Preston Garvey



Preston Garvey is the leader (and later second-in-command) of the Commonwealth Minutemen, a group of people living in The Commonwealth. He is also available as a companion of the Sole Survivor.

Background
Preston Garvey originally enrolled with the Minutemen under Colonel Hollis at the age of seventeen. An avid believer in the espoused justice of the Minuteman cause, Preston rose through the ranks of the Minutemen to become an officer under the direct command of Hollis himself.

After hearing one of Mama Murphy’s visions -- which envisaged Quincy being surrounded and massacred -- a villager named Sturges requested the aid of the Minutemen militia. When the Minutemen arrived (Preston in tow) they found the Gunners, a ruthless mercenary organization, besieging Quincy.

The Minutemen dispersed the Gunner lines and were welcomed by the battle-weary citizens of Quincy; the Gunners temporarily retreated. The Minutemen quickly moved to fortify Quincy but it proved not to be enough, as -- according to a terminal in the northwestern part of the town -- the Gunners reformed their picket lines and relentlessly probed the town's defenses for weaknesses.

The last recording in the terminal indicates that an ex-Minuteman officer named Clint eventually revealed himself to Colonel Hollis as the leader of the invading force (Hollis notes extreme anger at this betrayal, while the terminals of the citizens express confusion and frustration). Clint sought to establish terms of surrender for Quincy and its defenders; these terms were summarily refused by Hollis.

While the subsequent events are not explicitly recorded in text, the outcome for the Minutemen is broadly established by dialogue with Preston and various other wastelanders: the Minutemen requested support, which did not arrive; the Gunners overwhelmed the defenders; and murdered nearly all of the civilians, the defenders, and Col. Hollis. This caused the remaining Minuteman settlements to fall apart, setting the stage for the arrival of the Sole Survivor.

The event is known as the Quincy Massacre.

Consequently, Preston gathered the few remaining civilians and loyal Minutemen and fled to Lexington. Regrettably, as Preston testifies, Lexington was filled with feral ghouls; the hardships of the town gradually whittled the group's numbers down to just over ten. Eventually the group moved to Concord where they took shelter in the Museum of Freedom -- with only eight survivors.

By the time the Sole Survivor arrives to help Preston, they number only five.

Post-Quincy
Preston hopes to rebuild the Minutemen with aid from the Sole Survivor. After (eventually) appointing the Sole Survivor as the new General of the Minutemen, he assigns quests that slowly rebuild the influence of the Minutemen by capturing new territory and defending the settlements already loyal to the cause.

Once the Sole Survivor reaches a high enough level of prestige with the Minutemen, Preston will notify the Sole Survivor of an old Minutemen stronghold known as "The Castle". Taking The Castle will unlock the final quest line for the Minutemen (and ultimately the Artillery piece improvement).

Quests

 * When Freedom Calls: Preston asks of the Sole Survivor to equip properly and clear out Concord so he and his people can move away to a safer place.
 * The First Step: Preston asks the Sole Survivor to help out a settlement. If this quest is completed, Preston will become available as a companion.
 * Taking Independence: Preston asks the Sole Survivor to help take back The Castle (Fort Independence) previously occupied by the Minutemen.

Effects of player's actions

 * Maximizing approval with Preston Garvey grants the United We Stand perk, which increases damage dealt by 20% as well as increasing damage resistance by 20 points when facing 3 or more enemies at once. Maximum affinity can be achieved after attaching 67 weapon modifications; read the United We Stand perk page for more information.
 * He will instantly leave if the Sole Survivor attacks a Minuteman.

Appearances
Preston Garvey appears in Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter.

Bugs
Sometimes if there is any weapon near Preston even if it is weaker than his laser musket he may equip it.
 * There is a known bug where after the quest to reclaim the Castle it becomes impossible to get him as a companion.
 * This can be fixed on PC by opening the console, selecting Preston Garvey and inputting.
 * A possible fix for this is to have Preston as a companion while initiating the assault on the Castle.
 * Another possible fix is if the Sole Survivor sides with The Minutemen against The Institute in the endgame. After activating the bomb in The Nuclear Option, Preston will talk to you and can be asked to follow you.
 * If the Survivor chooses to side with the Railroad and eliminate the Institute, speaking to Garvey after having him as a companion will bug the dialogue to repeat over and over.
 * When destroying the institute with the Brotherhood of Steel and when you talk to Preston, he will keep saying the that the Institute is gone and you could have helped the innocent unless there is a settlement in need or reporting that you helped that settlement.
 * Preston may become unavailable to recruit before the siege on the Castle. If the Castle is then retaken, he will no longer engage in dialogue past a greeting or a settlement quest.
 * It's possible to bug his quest exchanges so that he continues to give a quest complete marker with no xp and the quest stays in your log. The only way to fix this is to reload.