Fallout 4 is an action role-playing game that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world that suffered from a nuclear war. To survive, people were forced to go into Vaults – a network of underground shelters developed by Vault-Tec Corporation as a precautionary measure to protect the American nation from nuclear threats and other apocalyptic disasters.
As one of the survivors, once you leave your own Vault, you’ll soon realize that there are more Vaults to discover and you should definitely pay them a visit; they are excellent exploration targets as they usually contain valuable loot and expand on the lore, giving you more context on what happened there in the past.
The game world of Fallout 4 is quite massive, which can make it difficult for some players to get to certain places, unless you’re an explorer at heart, in which case you’ll probably discover most of the interesting locations by yourself as you progress further into the game, ticking off all points of interest in a methodical manner, one by one.
However, if you’re interested in finding all the Vaults quick and easy or you’re not patient enough to go through other, less relevant places, before discovering what you’re really after, our guide will take you straight to where you want to be.
Read on to learn where to find all Fallout 4 Vaults and what can you expect to find inside them.
- How to Find Vault 111 in Fallout 4 (Vault 111 Location)
- Vault 75 Location: Malden Middle School’s Dark Secret
- Vault 81 Location: Fallout 4’s Safe Haven Turned Shelter
- Vault 95 Location: Drug Rehabilitation or Disaster?
- Vault 114 Location: Unfinished Experiments in Fallout 4
- Vault 118 Location: Far Harbor DLC’s Twisted Experiment
- Vault 88 Location: Build and Expand with Vault-Tec Workshop
- Conclusion
How to Find Vault 111 in Fallout 4 (Vault 111 Location)
First on the list is Vault 111, which is the easiest one to find. That’s because that’s the exact same Vault you begin the game in when you wake up from cryosleep. As such, there’s no need to elaborate further on the Vault’s location, as it will be marked on your map right away, making it easy to find and return to if needed. For consistency’s sake, however, let it be known that Vault 111 is located west of Sanctuary, in the furthermost northwest part of the map.
The Vault’s true purpose was hidden from the public, just like it was in the case of many other Vaults. The goal of this specific one was to test the effectiveness of long-term cryonic stasis on unaware people.
Sometimes, video games prepare small surprises at the starting location, encouraging players to return there after they’ve made some progress in the game. Vault 111 is an example of featuring such a thing; when you explore the place for the first time, you may stumble upon a unique weapon locked in a display case in the overseer’s room. However, the case is protected by a master lock, making it impossible to access at the beginning due to the lack of required skills. Make sure to return there and pick up your reward once you’ve improved the efficiency of your lockpicking skills – you’ll need Locksmith at Rank 3, which requires 4 Perception points and character level 18.
Vault 75 Location: Malden Middle School’s Dark Secret
Next on the list we’ve got Vault 75. The Vault is located in the Malden district, east of Western Enclave Encampment and underneath the Malden Middle School, and is easy to miss if you don’t know about its existence.
Presented to the public as a safe space for children, where they could find shelter in case of a nuclear disaster, Vault 75 was in reality a place where a variety of experiments related to human genetics were to be carried out, aiming to create a new, better generation of people through hormonal treatment and selective breeding.
While it doesn’t sound that bad when presented in such a way, one should be aware that the experiments were anything but pleasant; we’ll leave the details for you to discover in the game though but there’s a reason why it’s considered one of the sickest Vaults in the game, and not in a good way.
The Vault is accessible through the Malden School basement door and features a significant number of enemies, consisting mainly of Gunners. Depending on your faction choices during the game and the state of the main quest, you may find other enemies there too.
Notable loot includes the science bobblehead, an item that will permanently increase your guess chances during terminal hacking by one.
Vault 81 Location: Fallout 4’s Safe Haven Turned Shelter
Vault 81 can be found in the middle section of The Commonwealth, south of the river and west of Chestnut Hillock Reservoir lake. It is one of the shelters that are still functioning and one of the few that were truly safe for its inhabitants, thanks to the work of its Overseer who was actively sabotaging the nefarious plans of the higher-ups. The initial goal was to develop a miraculous cure that could treat every disease known to man. However, doing so required exposing gathered individuals to said diseases and conducting experiments, which the Overseer found immoral and unacceptable.
Vault 81 contains an initially locked, secret part, which makes this specific bunker particularly interesting to visit. The hidden area is accessible during the Hole in the Wall side quest, which can be started by donating blood to Dr. Forsythe and returning there after some time has passed. In terms of notable loot, you’ll find a medicine bobblehead inside; it will permanently increase the healing power of your stimpaks by 10%. Other than that, you’ll also be able to recruit Curie as your companion – she’s a very unique partner with an interesting backstory, likable personality, and adorable accent. She can also be a powerful ally in combat if you gain her trust and do her a certain favor.
Vault 95 Location: Drug Rehabilitation or Disaster?
Vault 95 is located in the southern part of the map, west of the river and south of Waypoint Echo military base. On the surface, the purpose of this bunker was to help chem addicts in dealing with their addictions. However, there was also a social experiment planned to be carried out on the residents, which involved exposing the cured individuals to a new batch of drugs and seeing if they’d succumb to their supposedly tamed urges.
The Vault is heavily guarded and may prove to be difficult to get into without preparation; you’ll meet quite a few Gunners and swift Assaultrons there even before you get inside the Vault. If you have trouble, try using consumables, such as Jet, Psycho, and Med-X. To deal with Assaultrons, you can try utilizing mines or go stealth and aim at their legs via V.A.T.S. to impair their movement. If all else fails, you can always resort to a power armor.
Getting inside is well worth it though, as you’ll find a big guns bobblehead there, which provides a significant, permanent boost of 25% critical damage for heavy weapons. It’s also a place that involves doing a favor for one of the companions, Cait.
Vault 114 Location: Unfinished Experiments in Fallout 4
Vault 114 is located in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston and can be accessed through Park Street station. Presented to the public as a place reserved for the wealthy and members of the upper class of the society, turned out to be not as luxurious as everyone thought it would be – all part of the planned social experiment.
The goal of secret research inside Vault 114 was to put the rich into the shoes of the poor and let them experience a modest life and observe their reactions and the effects of lasting emotional distress caused by being stripped of the comforts they got used to. As such, compared to other Vaults, the residents of Vault 114 were meant to be faced with a rather mild fate, which is quite interesting, as it shows that even in a large-scale series of potentially ruthless experiments, the wealthy would receive more favorable treatment. However, the Vault wasn’t finished on time and the experiment was canceled.
If you’re wondering if Vault 114 is worth visiting, perhaps a speech bobblehead that can be found there will convince you, as it permanently gives all vendors an extra 100 bottle caps to buy items from you, making trading much more convenient.
Vault 118 Location: Far Harbor DLC’s Twisted Experiment
Vault 118 can be only accessed if you own Far Harbor DLC. It’s located on The Island, beneath the Cliff’s Edge Hotel. It’s another unfinished Vault with a similar idea to Vault 114 but with a significant twist. Rather than experimenting on the people of high status alone, this Vault was meant to house two separate groups of people and place them into two separate wings: a small group of rich people was meant to live in one wing, while a few hundred of the poor people were meant to inhabit the other one. The rich were supposed to receive absolute power and authority, demanding indisputable obedience from the poor. However, the second wing was never finished, thus preventing the experiment from being carried out.
In terms of notable loot, you can find some cool items inside the Vault, most notably some clothing items to satisfy your fashion needs. This includes road goggles that provide a temporary bonus of 1 to Intelligence and a Fencebuster baseball bat that ignores 30% of the target’s resistances. Additionally, you can buy The Dapper Gent formal hat from Pearl – not only does it look stylish, but also provides 2 points of Charisma, as opposed to the usual 1 found on hats.
Vault 88 Location: Build and Expand with Vault-Tec Workshop
Vault 88 is a part of Vault-Tec Workshop DLC and is the most unique of all Fallout 4 Vaults. That’s because you can turn it into a base of your own – it’s an unfinished Vault, but you’ll have the opportunity to finish it yourself, to a certain degree. Vault 88 is specifically designed to be customized by players to meet their own needs and wants, allowing everyone to build their dream settlement.
The original purpose of the Vault, according to the lore, was to serve as testing grounds for various Vault-Tec equipment before it could be moved to the other Vaults.
To get into Vault 88, you’ll have to find a cave beneath Quincy Quarries, located in the southern part of the map, west of Suffolk County Charter School and near the coast.
The Vault doesn’t contain anything of value; its value lies in the possibility of customizing the place to your heart’s content. You get a massive space to work with, allowing you to unleash your creativity to the fullest, so try to make the most out of it.
Conclusion
Fallout 4 Vaults were meant to protect people from a variety of deadly, large-scale threats, but most of them hide some disturbing truths and are tied to ethically questionable experiments. Discover all the details and learn more about FO4 lore by visiting the Vaults yourself. Some of them can be easily overlooked if you’re not observant enough, so don’t feel bad if you haven’t managed to find them all on your own. Refer to our guide to easily find all the Vaults and make sure to pay them all a visit; it would be a shame to miss out on all the secrets the game has to offer.