The Best of Dwellers, a Vault 26 Character Guide
It’s about time for me to describe the dwellers of FOSO. This dweller list was created using my experience and the help of my guild Sherlocks of Vault 26 in September 2021.
Each dweller is separated into three sections:
- About, which describes the dweller and why they’re useful
- Special, the author’s notes about this particular dweller
- Set, informing you about the, in our opinion, best attachment set for them
If you disagree or have anything to add, feel absolutely free to tell me in the comments!
Table of Contents.
Additional References
Amata, Cait, Danse, Dave, Desdemona, Khan Maykr, KL-E-0, Marauder, Madison, Mother Isolde, Nate, Neriah, Nick, Piper, Roach King, Sarah, Strong, The Silver Shroud
Attacker: Danse, Dave, Desdemona, Mother Isolde, Nate, Roach King, The Silver Shroud
Healer: Amata, Madison, Neriah
Support: Khan Maykr, KL-E-0, Nick, Piper, Sarah
Tank: Cait, Marauder, Strong
Let’s begin.
Roach King ~ Attacker
Anyone who's met him knows this - he is an absolute unit. The Roach King summons endless hordes of roaches, who scale their abilities of his own. He can dish out incredible amounts of damage, as well as double as a tank - thanks to his roaches. Assuming he survives. Beware though, there might be a nerf coming due to the overwhelmingly negative reviews concerning him!
RK has a great weakness - Nate. Watch out for him in the combat zone. A 3-star Nate can take out RK of up to 2 medals easily. Another thing to watch out for are strong bosses, like the Icon of Sin (this one can wipe him out immediately). It also takes a while to summon roaches. They can, however, be buffed by dwellers like Neriah. Also, his medals are really powerful.
Combat Zone Gladiator will allow him to reach even higher damage. Pair him with Amata for maximum survivability.
Amata ~ Healer
Probably the best pure healer in the game, Amata Almodovar is difficult to kill, and so is anyone in her squad. She can improve the resistance of another dweller (probably a tank) and the team as a whole. Her ability dishes out massive amount of healing (based on her max HP, as well as that of her target) that can keep your team alive even if she'sn't fully upgraded.
Even a 3 star Amata is a force to be reckoned with. When paired with Neriah, she's an absolute beast. Her survivability rises to the point of immortality, especially when combined with a powerful tank, like Strong.
As with other healer dwellers, Wasteland Apothecary can boost her team support potential.
Neriah ~ Radiation Healer
Hands down the best radiation healer. Senior Scribe Neriah removes 100% of rads from the entire team, grants them a shield that scales with her HP and heals them on top of that using her DMG. She also boosts team damage, making her the perfect healer for content where you need damage and a healer. Her trinket gives her a chance to make your team 𝓲𝓶𝓶𝓾𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓱. She also clears debuffs and raises resistance using it.
Her shield shouldn't be relied upon until she is upgraded or has higher stats, she still makes an incredible radiation or a great secondary healer though. At level 75, with proper attachment remaking, she can make a great primary healer and you can ditch a regular healer.
With the proper equipment (Minuteman Last Stand or Last Resistance) Neriah can be used as a healing tank. Her shield scales off of her max HP. You can always raise HP higher than dmg.
Wasteland Apothecary can improve her team support abilities. Minuteman Last Stand would be a very solid choice.
Khan Maykr ~ Support
This majestic alien from the Doom crossover is the ultimate support dweller. Her bond is the wasteland's wanderer, which means she'll boost the entire squad right off the bat. She removes all squad debuffs and increases your dwellers' attack by 6%. Additionally, she has the leadership perk, so she boosts their damage much like Sarah does just by existing. She can also grant pure damage and prevent buffs from affecting your enemies at the beginning of each fight. She absorbs the AP of your enemies, making her cast more often. Her medals grant further debuffs and buffs, and her trinket gives your squad a chance to restore AP whenever they use it.
Unfortunately she is only obtainable during the DOOM crossovers, so get her to at least 4 stars, or better yet 5 (for further upgrade ability) if you wish to use her.
Last Resistance remade to grant her at least 4 HP boosts can greatly increase her survivability. She doesn't need anything else.
Marauder ~ Tank
This DOOM dweller is one of the best, if not the best tank. His bond will improve your entire team, he deals solid damage and can raise his resistance to enormous levels. His trinket reduces the damage of his enemies and he is genuinely comparable to Strong, with the difference being that this rampaging creature doesn't leave your dwellers exposed.
Unfortunately he is only obtainable during the DOOM crossovers, so get him to at least 5 stars (for further upgrade ability) if you wish to use him.
Minuteman last stand set is great for him and it also improves the defences of your squad thanks to his special 4 set bonus.
Nate ~ Attacker
Possibly the best attacker in the game, the protagonist of Fallout 4 is an extremely expensive dweller often utilized by veteran players due to being one of the few URs. His ability allows him to fire multiple times in row as long as he kills an enemy unit with his attack. This can be devastating for his enemies, as he can take out the entire squad on his own.
A 3 star Nate is a threat to any squad. In PvP, he should be avoided if your team has any vulnerabilities, such as low HP dwellers. Best grouped with Sole Survivor dwellers due to his special UR perk, which boosts their HP by 20%. This is especially useful for Amata, as it will greatly boost her healing.
Praetor set, while difficult to obtain, will make it very easy for him to kill enemies and trigger his killing spree.
Desdemona ~ Attacker
The leader of the Railroad is quite a formidable warrior. Her laser rifle can wound all enemies at once, yet it's also good against fewer enemies, as the damage rises then - up to a whopping 100% damage bonus against a single target. She isn't even expensive, as she can be obtained from the combat zone.
Desdemona is a survivalist, her damage and abilities scale with dead allies. She is usually the last one standing - and if she can deal 2 to 4 times the damage of her enemies she is literally invulnerable.
Vampiric might will further increase her life-steal and self-healing abilities.
Madison ~ Radiation Healer
Discount version of Neriah, the institute is a scientist famous for her work at Project Purity. While her healing isn't impressive, she is one of the two readily available radiation healers obtainable through faction store. The other being Cade, who is a much worse candidate than her. This makes her incredibly useful in the early game and in most PvE content as a secondary healer.
She can be farmed in the capital wasteland through hard missions.
The institute scholar or wasteland apothecary sets should be used with this one due to their healing or team support potential.
Strong ~ Tank
A rather unique take on a tank, Strong can double as a physical attacker if need be, as well as a primary tank. He leaves your dwellers exposed, but he also crosses the enemy lines to attack someone more important than the enemy tank.
Strong SMASH! Also, he regains health by losing health. His trinket makes him incredibly resilient. With it, he is one of the very few dwellers capable of withstanding the full unmoderated damage of both the deadly assaultrons' and bloodbugs' explosions. He should either be paired with a secondary tank, someone who can take his expose damage, or a strong healer like Amata, who can keep the team alive when he leaves his post.
I like equipping him with Overseer's initiative to take advantage of his attacks asap. He works great with a boost to HP, dodge, and defense/resistance. He can be equipped with any set combinations that improve HP, though.
Sarah ~ Support
Sentinel Lyons is one of the few pure support SSRs you can get quite easily, get for free, and can upgrade through the combat zone. Her ability boosts damage of other dwellers by reducing the defences of all enemies. The leadership perk she has also further increases your entire team's damage by a flat value.
If you don't have, let's say, enough energy damage to beat a boss - bring Sarah along. She will reduce the resistance of the enemy and you'll probably have enough.
Infected molerat is a clear choice here. She is clearly a debuff oriented dweller with an AoE ability.
Nick ~ Support
Another very powerful support, the prototype synth detective Nick Valentine can freeze his enemies, thus stunning them, using his cryolator. He is one of the more expensive dwellers due to the fact that his posters only come from boxes, events and pools.
He is able to fire his ability at the beginning of every combat once he reaches 5 medals. Until then he is an amazing widely used support.
Granny's wisdom can further his support abilities, he stuns - and this set will also allow him to silence and counter his enemies.
Dave ~ Attacker
Supreme commander and president Dave of the Republic of Dave is an interesting one... Some would call him a one trick pony. He is really good at GvE and attacking single high health targets, such as tanks. It's no surprise that he prioritizes attacking tanks. This can work both in his favor and against him. Prioritizing the tank can bust the bunker, but it can also hinder your progress if there is a really strong healer behind the tank. He also attacks the target behind the tank once he reaches 5 medals. That's OP.
He is really good at guild rescue missions. If you draw him randomly, you can probably put him to good use.
Stealth Armor all the way. He fires his ability 16 times, this will essentially double his ability damage against any bosses. With 5 medals you can get up to 32 ability hits if there's more than one enemy.
Saashi, Piper, The Inspector, KL-E-0
Mother Isolde ~ Attacker
This furious fanatic is another really unique dweller. She gains radiation and then uses it to boost her damage. Thir radiation is removed and healed after using her ability. She is essentially a constantly self-healing attacker. At higher ranks she can even inflict radiation damage on her enemies, which, if you're not ready for, can mean a turn of tide in the combat zone.
Watch out for enemies that can deal large amounts of damage, they can take advantage of her radiation gain mechanic and kill her when she reaches 50% rads.
The platoon set seems to fit her quite well.
Cait ~ Tank
An amazing and inexpensive free tank, the combat zone addict can take some punishment. Her main perk is the fact that she is able to stun her enemies. Seriously, for a simple SR she is great.
She is highly farmable within the memory den, you can easily farm up a dozen of her posters a day. Her weaknesses are enemies resistant to stun. For example the big zombies that act like they're circular saws half the time. Best paired with The Roach King, because the giant cockroach compliments her tanking skills as a secondary tank.
Vampiric Might can prove useful in the early game where the enemies aren't that strong yet. It can be switched to the Minuteman Last Stand once you're in the mid to late game. This is because her self-sustain isn't as sufficient → more stuns for her.
KL-E-0 ~ Support
This inconspicuous feminine Goodneighbor merchant is actually a killing machine known as KL-E-0. She has the ability to weaken her enemies, making any dweller deal high damage. This makes her the perfect candidate for a support role in GvE. Upon dying she deals significant damage and, much like nate, has a special UR perk that boosts Goodneighbor bond dwellers HP by 20%.
She can die pretty quickly, if you're not careful.
The magic set is just plain useful on her.
Danse ~ Attacker
Much like Nate, this paladin of the Brotherhood of Steel is a single target attacker. His main thing is attacking the target with the lowest HP, and afterwards attacking another target. In theory this can lead to him chaining kills much like Nate does, perhaps even more efficiently. He thrives on killing, so he fits in any team. He synergizes well with the Mistress of Mystery who attacks the same targets.
He's a pure attacker. He can very well be the main attacker in a squad thanks to this.
Stealth Armor is 11 times as effective on Danse as on most other dwellers. Use it, or the Brotherhood of Steel set.
Piper ~ Support
The journalist's ability doesn't scale with her stats and grants flat percentage bonuses. In some case her life-steal granting ability can replace a healer, her damage can help you pass difficult encounters and her trinket will improve your healer. What more do you need?
She is an SR dweller. This makes her incredibly easy to farm through Hard missions, with base amount being 9 posters a day, which you can boost to 27 using nuka cola quantum.
Wasteland Apothecary improves her life-steal buff, because it's considered healing. It's worth it. Do not upgrade her attack too much (especially her other perk), as it can kill her when the enemy has reflection. She's not a damage dealer. Give her just enough for self-heal (equipment - weapon).
The Silver Shroud ~ Attacker
The Hubris Comics hero, the masked vigilante, is a great attacker. His ability places him behind the enemy lines and fires an automatic rifle at all the enemies from behind. This confusion also causes accuracy issues for them. All in all - The Silver Shroud is very capable of crippling the enemies by bypassing the tank.
He is a pure attacker, not counting the small accuracy debuff. This means that he specializes purely in dealing damage.
While some recommend the guardian armor, I prefer any other attacker set, for example the champion one - he is an attacker and not a tank after all.
The Inspector ~ Support
This hubris comics hero - The Inspector, is the best buff support. She improves your squad attack by giving them crit, hit rate, and after 4 medals - life steal. Pair her up with some crit attacker like Nuka Girl, Roach King, Preston... and the slaughter will end in a blink of an eye. Plus, as a wilds wanderer bonded dweller, she will give your lineup some HP (or other boosts) just for being there.
Inspector has a hard counter - a high medal Khan Maykr. Unfortunately, Khan's perk doesn't let either line up to get a buff 5 seconds into the battle. Her ability (3 medals and up) also removes all buffs making The Inspector's buff useless.
Overseer Initiative is one of the choices for an aggressive lineup. When she reaches 4 medals, Wasteland Apothecary is another viable option. Other than that, if your lineup has no tank, you can put the Last Resistance or Minuteman Last Stand set on her and use her shield to tank.
Alien ~ Attacker
Often forgotten, this space invader is a very good low budget attacker - a weaker version of the amazing Nuka-Girl. His posters are available within the memory den, so anyone can farm him up pretty quickly. His ability increases his damage and critical hit chance.
He's even deadlier now that he has a trinket. Every non-critical hit has a 30% chance to add +15% chance to strike a critical hit for 10 seconds. Up to 3 times. That means you can end up with an essentially constantly critting alien. He also gets life-steal from the trinket!
Due to his constant critical hits I would use the Power of Goodneighbor, or the Combat Zone Gladiator set. A great choice could also be the Platoon Uniform, as he has a lot of crit.
Saashi ~ Support
This Khajit scholar from Skyrim is one of the best supports available. She can effectively double the damage of your attacker due to the fact that her ability does almost nothing. Almost. She will transfer her AP to the best attacker in your squad and boost attack by 15% plus a few thousand points.
She has a unique rune mechanic, where anyone using an ability grants Saashi a rune. Runes give her energy resistance, protection against death (once every 15 seconds) and allow her to fire off a buff once she has 2 of the same type (fire, earth, ...). Using runes heals her. They also provide pretty neat buffs to her allies.
Minuteman Last Stand works quite well with her AP transference.
Desdemona, Dave, RK, any strong attacker will benefit from her turning them into a death ray.
Here are some reference tables for upgrading
It might be worth it to know how many posters and certificates you need to upgrade your dwellers.
- Rarities: N, R, SR, SSR, UR
- Certificates: Cert
| Posters | N | R | SR | SSR | UR | Cert |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★☆☆☆☆ | 10 | 10 | - | - | - | 0 |
| ★★☆☆☆ | 20 | 20 | 30 | - | - | 0 |
| ★★★☆☆ | 50 | 50 | 50 | 80 | 80 | 0 |
| ★★★★☆ | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 0 |
| ★★★★★ | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 200 | 0 |
| Total | 380 | 380 | 380 | 380 | 380 | 0 |
| 🎖★★★★ | 150 | 120 | 100 | 40 | ? | 20 |
| 🎖🎖★★★ | 150 | 120 | 100 | 50 | ? | 40 |
| 🎖🎖🎖★★ | 150 | 120 | 100 | 70 | ? | 60 |
| 🎖🎖🎖🎖★ | 230 | 200 | 150 | 70 | ? | 80 |
| 🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖 | 230 | 200 | 150 | 70 | ? | 100 |
| Total | 1290 | 1140 | 980 | 680 | ? | 300 |
Additionally, if you draw these from pools, it will take this many successful pulls (not counting the wish pool)
| Draw Pools | N | R | SR | SSR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Level | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| ★★★★★ | 38 | 38 | 12.66 | 4.75 |
| 🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖 | 129 | 114 | 32.66 | 22.66 |
If you wish to sweep / complete instances for your dwellers, it will take this much cola (sweeps) and/or Rad-X (Normal / Medium cost)
| Clear / Sweep | N | Rad-X (10 / 20) | SR | Rad-X (20 / 30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Level | 3 | 30 / 60 | 8 | 160 / 240 |
| ★★★★★ | 95 | 950 / 1900 | 380 | 7600 / 11400 |
| 🎖🎖🎖🎖🎖 | 322.5 | 6460 / 9690 | 980 | 19600 / 29400 |