SegmentNextCompanions
For two years Fallout 76 had nobody to travel with, because it had nobody at all. Wastelanders changed that, and the four allies it added are worth understanding as two matched pairs, because they charge in two completely different currencies.
Two of them want your time: a rescue, a long questline, and a building at your camp before they will stay. The other two want nothing but the right numbers on your character sheet.
The two who cost hours
Our allies guide lays out both chains in full, and the length of them is the point.
Beckett is the first ally most people meet and the shorter of the two at fifteen quests. You fast travel to the Rusty Pick, pick up Narrow Escape, and pull him out of Blood Eagle Prison. Rescuing him is easy; keeping him is not, because he then hands you fourteen more jobs. They take in his brother Frankie, a traitor called Bronx, a Blood Eagle drug supply, a robot rescue for a sick man named Edwin, and a hunt for something called The Eye, before closing on Thicker Than Water. Our allies page lists the sequence in full.
There is an extra cost hidden in the middle of that. Beckett does not simply follow you, he needs somewhere to be, so you have to build him a booze hut at your C.A.M.P. before his missions unlock at all. That makes him the only ally who requires you to have solved a building problem first, and it is why his line and our locations guide are more connected than they look. The payoff is the Final Word plus a three-star legendary armor piece.
Commander Sofia Daguerre is the longer road at nineteen quests, and she starts differently: you do not find her, she signals you. Around level 30 an emergency broadcast leads to her bunker in the Mire, and the eighteen quests that follow are a slow reconstruction of who she was: a scanner module hidden in an observatory, a beacon buried in a shopping mall full of Scorched, a serum retrieved from a research centre, an access keycard, and finally an artificial intelligence at Sugar Grove whose fate you decide. Our allies page carries the running order.
Our Daguerre romance guide puts that at eight to ten hours with a little wandering, and rates it the more enjoyable of the two stories. It also explains the mechanic that makes these allies different from every previous Fallout companion: once the storyline is finished she comes to live at your camp, and living there unlocks further objectives that deepen the relationship.
Romance, and how to end it
Both long-chain allies can be romanced, and only after their storyline is complete. Finish Daguerre's line, choose the flirt option, and she reciprocates; choose anything else and the relationship stays professional with no penalty. Beckett offers the same, which means the two paid-in-hours allies are also the two you can date, and you can only pick one at a time.
The detail worth knowing before you commit ten hours is that it is not permanent. You can walk up to your ally and break it off whenever you like, which is consistent with everything else in this game: even a relationship here is something you are holding rather than something you own.
The two who cost stats
The other two allies never ask you to do anything. They ask what your character sheet says.
| Ally | Where | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Raider Punk | Southeast on the map, or north of Vault 76, or with the raiders near the end | 5 or more Perception, or level 50, then a dialogue check needing cooperative raider reputation or 8 or more Luck |
| Settler Forager | Down the elevator at Foundation | 6 or more Intelligence, 3 or more Charisma, or 8 or more Luck, or cooperative settler reputation |
That table makes the best case anywhere in this folder for the loose perk system our mechanics guide describes. These checks read attributes, and attributes are the one part of a build you cannot swap on the spot, so an ally you cannot recruit today is one you can recruit after your next few levels. It also means Charisma and Luck earn their keep outside combat, which most of our builds quietly assume.
The reputation half of each check is the other route. Working with the Raiders at Crater or the Settlers at Foundation during the Wastelanders story raises standing with that side, and cooperative standing substitutes for the stat requirement entirely. The same reputation gates the compound bow plans, so progress on one unlocks the other.
Which to recruit first
Beckett, if you are below level 30 or want a weapon out of it, since his chain is four quests shorter and ends in the best heavy gun our weapons guide covers. Daguerre if you are further along and want the better story, since her signal only turns up around level 30 anyway.
Take the two stat-gated allies whenever your numbers happen to qualify. They cost nothing but a conversation, and unlike the long chains they do not need a building, a rescue or an evening.
Frequently asked questions
How many allies are there?
Four in our coverage: Beckett, Commander Sofia Daguerre, Raider Punk and the Settler Forager. Two are recruited through long questlines and two through stat or reputation checks.
Do allies fight alongside me?
They live at your camp rather than following you around the map, which is the significant difference from companions in earlier Fallout games. The relationship is with the place you built, not with the road.
Can I romance both Beckett and Daguerre?
Not at once. Each requires its own completed storyline first, and the romance is exclusive, though you can end one with a conversation and pursue the other afterwards.
What level do I need?
Level 20 to start Beckett's chain, and Daguerre's distress signal appears around level 30. Raider Punk needs either 5 Perception or level 50 before the dialogue check even opens.
Is the Daguerre questline worth ten hours?
Our romance guide thinks so, and it is the longest single piece of authored story in the game at nineteen quests. If you only run one ally chain, that is the one with the most in it.