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Gametitle-FO4
Gametitle-FO4

Defend the Castle is a Minutemen main quest in Fallout 4.

Quick walkthrough

Minutemen main quest: Defend the Castle 
Go to The Castle 
Defeat the attackers. 
Talk to Preston Garvey 
Reward: 300 XP 
Leads to: The Nuclear Option (Minutemen) 

Detailed walkthrough

This quests consists of "waves" where a limited number of attackers will spawn and attempt to take over the Castle.

Brotherhood of Steel

Waves consists of one vertibird and its occupants which put together, consists of a total of ten vertibirds and about thirty Brotherhood of Steel soldiers. Most of the men inside the ship will not be lootable with the exception of ragdolls falling out.

Institute

Waves of synths and coursers will spawn at various locations. Like the Brotherhood, a large magnitude will also be relayed to the Castle, most often at the southern entrance.

Raiders or Gunners

Waves of raiders and attack dogs or Gunners will attack from either the front side or the back.

Super mutants

Waves of super mutants will spawn with behemoths.

Quest stages

Quest stages
StageStatusDescriptionLog Entry
10 Quest started
15 Quest started by Form Ranks
16 The Prydwen destroyed while Defend the Castle is active.
70 Player character arrives at The Castle
100 Build defensesThe Institute is preparing to attack the Castle to try to crush the Minutemen before we can build up enough strength to strike them. I need to help defend the Castle before it's too late. OR
I've received word that Raiders/Gunners/Super Mutants/Brotherhood of Steel/Institute synths are preparing to attack the Castle. I should help defend it. OR
I've received word that the Castle garrison needs help.
150 Attack begins
200 Attack defeated - Trigger The Nuclear Option if started by Form RanksThe Institute attack on the Castle has been defeated. Now we can think about turning the tables and taking the fight to them. OR
The Brotherhood's counter-attack on the Castle has been defeated. With the Prydwen destroyed, their threat to the Commonwealth is over. OR
We defeated the Raider/Super Mutant attack on the Castle. OR
The Gunners have been driven back. The Castle stands secure. OR
We repulsed the Brotherhood of Steel attack on the Castle. OR
We defeated the attack on the Castle by the renegade Institute synths. OR
We defeated the attack on the Castle.
210 Post battle scene
450 Talk to Preston Garvey if he gave the quest.
500Quest finishedQuest Complete

Notes

  • Completing this quest will automatically fail Semper Invicta, Ad Victoriam, Liberty Reprimed, Blind Betrayal, Tactical Thinking and Mass Fusion. However, completing Ad Victoriam while Defend the Castle is active will successfully complete Defend the Castle.
  • This quest can be gained by becoming an enemy of The Institute after giving Institute network information to Sturges. For example, getting caught while trying to complete Underground Undercover or by completing Spoils of War. Other ways are to kill any named personnel in the Institute, such as Father.
    • The radiant variant (with raiders, Gunners or super mutants) will occur after the main quest is finished, regardless of who was sided with.
  • Sometimes there is a bug where enemy waves will not move upon spawning or will move in the wrong direction in an attempt to fight other enemies in the area. If the quest appears to be stuck, try looking for the enemy wave nearby, and then drawing them back to the Castle. Synths can also teleport into the player character-made structures, so make sure they are not hidden in or among any place that may appear inaccessible. If the synths cannot be found, continuing the Brotherhood quests through Ad Victoriam where one must "defend Liberty Prime," synths teleport into the fight, including the synths that would have been attacking the Castle, providing the opportunity to kill them. This will also complete the "defending the Castle" mission if it was started, and not completed prior to the Brotherhood Ad Victoriam quest.
  • Any companions told to stay at the Castle will participate in the battle, save for those who turn hostile due to siding against their factions.
  • This quest can also be repeated, with various other factions taking the Institute/Brotherhood's place.
  • Ronnie Shaw will mention the Institute's crows nearby, as a reason for her concern.
  • The extra unnamed minutemen that Ronnie calls in may be added to the Castle's settlement population if they survive the battle, potentially causing shortages.

Bugs

  • PCPC Many quests involving the Railroad, such as the weathervane, and Randolph quests will automatically fail if not completed beforehand.[verified]
  • PCPC It is a possibility that Ronnie Shaw's proper dialogue will not appear to end the quest; the only options that will appear are trading and merchant dialogue, leaving the quest unbeatable. There is no known fix for this bug. (It is possible to instantly end the quest by typing the setstage console command: SetStage 000bdb04 450) [verified]
  • PCPC Sometimes, enemy waves will not move upon spawning or will move in the wrong direction in an attempt to fight other enemies in the area. If the quest appears to be stuck, try looking for the enemy wave nearby, and then drawing them back to the castle. Synths can also teleport into the player character-made structures. [verified]
  • PCPC It is possible to glitch the quest during the synth attack in such a way that all guns, energy weapons, and explosives including Minutemen artillery will cease dealing damage. From that point on, other characters and the player character may fire or throw grenades at each other to no effect, and only bashing or other melee attacks will deal damage.[verified]
  • PCPC This quest was meant to also be a repeatable/radiant quest. However, much like with Defend the Artillery quest, looping errors prevented this from occurring. [verified]
    • This seems to have been fixed with official patch 1.3.
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