Settlers equipment: workshop or containers?

[Woldren]

I was told that settlers can equip weapons and armor and take ammoes without me making any effort to give them individually.
Do I have to put them in a container or inside the workshop?

[Cam Gibb]

Not sure yet. But someone commented here somewhere that they may not take items from workshop like weapons & ammo, when they come under attack, they will use them & put back when done. I've given some extra ammo & weapons that oddly aren't there next time i check n them. Yet food & water & treats stay there in there inventory.

[Skarmo]

They won't take any armor, but they can take weapons from containers and the workbench.
This is easily prevented by equipping them with better weapons than the pipe ones.
Note: Each settler only needs 1 ammo of the respective weapon type for it to work.

[Cam Gibb]

👍

[Woldren]

Originally posted by Skarmo:

They won't take any armor, but they can take weapons from containers and the workbench.
This is easily prevented by equipping them with better weapons than the pipe ones.
Note: Each settler only needs 1 ammo of the respective weapon type for it to work.

no armor :O? I am sad now... that explains a lot.

[Shadow]

One exception. They will equip power armor.

However, it's been my experience that if you don't want them doing that, all you have to do is remove the fusion core when you're not using it. Mind you if they somehow acquire one in their inventory, they might equip a suit anyway.

[Vimes]

Do the settlers not wear armour if you give it to them, at times of battle..?

So far, in my early game, I'm storing weapons at Red Rocket and tending to use that to place many items.
I take to Sanctuary only what is needed, when doing repairs and adding to the settlement. Exception being I gave better guns and a single round of ammunition to those who are there.

[steventirey]

Settlers will wear whatever you give them. You just have to manually give each settler his armor, and equip it for them while in their inventory. Its also unnecessary, as generic settlers can not die (some of the named ones can). Armor will keep them in a fight you are there for for longer, but it is useless in a settlement attack you don't go to as the fight never physically takes place (it instead gets resolved with a math formula). And if you are there, the settlers won't fail to defend.

Not sure yet. But someone commented here somewhere that they may not take items from workshop like weapons & ammo, when they come under attack, they will use them & put back when done. I've given some extra ammo & weapons that oddly aren't there next time i check n them. Yet food & water & treats stay there in there inventory.

Settlers will not put weapons back. And when they do take weapons an ammo, they don't take a single weapon and small amount of ammo. They take an entire stack of weapons and all the ammo. So you could end up with a single settler having a dozen rifles and hundreds or thousands of rounds of ammo, with the other settlers still using their default pipe weapons.

[DouglasGrave]

Originally posted by Vimes:

Do the settlers not wear armour if you give it to them, at times of battle..?

So far, in my early game, I'm storing weapons at Red Rocket and tending to use that to place many items.
I take to Sanctuary only what is needed, when doing repairs and adding to the settlement. Exception being I gave better guns and a single round of ammunition to those who are there.

Settlers won't automatically equip armour (except power armour) themselves, but you can give armour to them and manually have them equip it.

It's not strictly necessary, since most settlers have the Protected status to stop them from dying unless you attack them yourself, but giving them some means that they'll spend more time contributing to a fight and less sitting on their backside waiting to recover.

[Vimes]

Originally posted by steventirey:

Settlers will wear whatever you give them. You just have to manually give each settler his armor, and equip it for them while in their inventory. Its also unnecessary, as generic settlers can not die (some of the named ones can). Armor will keep them in a fight you are there for for longer, but it is useless in a settlement attack you don't go to as the fight never physically takes place (it instead gets resolved with a math formula). And if you are there, the settlers won't fail to defend.

I'd forgotten to do the eqip part, but now understand why it might well not be needed, apart from looking good..!

Settlers will not put weapons back. And when they do take weapons an ammo, they don't take a single weapon and small amount of ammo. They take an entire stack of weapons and all the ammo. So you could end up with a single settler having a dozen rifles and hundreds or thousands of rounds of ammo, with the other settlers still using their default pipe weapons.

Lol, doesn't seem to be balanced, but at least it can be managed if you understand that.

[Vimes]

Originally posted by DouglasGrave:

Originally posted by Vimes:

Do the settlers not wear armour if you give it to them, at times of battle..?

So far, in my early game, I'm storing weapons at Red Rocket and tending to use that to place many items.
I take to Sanctuary only what is needed, when doing repairs and adding to the settlement. Exception being I gave better guns and a single round of ammunition to those who are there.

Settlers won't automatically equip armour (except power armour) themselves, but you can give armour to them and manually have them equip it.

It's not strictly necessary, since most settlers have the Protected status to stop them from dying unless you attack them yourself, but giving them some means that they'll spend more time contributing to a fight and less sitting on their backside waiting to recover.

Thanks, appreciate the reply.

I can now appreciate the point of giving it, but also remembering to equip it..!

It is going back a long time since I last played, when it was first released I did skip much to do with settlements.

[The Inept European]

The auto equipping of weapons is not reliable. Having tested it extensively it is rare for them to auto equip. It is most likely if you take their ammo and melee weapon and the container is very near to them when the fight starts (they only auto equip weapons during active combat).

It's best to manually give them a weapon. Leaving weapons and ammo in containers for them is a long shot - it might help the settlers who arrived since you last visited, if you come to attend a settlement defence.

For the reason Steven Tirey mentioned, it is best to make many containers each with one weapon one ammo. Otherwise NPCs will take entire stacks if they take anything at all.

The algorithm the NPCs use to pick weapons is unclear but seems to favour DMG over DPS and ballistic weapons over energy weapons. Not that they will never equip an auto laser but it's rare, unless it's the only weapon available (auto weapons have lower DMG but higher DPS). DPS calculations internally anyway only work for ballistic weapons.

In case it was not said, NPCs (apart from your current companion) only need 1 ammo and never expend that ammo. So to minmax you give settlers auto weapons, including auto weapons you couldn't afford to run yourself on your character.

[The Inept European]

And bear in mind whatever weapons you leave our for settlers can equally be taken by attackers. If you try this you want the weapons to be near where your settlers are (at a siren perhaps) and away from the attack spawn points. Unfortunately in 90% of cases settlers just run towards the attackers and melee them (which is why it's important to give them all a good melee weapon).

Honestly if you just give them all one molotov (NPCs don't expend throwables either) they will usually wipe out any attack quickly. Don't give them grenades because you are less likely to survive a friendly fire hit from a grenade. As are your settlement objects.

(Grenades and throwables on the ground or in containers/workshop also do not get auto equipped by NPCs)

Another long shot is you can give them a stimpak. It will be very rare that they actually use it (same with companions) but it might happen and it can helpful when it does. Although since they are immortal and self-heal after a while, maybe it's a waste of a stimpak. But if you have a hundred stimpaks, why not.

[Lucus]

Store weapons and ammo in an armor rack so they don't get pinched.
never arm settlers with a gatling laser their AI will prioritize using the fusion core to take your power armor.
if you want some entertainment give some of your settlers stealth boys and automatic institute rifles.

[Big Duke]

why not just equip them with armor and a weapon yourself? I have several extra power armor sets around the map in settlements and they will use it if it has power.

[bunnySensei]

About power armors I will add that if a fusion core is in a container nearby, they will take it to equip the PA... I didn't know that at first and was surprised when I saw my settlers being able to take all my PAs ^^ I understood when I checked my "not hidden at all" stash, lesson learned ^^ (I don't think they actually use the core tho, as companions)