Fallout Shelter is considered to be the best MMO that isn't an actual MMO. It is also one of the few freemium games on consoles, PC and Smartphones that actually has respect for your time and intelligence. It is loaded with micro-transactions, but none of them are necessary in order for you to have a good time. With that in mind, this article explains how you can do rather well in Fallout Shelter without having to spend money.
Many of the tips from this article are lifted from the video 78 Fallout Shelter tips, but where that video covers the broad subject of Fallout Shelter, this article concentrates exclusively on avoiding paying real money.
The MMO Economy in a Non-MMO Game
To start with, you need to frame your thinking away from your typical Smartphone-Freemium thinking, to more of something you would see in an MMO. When it comes to Freemium gaming, you have to wait for buildings to build (unless you pay) and you have to earn items (unless you pay) and you have to train characters (unless you pay).
Whereas with MMOs, you pay for currency and convenience. In WOW you pay for gold, or you can pay third parties for Lost Ark gold, or you can buy FFXIV Gil For Final Fantasy. However, what is most important is that in popular MMOs, you don't have to pay to have a good time. In a game like Clash of Clans, you have to pay to have a good time. The longest upgrade time in Clash of Clans is 14 days, and on the Wiki, somebody figured out it would take 3 years 5 days to get up to a level 13 Town Hall if you don't pay.
Fallout Shelter has more of an MMO economy where you don't have to pay to have a good time, but you can pay for currency and convenience. If you go into it with a mindset of trying to hurry things up, then you are going to have a bad time.
Should I Use Save Editors?
Whatever you decide is up to you, but beware of the risks. Firstly, they will corrupt your save files, so be prepared to lose them. Secondly, Bethesda has the right to ban you from using, downloading, buying their games if you are caught.
You may have read a tip that you can turn your clock forwards on your device and avoid some waiting times. This is true for many devices, and Bethesda doesn't consider it cheating. However, it does mess up some of your game timings for a while. For example, your daily quests won't refresh, and if you are traveling to a daily quest when you turn your clock forwards, then the mission doesn't start if you play after your clock is reset to normal time.
Put People in Training Rooms Before You Go to Bed
The training rooms are perhaps one of the biggest time vampires of the game. You take your dweller out of action for literally days while they go from the level they started at to level ten. Plus, if you are creating a super dweller with every stat at max, then that character spends days in one training room and then days in another.
As long as the power and water levels are okay when you turn off the game, then they will remain that way until you restart the game again. Ergo, when you go to bed at night, put your dwellers in training rooms. When you wake up, they will be ready with the "Level up" icon above their heads.
Don't Pay For Room Cosmetics
There are two things that "can" cost you money and serve no purpose. The first is to buy Nuka cola bottles to customize dwellers, and the second is to buy room cosmetic upgrades. If you are going out opt for customization, then do it the long and very boring way. Paying real money for this adds no meaningful mechanic, tool or service to the game.
Buy Bigger Training Rooms With Your Caps
If you are going to invest in anything, then invest in larger training rooms. The more people actually in a training room, then the quicker each dweller learns. The maximum time it takes to get from level one in a stat to level ten is 32 hours. Spread over every stat, if the dweller started with level 1 in every stat, is 252 hours. You can slash that quite a bit with bigger training rooms that are full of dwellers.
Take The Daily and Weekly Quests
There are a bunch of regular/standard quests you can take, and they offer some good stuff like Nuka cola bottles, lunch boxes, and even pets. Yet, it is the daily and weekly quests that keep the good stuff rolling in. Before you run off and buy a lunchbox or another pet, see if there are any daily or weekly quests with them as rewards. The daily and weekly quests change (daily and weekly), which is probably why they offer the sorts of rewards you would normally pay for.
Rush a Few Objectives
You can undertake three objectives at a time. When you complete one, a new one appears. Before you buy lunchboxes, bottles or pets, rush through a few objectives and find some with those rewards. The rewards are pretty random, but you can earn a few buyable items each day if you complete objectives. Also, every 24 hours you can skip an objective. Always use this function because the next objective may offer something great like lots of bottles, pets, lunchboxes, caps or even a Mr Handy.
Always Accept Every Random Quest
Even if the character in question has little life left, no Stimpacks, and a very poor weapon, you should still accept every random quest (they appear after you get the Overseers office). There are many occasions where you don't even need to fight, you just get rewards or new dwellers. Sometimes there are people there who ask you questions, and you get rewards if you pick the right answer. Even if you die on the quest, you can always pay to revive the dweller. Even if you leave your dweller dead for days, they can still be revived when you have enough caps to afford it.
Beware of Building Too Many Weapons
By the late game, legendary scrap will be worth more to you than all the Nuka cola bottles in the game (well, almost), and you may be tempted to start buying lunchboxes with the hopes of getting legendary stuff. If you want to avoid paying real cash, then treat your legendary scrap like solid gold and only use it if you are creating a very powerful weapon.
What About Discounted Items?
Since Bethesda often run promotions for cut-priced items, should you wait for discounts and then buy? The choice is really up to you, but if you do buy, then don't buy Nuka Colas. They are just convenience tools. The best long-term items are Mr Handys for people in the early game, and pets for people nearer the middle-to-end game.
Also, you are going to see a Nuka Cola bottler become unlocked in your game. It doesn't create Nuka Cola bottles, it simply produces food and water in a single building. Buying items during survival mode is not recommended but do be aware that Mr Handys can be revived during survival mode, even though your dwellers cannot.
You Can Scrap Legendary Clothes For Legendary Weapon Scrap
If you are really hungering for some legendary scrap to create your Dragon's Maw or something else very powerful, then before you start buying lunchboxes with real cash, consider scrapping some of your lesser-used legendary clothing. Some of the scrap you receive can be used in legendary weapons and may save you the trouble of hunting down or buying lunchboxes.
Also, know that it is possible to get legendary scrap from sending dwellers out into the wasteland, but not possible to get legendary weapons or clothing unless they are drawn into a random quest. The best places to get legendary scrap are through sending dwellers into the wasteland and from daily and weekly quests. Lunchboxes do often contain legendary stuff, but if you want to avoid buying boxes for real money, you will have to earn them through quests.
Shouldn't We Be Buying Stuff to Support The Developer?
For the largest part, yes, if a game is really good, like Halo Infinite, Lost Ark, and Fallout Shelter, then throwing a little money their way is often a good thing. But, the thing about Fallout Shelter is that you will probably end up spending money even if you keep to all the tips on this list.
At no point do you "need" to spend money, but you are going to come across circumstances where you really want to spend a little bit of money just for a quick perk or two. For example, you may wake up and the dweller you have been training to level 9 in intelligence is about an hour away from completion, but you have to go to work in ten minutes. You don't have any Nuka Cola bottles left, so you buy a pack of six, level up the dweller, and then set that dweller to level 10 training. That way, by the time you get home from work, your dweller will be at level ten and probably ready to start whatever task you desire. In short, you will probably end up spending money, and if you do, strongly consider a Mr Handy or a pet since they are the most powerful tools in the game.
