Can companions like Piper like you less for stealing when you're "hidden"

[JoJoFan87]

I ask because I don't want to mess up on maxing out affinity. I steal what is needed in the game but I don't want to do anything that could ruin the affinity gain. Just want to make sure it's cool to do so without them noticing.

[Bubba Fatt]

Pick locks she loves that. Once you max out her affinity she love you long time. She seems to play hard to get until you decide the fate of the commonwealth anyway.

[Zekiran]

Here is a list :)

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_4_companions

[steventirey]

Don't worry about companions disliking or even hating something you do. Unless you are deliberately trying to make a companion dislike you, or unless you do something major like killing an innocent, you aren't going to mess up anything. You have to put real effort in to get a companion to dislike you.

[B Maverick]

You can still get her Perk breaking into locks. I think she likes if you break into locks. Just not if you steal things. So don't steal things around her. Stealing is mostly not necessary actually.

[Xenon The Noble]

Originally posted by Zekiran:

Here is a list :)

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Fallout_4_companions

Be sure to keep this open to make sure that your companion approves of how you play the game! It makes it much more fun to keep switching between the game and the list of your "companions" instructions.

[Zekiran]

I only ever use Nick so all I really know is "dont' pickpocket while he's looking" but wow he certainly loves doors and hacking. >_>

[JoJoFan87]

I know what to do when it comes to making sure their happy what I'm asking is when they're not looking can I do things and get away with it stuff they would normally frown upon? Sadly I already know the answer, I was in the mayor's office in Diamond City he told me to have Piper wait outside so I did just that told her to go outside and closed the door to his office. From there I stole one thing without her being in my presence and she knew immediately and disliked my action.

Game is dumb in that regard, can't get away with anything with your companion around.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by JoJoFan87:

I know what to do when it comes to making sure their happy what I'm asking is when they're not looking can I do things and get away with it stuff they would normally frown upon? Sadly I already know the answer, I was in the mayor's office in Diamond City he told me to have Piper wait outside so I did just that told her to go outside and closed the door to his office. From there I stole one thing without her being in my presence and she knew immediately and disliked my action.

Game is dumb in regard, can't get away with anything with your companion around.

Companions will generally know what you're up to if they're anywhere nearby, unless you leave them in a different interior or exterior space (an area separated from you by a loading screen).

It's true that the game is dumb in this regard, but it's also dumb in that non-companion NPCs will generally completely overlook you stealing something as long as they don't directly observe you taking it. Even if there's obviously no-one else around and you were only out of their sight for a couple of seconds.

A genuinely intelligent companion would probably just notice that you had taken something by seeing you with it later instead of detecting it through magic companion sense, and genuinely intelligent NPCs also wouldn't let you get away with stealing when you're the only possible culprit.

[globefish23]

Companions can magically see through walls and doors.
Only total distance will stop from detecting you.

I once had to order a companion to stay near the noodle bar in Diamond City, so I could lockpick near the Colonial Taphouse.

[MagicMarker]

Originally posted by JoJoFan87:

I ask because I don't want to mess up on maxing out affinity. I steal what is needed in the game but I don't want to do anything that could ruin the affinity gain. Just want to make sure it's cool to do so without them noticing.

I only play with Cait as my companion, and I frequently do stuff that she dislikes. Cait isn't very keen on me being friendly and helpful towards the general populace. Whenever I accept a quest from someone to clear an area or to find some object, she'is unhappy about it. On the other hand, though, I always try to get the highest possible payment for any jobs I accept. And THAT is something she likes me for. I also pick locks, pick pockets, steal stuff, murder raiders and stuff like that. She loves these things.
On the flip side, once she's clean, she hates it when I use chems. But that's something I've never gotten in the habit of doing anyway, so that trait of hers doesn't affect me much.

As long as you do enough stuff that your companion likes, you won't get into trouble for doing things they dislike. No need at all to be too fussy about it.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by globefish23:

Companions can magically see through walls and doors.
Only total distance will stop from detecting you.

Unless it's a door with a loading screen, because then they're in a completely different part of reality as far as the game is concerned.

[Playzr 🐵]

Stealing is bad. There might be some quests that require you to steal such as getting some component from the humans that want to attack that pirate ship, but to help the robots you have to steal that device. The good companions dislike stealing. Thankfully you're only required to steal once or twice.

[Xenon The Noble]

Why is stealing worse than murder?
I usually make war upon the BOS because LOOT!! They have the best weapons, best armor, best goodies! Besides, I love to hear their "For.... Elder... Maxson" as they die.
It's not even murder once the Player faction is enemies with the BOS, and no harm no foul no crime at all for killing them and looting the dead bodies!
But take some .38 rounds off the table at Boston Airport, and that's stealing. WTF?! I mean, the BOS doesn't even have .38 caliber pipe guns.

[dtt.scanner]

Honestly, I think once you reach a certain level, you can only digress to the beginning of that relationship level... so once they "love you" you can do whatever you want. They may grumble, but they won't stop loving you. I may be wrong, but I have never seen the relationship revert to a lower level. I think it just bottoms out at the current level and you have to work it back up again to get to the next one, if you aren't already at the highest level. That's just my estimation. It can go down, but not as much as you think. It also goes back up quickly, so net gain even if you do a few things wrong.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by dtt.scanner:

Honestly, I think once you reach a certain level, you can only digress to the beginning of that relationship level... so once they "love you" you can do whatever you want. They may grumble, but they won't stop loving you. I may be wrong, but I have never seen the relationship revert to a lower level. I think it just bottoms out at the current level and you have to work it back up again to get to the next one, if you aren't already at the highest level. That's just my estimation. It can go down, but not as much as you think. It also goes back up quickly, so net gain even if you do a few things wrong.

The relationship level can drop, since there's specific dialogue for it, you just have to work pretty hard to cause it.