Mistakes All Players Make That Ruin Their Experience

Highlights

• Don’t put empty rooms too close together. This spreads fires faster. Place empty rooms between rooms with Dwellers instead.
• Don’t hesitate to get the Robot to fight. Raiders always wait for Mister Handy to catch up to them in the next room after defeating it.
• Don’t forget merging rooms. Invest in merging rooms whenever possible to maximize output.

Fans of Bethesda fondly remember

Fallout

and its take on the post-apocalyptic genre. The


Fallout


universe plunged Earth into a devastated state after the Great War that turned nuclear. As a result, players begin as Dwellers of sophisticated Vaults that venture out into the world to find their destinies.

Franchise fans might wonder: while their

characters

save the world from imminent doom, what happens to the Vault they leave behind? In

Fallout Shelter

, players become Overseers of their own Vault and manage just that. And in classic

Fallout

fashion, the more stable a player’s Vault becomes, the more crises the game throws at them. What should players avoid so their Vault endures all odds, from Raider attacks to Radscorpion invasions?

Updated November 21, 2023, by Rhenn Taguiam:


The recent Fallout Day Sale and Halloween Sale have both given

Fallout Shelter

players access to a myriad of discounted items. With these, Vault Overseers can ensure their post-apocalyptic shelter remains a fun haven for its denizens. However, newcomers may find that this management survival strategy game is surprisingly more challenging than other management sims. Thankfully, players can rely on valuable tips to ensure their Vaults remain as efficient as possible.

15


Don’t Put Empty Rooms Too Close Together

This spreads fires faster.

Fallout Shelter

follows themes of the

Fallout

franchise. Survival doesn’t come easy to humanity’s remnants, since even the Vault encounters dangers the longer it stays active. Among these Disasters, Fire is perhaps the deadliest. Not only does it shut down an affected Room’s operations, but it also risks the health of Dwellers who try to stop its spread. While Fires are unavoidable throughout a playthrough, there are ways of containing the situation.

Players should avoid having empty Rooms next to each other, and place a necessary empty Room between occupied spaces. This way, Dwellers on either side can become first responders in the event of a Fire. Also, since Fire spreads between empty Rooms, having a “blocker” in place mitigates this risk.

14


Don’t Hesitate To Get The Robot To Fight

Mister Handy can help fend of enemies.

If players are lucky, they may get at least one Mister Handy assigned to their Vault. Like Mister Handies in other

Fallout


games

, these robots act as assistants that can help manage the Vault’s activities without Dweller interference. This frees up Dwellers to do other tasks, such as develop romances. Unlike Dwellers with permadeath, a destroyed Mister Handy not only explodes in a nuke-like fashion, but can also be revived for 2,000 Caps.

This last part is crucial for Mister Handy’s practicality in a Vault, making them excellent defensive measures against Raiders. When Raiders invade a floor with a Mister Handy, they will wait in each Room until Mister Handy catches up with them and tries to fight them. This should give players enough time to assign other Dwellers to fight the Raiders without risking Rooms being looted.

13


Don’t Forget Merging Rooms

Merged rooms give the highest value.

In

Fallout Shelter,

each player’s Vault has Floors further divided into Rooms. Among these, Production Rooms are the most important for the Vault’s sustenance. Rooms can be merged into groups of two or three, and each grouping can be upgraded up to three levels.

While fully upgrading a merged three-Room set can be expensive, this yields the best result for players. Higher-Tier setups of merged Rooms can around double the Resource generated, ensuring the Vault has enough material to support its Dwellers without micromanagement. Such setups also incentivize maximizing the location and setup of Rooms. This helps avoid the confusion of multiple one-Room and two-Room setups for the same Resource.

Basic gear still gives bonuses.

Fallout Shelter

allows players to equip Dwellers with gear that changes their appearance, similar to armor and weapons in the mainline

Fallout


series

. Starting with the traditional Vault Suit, Dwellers can get Outfits that fit

Fallout

‘s post-apocalyptic wasteland. The same goes for Weapons, which range from reliable baseball bats to powerful firearms. While players who get low-level gear may be tempted to throw these items away, they can be a saving grace in emergencies.

Even low-tier gear can provide some sort of buff to SPECIAL Skills and damage. This is significantly better than facing Raiders and other threats bare-handed. When it comes low-level items, players are better off giving them to a Dweller and replacing this equipment when they get better ones.

11


Don’t Ignore The First Floor

The first floor can delay threats.

No matter how much players upgrade their Vault Door,

Fallout

threats such as Raiders, Deathclaws, and Feral Ghouls will always find a way to destroy it. This can send the Vault into panic as Dwellers rush to save what’s left of the Rooms ravaged by these hostile elements. However, players can avoid panicked Dwellers through proper positioning. After all, no one’s stopping Vault Overseers from situating their strongest Dwellers in the Room next to the Vault.

At first glance, this move seems to place Dwellers in unnecessary danger. Remember, though, that putting lower-risk Rooms near the Vault Door should keep Production Rooms and Storage Rooms away from extreme threats. With this in mind, having the best-equipped Dwellers stay as close to the Vault Door as possible should help the Vault deal with threats. This leaves only a few already-damaged hostiles as easy pickings for the rest of the Vault’s denizens.

10


Don’t Get Another Column Of Elevators

Many Elevators Limit Production Value

Players might love the thrill of adding elevators to their

dream

Vault. However, players need to consider that, counting the original elevator column, they have space for only nine rooms on a single floor. Additionally, most single rooms in

Fallout Shelter

can extend to fit three fully upgraded rooms, maximizing their production output. In turn, a floor can have three sets of fully upgraded rooms at the cost of those that floor’s room spaces.

While it’s perfectly fine to add a second elevator and work with eight room spaces, it potentially becomes counterintuitive in the long run. After all, this layout at the most can fit two three-set rooms and one two-set room.

9


Don’t Put Rooms After The Vault Door

Functional Rooms After The Vault Door Are Always At Risk

In games like

Fallout Shelter

where invaders are a constant threat, maximizing floor area (at least, the first floor) may actually be counterintuitive. When Raiders from the remnants of the Great War attack Vaults, they attack all Rooms on a single floor before going down. To give Overseers time to prepare, it’s best to leave the first floor unoccupied.

Doing this strategy avoids unnecessary resource depletion while Raiders attack the room. Additionally, this gives the Overseer some time to drag Dwellers to attack the Raiders. A good alternative is to equip Dwellers in the closest room to the entrance with the highest-damage weapons to maximize DPS for defense.

8


Don’t Upgrade Rooms Too Quickly

This Encourages The Game To Up Difficulty

Overseers who see their CAPS number go up will be tempted to go on an upgrade bonanza to see their floors bloom. However, players who can afford to upgrade their rooms give the game a sign to up the ante in terms of threats and risks. This also explains why the game can throw “unbeatable” challenges to new players in the early game.

Instead, players should take the time to properly level up their Dwellers first before leveling up their respective rooms. Ideally, players should find a “groove” that allows them to acquire resources at a regular rate before upgrading or adding new rooms. This means not just getting enough resources, but also medication for quests, and money via quests.

7


Don’t Send Dwellers Out Willy-Nilly

Powerful dwellers can die, leading to wasted collections.

Overseers can slowly acquire enough high-level Dwellers to send to the Wasteland to get supplies and CAPS. Unfortunately, staying too short in the Wasteland won’t net any good loot. However, staying too long might kill the Dweller and force players to expend CAPs to revive them. Instead of sending all Dwellers to the Wasteland at once, try a “rotation” of two teams for their Dwellers.

First, they send out Team A to gather supplies and recall them as soon as they hit the 50% HP mark. While Team A is on the way home, send Team B to collect in their stead. This guarantees no unnecessary deaths and the continuous gathering of supplies. This also leaves room for players to focus on sending in their strongest Dwellers to tackle harder quests, especially in both dangerous and scary locations.

6


Don’t Impulse Buy

Emergencies happen often.

Another reason not to spend CAPS is emergency funding. In the real world, people often build an emergency fund to ensure they have “backup” savings if things ever go south. In

Fallout Shelter

, Overseers shouldn’t feel too confident once they see an influx of CAPS coming their way. Instead of spending too much on upgrades, players need to consider other kinds of purchases.

For instance, reviving Dwellers in the Wasteland and even Mr. Handy costs a ton of CAPS. It’s ideal to save at least 2,000 CAPS per Handy, and at least 1,000 CAPS for every Dweller sent in the Wasteland. Removing debris blocking the way also costs CAPS.

5


Don’t Hesitate To Min-Max

The best is better than average.

Overseers will inevitably encounter Dwellers with a certain high-value SPECIAL stat. Thanks to experiences with RPGs, players will likely want to even out the odds by equipping them with gear that raises their other stats. However, mediocre SPECIAL stats won’t maximize gains for rooms.

It’s important to remember that

Fallout Shelter

pays more attention to overall management than just individual characters. In turn, rooms get higher resource output whenever they have Dwellers that excel in their required SPECIAL stats. As such, players may as well amplify a Dweller’s powerhouse SPECIAL stat with gear or with training.

4


Don’t Ignore Recipes

Recipes unlock more powerful gear.

As in more recent

Fallout

games, players of

Fallout Shelter

can obtain recipes that allow them to craft items. But why bother using recipes when Dwellers may encounter these items in the Wasteland? In these situations, players need to remember that securing the advantage early guarantees survival in deadly situations. If they can craft that Brotherhood of Steel weapon in the Workshop, they should do so immediately.

This strategy ensures that Dwellers have the best gear, especially weapons, at their disposal. Additionally, Dwellers going out to the Wasteland or on Quests need the most powerful weapons, since they’re running on limited medicine and without reliable backup.

3


Don’t Stay In The Vault For Too Long

This can pave the way for hazards.

As the old adage goes, sometimes, the only way to win the game is “not to play.” The same principle applies in

Fallout Shelter.

Players deep into their playthrough might notice that more disasters happen the more they spend time in a session. These range from good things such as Dwellers discovering buildings while traveling, to a vicious attack from Radscorpions.

Interestingly, players can avoid unfortunate

events

by playing in short spurts. In theory, players need just a few minutes per session to gather resources, send or recall Dwellers on missions, and fix rooms as needed. Doing this may lower the occurrence of pesky Raider attacks.

2


Don’t Hesitate To Plan Ahead

Planning can conserve resources.

Thankfully,

Fallout Shelter

isn’t an endless tower sim, and there’s a 25-floor limit to each Vault. This stat, plus a preview of available rooms via the Build menu, alongside the fact that players can use nine rooms on each floor, will give players a good idea of what they can build for their dream Vault. Instead of just “going with the flow,” the strategic Overseer shouldn’t be ashamed to plan ahead.

Planning ahead allows Overseers to maximize their projected resource output and Dweller management. Proper planning can help Overseers build their ideal layout.

1


Don’t Hesitate To Kick Out Dwellers

Maximize resources by ensuring everyone has a role.

Overseers who have played the game for a couple of days will understand how difficult it can be to acquire new Dwellers. So why kick out potential assets in the Vault? Higher-level gameplay (which occurs the deeper the Vault gets) will merit more risks from the game. In turn, players need the best Dwellers to maximize resources, defense, and even exploration.

If players get Dwellers with extremely low or below-average stats, they should start kicking them out. Likewise, players should make it a habit to train their Dwellers in their strongest SPECIAL stat. Alternatively, gear them with strong gear like Minutemen-themed armor as soon as possible, so they maximize their potential.