End game factions

[Sayo]

I’ve been looking around online for which faction gives the best ending, but all I get are people fondling the lore and roleplay. I’m wondering what the “best” faction is to end with, or if it’s better to leave the game stagnant about half-finished and go play the side stories/DLCs. I like how the BOS and Minutemen leave a bunch of random friendlies bumping around the commonwealth, haven’t played much with Railroad or Institute. So far it looks like BOS is superior since they fly in with air support and power armour, but I there’s a point of perfect neutrality, where all factions have friendlies helping gun everything down, that’d be great. Otherwise—best faction for gameplay?

[Sayo]

To put it simply:
None of that “Institute is slavery” or “BOS is Nazi” stuff. More of the “Minutemen are trash in combat” and “BOS air support ftw” kind stuff.

[Grendalcat]

It is possible to finish the main quest, and be on good terms with the Minutemen, RR and BoS.
I did it once accidentally. I would definitely go to Far Harbor before finishing the mq, there are some tie-ins with the main story and it may help you decide how to finish the mq.

[Novoke]

Minutemen ending where you befriend BOS and Railroad is definitely the best ending for gameplay purposes. You get BOS and Minutemen air support, as well as Ballistic Weave from Railroad. Only faction that you'll have to leave out is the Institute.

[Eclipse]

Originally posted by Zauhesi:

I’ve been looking around online for which faction gives the best ending, but all I get are people fondling the lore and roleplay. I’m wondering what the “best” faction is to end with, or if it’s better to leave the game stagnant about half-finished and go play the side stories/DLCs. I like how the BOS and Minutemen leave a bunch of random friendlies bumping around the commonwealth, haven’t played much with Railroad or Institute. So far it looks like BOS is superior since they fly in with air support and power armour, but I there’s a point of perfect neutrality, where all factions have friendlies helping gun everything down, that’d be great. Otherwise—best faction for gameplay?

my 1st playthrough with no guides i managed to keep all factions perfectly intact.

Do like 2-3 institute quests.

completed RR quests til you basically unlock the "Back entrance"

completed BoS until you are asked to get weapons for there final plan.

do all of the MM up until the end, using them for endgame.

thats how i kept them all intact

i know im forgetting some stuff but this keep spoilers to basically none.

[Sayo]

What would I lose by ending the Institute?

[Guilion]

The BoS are by far the faction that offer you the most for siding with them.
They're the only faction with unique power armor parts for crying out loud.

[Sayo]

I don’t use power armour at all anyways.

[Sayo]

Actually, to be more accurate, I do use it a few times.
At Concord, because screw deathclaws.
When marking armour on my map, just for fun.
Other than that? Nope. Throw a companion into armour sometimes but I’ve discontinued the use of PA for them recently.

[Solomon Hawk]

Originally posted by Zauhesi:

What would I lose by ending the Institute?

You're going to have to ignore what everyone else is trying to tell you ...
because:
It would be simpler to find out for yourself.
You gotta make your own judgement calls if this game is going to have any meaning to you.


Besides:
You're not limited to a single playthrough.

[Out Of Bubblegum]

If you are on survival, the BOS has vertibirds and the institute has a way to fast travel.

[Kameraden]

Narrative wise. I've always found the Minutemen and Institute to have the most enjoyable outcomes. If you go all out. ie if you go Minutemen go full Minutemen, no cheating to keep all factions but the Institute in the game, plus taking on the BOS as the Minutemen is a lot of fun.

Railroad/Minutemen you do not lose access to Vertibirds either, post ending. As their own factions will start using them. Railroad is definitely fun at least the story quest, just for the "LOLs" they're an unorganized almost anarchist group.

The Institute is a fun play through, I often imagine it as a 'rationalization' and 'sympathizing with the devil' faction, you don't have to be evil working for them, and you're allowed to feel regret for bad things you do do. Which has always made the Institute my favorite faction to play as. BOS as a few similar moments. I always found playing the role of a parent wanting to help and get to know their child makes the Institute a very enjoyable play through on top of what I already stated.

In general people will argue often for nit picky reasons which is the best faction. But in my opinion, it's all about how much you enjoy them.

I can sum up the factions quite simply.

Minutemen = Libertarians literally.
Railroad = Anarchist, Social Justice Warriors.
BOS = Totalitarian Ideologues.
Institute = Isolationist with a superiority complex.

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Originally posted by Zauhesi:

or if it’s better to leave the game stagnant about half-finished and go play the side stories/DLCs.

This is what I do. Two ways to do it. 1. Ignore all main quests and just explore and do your thing. 2. Join all factions and get their rewards. When you get to the point where you must decide, do 1.

[Sayo]

Out Of Bubblegum,
Sounds good, but at what point am I forced? I’ve gotten a good bit in on different playthroughs but not far enough it seems.

Kameraden,
Thanks for the input but that’s not what I was looking for. Their politics and story don’t bother me, I want the goodies from the factions (travel from BOS and Institute, ballistic from Railroad etc).

Usher,
While that is true, god it’s a pain to level on survival. Everything kills you almost instantly lol. Even the dogs are lethal now. The problem with survival mode is that I can’t go “oops I joined institute and everybody hates me, guess I’ll just reload an old save to fix it.”

[Out Of Bubblegum]

Originally posted by Zauhesi:

Out Of Bubblegum,
Sounds good, but at what point am I forced? I’ve gotten a good bit in on different playthroughs but not far enough it seems.

It is different for the different factions. Whenever someone tells you to attack another group, that is the point of no return. Reload a save and do not go and get that quest. There is one item that both the BOS and the Institute want. At the Mass Fusion building I think. Do the same as above, reload and do not get that quest. You can still do other quests for the faction. Just avoid the NPC that give you the 'bad' quests.

[Sayo]

Gotcha, I’ll be sure to make saves before accepting any quests. Survival mode struggles really do be like that sometimes.