Our Fallout 4 best companion list covers the top ten companions in the game. These NPCs are the ultimate assistants in both combat and Wasteland exploration.
Much like with our Fallout Shelter weapons list, companions are subjective to a player’s play style. As such, we’ve considered a few different things with these companions, including their strength, how useful they are in general, and how much fun they are to play with.
Top 10 Fallout 4 Best Companion List
1. Curie
Affinity Perk: Combat Medic – Grants 100HP once every 24 hours if your health dips below 10%.
Curie (Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer) starts life as a Miss Nanny in Vault 81 when you meet her. She looks like a Mr. Handy robot but can be transferred to a Synth Body later in the game. Once she’s in her new form, it’s possible to romance her, should you be so inclined to do so.
Her quests are fascinating and explore more of the niche concepts in Fallout 4. She’s very interesting for anyone who wants to learn more about Fallout’s lore particularly compares to some other companions on this list.
Where to Find Curie
As we’ve already pointed out, you pick Curie up in Vault 81. Once in her Synth Body, she’s one of the strongest companions in the game, making her extremely useful in combat. Her robust health pool is also something that you’ll be thankful for in intense battles.
Curie likes acts of kindness and won’t take to players who like to hurt others needlessly. Avoid her if you’re playing as a tyrant.
2. Cait
Affinity Perk: Trigger Rush – Action Point regeneration is increased when health is below 25%.
With Cait by your side, no lock poses a threat. She’s able to pick any lock you come up against, but it’ll take time. You’ll need to defend her while she works, which can sometimes be more effort than it’s worth. Ultimately though, it’s better to be able to pick a lock than it is to have to remember to come back for it later.
Cait’s quests aren’t anything too special. Yes, they do explore the world a little, but they’re nothing out of the ordinary. If you’re running with her, it’s for her humorous reactions to you dosing up with Chems or smashing in the skulls of enemies.
Where to Find Cait
Cait is a cage fighter who lives in Combat Zone 2287. She’s offered up to players as a reward because of her self-destructive addiction to Psycho. While she’s a bit of a loose cannon, enjoying a fight at any opportunity, she’s also one of the most useful companions in the game.
Like Curie, Cait is a romance option in Fallout 4.
3. Strong
Affinity Perk: Berserk – Melee Damage is increased by 20% if health dips below 25%.
Strong is a Super Mutant, and a powerful one at that, but he’s not out to harm you.
Where to Find Strong
Players will free him from a cell during the quest ‘Curtain Call.’ It doesn’t get any more exciting than that with him, so if you were looking for more lore, this isn’t the companion.
As a companion, Strong is excellent. He uses Rifles and will generally batter your foes if they get too close to him. He’s definitely one of the better-looking companions or interesting to look at, but there’s not much under the surface with him.
4. Preston Garvey
Affinity Perk: United We Stand – Increases the damage you deal by 20% and increases damage resistance by 20 points when facing three enemies or more.
This guy needs a little introduction. Preston Garvey is very much a meme of Fallout 4. The chances are that you’ve heard of him, even if you haven’t played the game. Players are able to go literally anywhere when they begin Fallout 4, but he is unavoidable if you want to progress the main quest.
Where to Find Preston Garvey
You’ll pick up Preston Garvey, and a few residents for your settlement, in one of the first quests in the game. This is also when you acquire your first Power Armor.
While he might seem like a great companion to have, representing an entire faction and all, he’s just too annoying for my tastes. He’ll always tell you about another settlement that needs your help. After a while, it just gets too boring and dull, forcing players like me to bench him for the rest of the game.
If you really love helping settlements for the Minutemen though, then Preston Garvey is your guy.
5. Nick Valentine
Affinity Perk: Close to Metal – Gives you one extra attempt at hacking a terminal, and a 50% reduction on lock out time when you fail.
This is one of my personal favorite companions. He’s a detective, and a Synth, but comes somewhere between the useless robots of the first generation and the homicidal ones of the second generation.
Nick is involved in a number of main quests and has his own very interesting ones as well. Overall he’s just a great character to explore the Wasteland with.
Where to Find Nick Valentine
Nick Valentine shows up in Diamond City alongside the main quest in Fallout 4, and he’s brilliant.
I always find that Nick Valentine lacks a little in the combat department. His aim is good, but he does very little damage. I’d say that he’s a good companion to have in addition to someone else, but he should never be your only one. That’s asking for someone to put you down.
6. Dogmeat
Affinity Perk: None, but you are able to have the Lone Wanderer perk with him equipped as a companion.
Dogmeat is a fantastic pet, but not technically a companion. The best part of having Dogmeat with you is that he’ll run off and pick up items that you might need. You can even send him out to pick up some stuff by command. This means that he’ll bring you Chems, ammo, and sometimes other useful items or junk when you’re just exploring the world.
Where to Find Dogmeat
You pick him up at the Red Rocket shortly after starting the game, and you’ll never look back. I love dogs, but I’m definitely a cat person. With that said, I love having Dogmeat with me in a playthrough.
7. MacCready
Affinity Perk: Killshot – Increases your chance of hitting an enemy in V.A.T.S. by 20%.
Robert MacCready is a former mayor of Little Lamplight, which Fallout 3 players will remember.
MacCready is one of the darker companions you can pick up. He prefers you to treat others poorly, which will raise his reputation with him. However, he’s also a bit annoying. If you speak to him too often, he’ll just stop talking to you for 24 hours.
Where to Find MacCready
You actually pick him up in a familiar location from that game, Goodneighbor.
Overall though, he’s quite useful. Out in the Wasteland, he’ll pick up Fusion Cores and randomly present them to you. Perfect if you want to keep that Power Armor running. He’ll also give you ammo occasionally.
8. John Hancock
Affinity Perk: Isodoped – Critical meter fills 20% faster when your Rad level is at 250 or more.
This guy might not be the most powerful NPC on this Fallout 4 best companion list, but he’s undoubtedly the most stylish.
His quests are definitely worth playing through. They get you to explore some totally new concepts in the Fallout universe, and I thoroughly enjoyed playing them myself.
Where to Find John Hancock
He’s the mayor of Goodneighbor when you meet him, and is loved because he’ll offer the player Chems quite a lot in his time with them.
John Hancock is definitely a companion for those who keep their character irradiated. This sometimes grants special mutations, but it’s also required to get Hancock’s perk to work. For all that radiation, you get a much better chance of a critical shot, which I think is worth taking.
9. Piper
Affinity Perk: Gift of the Gab – Experience from finding new locations and persuasion successes is doubled.
Piper is another companion that you’ll pick up by completing main quests. She’s another companion with quests that are well worth playing. They get into the nitty-gritty details of the world of the game, and they’re some of the more memorable of the entire story.
Where to Find Piper
She’s outside Diamond City when you meet her, but the pair of you soon get inside, and then she’ll sell you on her paper.
She might not be the strongest companion in Fallout 4, but she’s definitely the most interesting. She has more dialogue lines than most and has something to say about almost everything the player does. Her comebacks are also brilliant. I found myself laughing at the game when I had her as my companion.
10. X6-88
Affinity Perk: Shield Harmonics – Energy Resistance is increased by 20 points.
We’re rounding off this Fallout 4 best companion list with a bit of a douchebag.
Where to Find X6-88
You pick him up as a companion if you help the Institute, hence why this guy is one of the more evil companions in the game. To be fair to him, he has basically no human emotion, though he does enjoy it when you hurt others.
His quests are part of the main storyline if you choose to side with the Institute that is. All of his quests are big and explosive, but they’re also main quests. If you fancy trying out a different faction or ending, then sure, he’s a good fit.
Overall though, I don’t think that X6-88 adds much to the game. He does pack some heat with Laser Rifles, though.
Conclusion
I don’t think that there is an NPC on this Fallout 4 best companion list that would fit your next playthrough perfectly. I do believe that you, like many other players, have probably missed at least one of them, though.
If you haven’t played with a couple of these companions, I’d suggest booting up Fallout 4 again and trying them out. There are hundreds of hours of gameplay to be enjoyed, all of which can change with the right, or wrong, companion by your side.
If you’ve got a favorite companion that you believe should be on this list, tell us who they are in the comments.
