Ok, so Fallout Shelter updates have arrived and the Deathclaws and Mole Rats are two new attackers/incidents found. Therefore, they require some new tips and tricks to defeat them. While I haven’t really seen Mole Rats as all that challenging, the Deathclaws are no joke. These guys are waaay strong, hacking through even the most fortified vault door in 10 seconds or less. As for strength, they make raiders look like 90-pound wimps. If you aren't ready for them, they will literally be the death of your thriving vault. However, if you are prepared, they can be a very manageable challenge to defeat with no lives lost – even without having any Mr. Handy on your floors or spending any money on lunchboxes. Check out my tips below, or for other tips articles I’ve written see the links listed.
- Fallout Shelter Game Tips: Vault Layout Guide
- Fallout Shelter Tips: Get Rid Of Radiation, Use Endurance, Increase Specials, Happiness And More Without Spending Any Money
- Fallout Shelter Tips Guide For Players Beyond The Basics: Update On Weapons, Wastelands, SPECIALS Training, Incident Survival And More
- Fallout Shelter Advanced Game Tips: On Nuclear Reactors, Wasteland Endurance, Mass Population Management And More
- Fallout Shelter Tips & Tricks: Exploit These End Game Strategies For Moving Rooms, Upgrading, Surviving Days In Wastelands And More
Fallout Shelter Update Tips And Tricks: How To Survive And Defeat Deathclaws Without Your Dwellers Dying
So I didn’t actually encounter any Deathclaw attacks until about 50-60 dwellers in the vault, which is good. I can’t imagine your could survive them very easily before that. The biggest factors in defeating those Deathclaw attacks is having dwellers that are strong and well equipped – or at least, well equipped.
The thing about Deathclaws is this: The are fast. They are strong. The move quickly. Unlike the raiders, they don’t stay and engage long in each room. The just strike out at your dwellers with their “death claws” taking about a quarter of their life with one scratch. After a few seconds, though, they move on to another room to wreak havoc. While with raiders, I usually could overpower them and end their attacks inside of one room, with deathclaws, I find they travel through 5 of my rooms before they are defeated. But, I will say, none of my dwellers die. Here’s what I’ve done to ensure that.
Early Vault Layout Matters – Put Power Rooms On Top
In my early vault layout, I always make sure to build my power room on the top floor and merge two others with it to make a 3 merged room power stations. The reason is that it holds 6 dwellers which can all defend together against the Deathclaw, making a greater impact. Also, since it is the power room, they are automatically going to be my strongest dwellers.
When I train dwellers in strength training rooms, I make sure to faithfully keep replacing the top floor guys with my strongest dwellers. The same goes for weapons and outfits. When I get them, I make sure that those guys on that top floor have the best strength enhancing outfits and the most badass weapons. This will keep you dwellers first encountering the Deathclaws strong against the attack, and may manage to let you take one or two of them out before they move to the next room.
As a general rule, in the past it was always a good idea to merge together 2-3 rooms whenever you could for efficiency, but for surviving deathclaws, multiple dwellers fighting together will fare much better than just two guys in a room.
Make Arming Dwellers A Priority – How To Gain Lots Of Weapons Quick
For some reason I have heard a lot of people talk about keeping weapons in their storage bins so they can assign them to dwellers as needed when attacks/incidents occur. This has me flabbergasted because what it tells me is that they don’t have a good supply of weapons and outfits. By 50-75 dwellers you should have enough weapons and outfits to equip at least 75% of your dwellers if not all 100%
If this isn’t the case for you, you’re strategy needs a bit of work. You may be wondering then, “how do I get weapons and outfits without buying tons of lunchboxes?” The answer is simple. Send dwellers to the Wastelands early on. But not just any dwellers – your legendary/special characters. During the early phases of the game you get 4-5 lunchboxes before you have even 20 dwellers and in those you are bound toget at least one special character with high levels of S.P.E.C.I.A.L.s, a cool outfit and sometimes even a weapon. In addition, they are usually a level 10 or more in experience. Those are the characters you need to immediately send out to the wastelands. If you have some stimpacks and radaways, load them up, but even without, they should be able to last several hours or days and in that time collect you some good weapons, caps and outfits so you are ready when those attackers come.
Once those special dwellers come back and you collect their booty, heal them, and then send them back out again. I promise you, you’ll have more supplies than you can even use.
As you get these outfits and guns, systematically hand them out, giving the best weapons to the dwellers on the highest floors so they are ready for the Deathclaw attacks. In the early attacks, you may want to apply a Stimpack to dwellers that look like they are nearing the bottom of their health level (you can give a dweller a stimpack during an attack to bring his/her health up) and it will save you from having to pay to revive them if they die. However, as you progress in your vault getting more experience, better weapons and outfits, those deaths should be completely irradicated.
Build Elevators To The Right Of Your Vault
So this is one thing I discovered. Unlike raiders, who, once they have fought dwellers in a given room, won’t go back for more, Deathclaws will. This means if on your top floor you have a few rooms and the get to the end of them, and there is no elevator, they go back through those rooms they were just in to get to the elevators – once again slashing and probably killing those weakened dwellers in their path. To eliminate this problem, build some elevators all the way to the right of your vault (there is a little space at the end to do that). This way, they move down to a new room with “fresh” dwellers to fight.
Buy A Few Mr. Handys
Last but not least, if you are willing to fork over $3.99, buying a pack of 5 Mr. Handy’s isn’t a bad idea. They can be placed on floors, starting at the top, and they do come in “handy” when it comes to defeating Deathclaws as they will follow them to every room on the floor where they are assigned, blasting them with their fiery weaponry.
As I said above, using these strategies, I’ve found I can defeat Deathclaw attackers after they have ravaged about 5 rooms with no lives lost. If you have found some more effective tips for surviving these attacks, please do share them! I’m always keen to learn more!
