Fans of Bethesda would fondly remember Fallout and its crazy take on the post-apocalyptic genre. After all, 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. However, what exactly happens inside the Vault on a regular post-nuclear day?
Thanks to Fallout Shelter, players sit in the Overseer's chair as they create - and manage - their own Vault. In classic Fallout fashion, players have to rely on their Dweller's SPECIAL stats to make them into productive members of the Vault. And players need to keep their Vault intact despite crises such as fires, infestations, and the occasional Raider attack. What else should players do to ensure survival?
10 Keep Resource Thresholds Low
A Vault persists thanks to its steady supply of food, water, and electricity - and Fallout Shelter lets players find ways to overcome the conundrum of supplying their Dwellers with such commodities. Unfortunately, Overseers might have a harder time managing the resources of larger Vaults. After all, they can't exactly control the flow of resources, right? Interestingly, lowering the resource threshold as much as possible can help with this problem.
Technically speaking, the resource threshold is the line in a resource that separates minimum supply from lacking supply. Players should always keep this threshold as low as possible, as this means their supply of that resource can outmatch the demand needed for it.
9 Power Is The Priority
While all Vaults in Fallout Shelter rely on three resources to function (Power, Water, Food), it's perhaps Power that takes priority. Granted, drastic effects happen when Vaults run out of stock for each. For instance, lack of Water irradiates Dwellers, and lack of Food makes Dwellers lose health. However, lack of Power stops rooms furthest from the nearest Power Generator from functioning. This means unless a Vault has enough Power, losing this resource will eventually lead to losing the others as well.
To avoid such a problem occurring, players should always have at least one full three-room Power Generator to support every three to five floors.
8 Use Recipes For Powerful Gear
Players who spend more time in the Wasteland and in Quests may end up with recipes for things such as the legendary Minuteman uniform or other powerful weapons. Thing is, why even craft these recipes when Dwellers may be able to find them in the Wasteland?
However, players need to remember that these recipes for powerful gear often come rarely. Moreover, if they have the materials for it, they should craft these items for their Dwellers in the Outfit Workshop. Remember, equipping a Dweller with powerful weapons gives them a better shot at defending the Vault or attacking enemies while roaming the Wasteland. Likewise, good gear can max out the priority SPECIAL stats of favored Dwellers.
7 Maximize Resource Production With Each Floor
Unlike sim tower games that usually dedicate a floor to a function, Fallout Shelter has nine usable spaces that could theoretically fit nine kinds of rooms. As mentioned, players will net more resources when they use three spaces for a fully-upgraded three-room set. However, players can truly maximize their resource production with the right floor planning.
Essentially, Overseers should ensure that they have at least one floor that can give them a constant supply of Power, Water, and Food. It's also advisable that the next floor's rooms should give them regular Stimpaks and RadAways for trips outside - be it to the Wasteland or to scary places in Quests. This is an ideal setup especially when players obtain their Mr. Handy, which automatically gathers available resources in a floor.
6 Get Tactical With Mister Handy
Chances are, players can get Mister Handy from a lunchbox or a Mister Handy box - and they shouldn't miss the opportunity to maximize it. While it's implied that one Mr. Handy can collect resources on a single floor, it has other intricacies that players need to tap. For instance, players should pursue any Objective that nets a Mister Handy reward, as there isn't any upper limit to the Handies that can collect resources.
Additionally, Overseers can send Handies to the Wasteland to collect CAPS. They won't collect gear and they won't fight enemies, but five Handies can collect CAPS simultaneously - and more CAPS is always a good thing. A Mr. Handy can even defend a floor from invaders!
5 Tap Into Dweller Strengths
Players who see their Dwellers with the funny quotes and individual names might see them as characters in an RPG. This isn't exactly advisable, as Fallout Shelter acts more of a management game than an RPG. In turn, players shouldn't strive to build "balanced" Dwellers. Rather, if their Dweller has an extremely high SPECIAL stat, players should focus on increasing that as much as possible.
Remember, assigning the Dweller to a room that requires a SPECIAL stat that said Dweller excels in will grant bonuses to overall production. In turn, players should prioritize boosting any Dweller's exceptional stat via gear and training in rooms.
4 Think DPS With Wasteland, Quests
Overseers who start to see an abundance of higher-level Dwellers might consider them as ideal candidates to gather extra resources in the Wasteland. In fact, those with the Overseer's Office may want to send those strong Dwellers to quests. However, in these situations, it may help for players to think in terms of MMOs - particularly DPS - when sending Dwellers and their companions outside.
To maximize survival, players should select Dwellers with the highest Agility and equip them with the highest-damage weapons. Not only does any Dweller benefit from high damage, but higher Agility gives them higher rate-of-fire. This strategy works exceptionally well against stronger Raiders, scary Mutants, and especially Radscorpions.
3 Playing Slowly Always Pays Off
Fans of RTS titles might try their hand at fast-tracking Fallout Shelter's base-building process. Essentially, why hesitate to build rooms when they have the CAPS to do so? Thing is, building too quickly can get detrimental for players - especially in the early game.
Remember, the game slowly increases difficulty whenever players start upgrading their rooms too often. Instead of upgrading rooms hastily, players should instead slowly build rooms and only upgrade them once their Dwellers increase in both population and level. With this principle, players can ensure the game's difficulty progresses in a way that they can handle with their current load. These include equipping Dwellers with adequate weapons and even that desirable Brotherhood of Steel armor, among other preparations.
2 Planning The Endgame Will Pay Off
Fans of Fallout should learn from the in-game lore that planning pays off - after all, it's thanks to Vault-Tec and their Vaults that a part of the world's population survived the Great War. In Fallout Shelter, a similar principle applies - why haste when players can plan the long-term? Essentially, players need to remember that their Vault can house up to 200 Dwellers and will have at most 25 levels.
Additionally, each level offers nine usable spaces - each of which can accommodate one room. Players can also maximize a room type by fully upgrading it and expanding it to occupy two more spaces. Considering there are 23 various room types, players can have a floor dedicated to a single room type, or mix and match to their heart's delight. Planning this far in advance can help players with their overall approach and flow - especially if they're only playing sporadically across the day.
1 Take A Break Once In A While
People often say that gamers should "take breaks" and avoid playing games for a long time - but sometimes, Fallout Shelter is just irresistible. Funnily enough, the game lowkey encourages players to not play the game across long periods of time. For instance, players might notice that sometimes the game throws a couple of fires, Raider invasions, and Radroach infestations in a span of a few minutes - and they aren't even doing anything!
Thing is, that may be the point. Since special events happen in the game in real-time, players can avoid these random encounters if they don't play for extended sessions. As a tip, it may help Vaults survive if players only check in on their status for a few minutes at a time.