Editor’s note: This guide is applicable for all versions of the game, including mobile, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.
Fallout Shelter, Bethesda’s free-to-play mobile spin-off of the hugely successful post-apocalyptic RPG series Fallout, allows you to become the Overseer of a designated vault and assign your vault dwellers to various tasks — such as providing power, water, food, and RadAway packs for exposure to radiation.
However, after playing for a while and being attacked by too many raiders, you may feel the need to send one of your vault dwellers out to explore the Wasteland so can collect weapons and armor to defend yourself with.
But what stats give your dwellers the best chance of surviving out there in the wilds? In this guides, we’re going to take a look and let you know which stats will turn your vault dwellers into expert explorers.
The Most Important Stats for Exploring the Wasteland in Fallout Shelter
Just like the main Fallout series, Fallout Shelter uses the S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat system. If you have not played a Fallout game before, the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. system breaks down as follows:
- S: Strength
- P: Perception
- E: Endurance
- C: Charisma
- I: Intelligence
- A: Agility
- L: Luck
When you start the game, you will be given Level 1 vault dwellers who have very little in the way of stats. Also, each room in the game that you assign dwellers to requires a certain stat to run well. Dwellers with a high Strength stat, for example, belong in the Power Plant, while dwellers with high Intelligence should be in the Science Lab or the Med Bay. And those with exceptional Charisma are best used in the Residence area so they can start creating baby dwellers.
Once you reach about Level 4, disasters large and small will start to afflict your vault — and you’ll find yourself battling fires, rad roach infestations, and raider intrusions. All of these will require some form of defense, like weapons and armor. And while you can occasionally pick up these items from dead Raiders, the best way to get them en masse is to head out into the Wasteland.
Just like when you assign a dweller to a room, their stats will determine how long they survive and how much they pick up when they go out to explore. So you’ll want to focus on sending out dwellers with the following stats:
- Strength
- Endurance
- Luck
Here’s a breakdown of why each of these stats is important to exploration.
Strength
This is the obvious characteristic, but it helps the Vault Dweller level up and spend quite a few hours in the Wasteland without ending up dead — and more time in the wasteland means more dead enemies and more collected loot.
In my Vault, I sent out the strongest of my vault dwellers for exploration. And as a result, he came back with a huge weapon haul that has really helped in defending against raiders.
The downside here is that if you’re relying on one strong person to run Power your vault and send them out to explore, you could end up losing Power if the remaining dwellers don’t have great strength stats.
Once you have 24 Dwellers, though, you can level up this stat in the Weight Room and create dwellers that have higher strength for Power Plant work or Wasteland exploration.
Endurance
Having a high endurance stat means you will take less damage when you get hit by an enemy. This translates to more survivability in the Wasteland, and a higher chance of defeating enemies to take their gear.
If your explorer has a sub-par endurance stat, you can sort of make up for it by stocking up on supplies from the Med Bay and Science Lab — so at least they can heal up after taking some hard hits.
Once you have at least 26 dwellers in your vault, you can train up the Endurance stat in the Athletics room. So it’s a good idea to take some of your higher strength characters and assign them here so they’ll have all the stats they need to survive on the outside.
Luck
Luck is less important than Strength and Endurance, but having a high number in this stat means your dweller will have a better chance of finding better items in the Wasteland. So even if they don’t survive long enough to bring back a ton of stuff, it’s far more likely that what they do bring back will be higher quality.
To prime your dweller’s Luck skill for better drop chances outside the Vault, amass 40 dwellers so you can build a Lounge that will help them train up their Luck stat.
Best Gear for Exploring the Wasteland in Fallout Shelter
A lot of great gear can be acquired from raider invasions and the lunchboxes that the game rewards you with early on in the game. And when you’re equipping your dweller for a venture into the Wasteland, you’ll want to choose items that increase the stats listed above. (I had a lot of success with taking my strongest Dweller and equipping him with Formal Wear, as it significantly increased his luck for getting good items.)
Pets are useful here, too. I opted to equip my adventuring dweller with Doug, who will heal that character three times faster out in the Wasteland. That extra survivability was a huge boost to the amount of time my dweller could spend on the outside, which of course translated to even better loot collections when he finally returned.
The Wasteland can be brutal — but if you go prepared and level up the correct stats, you won’t have anything to worry about. It’s very important to keep growing your Vault so that you can unlock more rooms to train your less able dwellers into Wasteland machines!
Strength is by far the most important characteristic, considering that packing your dweller with loads of medical supplies before they set off is a good substitute for high Endurance. Luck should be a bit higher than your other stats, but it doesn’t need to be super high for you to get a decent range of items. Equipping pets can also boost your rate of success, as well.
That wraps up our guide! We wish your dwellers luck during their dangerous excursions out into the Wasteland. (But if you’ve followed the advice in this guide, we’re sure they’ll be fine.) Check out the rest of our Fallout Shelter guides here at GameSkinny for even more tips that will keep your vault running smoothly.
