Rex Review - Fallout 4 Survival Tips

My buddy Major Rex plays Fallout 4 a lot.

When he gets bored, he just makes a new character.

He plays on Survival, the hardest level you can play. In Survival you suffer fatigue, hunger, thirst and pestilence (I might have added that last one).

So I thought I'd give a Survival character a try.

The most annoying aspect is you can't save the game. You get an auto-save each time you rest, and if you ever played FO4, you know that beds just aren't that easy to find.

If you die, you go back to the (only) saved game you have – the last spot you slept. Played for forty minutes and some radroach kills you? Yeah. You'll see that pest again.

Oh, and there's no fast travel. Now when one of my settlements come under attack I have to wonder – is it worth the trek across the countryside to try to help? Or will I die in the attempt?

I have no idea yet what the consequences of failing to help are – and I've failed often.

I finally went to the Major after a couple of false starts. Here's the Major Method

Build a character with the following SPECIAL stats:

• Strength 5
• Perception 4
• Endurance 3
• Charisma 6
• Intelligence 6
• Agility 2
• Luck 2

When you find the SPECIAL book in Shaun's room in Sanctuary, add that point to Strength.

The FIRST skill you pick up when you level is LOCKPICK. Let's face it. You need to be able to open things in the Wasteland.

When you level again grab the perk for +20 to health.

Then grab the +10 to resistances.

Now maybe you can survive to the next level and not die so much.

The Major added that you want to level your Armorer and Gun Nut, but don't do them separately!

Gain two points and do them both at the same time. Once you upgrade Gun Nut, the enemies become harder.

Don't upgrade them until you have enough materials to enhance your armor and weapons, though. (I find glue is a problem.)

Once the Major can create a good 5.56 mm sniper rifle, that becomes his main weapon.

The Major also believes in strong supply lines.

He builds a recruitment beacon in each settlement. For most of them, once he hits 12 people, he turns it off. (Maybe he said 8 people.) He'll send one person to another settlement, and immediately assign him as a trader. That gives your settlement access to other materials.

Yeah, I've never managed to do this successfully.

I'll be honest. I haven't implemented this strategy yet. I'm struggling to develop a “stealth” character in survival, with 8 Agility and 8 Luck.

I die a lot.

Time to re-roll and try the Major Method.