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Fallout 4 is another action-packed role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios. It’s the fourth offering in the Fallout game series and is every ounce as intense as the last. While its official release date was a few years ago now, back in November 2015, it’s still an immensely popular game enjoyed by thousands worldwide.Â
Like its predecessor, Fallout 4 has some fantastic graphics, with a number of iconic Boston landmarks dotted around for good measure. The gameplay consists of completing various side quests and settlement missions and is majorly addictive when you get into the hacking mini-game.
If you played Fallout 3 you’re probably already familiar with the hacking system, but it doesn’t make it any less of a challenge to crack. On the other hand, if you’ve never locked horns with the Fallout hacking system before: it can be tricky, let’s just put it that way, but that’s precisely why we created this Fallout 4 hacking game guide to help you along the way.Â
The Basics of Hacking in Fallout 4
How Does Hacking Work in Fallout 4?
The art of hacking is one of the most valued skills needed when playing Fallout 4. Many of the hack terminals you encounter contain important information, while others are there to enable you to perform tasks to complete various quests and ultimately bag yourself a wad of cash.
Initiating the Hacking Mini-Game
When you boot up a locked terminal, you’ll be presented with columns of figures mixed up with some words. One of these words is the correct password, and you only get a certain number of attempts before the console locks you out for a few seconds and resets. Each time you select a word as a guess, the computer will tell you how many characters in it are correct i.e. how many letters are in the right place. If the actual password is MOVE and you select ROAM you have one character correct because the O is in the right place, but the M isn’t. If you choose CAVE you’ll be told you have two characters correct – the V and the E. Get it?
To start with you can only hack novice terminals. But, you can level up the Hacker Perk to get access to what are considered expert terminals. Keep in mind that this only lets you attempt to hack them. The actual process of doing it is still the same, and the higher the difficulty level of the terminal, the longer the password is.
Top Tips on How to Hack in Fallout 4
Now you’ve got the basics of what hacking in Fallout 4 is all about, let’s delve a little deeper and see how to hone in on this fantastic skill.
While hacking in Fallout 4 isn’t particularly hard once you get the hang of it, it can be time-consuming. But, lucky for you, there are a few things you can do to make your life a little easier and your hack faster:
Look for Matching Brackets
Technically speaking, the first stage of attempting to hack anything should be to watch Swordfish and take notes from Hugh Jackman’s legendary hacker character, but we realise you might not have time for the whole thing before approaching every locked terminal in the game.
Instead, before you make any guesses, start by looking for groups of random characters enclosed in matching brackets – so, () [ ] or < >. They should highlight as a block if you scroll through the screen and highlight the first bracket in the cluster. Selecting them deletes an incorrect password from the list. There, you just made your job a little bit less complicated.
When it’s getting down to the wire and you’re on your last guess before you get locked out of the terminal, go for the { } groups. Selecting these will reset all your attempts, giving you more time.
Don’t Rush; Be Smart
We know that hacking can be incredibly tedious, and you probably want to get it over and done with as quickly as possible, but don’t rush in and start selecting words at random. Instead, slow down and read every word on the screen and figure out the info you’ll get from them.
As a basic example, if you’re looking at SING, RING, RUNG, and WALK, you should choose SING. If you’re told you got three characters correct, you know the answer is RING. If there are two right, you know it’s RUNG, and if there are no correct characters, then it’s WALK. Selecting WALK is a bad guess because it gives you no information about the others if it turns out to be incorrect. Putting in a bit of extra time can save you time in the long run – and decrease the chance that you’ll get locked out and have to repeat the process.
Cheat, Sort Of
If you’re down to your last guess and you’re pretty sure you’re not going to get it right, you can always just back out of the terminal. This will reset it, but you’re back to having all your guesses and don’t have to wait 10 seconds to have another go.
If you really can’t be arsed, the other option is to bring along Nick Valentine as a companion. Just point him in the right direction, and he can hack terminals up to the expert level for you. Of course, you won’t get the XP for it, but you might decide that’s an okay trade-off for not having to stare at one of those screens again.
Fallout 4 Hacking FAQs
How does the Total Hack work in Fallout 4?
Total Hack is a magazine that can be found in Fallout 4. Finding one of these gems can help in all kinds of ways. There are 17 in total to be found, each one presenting you with a different reward upon collection. While some increase your stats, others unlock new perks. Well worth keeping an eye out for.
What are the different types of terminals to hack in Fallout 4?Â
There are four different terminals to hack in Fallout 4: Novice, Advanced, Expert, and Master. Work your way up through the ranks to earn stripes as a master hacker capable of taking out advanced terminals.
