Summary
Combat improvements have been one of the most noticeable changes fromFallout 3toFallout 4. WhileFallout: New Vegasdid add iron sights and weapon mods to the franchise,Fallout 4doubled down on these elements while also sprucing up the enemy roster.
As a result, some encounters inFallout 4are a nightmare to complete. Players will need to utilize weapon mods, stealth, and power armor if they want to get through some of the game’s toughest fights. Ranging from giant Mirelurks to a Gunner stronghold, here are the ten toughest encounters players will ever face inFallout 4.
Updated on Jun 04, 2025, by Jake Fillery:Heading out into the wasteland is dangerous, especially for new Vault Dwellers. With exciting combat and plenty of locations to explore in the Commonwealth, some players are bound by their curiosity for adventure, action, and loot, and will find themselves in some truly dangerous areas, where a seemingly innocent encounter can grant death. There are plenty of dangerous encounters in Fallout 4, but these easily take the cake. For players seeking a challenge or to avoid one, here are some of Fallout 4’s hardest encounters in the base game and DLCs, as well as just where to find them.
Location: South Of Cambridge Police Station Inside Fraternal Post 115
A rarity to find, Dead Eye is a blind super mutant, and one with incredible hearing and prowess. Relying solely on his other senses, if players get too close to Dead Eye or set off a mine in place near him, then he will immediately call for reinforcements by setting off the alarm, sending forth even more super mutantsfor players to deal with, and unsuspecting humans that have fallen directly into their trap.
Dead Eye can be quite the challenge due to his brutish nature as a super mutant, which sees him swing wildly with a melee weapon. Dead Eye does not need his vision to see, as he is more than capable of swinging deadly strikes from his melee weapons, and relying on the aid of his super mutant brothers and sisters to make sure threats and victims are beaten to death.
14Liberty Prime
Location: Found During The Airship Down Quest When Siding With The Institute
It might not be exactly fair to add Liberty Prime here, but the communist-hating robot of the Brotherhood of Steel definitely deserves a mention purely for its uniqueness. Liberty Prime is an icon in this universe, and its use to destroy the Enclave makes it a weapon to be feared across America. Players can encounter Liberty Prime if they side with the Institute, and decide that Liberty Prime must go along with the Commonwealth’s invaders, the Brotherhood of Steel.
Liberty Prime cannot be killed by normal means, and his 5,000,000 health proves just that. This essential character is immortal in the game, and the only way to actually deal with Liberty Prime is by following the quest steps to infect it. If players take on Liberty Prime as man vs machine, they are going to lose, each and every time.
13Dusky Yao Guai
Location: Far Harbor Island, North Of Rayburn Point
Yao Guai are mutated black bears, and they should certainly be feared by all who hear of them. If players encounter one in the wild, then trying to intimidate it won’t work, and they best pray that they have power armor and plenty of ammunition and mini-nukes to take these wild beasts out, for their aggression and hunger is boundless. If players seek a riskier challenge than the Yao Guai, then the Dusky variant is even worse, much like the irradiated Deathclaws.
What makes these variants even deadlier is the fact that their level scales with the player, so they are a constant threat. Their health pool is large, their paws and bites hit for an outrageous amount, and their thick hide is going to mean players are wasting ammo just to try and tire the great beast out. These are grand enemies in design and should be avoided by those not brave or foolish enough to try.
12The Institute
Location: Beneath The C.I.T. Ruins, Accessed Via Teleporter During Main Quests
The Institute are cause for much paranoia in the Commonwealth. Many people fight friends and family, believing each other to by Synths, and as players roam the wasteland, they will even run into a fair few of these android creations. Whilstthe beloved Nick Valentinemay be a Synth, he is not like his robotic brothers and sisters, and these violent death machines can be a cause for concern if players decide to take the battle directly to the Institute.
The Institute is filled with challenging enemies, complete with an arsenal of different armor and guns that make them fierce opponents, no matter the difficulty that players are on. Players definitely need to bring their best if they decide to end the Institute’s grip on the Commonwealth, once and for all.
Location: Fort Hagen Command Center
An encounter that players will face early into the main quest ofFallout 4involves hunting down and killing Conrad Kellogg, the man responsible for kidnapping the Sole Survivor’s baby, Shaun, and killing their spouse. Players will undoubtedly want revenge, but Kellogg is not going to make it easy, through his use of traps and camouflage technology, which makes him an enhanced soldier not prepared to be killed by a lesser foe.
Players might struggle in this fight, due to being unprepared, unfamiliar with the game, or just being bested by someone with superior tech. Kellogg has decent armor, and players who venture here too early without exploring and leveling up to gain more power, are in for a bad time, especially since Kellogg will use stimpaks and a Stealth Boy, with an infinite amount of grenades to throw.
10Sarge
Location: The Castle Tunnels
Part of the Minutemen questline involves players retaking the Castle, their original headquarters that housed a massive armory. While the Mirelurk Queen fight is certainly tough, there is arguably a tougher foe that waits below.
Once players meet Ronnie Shaw and begin the “Old Guns” quest, they will eventually come across a rogue Assaultron named Sarge. This level 30 robot has chainguns, a tough melee attack, and will quickly corner the player if they aren’t careful. Since the arena is so small, Sarge can be a much tougher fight than one would expect. Sneak attacks and traps work best in this fight.
9Swan
Location: Swan’s Pond, Boston Common From 1 AM to 5: 30 AM
Next to the Boston Commons is Swan’s Pond. This unsuspecting body of water appears to bear little significance at first until players walk next to the pond and encounter aunique Super Mutant Behemothnamed Swan, who will rise from the pond when provoked. This enemy has 1,000 HP, solid damage resistance thanks to his makeshift armor, and can easily one-shot lower-level players in melee combat. He’s likely obliterated many an unsuspecting player.
8Massachusetts State House Mirelurk Queen
Location: Massachusetts State House, Boston Common
Mirelurk Queens are exceedingly rare foes inFallout 4, typically reserved as final fights in a handful of locations. One area where players can fight this large creature is the Massachusetts State House.
Most of this dungeon is easy since it is inhabited by only a few normal Mirelurk foes. Once players reach the basement, however, things get much worse. The end of the dungeon will reveal a Mirelurk Queen in a small arena with little space to maneuver. Her acid attacks and melee attacks are much more deadly here.
7Vault 114
Location: Back Bay Area of Boston
During the"Unlikely Valentine" main quest, players will discover that one of Diamond City’s detectives, Nick Valentine, has been held captive at Vault 114. This Vault is filled with mobsters who have an infinite supply of ammunition for their submachine guns and .44 pistols. Despite their attire, these enemies can take a significant amount of punishment as well.
Dozens of these enemies patrol the Vault and await outside. Lower-level characters on a high-difficulty setting will get killed on sight if more than a couple of Triggermen spot the player. Besides stealth, charging in with a suit of power armor is one of the better options for rescuing Valentine from this large gang of mobsters.
6Quincy Ruins
Location: Quincy Ruins, The Commonwealth
SomeFallout 4players might be surprised to see Quincy mentioned, but this location is a true terror for low-level characters.The Minutemen made a final stand at Qunicybefore they were wiped out. After visiting the place, it’s easy to see why.
Gunners patrol every rooftop that overlooks the small town. Besides their notorious firepower, a unique Gunner named Tessa will charge the player in power armor before delivering a deadly melee attack with her unique weapon, Tessa’s Fist. Should Tessa be unable to punch the player, one of the Gunners will use a Fat Man to nuke the player into oblivion. Entering this area under-leveled on Very Hard or Survival is suicide.
