Summary
Siding with anyFallout 4faction has its consequences, and the Railroad is no exception. It’s named for, styled after, and inspired by the real, historical Underground Railroad. Much as the Underground Railroad was a network of people, routes, and safe houses that helped people escape slavery,Fallout4’s Railroad employs similar methods to help Synths escape the Institute. The Railroad and its adherents are the biggest proponents of Synth humanity in the Commonwealth. They hold that the Institute denies Synths their due autonomy, and make it their life’s work to help them escape.
A clandestine, tightly controlled operation, the Railroad can only be found byfinding and navigatingFallout 4’s Freedom Trail. It leads to a long and varied quest line that has the Sole Survivor helping Synths throughout the map, setting up safe houses, and fighting off Institute goons. Joining and completing quests for the Railroad comes with a number of benefits, but also has its downsides. Whatever faction the player chooses to side with will have major consequences for the story. Whether the Railroad is actually worth joining depends on the player character’s choices, and the mark they want to leave on the Commonwealth.
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Short-Term Pros & Cons Of Joining The Railroad
In short,there are no immediate, negative consequences of joining the Railroad inFallout 4. It’s possible to joinall the major factions inFallout 4, and complete at least a few quests for them. But there’s a point of no return in the main story, after which players must commit to a single faction and see its goals all the way through. More on that later, but for now, all the player needs to know is that joining the Railroad only leads to positives. First, they’ll have access to the Railroad’s base of operations in the crypt underneath the Old North Church. This has all the amenities of every other faction’s main HQ: a doctor, a merchant, a bed, a radiant quest giver, and a bit of storage space.
After joining the Railroad,the Sole Survivor will also be able to take Deacon,one ofFallout 4’s 16 recruitable companions, along with them on missions. These don’t have to be strictly Railroad-related: Deacon will tag along on any kind of job the player character has for him, although he won’t necessarily approve of all their actions. That said, if the player levels up their affinity with Deacon to the maximum level, they’ll receive the Cloak & Dagger perk, which gives them an additional 20% sneak attack damage and increases the duration of invisibility-granting Stealth Boys by 40%.
Although she’s not available as a companion, the Railroad’s leader, Desdemona, is aromance option inFallout 4.
Joining the Railroad will also grant players access to a unique weapon: the Tinker Tom Special. As expected, this hunting rifle can be found in Tinker Tom’s shop. It provides a bonus to VATS accuracy when the player isn’t in combat - in essence, when they’re sneaking around. Much like Deacon’s unique perk,most of the other benefits of the Railroad suit stealth builds well, but aren’t ideal for most other kinds of characters. As a result, joining the Railroad is basically a must for stealthy characters; for others, not so much.
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Joining the Railroad doesn’t impact much, butcontinuing down the Railroad track can prevent the player from working with other factions. Namely, the Brotherhood of Steel is at odds with the Railroad; its members believe that Synths are a danger to humanity, while the Railroad believes they’re safe to live alongside of.Finishing the Railroad quest “Underground Undercover” will make the player character a permanent enemy of the Brotherhood of Steel. At that point, they can no longer complete quests for the Brotherhood, or bring Paladin Danse along as a companion.
Strangely,completing Railroad quests won’t impact the Sole Survivor’s relationship with Shaun, or their ability to work with the Institute. The same goes for the Minutemen, who, while not necessarily in agreement with all the Railroad’s actions, are generally aligned on the issue of Synth freedom. The player can take their time, up until the final moments of the main quest to decide which of those three factions to side with.
[Warning: The following paragraph contains spoilers for theending of Fallout 4.]
If the player sees the Railroad storyline all the way through to the end,they’ll eventually unlock the final quest, “The Nuclear Option.“In this quest, the player must infiltrate the Institute and plant a nuclear warhead at its center, ultimately destroying the faction and freeing all Synths for good. This quest can be completed for any faction besides the Institute; the only thing that really changes is who takes over the Commonwealth after the fact. If the player completes “The Nuclear Option” for the Railroad, they’ll see its flags flying in Diamond City, and its troops operating outposts throughout the Wasteland, after completing the final main mission.
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Ultimately,allFallout 4players should join the Railroad- there’s no harm in signing up, and even if they don’t plan on sticking around, they can grab the rewards from the early quests. Whether they continue the Railroad quest line is up to personal preference. If they want to side with the Brotherhood, it’s best to stop before “Underground Undercover.” If they want to side with any other faction, it’s possible to keep going all the way up to the very end ofFallout 4.
Fallout 4
Bethesda’s action RPG Fallout 4 puts players into the vault suit of the Lone Survivor, a pre-war soldier from an alternate future cryogenically frozen inside Vault 111. After their infant son is kidnapped, they venture out into the irradiated wasteland of the Commonwealth to scour the ruins of Boston for any sign of him. In doing so, they encounter various factions and companions and use an array of skills and abilities to navigate the apocalyptic remnants of society.
