Fallout 4 The 15 Most Powerful Enemies Ranked

Once the sole survivor defrosts from their 200 years of sleep and awakens to a horrible post-apocalyptic nuclear reality in Fallout 4, they’ll be forced to traverse the harsh and often frightening wastelands that stretch out before them. Littered with clues about what they’ve missed, abandoned houses, raider outposts, and even small settlements of hope, they’re most likely to also come across the diverse cast of horrible monsters and powerful enemies lurking in the radiation riddled hills and forests.

Although many of these creatures are terrible, there are a selected few that truly make even the most seasoned Fallout 4 player tremble in their Vault jumpsuit. We rank the most powerful enemies in this popular game.

To deal with some of these terrifying beasts can seem like a monumental task. For some of the toughest ones, a small pro tip section has been added to help players figure out the best way to face these enemies without instantly dying.

15 Enraged Fog Crawler

• Location:
• Mount Desert island
• Health:
• Over 2200

Found within the Far Harbor DLC, this giant shrimp and lobster hybrid (with a hint of grasshopper in it as well) is one of the brand-new terrors players are faced with on Far Harbor island. There’s even a quest that sends players to slay one of these fairly early on in the DLC.

The fog crawler is big and strong but is easily dealt with at a distance. The enraged variant, however, has much more health and strength overall, making it the worst variant to fight in the wild.

Pro Tip: Use Energy Weapons Or Armor Piercing Weapons

The enraged fog crawler has a very high damage resistance, which means it can take a long while to chip away at its health. It’s a good idea to have a leveled-up energy weapon or at least a companion with a dedicated energy weapon to laser them down. The enraged variant is also immune to the Wasteland Whisperer perk, so players shouldn’t attempt to tame it unless they have a death wish.

14 Venomous Angler

• Location:
• Mount Desert island
• Health:
• 1750

Another monster lurking on the foggy island of Far Harbor, the angler is first encountered after arriving on Far Harbor when the town is attacked by a bunch of them. The creepy thing about these critters is their ability to camouflage in the mist, which is actually complemented by the glowing antenna that imitates the lure weed which can be harvested on the island.

There’s nothing worse than approaching a swampland to get lure weed only to run into a whole group of these awful toad-like beasts. Their venomous variant is especially dangerous since they can’t be tamed with the Wasteland Whisperer perk and they always match the player’s level.

13 Deathskull Radscorpion

• Location:
• Most commonly in the Glowing Sea
• Health:
• For Deathskull variants, over 1115

Radscorpions might seem like such a generic and boring part of the bestiary for so many players, but they rank higher simply because they’re a headache throughout the entirety of the game, regardless of where the player might be—from the northern forests to even the Glowing Sea.

They’re very tough, and with the ability to move underground they can ambush the player easily. At close range, they’re deadly enemies that are able to deal quite a bit of radiation damage. The Deathskull variant is the one players will want to avoid the most.

12 Nukalurk King

• Location:
• Nuka-World’s World of Refreshment
• Health:
• 500

Mirelurks, even with their queen, sometimes feel like a lost opportunity in the game. That’s until players fight the Mirelurk King (and more specifically their Nukalurk variant which can be met in the Nuka-Cola Bottling Plant in the Nuka-World DLC).

Even without the DLC, however, these beasts can be very scary in groups when they assault the player. They’re able to attack players from afar and dish out quite a bit of damage at once due to their ranged sonar attack.

11 Nukatron Sentinel

• Location:
• Nuka-World’s Galactic Zone
• Health:
• 420

The old protectrons are nothing to be afraid of. They’re just a bit tanky and take some time to deal with. However, once players meet the Nukatron Sentinel, they’ll always have a small, permanent trauma lingering in the back of their head from being blasted with turquoise Nuka-Cola nuke juice.

The Nukatron Sentinel is a particular variant of the Nukatrons found in Nuka-World’s Galactic Zone. They can be easy to bypass due to looking like tiny Nuka-Cola machines, but when they gang up on the player that’s when it gets serious.

10 Super Mutant Suicider

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• Up to 600

These mutated humanoids are terrifying for those who are beginning their adventure across the wasteland. Already quite bulky and terrifying in size, it doesn’t help that they rush towards players upon spotting them, only to explode when in range of the player.

The mutants are equipped with a small nuke that they attempt to detonate next to the player, taking their own lives in the process. To deal with this, it’s best to aim straight for the nuke from a distance and destroy them instantly for a quick kill.

Pro Tip: Sniper Rifles Are The Best Choice

Stealthy sniper character builds will have a slight edge over the suiciders. They can spot the suicider from afar by the blinking light on their arm and snipe the nuke from their location, detonating it and getting a free kill. The sniper rifle is ideal because it provides precision.

9 Nukalurk Queen

• Location:
• Nuka-Cola bottling plant in Nuka-World
• Health:
• 1500

This acid-spitting monster awaits the player at the end of one of the many missions and can pose a serious challenge to a novice player. Surrounded by small minions, the Mirelurk Queen at a high level and the Nukalurk Queen have the capacity to almost one-shot the player with highly powerful acid spit attacks.

In order to avoid these, it’s important to take cover immediately and peek whenever players can to get a few shots in. As long as players keep moving and remain agile, and don’t focus too much on her hatchlings, they should be able to deal enough damage on her.

8 Gulper Devourer

• Location:
• Mount Desert island
• Health:
• 1200

No doubt inspired by the giant salamander, the Gulper Devourer is a surprisingly large lizard-like creature often found in the wild and highly aggressive. The creature is surprisingly fast when rushing towards the player, which can make it hard to get some distance between it and dodge its powerful melee attacks.

On top of this, he has a large health pool that complicates dealing with it. The best way is to cripple his leg in VATS which will allow players to determine their engagement distance properly.

Pro Tip: Approach It Like A Deathclaw

Gulper Devourers are comparable to Deathclaws in many ways, so the fight should be approached the same way. Players should keep their distance and attempt to slow the enemy down with precision shots. A VATS-centered character build is ideal for this approach.

7 Bloated Glowing One

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• 400

A ghoulish, bloated corpse with a greenish glow can only mean one thing: a bad omen for the player. These humanoid monsters often hang around other fellow ghouls and emanate radiation in a radius around them, making them particularly nasty enemies to deal with.

Players won’t want to hang around these guys for too long if they care about rads, but also if they don’t wish to see him reanimate his friends through a special attack he’s able to perform. Despite the size of his body, he can be surprisingly quick and menacing at close range.

6 Annihilator Sentry Bot Mk II

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• 1045

The wasteland isn’t only filled with weird mutated animals and terrifying monsters. There are also a number of abandoned hostile robots that won’t hesitate to assert their technological superiority on the player if caught off-guard.

The Sentrybots are one type of such daunting enemies, capable of not only sustaining a fight for a long time but also dealing incredible amounts of damage at close and long-range. And if that doesn’t terrify players enough, it’s also highly mobile, able to run after the player easily despite its outwardly bulky-looking exterior.

Pro Tip: Wait For The Cooldown Stage

Sentry bots have a special phase they will occasionally start during combat. They will stop moving and sit still, allowing for players to get plenty of potshots in. When facing against a particularly tough one, try to wait for this phase to do maximum damage to it, and watch out for the final explosion when it dies.

5 Dusky Yao Guai

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• 1175

The thought of encountering a large black bear in the wild is a scary thought, but how about encountering a mutated, monstrous version of one, that’s highly resistant to damage and able to dish out 200 points of damage in one melee attack?

The Dusky Yao Guai is exactly that, a large bear-like creature that can seriously cripple a survivor not properly armored and ready for such an encounter. It’s advised here as well to cripple the foe in VATS to reduce his speed and mobility, which will make him much easier to deal with from afar.

4 Synth Eradicator

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• 760

The Synth Eradicator is a typical synth uprising nightmare: deadly, fast, precise, and incredibly intelligent. They’re often equipped with fairly good armor and don’t even appear until much later in the game due to their sheer difficulty. That being said, it’s not completely impossible to defeat these guys.

Since they excel at firing, it’s best to quickly close the distance and force them to fight at close range using their rather weak melee attacks. So long as players are not in their faces, however, they should stay cautious and pick their fights.

3 Assaultron Dominator

• Location:
• Almost anywhere in the Commonwealth
• Health:
• 500

In the category of terrifying robot enemies, the Assaultron Dominator is the definition of a highly skilled killer. Highly independent due to its capacity to shield itself from any electromagnetic disturbances, it’s also highly effective at both close range due to its deadly claws and a powerful laser weapon.

The Assaultron Dominator moves quickly and even has the ability to go into stealth mode where it will appear invisible to the player, aside from a small ripple where it’s located. This enemy is not for the faint of heart players, and definitely not one a novice should attempt to vanquish.

Pro Tip: Stay Far, And Lay Traps

The Assaultron Dominator excels in combat at all ranges but is particularly awful at close range. It will try to engage with the player face to face, so keeping distance and taking cover from its laser attack is the ideal route. Plopping down a few mines works great as well as it will deal damage to the Assaultron while it tries to close the distance.

2 Ancient Behemoth

• Location:
• Guaranteed, but not limited to Fort Strong, Natick Banks, Stonehenge, and nearby Suffolk County Charter School
• Health:
• 1900

In terms of sheer size and force, the infamous Ancient Behemoth takes the cake. Comparable to a massive golem, these creatures often wield objects as maces and will attempt to smack or throw objects like large rocks at the player.

One hit can very easily shave off a third of an unprepared player’s health pool, and since they can close the distance somewhat easily with surprising speed, they’re one of the worst enemies to encounter in the wasteland.

Pro Tip: Play In Areas It Can’t Access

Especially early on, taking on a behemoth can seem like a monumental task. The best way to do it with bad weapons is to sit inside a small area the behemoth can’t access, or on high ground, it can’t reach. Scope out the area before an encounter to see what the options are, and play accordingly. A good example is this player who lures a behemoth to a bus it can’t reach into.

1 Mythic Deathclaw

• Location:
• Randomly anywhere in the Commonwealth once the player is at a higher level
• Health:
• 1390

Would this even be a Fallout 4 list without the iconic and much-loved Deathclaw? Nothing terrifies a player more than this classic lizard-like terror-inducing creature that will run at the player full speed once it has them in its sights and absolutely destroys them.

What makes the Deathclaw and pretty much all of its variances so scary is the fact that it’s introduced very early on in the game, right when the player gets to Concord, and it’s here that they get a first taste of just how malicious the Deathclaw can be. The Mythic Deathclaw, however, gets a special mention as it keeps scaling according to the player’s level and will always present a worthy challenge.

Pro Tip: VATS, Tank It, Or Play In Cover

There are three general strategies for Deathclaws. The first is great for VATS-heavy builds that rely on Critical Hits. Cripple the Deathclaw by shooting one of its legs, turning it into a limping mess that can’t close the distance. Alternatively, tanky power armor builds can just take the fight head-on.

At lower levels, playing inside cover or smaller spaces if such an area is available is great, as the Deathclaw won’t be able to walk through doorways. This is the key strat to defeating the Deathclaw found in the Museum of Witchcraft for instance.

Fallout 4 was released on November 10, 2015, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.