When to start the DLC?

[barch88]

I had roughly 300 hours of playtime on my PS4 for this game but recently picked it up for PC so starting fresh is hard for me to do, but exciting at the same time. I installed the mods I wanted, fresh game, and now the game looks gorgeous in 4k.

Question though,

Since I'm starting fresh and it's been a long time since I played through fresh (I only had one main save) when do I start the DLC? What level? Should I beat the main game first and then go to Far Harbor? I know I need to progress at least into the Valentine quest line before the DLC is even available.

[ironhead1969]

I would guess level 15 minimum just like automatron before you will even get the quest prompt.

[Nosferatu.666]

well , you will have to go to far harbor for secondary quests anyway , like clearing zones/getting tech for the brotherhood/railroad(they will send you to locations on far harbor). And you dont need valentines quest line to go to far harbor.

[Shahadem]

Far Harbour is a bit of a problem. If the main drive of Fallout 4 is finding your son and then blowing up the Institute, then it doesn't make sense to take a sojourn to Far Harbour until after the Institute is destroyed because finding one girl isn't nearly as important as stopping the Institute from kidnapping, killing and replacing people. However once you blowup the Institute, then the main plotline of Far Harbour about synth acceptance doesn't matter even a little anymore because the Synths are no longer in danger of being brought back the Institute and repaired as the Institute no longer exists.

Automatron works both during the main storyline and after the main storyline because the Mechanist is producing robots to protect the people of the Commonwealth from the Raiders, supermutants, gunners and Institute. Even without the Institute, killing all the supermutants, raiders and gunners is still an important purpose. If you do the quest while finding your son it still makes sense to pursue the Mechanist because the Mechanist's robots pose an immediate threat to the Commonwealth as the robots are constantly attacking your settlements making the Mechanist a much more immediate threat than the Institute.

As far as stories go, Automatron's story works both during and after the main quest line whereas Far Harbour's questline doesn't work during or after the main quest line because it is so poorly told and is overshadowed by far more important events or far more important dangers. Even on Far Harbour, the nature and source of the evil fog and Earthquakes is the only real problem that needed to be resolved and it is the only thing that you don't get to explore and learn about. The whole thing is just about another synth who was afraid that people would see it as the robot it is instead of the person it wants to be but will never be. I just didn't care.

The robots you can build using the Automatron DLC will make for good companions who can carry a lot and use exploding gatling guns without running out of ammo. I haven't found anything all that useful in Far Harbour. There are some minor armor upgrades and some useless guns (more guns that deal radiation damage because that's super duper useful when fighting 75% of the enemies in this game right?) I even found a Ghoul Slayer's version of the new radiation gun. That was my first legendary drop in Far Harbour. I face palmed really hard.

Frankly I think the entire point of Far Harbour was for all the people who complained that they couldn't be pointlessly evil in Fallout 4. Now they can make pointlessly evil decisions in Far Harbour. So they got something I guess.

[Brian (The Schmaltzy Cynic)]

Gameplay wise I think you should wait until 15 or 20. There are a lot of tough-scaled enemies that can become bullet-sponges (especially for Lv 40+ characters.)

The storyline is somewhat tangental to the main-plot, but I would say if you want to know when the best place is to start it's when you return to Diamond City with Nick. (Or while you're on your way to getting to the Institute.) It's not required that you have Nick--he does, however, have the most relevance in the storyline of all companions--but you have to know a lot about Synths and the Institute already to enjoy the story of Far Harbor.

[Spocks Toupee]

You can't even get the quest for Far Harbor until you at least rescue Nick, and the Automatron quest doesn't trigger until level 15

[Fulvic]

why would you buy it on ps4, when you can run it in 4k on pc?

[patsnakem]

To get the best outcome level 15 Nick helps the story with giving you more information. You can also beat the game first. Working with the BOS, instuite, or rail road all have differnt opntions or story lines for you. You can help the synth's. Take them back or blow them to hell.
If your chrisma is high you can talk the leaders into giving up. It depends on what you want to do.

[Spocks Toupee]

Originally posted by patsnakem:

To get the best outcome level 15 Nick helps the story with giving you more information. You can also beat the game first. Working with the BOS, instuite, or rail road all have differnt opntions or story lines for you. You can help the synth's. Take them back or blow them to hell.
If your chrisma is high you can talk the leaders into giving up. It depends on what you want to do.

It's Donald Trump, he's going to nuke the hell out of most of them, and build a wall around the survivors.

[barch88]

Originally posted by Fulvic:

why would you buy it on ps4, when you can run it in 4k on pc?

It was a gift and since then I upgraded my PC. Thank you for all the replies. I'll head to Far Harbor when I return to Diamond City or around level 20-25.