The Method
There are a ton of empty settlements in Fallout 4. What you’ll need to do to kick off companion organization is find one of these settlements. If you can find a settlement with pre-equipped crafting stations, beds, food, water, or defenses, it would be preferable, but the only real requirement is that it is spacious enough to fit around 15 NPCs.
As long as you haven’t begun settling it, the Red Rocket Truck Stop at the beginning of the game where you find Dogmeat is the preferable option. The Red Rocket is easily defended by placing turrets around the perimeter and offers plenty of land for expansion and crops. It is also the very first empty settlement the Sole Survivor should come across. It is very easily cleared and comes with all crafting stations.
Fabrication
Enter your new “Companion Settlement” and destroy next to everything (keeping workstations, beds, food, water, defenses, and desirable furniture intact of course).
Once this is complete, you’ll need to give your companions somewhere to sleep. At the Red Rocket, I built a couple prefab wooden shacks and threw some beds inside. You can expand the number of houses, rooms, and beds, but if you don’t want to be building all day, this can wait until you gather more companions.
Next, if you don’t want to receive an alert for your settlement every other hour, you’ll need food and water. Unbelievably, companions actually require these things as well. Water can easily be generated with pumps, but food is a different beast entirely - it requires farmers. As you might’ve guessed it, companions, although they will sometimes farm for something to do, can’t actually be assigned to farm crops. Now, the whole premise of the Companion Settlement is that standard settlers don’t interfere, so who do we get to farm our food?
Simple. There are in-game NPCs that can be hired by the Sole Survivor. These players act somewhat like standard settlers, but have names and unique character dialogue, giving them a special place in our hearts. You can simply send over the people from Sanctuary, but having these unique NPCs work at your settlement is the way to go. For your first two farmers I suggest Sheffield and the Vault-Tec Rep. One is located in the Diamond City Marketplace, the other in Hotel Rexford, Goodneighbor. Do what they ask of you and be polite, and they’ll go to any settlement you want.
Finally, install some defenses so that you have a higher defense rating than food/water rating, and build a doghouse. You’re officially ready to have a companion open house!
Gameplay
From this point on, send every single companion or friendly NPC that wants work to your Companion Settlement. Boom, instant organization.
As long as you found a half decently sized area (not too big and not too small) all of your companions should be easy to locate when you head there. The easiest companion to find will be Dogmeat as he will always return to his doghouse when he is sent to the settlement. If you’re still having trouble locating a certain companion, you can install a special bell that when rung, attracts all nearby settlers.
Benefits
You might be wondering what happens when you collect a super mutant, synth, synth sympathizer, Paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel, robot, dog, ghoul, Minuteman, and more all under the same roof. Apart from some of the funniest interactions you’ll find in all of Fallout 4, absolutely nothing! All of your companions will get along when brought together.
On top of this, a lot of companions like it when you craft items or mod armor and weapons with them around. With all of your companions present you can mix some chems, equip a suppressor, and more to gain a large amount of affinity with multiple characters at once! As long as you aren’t moving power armor around too much (Strong doesn’t like it when you enter power armor) you have much to gain from doing your crafting at your Companion Settlement.
It is obviously very easy to swap companions when they are all located in one area, and earning Lover’s Embrace has never been so easy. Whenever you travel home to drop your junk or do some crafting, hit the hay first and you’ll wake up with your romantic partner.
As long as you keep an eye on the food, water, and defense rating, this settlement is superior to any other you’ll have in the game. The happiness of the settlement will skyrocket and it will never successfully be attacked as enemies are shredded instantly between your companions and the settlement’s defenses.
Recap
If you plan on organizing your companions so that you never need to look for them again, you’ll need to find an empty settlement, build it up with the necessary features (this includes finding friendly NPCs for farming), and invite all of your companions to that settlement. They will all get along and make your life orders of magnitude easier.
I bet you never thought BlackTideTV, the guy that hates settlements in Fallout 4, would ever suggest a settlement idea! To be honest, neither did I! Let me know in the comments where you chose to make your Companion Settlement and how it turned out!
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