Enemies & items respawn

[Saigon]

So after the new update and going halfway through the game I’m noticing that locations I have explored and cleared are now respawning. I hope they fix this because it’s really annoying

[carl.wear]

I think that is normal and has been since the game first came out. Its so you don't run out of things to kill.

[The Inept European]

This is vanilla since 2015. The respawn rate varies with difficulty level. That is all.

[Doombringer]

Some areas don't respawn (like settlements), but most do.
On survival mode the respawn timer is much longer.

[random_frugality]

I may be running into a variant of this. In my game Lucy Abernathy got killed. There's a grave, not near her sister's, but Lucy's body is next to it. So when I first found her, before the update, I looted her. Now, every time I go there she's got loot even though her body is clothed only in underwear. I'm also finding some raiders that have been lying about since I killed them quite a while ago are also loaded with loot again. My suspicion is that the update updated the dead bodies with loot. Thing is, Lucy Abernathy reloads over and over again. It's a curious thing.

[The Inept European]

Containers with loot typically (not always) respawn that loot. The issue may be more to do with Lucy's corpse itself not de-spawning like corpses usually do.

You might have a point that the update refreshed loot in existing corpses. Was this a character that you ran before and after the update?

[EricHVela]

I got tired of seeing that person and mongrel dead on the other side of the Sanctuary Hills bridge. So, I used the person to have Nate slowly and tediously push the mongrel into the stream and drop the person in there as well. The mongrel didn't float very far, but I had Nate drop the person near the other side of the bridge which let the stream take the body much further down the stream.

Later, I find them back where they were originally but without any of the loot I had taken.

One of the Sanctuary settlers is either playing a practical joke or is just sick in the head or both (or more likely, the game just resets that stuff after a while if the cells and certain props are left unloaded long enough—wish it would clean up corpses and robo-scraps left behind from scripted encounters, but usually, those stick around completely stripped of loot while randos vanish even unlooted).

[dolmore]

Respawning corpses/enemies/loot has always been in the game in certain locations. Moving corpses out of the way is a band-aid. Every time you reload the game they reappear in their original locations. That's why you can't get rid of the ghoul corpses at the happy farm. Eventually at some locations they will finally disappear. The corpses of Wolfgang and Simone at the diner never leave and about every 24 hours their gear reloads, even though they appear naked. An easy way to get some loot.

[Bored Peon]

There is multiple values that affect the respawn timer.
- Timer starts after leaving a cell. Entering the cell before it resets will reset the timer.
- Survival is 30 days if the cell was completely cleared (ie killed the boss.)
- If the cell was partially cleared (like enter Super Duper Mart grab the magazine and kill a few mobs, but not the boss) is 7 days to reset.

If I remember right normal is 7 days for full reset and 3 days for partial.

[Lucus]

Originally posted by The Inept European:

Containers with loot typically (not always) respawn that loot. The issue may be more to do with Lucy's corpse itself not de-spawning like corpses usually do.

You might have a point that the update refreshed loot in existing corpses. Was this a character that you ran before and after the update?

the solution to corpses not despawning in settlements is to drag the corpses out of bounds of the settlement then the game should clear them eventually.

respawning isn't entirely bad. not only do you get more enemies to kill for exp some items respawn after being collected so you can get multiples if you want.

i.e want to have your provisioners dressed in clean postman attire? there is one spot where you can get the hat and the suit that does respawn. so even if the game is a pain and doesn't stock them in the clothing stores inventory you can still get them.

[major tom]

i like the respawning. this guarantees endless fun. you can manipulate the respawn settings at least with a mod. try nexusmods "game configration menu".

[Volfogg]

Yeah, they do respawn. Feels like mostly for radiant quest purpose, though it seems to be a bit inconsistent. Personally I'm more bothered by random encounter spots eventually stopping to trigger anything, i.e. Concord parking lot, house near Drumlin' Diner, near ruined road camped by Gunners and so on. I wanted to invite The Scribe and Doc Anderson to settlements I'm making, but things are getting difficult.