- New - A guide to making a Pistol/Gunslinger Build
- New - A guide to making a Melee Build
- New - Scav Magazine - All locations and details
- For New Players - Read the walkthrough.
- New - Open Season
- New - Power Play Quest
- New - Raider Outposts
- New - Nuka World Endings Guide - Options and Benefits
- The Grand Tour
- Faction Perks and New SPECIAL Ranks in Nuka World
- Gage (Companion)
Fallout 4 Main Quests
Points of No Return and How Far You Can Go
I've tried to document the quests that turn factions against one another. Mass Fusion is a major turning point in faction relations between Institute and Brotherhood.
I suggest you do not read this unless you've already met the Institute. This is for the end-game. I am going to write as little spoilers as possible, but want to help who are hesitant to do faction quests out of fear of losing their standing with the others. Ultimately, the faction you like most is who you should probably work with - the game continues after the end, allowing you to level up infinitely. There are four different endings in Fallout 4, depending upon which Faction you choose to end the game with, and different sequences of events leading up to it. Every fully completed main quest results in you having one faction of the three main warring factions, plus the Minutemen in your version of the Commonwealth. Some of it is the same, but the ultimate consequence is which faction you'll continue to work with after the end of the game.
The purpose of this is to ease your mind that you can play a portion of each faction's main quest without crossing a line and ending relationships with other factions, should you wish to achieve certain goals with them. A new playthrough or save where you are at a turning point are suggested to experience each faction's main quests. This info is NOT perfect, as some players may point out because of all the different faction quests different players will have in their quest log. However I do believe it does document the turning points very well.
Who Wants to Kill Who?
- Working with the Institute means eliminating the Railroad and Brotherhood
- Working with the Brotherhood means eliminating the Railroad (maybe!) and Institute
- Working with the Railroad means eliminating the Brotherhood and Institute
- The Minutemen will remain an ally regardless of whom you work with, I suppose as a means to keep the Settlement building portion of the game untouched. They also fit into the Commonwealth without necessarily being against any of these other factions.
How Far Can you Go with each Faction?
Minutemen
The Minutemen do not have their own ending quest unless you spoil your relationship with the Institute. At that point, you've got to either work with them (through the quest Burning Cover via Railroad) or continue working with the Brotherhood of Steel to finish the game. If you work with the Brotherhood of Steel to finish, you can actually make it so that the Minutemen are the ONLY faction left by turning on the Brotherhood after finishing their quest line - though you may want to buy some unique items from their stores before doing so, and maybe even consider killing Maxson to turn them against you so that you can get his Final Judgment and Battlecoat (which can be upgraded with Ballistic Weave from the Railroad). You can squash the Railroad and Institute, then use the Minutemen to squash the BoS.
Railroad
Tradecraft should be completed before finishing the Institute Quest, "Mankind-Redefined" so that you can continue to work with them. You can complete their quests up to the point that you're on 'Underground Undercover' and the step to continue working with Father. Doing so means finishing the Institute Quest 'Mass Fusion' (the point you've worked with Father enough), which turns the Brotherhood of Steel hostile toward you. From there, you must complete Underground Undercover to continue working with the Railroad. I suggest you save if you do make it past that step as it is a risky quest, as players who can't kill the Synths that attack without stealth or haste may cause the Institute to then turn hostile. Finishing Underground will result in a quest to take out the Brotherhood, then later the Institute.
Institute
Avoid getting in trouble with Father after the Battle of Bunker Hill (I have a guide to that) to keep your relationship with the Institute solid. Mass Fusion is the big turning point, as noted above. If you do not complete Mankind-Redefined (by not speaking to Father after the meeting) you can avoid being in this situation entirely. This can let you finish some other Brotherhood Quests. As for Mass Fusion, you can have it in your quest log, but you face a decision. It will cause the Brotherhood to be hostile unless you notify them. If you notify the Brotherhood, you start Spoils of War and end your relationship with the Institute. You can now only finish the game with the Brotherhood or Minutemen. For the quest after 'Mass Fusion', it is suggested to use Dogmeat as a companion so that you do not anger your humanoid companion by killing any innocents.
Brotherhood of Steel
This one is a little more complicated, and why I listed it last. You can skip a lot of quests if you inform the Brotherhood during Mass Fusion (Institute). This can actually result in the Railroad being left untouched, and a quest that may cause you to lose a companion as well. So if you like both the Railroad and Brotherhood, this would be the way to go - do Institute Quests up to Mass Fusion, inform the Brotherhood and get 'Spoils of War', then continue from there.
The point you'll face difficult choices in the BoS quest line is after completing Liberty Reprimed. An issue with a companion arises, the Railroad-relationship ending quest (Tactical Thinking), then you go after the Institute.
Please avoid as many spoilers as you can in comments
Respect your fellow players and do not give story details here. I've tried to summarize this so that players feel more comfortable doing quests whose names have not appeared here, meaning they can work with that faction at least a bit more. If you found this helpful, or have a suggestion to improve it, email [email protected]
More Fallout 4 Guides
Share Tips and Strategies Below
- Raider Outposts in Nuka World
- Nuka World - Play as a Raider in this DLC
- Far Harbor - Learn about the DLC, its secrets, and read walkthroughs
- Automatron - Guides to building bots and quest walkthroughs
- Settlements - An in-depth guide to Settlements and managing them
- Melee Build - the best perks for a melee character
- Sneaking - Learn to be stealthy
- Critical Hits - Shots to Crit and Crit damage mechanics
- Tips for Making a Build - General advice for creating your own build
- Action Points - AP and all the things that affect it
- VATS - all about the V.A.T.S. and AP usage on weapons
- Gameplay Tips - pointers that will help new players
- Making a Sniper Rifle Weapon mod examples. Heavy hitter and fast-firing Comparison - two guns from the same base.
Share Tips and FAQs (15)
If I want to stay on the up and up with both the railroad and the brotherhood... should I stop doing anything for either until find the institute and get up to the 'spoils of war' point you spoke of above? If it helps, feel free to email me a spoiler heavy reply.
I think they will lead you there eventually, so it *should* be safe. There may be quests that come up to take out other factions, but I'm not sure of the order. So many different sequences people can take to do things in this game. If other readers come to this point I would probably just do the molecular level/institutionalized so that you can have quests from all three and things will make a lot more sense. There's no 'bar' or anything that makes factions angry, just the quests where they ask you to take out one another and sadly it's kind of simple in that way.
Thanks for the kind words about the site, haven't had much feedback. It is starting to be read now, which is great after working on it for 3 months, but I don't think a lot of people even know it exists!
Railroad - underground Undercover (dont start)
Institute - not sure
BoS - not sure
1. you get a railway rifle which i like because its fun sticking peoples heads on walls
2. you get the final judgement and maxsons battlecoat
i dont know why i feel its the most awarding
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