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Sanctuary Hills, also simply known as Sanctuary, is a location and possible settlement in the Commonwealth in Fallout 4.

Background[]

Before the Great War, Sanctuary Hills was a suburb of Concord, though separated from the main town by its location on a small island surrounded by Misty Lake, connected by a wooden bridge. Among the residents was the Sole Survivor who lived in the House of Tomorrow with their spouse, their son Shaun, and their robot butler Codsworth.[Non-game 1]

On Saturday, October 23, 2077, many families were just beginning their weekend routines when their radios and television sets began reporting nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania. At 9:47 AM, the distant city of Boston was hit, forcing everyone to flee. Most attempted to enter the underground shelter of Vault 111, but only a select number who reserved space were able to make it inside in time before the nuclear missiles impacted and devastated the area.[1]

After the nuclear apocalypse, Sanctuary Hills was left to decay with several of the original homes collapsing into rubble and others falling into various states of disrepair. Codsworth and the Vault-Tec rep were among the few who remained in the area afterward, but eventually the rep also left after a year over his frustration with the Mister Handy's optimism.[2]

At some point after the Quincy Massacre in the 2280s, through her alleged ability of the Sight, Mama Murphy told Preston Garvey and the other members of the refugee group from Quincy about "Sanctuary," a place where they would finally be safe from the dangers of the wasteland, though some like Marcy Long were skeptical of its existence as their situation worsened more and more the longer they traveled in search of it.

Layout[]

Situated on an island in the middle of Misty Lake, Sanctuary Hills is primarily accessible by a small footbridge from Vault 111 to the northwest and by the main road over the Old North Bridge leading past the Red Rocket truck stop towards Concord to the south. The Minutemen Monument stands near the bridge. The village itself is built along a single road, which ends in a cul-de-sac.

There are multiple safes and lootable items to be found in Sanctuary. Starting from the bridge leading out of the community, there is a floor safe (Advanced) hidden under a dresser in the blue house to the north of the road. In the yellow house at the curve of the street, there is a terminal (Novice) and a safe (Novice) with a makeshift bomb on the top and tension trigger affixed to the lefthand side.

In the blue house next to the yellow one are a Nuka-Cherry in the fridge, a first aid box in the bathroom, and a locked suitcase (Novice) in the bedroom. In the Sole Survivor's house, the player character can find an issue of Grognak the Barbarian on the kitchen table and the You're SPECIAL! book under the dresser in Shaun's room. There is a safe (Novice) in the house and a root cellar around the back of the following house down the street; just before the roundabout. The house south of the roundabout has a floor safe (Novice) hidden under the baby bed.

The root cellar is a shelter built under a neighboring property, two houses up from the House of Tomorrow in 2287. It appears that the owner was not able to reserve a space in a Vault and so made his own shelter. The door can be found at the back of the house, just before the cul-de-sac in the northeast of Sanctuary Hills. It is next to a bush of wild mutfruit plants. There is a duffle bag containing leveled loot on the roof of the same house, accessible via the fallen tree to the rear of the house.

Settlement[]

The ruined housing development can become a potential settlement after completing When Freedom Calls and helping Preston Garvey and his group escape from danger in Concord. From there, after either escorting them there personally or returning at a later time, Sanctuary is triggered which serves as a simplistic introduction to the settlement system and how to make beds, plant crops, acquire water, and set up defenses in Sanctuary Hills.

The settlement is equipped with the pre-existing crafting stations:

Inhabitants[]

Post-War inhabitants[]

Pre-War inhabitants[]

Notable loot[]

Related quests[]

Notes[]

  • Attempting to leave pre-War Sanctuary Hills via any method other than evacuating to Vault 111 will cause the premature atomic warhead detonation, resulting in an instant death.
  • On a small island southwest of Sanctuary Hills, one can find an APC surrounded by several barrels of radioactive waste; there is a medic box inside, a dirty Army helmet next to a dead soldier, a box of ammo hidden between waste containers and some glowing fungus.
  • There is a single raider with a small shelter to the north of the town, who usually has an attack dog and some loot. The raider respawns occasionally.
  • Sanctuary Hills is a useful place for an early settlement as it contains all the base game crafting workshops, of which all but the cooking and chemistry stations are near to the fast travel spawn point. The cooking station is on the driveway of the blue house marked 'Russell' on the mailbox, north of the bridge to the Red Rocket truck stop and the chemistry station is behind the yellow house marked 'Hawthorne' on the mailbox.
  • There are four mailboxes with the owners' names painted on: 'Rosa' opposite the Sole Survivor's house, 'Hawthorne' on the first house still standing on the left coming over the main bridge, 'Russell' on the ground next to its original post in front of the first house on the right as the player character comes over the main bridge and 'Able.' However, in the pre-War version of the town, all mailboxes are generic, with no names visible.
  • The Sanctuary Hills sign seen near the Old North Bridge is not present pre-War.
  • The stone wall between the houses and the river is already decayed in pre-War time.
  • One can find some fragmentation grenades in a green trash can on the left of the wooden bridge exiting Sanctuary Hills to the east. This is similar to Fallout 3 where, in Springvale close to the exit of Vault 101, one can find frag grenades in a blue mailbox.
  • Sanctuary Hills is referred to as just "Sanctuary" on the official location marker in the game.
  • There is a random encounter in which one can come across feral ghouls with the names of some of the pre-War inhabitants of Sanctuary Hills. This encounter is repeatable, even if the ghouls are killed.
  • Upon returning and "discovering" Sanctuary Hills for the first time, an acoustic echo from It's All Over But the Crying plays and slowly fades out.
  • The white picket fences found around the outside of the houses count towards the settlement size limit. They can be scrapped, or stored if the appropriate Picket Fences magazine is found if this becomes a problem.
  • When Sanctuary Hills is under attack, assaults can come in via the southbridge, via the path north to Vault 111 and even from the east.
  • After exploring the neighborhood with Codsworth, he tells the Sole Survivor the directions to Concord. In his directions, he mentions the footbridge to the south which was used for both vehicle and foot traffic before the war. Preston Garvey states the footbridge dates back to the American Revolutionary War, therefore over 500 years old.
  • The Concord water tower which can be seen in pre-War Sanctuary uses the post-War model.
  • The chem dealer's house in pre-War Sanctuary contains two large, blue shipping containers.
  • The Cherry Bomb found in the driveway immediately to the right of the path leading to Vault 111 can be found rotated 180 degrees after leaving the Vault.
  • Sanctuary Hills appears in the ending slides, though as a separate layout indicated by the house storing the workshop being in complete ruin.
  • Jun Long, Marcy Long, Preston Garvey, and Sturges will frequently leave assigned posts to hammer on the workshop house. This has no impact on their assigned role (food will be produced, security rating will be maintained, etc.), but can be an issue if they're assigned to a strategic guard post.
  • Nuka-World (add-on) Sanctuary Hills can become a target for the Nuka-World raiders to take over, but only if the quest When Freedom Calls has been completed and no companions are stationed there.
  • The pre-War version of Sanctuary Hills is not truly changed by the nukes in the game files; instead, Sanctuary Hills (pre-War) is a separate location, and the player character is moved to the standard game map after the cryo freezing scene in Vault 111. The original Sanctuary Hills may be accessed by using the console command coc PreWarSanctuaryExt01. However, Nate/Nora (depending on the player's gender) and the infant Shaun won't appear.
  • It is mentioned in the Game Show Gauntlet quest in Fallout Shelter and the Sanctuary Hills Sweep scenario in Fallout: Wasteland Warfare.
  • The location is mentioned in the Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook.[Non-game 2]

Appearances[]

Sanctuary Hills appears only in Fallout 4.

Bugs[]

  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 Xbox OneXbox One Upon fast travel to the settlement, the residents may appear on the roofs of some buildings—especially the one with the workshop — making dialogue difficult or even impossible. This can be resolved this by either fast traveling again (sometimes 2 or 3 times to resolve), waiting for them to walk and fall off the roof, by building stairs up to the roof via the workshop and climbing up or, if the player character already reached level 41, jetpack onto the roof with a modified power armor.[verified]
  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 Occasionally, upon fast traveling to Sanctuary Hills, a lone vertibird will appear over the settlement hovering for a moment. It will then suddenly lose control and crash, inflicting damage to the Sole Survivor if they are too close to the area of impact.[verified]
  • PCPC Playstation 4Playstation 4 Xbox OneXbox One Checking the settlement stats on the player's Pip-Boy for Sanctuary Hills may display erroneous stats, such as 0 defense, 0 beds and/or 0 water. This does not affect the settlement in any way, and the stats should reset to normal by fast traveling back to Sanctuary Hills, except for the happiness level which may drop (especially if the Sole Survivor is away for a long time without noticing the glitch on the Pip-Boy). That stat will take some time to re-establish.[verified]
  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 There is an invisible maple tree for scrapping in the northern corner behind the yellow house that is next door north of the blue house with the cellar. It can't be seen normally, but in construction mode, the outline is highlighted in yellow. It can be scrapped for wood.[verified]
  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 Sometimes upon fast traveling to Sanctuary Hills, the settlers may become hostile. Simply reloading a save seems to fix this.[verified]
  • Playstation 4Playstation 4 Sometimes upon fast traveling to Sanctuary Hills, Trashcan Carla's Brahmin may be stuck inside the house that contains the workshop, weapons workbench, and power armor station. Her merchant services will not be affected, however.

Gallery[]

Pre-War[]

Post-War[]

Ending slides[]

Magic: The Gathering[]

References[]

  1. Events of War Never Changes
  2. Sole Survivor: "You met Codsworth? What did he say?"
    Vault-Tec rep: "Welcome to our happy home, sir. Can I get you a drink? Cheerio! Just like that, over and over again. He was the only one still alive that I could talk to. A year went by before I couldn't take it anymore!"
    (VaultTecRepGoodneighbor.txt)

Non-game

  1. Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition p. 258: "[1.02] SANCTUARY
    Growing from the ruins of Sanctuary Hills, the prewar neighborhood your family used to call home, is a new settlement, a beacon of hope for the downtrodden and the new base of operations for the Minutemen."
    (Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Map)
  2. Fallout: The Roleplaying Game Rulebook p.265: "This small island suburb, consisting of merely fourteen prefabricated homes in the northwest Concord area, was largely populated by residents who had gained a place in Vault 111. The location is accessible via a bridge towards the town of Concord or from the direction of Vault 111 itself, over another bridge at the back of the island. When the Great War started, most of the individuals living here retreated to their local Vault to safety, however, due to tardiness or not having access, many remained outside and were killed or turned into ghouls by the effects of the nuclear blast."
Sanctuary Hills
Fo4 Minutemen Flag
Fo4 Minutemen Flag
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