There are 7 romance options in Fallout 4 (F04). Check out our list of all romance options in the game, if you can romance multiple companions and the benefits of romance, as well as a tier list on the best romance options in the game!
List of Contents
- All Romance Options
- Can You Romance Multiple Companions?
- Romance Benefits
- Best Romance Options
- Is Charisma Needed to Romance?
- Who is Your Favorite Companion to Romance?
- Related Guides
All Romance Options
All Romanceable Companions
| Romance | Location | Perk |
|---|---|---|
| Cait | Location: Combat ZoneHow to Recruit: Kill all the Raiders in the Combat Zone and speak to Tommy. | Trigger Rush Action Points regenerate faster when health falls below 25%. |
| Curie | Location: Vault 81How to Recruit: Complete the Hole in the Wall quest. | Combat Medic Heal 100 HP when health falls below 10% (once per day). |
| Paladin Danse | Location: Cambridge Police StationHow to Recruit: Complete the Shadow of Steel quest. | Know Your Enemy Deal 20% more damage to Feral Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths. |
| Hanco*ck | Location: GoodneighborHow to Recruit: Complete the The Big Dig quest. | Isodoped Get 20% faster Critical Hits when receiving 250 Radiation Damage. |
| MacCready | Location: The Third Rail in GoodneighborHow to Recruit: Pay MacCready 250 Caps (or 200 Caps through successful persuasion check) | Killshot Increases headshot accuracy in V.A.T.S. by 20%. |
| Piper | Location: Diamond CityHow to Recruit: Complete the Story of the Century quest. | Gift of Gab Earn Double XP for successful speech checks and discovering new locations. |
| Preston Garvey | Location: Museum of FreedomHow to Recruit: Complete the The First Step quest. | United We Stand Deal 20% more damage and gain +20 Damage Resistance when facing three or more enemies. |
There are a total of 7 companions available to romance in Fallout 4. The Sole Survivor has the option to Flirt with their companion after reaching certain affinity thresholds, after which you can commit to a relationship with them.
All Companion Perks List
Some Romance Requires Completion of Companion Quests
| Companion | Companion Quest |
|---|---|
| Cait | Benign Intervention |
| Curie | Emergent Behavior |
| Paladin Danse | Blind Betrayal |
| MacCready | Long Road Ahead |
Certain companions require completion of their respective Companion Quest to romance. While you can flirt with them, you can't commit to a relationship if you haven't completed their quests yet.
Curie is notable for being impossible to romance if she's still a Ms. Nanny, and Paladin Danse becomes unavailable to romance if he is executed during Blind Betrayal.
Can You Romance Multiple Companions?
You Can Romance Multiple Companions
It's possible to romance multiple or even all companions in one playthrough, though you'll need to be careful and avoid flirting with a companion in the presence of an already romanced companion as they will dislike that action.
Romance Benefits
Lover's Embrace Perk
Romancing a character and sleeping in a bed while they're nearby will grant you the temporary Lover's Embrace Perk which grants you a +15% XP for 8 in-game hours.
You don't need to have the character as an active companion to obtain this perk. Characters that you've dismissed to a settlement will still grant you the Lover's Embrace Perk as long as they are near the bed you're sleeping in.
Replaces the Well-Rested Perk
| Lover's Embrace | Well-Rested |
|---|---|
| +15% Experience Points for 8 In-Game Hours | +10% Experience Points for 8 In-Game Hours |
The Lover's Embrace Perk is prioritized and replaces the Well-Rested temporary perk whenever you sleep in a bed with a romanced companion.
If you prefer to get the Well-Rested perk, make sure to dismiss your romanced character to another settlement or their original location.
Best Romance Options
Fallout 4 Romance Tier List
| Romance Tier List | |
|---|---|
 | Curie Paladin Danse |
 | Piper MacCready |
 | Cait Hanco*ck |
 | Preston Garvey |
Best Romance Options Explained
S-Tier Romanceable Companions
| Jump to a Romance Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | A-Tier | B-Tier | C-Tier |
| Companion Rank | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Curie | Pros: ・Has one of the most interesting companion quests in the game ・Starts out as a Ms. Nanny and becomes a Synth ・Combat Medic Perk is very useful in harder difficulties ・Provides Curie's Healthpak, a stronger variant of Stimpak that also removes Rads Cons: ・The Hole in the Wall quest is very difficult if planning to give Austin Engil the cure without contracting the permanent Mole Rat Disease ・Is generally a side character in the game's Main Quests |
| Paladin Danse | Pros: ・Has a very interesting companion quest that is plot-relevant to The Brotherhood of Steel faction ・Is the only Faction Companion that can survive if destroying The Brotherhood of Steel ・Know Your Enemy perk grants a +20% damage against feral ghouls, super mutants, and synths which is very useful for any build Cons: ・Becomes unresponsive and unavailable as a companion if destroying the Brotherhood ・Remains prejudiced against Synths despite being a Synth himself |
A-Tier Romanceable Companions
| Jump to a Romance Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | A-Tier | B-Tier | C-Tier |
| Companion Rank | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Piper | Pros: ・Is one of the few romanceable companions that is a major character in the game's Main Quests ・Gift of Gab perk +100% XP when passing Charisma checks and discovering new locations and is useful for power leveling characters ・Is generally the most animated and expressive of the romanceable companions Cons: ・Lacks a personal companion quest ・Gift of Gab's usefulness falls off in the late-game |
| MacCready | Pros: ・A returning character from Fallout 3 and often provides insights and lore on what happened in the Capital Wasteland after the events of the previous game ・Killshot perk provides +20% chance to hit an enemy's head in V.A.T.S., which is invaluable for V.A.T.S. builds ・Provides random Ammo when an active companion Cons: ・Requires a payment of caps to recruit ・Is a Mercenary and often dislikes selfless or good-natured dialogue responses and actions |
B-Tier Romanceable Companions
| Jump to a Romance Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | A-Tier | B-Tier | C-Tier |
| Companion Rank | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Cait | Pros: ・Has an interesting companion quests that turns her into a more amicable companion ・Trigger Rush perk is a great perk for low-health builds or higher difficulties ・Can be ordered to lockpick any lock up to Master difficulty Cons: ・Still retains some of her mean and violent tendencies after her Companion Quests ・Is generally a side character in most of the game's Main Quests |
| Hanco*ck | Pros: ・ Isodoped perk grants+20% faster Critical Hit generation if afflicted with 250+ rads, making it invaluable for Radiation Builds ・Provides random Chems when an active companion ・Is one of the more unique companions and provides an alternative perspective to the Wasteland as a ghoul Cons: ・Lacks a companion quest ・Is generally a side character in the game's Main Quests |
C-Tier Romanceable Companions
| Jump to a Romance Tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| S-Tier | A-Tier | B-Tier | C-Tier |
| Companion Rank | Explanation |
|---|---|
| Preston Garvey | Pros: ・United We Stand perk is one of the strongest perks in the game since it's easy to get outnumbered by enemies and get the increased Damage Resistance and Damage Output ・Is one of the few romanceable companions that is a major character in the game's Main Quests, on top of being an important faction character Cons: ・Lacks a companion quest ・Since he's a faction quest giver, his romance and even normal dialogue is often overridden by his faction dialogue which means he has an annoying habit of always asking for help with settlement quests when engaging in dialogue |
Is Charisma Needed to Romance?
Romance Dialogue is a Speech Check
Charisma is required to romance companions since the Romance dialogue is considered a Speech check in-game.
It's possible to also fail a romance dialogue with a companion, though you have infinite chances to pursue the character since the romance dialogue resets after a few in-game days.
All Charisma Perks List and Best Charisma Perks
Save Before Talking with the Companion
If you don't want to wait a few in-game days for the romance dialogue to reset, we recommend saving before initiating a dialogue with the companion so you can reload if you fail the speech check.
Eat Grape Mentats
You can also eat Grape Mentats to give you a temporary +5 Charisma for eight minutes to increase the chance of success during the romance dialogue, and is useful if your build has a low Charisma stat.
Who is Your Favorite Companion to Romance?
Cait 15
Votes
Curie 17
Votes
Hanco*ck 9
Votes
MacCready 10
Votes
Paladin Danse 14
Votes
Piper 19
Votes
Preston Garvey 8
Votes
Fallout 4 Related Guides
List of All Companions
All Companions
| All Companions in Fallout 4 | |
|---|---|
| Cait | Codsworth |
| Curie | Deacon |
| Dogmeat | Hanco*ck |
| MacCready | Nick Valentine |
| Paladin Danse | Piper |
| Preston Garvey | Strong |
| X6-88 | |
Other Companion Guides
| Other Companion Guides | |
|---|---|
| All Companion Perks List | All Romance Options |
