Fallout Shelter: How to Start Smart - Beginner's Quick Walkthrough Guide


The suggested starting Vault design below is intended to greatly lessen Mole Rats AttacksYes, Elevators can fend them off, because Mole Rats only attacks rooms that are next to the soil or dirt. This can also help eradicate Raiders, just equip decent weapons for your top floor Power Generator Dwellers (must do asap, and upgrade them to prepare against  Deathclaws at 60+ Dwellers).
- Anti-Mole Rat Vault: Starter's Guide -

Follow the tutorial, and refer to the screenshot below for placements.
You must place the Diner next to the 2nd row Elevator (right side), the others can be placed anywhere.
After the Tutorial
Once you are free to move, destroy the Power Generator and Water Treatment.
   - To Destroy: Tap the Room, then Tap on the Green UP Arrow (upper right corner). Select Destroy and confirm. Re-assign the Dwellers from your Power Generator for now.
   - Add 1 Living Quarters next to the existing Living Quarters.
   - Next, build 3 units of Power Generators and 1 Elevator. Now you are done with the top floor.
   - Continue from the newly built Elevator (right) until you reach the 2nd row Elevator (left). Once reached, remove that 2nd row Elevator so that all Elevators will only be placed on the the sides.

Complete Objectives To Advance
   - While following the above screenshot, complete your Objectives to boost CAPS gain and get free Lunch Boxes! Here's some example early game objectives:

   - Assign 2 Dwellers in the right room = While dragging Dwellers into rooms, a number on top of their head will appear, higher is better.
   - Successfully Rush 1 Room = Rush your Diner, just make sure it has nice Dwellers first though.
   - Level Up 1 Dweller = Just wait and tap Dwellers that has a Green Up Arrow next to them.
   - Send 1 Dweller to the Wasteland = Drag a dweller that is inside your vault and put him/her outside. Your Dweller is still probably weak at the moment, so once outside, tap again and Recall, hit Collect option to let him/her re-enter the vault.
   - Sell 1 Weapon or Outfit = It's kinda too early for this one, so either ignore or just hit the X mark before it to skip.
   - Collect X Resources = Just play normally, they will come eventually.
   - Equip 1 Dweller with a Weapon/Outfit = If you were able to draw a weapon or armor from the Lunch Boxes, then do so.

   - Continue completing objectives to gain more rewards.

Suggested Strategy (Side Note)
   - Some objectives will give you Lunch Boxes, and opening them will give you bonus CAPS, Resources, Outfits, Weapons and more.
   - To kick start Wasteland Runs and Vault Defense early game, other players do this: Aim for at least 1 Legendary Weapon or Rare Weapon (Attack damage of around 15+/20+). Legendary or Rare Dwellers and Outfits are also possible if you are lucky enough to add them to your desired weapon draws.

What If I Didn't Get Any Good Weapons?
   - This is where players will reset the game and try again. If you want a hard reset, aim for Legendary weapons, it will make your Wasteland exploration easier.

If You Now Like Your Current Items, Let's Continue...
   - Your Vault now should look like this.
   - Fill up with any 3 Units Room and 1 Elevator to the left side to complete the 2nd row.
   - From here on, just follow the pattern and place 2 Elevators each sides, 2 three-units room, and 1 two units room, per row. Place what you need as you go, spend CAPS or save them for later rooms.

Final Elevator Placements
   - Just keep them to the sides, then once you reach around 30 Dwellers, Mole Rats will start to pester your rooms, but this time, the chances would be a lot lesser.
   - If you have enough CAPS, you can close your vault by placing a line of Elevators to your lowest row (see sample screenshot above this guide). This way, you vault now will become Mole Rat free!

- Other Info and Tips Early Game -

When Disaster Strikes!
   - Just move all nearby Dwellers to help eliminate the problem. Don't worry because after the "disaster", your Dwellers will automatically go back to their original places.

   - The number of Dwellers you can put at a time in a single room during a disaster will also depends on the capacity of the room. [1 unit = 2], [2 units = 4], and [3 units room = 6].
   - Preferably, place Dwellers equipped with decent weapons, with high [S] and/or [E] SPECIAL stats.
   - After the disaster, you can check your Dwellers List and check for Dwellers with a "Coffee Break" status under the Job Menu. Select their name then re-assign them.

Do Not Upgrade Your Rooms
   - Why!? because upgrading rooms will also increase the difficulty to eliminate disasters, so don't do it early game, especially when you prefer wide rooms. Note though that overtime, things will get a little difficult.
   - There are some exceptions though, and that's for you to explore mid to late game.

Explore the Wasteland
   - This is where you can farm free Weapons and Outfits to strengthen your Dwellers.
   - Select Dweller/s with high Endurance or any Dweller you have with good rounded stats, preferably from the Lunchbox Draws.
   - Equip them with nice Weapons (Legendary or Rare with decent Atk Stats) and Outfits (with rounded stats, or +[E] Outfits), then let them explore the Wasteland and collect items. Watch out though because you must Recall them before they die, Once they are back home, collect their loots and equip to your Dwellers inside.
   - Prioritize Dwellers placed in your top floor Power Generator, to easily fend of Raiders and Deathclaws (when you reach around 60+ Dwellers).

Loot Collection
   - Once your Dweller arrives back, it's time to collect loots.
   - If you want to sell or if you don't have enough room for items, you can select all unwanted items to turn them into CAPS, selling them once you hit the "Collect" button.

   - Next, heal up your Dweller. You can also unequip the items and put into another Dweller to explore the Wasteland with full Health.

How To Easily Browse A Dweller
   - Hit the GEAR icon (upper left corner) to open a list of Dwellers, then tap any "TEXT" above to sort them out. Example: If I want to look for Dwellers with high STRENGTH stat, just hit SPECIAL Menu to sort.

Expanding Your Vault
   - While expanding, always remember that you cover your resources first, especially POWER. Do not let them turn RED!, and as much as possible, stay beyond the Green Vertical Line (visible on your Resource bars, you can also move them to the left by building and managing more Resource Rooms).

   - In case you need more rooms or purposely cause disasters, just add more Elevators to the sides then expand separately.
   - Actually, this is also a good way to design your vault, to prevent disasters to affect or transfer to other rooms.

   - Lastly, if you are now confident enough with your Dweller's equipment and stuff, continue and increase your Dwellers count. Welcome outsiders, or place a Male and Female Dwellers to your Living Quarters to have babies. Note that you can re-assign them to any rooms you like once she gets pregnant.
   - To learn more about the game, go to the in-game help menu.

*Please note that is NOT the only way to design early game Vaults, feel free to experiment. Good Luck and Enjoy the Game! ^^


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