Fallout 4 has a ton of different materials and items that players can collect and use to craft. Some of these, like wood and steel, have obvious and numerous uses but others, like nuclear material, can be a bit more difficult to understand.
But, there are plenty of applications for nuclear material in Fallout 4 and, if players hit the right places, it can be relatively easy to gather. For those Fallout 4 players who have struggled to find enough nuclear material or take advantage of its use in-game, this guide is here to help.
Where To Get Nuclear Material
Getting nuclear material can be broken down into three major ways in the game. The first of these is through combat with certain types of enemies.
Through Combat
Probably the most memorable of these is the Super Mutant Suicider. This enemy is one of the most powerful in Fallout 4 and it will rush at players and detonate its mini-nuke causing extensive damage. To get nuclear material from this encounter players just have to let this mini-nuke explosion happen and then loot the body. Apart from these enemies, glowing creatures can be looted for nuclear material and Radscorpions will often drop items that can be broken down into nuclear material as well.
To increase the amount of nuclear material gathered through combat, players should turn to plasma weapons. These will occasionally turn killed enemies into goo piles that contain nuclear material. In this way, players can make almost every encounter in which some nuclear material can be gathered.
Through Scrapping
There is quite the list of items that can be scrapped for nuclear material and these can be found all over the landscape of the Commonwealth in Fallout 4. The recorder, alarm clock, blast radius board game, distress pulser, high-powered magnet ichor sac, inactive distress pulser, mini-nuke beryllium cap, and the mini-nuke hemisphere core can each be scrapped for one nuclear material. Fortunately, Fallout 4 details what an item can be broken down into for those who are unsure.
On top of this list, the mini-nuke detonator shell, biometric scanner, prototype biometric scanner, radioactive gland, radscorpion stinger, and the wakemaster alarm clock can be scrapped for two nuclear materials. Though some believe it to be useless, Fallout 4's scrapper perk allows for more items to be earned through scrapping from more sources like weapons and armor.
Through Trading
The third major way of acquiring nuclear material is through trading with the right merchants. This list includes anyone who deals in general goods and junk like Myrna in Diamond City and Daisy in Goodneighbor. On top of these traders, players can establish their own general goods sellers in their settlements and trade for materials that contain nuclear material there. Though not very reliable, Alexis Combes in the interesting Vault 81 in Fallout 4 will occasionally sell a shipment of 25 nuclear materials to a select settlement and is the only person who can do so.
What Can Be Crafted With Nuclear Material?
Nuclear material becomes an important resource once players begin crafting explosives and armor and weapon modifications. Some of the best power armor modifications in Fallout 4 require nuclear material. There are no helmet or arms modifications that require nuclear material but there are four torso mods, three-leg mods, and two paint schemes that do. These modifications give a number of benefits to a set of power armor like damage resistance, the rate at which action points are replenished, and, in the case of the jet pack, allow players to fly into the air.
For weapons, nuclear materials are needed for certain sight modifications such as glow and reflex sights and recon and night vision scopes. Nuclear material is especially important for those who have skilled into energy weapons as every capacitor modification for plasma weapons requires it. And those who wish to use the Radium Rifle, one of the weapons in Fallout 4 with a real-life counterpart, will find that most of its modifications require nuclear material as well.
This plasma connection continues to the explosives players can craft. Plasma grenades and mines both require nuclear material as do Cryogenic and Pulse Mines and Grenades. This list of modifications and explosives makes gathering nuclear material quite an important task for those looking to master Fallout 4.
Fallout 4 is currently available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.