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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.
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.
Updated on August 30, 2024, by Mac Wheeler: There have been a number of updates to Fallout Shelter since this list was originally published, including quite a few that introduced items and dwellers from the Fallout TV show. This list has now been updated to explain how stats impact dwellers outside of exploration as well, as to help players make intelligent decisions over which dwellers they should be using, and where.
7 Strength
Trained At The Weight Room
- 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.
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.
Why Is Strength Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
A dweller with high strength has some special uses. Firstly, they are the best dwellers for generation rooms. Strength is also useful in the weapon workshop, as a dweller with higher strength will craft items much faster. Lastly, there are some quests and missions that need a high-strength dweller to complete. Certain missions require something heavy to be moved or something to be broken down, and a high-strength dweller is needed for this.
6 Perception
Trained At The Armory
- 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.
Why Is Perception Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
Dwellers with high perception have a primary role in staffing water treatment and purification rooms in the vault when not being used for exploration. They are also useful for staffing the weapon workshop, where higher perception makes crafting more proficient. Lastly, dwellers with a high perception rating are faster at responding to events such as infestations and fires that occur inside the vault.
5 Endurance
Trained At The Fitness Room
- 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.
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.
Why Is Endurance Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
Finding the right room to put a vault dweller with high endurance in will depend on their other stats. However, they are more suited to rooms that are at greater risk of fires and infestations, as they have lots of health. They are also useful on quests and missions, to make up a team, as they have great survivability.
4 Charisma
Trained In The Lounge
- 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 are 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.
Why Is Charisma Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
Dwellers with high charisma are surprisingly useful inside a vault. Primarily, they can be used to staff the radio room and increase happiness levels vault-wide. They are also very useful in the early game for breeding. High charisma is also a bonus in the outfit workshop, where it boosts efficiency and speed.
3 Intelligence
Trained In A Classroom
- 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.
Why Is Intelligence Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
The main use for vault dwellers with high intelligence outside of exploration is to help out in the medbay and science lab. Intelligence has a direct impact on the speed and efficiency of crafting stimpaks and RadAway in this room.
2 Agility
Trained In The Athletics Room
- Room Bonuses: Diner, Garden
- Vault Effects: None
- Exploration Effects: Boost survivability
- Quest Effects: Faster attack rate
Agility is a useful stat for dwellers who 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.
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.
Why Is Agility Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
Unfortunately, vault dwellers with high agility don’t have a lot of utility outside of wasteland explorations, quests, and missions. They can boost productivity in the diner, but it is likely most players will have better dwellers to fill this role anyway. They can boost crafting speed in all crafting rooms, but again, there are better options in most cases.
1 Luck
Trained In The Game Room
- 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’s 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.
Why Is Luck Important for Vault Dwellers in Fallout Shelter Outside of Exploration?
Vault dwellers with a high luck stat have plenty of utility within a vault. Firstly, they help to boost the chance of a rush success in a room. Secondly, when used in one of the crafting rooms, they grant a bonus to the likelihood of receiving a legendary item. And lastly, they give a chance to collect additional caps when collecting from rooms in the vault.
