Fallout 4 has a variety of potential companions that provide company while you traverse the wasteland. Many come with their own quests and unlockable perks. If you want to take advantage of these perks, you first need to max out your affinity with the companion through a variety of actions. Let’s break down the necessary steps for improving your relationship with Curie, Fallout 4’s robot/human Synth companion. (And check out our guide for Piper Wright if you’ve decided to go with her as your companion.)
Curie is a French-accented Miss Nanny robot repurposed for conducting research in Vault 81; where you can recruit her after the “Hole in the Wall” quest that opens the Vault. Later, the player can transfer Curie’s mind into a female Synth body as part of a side quest (which we’ll cover in a moment).
Curie’s General Affinity
Curie as a Miss Nanny robot in Vault 81.
Having Curie as a companion means making good or neutral choices during your travels, while avoiding bad or selfish choices.
She appreciates when you are generous and give items to other characters; for instance beggars. When it comes to dialogue choices, aim for nice responses (such as supportive or positive ones), peaceful responses that aim to de-escalate conflict, and mean-spirited responses (she seems to like both nice and mean responses, oddly enough).
To keep your relationship level high, you’ll need to avoid actions Curie disapproves of. If you act violently, steal in her presence, choose greedy dialogue responses, or develop a chem addiction, your relationship with her will suffer. Below we’ve broken down specific, repeatable actions that will help or hurt your relationship.
Actions that affect your relationship with Curie
Focus on these actions to IMPROVE your relationship:
- Heal Dogmeat in Curie’s presence
- Donate items gained from Miscellaneous Quests
- Choose a “nice” dialogue option when speaking to another character
- Choose a “mean” dialogue option when speaking to another character
- Attempt to resolve conflict with another character peacefully
Meanwhile, AVOID doing these repeatable actions:
- Ask for an increased reward for a quest (“greedy” dialogue options)
- Act violently towards a non-hostile character (Ghouls and Super Mutants are exceptions)
- Steal from or pickpocket someone
- Kill a neutral Mister Gutsy/Mister Handy
- Become addicted to chems
- Retrieve synths for the Institute
There are also some one-time and quest-specific actions you can take that will affect your relationship with Curie. Possible spoilers ahead, depending on where you are in the game.
One-time actions with a POSITIVE effect:
- Side with the Ironsides during the “Last Voyage of the U.S.S. Constitution” quest and defeat the scavengers
- Join the Brotherhood of Steel
- Use Curie’s help to save Danny Sullivan during the “In Sheep’s Clothing” quest.
- Emphasize the importance of love when speaking to Miss Edna in Diamond City’s Schoolhouse
- Tell Moe Cronin that baseball was not a violent sport in his “Swatters” shack in Diamond City
One-time actions with a VERY POSITIVE effect:
- Complete the experiment at the Cambridge Polymer Labs by combining the U-238 with Gold and Lithium Hydride (without disarming the defense systems)
- Defend the synths when meeting Desdemona, The Railroad’s leader.
- Give Brian Virgil the experimental serum at the end of the “Glowing Sea” quest
The following one-time action has a VERY NEGATIVE effect:
- Decide to destroy the Railroad faction for the Brotherhood of Steel or The Institute
Curie’s “Emergent Behavior” Quest
Doctor Amari will help you transfer Curie’s mind into a human Synth.
Once Curie has been your companion for some time, she will ask for your help in becoming more human in order to continue her research. If you’ve completed the “Dangerous Minds” quest and have met Doctor Amari in Goodneighbor, you can offer to take Curie to see her.
After meeting Amari and following her instructions, Curie will be transferred to a female synth body. Completing the Emergent Behavior quest gives your relationship with Curie a big boost, and you should be well on your way to the “admire” and “idolize” levels of the relationship.
Max affinity, romance, and the Combat Medic perk
Gaining the Combat Medic perk once Curie has expressed her love for you.
When you’ve completed enough of the positive actions above and have completed “Emergent Behavior”, a notification will pop up that Curie “idolizes” you. You will begin to see “Flirt” dialogue options when speaking with Curie, with speech checks attached to them.
At this point you can take one of two routes: you can choose to pursue romance with Curie or remain platonic with her. Note that you DO NOT need to romance a companion to gain their companion perk. Even for Fallout 4 companions that can be romanced, the perk results from a maxed-out affinity.
If you choose NOT to pursue romance with Curie, you will need to continue taking the repeatable and remaining one-time actions that she approves of. In the end it’s just a numbers game, and once you see the “idolize” notification, you’re at the home stretch of it. Continue choosing supportive and positive dialogue options; ask her about her research and how she’s doing in her new human body.
Eventually you will get a notification saying “you have achieved the highest level of affinity with Curie”. This means you’ve unlocked the “Combat Medic” perk. This handy skill gives you the ability to heal 100 Hit Points once per day when you are below 10% HP. Unlike other companion perks, this ability is only usable when Curie is your current companion, so make sure you keep her around if you intend to use it.
If you choose to romance Curie, you will need to take advantage of the “Flirt” dialogue options at every opportunity. Choosing (and completing) these speech checks will improve your relationship very quickly. To avoid a failed speech check, make sure your Charisma is high enough. If needed you can temporarily supplement your Charisma level with clothing (Reginald’s Suit, Agatha’s Dress), consumables (Day-Tripper, Daddy-O, or any beer), or more permanently with the Lady Killer perk (a very useful perk if you want to romance multiple opposite-sex companions).
Eventually the “Romance” option will replace “Flirt”. Again, be sure that your Charisma is high enough that you can pass this speech check. If you do, Curie will be in love with you and you will have maxed out your affinity with her. The achievement will pop up on your screen, announcing that you’ve unlocked the “Combat Medic” perk (see two paragraphs up for the perk’s description).
Finally having romanced Curie, you can sleep in a bed for any length of time while Curie loves you (and is your companion) in order to gain the temporary “Lover’s Embrace” perk. This perk grants you a 15% boost in XP for 12 hours, so take advantage of this temporary boost by completing a big mission after your nap!
Note: This guide has been updated to reflect the option to gain Curie’s perk without pursuing a romantic relationship with her.
