Surviving Survival Mode Ep. 1: Starting Stats & Perks - Fallout 4 Tips & Tricks

Fallout 4 Tips & Tricks: Surviving Survival Mode Ep. 1
A new miniseries on how to survive in Survival Mode. There will be 7 episodes altogether, and this first one is about your starting stats and perks in Survival Mode, and also which perks you're better off NOT taking.
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Recorded on the PS4.
Background music is "Last Kiss Goodnight" by Kevin MacLeod
Outro music is The Main Theme from the Fallout 4 Official Soundtrack.

[@Jay-rb5pg]

Just a note Endurance does not give you more AP for sprinting it simply reduces the amount of AP sprinting uses. The only SPECIAL that effects AP is agility.

[@sdturtle2007]

To be fair, this would work vise versa if V.A.T.S wasn't a thing.

[@michaelnager6059]

Yeah with regard to the Aqua Boy/Girl perk here's a reason to get it really early on. When you get down to GrayGarden you can jump in the water and swim all the way to the front door of the Railroad. If you have played through once then you already know the password to get in. Do a few missions for the Railroad and you get ballistic weave. Once you have that you can craft really strong clothes which are light to carry, give you more protection than armour pieces, and give you various boosts to perks.

[@shaneespinoza5343]

This is still good advice, three years later

[@Carlos-b4p4k]

@@shaneespinoza5343 6 years for me lol

[@edmartin875]

Still good advice 9 years later in 2024. Also it gives a few good shortcuts when you have to travel far. Deathclaw, Radscorpion, or Bear chasing you ? Go swimming.

[@geigercolten]

Great Vid. I’m a loot goblin so I’m a strong back and lone wanderer fan boy

[@VernonUnstable]

So speaking from the vantage point of a hardcore min/max style of play, you NEVER pick up the bobbleheads until you've got 10 points in an area... if you have 10 perception and pick up the bobblehead you go up to 11. However, if you pick up the bobbleheads early and go from say 9 to 10 using it you will not be able to achieve a native 11 points in that stat again.

[@edmartin875]

Granted a higher than 10 stat point is handy in some cases, but I've never had an absolute NEED for such. And I'm not one of those players that revel in getting the highest possible stat. I'm fine with 10.

[@seasplitter7388]

New to Fallout 4 in 2023 and this was a great help!!!! I’m a huge fan of survival games so this was much needed to get it started. Have my sub!😊

[@HawkFest1]

The thing is that when you receive rads, on top of losing max VP _and_ AP, you're also more prone to get sick especially after you sleep (when waking up, if you went to bed with rads in the body). Thus... 13:35 - *Aquaboy is a must for me*, I'd add for many styles playing Survival mode: it's much faster to travel by waters than by land, just cross that river instead of going far for some bridge, and I was able to circumvent CTD zones that way (Mordagen Beach and the Castle are much closer. with the Airport in between, and all the northern side is easily accessible from Mordagen)... However I only get the first skill (1st perk level) for swimming without rads : I don't really need to hide underwater often, and would rather use that skill point for another perk (Though it can be great for "surviving" an otherwise fatal fight with lots of foes, as long as you have the sea or some pond/river nearby). Else it would be a Rad-X / RadAway + 2x water dance... More over, RadAway removes all bonus given by food and drugs, and you wouldn't want to use it in the middle of a fight... On top, it adds up to the probability for you to get sick ! *I only use RadAway in the mix for concocting **_refreshing beverages_**, which are far more effective than Stimpacks* (hence I can save skill points since I don't use the Stimpack/Radaway chemical perk - I don't remember its name). Another tip for survival: *get the BOS vertibirds fast, that's the "Fast Travel" of the Survival Mode!* They can be available without having to dump other factions.

[@edmartin875]

Roger that. It's a "must" for Survival but a "nice to have" in other Difficulty levels.

[@gucciflipflops9193]

I watched a lot of these videos and once I watched yours…. I immediately made my new character the exact same! What a great video and very informative! And I totally agree about the aquaboy/aquagirl perk… who wants to spend the game like a fish?

[@rathbone4561]

IK im late to the game and havent played a normal fallout 4 play through but Im going survial my first time playing and glad I came across this vid and your channel.Looking forward to watching the other vids in this guide,ty.

[@i3ioplayer179]

Same I’m playing survival mode my first play through too and I keep getting sick so I’m here now 😅

[@ngythe1king]

These are amazing tips even four years later! Thanks for the video!

[@gippula]

Best thing is to start with a new character. Just started this awesome game again ❤️

[@vincentm.7462]

I love listening to everyone’s different strategies. None of them are wrong it’s fun seeing the varying perspectives

[@myballzachertz5607]

Same, Hope you had fun playing Fallout. Just started playing survival for first time yesterday

[@vincentm.7462]

@@myballzachertz5607 yea I enjoy the challenge. good luck and save often! And never forget how much drugs can help in a pinch. I love jet

[@justinkirk5165]

I have a tip for you guys. When you hide behind cover you can poke out and still use vats. When you exit vats you'll get back behind cover. I've been smashing survival since I found this out

[@MBTIinRealLife]

In my opinion, using vats is too op and it should not exist in the game at all. What's the point in challenging yourself with survival mode, if you make it easier by using vats?

[@antoniadavies741]

Great help, starting stats are brilliant. For my first time on survival these videos have been a great help.

[@123kane5]

Thanks dovahkiin, love fallout 4, playing off and on since release on a few characters, appreciate the breakdown for survival, never played it on that difficulty on console, you helped a lot.

[@Jam07940]

Great video just started F4 survival fed up with F76 and also quickly with survival . But you have given me new enthusiasm so thanks!

[@thomascooper9915]

I'm a experienced fallout player who has played fallout 3 and completed FNV on hardcore mode. I will use your build on my survival character for fallout 4, also i like using rifles and melee builds but i've created and used just about every build u can in fallout. Thanks so much for the tips i hope it serves me well.

[@christopherbob2093]

Just found your channel today and I'm a fan. =] When I started my survival character, on PS4, I maxed out intelligence, to level as quickly as possible, then distributed the rest as evenly as possible between Perception and Agility. My intent was a pure stealth character. Getting hit in the beginning HURT. However I'm around level 35 now and am in love with my character build.

[@vanpeters9751]

I did 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 2, 2

[@NandoMandoLeAndoCalando]

Survival is a really harsh mode, but it's so much fun. Thanks so much for the vid. It definitely helps.

[@billlyell8322]

Nice video well thought out. But putting points in strength at the start is a waste when there are 2 sets of power armor that are super easy to get near the start of the game. Likewise I would not put any points in endurance that I don't need to to get a perk. Both strength and endurance can be raised later with extra points. Both are great for melee characters but unless you have a high blitz perk I wouldn't on survival. Better to use a light pistol for lots of shots up closer or a long range rifle to reach out and touch the enemies. Again both are easy to get early game. Therefore I think luck is a much better option than both strength and endurance combined due the the damage perks you can add.

[@Hedgehobbit]

You are sooooooo wrong about Aqua Boy! It's completely OP in Survival Mode. Not only does it let you take a quick dip to avoid any bad guy (even Mirelurks can't kill you underwater) but once you've fought your way to GreyGarden, you can hop in the river and get all the way across the map in complete safety. Diamond City, Bunker Hill, The Castle, Atom Cat's Garage, Finch Farm, Egret Marina, Warwick Homestead, Spectacle Island, Taffington Boathouse, Boston Airport, Nordhagen Beach, the Railroad HQ, Kingport Lighthouse, and Coastal Cottage can all be reached with minimal danger even at the earliest levels.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

+Hedgehobbit That's why I said "...unless you plan on swimming halfway across the map." If you plan on doing that, then my all means, take Aqua Boy. ;) I personally wouldn't want to do that, but that's just me.

[@Hedgehobbit]

+Wasteland Dovahkiin I'm assuming that you don't swim for RP reasons as it's the fastest and safest way to travel before you get Vertibirds.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

You assume correctly.

[@Tyler_Lalonde-]

+Hedgehobbit get high endurance first it helps a lot with the ap drain.

[@Hedgehobbit]

I don't use VATS so AP doesn't really matter much to me.

[@awsomedude1able]

I don't know about anybody else, but I found having perks like Intimidation and Wasteland Whisperer to be useful. Pacifying one or two raiders in a group of four of five could mean the difference between life and death. For me, it has.

[@zihongezrali6053]

From my survival playthrough, you don't need endurance, a full set of heavy synth/combat armor can protect you from everything except explosives. Also, use auto weapons to take down your enemies before they hit you

[@DK-ep2ov]

I've played through survival multiple times, and what I can say for SURE is get as much endurance as possible. Being able to sprint a ton is a huge gamechanger, plus it lets you tank things like mines and frag grenades which are very common. Would also definitely recommend getting "critical banker" and "better criticals" which requires Luck 7 to deal with any massive threat instantly (like Fat Man wielding enemies, radscorpions). HP truly is king after you get some decent DR+ER. You really don't need a specific legendary for survival, a long range rifle and a crit modded pistol is all you need. It surprises me how nobody recommends the crit modified weapons... that mod alone has saved me many times.

[@tenchu3770]

do you sprint in power armor or does it consume more?

[@Tank-zc3yl]

Thanks for the tips, haven't thought about this stuff into depth.

[@Daednumai]

Just discovered your channel, really good tips :)

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Thank you, welcome :)

[@N8pr0x]

Wow!! Thanks for the information. Every time I tried I wimped out.. :(

[@petermcgannon9699]

Thank you for the informative video currently starting a new survival mode as I recently bought nearly all dlc accept for far harbour, the one I really wanted of course but it's the most costly on ps store

[@jedrickelite7779]

Every build can have success in Survival because survival is directly affected by your gameplay more than perks and stats. This being said, crits in early game survival will help you defeat the more powerfull enemies before they one-shot you. Also, science for the water purifiers really helps getting overpowered gear and weapons early on. I don't like Lone Wanderer early because having a companion is much more uselfull, 2 guns are better than 1, and you will also take less damage because enemies aren't shooting at you. You also get the lover's embrace 15% exp bonus all the time if you have romanced your companion. Lone Wanderer is only really good at lvl 50 for the extra damage. Anyhow, still liked you video, keep up the good work.

[@christophercollins3632]

I’ve only ever played Survival. And blind. I’ve just recently allowed myself to dabble in a little research. Mechanics mostly. My most recent build is a challenge-run of sorts. I’m at level 35 now. It’s melee/explosives only, with pistols as a last resort. And just Dogmeat (no affinity perks allowed). There’s no way to abuse the well-known glitch and force Dogmeat to carry infinite items, which I’ve always done before with other companions. My starting stats were S7 P1 E7 C1 I1 A7 L3. My first two points went to L, to access idiot savant early. Then Blink. Then Rooted. Those last 2 perks form the foundation of survivability for melee. With them, a simple tire iron taken from the mongrel as you leave Sanctuary will serve you well for quite awhile. At level 35, S9 P1 E11 C4 I1 A9 L4. Sneak Rank 3 is important, not just aiding in positioning safely for Blink, or escape, but to not die from random traps and mines. Melee means getting close, quickly, and you don’t have the luxury of combing the floors every step of the way. Moving Target because you have to eat Lead sometimes to get close enough. And the last rank means you’ll have plenty of AP for attacks when you’re close enough to unload Blitz. Plus, it’s great for running everywhere in survival. Solar Powered Rank 2. One helluva convenience perk!!! RadAway sucks because of how tired you get. If you’re trying to make use of your Adrenaline Boost, needing to sleep sooner is bad. Doctors, clinics aren’t scarce, but you’re already running everywhere already. Save yourself the trip. Plus, you won’t need to carry as much clean food and water, as you can eat and drink anything you find during half the day. Being full HP nearly all the time rocks. Oh, +2STR/+2END has many uses, besides combat. Haul more, faster. Aquaboy 1. Swimming will cut travel times substantially. Plus, encounter-free. Get the magazine to swim 25% faster in Malden Drainage Ditch. Indispensable quality of life improvement in Survival. Medic 2. Sure, food heals. And it’s the way to go early on. Get the double meat magazine in Sunshine Tidings. But Stimpacks are percentage based. Once you’re where I am now, E11 at level 35, you’ll need a full buffet to heal. That’s a lot of carry weight you can eliminate. Consider rank 4, doubling the heal speed. Pop a couple stimpacks, and they stack their heal speed. Convenience perk? Save time, water, carry weight, and get back into the fight fast. Admantium Skeleton 2. Melee builds get hit. Being crippled is certain death. And requires emergency measures. Dig into the medicine cabinet and open wide. Or, don’t get crippled. You still took damage, but now a stimpack fixes your HP, recovers limb damage, and you didn’t get put into a life-or-death situation. An ounce of prevention or a pound of cure. Chem Resistant 1. I’m not suggesting a chems build. Just, that Jet is almost a necessity in melee. If nothing else as an oh-shit-button. It’s a bad feeling to be deep in a mission and proc an addiction. It’s convenience, but while you’re there, get rank 2, and enjoy all that good shit without seeing the inside of rehab. That’s the build. Sure, I’ve got ActionGirl to get places faster, and not need to fall back to wait for AP to regen. Lone Wanderer, because it’s a Dogmeat-only build. I’ll progressively level big leagues (I just put my first point in at level 34). I might get Inspirational, because Dogmeat dies a lot, especially when I’m chucking explosives. I’d love to have Local Leader, as Supply Routes makes settlement building infinitely easier. Plus, store your mods and uncooked ingredients anywhere, and use them wherever. Save a ton of carry weight when you can take only what you need for that mission, as well as trips to tweak gear. But I’ve been high charisma before, and it’s really good, so we’ll see. I’m loathe to take perception, as it does nothing for melee, but I’m trying to not use anything but explosives for ranged, and the extra damage and radius will help, eventually. Plus, I could craft fragmentation, bottlecap, and not just Molotov. Lifegiver 3 is tempting because it’s a constant percentage heal outside combat. Great for keeping topped off between fights, saving carry weight. Solar Powered 3 is similar, except it works in combat, but only outside during the day. Blacksmith is for fun. You can buy several of the weapons with their max upgrade, and transfer to a legendary. But many of the upgrades can’t be bought. Variety is the spice of life. I’ve already dominated with pickman’s Blade enough. Armorer, cuz Ballistic Weave is dope. But not make or break. High END just works. The ultimate convenience is Strong Back. Melee, Medic 2, Amantium 2, Lifegiver 3, doesn’t need much carry weight. But being able to walk normally overencumbered is just the best. That’s all I want it for. To not slow walk while equipping settlers, or shopping, or finding Dogmeat to take some stuff. I even want rank 4, just for the rare time when I’m willing to haul a truckload a great distance.

[@tommydude6735]

There is one suggestion I have: If you plan on going rifleman or pistolero as your mian weapon perk, getting Luck 3 to get Bloody Mess is really useful. That extra damage adds up.

[@CrazyFrog94x]

Great video! Well made, to the point, nice sound quality, helpful, entertaining.

[@HAWKENMARKSMAN]

This Was A Pretty Good Guide, Thanks For The Tips And Tricks.I Was Hesitated To Try Survival But Now I'm Gonna Try It.

[@SledgeMain69]

This was awesome! You answered a lot of questions I was having and I loved they way you addressed it in the your video! :)

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Thank you! I'm glad it helped you out. :)

[@GameWithBo]

Nuka World gauntlet was a real challenge on survival mode

[@nicholascauton9648]

Survival mode is honestly the best way to play Fallout 4. And I’m saying this as a New Vegas fan.

[@ianelliott5403]

Your voice in conjunction with the background music makes this a very calming video haha

[@leonatis1084]

Thanks for the helpful video, Keep up the great work. I am using a stealth build right now and its working out great so far.

[@ВячеславДолгов-у5ь]

Chemist perk is really OP in survival mode. Jets and Psychojets will allow you to kil everything no matter your build is. You might have problems with managing thirst at the beginning, but with time thirst won't be a problem

[@SpartanWolf222]

Thank you for this video. I feel like I made a huge mistake when I invested points entirely in SPECIALS at the get-go to get my inventory maxed out ASAP. (I was still investing some points into things like more health, stimpacks, and other similar buffs.) Wish I knew how Endurance worked, but that's all right.

[@michiganjack1337]

11:22 I can't remember how many times a Survival run has ended due to a miss placed Molotov Cocktail. Admittedly a often overlooked perk, Demolition Expert is super helpful in Survival mode. 🖖🗽

[@edmartin875]

My own Molotovs have killed me more than I can count. I don't use them anymore. Demo Expert also increases the blast damage from the enemies explosives too.

[@peterbailey858]

Endurance is for people expecting to take a lot of damage. (You said yourself, "Don't get hit".) Charisma is worthless outside putting 2 points into it and then adding the bobblehead for Lone Wanderer. I say that because Settlements are all over the place and with the decreased carry capacity it's not worth constantly picking up supplies for mods. It's best to just write down what you need when you need it and go look for it then. This is what I'm doing(Starting Stats): 2 Strength: Opens up Armorer with the addition of the bobblehead putting you at three. Get it if you need it. 9 Perception: VATS related stat, rifleman, locksmith(3/4), sniper. Concentrated Fire is bad considering the goal is to 1 shot, Penetrator could be a good add but I haven't had any issues, maybe I'm just patient. 1 Endurance: Early game is a little frustrating but the plan is to not get hit; snipe, run, hide, return, repeat. 2 Charisma: If you want to pass Speech checks, do it with gear. With the bobblehead you're at 3 for Lone Wonderer. 3 Intelligence: Opens up Gun Nut right away, bobblehead easy to grab for Hacking(3/4). 7 Agility: Stealth related stat, Sneak, Mister Sandman, Ninja. 5 Luck(with Special Book): Idiot Savant (2/3), Better Criticals with bobblehead, add a point for Critical Banker(3/4) Mainly used for landing tough shots or killing Legendaries. Endgame stats(lvl50); S3,P10,E2,C3,I4,A8,L7 To take full advantage of Idiot Savant I sometimes go Parched(-1 INT) and/or Thirsty(-2 INT, -1PER). With so much Perception, losing 1 isn't a big deal just don't go past that. Get Overseer's Gaurdian and the Les Fusil Terrible shotgun as soon as you are able. Both are considered rifles, use one for distance and one for sniping. At level 25 or so you start one-shotting most enemies as long as you've got your OG modified to non-automatic. Do that asap because I found that the automatic version ate bullets so fast.

[@edmartin875]

Don't get hit is paramount. Sometimes 1 shot is your instant death. I love one shot, one kill, if the one dying is my enemy. Not so much if it's me.

[@enes8k9]

I tested few builds till around lvl 10 to see how different ones feel at start. But each time i had endurance 1... had NO idea it affected the chance to get sick etc, never heard or thought about it. Thanks a lot.. and to think i almost didn't click on the video :D

[@_harbinjer]

well done, even 7 years later

[@patrikhjorth3291]

I have recently started trying out Survival mode, and I'm using this build. It seems to work well, though I haven't played very far yet. The one thing that might put me off Survival mode is the inability to save. The other challenges are exciting, but I would prefer some type of checkpoint system, or autosaves when entering buildings or something like that, in stead of having to replay a long stretch of walking because of some minor (but fatal) mistake. Thanks for the vid!

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

This is the main reason why I hardly ever play survival mode. And why I won't do a let's play of it.

[@Dino2GunZ]

​@@WastelandDovahkiinjust get the camp anywhere mod

[@edmartin875]

@@Dino2GunZ Won't work for me. I play vanilla. However, there are beds or sleeping bags all over the map. Likewise, Cooking stations. Workstations all over too. I am constantly storing stuff in them for possible later retrieval, so stuff won't despawn like it would if I just dropped extra stuff. When the mood strikes me, I make a retrieval run.

[@Dino2GunZ]

@@edmartin875 camp anywhere mod does all that but if you refuse to use a mod than disregard the comment but the op has the same issue most have with survival it is the best way to get immersed in the game but has major issues the the camp mod fixes

[@KlutchAndJerel]

8:38 wait is dogmeat just stuck there forever? Lol Also these videos are the best source of info for survival. Incredible detail! 👍

[@edmartin875]

Dogmeat is a natural-born Survivor.

[@carissa1872]

Discovered your channel and you speak truth as a gamer. Also nice change from the usual male commentators. Not my usual account to comment from but I shall subscribe on that account as well. My first survival experince was horrible and im an experienced fallout player lol. Even after having the game for some time now on Xbox One, im level 57 and im still hesitant to go on survival due to the difference. Great feature bethesda, and great and informative video to assist for anyone wanting to challenge survival

[@151pyroblaze]

Carissa Nikolai I go out of my way sometimes to find a female commentator cuz males get boring lol

[@edmartin875]

@@151pyroblaze many guys talk a lot saying nothing.

[@tupacshinji605]

I only see the first four episodes. Did the other three not get made, or did they get taken down?

[@liammckee7573]

Endurance is retroactive for leveling, so I would assume it's less immediate.

[@Eramidas]

My build was nearly IDENTICAL and I made the character before watching the video haha. Only difference was I had 2 in Agility instead of 4 and put those 2 into strength. I had the exact same thought process about the later luck perks, scrapper, everything.

[@Defreitasdalton]

High Luck, High Strength, High Endurance, Low Charisma, Low Intelligence is so good imo. Idiot savant helps so much and with debuffs to intelligence from the adverse survival effects you level extremely fast.

[@jjbrooks1884]

I think having high charisma is good you can persuade people to skip hard battles and for people to give you caps also cheaper prices at vendors

[@justinandrade9709]

Hello, I enjoyed this video alot. Thank you for this information!

[@NandoMandoLeAndoCalando]

Here's a good tip... We know we can fill bottles at local ponds right? It goes from a beer bottle to dirty water? Well if you didn't know, (like me) you can instead save all those bottles and fill them up at a water pump. That way, instead of getting dirty water from some pond, you'll get purified water right off the bat.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

+OsoNegro I did know that, but thanks for the tip! I'm definitely going to be adding that the episode on managing your thirst.

[@Hedgehobbit]

+OsoNegro I accidentally found out that you can fill bottles while in Vault 111 (but not Vault 81 for some reason). So, I started the game with several purified waters already. One thing I've been doing (I think I'm up to level 12 at the moment) is to build a bed, a water pump, and a machinegun turret in every settlement I come across. They make good places to retreat to. I prefer settlements without settlers because you can build on them right away. The Drive-In and Hangman's Alley are good ones at the start of the game.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

You can't fill bottles in Vault 81? Weird. Haven't been there yet in my Survival playthrough.

[@Hedgehobbit]

+Wasteland Dovahkiin The sinks in Vault 81 are all non-functional. You can't drink from them either. At least the ones in the lavatories. I'm only in there because I happened upon a random container with 4 Fusion Cores in it right near Oberland Station while headed to Diamond City.

[@NandoMandoLeAndoCalando]

Hedgehobbit I never thought of that bed, pump, turret thing. That's actually a good idea. I'm going to try that from now on. Thanks!

[@Nox210]

I'm not sure if it's applicable in Survival Mode but if so, it's *definitely* worth noting that Endurance 'scales' with the character. In other words, Endurance increases the amount of Hit Points/Health the player gets *per* level (each and every time they level up).

[@edmartin875]

Each additional point in Endurance gives you 10 more HP. I don't know about more than 10 points in END.

[@joe6pak14]

I am on my second character in survival which I am doing as a stealthy and principle melee character. Strength = 6 Perception = 2 + 1 Special Book Endurance = 1 Charisma = 3 Intelligence = 6 Agility = 9 Luck = 1 I know what you are thinking, Endurance 1 wtf? With the chemist perk it is fairly easy to beef up your character and stacking healing items makes the hp deficit negligible. I will say that the disease increase is noticeable, but then again a good chemist can deal with this. Perks in a somewhat order of importance. Lone Wanderer Big Leagues or Iron Fist Blitz Sneak Ninja Armorer Chemist once the Int Bobblehead is found. Second tier perks Strong Back Rifleman, Gunslinger, Commando, or Heavy Gunner Science Locksmith Scrapper Hacker Medic Mister Sandman Gun Nut(I think it's overrated) I'm up to level 25 with two ranks of Strong Back and Lone Wanderer and with a little help from a Bufftat, my carry capacity is well over 300. I'll bring along a companion for the first part of run and once I get enough loot to fill them up, I'll dismiss them and continue on my own.

[@alexconnor8961]

I like how honest she was about the patience of starting survivor mode as a new player lmao!!! As someone who's literally just starting and continuously getting killed. I'm content with this lol

[@disabledoperator]

I was looking forward to hearing your combat video.

[@techsoldier8817]

I feel like Bethesda missed a trick with the Cannibal perk in Fallout 4 Survival Mode . Maybe add some strange meat recipes for some of the more refined cannibals to enjoy. Seems really messed up but it makes so much more sense to me instead of your character tearing people apart and eating it raw.

[@mrmarano]

I always devote at least 7 points to intelligence. It grants access to chemist 1, the first perk I always pick, and therefore the ability to craft antibiotics. In my most recent survival play-through, I caught an infection, parasites, and weakness within the first week.

[@liquidsleepgames3661]

So far im a diseased freak. I have parasites insomnia freakin some other disease tha deals damage periodically

[@edmartin875]

@@liquidsleepgames3661 You may want to make friends with every doctor you find.

[@jormungaurd]

Personally, my character's starting stats were 5 str, 1 per, 1 end, 6 chr, 1 int, 9 agi, and 5 lck. I don't use armor beyond a harness or a hazmat suit for high rad areas, so the armorer perk is pretty worthless to me.You're right about Cannibal perk, but it's worse than you say. I don't know if they changed from the beta, but if it's still the same then any use of the perk gives you a negative perk called "Dark Cravings", I think that's what it's called, where the only thing that will satisfy your hunger is more use of the perk and you become famished and starved much faster than normal. I tried it once in the beta and it literally changes your character into flesh eating monster because you constantly have to be searching for the next person to eat.

[@davidgray2805]

I had to stop survival mode, too much micro-managing and with Settlement management and crafting it was beyond the joke, it was 2 time-consuming but I will try it some other time.

[@rocren6246]

Survival mode is a time killer.

[@edmartin875]

@@rocren6246 Especially with those do-overs for not saving.

[@crimsondemonx]

my tips to anyone is use chem and get the chem resistance and chemist, another tip is to make sure you hunt/kill any rad stags and cook and eat they're meat the carry weight increase is helpful and it lasts a while

[@biostemm]

I thought Agility determines your AP but Endurance determines the speed at which sprinting drain said AP... Here's my suggested build: S - 3 for armorer P - 1 (goes to 2 w/ bobble head in Concord) E - 4 for lead belly, life giver (regens health at R3), and chem resistant C - 6 for local leader I - 7 for medic, gun nut, scrapper, science, and chemist (the last is super important so you can craft antibiotics) A - 3 for sneak L - 3 for scrounger and bloody mess You can take whichever weapon perk you like with this build, (just wait until you get the Perception bobble head if you want to take rifleman). Note that this is basically a non-VATS build, unless you invest in lots of Perception or gear for it later on. I also suggest that you simply sell molotovs or be super careful when using them, as they led to many a self-inflicted death for me... Regarding Aqua Boy - it allows you to cut across huge swaths of land you'd have to otherwise navigate on foot, (while avoiding enemies). One final note - if you want to bring Codsworth around with you, keep in mind that you'll need a robot repair kit to revive him, so keep that in mind if you go out with him.

[@ken_nyc__2979]

But you should have higher endurance since in Survival you are weaker and enemies are Stronger so add at least 1 or 2 extra points in Endurance

[@djswami9366]

+Barrack Obama Even with 10 endurance you die relatively easy on survival

[@ken_nyc__2979]

Not unless you have power armor lol

[@djswami9366]

+Barrack Obama Valid point

[@tedarmstrong2628]

I actually am liking this build. Will try it :)

[@CoffeeHolic93]

Wouldn't charisma 5 be better since Cabot House and the corresponding Charisma Bobblehead is readily available?

[@54brandon54]

New sub here. Thank you for making this series, I've had Fallout 4 since it first came out and I still learned new things from your content, keep up the great work.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Thank you for the sub, and welcome to my channel! :-)

[@ryjak955]

Wow I got extremely lucky! I made my character before I even decided to go into survival and just had one starter perk point away from the recommended aka 1 luck 7 charisma

[@Daredhnu]

once i get a new computer i have plans to do a survival playthrough with a variation of the "never leave sanctuary" challenge, i'll see how that goes :P (i'll allow myself to travel to abernathy farm every now and again, red rocket will also be allowed and i can explore the shore of the lake surrounding sanctuary, i might even let myself pick up preston and his crew eventually once enough time has passed in game.)

[@edmartin875]

So, "never leave sanctuary" except when you decide to leave Sanctuary.

[@NoDisturbia]

Aquaboy helps you get good armor (Silver Shroud Armor) at level 2. Just swim to downtown boston and you don't run into any enemies.

[@HigdonLuke]

You blew up the car to get to dogmeat lol. Good video. Sounds like your prepared for it.

[@edmartin875]

That is a favored place for him to die. Either the car goes or he has to heal himself.

[@TrillKump]

Music reminds me of david lynch films. Thanks for vid! Im thinking of rerolling for surv. I preferred it before patch, but i hate all the diseases!

[@edmartin875]

I hear you...What the heck is Lethargy ?

[@kimmaz4066]

I started with 10 in percepton, 10 in agility and 6 in luck, and whatever was left i put in strength. Idiot savant gives you a lot of levels very fast. Also one plus is that i can be as hungry and thirsty as i want without no negative effects to endurance, charisma and inteligence. Its working out great so far,, im lvl 20 atm.

[@WhiteSage2]

Great video earned a new subscriber.

[@mekkz4744]

New sub here! Your voice is really relaxing :) Great content!

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Welcome to the channel! :-)

[@cicero5715]

my custom build is a mix of a sharpshooter and a strong melee character

[@TrueFlyer28]

Noodles Watermelons stuff like that can help your hunger and thirst I believe at the same time

[@edmartin875]

Correct.

[@oaksparoakspar3144]

Not bad reasoning on the build, but not optimal. The best build for Survival is 10 Charisma, 10 Intelligence, and the rest in Endurance. Strength, Perception, Agility, and Luck start at 1. The Charisma is so that you pass every speech check, get lots of settlers, and do as good as you can when it comes to prices (10 Charisma alone is not sufficient for best prices, but it is close). The Intelligence is so that you level as quickly as possible. Endurance keeps you alive. Now, for Lv2, get Science so that you can build the big purifiers in Sanctuary to mass produce Purified Water. For Lv3 get Gun Nut to build Heavy Turrets for settlement defense. You can get those while still doing your initial build up of Sanctuary and once you clear Red Rocket and the Molerat cave beneath you can build radio towers to start filling those two settlements with peoples. Then you should max out your Endurance to 10, wait until you are hungry (peckish), which lowers your Endurance to 9 (take off any item like the Green Shirt and Combat Boots that boost Endurance). Then read the SPECIAL book into Endurance to take it back to 10. When you eat, you will now have a base Endurance of 11 (12 much later when you get the Bobble Head). You can take other stats to 12, but Endurance is the best for Survival. You can normally get those two farms up and running by that point, but if you are missing something you need, travel down towards Drumlin Diner (going around Concord and avoiding Gorsky Cabin) and talk to Carla. Choose the sarcastic response to get a discount with her forever. After the conversation, be prepared to run, since there will be an ambush at that point and Carla can't die (you can). Now you have a merchant who will often be in Sanctuary to buy anything you are missing. You can also go down to Drumlin and choose to help Wolfgang (feel free to extort his caps first) then talk Trudy into paying up. You get caps, chems, and two merchants at Drumlin. She also sells good junk. Of course, you need these merchants to get the 6 fiber optics from biometric scanners and microscopes to build radiation arches as well as extra things for turrets and stocking up for future settlements. Soon, those two settlements will be filled with settlers producing corn, tato, mutfruit, and water for adhesive production (XP farming) as well as other crops for food. As you build your levels you will naturally and slowly explore outward.

[@robduncan7409]

This sounds like the most boring way to play fallout possible

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

Oakspar Oakspar Max charisma isn’t necessary. Grape mentats can make up for slightly lower charisma. Higher agility or luck is essential for a VATS using pistol character (because of the lower carry weight). Or Perception 5 to get explosive perks as explosives are really effective in survival.

[@SixballQ45]

its been shown that int at 10 actually triggers IS more often than int of 1 (the theory is that it looks at the 1's column and sees a 0, not a 1) so theres that...

[@chickenlittle567]

Or just max damage on single fire weapons rifle/pistol max sneaking, sandman and ninja silenced and if you’re lucky double shot legendary pistol ggwp 2 ez 4 me

[@VAULT-TEC_INC.]

Every settlement has a cooking station (except for the airport) and there’s more cooking stations scattered throughout the commonwealth than any other crafting station.

[@edmartin875]

EVERY -- Hmmm. I must have missed a few or my memory is dying, but then, I am getting a little long in the tooth.

[@RomanowRomanow1]

shouldnt u get bobbleheads after u hit 10 in stats? its like 10% more overall character strength

[@E_M_C2001]

You've got good videos. You've got my sub for sure.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Thank you! Welcome to the channel. :)

[@VegaGoose]

9:20 R.I.P. Dogmeat lol

[@151pyroblaze]

Vega Goose he is doggoop now

[@2cool42ndgradeblah6]

Traveling underwater is the safest way to travel through the commonwealth

[@Kadeda]

Great guide. There's another guide where the guy swear by lead belly and i was like... as long as you keep your management right... you wont need it... ever.

[@kregorovillupo3625]

Lead belly is vital on survival mode.

[@Kadeda]

No it's not... you have plenty of cooked food... and if not that the radiation you get is super minimum. It's just not necessary at all.

[@GameslordXY]

I think that radiation in Fallout 4 is MUCH bigger problem than in F New Vegas. Searchlight was the only location where it may have been a probleme.

[@Tyler_Lalonde-]

good vid and yeah I've seem this list before but it still great to get other people's prospective. I'm on console too and I'm having blast. my stats are S 4 P 4 E 5 C 3 I 5 A 4 L 3 with automatic weapons and grenades. took sneak up to rank 3 so it's not op. i'll do the same with adamantium skeleton put it up to rank 2.

[@MatteeTheRogue]

I love this video so much :) all your videos are fun to watch I love your personality haha keep up the good work.

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

Thank you! :)

[@dakinoytc986]

nice video 😎👍

[@dethmettle9236]

Hey, Cannibal is useful. Stimpaks early game are hard to find

[@-BWS-]

good tips this will help me : )

[@151pyroblaze]

“No surviving stepping on a land mine”. Yyyyea I found out the hard way haha. Was casually looting found a item I reeeeally like and the beep beep beep I panicked and then flew down the hill. I was sad cuz when I went back the item changed :(

[@tommydude6735]

Oh, and something else I forgot, with your armorer perk you can apply Asbestos lining to most chest peice armors. This is all you need to reduce fire damage and eliminate the damage over time from catching on fire. Also, from what I've heard, Far Harbor is full of radiation so Rad Resistance might be good if you plan on going there on survival.

[@vesniss9605]

don't go to far harbor on survival a full nightmare

[@NoOne-ju8fi]

@@vesniss9605 only for 45.70

[@Deadpool32433]

I have looked everywhere there's nothing for Survival build characters like at all

[@gippula]

Survival is the greatest experience imo 👍

[@DreddPirateRoberts]

3:24 - Unless I'm mistaken aren't enemies less bulletspongie on Survival mode?

[@edmartin875]

Yes.

[@falloutforlifelegendary9992]

Excellent Video, for some real fun.... put Decon in Power Armor, then try to get him out...

[@Miggy-vs7ur]

Lol

[@WastelandDovahkiin]

No, that's...that's not fun at all...

[@Nathan35077]

I think they should have game mode settings. Like allow us to choose what our settings are. Like in 7 days to die for example. Could choose enemy difficulty, damage dealt vs. taken, etc. you could choose if you lose everything on death and have to go pick it up, choose when you can save the game, a slider for item weight, etc. because I like survival, but only saving when sleeping is a deal breaker. Instead of sleeping to save, you could need to sleep because of insomnia debuff or something like that. And save when you want. And also weight is a huge issue, because like it stops you from using so many cool weapons just because they’re too heavy. And I’m worried it’s going to be a permanent fixture in fallout now, rather than being an option. I think ammo now will always have a weight. And I don’t like that.

[@kregorovillupo3625]

If u like to level up really fast, here's a tip: -Pick 10 INT and 5 Luck for Idiot Savant -Right out of the vault, before reading the SPECIAL book of Concorde, go get the beer on the table near the children garden, drink it to get the debuff of -1 to INT bringing it to 9 and than read the book to get it to 10 again. When the debuff will end ull get 11 INT -U will find INT bobblehead into Boston Public Library, and u can easily get it after gettting to diamond city the first time, for 12 INT. -If you are up for a power armoured gamethrough, u can get another 2 INT points from mods getting it to 14. Why getting high as possible INT and idiot savant? You can easily find on reddit the calculation a good guy made about that, and he figured out Idiot Savant is good if u have 4 or less INT and it get useful again, giving an actual bonus to xp, when u get 9 or more INT. There's the "space" from 5 to 8 INT were idiot savant isnt a good choice: if u have 9 or more INT u will proc Idiot Savant on a lower chance but when it happens it will give a greater bonus thanks to high INT, and that is why u should get Idiot Savant anyway with 9+ INT. In your video u state that Endurance gives more AP for running, but it isnt really how it works: AGI states how many AP u have in ur pool, END will make u use less of em for running. It doesnt help for not getting sick, as far as i played getting sick seems just random and indipendent form END or eating good food/water no matter what the tips in the game states. Also, u state that a supply line will make u get food on the other settlemets but thats not how it works: only junk items are shared between settlements, all the other item types are specific to the settlement. If someone wants to see if they are up to the challenge of survival mode, its quite pointless starting at VeryHard and "pretend" survival mode to switch on it later: if u are to act as in survival mode, just do survival mode! Start in survival and if u cant handle it bring it down to very hard. Another point imo important: you are right when u say "Dont get hit in survival mode", one or two hits can kill u easily especially on low levels. What that means? It means that having bonus health and defensive perks is pointless, because u dont want to get hit anyway. While sneaking its the best perk allaround, save the points u would put on defensive perks and get Lead Belly so u can get rid of the rad build up and u can freely eat the stuff u find on ground and drink from lakes/rivers. There's a power armour head mod that has the same effect but you are not going to get it fast, so if u intend to make a power armoured playthrough u can skip lead belly too at the cost of struggling a bit more on first levels. The real challenge in survival mode is on the first 30 levels, than is just the pain in the ass of no fast travel and illness. Unless there's an achievement wanting you to finish the game from start to end in survival, just play it until level 30-40 than get ur fast travel back switching to very hard.

[@teammetalmofoes4364]

At the beginning of your video, I would actually subtract a point in Intelligence and invest that point in Luck since it grants you the Bloody Mess perk which grants you a +5% damage buff which is always nice, and it's platonic across all weapons.

[@TheWatchmanOfTheEnd]

Your first perk in any survival run should always be Lone Wonderer. It works with Dogmeat, buffs carry weight and modifies damage. The second tip is ALWAYS start with 10 Intelligence. Max EXP output that way. Also, if you do 10 INT for your SPECIAL, at the very beginning of the game, you can drink an alcoholic beverage to lower your INT to 9 or 8, read your SPECIAL book in the house to permanently boost your INT by 1, and when the alcohol wears off, you will have 11 INT before you reach the INT bobble head to make it 12. Also gives you immediate access to Nerd Rage. If you can dodge bullets, go for AGI stats instead of END stats. AP matters more than health if you can aim properly. Strength is a meaningless stat when you have alcohol and Lone Wonderer. STR should be the last stat you worry about and should not exceed 3 at the beginning of the game. The only thing you need that stat for is Armor mods. Also, speccing into AGI means access to Action Boy/Girl and Ninja, both of which are immediately useful at any point of the game. Lastly, I play a no VATS gameplay when I play fallout, so I only ever put my luck up to 3 (if you use VATS feel free to go higher) but the reason I only go to 3 is because I will spec into Bloody Mess with my Lone Wonderer as early as I possibly can, and also the scrounger perk to find more ammo. You'll also want the Science perks because you can create a fresh water factory at Sanctuary at the start of the game. These water machines will produce you water to sell for caps, so many caps actually that you wont even really be able to spend them all, so you actually end up with extra water for healing which saves your stimpacks for emergencies. Hopes this helps everyone. -A guy who speedruns survival in under 2 hours practically naked.

[@thatman5484]

I went with a full 4 across the board. That way getting all the bobble-heads will give me a 5 and I'll have access to almost all of the majorly useful perks.

[@garrettbartelt1873]

Is this a joke? All the best perks are on the bottom lol

[@Kadeda]

4 all the way across is a pretty solid build.

[@thatman5484]

4 all the way across gives you access to almost every weapons skill, then with the bobble-heads and special book you'd only have to use a few perk points to reach desired stat levels.

[@garrettbartelt1873]

The best perks are the high level perks

[@fcuk_x]

You wanna pick up all stat bobbleheads when your stat is 10, so it pushes it to 11.

[@kiptanoi4422]

Are you guys playing from beginning on survival mode with mods or no mods?

[@Mr._Anderpson]

With respect, I have to disagree on the usefulness of the ghoulish perk. Once maxed, it scrubs the rads from your system. In survival mode, Radaway weakens the immune system, giving you a higher risk when rolling numbers in the disease pool. Far Harbor & its almost hyperactive Geiger counter become barely an issue. I also find myself walking up to barrels of radiation or exploded vehicles just to soak up rads & heal myself. Atom provides. No need to carry those steaks when I can microwave myself until I'm feeling better. Turning ghouls may sound minor, until you manage to turn a charred ghoul or glowing one. Suddenly you have an ally who will help you clear Hubris Comics or the National Guard Training Yard. Combine this with Life-Giver 3 and the regen buff from Astoundingly Awesome Tales from the Boston Mayoral Shelter & you've effectively weaned yourself from Rad-X, Radaway, & stimpacks. These become sources of caps to buy more goods, improve settlements, etc. My only grief with ghoulish is it requires 8 endurance and you have to be at almost level 50 to max it. By then, the game is pretty much already over on a survival run.