Fallout 4: How to Earn XP and Level Up Fast

Experience Points are essentially the lifeblood of most RPG’s. In Fallout 4, there are multiple methods for earning XP quickly, either through in-game exploits, or by legitimately understanding how to use game elements to your advantage. For this guide, we will discuss several different methods for earning XP that can quickly level up your character in Fallout 4.

Although quick leveling and XP gain can be achieved easily through cheat code commands, we are going to cover some general tips and in-game tricks for earning extra XP in a more legit way.

The Learning Curve for XP Farming

One method for earning unlimited amounts of XP in a fairly short time is through a Radiant quest from the Brotherhood of Steel. After completing a few Brotherhood faction quests, players will eventually gain access to the faction’s airship, Prydwen. Once upon the airship, head to the main deck and speak to Proctor Quinlan. He offers a Radiant quest called Learning Curve, which can be played repeatedly for unlimited amounts of XP. Agree to help out on patrol to activate the quest.

Prepare for this quest by equipping a long-range, high power sniper rifle, preferably with a scope. You may also want to lower the difficulty setting to Easy in order to expedite this process. Although this quest tasks you with protecting a fellow Brotherhood ally, you are basically going to just repeatedly kill this person instead.

With the quest active, head outside to the outer walkways on the ship. Walk to the far end of the walkway to maintain your distance from the Brotherhood Knight patrolling outside the door. Crouch down to stay hidden, then look down to locate the target through your scope. While remaining hidden, shoot the target in his head to quickly eliminate him. Wait for the next quest objective to pop up, then head back inside to speak with Quinlan. The reason you must remain hidden is so that the Brotherhood does not attack you for killing an ally, so make sure no one catches you killing the target.

Report back to Quinlan at the Command Deck, and tell him that the target didn’t make it. The quest will conclude, granting roughly 300-400 XP depending on which perks the player has unlocked. After, agree to assist on patrol once again to repeat the process. This can garner several thousand XP in under an hour.

Intelligence vs Idiocy

Another more standard option for increasing XP gain involves careful perk selection. Typically, a good rule of thumb for Fallout is to unlock ranks in the Intelligence perk early on, which applies a bonus XP multiplier for each unlocked rank. This will grant an additional percentage-based XP bonus on top of what players already earn. Although unlocking a high Intelligence rank can greatly increase the amount of XP earned, this method takes time, and doesn’t seem to show substantial XP gains until later levels.

Though it seems intuitive to sink points into Intelligence early, there is another perk-related method that players have found to be helpful at early stages in Fallout 4. In the Luck column, the aptly named Idiot Savant perk can randomly multiply XP for any action between 3 to 5 times the normal amount at lower levels. The lower your Intelligence perk, the greater the chance is to earn this multiplier for actions.

Earning 3x or 5x the normal XP amount gives the potential for a ton of XP to be earned from a single action. However, this comes with a few caveats. While the Intelligence perk bonus is steady, the Idiot Savant perk bonus is random. Before committing an action that grants high XP, such as turning in a quest, make sure to keep a save file handy in case the XP bonus does not trigger upon the quest’s completion. You can continuously reload saves until the bonus multiplier is applied to that action. This can be tedious, yet effective.

Keep in mind that the Idiot Savant perk works best when the Intelligence perk level remains low. This perk build may be sufficient at early levels, but eventually you will want to invest a bit more into Intelligence in order to unlock future perks in that column. Missing out on perks such as Gun Nut, Hacker, and Science can be detrimental to crafting and progression potential later on. Try to find a balance between the two to make the most of both Intelligence and Idiot Savant perk bonuses. Either way, even with a higher rank Intelligence level, tossing a point into Idiot Savant can’t hurt.

Other Ways to Gain XP

Of course, the fastest way to level up is by typing a cheat command into the console, at least for PC players. To change a player’s level, simply press the tilde key (~) and type player.setlevel [insert number], with the desired level number in place of the brackets. But, for players who want to level up in a more legit way, the best thing to do to gain XP is to accomplish tasks and complete quests throughout the game. Crafting items, building settlements, and eliminating enemies are all good ways to earn XP.

Some collectibles will also offer XP bonuses under certain conditions. For example, one issue of Live & Love magazine allows players to gain an additional 5% XP for travelling with a Companion. To locate Live & Love and other magazines throughout the game, check out our guide for finding all the magazines in Fallout 4.

Hopefully these methods have helped you quickly gain XP in Fallout 4. For more tips and features, be sure to peruse the selection of our Fallout 4 Walkthrough and Guide.