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Unique Settlers turning up tied to city size / build limits?

fathamburger

Active Member
Messages
251
Hey guys,

At this point I've collected up around 2/3's of the unique settlers (have been keeping a list, gotta catch'em all :D) but while I've gotten new vanilla settlers the unique ones have stopped showing up at any of my regularly visited settlements or designated main base. I did not increase build limits to avoid CTD's until I was forced to for Boston Airport just to build the Molecular Transporter. When I did, it was almost automatic getting some new ones turning up finally.

Anyway, nothing happened when I increased things 125%, I mainly use Vault 88 as my main base for now and there's plenty of room to increase, I'm just loathe to halt story progress to go build things out again but otherwise, still plenty of room. Just wondering how things work. I dont have a single settlement able to accomodate over 40 atm but it seems like I have plenty of VRAM to accommodate it (altho I do play on 4k)

PS finally cleared all vanilla FO4 endings and paths finally and on my b'day no less ahead of schedule :D Typing this up while downloading Subversion and going for the "all factions alive" as my canon ending going forwards and then it'll be nothing but quest mods from here on.. First game Ive ever considered the fan content to be canon over the official content.
 
The build limit isn't used in those calculations at all.

How it works is, those generic Visitors you see wandering around your settlements, like "Visiting Armorsmith" or "Visiting Tailor" or whatever? Each time you visit a settlement (I believe once per 24 ingame hours), it does the calculations to spawn those - the number of them is based on the number/level of plots in that settlement, Commercial and Recreational count as 'more' for that calculation.
And then, for each of those that are spawned, a dice roll is done - there's a 5% chance for each of them that it'll try to replace one with a Unique Settler instead.
Once that is a 'success', it then checks for if that settlement meets the "requirements" for any of the ones you haven't seen yet. Those requirements can be any of a number of things, but are typically "is there a Level 3 Agricultural in this settlement" kind of things - as far as I know, they ALL require an active Recruitment Beacon too.
(other examples of requirements I know for sure: The Prydwyn is in Boston, Minutemen Radio is back online, have built specifically a Brewery Industrial plot)
If you don't immediately recruit them once they spawn, they will then wander between up to 3 settlements of yours based on the aforementioned requirements, so it's entirely possible for one to spawn and you just never see them because they keep moving around.

If you're not seeing any more, it almost certainly means any one of those steps isn't "succeeding". That or you've already Caught Em All, but somehow I feel that isn't the case. (I've still not actually seen some of them ingame myself yet)

If you are past the point in the SS2 questline where you've met THE RON, once you've done his two recruitment missions he gives you, you can go back to him and pay him to force one to spawn in a location that their requirements have been met, rather than rely on all that RNG.
 
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as far as I know, they ALL require an active Recruitment Beacon too.
my current play-through is beacon-less. i set up a vanilla recruiting beacon to get Jake, then immediately unplugged it. i do occasionally get special settlers at sanctuary, but i far more frequently get visitors at Jamaica plains, the first settlement to build a communications plot. coincidentally, this is where i get The Ron's quest pointers for almost every recruitment lead he gives me.

so while it probably doesn't check beacons specifically, there definitely is something in there looking for radio recruitment.
 
Another point here - many of the special/unique settlers are tied to completing certain quests or aligning to certain factions, etc. Some won't show up unless the Brotherhood has arrived in the Commonwealth, for instance. There's one that won't show up until you've visited the Third Rail and seen Magnolia sing. Some won't show unless you have built various numbers of plots of certain building classes as well. Some don't even come to settlements, you have to "discover" them through notes or run into them in certain places. So you may need to get further in certain quests and into unlocking the "Tech tree" before you see more. As @yaugie pointed out, though, it's still all chance based unless you pay the Ron. And even then he is only going to give you unique settlers based on the SPECIAL stat you pick so you may have to choose multiple selections before he'll say he has one for you. Then he will give you a map marker to find a settler.
 
For those folks who must "catch them all", Unique Settlers and their requirements are all iisted on their pages:
Unique Settlers
Don't peek if you want to avoid spoilers. :secret
 
Another point here - many of the special/unique settlers are tied to completing certain quests or aligning to certain factions, etc. Some won't show up unless the Brotherhood has arrived in the Commonwealth, for instance. There's one that won't show up until you've visited the Third Rail and seen Magnolia sing. Some won't show unless you have built various numbers of plots of certain building classes as well. Some don't even come to settlements, you have to "discover" them through notes or run into them in certain places. So you may need to get further in certain quests and into unlocking the "Tech tree" before you see more. As @yaugie pointed out, though, it's still all chance based unless you pay the Ron. And even then he is only going to give you unique settlers based on the SPECIAL stat you pick so you may have to choose multiple selections before he'll say he has one for you. Then he will give you a map marker to find a settler.

Well just for the record, at this point I've finally beaten the game with all factions at peace and am running around with my Father Companion now. Its probably the tech tree since I've just put in bare minimum effort into building the settlements playing thru primarily for story for now.

The one time I did pay the Ron, I was annoyed since instead of getting someone new I got a marker for someone I already had hanging around - Charles Baker waiting on his overdue books. Will try again, hopefully will get someone undiscovered this time
 
I'm using Configurable Settler Limit to let the recruitment beacons stay turned on, but not recruit basic settlers, so the uniques still spawn there without getting more useless guys than I can use. Highly recommend. The limit you set also applies to the castle's passive recruitment. :D
 
After looking it from the original post, I was gated by industrial plot requirements mostly since I hadn't made a lot of them yet and I picked up a lot more uniques after that. However I'm still done and DaRon has been completely tapped out for weeks now. I've got quite a few left to go where a lot of them seem like they should be showing up now but aren't. This is the list, some I still have yet to meet the reqs for and others (marked with question mark) I am asking for some help for if I've met the requirements or not.

* - Should have met requirements already
? - need requirement clarification

  • Amara Blackmoon (need comm station and radio beacon,)*
  • Archibald (1 of each industrial material plot)
? Benni Strong (good rep / quests done with hotel rexford , ) . Which quests are deemed positive? still haven't dealt with fallout of Diamond City Blues (some lady's husband died in the heist and I took the chems)
* Carl Meade (3 industrial, 9 settlements, comms station)
Dee Harris (5 industrial plants, 1 of each type. Chemical plant unlocked thru mk 1 beacons? ) ?
  • Dr Metzli Jones (institute joined and radio) . I pretty much have friendly gen1 synths walking around Diamond City already so I cant not be considered Institute?
  • Hauer (tenpines, railroad faciton, unlikely valentine, O-M-O-R done, 6+ settlements,)
? Hesper (body of water NE of Sanctuary, 5 ish stats). Can't find her
* Katherine Drake (level 3 machine parts,) ?
? Scribe Monty Phylon (brewery / 10+ level 3 industrials! , prydwen ). Where is the brewery in menus?
? Tom Sanford (SS2 extended installed, at mystic pines. Trader, said no/wife buried end 10,) . Seems bugged, failed initial persuasion check but now can't talk to him again with higher stats.
Tyrone Max Samuel (own coastal cottage, slog, kingsport, radio beacon in each, luck 7 but per 5 int and cha)

Where is Hubert? I've recruited him already I think but he's always wandering around. Last I think I saw him around Jamaica Plains and I think I randomly came across him a few times defending checkpoints

What counts as a settlement? Sanctuary? Red Rocket? Hangman's Alley? faction specific areas like Boston Airport and The Castle? I probably have more than 10 even without these

From Chapter 2

* Noman Sland
 
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Regarding not encountering a Unique Settler:
  • Meeting the requirements doesn't mean that the Unique Settler just "shows appears" in your settlement(s).
  • They are also random encounters and some can be found "wandering" between settlements that meet their interests.
  • Asking The Ron for a lead, removes the "random" part and makes a Unique Settler with the Stat you requested active.

A Settlement: Yes like Sanctuary, Abernathy Farm, Red Rocket Stop, Tenpines... etc that you have claimed as one of your own.

Benni Strong: Hotel Rexford Vanilla quests, the one from the chems dealer and the one to retrieve Buddy. In a positive way that benefits the quest giver. So you kept Buddy, and kept the chems. Those were not positive outcomes for the quest givers. Bobbi One Nose isn't a Hotel Rexford NPC.
Dee Harris: Yes, the Chemistry Plant is unlocked by discovering it with the Mark I Beacon
Hesper: The easy way to get her is to get the lead from The Ron, after having met the requirements. If she has spawned, she is usually standing beside the water somewhere around that lake. She is easily missed.
Katherine Drake: A Level 3 Machine Parts Industrial plot - this is the plot that comes with SS2: Machine Parts Salvage Yard
Brewery: An Industrial Plot, Production Class
Tom Sanford: If you fail the Charisma check, currently the quest doesn't allow you to try to recuit him again. I'll log an issue for that, once I have reproduced a save file for devs to reference.
Hubert - You recruited with Stodge, so he should at the Settlement you sent his group to during Who Can? ASAM!
 
Benni Strong: Hotel Rexford Vanilla quests, the one from the chems dealer and the one to retrieve Buddy. In a positive way that benefits the quest giver. So you kept Buddy, and kept the chems. Those were not positive outcomes for the quest givers. Bobbi One Nose isn't a Hotel Rexford NPC.

LOL Buddy is too much fun to have around, I think I'll waive her to keep him but yeah the other guy.. I wanted to get in on the revenge track of the questline with Morowski but after all this time his wife still isnt asking about him. She's still drinking all over the place. Poor guy. Some marriage :D

Dee Harris: Yes, the Chemistry Plant is unlocked by discovering it with the Mark I Beacon

Chemistry plant? or bench? I dont think I ever used a Beacon after all this time or did the tutorial. Anyway this seems simple enough.

Katherine Drake: A Level 3 Machine Parts Industrial plot - this is the plot that comes with SS2: Machine Parts Salvage Yard
Got two of these at least at level 3 and I think I've built both a basic and the SS2 by Kingsgath or similar version

Brewery: An Industrial Plot, Production Class

Gotcha, will double check but I think im missing this somehow.
Tom Sanford: If you fail the Charisma check, currently the quest doesn't allow you to try to recuit him again. I'll log an issue for that, once I have reproduced a save file for devs to reference.

Much appreciated, will be looking forward to get him just for his strength attribute
Hubert - You recruited with Stodge, so he should at the Settlement you sent his group to during Who Can? ASAM!
Whenever I've seen him he's been wandering pretty far from where I left Stodge in Jamaica plains... anyway hopefully run into him again..

The rest that are bulletpted (the editor wouldnt leave my asterisks alone) still seem like they should be showing up at some pt. It was "when it rains it pours" when the majority started showing up en masse. Does the recruitment mat thingy have to be at the same settlement that meets the requirements? otherwise I have an empty settlement I can move that and maybe its how packed my Vault 88 is that's run up against the wall. Actually I'll go experiment with that right now..
 
Sorry, It's the Chemical Plant that comes with SS2 is an Industrial Production plot
Yeah, the Unique Settlers are set up to spawn in the settlements that are aligned with their interests, then they can wander to another one.
Moving the recruitment mat? That would mean no settlers would spawn at that settlement. Not something I'd do.

In my games, Hauer is always elusive and my last test game, I never got O-M-0R at all so didn't see Hauer. Come to think of it, I've not encountered Hesper either - but I don't usually wander around that lake either. I like that you don't find all of them, that they are by "chance" and bulding up your settlements. It makes each game different. I actually haven't seen Sneake at all in the last 3 games I've played.
 
Sorry, It's the Chemical Plant that comes with SS2 is an Industrial Production plot
Yeah, the Unique Settlers are set up to spawn in the settlements that are aligned with their interests, then they can wander to another one.
Moving the recruitment mat? That would mean no settlers would spawn at that settlement. Not something I'd do.

In my games, Hauer is always elusive and my last test game, I never got O-M-0R at all so didn't see Hauer. Come to think of it, I've not encountered Hesper either - but I don't usually wander around that lake either. I like that you don't find all of them, that they are by "chance" and bulding up your settlements. It makes each game different. I actually haven't seen Sneake at all in the last 3 games I've played.
To add to that if you don't see Brewery it may mean you have not climbed all the way up the Production tech tree. That's as high up as the tech tree goes. That is where you would find the chemical plant (if you unlock it through a Discovery) and the brewery (which unlocks as soon as you unlock production class). So if you don't have brewery (it's a 2x2 industrial plan) it probably means you have not unlocked production class yet and need to let your industrial buildings continue to advance and level up.
 
To add to that if you don't see Brewery it may mean you have not climbed all the way up the Production tech tree. That's as high up as the tech tree goes. That is where you would find the chemical plant (if you unlock it through a Discovery) and the brewery (which unlocks as soon as you unlock production class). So if you don't have brewery (it's a 2x2 industrial plan) it probably means you have not unlocked production class yet and need to let your industrial buildings continue to advance and level up.

I think that nails it. Im clueless about Mk.1 beacons maybe because I had to skip a particular tutorial at sanctuary since by the time I built it, mine was already too built up RTCW plan wise where Jake wanted to move. That was probably the beacon tutorial. I have no comm station plots or caravan plots other than at Vault 88 either. That's probably the end of the tech tree otherwise that I'm missing.

Also having to figure out power distribution plots now for the last bit of Commonwealth Rising
 
What Mk1 Beacons do is never really explained by the mod, except for a couple of popup dialog boxes (like most things). The quest "Picking up the Pieces" is demonstrating most of how you use them, but it doesn't exactly tell you why you'd want to keep doing it after the quest-mandatory few uses.
 
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The big value in Mark 1 beacons is if you have maintenance costs turned on. A run from a Mark 1 beacon produces huge amounts of virtual resources. If you have maintenance costs turned or are playing hardcore mode, you are often just trying to stay above water with all of your industrial plots, and the mark 1 salvage hauls make a big difference for helping you get a surplus and be able to push upgrades. Without maintenance costs on, they're not as essential. However, being able to direct a huge amount of resources to a new settlement/city that is just getting started out can give them a huge boost if your caravan network is not completely connected. I have often done this as you can have the caravaneer drop off the resources at basically any settlement under your control. If it's one that's not in your network yet (like the Castle for instance - I often can't connect a caravan there until much later) then that can help them build up. Of course, if you're playing on automated mode almost none of that would be any concern.
 
the tutorial for Mark I beacons and the ASAM sensor scanner is Picking Up the Pieces, and you may be interested in this wiki article on the subject

Wow.. ok what a way to find this out for essentially one character. Going thru the grind specifically for this isn't going to be interesting to me. Is there any kind of cheat that just unlocks the plans at this point?

If not well fortunately I still have half a list of DLC to play that maybe I can do this at the same time. The range on these seems to be really short too. I made a Level 1 comm station right next to Breakheart Banks after clearing it. Still says nothing in range but there is another city plan settlement not far off from that one as well... hoping/guessing most RTCW city plans already have comm stations?
 
The range on these seems to be really short too. I made a Level 1 comm station right next to Breakheart Banks after clearing it. Still says nothing in range but there is another city plan settlement not far off from that one as well... hoping/guessing most RTCW city plans already have comm stations?
The range on them is the same as the one used for Caravan Plots (and Hospitals too). You don't need multiple Communications plots within range of each other, though - the range is used for determining if the spot you put the Beacon down is close enough for its signal to be picked up.
IIRC none of the base-game or ROTC city plans include them at all.

Additionally, one of the perks you can get once you get HQ fairly well built is a 'research' type upgrade to double the effective range for Caravans or Comms plots.
 
Wow.. ok what a way to find this out for essentially one character. Going thru the grind specifically for this isn't going to be interesting to me. Is there any kind of cheat that just unlocks the plans at this point?

If not well fortunately I still have half a list of DLC to play that maybe I can do this at the same time. The range on these seems to be really short too. I made a Level 1 comm station right next to Breakheart Banks after clearing it. Still says nothing in range but there is another city plan settlement not far off from that one as well... hoping/guessing most RTCW city plans already have comm stations?
You have to have a comm station and a caravan station to do a salvage run, and the caravan station has to be level 2 and comm station level 1. After all, the comms station has to send somebody to pick up all of the salvage and that's the caravaneer. Also, you only have a small % chance of unlocking discoveries, these special building plans, based on the caravaneer's luck and perception. So you really need caravan and comms plots all over to be able to do these salvage runs because once you do a salvage run on a location, you can't do another one until that location is no longer in "CLEARED" status so after a few days you may exhaust all of the locations nearby. And it may take you a lot of runs to unlock/discover the building plans you are after since it's percentage based. The discoveries are also based on the type of location. Things that are factories are unlocked by salvaging industrial-type locations. So salvaging breakheart banks is not likely to unlock. Salvaging something like Saugus Ironworks, though, might.

Unfortunately many of the ROTC city plans do not have comms stations as that is a later in Chapter 1 unlock and is meant to be an advanced capability. However, several of the city plans that have been made as part of the city plan contest do. Usually that's in the descriptions.

There is a cheat - you can use the "unlock all building plans" cheat in the holotape under tools>>cheats if you want to bypass all of that.
 
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