Fallout Shelter
DOs and DON'Ts for First-Time Overseers
Fallout Shelter
Greetings, Overseer!
With Fallout Shelter installed on your iOS or Android device, you’re prepared to begin a (hopefully) long and (potentially) glorious career in caring for your very own Vault! Soon you’ll have an entire society of Dwellers at your command – but getting there may not always be easy. With that in mind, we’ve prepared a list of do’s and don’ts to help you keep your Vault expanding, producing, and thriving.
DO plan for the future
Placing rooms willy-nilly in your Vault will likely result in confusion once your population grows. One solution: keeping rooms of similar types grouped together, which makes it easier to collect resources and reassign Dwellers. Try digging downward as soon as you can afford it. Set aside two floors for each resource: food, water, and power. If you build a three-width room next to the elevator, then a two-width room next to that, you'll have just enough space for another elevator at the end of the floor opposite the entrance. Repeat for each resource and you'll have everything contained in one place – plus three open spaces to the left of the entrance-side elevator for housing.
But DON’T over-expand
Note that the above is a long-term plan! Be sure to take your time and build in a methodical way, because efficiency is the real key to success here. Expanding at too rapid a pace will make it tough to manage your resources and keep people happy.
DO join rooms together when possible
If you build a room of the same type next to an existing room, the two will automatically join together, up to a width of three. There's a great benefit in joining rooms together: Dwellers who work alongside other Dwellers are happier and more productive, so getting the maximum of six Dwellers working side-by-side is good for everyone. And the more Dwellers you have in a training room, the less time it takes for everyone in the room to train.
But DON’T upgrade them beforehand
If you attempt to build a new room onto an upgraded room, they will be separate until you upgrade the second room to the level of the first. That means you’ll miss out on all the efficiencies you gain from a merged room. So whenever possible, join before upgrading.
DO arm at least one Dweller in each room
Life after the apocalypse is hard. Don't let anyone tell you any different. That being the case, your Dwellers are subject to three kinds of badness that can pop up at pretty much any time. A room can catch on fire, which is bad. A room can get infested with Radroaches, which is worse. And your whole Vault can come under attack by Raiders, which is the worst. But it's possible to be prepared for all these contingencies. First, fires: Fires are easy. Dwellers working in a room that ignites will automatically whip out fire extinguishers and fight the blaze. Radroaches are a different story, though. Unarmed Dwellers can stomp them to death, but it takes a very long time, and ends up with a room full of injured Dwellers. Raiders are similar, except they'll roam through your whole Vault until they're stopped. The best way to deal with these last two is firepower. Arming everyone is ideal, but at the very least make sure at least one Dweller in each room is packing.
But DON'T sacrifice first-line defense
That said, it's going to take a while to spread the guns around. So early on, it's helpful to keep a reserve of weapons in storage, to equip your Dwellers in the case of nastiness. Just equip anyone dealing with Radroaches or Raiders with weapons, then switch them back to fists once the Incident is over. And here's a trick for when you've built up a bit of a weapon stockpile: In addition to holding some in reserve, load up the first room to the right of your Vault door with gun-toting Dwellers; this will be the first room Raiders enter once they make it through the entrance. If you followed the advice above, this would be a three-width room, meaning you can have six well-heeled Dwellers ready to stop the Raiders immediately. You can also station two guards at your door, but with enough firepower in that first room, you might not need to.
DO explore the Wasteland regularly
As your Vault expands, you’re going to run into more and more of these Incidents. Which means you’re going to need more and more guns. That’s why you should send Dwellers out into the Wasteland, where they can acquire all kinds of weaponry. Of course, that means you’ll have at least one good weapon and one good outfit tied up for awhile (you are going to send your Dweller out with your best gear, right?), but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks.
But DON’T get greedy
Of course, there are a lot of hazards outside the Vault door. So in addition to equipping your explorer with the best gear (and as many Stimpaks and RadAways as you can spare), you’re going to want to check on their progress periodically. If it looks like things are getting too dicey out there – especially if they’re low on health and out of Stimpaks – just hit the Recall button and your Dweller will start the trek home. That return trip will be risk free, which is nice, and it’ll only take half as long as it took them to get out there in the first place, which is nicer. Also, don’t stress too much about leaving a Dweller in the Wasteland for too long; if a Dweller happens to take a dirt nap while you’re not paying attention, you can revive them by spending some CAPS.
DO work toward your Objectives
On your Pip-Boy menu, you'll see an icon that looks like a prize ribbon. This houses your Objectives, a set of goals that, if met, award a healthy chunk of CAPS – or, occasionally, a Lunchbox packed with goodies. Completing Objectives can generate a pretty regular stream of bonus income, plus occasional infusions of the extra gear – or even high-level characters and rare weapons – found in Lunchboxes.
But DON’T be a slave to them
That said, sometimes you’ll get an Objective that just isn’t in line with your current goals. Not a problem! Once a day you can dismiss one of the three Objectives and get a new one. But even if you’ve used up your allocation, don’t stress too much about it. Many Objectives will be completed through normal course of play. Just remember to collect your reward in order to trigger a new Objective!
DO get your Dwellers together
In order to grow your Vault, you'll need more Dwellers. Trouble is, there aren't a whole lot of folks just wandering around the Wasteland looking for a home. So to really expand your Vault, you'll need to have your Dwellers make some new Dwellers of their own. Just send a male and female Dweller into the Living Quarters and watch as they small talk their way into some, er, big fun. The higher their Charisma rating, the quicker, um, things will happen… but as long as the couple aren't family it will happen. And hey, look! Instant pregnancy! Soon enough you'll have a new Dweller – who will roam through the Vault until he or she reaches adulthood and can be assigned a job.
But DON'T lose track of your charges
Now, there are a few things to keep in mind before you begin a grand breeding experiment. First, note that Dwellers with a bun in the oven will run from any incident in order to protect their child – so a room staffed completely with pregnant Dwellers is effectively defenseless. Second, remember that family members will do nothing but make small talk when sent to Living Quarters together, so make sure the couple isn't related if you're interested in growing your population. And third, realize that as your Vault grows it can be a bit challenging to remember who's related to whom, or who excels in any individual S.P.E.C.I.A.L. trait. Don't forget that you can easily sort your Dweller list in a variety of ways so you can easily find whomever you need – and you can always rename any Dweller whenever you like.
Of course, these are all just suggestions! It's your Vault, and you're the Overseer. The power is in entirely in your hands. Now get down there and put that power to work. After all, society's not going to rebuild itself!
