Fallout Shelter is a cross-platform game based on the Fallout franchise. It was originally launched in 2015, and was free-to-play. Initially, it was something of a gimmick, and although fun, was more of a marketing ploy than a full game. However, over the years, it has been turned into a live service game that has a huge following.

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A big part of the gameplay in Fallout Shelter is sending dwellers out to explore wasteland locations. Dwellers need to be leveled up and equipped before sending them out. They also need to have their stats tweaked to change the way they perform while they are out exploring.

7 Strength

Trained At The Weight Room

Strength Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Power Generator, Nuclear Reactor, Weapon Workshop
  • Vault Effects: None
  • Exploration Effects: Higher chance of opening lockers
  • Quest Effects: None

Strength is an important stat for vault dwellers that players intend to send out into the wasteland. However, the dwellers need to be leveled up a little first. This includes having the dweller spend some time working out in the Weight Room to raise their Strength stat.

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Strength out in the wasteland has a couple of roles. Firstly, it directly impacts how much the dweller can carry. Secondly, it determines how much damage a dweller does to wasteland creatures with their weapon. Strength also speeds up the production of Power inside the Shelter, so it's worth having at least two high-Strength characters, one for exploring, and one for providing Power.

6 Perception

Trained At The Armory

Perception Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Water Treatment, Water Purification, Weapon Workshops
  • Vault Effects: None
  • Exploration Effects: Finding weapons, outfits, recipes or locations with better loot
  • Quest Effects: Slower crit arrow speed

Perception is one of the two stats (alongside Strength) that determines how well a vault dweller fights when they are out in the wasteland. Strength drives the actual damage, and Perception increases the critical hit marker. So it is well worth training a dweller’s Perception in the Armory for a while before sending them into the wasteland.

Perception also has an impact on how much loot the dweller finds in the wasteland, as they will find more loot locations with better loot in them such as recipes, weapons, and outfits.

5 Endurance

Trained At The Fitness Room

Endurance Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Nuka-Cola Bottler, Weapon Workshops
  • Vault Effects: More hit points gained on level up
  • Exploration Effects: Rad resistance, legendary junk, and higher HP
  • Quest Effects: More HP

Endurance works almost exactly the same in Fallout Shelter as it does in all other Fallout games. The more Endurance a dweller has, the higher their overall HP. Additionally, as dwellers level up, they receive extra HP at every level. With higher Endurance, they gain more HP per level.

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Out in the wasteland, Endurance can provide extra levels of radiation resistance. It also increases the chance that the dweller will find legendary junk. Overall, a combination of Strength, Perception, and Endurance will improve a dweller’s chances of surviving the wasteland.

4 Charisma

Trained In The Lounge

Charisma Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Living Room, Radio Studio, Barbershop
  • Vault Effects: None
  • Exploration Effects: Legendary junk, improved encounters
  • Quest Effects: None

Charisma is not as much of an important stat for dwellers that players send out into the wasteland when playing Fallout Shelter. It can be trained by having a dweller spend some time hanging out in the Lounge with other dwellers.

The only real benefits that Charisma gives during wasteland exploration is helping dwellers to talk themselves past certain scenarios, and potentially avoiding combat. It also helps by adding to the percentage chance of finding legendary junk. Overall, Charisma can be useful for dwellers, but other stats are likely to be of more value in the wasteland.

3 Intelligence

Trained In A Classroom

Intelligence Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Medbay, Science Lab
  • Vault Effects: None
  • Exploration Effects: None
  • Quest Effects: None

For players who want to send dwellers out to explore the wasteland, the Intelligence stat isn’t one that will have a direct impact on the success of the exploration. However, it does drive the amount of experience points that the dweller receives for performing actions in the wasteland.

Intelligence does give a small boost to wasteland problem-solving, and it can be useful for this function alone. However, other stats provide more utility for wasteland exploration. When the dweller is not out exploring, Intelligence will help them to level up quicker inside the vault, which they can improve further by increasing their Intelligence in a Classroom.

2 Agility

Trained In The Athletics Room

Agility Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: Diner, Garden
  • Vault Effects: None
  • Exploration Effects: Boost survivability
  • Quest Effects: Faster attack rate

Agility is a useful stat for dwellers that are being sent out into the wasteland in Fallout Shelter. A higher level of Agility will improve the DPS of certain weapons, for example. However, the main benefit of high Agility is the damage mitigation it provides. The more Agility a dweller has, the less damage they take.

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This stat is trained in the Athletics Room, and it is well worth giving an exploration dweller some extra Agility to help them survive better while out in the wasteland. Agility will also increase a dweller's attack speed while exploring the wasteland.

1 Luck

Trained In The Game Room

Luck Stat For Dwellers In Fallout Shelter
  • Room Bonuses: None
  • Vault Effects: Better chance for rush to stick and to produce more bottle caps
  • Exploration Effects: Boost survivability, more caps found, more legendary junk found
  • Quest Effects: Faster crit rate

Luck is an excellent stat for a player to train their swellers in before sending them out into the wasteland in Fallout Shelter. Luck can be trained in the Game Room, and has a vault effect that helps with efficiency and cap production.

Out in the wasteland, Luck can have an impact on every dweller action. However, it's looting that Luck really helps with. With high luck, a dweller has a much greater chance of finding high-quality loot and legendary junk. Every dweller being sent out to explore should have at least a little Luck on their side.

Fallout Shelter

Platform(s)
Android , iOS , PC , PS4 , Switch , Xbox One
Released
June 14, 2015
Developer(s)
Bethesda Game Studios , Behaviour Interactive
Genre(s)
Simulation