Vault Dwellers (Fallout Shelter)

Vault dwellers are the inhabitants of the player's Vault. They are the ones who work for you, making the power, water and food that they then use. They are also the ones who are sent to the wasteland to explore.

Dweller statistics
All dwellers have their own set of SPECIAL statistics, determining their ideal job posting. Other important information in the dweller's profile includes:


 * Their name. Any name may be edited by clicking on the name at the top of the statistics section. When viewing the dweller in the Vault, only their first name will be visible.
 * Happiness, determining their productivity.
 * Happiness can be increased by a dweller successfully taking part in a Room Rush, by mating, and just by being placed in the right room.
 * Happiness will decrease if a dweller dies, is injured and not healed, by not being given an occupation, and by being in close proximity to a dead body.
 * Level, determining their effectiveness and hit points. Note that every level up also gives you a sum of caps equivalent to the level reached and the life is fully filled.
 * Hit points and radiation damage. Missing hit points are cured with stimpaks, and radiation damage (in red on the Hit Points bar) is cured with RadAway. They will also heal naturally, but your dweller will be unhappy and less productive while this happens. Be aware that pregnant dwellers will pass radiation damage to their children.
 * The dweller's outfit. Equipping dwellers with outfits will improve their SPECIAL statistics.
 * The dweller's weapon.

If a dweller is within the Shelter, the Stimpaks and the RadAway shown on their statistics are the total number of those items held within the Shelter. If the dweller is exploring, the Stimpaks and RadAway shown are being carried by that dweller. The dweller will use up the items until they run out, at which point the dweller is in danger of death.

Gaining and losing dwellers
Players begin with 12 Vault Dwellers, all of which start at Level 1. Through hard work in a production room, dwellers will slowly raise their levels. Through training in an appropriate training room, dwellers will increase their SPECIAL statistics.

Players can receive new dwellers by:
 * Mating an adult male and an adult female dweller (who are not too closely related) in the living quarters.
 * The procedure that a couple will follow is: Meet, talk, dance, mate. If couples have been in the same room for a while (but talking or dancing with other people), they may miss a step. This can be very frustrating when trying to fulfil a dancing quest without any resultant pregnancies.
 * Living Quarters follow the same space rules as other rooms - a single room can hold 2 adults, a double holds 4 and a triple holds 6. Placing more than one couple in a suitably sized room may result in mixing and matching of the couples as they decide which is their best mate.
 * Boy children will gain their father's surname; girl children their mother's. You can change the child's name as you can change anyone's name, by clicking on the name at the top of their Statistics, and editing it.
 * Dwellers sharing a parent cannot mate, nor can they mate their own parent or grandparent. You will see the "Hanging out with the family" message when they meet in the Living Quarters.
 * Uncles and Nieces can mate, as can Aunts and Nephews, and so can Cousins.
 * Before Patch 1.0.3 was released, children could chat, dance and subsequently mate with each other, and with adults. A pregnant child did not look any different to a non-pregnant one. However, as the time for pregnancy was the same as the time to grow up, the pregnant dweller girls were adults at the time they gave birth.
 * Enticing a wanderer with the radio broadcasts from the radio station.
 * Obtaining a Legendary dweller from a lunchbox.

If the player's Vault has no room for a new dweller (either because insufficient Living Quarters have been built, or the Vault has the maximum of 200 dwellers), pregnant women will not give birth and new arrivals will not enter the Vault.

Dwellers that have been sent out to explore the wasteland still count against the total capacity of the Vault.

Players can reduce the number of dwellers only by death. This can happen inside the Vault (either by radiation damage, fire, attack by radroaches, raiders, mole rats, or Deathclaws) or outside the Vault (by running out of stimpaks while exploring).
 * Dwellers who die inside the Vault may be resurrected, or the bodies may be removed. Leaving a dead body inside the Vault lowers the happiness of any nearby (living) dwellers).
 * Dwellers who die whilst exploring may be resurrected or have their bodies removed. If you remove them, any resources they may have collected on their travels are lost.

Moving and improving dwellers
Common dwellers who arrive at or are born into the Vault start at Level 1. Those who are born from parents with high S.P.E.C.I.A.L. statistics have a chance that their own statistics may be greater than 0.

When a dweller is dragged into a room, they will commence whichever activity is appropriate for that room: for instance, a dweller dragged into a power plant will activate its power-producing abilities. A dweller dragged into a training room will begin training in that SPECIAL ability.

If a dweller is dragged into a room that is already full, they will take the place of the person there with the lowest applicable SPECIAL statistic. For instance, if a dweller on coffee break is dragged into a 2-room power plant that already has 4 people in it, the dweller with the lowest Strength score (including outfit boost) will leave and will go on coffee break.

A dweller dragged into a production room will gain levels as they produce the appropriate resource. The speed at which they gain this is determined by the size of the room, the number and level of other dwellers in with them, and how often the room is rushed successfully.

Dwellers in the Radio Room call out to wandering people who might want to join the Vault. You cannot rush a Radio Room.

Dwellers in a training room will increase the appropriate SPECIAL statistic for that room: ie a dweller in an armory will increase their Perception skill. When they have gained a point, they will show a small icon over their head, which must be cleared for the next set of training to begin. While they are training, they will show the time left until the next point gain under their feet.

Dwellers in training can only improve each SPECIAL statistic to 10 (not including any outfit boost). A dweller that has reached 10 in that specific statistic (e.g. a dweller in the armory who has reached a Perception score of 10) will then show "Max Level Reached" under their feet, instead of the time until the next upgrade.

If a dweller is dragged into a room while an incident is occurring, they will run back to their previous location or role once the incident is over. This can be useful for putting two of your top-geared fighting toughs in the entranceway to meet raiders, knowing that they will return to their day jobs once the excitement is over. It is important to remember though if moving people for other reasons during an incident. Separating a dancing couple during a fire to stop pregnancy occurring will be useless once the fire stops and they rush back into each other's arms.