Artillery piece (Fallout 4)

For an overview on artillery, see Artillery.

Fallout 4 settlement object
Artillery piece
Compon. req.	Concrete x4 Gears x6 Oil x4 Screw x4 Spring x5 Steel x16 Wood x4
Effects	+6 Defense (requires settler assignment)
Used for	Long-distance explosive attacks
Quests	Old Guns With Our Powers Combined Defend the Artillery
Editor ID	WorkshopArtillery
Form ID	0018863A

The artillery piece is a unique settlement object in Fallout 4.

Background

Sometime between their rise to prominence around 2180 and the Battle of the Castle in 2240, the Commonwealth Minutemen re-discovered schematics originally written in the 19th century for an artillery device capable of launching heavy explosive ordnance from great distances.

While the extent of its usage by the Minutemen is unknown, at the very least, artillery was utilized by the garrison at their headquarters, Fort Independence. The schematics themselves were housed in the west-wing armory, where they remained following the attack on the Castle in 2240 by a horde of mirelurks; the sea creatures were prevented from invading the armory after then-General McGann sealed it up to safeguard the armaments and technology inside for if and when the Minutemen could reclaim it in the future.

Characteristics

The artillery piece is a mortar that consecutively fires highly damaging shells with a high level of accuracy. Each piece of artillery will fire five shells, so it is advisable to build multiple pieces as this will increase the number of shells fired from one settlement. The ammunition used by artillery pieces is unlimited, and its maximum range is approximately a five-sector radius, as viewed on the Pip-Boy's world map. After constructing one, it must be assigned to a settler in order to become active.

To initiate an artillery strike, one must first throw an artillery smoke grenade into a target area that is within range of active artillery. Fire mission progress may be monitored by listening to Radio Freedom where the announcer will indicate when the shelling begins and when it ends.

If multiple settlements with active artillery are within range of a target, all of them may engage, significantly increasing the number of shells striking the target. After a strike, there is a delay of one in-game hour (which equates to three real-time minutes) before another strike can be initiated.

Crafting

The artillery piece can only be built in an allied settlement after completing the Minutemen side quest Old Guns by helping Ronnie Shaw unlock the Castle armory, recover the artillery schematic, and construct and test-fire an artillery piece at the Castle.

Materials:		Requirements:		Produces:
Concrete (4) Gears (6) Oil (4) Screws (4) Springs (5) Steel (16) Wood (4)		Workshop		Artillery piece (1)

Notes

• If the player character constructs at least one artillery piece in an allied settlement and assigns a settler to it, then later turns the Brotherhood of Steel hostile, it is possible to trigger the radiant quest Defend the Artillery to protect the marked settlement from a Brotherhood attack. This quest will no longer trigger if the Prydwen is subsequently destroyed during the faction quests Airship Down, Rockets' Red Glare, or With Our Powers Combined.
• Artillery will not fire on a friendly settlement. Radio Freedom will advise when this is the case.
• Each gun fires five shots during a fire mission, but the shells always fall at the same rate. Additional artillery pieces extend the duration of the fire mission.
• The shell explosions benefit from the Demolition Expert perk.
• When calling artillery in the downtown area, the inbound shells may simply hit a building instead of the designated target. Likewise, attempting to shell a deep area such as Thicket Excavations will see the shells hitting the quarry walls or impacting the surrounding hills, with only a few shells reaching the target area.
• Conversely, outbound shells will not hit a settlement's structures when they are fired from that settlement. This allows artillery to still add to settlement defense ratings and provide its normal fire support despite being installed in a protected or covered area like the Castle bastion or armory.
• Artillery makes use of the in-game timescale, so the lower the timescale, the longer it takes for each shell of artillery to land (default timescale is 20 and each shell takes 4 seconds to land at that timescale).
• If a settler assigned to the artillery piece is unable to make their way towards the mortar or is otherwise trapped by object placement, the mortar may begin to turn by itself.
• Paladin Danse dislikes it when the Sole Survivor builds artillery.
• It is possible to initiate an artillery strike against a friendly settlement by placing the artillery signal grenade close to, but just outside, the horizontal or vertical boundary of the settlement.
• Based on the appearance of the system of gears, turning the side wheel clockwise would lower the mortar and counter-clock wise would elevate it. However, in in-game visuals, the mortars only traverse and do not elevate.
• Artillery pieces cannot be built on the Island and in Nuka-World, as the Minutemen do not have any sort of jurisdiction there. This renders artillery smoke grenades useless in those regions.
• If an artillery piece is constructed in a Commonwealth raider outpost controlled by the Disciples/Operators/Pack, while the raiders can be assigned to it, they will not perform the firing animation but will still give the defense point increase and show the resource as assigned.

Behind the scenes

The following is based on Fallout 4 cut content.

The artillery piece was originally intended to have two versions. Along with the regular explosive ordinance, there was going to be an energy-weapon version acting as a long-range laser cannon. It can be seen in the concept art but was cut from the final game.

End of information based on Fallout 4 cut content

Bugs

• Playstation 4 Xbox One Sometimes when calling in a strike, the sound of the mortar coming in can be heard, but no explosion will follow.^[verified]
• PC Multiple artillery pieces in one settlement causes bugs with their proper firing, particularly if the game cell containing the artillery is currently loaded. The more of them you have, the worse they work. For example, two pieces can take more time to start firing than one or fire the same quantity of shots. The main reason - they run consecutively, not simultaneously. After they start, the artillery slowly rotates, then fires. Then the second artillery begins to rotate, and this animation takes more time than delay time between shots of one piece, while the first one freezes for the time of this animation.^[verified]
• PC After a fire mission request, it can happen that only 1 or 2 rounds arrive at the target area. Sometimes nothing hits the target area.^[verified]
• PC Stealth Boys don't protect the player character from being detected by the enemy if an artillery round hits an enemy. The player character gets detected instantly.^[verified]

Gallery

Concept art from The Art of Fallout 4

Minuteman operating the artillery piece

Loading screen slide

See also

• The Castle
• Commonwealth Minutemen

References

Non-game