In collaboration with Blobby from The Fallout Network Discord.
Foreword by Blobby
Why do you run West Tek so much?
From the very start, I always just wanted a high level to set myself apart from other players in some form. I wanted some way to “express” my knowledge and experience of the game to others in-game and I thought level was a good way to do that. By the time West Tek became instanced in July 2021, I was already around level 2500. West Tek becoming instanced just opened the door to all kinds of new strategies to experiment with, which I enjoy a lot. Different weapon types, routes, discovering a way to not have to deal with waiting for instance resets, etc. It just became this long-term game of improving upon my previous achievements, being able to set new goals, etc. All of this culminated with my level skyrocketing and me becoming the first player to reach the game’s level cap.
Table of number of days vs levels achieved.
This guide is broken into the following sections
Blobby's XP setup and farming recommendations
Food Buffs
Serum, and Mutation Buffs
Chem Buffs
Magazine Buffs
Bobblehead Buffs
Camp Item Buffs
Camp Ally Buffs
Underarmour Buffs
Armour Buffs
Perk Cards and Specials
Seasonal Event Buffs
Other Buffs
Alternative XP farming route
You can use one buff from each category listed above, as buffs from different categories will stack. Buffs from the same category will not stack unless stated otherwise.
Some buffs can be lost upon death or server hopping.
1 point of Intelligence = 2.072% XP*
*Intelligence to XP works on a curve table so the higher your Intelligence, the lower the % XP you will receive.
Charisma Special bonus: If you are on a team and complete an event then you receive the following: +5% XP per point of Charisma on top of the base level event reward XP
Downloadable copy here.
Blobby's XP setup and farming recommendations
It is useful to have a Mentats addiction (assuming you have no other addiction). When your Berry Mentats run out, the red addiction status symbol will appear in the bottom right. This is a great indicator to notify you of when to take another Berry Mentats.
Food Buffs
I run Herbivore and use Brain Bombs and Cranberry Relish to boost my Intelligence and XP.
Perk Card load out and Gear
Please scroll down to the bottom of the below link to see all the gear and mods.
Perk Card notes:
You can choose to remove 2 points worth of Commando perks and add Ground Pounder 2 for a faster reload.
I choose to run it without Ground Pounder because:
Fixers have a fast enough reload speed by default, especially compared to the previous laser rifle setup.
When not quite all the damage registers due to server lag/latency issues, mutants will occasionally have 1% health left instead of dying to the 2 bullets like usual. I bumped up my damage a bit higher than the 2-shot threshold, which seems to have reduced the odds of this 1% health issue from occurring.
I run a second account and use that to share rank 3 Serendipity with myself. If you don't have a second account or are unable to share rank 3 Serendipity, then you can try one of the following alternatives:
Reduce Grim Reaper's Sprint to rank 2 and equip rank 2 Serendipity. You will need to consume Company Tea for this alternative to work. The Company Tea Kettle that was the scoreboard reward for Season 15 is perfect for this.
Drop Class Freak perk card and equip rank 3 Serendipity. You will need to consume a Marsupial serum every hour if you want to try this alternative, to combat the -4 Intelligence debuff.
Weapons
There is a small amount of leeway with the weapon in question as well, mainly in terms of legendary effects. You can run a Bloodied/50% VATS crit Fixer and still perform largely the same. The third star offers a more minor quality of life improvement and isn't the most important. On paper, you can also run a 1-star Bloodied Fixer as well (or something like B/25), as covered below.
For the first star, Bloodied is a must. No exceptions.
For the second star, I consider 50% VATS crit damage essential because it enables you to 2-shot super mutants without damage-increasing consumables. You can opt for a setup without this second star, but you will need Blight Soup for it. I personally run it with 50% VATS crit damage because XP farming already involves enough buff micromanagement on its own, and I try to limit that—not add more buffs to keep track of—to the mix.
For the third star, I would prioritize effects in the following order: Faster reload > Less VATS cost > Breaks slower.
In terms of attachments, the only one you can reasonably deviate from is the muzzle slot. I would not change the rest. The suppressor isn't necessary, and you can choose to run any other muzzle.
My preferred weapon is a Bloodied, 50% VATS crit damage, 15% faster reload Fixer.
Weapon Mods
Prime Automatic Receiver
Aligned Long Barrel
Forceful Stock
Reflex Sight
Suppressor
Perforating Magazine
Armour
What type of armour you run can be flexible. What matters most is having a healthy combination of Damage Resistance and Energy Resistance.
The BioCommMesh Torso Mod extends the duration of the Berry Mentats.
The third stat and roll on your armour can be personal preference.
Armour comparison spreadsheet can be found here.
The route in West Tek
I've established my camp on the eastern side of West Tek, featuring the Mechanical Derby Machine, a bed, a stash box, and a Camp Ally. This setup enables me to swiftly replenish my buffs and replenish essential supplies as needed.
When you go up to use the terminal to enter the research wing, you want to be in 3rd person without holding out a weapon. This is the quickest way to unlock the terminal.
Map of West Tek route and Super Mutant spawns
How to refresh the spawns in West Tek
All open West Tek quests must be completed for West Tek to respawn for you. This includes the Secrets of West Tek misc quest and The Catalyst quest from Steel Reigh.
You will need two accounts for this to work or a dedicated friend.
Account # 1 - The account that you are not farming XP on
Account # 2 - The account that you ARE farming XP on
Create a team and make account # 1 Team Leader
Leave account # 1 outside West Tek, at your camp
Enter West Tek on account # 2
Clear West Tek using account # 2
Exit West Tek on account # 2
Walk account # 1 over to West Tek, enter the building, and leave them to afk just inside the door.
Walk account # 2 over to West Tek and "Join Team Leader". This will load account # 2 into account # 1 instance.
Use account # 2 to clear West Tek
Exit West Tek on both accounts
Now repeat
Following these steps in this order avoids being caught in the 1-minute cooldown instances reset.
If you don't have a second account or a dedicated friend, then go down the elevator, clear the basement of Super Mutants, and then Fast Travel back to your camp or West Tek itself.
It is very important that you do not go back up the elevator. This causes the cell to bug out which in turn affects the game's performance.
Food Buffs
Herbivore Food Buffs
Carnivore Food Buffs
Drink Buffs
Note: Nuka Cola Cranberry now counts as a food buff. If you consume Cranberry Relish or Tasty Squirrel Stew, you can not consume a Nuka Cola Cranberry, as it will wipe out the XP food buffs you have just eaten.
Brain Fungus Farming Guide
Gut Shroom Farming Guide
Owlet Farming Guide
Aster Farming Guide
Carrot Flower Farming Guide
Firecracker Berry Farming Guide
Nuka Cola Cranberry Farming Guide
Recipes
Can drop as event and pip-boy daily rewards
2 recipes can drop from the pip-boy daily "Thrill of the Grill" if all optional objectives are completed
Can be purchased from Antoine at Le Grand Gourment (Whitesprings Mall)
Can be purchased from Camp Allys, Yasmin, and Grandma Junko
Can be purchased from Player Vendor Machines
Can be found in the wild. A map of spawn locations can be found here.
Serum and Mutation Buffs
Most mutations have a debuff to balance out the buff. Equip the perk card Class Freak under Luck to offset the debuff, or consume a serum to remove the negative effects for an hour.
RECOMMENDED
Egghead Mutation
Buff: +6 Intelligence
Debuff: -3 Strength & -3 Endurance
Herd Mentality Mutation
Buff: +2 to all SPECIALs when in a team
Debuff: -2 to all SPECIALs when not on a team
You can run solo on a public team and Herd Mentality will still proc.
Herbivore Mutation
Buff: Doubles the benefits and buffs when eating plant-based foods and teas.
Debuff: Eating meat-based dishes will not apply a buff or restore hunger.
ALTERNATIVE
Carnivore Mutation
Buff: Doubles the benefits and buffs when eating meat-based foods.
Debuff: Eating plant-based dishes will not apply a buff or restore hunger.
Marsupial Serum without Class Freak gives -4 Intelligence. Either run Class Freak perk card (under Luck) to reduce that figure or pop a Marsupial Serum to remove the negative side effects of the mutation for an hour.
Serums can be obtained via
MODUS
Player Vendors
Purchase the plans to craft serums from MODUS
Chem Buffs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Berry Mentats | +5 Intelligence |
Lunchboxes (optional) | +25% XP per lunchbox (caps at 100% XP) |
ALTERNATIVE
Item | Buff |
X-Cell | +2 to all SPECIALs for 2 minutes |
Berry Mentats Recipe can be obtained from:
Whitesprings Bunker - MODUS Medical Terminal
Random Encounter - Camp - Clinic Trader and Chem Trader
Mirrors
Brain Fungus Farming Guide
Luchboxes can be obtained from the Atom Shop or rewarded from the current Scoreboard.
X-Cell can not be crafted. X-Cell can be obtained from:
Crater - Molly
Whitesprings Mall - Doc Stanley
Enclave Event - Dropped Connections
Nuke Card crate
Chem First Aid kits
Footlockers
Drug Mule Ghouls
Magazine Buffs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Live & Love 3 | +50% Healing from Plant-based foods |
Backwoodsman 6 | +50% Healing from Meat-based foods |
ALTERNATIVE
Item | Buff |
Live & Love 8 | +5% XP for 30 mins when on a team |
Zeta Invaders Magazine | +1 Intelligence for 30 mins |
Atomic Command Magazine | +1 Intelligence for 30 mins |
Equip the perk card Curator under luck to make all magazines last for 60 minutes.
Holotape Magazine buffs will stack on top of magazine buffs. For example, you can run Live & Love 3 AND Zeta Invaders.
Magazines can be obtained via:
Purchased from player vendors or via trades
Bobblehead Buffs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Leader Bobblehead | +5% XP for 30 minutes |
ALTERNATIVE
Item | Buff |
Intelligence | +2 Intelligence for 30 minutes |
Equip the perk card Curator under luck to make all bobbleheads last for 60 minutes.
Bobbleheads can be obtained via:
Purchased from player vendors or via trades
Scoreboard Reward
Camp Item Buffs
Item | Buff |
Mechanical Derby Game | +2 Intelligence for 30 minutes |
Sacred Mothman Tome | +5% XP for 60 minutes |
The Sacred Mothman Tome plan is only available from the Mothman Equinox Seasonal Event.
Does not stack with other Mothman XP buffs (Path to Enlightenment, Steven Scarberry, Mothman Equinox).
Can be stacked with Leo Petrov's Nuka-Inspiration: Cranberry Buff
Camp Ally Buffs
Camp Ally buffs can be stacked
Camp Ally | Buff |
Steven Scarberry | +5% XP for 60 minutes |
Leo Petrov | +5% XP for 60 minutes |
Camp Ally's can be obtained via:
Underarmour Buffs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Shielded Casual Underarmour | +3 Intelligence |
ALTERNATIVE
Item | Buff |
Shielded Vault Suit Underarmour | +2 Intelligence |
Shielded Casual Lining Plan: Has a 5% chance to be awarded from Queen of the Hunt if the player character has already learned:
Plan: Treated lining casual underarmour,
Plan: Resistant lining casual underarmour and
Plan: Protective lining casual underarmour.
Shielded Vault Suit Lining Plan is unlocked upon completion of the main quest line.
List of Casual Underarmour:
*Atom Shop
Brotherhood of Steel infantry uniform*
Bowling team outfit*
Tactical ops outfit*
Conspiracy suit*
Country girl outfit*
Flannel shirt and jeans
Grafton High tracksuit*
Hootenanny overalls outfit*
Military fatigues
Nuclear Winter tracksuit*
Raider waster outfit*
Responders fire chief outfit*
Undershirt & jeans
Vintage football outfit*
VTU tracksuit*
Manta Man Sidekick Underarmour*
Inspector Sidekick Underarmour*
Silver Shroud Sidekick Underarmour*
Mistress Sidekick Underarmour*
Grognak Sidekick Underarmour*
Armour, Power Armour, and Mod Buffs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Unyielding Legendary Body Armour | +15 Intelligence for a full set |
+1 Intelligence as the second star | +5 Intelligence for a full set |
BioCommMesh Torso Mod | +50% longer duration of chems |
ALTERNATIVE
Item | Buff |
PA - Internal Database Helmet Mod | +2 Intelligence |
BioCommMesh Torso Mod Plan: Can be purchased from Robot Vendors in Grafton
Internal Database Power Armour mod plans can be purchased from Robot Vendors in Whitesprings
Ultracite Internal Database Power Armour mod plans can be found on the Scorched Beast Queen or Common Scorch Beasts
Perk Cards and SPECIALs
RECOMMENDED
Item | Buff |
Intelligence Special Stat | Rank: Max |
Under: Intelligence | |
Buff: +15 Intelligence | |
Legendary Intelligence | Rank: 5 |
Under: Legendary Perk Cards | |
Buff: +5 Intelligence | |
Inspirational Perk Card | Rank: 3 |
Under: Charisma | |
Buff: +15% XP when you are on a team | |
Night Person Perk Card | Rank: 3 |
Under: Perception | |
Buff: +3 Intelligence & +3 Perception between 6pm and 6am (In-game time) | |
Curator Perk Card | Rank: 1 |
Under: Luck | |
Buff: The benefits of Bobbleheads & Magazines last twice as long. | |
Class Freak Perk Card | Rank: 3 |
Under: Luck | |
Buff: The negative effects of your mutations are reduced by 75%. | |
Chem Fiend Perk Card | Rank: 3 |
Under: Endurance | |
Buff: Any chems you take will last twice as long | |
Strange in Numbers | Rank: 1 |
Under: Charisma | |
Buff: Positive mutation effects are 25% (0.25x) stronger if your teammates are mutated too. |
Rank 1 versions of the above-mentioned cards work fine but rank 3 or max rank yields better results and buffs.
Public and Seasonal Event Buffs
Item | Buff |
The Path to Enlightenment | +5% XP for 60 minutes |
The True Wisdom of the Mothman | +15% XP for 60 minutes |
Grahm's Meat Cook - Strong Meat Sweats | +5% XP for 5 minutes |
Public Event - The Path to Enlightenment
Seasonal Event - Mothman Equinox
Seasonal Event - Meat Week
Other Buffs
Item | Buff |
Join a Casual Public Team | +1 Intelligence per bonded teammate |
Alternative XP Farming Route
Co-written by: Atticus Atigun Fench
Main Route
Location | For |
West Tek | Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Floaters |
Huntersville | Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Floaters |
Solomon’s Pond | Floaters and Behemoth (follow pond south-ish) |
National Isolated Radio Array | Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds, Ghouls, and the stray Super Mutant in the small building by the Satellite Dish. |
Mac’s Farm | Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings and Mirelurks |
Quarry X3 | Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings and Mirelurks |
Sunrise Field | Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk Kings, Mirelurks, and Blood Eagles |
Lucky Hole Mine | Cultists outside and inside |
Pylon V-13 | Fog Crawlers or Snallygasters or Anglers |
Abandoned Bog Town Workshop and Town | Super Mutants. Mutant Hounds, Behemoth, and Mongrel Dogs |
Robco Research Center | Sentry Bot and Assorted Robots. Check the monorail for robots |
General Steakhouse | Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds, Floaters, and whatever is in the garden |
Harper's Ferry | Anything that moves |
The Burrows | Ghouls |
Crevasse Dam | Super Mutants, Mutant Hounds and Insects at the back. Check the random spawn location on your right from the spawn in point |
Dolly Sods Wilderness and Workshop | 2x Yao Guai and whatever spawns inside the buildings. Workshop can spawn: Fog Crawlers or Anglers or Gulpers |
Highland Marsh | Mirelurk Queen, Mirelurk King and Mirelurks |
Freddy Fears House of Scares | Ghouls, Rad Rats, and sometimes a Wendigo |
Sunnytop Ski Lands Base Lodge | Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds |
Sunnytop Ski Lands | Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds |
If any of the above locations haven’t respawned or have already been cleaned out then side-track and jump over to some of the following locations:
Location | For |
Whitesprings Golf Course | Ghouls |
New Gad | Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds |
Charleston Capitol Building | Jump on the terminals to activate the 2 DMV modes for extra Ghoul spawns |
Grafton Dam | Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds |
Grafton Steel | Super Mutants and Mutant Hounds |
Monongah | Mole Miners |
Lewisburg | Ghouls |
Welsh | Mole Miners |
Glass Caverns | Only if Scorched has spawned. Outside and Inside |
Firebase LT | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Firebase Major | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Forward Station Alpha | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
The Thorn | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Firebase Hancock | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Survey Camp Alpha | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Forward Station Delta | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Fissure Sites | Scorched and Scorched beasts |
Fort Defiance | Scorched outside and Ghouls inside. Check Asylum dress spawn |
Overgrown Sundew Grove | Anything that moves |
High XP Events:
AWOL Armaments
Line in the Sand
Scorched Earth
Enclave: Dropped Connection
Enclave: A Real Blast
Horde Events
Guided Meditation
Radiation Rumble
Uranium Fever
Manhunt
Monster Mash
Heart of the Swamp
Surface to Air
A Colossal Problem
Eviction notice
Moonshine Jamboree
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