As the Sole Survivor emerging from Vault 111, rounding up a rag-tag crew of companions can make your journey through the Commonwealth less lonely and more successful.
With over 13 possible allies offering varied bonuses beyond just their base stats, the key is matching a companion to complement your character‘s skills, ethics and playstyle. Stealth snipers pair well with long range support allies, while melee tanks thrive with bullet sponge companions soaking damage. Charismatic negotiators bring companions with social skills to unlock new paths.
This definitive guide breaks down the top companions in Fallout 4 best suited for common player archetypes – including information on their base stats, damage outputs, resistances, carrying capacity, likes/dislikes to unlock affinity perks, locations to recruit them, and requirements before they‘ll join you.
I‘ll also share my personal anecdotes questing with each companion which may help you decide who best fits your playstyle and the shared adventure you want to experience together in Fallout 4‘s post-nuclear Commonwealth wasteland.
Why Choose the Right Companion?
While companions contribute firepower and skills to your adventures, their true value lies in the affinity perks unlocked when reaching maximum fondness for your character.
I‘ve found through painful trial-and-error that companion affinity hinges heavily on understanding their likes, dislikes and moral perspectives on situations before they join you. Actions going forward will cause affinity to rise or fall – so choose wisely if you wish to unlock their special perks!
You can only bring one human companion at a time, so pick someone who fits your gameplay style. Lone wandering characters forgo human companions but Dogmeat exempts you from the Lone Wanderer perk‘s powerful bonuses. Meanwhile Robot allies crafted via Automatron don‘t count against companion limits, so bring both!
Dogmeat
Skills: Stealth, finding hidden items
Perks: None
Carry Weight: 150 lbs
Location: Red Rocket station near Sanctuary Hills
Dogmeat was my first companion encountered in Fallout 4 early on, and his obedient temperament grew on me over 30+ hours adventuring together. As man‘s best friend he quickly locates enemies and hidden lootables, making tedious scavenging faster.
His small quiet frame suits stealth playstyles, allowing sneak attack bonuses and evasion. While lacking punch himself, Dogmeat distracts foes allowing you to line up accurate deadly shots. What he won‘t do is negatively judge actions – making him perfect for morally grey characters.
Radiation immunity lets you bring Dogmeat along on irradiated quests when no human dare go – places guardsing valuable pre-war technology and gear.
I recommend Dogmeat for scavenger and stealth builds in the early game thanks toloot detection assistance, stealth attack boosts, and radiation resistance – a welcome companion when you‘re still underpowered facing enemies alone. As a non-human he also doesn‘t interfere with the powerful Lone Wanderer perk!
Deacon
Skills: Stealth, intelligence gathering
Perks: Cloak and Dagger (+20% sneak attack damage, 4x Stealth Boy duration)
Carry Weight: 120 lbs
Location: Old North Church
Deacon was my personal favourite companion for playing a stealth sniper build. His covert skills specialize in subterfuge, evasion, disguise and infiltration.
During our 30 hours together Deacon‘s assistance infiltrating restricted zones to gather intel without firing a shot proved invaluable progressing the story with Railroad faction quests. Inside firefights however he was only modestly helpful.
At maximum affinity, Deacon gifted me two stealth boosting abilities with his Cloak and Dagger perk – a 20% increase to sneak attack damage to drop unaware enemies quicker (my preferred tactic), and quadrupled duration for precious Stealth Boys to evade danger (saved me many times!).
For melee or heavy weapons characters Deacon is not recommended. But if you appreciate subtlety over brute force when progressing quests, Deacon can unlock alternate routes and endings unavailable to gung-ho destroy-all-obstacles approaches.
Strong
Skills: High health, heavy lifting
Perks: Heavy Lifter (+25 carry weight)
Carry Weight: 270 lbs
Location: Trinity Tower
As a towering super mutant, Strong doesn‘t comprehend the meaning of stealth or finesse – but for direct heavy lifting and soaking damage he was invaluable during my second playthrough as a tank melee build character.
With health points exceeding mine and staggering damage resistance to shrug off enemy bullets, Strong draws fire while I flank attack. His Heavy Lifter perk near end game helped transport an obscene amount of looted gear to merchants barely overencumbered.
If you‘re able to withstand his gleefully violent tendencies towards problem solving, Strong contributes tremendous carrying capacity to prevent leaving behind profitable salvage, while giving melee builds valuable room to outmaneuver raining enemy gunfire.
Just be warned – Strong despised my lawful peaceful solutions between factions, and egged me on attacking anyone showing even vague signs of hostility. Might proved right in Strong‘s worldview. Sleeping near his loud snoring though was…challenging.
Piper
Skills: Persuasion, journalism, stealth
Perks: Gift of Gab (+100% XP for Charisma checks)
Carry Weight: 207 lbs
Location: Diamond City entrance
For my third charismatic savant playthrough, Piper rapidly became my best friend through hours of patient legendary farming thanks to her Gift of Gab perk. The doubled XP from successful charisma speech check conversations added upquickly.
Her innate strengths suit non-combat oriented diplomatic builds able to negotiate ideal outcomes. Piper helped resolve quests peacefully through dialogue skill checks unlocking paths a violent entry would fail. Plus I enjoyed hearing her eccentric theories and takes on situations.
For stealth builds, Piper capably sneaks and picks basic locks expanding available routes through areas. Her relatively low damage output limits intense combat usage, although her quick-firing pistol dispatches minor enemies acceptably.
If you envision ruling the Commonwealth through expert rhetoric vs brute force conquest, bring along investigator Piper to help uncover secrets and alternate paths with diplomatic potential.
Ada
Skills: Ranged damage, weight carrying
Perks: None
Carry Weight: 285 lbs
Location: Random encounter
Ada was my assaultron heavy weapons platform companion for my 4th technology focused playthrough. Her integrated custom modifications including Tesla and plasma weaponry shred groups of enemies from long range while I contribute precision rifle shots for short work on most encounters even at higher difficulties.
Her greatest assets are immunity to radiation, poison and fall damage thanks to being a robot. This allowed fearless exploring of highly hazardous areas with profitable rare materials unreachable to human travellers while Ada tanks enemies fearlessly.
She also frequently carried over 285 lbs letting me take nearly every valuable item from dungeons to disassemble for crafting upgrades without overburdening.
Ifregexes a ranged damage dealing humanoid robot packing huge firepower, consider bringing assaultron Ada. She never complains about quest decisions, toggles combat aggression intensity on request, and her robotic analysis of situations was often thought provoking. Just keep her away from hacking terminals!
Curie
Skills: Medicine, general utility
Perks: Combat Medic
Carry Weight: 93 lbs (Miss Nanny) / 180 lbs (Synth)
Location: Vault 81
Curie offered invaluable assistance throughout my survivalist minimal HUD playthrough thanks to her Combat Medic perk‘s instant 100HP boosts during deadly battles when health dipped below 10% – giving a second chance to recover or use aid items just before death.
Her initial Miss Nanny robotic form has mediocre damage output, but shines at radiation immunity and administering Stimpaks via her inventory. Once granted a first generation Synth body at max affinity, Curie gains improved carrying capacity, combat capabilities plus hacking and lockpicking skills – becoming the most versatile companion in Fallout 4.
For those desiring a loyal medic by your side able to adapt as the dangers intensify, consider rescuing Curie from Vault 81 and boosting affinity to transform her into an advanced humanoid companion whose devotion to you never wavers even when the odds seem impossible.
Summary
While allies can bail you out of tight situations you can‘t handle alone or expand the adventure into new zones and storyline possibilities, their true worth lies in unlocking special affinity perks by understanding their perspectives when they join you.
Pay attention to gaining companion affinity through actions they like vs dislike based on their values. Embarking on this journey together in Fallout 4‘s wasteland forms bonds between yourself and followers amounting to more than just their tag skills or base stats.
I hope my personal anecdotes questing with various companions provides insight into how their specialized strengths synergize with different playstyles and builds. The list above aims to help matchmake the best companions in Fallout 4 to common player archetypes for an ideal shared adventure that complements your strengths!
Who will you choose as a companion for your journey through Fallout 4‘s compelling post-nuclear narrative? The story awaiting you together holds more intrigue than you might imagine…
