Settler (Fallout 4)

Settlers are wastelanders living in various settlements across the Commonwealth and the Island in Fallout 4. Many deceased settlers can also be found around Nuka-World.

Background
Settlers can include wanderers, former residents of Diamond City or Goodneighbor, scavengers, former raiders or Gunners, and even Gen 3 synths who are covertly working for the Institute or have been rescued by the Railroad, trying to integrate into normal life. Even wastelanders trying to scrape out a living will sometimes give up their solitary life as a wanderer and move into a soon-to-be-thriving settlement, sometimes under the protection of the Commonwealth Minutemen.

After taking up residence, new settlers can serve a variety of roles in the community to earn their keep. Some help to actively defend the settlement, grow crops, serve as shopkeepers, or scavenge. In the event that a settlement is attacked, all its inhabitants will gather to protect it. A few settlers willing to put their lives on the line for their loved ones may leave their simple life as a farmer to join the Minutemen to fight for the common good.

Other interactions

 * Able to trade equipment.
 * Able to heal a player character, cure radiation, and cure addiction if assigned to a first aid station.
 * Able to equip gear, including weapons, armor, and grenades.
 * Become merchants when assigned to settlement stores.
 * The leader of a settlement can give the player character radiant quests, which commonly involve exterminating nearby ghouls, raiders or Super Mutants, or dealing with a kidnapping.
 * Killing or injuring a settler will turn the entire settlement hostile if not done covertly.
 * If one has an arena (Wasteland Workshop add-on), settlers can be killed there with no repercussions other than a happiness drop.

Settlers in allied settlements
Speaking to a settler from one of the Sole Survivor's settlements will allow them to access their inventory and select their equipment much like they would a companion. They can be armed with better weaponry than their default pipe pistols, but don't consume ammunition provided they have at least one unit of the correct ammunition for their weapon. The same holds true with grenades. The only exceptions are the missile launcher and Fat Man, as these are tagged with "NPCs Consume Ammo."

Settlers assigned as shopkeepers have additional dialogue options when spoken to, similar to other merchants. Select "trade" from the dialogue tree to access their inventory. Speaking to a shopkeeper settler outside of their operating hours will go straight to their personal inventory as normal. Doctors seem to be an exception: A settler assigned to a clinic will not have a trade dialogue option when spoken to during business hours. To access their inventory, either wait for the shop to close or unassign and reassign them from/to their shop.

Settlers assigned to a guard post will man that post as well as up to two other unmanned guard posts. They will walk in a patrol circuit between such posts, making it pragmatic to place groups of three in relatively close proximity. They rarely leave these posts, to the extent that they do not sleep when the player character is visiting (like any settlement resident, they still require a bed).

Unassigned settlers default to gathering any unassigned crops should there be a deficit of food. Assuming the player character is present, during daylight hours these settlers, as well as those assigned to a scavenging station, will patrol the settlement when not working, and if chairs are present will periodically stop to sit and eat. At night, settlers will gravitate towards the most well-lit parts of town, particularly around a food stall, if built, regardless if occupied or not. Thus, the strategic placement of chairs and lights can allow these settlers to assist in monitoring a settlement's perimeter for intruders or, conversely, herd them towards a settlement's center.

Encountered settlers
Sometimes, as the Sole Survivor wanders the wasteland, they may come across a small band of settlers, often in groups of three or four, fighting against a band of enemies, from raiders to super mutants. Should the Sole Survivor save these settlers, it gives them the option of going to one of the allied settlements.

Appearances
Settlers appear in Fallout 4 and its add-ons Far Harbor and Nuka-World.

Bugs
Settlers may spontaneously stop working. They can be reassigned to resources temporarily but they will revert back to their unassigned state after a short time. Leaving the area and returning before reassigning the settlers to their resources appears to fix this.