Fallout 4’s wastelands are a scary and dangerous place to explore. Some players may feel overpowered while they explore alone because the enemies in this game are more evil than ever. A companion may be a suitable choice for players who don’t choose the Lone Wanderer perk and are frightened of ghouls and other critters that roam at night. In addition to providing players with much-needed company over the game’s extended duration, it allows them to build strong companionship with the numerous followers the Sole Survivor can recruit.
Players can get unique Affinity Perks that provide them with amazing perks along the way as their bond with their preferred companion evolves. Some are simply entertaining to have around when gamers are feeling a little lonely, and some are even offered as romance options. Hanging out with companions is a terrific method to discover even more stuff in Fallout 4, which can keep players occupied for a long time. companions are also a great way to enjoy some extra firepower against the many enemies that stand in a player’s way.
Fans adore these characters’ personalities and abilities, thus it’s arguable that some companions are superior to others. Players who don’t want to spend a lot of time with dead weight should consider what the top Fallout 4 companions have to offer.
List of Every Permanent Fallout 4 Companions
| Name | Location | Joining Condition | Personal Quest | Unique Perk | Romanceable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automatron | Any settlement | Needs to be built at a robot workbench | No | No | No |
| Ada | Near Wattz Consumer Electronics (later at Red Rocket truck stop) | Complete the quest Mechanical Menace | Part of the Automatron quest line | No | No |
| John Hancock | The Old State House in Goodneighbor | Complete the quest The Big Dig | No | Isodoped | Yes |
| Old Longfellow | The Last Plank on the Island | Complete the quest Walk in the Park | Shipbreaker | Hunter’s Wisdom | No |
| Deacon | The Railroad HQ | Complete the quest Tradecraft and join The Railroad | No | Cloak & Dagger | No |
| Codsworth | Sanctuary Hills, near the Sole Survivor’s ruined house | Visit Concord in the quest Out of Time | No | Robot Sympathy | No |
| Porter Gage | Fizztop Grille | Complete the quest An Ambitious Plan | No | Lessons in Blood | Yes |
| Piper | Diamond City | Either complete the quest Story of the Century or start the quest Dangerous Minds | No | Gift of Gab | Yes |
| X6-88 | The Institute | Join the Institute and complete the quest Mankind – Redefined | No | Shield Harmonics | No |
| Robert MacCready | The Third Rail in Goodneighbor | Hire him for 250 caps (200 with a Speech check) | Long Road Ahead | Killshot | Yes |
| Preston Garvey | Museum of Freedom (later at Sanctuary Hills) | Complete the quest The First Step | No | United We Stand | Yes |
| Cait | Combat Zone | Clear the Combat Zone | Benign Intervention | Trigger Rush | Yes |
| Dogmeat | Red Rocket truck stop | No | No | Attack Dog | No |
| Nick Valentine | Vault 114 (later in Diamond City) | Complete the quest Getting a Clue | Long Time Coming | Close to Metal | No |
| Strong | Trinity Tower | Complete the quest Curtain Call | No | Berserk | No |
| Paladin Danse | Cambridge Police Station (later on The Prydwen and at Listening Post Bravo) | During the quest Tour of Duty | Blind Betrayal | Know Your Enemy | Yes |
| Curie | Vault 81 | Complete the quest Hole in the Wall | Emergent Behavior | Combat Medic | Yes |
The Game Award For Best Adaptation
Fallout 4™
Fallout 4, developed by Bethesda Game Studios, is an open-world RPG set in the post-apocalyptic ruins of Boston. As the sole survivor of Vault 111, players must rebuild and shape the future of the Wasteland. The game offers a vast world filled with unique locations, factions, and quests, allowing players to forge their own path. With the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system, players can customize their character, unlocking skills and perks to match their playstyle. Whether using V.A.T.S. for tactical combat or engaging in real-time action, Fallout 4 delivers an immersive and dynamic experience.
| Platform | PC, PS4, Xbox One |
| Release Date | November 10, 2015 |
| Developer | Bethesda Game Studios |
| Publisher | Bethesda Softworks |
| Genre | Action RPG |
| ESRB | M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Drugs |
| How Long To Finish | 27 Hours |
| X|S ENHANCED | No |
| METASCORE | 88 |
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1. Curie
Complete The Quest ‘Hole In The Wall’
- Location: Vault 81
- Personal Quest: Emergent Behavior
- Perk: Combat Medic
- Romanceable: Yes
Curie is not a human being at all when the Sole Survivor first encounters her. She’s in her original Mr. Handy guise instead. Although she isn’t very useful in combat, she becomes Fallout 4’s strongest companion once players transform her consciousness into a synthetic body. Curie has a strong damage output and health pool.
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She values generosity and kindness, and when she transforms into Mr. Handy, she will attack her enemies with a flamethrower. Once every 24 hours, if the Sole Survivor’s health falls below 10%, her Affinity Perk, Combat Medic, recovers 100 HP. Curie’s distinct story and her combat benefits make her an excellent companion for players to explore with while they search for their son in Fallout 4.
Ranking Every Fallout 4 Companions
2. Paladin Danse
Joins During The Quest ‘Tour Of Duty’
- Location: Cambridge Police Station
- Personal Quest: Blind Betrayal
- Perk: Know Your Enemy
- Romanceable: Yes
When it comes to battle, Paladin Danse is the greatest Fallout 4 companion. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Steel and is a skilled fighter who is constantly visible in his power armor. He can deal some back and tank amazing amounts of damage. Because he is a member of the military, both acts of violence and kindness will be accepted.
After the Sole Survivor joins the Brotherhood of Steel, he can be recruited and defends himself with a Laser Rifle. When battling synthetics, super mutants, and ghouls, players can increase their damage by 20% thanks to his Affinity Perk. Players that follow Paladin Danse’s storyline to the very conclusion are presented with some moral quandaries in this interesting .
3. Strong
Complete The Quest ‘Curtain Call’
- Location: Trinity Tower
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Berserk
- Romanceable: No
No one should be fooled by Strong’s appearance. He may appear to be just another Super Mutant ready to smash someone’s skull in, but after being enlisted at Trinity Tower, he is totally recruited. Because of his character, he will defend himself in battle with assault rifles and enjoy both violent and generous deeds.
In order to defeat the next enemy, he may occasionally even pick up a gun off a body due to his incredible power with a sledgehammer. If a player’s health is less than 25%, his Affinity Perk increases weapon damage by 20%.
4. Nick Valentine
Complete The Quest ‘Getting A Clue’
- Location: Vault 114
- Personal Quest: Long Time Coming
- Perk: Close to Metal
- Romanceable: No
The Sole Survivor’s primary quest in Diamond City is to track down and save Nick Valentine, a detective who turns out to be an ancient synth prototype with free will. He wants a companion who will be kind to others and use questioning to try to learn the truth.
Although he prefers to use a revolver in combat, his ability to hack into terminals that players would find difficult to use is his greatest strength. He awards the Close to Metal benefit, which offers the Sole Survivor a 50% shorter wait time between terminal hacks and one more attempt during the actual hack, to players who have leveled up their relationship with him.
5. Dogmeat
The Goodest Boy Requires No Convincing
- Location: Red Rocket truck stop
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Attack Dog
- Romanceable: No
Dogmeat is the first companion that players meet in Fallout 4. Despite having limited combat capabilities, this friendly dog is more helpful than most people realize. Since Dogmeat is not considered a companion, players are permitted to use the Lone Wanderer perk while he is around.
He has the ability to find hidden items and render enemies helpless during combat. He is a useful companion in that regard because he is not overly concerned with ethics. However, aside from being a distraction, he isn’t very helpful in battle.
6. Cait
Clear The Combat Zone
- Location: Combat Zone
- Personal Quest: Benign Intervention
- Perk: Trigger Rush
- Romanceable: Yes
Cait may not be living her life to the fullest since she struggles with drug addiction. She is, however, a very strong and competent companion who will battle with a shotgun. You may expect her to support any violent acts because she was once a raider.
Cait’s ability to pick almost any lock that has to be opened is one of her greatest benefits and it significantly enhances living in the wasteland. Once you have earned her trust, she will give you the Trigger Rush perk, which allows players to recover Action Points more quickly when their health is below 25%.
7. Preston Garvey
Complete The Quest ‘The First Step’
- Location: Museum of Freedom
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: United We Stand
- Romanceable: Yes
Preston is their man if that’s what players value most. He is located in Concord, where he will ask the player to assist him and his band with the Minutemen’s remnants. In his role as their leader, he will continue to request assistance from the Sole Survivor in clearing Concord and in establishing new settlements.
Despite its long reload time, his preferred weapon is a Laser Musket, which is incredibly effective. Players’ desire to assist the defenseless and any acts of charity toward others would be greatly appreciated by him. Players will receive the United We Stand perk from him, which will increase their damage resistance and damage by 20% while they are against more than three opponents. It’s one of Fallout 4’s greatest affinity perks.
8. Robert MacCready
Hire Him For 250 Caps
- Location: The Third Rail in Goodneighbor
- Personal Quest: Long Road Ahead
- Perk: Killlshot
- Romanceable: Yes
MacCready is the perfect partner for gamers seeking someone with similarly suspicious ethics and principles. Players can find him in Goodneighbor, where they can hire him for a couple of caps. He was formerly a Gunner and is now a mercenary. But it’s important to remember that until the player has finished his quests, their relationship with him won’t level up.
Being a very good shooter, MacCready will eliminate his enemies with a sniper rifle. He will award players the Killshot perk, which increases headshot accuracy by 20% in V.A.T.S., if they have won his affection.
9. X6-88
Complete The Quest ‘Mankind – Redefined’
- Location: The Institute
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Shield Harmonics
- Romanceable: No
Later in the game, X6-88 becomes available as a companion if players choose to support the Institute. He has very little human emotion and is a synthetic. He will enjoy when players act selfishly, but he dislikes any acts of empathy.
Among the various Fallout 4 companions, X6-88 is one of the better combatants because he uses an energy weapon, a Laser Rifle, and deals a lot of damage in battle. He will award the Shield Harmonics perk, which offers players an extra 20 energy resistance, to players who have reached the maximum relationship level with him.
10. Piper
Complete ‘Story Of The Century’ and Start ‘Dangerous Minds’
- Location: Diamond City
- Personal Quest: None
- Perk: Gift of Gab
- Romanceable: Yes
Piper works from Diamond City as a reporter for the publication Publick Occurrences. She is first seen by players as they arrive at the city gates, where she is having difficulty entering. She will become accessible as a companion following an interview.
Players that get close enough to Piper will benefit from the Gift of Gab perk, which provides them double experience for successful charisma checks or when they arrive at a new location. Piper’s preferred weapon is a pistol. She dislikes all forms of authority and has a rebellious mentality. She is also decent in combat.
11. Porter Gage
Complete The Quest ‘An Ambitious Plan’
- Location: Fizztop Grille
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Lessons in Blood
- Romanceable: Yes
The final DLC that Bethesda released for Fallout 4 features one of the game’s most potent companions. Porter Gage, the former Overboss’ right hand, is one of the many raiders the player may interact with in Nuka-World.
Because of his flawed ethics, he makes an excellent follower and complements ethically questionable character builds. He also prefers the handmade rifle, which is a staple of Nuka-World’s raiders and causes a ton of damage, and is a true beast in combat. Any Sole Survivor should have his Lessons in Blood perk, which increases damage resistance by 10 points and gives 5% more experience points for each kill.
12. Codsworth
Visit Concord In The Quest ‘Out Of Time’
- Location: Sanctuary Hills, near the Sole Survivor’s ruined house
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Robot Sympathy
- Romanceable: No
No one should be fooled by Codsworth’s good looks or his gentle nature. Early on in the game, when the player is just starting out and has very little, he is helpful. In Sanctuary Hills, he is the first companion the player can recruit.
Codsworth kills his enemies with a flamer and a buzzsaw, which may be surprisingly deadly. By drawing enemies closer to him, the player can eliminate them from a distance. Any character build can benefit from his Robot Sympathy perk, which increases energy resistance by ten.
5 Easy Way To Fix The Companion Characters in Fallout 4
13. Deacon
Complete The Quest ‘Tradecraft’ And Join ‘The Railroad’
- Location: The Railroad HQ
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Cloak & Dagger
- Romanceable: No
Of the three factions in the game, Deacon is the preferred follower for anyone who enjoys a good joke or simply likes the Railroad. Some gamers may not get along with him because he doesn’t seem like a very trustworthy spy. He lies quite a bit on a regular basis.
Deacon is more of a long-range fighter because he prefers to eliminate his enemies with a pipe gun or sniper rifle. Certain character builds benefit greatly from his Affinity Perk. The Cloak & Dagger perk increases stealth boy duration by 40% and sneak damage by 20%.
14. Old Longfellow
Complete The Quest ‘Walk In The Park’
- Location: The Last Plank on the Island
- Personal Quest: Shipbreaker
- Perk: Hunter’s Wisdom
- Romanceable: No
Old Longfellow is a surly and seasoned mariner who is introduced to players in the Far Harbor DLC. He serves as the player’s guide when they first set out into the fog to locate Acadia and DiMA because he knows the island like the back of his hand.
The lever-action rifle, which Old Longfellow prefers, is a fine weapon. When a low-level player first enters Far Harbor, his Affinity Perk is helpful because many of the sea monsters there could be difficult for them to defeat. Beasts with the Hunter’s Wisdom perk have a 25% reduction in damage and energy resistance.
15. John Hancock
Complete The Quest ‘The Big Dig’
- Location: The Old State House In Goodneighbor
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: Isodoped
- Romanceable: Yes
In terms of his story and design, Hancock is definitely one of the most interesting characters. But in contrast to some of the other characters, he is really boring. Although he was technically present when the bombs fell, the Sole Survivor might get along with him, but he’s not the most useful in battle.
Hancock leads Goodneighbor, which is where you may find him. He suggests joining the player on their adventures after completing a few errands for him. Since Hancock’s preferred weapon is a shotgun, he is essentially worthless in the majority of combat situations. Also, his Affinity Perk is very specialized: after the player has incurred 250 radiation damage, the Isodoped perk increases the critical meter’s filling speed by 20%.
16. Ada
Complete The Quest ‘Mechanical Menace’
- Location: Near Wattz Consumer Electronics
- Personal Quest: Part of the Automatron quest line
- Perk: No
- Romanceable: No
In a humanoid robotic form, assaultrons are terrifying slayers of the wasteland. After finishing the Mechanical Menace quest in the Automatron DLC, the Sole Survivor can meet Ada, a special Assaultron, and hire her as a companion.
To begin the quest, she can be found in Wattz Consumer Electronics. Ada lacks the Affinity Perk, just like the regular Automatron that must be built. She will regularly provide the Sole Survivor with junk, and she can eventually be improved to hack terminals or lockpick them.
17. Automatron
Needs To Be Built At A Robot Workbench
- Location: Any settlement
- Personal Quest: No
- Perk: No
- Romanceable: No
The Automatron DLC offers players the opportunity to design their perfect robotic companions if none of the human companions in Fallout 4 seem worth the work. In order to modify every component of the Automatron, players must obtain perks in Robotics Expert, Gun Nut, Science!, and Armorer.
After gathering enough materials, the Sole Survivor only needs to go to a village and start assembling their Automatron on a robotics workstation. Making a slaughtering machine with a Nuka launcher is not too difficult if you have the correct perks. When spoken to and held as a companion, the Automatron gives the Sole Survivor junk, but it has no affinity perk.
All Temporary Fallout 4 Companions
Even though the Sole Survivor can travel with a variety of permanent companions, some of the greatest Fallout 4 companions don’t stay for very long but leave a lasting impression. These people typically accompany the protagonist on certain questlines, making these questlines even more memorable and assisting players in connecting with their character during gameplay.
1. Honest Dan
- Location: Covenant
- Personal Quest: Human Error
One of Fallout 4’s most bizarre locations, Covenant harbors a terrible secret that feeds the hatred that ordinary people have for synths. Players will come across Honest Dan, one of the greatest Fallout 4 allies (albeit a brief one), while exploring this area. He is charged with finding Old Man Stockton’s daughter, who vanished somewhere in this area.
Players will investigate and discover a compound close to this town that tortures potential synths and performs the SAFE experiment in order to determine the test’s accuracy.
2. Rex Goodman
- Location: Trinity Tower
- Personal Quest: Curtain Call
It would be an exaggeration to say that Rex Goodman is among the greatest Fallout 4 companions. This character asks someone to fight off the super mutants and release him from his cage by sending out an SOS from the top of Trinity Tower. Rex and Strong are both jailed here when the Sole Survivor answers to this distress call and climbs to the top of the tower.
If the Sole Survivor doesn’t eliminate any of the super mutants in the building while climbing to the top, it will be extremely difficult for players to open the cage and accompany both characters to the tower’s.
3. Proctor Ingram
- Location: The Prydwen
- Personal Quest: Spoils of War
One of Fallout 4’s more interesting factions to engage with is the Brotherhood of Steel, whom players may help in eliminating the Institute and creating territories throughout the Commonwealth. Proctor Ingram, the group’s engineer, goes with the player on a mission to gather materials needed to power up a restored Liberty Prime and deploy this strong robot to combat the Institute.
During this quest, the Sole Survivor can always rely on her Power Armor, but players can also pass some Speech checks to convince her not to follow them. The protagonist will face a number of mechanical enemies, and having Proctor Ingram on their side can make things simpler.
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- Fallout 4: All Fallout 4 Romance Options Ranked
Conclusion | Fallout 4 Companions
- The Game Award For Best Adaptation 2025: Buy Fallout 4™ Online
All Fallout 4 Companions | FAQs
Is Nick Valentine a Permanent Companion in Fallout 4?
Yes, Nick Valentine is a permanent companion in Fallout 4. You can recruit him after rescuing him from Vault 114 during the “Unlikely Valentine” quest. He remains available unless you dismiss him or temporarily lose access due to quest-related events.
Can You Miss Companions in Fallout 4?
Yes, some companions in Fallout 4 can be missed or locked out depending on your choices:
Paladin Danse – Can become unavailable if you destroy the Brotherhood of Steel.
X6-88 – Lost if you destroy the Institute before recruiting him.
Preston Garvey – May refuse to follow you if you side against the Minutemen.
Curie & Nick Valentine – Always available, no matter your choices.
To avoid missing companions, recruit them before making major faction decisions.
Is Dogmeat or Codsworth Better in Fallout 4?
Codsworth is stronger in direct combat, using flamethrowers and saw blades. He also has high energy resistance and provides unique dialogue. For stealth and exploration, Dogmeat is better. For combat and roleplay, Codsworth is the stronger choice.
