There are a lot of viable builds for Fallout 4 and which one’s best for you largely depends on your preferred play style. The strongest builds focus on great perk synergies or utilizing the best weapons in the game to pump out extreme levels of damage, one-shot enemies, or minimize the damage you take.
Whether you’re wanting to play a stealthy character, a melee berserker, or tank anything and everything in your suit of Power Armor, these are often heralded as the strongest builds throughout Fallout fandom.
Updated June 15, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: The recent Starfield Direct seems to have had two immediate effects - first and foremost, it's selling people on Starfield; also, it's inspiring folks to return to other big Bethesda RPGs. Fallout 4, the team's most recent solo title, will no doubt see its fair share of returning fans. If our hunch is correct, a fair number of you may want to learn about optimal builds - and here they are!
15 Chem Warrior
Have you ever taken out a raider stronghold? Better question: have you ever taken out a raider stronghold...on Buffjet? Many players simply don't bother exploring the performance-enhancing chems because they don't want to deal with their character becoming dependent on them.
With the Deathclaw Gauntlets or Furious Power Fist, a Buffjet or Psycho Jet enhanced character can wade into slowed enemy groups like Quicksilver. The battle is generally over with only a few shots fired. This build works best if the Chem Resistant Perk has reached its second rank.
14 Trap Layer
This build is a variant of a Sneak centered build, so get good at sneaking. Mines are an often overlooked weapon in Fallout 4. They're worth so many caps that it's hard not to sell. When combined with a sneaky character, though, mines can be used to clear entire rooms of enemies with only the flick of a wrist.
Caltrops are another matter. These small pointed pieces of metal are quietly overpowered. Lesser enemies can be killed with a shower of caltrops; which also hinder their ability to give chase. Caltrops have another hidden ability. Reverse pick-pocketing caltrops onto a target acts as a grenade; meaning it instantly kills the target, and unlike doing this with a grenade, it kills silently.
13 The Tinkerer
Versatility is the name of the game when it comes to the Tinkerer build. Some of the more notable options include customizing their power armor sets. The Tinkerer can also craft some powerful weapons, like the Railway Rifle.
Some other perks, pun intended, of this build are the fast leveling thanks to its high Intelligence and always being able to craft anything that is needed rather than trying to scavenge the part in the Wasteland. Explosives are a good alternate weapon choice for the Tinkerer due to craftable weapons, like the Bottlecap Mines and Baseball Grenade.
12 The Smooth Talker
The spoken word can have more of an impact than a Mini Nuke. This Fallout 4 build relies more on the character's ability to alter encounters with Charisma rather than combat abilities. The Smooth Talker also receives huge discounts from merchants, and the ability to build larger settlements thanks to their personality. The Intimidation and Lady Killer/Black Widow perks are a must for this build.
One of the great aspects of this build is how many items increase Charisma; these aren't necessary, but they help tip the scales in favor of the player. Dogmeat makes a fitting companion for this build; just get the Attack Dog and Lone Wanderer perks (both Charisma-based). Dogmeat doesn't count as a companion, so the Lone Wanderer perk still activates.
11 Demolitions Expert
The Demolitions Expert is all about using explosives to obliterate enemies. Wielding a heavy weapon that deals explosive damage like the Fat Man or Missile Launcher the player plans their attack by laying down mines in choke points, then raining death from afar with a gun or grenades and turn the enemy into a fine mist.
You’ll need a lot of Strength to hold the big guns and for the Heavy Gunner perk, good Perception is needed for Demolition Expert which is what this build is based on, and high Agility for Sneak to place mines is handy. Gun Nut is helpful to modify weapons and Scrounger will help you find the ammo and grenades you need. Just try not to blow yourself up.
10 Sharpshooter
The Sharpshooter is the master sniper, taking down enemies with carefully placed headshots from miles away with a modified Hunting Rifle. You want high Intelligence to get Gun Nut which allows you to modify your rifle and give you access to suppressors and scopes.
A high Agility stat will give you Sneak, Ninja, and Night Person for stealth and Quick Hands helps you reload faster in case you miss too many times. The only reason this build doesn’t rank higher is that you’re at a disadvantage in close quarters or inside buildings.
9 Freak Of Nature
Freak of Nature is a strong build that seems fitting in this radiated wasteland. Any weapon or armor is viable with this build, the key aspects are perks and stats. You need high Endurance and Luck to increase your survivability.
Ghoulish turns radiation into a healing tool, Life-Giver increases health and gives regeneration, Toughness raises damage resistance, Solar Power gives you additional regeneration in daylight, Ricochet makes bullets bounce off you, and Cannibal lets you heal after each battle. Chem Resistant allows you to inject as many useful chems as you want to go ballistic in battle.
8 Walking Tank
The Walking Tank is similar to the Freak of Nature but focuses on using Power Armor. You’ll want to get your hands on a good set of Power Armor and Armorer, Science, Nuclear Physicist, and a healthy stash of fusion cores to get it in top shape, customized to your needs and to keep it running for a long while.
Then you want a heavy weapon like a minigun with Heavy Gunner and possibly full auto weapons with Rifleman in case you run out of your preferred ammo. Afterward pick some durability perks like Life-Giver and Toughness then have fun bulldozing enemies in your Power Armor.
7 Ninja
The Ninja build is a master of stealth that uses melee weapons to sneak up on enemies and stab them with a blade. High agility for five-star Sneak, Miter Sandman to kill enemies in their sleep, and Ninja for enhanced sneak damage.
From there you can dump points into Luck to increase your criticals and give you Better Criticals and Critical Banker or put some points in Strength to increase your melee damage and a few in Endurance to increase survivability when you get caught.
6 Black Ops
This build is similar to the Ninja build but with one critical difference, instead of using bladed weapons you are fighting with either a semi-automatic rifle or a full auto outfitted with a suppressor to get stealth kills. It’s a great build for rushing through buildings and close quarters quietly and efficiently.
If your gun is automatic, get Commando; if it’s semiautomatic, get Rifleman, high agility for Sneak, Moving Target, and Ninja. Good Perception with Night Person. Gun Nut is needed to give yourself suppressors. Then dump everything else into boosting your stealth, damage, or durability.
5 Death Incarnate
Death Incarnate is all about using V.A.T.S. to its full potential. Perception, Agility, and Luck are your key stats. Better Criticals, Critical Banker, Grim Reaper’s Sprint, Four Leaf Clover, Action Boy/Girl, Gun-Fu, Concentrated Fire, and Mysterious Stranger are all key V.A.T.S. perks that make this build ridiculously powerful.
As soon as you see an enemy, pull up V.A.T.S. and start targeting enemies. Any armor or weapon will do well with this build, though pick a weapon that can either fire a lot of rounds without reloading or something that reloads quickly to avoid wasting AP.
4 Human Deathclaw
The Human Deathclaw is built around using the Deathclaw Gauntlet and stealth to get close enough to enemies to trigger Blitz. If done correctly the armor will be irrelevant though anything that can benefit your stealth, like modified leather, is a good idea.
You want Iron Fist, Blitz of course, Ninja, Action Boy/Girl, and Sneak. Agility is your main priority until you can get the perk levels you want then focus on Strength and Endurance to keep you alive when stealth fails you.
3 The Negan Build
There are so many cool weapons to use in Fallout 4 that picking a baseball bat as a character's main weapon seems like a wasted playthrough. Players that have tried centering their build around using a bat, specifically the Rockville Slugger with the Bladed and Aluminum mods, know that this build can become incredibly overpowered during late-game play.
With the Big Leagues and Bloody Mess perks, a high strength score, and a focus on more critical hits, a character can easily start dealing around 1,000 points of damage per hit. The Rockville Slugger also comes with a -40 percent V.A.T.S. bonus, so getting the Grim Reaper's Spirit perk elevates this build to one of the best builds in Fallout 4.
2 One Punch Man
Named after the popular anime, this build focuses on unarmed combat using the Blitz perk. You want a lot of strength and agility to give you Rooted, Blitz, Iron Fist, Moving Target, Action Boy/Girl. The weapon you want is the Power Fist as it benefits from unarmed based perks like Iron Fist and sees its damage go up with higher Strength.
It’s also a good idea to raise your critical hit damage to further milk more DPS from your punches. With enough levels you can trigger Blitz to teleport to your enemies and take many foes down in one punch, tougher enemies will take a few more hits, but it’s still absurd how fast they go down.
1 Infiltrator
Held up as the strongest possible Fallout 4 build among scores of fans, the Infiltrator is designed to take advantage of the Deliverer pistol in V.A.T.S. to drop enemies. Agility and Luck are critical and a few points in whatever you need for essential perks.
Sneak, Ninja, and Locksmith will help you get into areas and get the drop on enemies. Action Boy/Girl for AP regeneration, Gunslinger raises damage, Gun Nut gives you suppressors, and Mister Sandman is nice for sleeping targets.
Later on, focus on critical damage. Sneak Attack your first target with V.A.T.S. then just start blowing apart heads and limbs in slow motion.