Every Fallout 4 Companion Ranked

Want to know the best Fallout 4 companions?

Ah, Fallout. The video game franchise that inspires more debates and disappointment than a Christmas dinner.

It may have fallen out of grace in recent years, with Fallout 76 continuing to prove that funny glitches and brand loyalty can only take you so far, but the series still holds a very special place in my heart.

And whilst some of the more O.G. fans out there might disagree, personally I think Fallout 4 is the top dog.

I feel like it’s aged the best out of them all, and generally balances gameplay and story the best, even if the 4 responses system is more basic than a picture of a sunset with a sepia tone filter…

And of course, we couldn’t forget about its vast improvements on companions!

Your tagalongs were no longer just an extra gun, oh no.

Now they would provide running commentary, react to your decisions, and provide you with extra quests, and I think they generally felt more like real partners.

Traveling with a fun, interesting, and well-written character made Fallout 4 twice as interesting for me, and inspired many, many, MANY different run-throughs, where I would hang out with other people that I missed. Some were lovely, some were badass, and some were so infuriating I’d rather travel with a horny Deathclaw.

So now I’m going to rank all the companions in Fallout 4 from worst to best!

Every Fallout 4 Companion Ranked

Naturally, this list will contain BIG spoilers for Fallout 4, but frankly, if you haven’t played it by now, what are you doing with your life? Oh, and just so you know, I’ll be judging these characters mostly based on their personalities, ideologies, and how they affect the game.

Not so much the perks they give you if you fully befriend them.

It’s just more fun that way, you know?

So sit back, relax, and as always, Ad Victoriam.

15. X6-88

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you the video game equivalent of a foot blister. X6-88.

The boring, pestering, teacher’s pet who hates kindness, coolness, anything that doesn’t fit the institute’s ideology, and for some reason, your character not wearing clothes. Prude.

Some may think I’m being too harsh here, but personally, I’ve always thought this guy was absolutely no fun to travel with.

He’s always lecturing you about stuff that doesn’t matter and has the personality of oatmeal that’s been left out too long. Cold, bland, and generally fills me with a feeling of “Blegh.” But what annoys me about this guy even more than his personality, is his influence on the player’s view of the Institute’s morality.

See, there aren’t really any definitive good or bad factions in Fallout 4.

Yes, the Minutemen are probably the closest you’ll get to the standard “Good Guys” but even they could be perceived as naive, closed-minded, and especially annoying when they won’t shut the hell up about settlements, but hey, we’ll get to that. And in the same way, whilst the Institute is probably the most morally corrupt of the groups, they’re not necessarily evil.

They genuinely have good intentions, want to improve mankind, and are probably the best equipped to do it.

But it doesn’t exactly help their image when their main spokesperson is a dull, nagging, rude bastard, now does it!?

Overall, X6-88 is just plain bad. Sick glasses, though.

14. Old Longfellow

The first of the DLC fellas makes his appearance.

Now let’s get this out of the way. The DLC companions like Old Longfellow, Porter Gage, and Ada are at somewhat of a disadvantage since you can only really see them in their own specific scenarios.

That kind of limits how well you can get to know them and see them react to important story stuff, like siding with factions or throwing dead radroaches at Wellingham.

So that may mean that they’re not as high up on this list as they possibly deserve to be. It’s not because I don’t like them, I just don’t know them as well as the others.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure Longfellow reeks, so yeah. I have to say, I really don’t dislike Longfellow. He’s grumpy, stubborn, and standoffish, but that schtick works for the whole grizzled sailor thing. And I actually like his dry wit and “Grandpa’s on the booze again” attitude. He’s mostly this high up because honestly, he’s kind of redundant. You see, he only shows up in the Far Harbour DLC as an island guide, and whilst he totally works in that role, there’s really no reason to take him with you, when you can take Nick Valentine instead.

You actually go to Far Harbour Island with Nick for a case, and he gets a ton of new dialogue options, a really interesting story arc, and a whole new layer to his backstory!

Whereas Longfellow… Has a pretty cool coat, I guess. Yeah, no offense to the old sailor, but good old Nick is just a way better character all around, and in my opinion a much better pick for a companion on the island.

I’ll take a robot detective with a heart of gold, over a grumpy senior whose breath could kill a whale any day, thank you very much.

13. Paladin Danse

Ok, this is where I might get in some hot, and probably incredibly irradiated water. I know a lot of people really like Danse.

They say he’s like the Buzz Lightyear of Fallout, who’s all about morals, justice, and doing what’s right. They believe his loyalty to The Brotherhood of Steel and almost dense level of obedience is what makes him likable.

Well, I’m sorry to disagree, but that is not at all how I see Danse… From my point of view, he’s a hard-headed, cold, and kind of mean guy, who follows the Brotherhood’s beliefs to the point where it makes him kind of bigoted.

Like, was I the only one who was freaked out when he straight-up suggested murdering the Vault-Tec representative just because he was a ghoul?

That’s some cold shit, soldier. To be fair, I can see the appeal of a character like Danse.

If you’re going for a Brotherhood run it’s good to have a big bulking set of power armor to keep you company whilst you’re blasting ghouls, synths, and basically anyone who isn’t a Republican. And his arc I genuinely think his arc is one of the best in the game.

Having him realize he’s a Synth, and questioning his entire moral system was handled very well, and it makes the Brotherhood questline way more interesting.

It’s just that if you don’t go down that route, or just look at him from a bird’s eye view, I think Danse is a very judgmental and tricky guy, with some admittedly really interesting moments, and a great perk.

But overall, kind of a doof.

12. Porter Gage

Here we have another DLC companion placed pretty high up on the list, due to their unfortunate brevity, but hey, it is like that sometimes.

Porter Gage is your right-hand raider for the Nuka World DLC, the man who guides you through the warring factions, and weirdly, the only companion that also sells you stuff.

I guess he keeps his supplies behind his eyepatch or something. And really, I don’t dislike Porter at all.

He’s got a very cool “Do what you gotta do” vibe about him that makes him seem very chill and relatable. He made me smirk or chuckle on more than a few occasions, and as far as literal murdering bandits go, he’s a pretty friendly dude.

I just think that he’s kind of a niche character in general. I mean, if you’re playing a villainous character, and want to do the whole raider ruler thing, then Porter’s about as good of a partner as you could ask for.

But if not, he doesn’t really serve much purpose, and it seems it kind of seems like he only fits with a very specific type of character.

I mean, do you really see your fundamentalist Brotherhood Elder getting along with this guy? Still, though, he’s a perfectly fine character and fits the Nuka World DLC really well.

But seriously, his right eye is completely functional, so I have no idea why he wears that thing…

11. Strong

I won’t lie, I do feel quite bad about putting Strong so low on this list… He’s my sweet grumpy green boy, who only cares about being tough and finding a legendary cartoon of milk.

Although if that thing ever did exist, it’s probably a literal block of dairy by now. There’s no denying that Strong is fun to wander the wasteland with. He provides some of the best comedic moments in the game, and for what it’s worth I do always look forward to blasting my way up that skyscraper and finding him when I replay the game.

It’s just that when it comes to personality, Strong is essentially just the standard Super Mutant archetype, with not much new to bring to the table. And don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Super Mutant archetype! Who doesn’t love a giant green man who’s physically incapable of whispering?

It’s just that in the past we’ve had Super Mutant companions that had more going on than just being a Super Mutant.

Like Fawkes in Fallout 3, who kept his sanity and incredible intelligence through his mutation, and spent what he believed was his entire life trapped in a cell, but always remained a good man. Or Lily, who was just straight up a jacked monster grandma.

Strong is by no means a bad or uninteresting character.

I just think he could have had a little bit more going on besides searching for a lactose product.

Also, he dislikes lockpicking. What the hell is up with that?

10. Preston Garvey

Ah, poor Preston Garvey. A loving and righteous character, that Bethesda ruined with a technicality, and the internet turned into a punchline.

Honestly, I just feel bad for Preston. I mean, underneath the whole neverending settlements thing I actually think he’s a pretty cool character. Yeah, he’s kind of vanilla on the surface, but if you dig deeper into Preston you’ll find a lot more interesting elements.

He’s friendly, just, and honest, but still quite flawed in his own way. He has a low view of himself, can be quite naive, and let’s be real, he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Poor guy can’t even fix his hat constantly being bent on one side. But it’s these traits and flaws that make Preston interesting to me, and I personally believe he’s got a lot more to offer as a character than people realize.

I mean, he’s still not incredibly interesting, and as much as I hate to admit it, a companion can only be so good if you’re afraid to talk to them in case he dips into his never-ending supply of POINTLESS MISSIONS. But if you can look past his gameplay quirks, I actually think Preston is a cool character that deserves way more love than he gets.

Just stay away from my f*cking quest menu, Garvey.

9. ADA

And now we come to the last DLC companion, and my personal favorite of the bunch, ADA.

The sweetheart robot with a surprising amount of personality, that you can turn into a goddamn tank.

So ADA is the only DLC companion that’s confined to the Commonwealth. She’s part of the Automatron add-on, and whilst it may offer less than the other DLCs, it does offer a very interesting questline, and of course, good old ADA.

She’s a pretty unique companion compared to the others. She doesn’t have likes or dislikes, has little to do with the main story, and as I said earlier, you can modify her to become an incredibly powerful but still loveable machine of death.

Like WALL-E, if he got totally JACKED.

I genuinely really like ADA’s little story, though. Watching her come to terms with the death of her old family, and struggle with emotions that she doesn’t fully understand was actually very interesting.

She nails the whole sweet robot thing perfectly, and her personality alone made me invested in the Mechanist questline.

Really the only problem is, like the other DLC companions, we don’t see enough of her.

You can bring her with you wherever in the Commonwealth, and whilst she’ll occasionally comment on your surroundings, she doesn’t have much to contribute outside of the DLC.

If she would comment more on other quest lines I imagine she’d be much higher on this list.

But as it stands, she’s a lovely robot that was the best part of a fun quest, and that’s good enough for me. A.D.A. ADA Delights All.

8. Robert MacCready

Ok, cards on the table, any character voiced by Matt Mercer is automatically +10 points added to whatever scoring system I keep in my brain, so this guy is already good in my books.

MacCready has always interested me. He’s the slick and cheeky hired gun with an itchy trigger finger, a genuinely interesting past, and some pretty messed up teeth, but hey, I’m English so I shouldn’t judge. And the thing that’s always fascinated me about him is his morality. It’s a lot more complicated than it seems at first glance.

Generally, he’s got a very “Who gives a sh*t” way of doing things, but I often found him reacting to situations in ways I wouldn’t expect.

Also, he’s one of the very few characters that has pretty flip-floppy likes and dislikes.

There were multiple times when he would respond to something I did positively, but I’d still get the little “MacCready Disliked That” prompt on the screen. Maybe that’s a reflection on MacCready’s complicated, and morally ambiguous way of seeing the world. Or maybe it’s just Bethesda pulling a whoopsie.

Either way, it’s weird. But that stuff aside, I do still think MacCready is a cool character!

His inconsistent reactions actually worked both ways, and I’d sometimes find him reacting well to situations I thought might piss him off, and pleasantly surprising me. Like when he tears up when you find the abandoned nursery? Heartbreaking.

Complications aside, MacCready’s a pretty cool guy, who’s definitely come a long way from being an insufferable little bastard in Fallout 3. They grow up so fast.

7. Cait

I’m just gonna say it. If you want to be a big bastard boy in Fallout 4, I don’t think there’s a better partner to have with you than Cait.

Yeah, Strong has plenty of moments that make you chuckle, but trust me, you’ll see the term “Strong Disliked That” more than you’ll see loading screens. And this is Fallout 4, so that’s REALLY saying something.

Cait on the other hand, is great for mayhem! She’s a tough-talking, hard-hitting, chem-consuming arena fighter with a wonderful Irish accent, and one of the best personal quests in the game.

What I like about Cait is that she’s totally down for all the bad stuff you want to do, like stealing, trespassing, and slamming so much Jet that you grow wings and fly away, but she also has a softer side under the surface.

You can’t just slam the mean option in the dialogues every time and expect her to be cool with it. There’s an art to being a d*ckhead, and Cait knows it. Still though, most of the time she’ll be completely on board for all your assholery.

Plus, going through the process of hearing about her problems with chems, getting her clean, and unlocking a whole new side to her is really cool, and adds a whole new layer of depth to the character.

Yup, there’s just no way around it. If you’re looking for a good time, Cait’s your gal.

As long as your definition of a good time includes a LOT of murder.

But hey, why wouldn’t it?

6. Curie

From the sourest character in the game to the sweetest.

Curie is a science-loving robot who was trapped in a Vault for hundreds of years before you came along and let her out.

She has little experience with the post-nuclear world and wants to gather as much data on it as she can, in the name of science.

Curie is an absolute sweetheart. Walking around the violent and depressing wasteland of Fallout 4 with a peppy and uplifting French lady who’s rediscovering the world all over again, gives a nice feeling of whimsy to the experience.

Her mix of incredible intelligence and lack of knowledge about the world makes her such a fun and interesting character to have with you. Especially when she’s a robot and can hand out Stimpaks at a moment’s notice.

I’d probably be a stain on a Super Mutants boot if not for those. But as I’m sure you know, sweet Curie doesn’t stay a robot for long.

Like Cait, Curie also has a really interesting personal quest where she changes quite a bit. In Curie’s case, she transfers her mind from a robot body to a Synth, so she can feel more emotions and become a better scientist. And it’s after this happens that Curie gets really interesting.

Watching her go through the process of not only discovering the world but discovering all these new things about herself, as she slowly becomes more and more human, is one of the coolest transformations in the game.

Say what you will about Bethesda, but they definitely made the right call letting you romance her after that point. Good call, lads.

5. Deacon

This guy is basically the reason the Railroad is my favorite faction in the game.

I mean if we’re judging factions by their respective companions, you have to admit, Deacon blows the other dudes out of the water.

Preston’s cool, but a bit basic. X6-88 is cold and boring. And Danse is just straight-up racist.

But Deacon? Hot damn, if this guy isn’t just exploding with charisma!

He’s literally always cracking wise, he wants to do the right thing and have fun at the same time, and he’s one of the few characters that’s genuinely on your side, no matter what.

Within reason, of course.

He’s not gonna stick around if you nuke an orphanage for a Nuka Cola.

He’s been called the easiest companion to get to like you, and personally, I see that as a good thing.

Usually, no matter what you say in dialogue he’ll find a way to go along with it and support you, even if he doesn’t like what you said. (Again, within reason) And like I said, he likes the goody two shoes side of you, and the sarcastic twerp side of you equally, so he’s not a bad character to keep around if you want to make some mischief.

But really the main reason I love Deacon is because of how damn cool he is.

Not in the way where he tries to be cool, and therefore makes himself uncool, because there’s nothing more uncool than being cool… Y’know what I mean?

He’s just so damn funny, charming, and likable that he basically bleeds coolness in every way possible.

As a matter of fact, I’m kind of torn about putting him this low, but… Well, you’ll see.

4. Hancock

Yup. Now you see why I’m torn. I mean, if there’s one character out there who can rival Deacon in the coolness contest, it’s the old Mayor Ghoul guy over here.

I was actually going back and forth for a while about which of these two should have been higher on the list because they’re actually two of my favorite characters in the whole game.

But really, the only reason I’d put Hancock slightly higher is because of Deacon’s constant wisecracks.

Like I said, I love him and his jokes, but in a game like this repeating dialogue is inevitable, and comedy and repetition still aren’t on speaking terms since the divorce. But whatever, Hancock is awesome.

He’s the literal definition of a cool ghoul, who loves nothing more than chems, freedom, and the freedom to take chems.

It’s really the little things that make me like Hancock so much. His cool mix of a laid-back and brutal attitude. How he likes to cause trouble but still sticks to his strong convictions. And his MANY amazing quotes.

My personal favorite being: “If I have to listen to you butter this guy up anymore I’m going to shoot myself… then him.” Gold.

Really, it’s pretty evident why Hancock is such a good character.

Who couldn’t get behind a tyranny-hating, smooth-talking, gold-hearted rascal who’d feed a starving kitten with one hand and disembowel a raider with the other?

Plus, seeing how wonderfully he handles discrimination for being a ghoul, and hearing about his past with Mayor McDonough not only made me empathize with him so much but also made his views and ideals so relatable.

Basically, Hancock is absolutely rad. And yes, that pun was VERY intended.

3. Piper

Best romance in the game. Best female companion in the game. Best reporter in the entire damn universe.

Piper is a scrappy, funny, and infinitely loveable journalist in Diamond City, who’s always seeking the truth, her next story, and those ever-so-elusive pictures of Spiderman.

I absolutely adore Piper, and It’s not hard to see why.

Her plucky and inquisitive personality, mixed with her wit, tenacity, and compassion make for a great character that perfectly balances being good-willed but never a pushover.

She fights ferociously for what she thinks is right, whilst always remaining chipper, down to earth, and a great source of wisdom.

Plus, I think she’s actually a lot funnier than people give her credit for. Her interaction with Takahashi is one of my personal favorites, in fact.

Check it out, if you feel like it.

Not to mention, she’s the most adorable character in the entire game. And I don’t mean in that forced “High voice, big eyes, barely said a word” way, that some people seem to be so into.

Looking at you, anime. I mean the real way. Where she supports you, encourages you, jokes with you, and always feels like a real partner whether you romance her or not.

She’s just simply great, as a companion, a sweetheart, a buddy, or even a perverted modders dream.

2. Codsworth

As I live and breathe… it’s… IT’S REALLY HIM!

My god, I love Codsworth with every single cell in my body! He’s the lovely robot butler with a wonderful voice and a delightful personality, and he serves as the last piece of your character’s life that remains from before the bombs dropped.

I mean, unless you count your son, but that old bastard can stick to fiddling with his test tube for all I care.

I know some may say I’m putting Codsworth too high, and I understand that probably not everyone loves this guy as much as I do, but he can call me “Mister F*ck Face” so I don’t care. I always love traveling with Codsworth, and I genuinely think he’s the best character to travel with for a first playthrough of the game.

It seems he stuck to Sanctuary for most of the time you were frozen, so the Commonwealth is basically as new to him as it is to you. And traveling around with a jolly old robot who makes hilarious and jovial remarks at many of the new things you discover, plenty of which coincide with your own line of thinking, makes for a very fun experience, and really makes you fall in love with the guy.

The dirt and filth of a post-apocalyptic Boston are completely too much for poor old Codsey, but he still puts on a brave face, a cheerful attitude, and a big happy smile.

I mean, he probably would if he wasn’t just a silver ball with metal tentacles. And sure, maybe he’s not as layered as some of the other characters, or maybe I’m just biased because I too am a filthy tea-sipping limey boy.

But hearing Codsworth’s jokes, clever observations, and genuinely really heartwarming insights about the world of Fallout 4 made him one of my favorite characters in the entire game.

I’d even consider him my personal favorite if it wasn’t for one piece of metal scrap with the coolest hat in the Wasteland.

1. Nick Valentine

I mean, duh, right?

Nick Valentine isn’t just the best companion in Fallout 4. Nick Valentine basically IS Fallout 4. He’s the smooth-talking, quick-thinking, old-fashioned synthetic detective who smokes cigarettes despite not having any lungs. He plays a vital part in the story, he has the coolest design in the game, and his special twist reveal was handled way better than Shaun’s.

Hell, people love this guy so much that they basically made an entire DLC just so you could hang out with him more! Again, sorry Longfellow.

Really, It’s obvious why Nick is the best character in Fallout 4. I mean, his background alone was enough to make me love him. Him feeling like an empty shell with some dead detective’s thoughts shoved in his head, and worrying that nothing he can do will ever make him his own person.

For me, that’s literally the most interesting subplot in the game, and it raised so many moral questions in my head that I didn’t even know what to think.

Not to mention, his personal quest is also the best in the game, and let me tell you, finally putting a bullet in Eddie Winter was more satisfying than a thousand of Preston’s chores. And this might just be me, but I personally think Nick was the best voice-acted character in the game.

I think Stephen Russell really managed to make something special with this character, which is doubly impressive considering he also voiced DiMA, Codsworth, and every other Handyman in the game!

Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Yup. Nicky’s the best. Oh, and If I may indulge with one more quote?

“I told them I was rigged to explode and started going beep beep beep.”

Special Mention: Dogmeat

Now you might be thinking, “Now wait just a gosh darn tick, here! You didn’t mention my best pal Dogmeat! You can’t not talk about the goodest good boy in the history of good good boys!”

Well, like I said at the beginning I’ve mostly been ranking these characters based on stuff like personality. And as much as I love this poochy-woochy I can’t really judge him based on his personality, because it’s basically just “Dog.” Not that there’s anything wrong with “Dog.”

In fact, I’m sure most of us out there absolutely adore “Dog.”

It’s pretty freakin sweet. But on a list like this where I’m judging these characters by what they say, think, and do, I wouldn’t really know where to put a character who only says woof, only thinks woof, and only does cold-blooded murder.

If I did, I feel like I would either put him first, or last, and both of those seem unfair to me.

So instead, I’m just giving him a special mention here, to acknowledge him as a good dog, and explain why he isn’t properly in the rankings.

Sorry, bud. Thanks for carrying all my Fat Man’s.

Summary

Here’s a quick recap of the best Fallout 4 companions:

1. Nick Valentine
2. Codsworth
3. Piper
4. Hancock
5. Deacon
6. Curie
7. Cait
8. Robert MacCready
9. ADA
10. Preston Garvey
11. Strong
12. Porter Gage
13. Paladin Danse
14. Old Longfellow
15. X6-88

Who’s your favorite Fallout 4 companion? Leave a comment below.