homestead
Prerequisite: Complete the offered radiant quest.
Best Settlements
Building a settlement is a time and resource-consuming process.
It is extremely difficult to gain control of all settlements without spending around 300 to 400 hours in the game. For this reason, for the largest part of your adventures you will need to restrict yourself to specific settlements.
In order to do this, you will need to know which ones are the best settlements, and which ones provide little-to-no advantage until later on. We have chosen a few specific settlements that we think are the best targets in earlier parts of the game.
Abernathy Farm
The Abernathy Farm is near Sanctuary and Red Rocket Truck Shop, and is one of the best settlements to get access to.
The reason for this is its fertile land. The area is far away from most powerful enemies, and is relatively safe. The added bonus is that you do not have to do much to obtain it.
The biggest advantage in this settlement is the food supply. If you are having trouble generating food for your other settlements.
The Abernathy Farm’s food production will encourage settlers to quickly come in, and the surrounding area where it can be expanded allows you to build houses, defenses and more.
In order to be able to use the Abernathy farm, you need to do the quest known as Returning the Favor. This will task you with either killing all of the Abernathys residing on the farm or somehow doing so much damage to them that they are forced to abandon the farm.
Boston Airport
Boston Airport is not really a full settlement, as its concrete floors and lackluster surroundings do not make it a feasible ground to grow crops on.
It cannot support any stores, salvage stations, artillery pieces, or recruitment beacons. However, what it lacks in versatility, it grants in scrap, and scrap is extremely important for you.
While your initial central base for crafting might be either Sanctuary or Red Rocket Truck Shop, the Boston Airport will help you a lot as it contains plenty of items to scrap and store.
In order to get access to Boston Airport, you need to eliminate the Brotherhood of Steel. Do that by first destroying the Prydwen and then killing all of the ghouls in the airport.
Bunker Hill
Bunker Hill has a lot to offer, but its settlers will not trust you with the workshop unless you complete the quest ‘The Battle of Bunker Hill.’
It is certainly going to be worth it though, as Bunker Hill serves as a base of operations for various caravan traders, and has plenty of vendors that offer a good amount of stuff.
Unlocking the Bunker Hill is actually quite easy. In order to be able to use the Bunker Hill, you must have completed the aforementioned quest. After that, all you need to do is to talk to Kessler and you will be able to start using it as a settlement.
Have this settlement by destroying the mirelurk queen that resides in the castle. In order to be able to face and eliminate the queen, you will need to find and destroy a specific number of her eggs. This will draw her out and you will be able to use The Castle.
The Castle
The Castle was once a stronghold for the Minutemen, so you can expect some intact goodies there when you step foot into it. It has a functioning first aid station by default, along with a few guard posts.
You already have interior lights and industrial water purifiers. There are plenty of beds, and the open courtyard is idea for growing beds. This makes The Castle an attractive and easy place to settle.
It also plays a very important role in the minuteman quests, so constantly talk to Preston if you want to secure The Castle and use it as a safe haven.
Red Rocket Truck Shop
Ah yes, the good ol’ Red Rocket Truck Shop. It is here where you will find your canine companion, making it the earliest workshop you unlock.
You can quickly use the workshop to build a settlement around the area. There is not much of a threat, and it serves as an excellent place for crafting and working.
At the start, you will probably use the Truck Shop to store and utilize the Power Armor. With time though, you can convert this place into a thriving settlement. The best part about it is that it is available to you from the start of the game.
Sanctuary
Sanctuary was your hometown before the war, so it is natural you will have ties to this place. It is one of the first settlements you unlock, and quickly becomes arguably the most important settlement, as it allows you to learn how to manage.
It is also fairly well placed with irradiated water surrounding three of its four sides. This makes it a fairly safe place for settlers to come in and have a good time. This settlement will also be available to you from the beginning of the game.
The Slog
When Ghouls are not Feral, they are actually very kind and decent folks (most of them, at least). The Slog is a settlement occupied by Ghouls, who tend to welcome any and all settlers once you acquire the workshop.
The Slog provides a considerably large amount of crops, but the buildable area is not as big as some of the other locations. Regardless, it is a tight, fairly secure, and well-productive place, and the humble Ghouls are great at keeping the crops up.
The Slog is available to you as soon as you complete your first Minutemen quest, just like Nordhagen Beach. Although The Slog is a much better place for your settlement than the beach could ever be.
That is all we have for our Fallout 4 Settlements Guide. Let us know if we missed something using the comments section below!
