The Commonwealth is massive. Honestly, if you’ve spent any real time wandering the irradiated ruins of Boston, you know that the map feels less like a playground and more like a cluttered attic where every single item is trying to kill you. When people talk about all locations on fallout 4, they usually focus on the big ones—Diamond City, The Castle, maybe the Glowing Sea if they're feeling brave. But the real magic of Bethesda’s world-building isn’t just in the marked icons on your Pip-Boy. It’s in the stuff you find when you’re actually lost.
You start in Sanctuary Hills. It's clean, quiet, and hauntingly suburban. Then you cross that bridge. Suddenly, the game stops being a tutorial and starts being an endurance test. There are over 300 marked locations in the base game alone, and if you include the DLC like Far Harbor and Nuka-World, that number jumps significantly. But let’s be real: not every ruin is worth the fusion cell it takes to clear it.
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The Landmarks You Actually Need to Care About
Diamond City is the "Great Green Jewel," built right into the ribs of Fenway Park. It’s the hub. You’ll go there because you have to, but the vibe is what keeps you coming back. It’s the closest thing to "civilization" the game offers, featuring the Upper Stands where the snobs live and the Dugout Inn where you can get a drink and regret your life choices.
But then there's the Contrast.
Compare Diamond City to Goodneighbor. Goodneighbor is tucked away in the ruins of Scollay Square, and it’s arguably the coolest spot in the game. It’s a town for the misfits, the ghouls, and the people who didn't fit the rigid structure of the Commonwealth’s other settlements. It’s where you find the Memory Den, which is technically a location but feels more like a fever dream. If you’re hunting down all locations on fallout 4, you can’t skip the state house nearby either, mostly because the mirelurks inside are a nightmare you have to experience at least once.
The Glowing Sea: Why People Keep Going Back
The southwest corner of the map is a hellscape. No other way to put it. The Glowing Sea is where the nuke actually hit, and it’s a masterclass in atmospheric design. There’s no music here, just the clicking of your Geiger counter and the occasional roar of a Deathclaw.
Why go? Because the Sentinel Site and the Crater of Atom are hidden there. Most players just rush through for the main quest, but if you poke around, you find abandoned factories and military installations that look like they've been melting for two centuries. It’s the most "Fallout" part of the game. It’s desolate. It’s terrifying. It makes your power armor feel like a thin tin can.
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The Settlements and Why They Matter (Or Don't)
Preston Garvey is a meme for a reason. He wants you to save every settlement, from the tiny farm at Abernathy to the expansive grounds of Sunshine Tidings Co-op. While some people find the settlement system tedious, these spots are the backbone of the map's geography.
Take The Castle. It’s the old Fort Independence. Once you clear out the Mirelurk Queen—which is a genuine "boss fight" moment—it becomes the heart of the Minutemen. It’s strategically positioned on the coast, giving you a vantage point over the eastern waters.
Then you have the weird ones.
Graygarden is run entirely by robots. No humans. Just Mr. Handys tending to mutfruit plants on a crumbling overpass. It’s quirky, it’s memorable, and it’s one of the few places where the pre-war optimism of the Fallout universe still feels alive, even if it's a bit rusty.
Hidden Gems and Weirdness
You won’t find everything just by following the roads. Bethesda loves environmental storytelling.
Consider the Pickman Gallery.
It’s located in the North End of Boston. On the outside, it looks like just another ruined brick building. On the inside? It’s a horror movie. Pickman is a "killer of killers," and his "art" is made of Raider remains. It’s dark. It’s gritty. It’s the kind of location that sticks with you long after you’ve cleared out the loot.
- Dunwich Borers: A marble quarry that turns into a Lovecraftian descent into madness. The deeper you go, the more the screen shakes and the flashbacks start happening.
- The USS Constitution: A literal sailing ship mounted with rocket engines and crewed by robots. It’s stuck on top of a building. It shouldn't work, but it does.
- Vault 81: One of the few vaults that actually functioned (sort of). It’s a living community, not a tomb. It’s a breath of fresh air in a world full of skeletons.
The Verticality of Urban Boston
Navigating the downtown area is a nightmare for your frame rate, but it’s essential for finding all locations on fallout 4. The area around Faneuil Hall and Haymarket Mall is dense. You aren't just walking on the ground; you're climbing fire escapes and crossing makeshift bridges between skyscrapers.
The Gunners have turned the elevated highways into fortresses. If you aren't looking up, you're going to get sniped by a plasma rifle. Trinity Tower is another big one—climbing that to save Rex and meeting Strong the Super Mutant is a rite of passage. The scale is what hits you. You’re in these narrow canyons of steel and glass, and every window could have a Raider with a Fat Man waiting for you.
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Military Installations and the Brotherhood of Steel
If you side with the Brotherhood, the Prydwen becomes your mobile home base. It’s technically a location, hovering over Boston Airport. From there, you can see everything. It changes the skyline.
But don't ignore the smaller bunkers. Listening Post Bravo or the various National Guard Training Yards are packed with lore. You find holotapes of soldiers trying to maintain order while the world literally ended. It’s heavy stuff. The Fort Strong mission is particularly intense, showing the sheer firepower the Brotherhood brings to the Commonwealth when they decide to "clean up" the Super Mutants.
Navigating the Map: Tips for Completionists
If you’re trying to check off every single icon, you have to be methodical. The map is divided into tiers. The northwest is low-level, relatively safe. As you move southeast, the enemies scale up. By the time you reach Quincy Ruins, you’re dealing with high-level Gunners equipped with heavy combat armor and assaultrons.
- Use the "VANS" perk if you're really lost, though most veterans hate it.
- Follow the coastlines. A lot of unique loot is hidden in half-sunken ships or tiny shacks on the beach.
- Check the rooftops. Seriously. Half of the "content" in downtown Boston is above street level.
- Don't fast travel everywhere. You miss the "unmarked" spots—the little campsites or the scenes where two skeletons are holding hands in a bathtub. That's the real game.
Understanding the Faction HQs
The Railroad is tucked away in the basement of the Old North Church. You follow the "Freedom Trail," which is a literal red line on the ground through the city. It’s a clever way to guide the player through several historical locations without a quest marker holding your hand.
Then there’s the Institute.
It’s not even on the surface. You teleport in. It’s clean, white, and sterile—the total opposite of the wasteland above. It feels like a different game entirely. Exploring the Institute locations, like the BioScience lab or the SRB, gives you a glimpse into the tech that’s causing all the conflict in the first place.
The Realities of Modern Exploration
When we talk about finding all locations on fallout 4, we have to mention the technical side. Even years after release, the "Boston bug" or the "Downtown crash" is a real thing for many players. The density of objects in the city ruins can chug your hardware. If you're exploring the Financial District, save often. It’s a beautiful mess, but it’s a mess nonetheless.
There's also the matter of the DLC.
Far Harbor adds a whole new island with a foggy, Maine-inspired atmosphere. The locations there, like the Nucleus or Acadia, have a completely different aesthetic. Nuka-World does the same for a twisted version of a theme park. If you're a completionist, the "all locations" tag applies to these regions too, and they offer some of the best environmental design Bethesda has ever produced.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Playthrough
If you want to experience the breadth of the Commonwealth properly, stop rushing. The main story is fine, but the world is the star.
- Pick a Direction: Instead of following a quest, just walk East from Sanctuary until you hit the water. You’ll discover more organically than any guide could show you.
- Invest in Local Leader: This allows you to link your settlements. It makes the "locations" feel connected rather than isolated islands of safety.
- Read the Terminals: Every office building has a story. The terminal entries at places like HalluciGen, Inc. explain the weird experiments that happened before the bombs.
- Listen to Diamond City Radio: Travis (whether he's awkward or confident) often mentions events that lead you to new spots.
The Commonwealth isn't just a map. It’s a graveyard with a lot of secrets. Whether you’re looking for the weirdness of the Swan’s Pond or the strategic importance of the Mass Pike Interchange, there’s always something new to find.
To truly master the map, start by clearing the perimeter of the urban center before diving into the heart of the ruins. This helps you build up the gear and levels needed for the higher-density combat zones. Keep your eyes on the horizon and your finger on the VATS button. The Commonwealth is waiting.