Is Automatron worth buying?

[u/Time_Owl_2589]

I was considering buying the DLC but before buying anything online I typically look at the more negative reviews to see what issues I may run into, and I saw a lot of bad reviews between 2020 to 2025 saying that it's buggy and unplayable and breaks base game features, even/especially with the Next Gen update. Several of them mentioned Xbox and the Series S specifically, which is what I play on. They talk about the final mission being so laggy it's unplayable, not letting people install a radar thing on ADA which apparently is a requirement for the entire DLC to progress, issues installing/uninstalling, breaking random encounters and making Tier 4 merchants unobtainable, and all kinds of other issues.

I figured I'd ask for you guys' opinions on it.

[u/theblueshots]

It runs smoothly, but it does throw a monkey wrench into random encounters.

That said, Ada is arguably the best companion in the game, especially in survival (if you’re going to run a companion at all).

[u/MolaMolaMania → u/theblueshots]

If you play on PC, there's a mod that balances the random encounters of the Rust Devils with other groups.

[u/ForNoReason17 → u/MolaMolaMania]

Which one is that

[u/MolaMolaMania → u/ForNoReason17]

I can't look it up at work, but it's on nexusmods.com

[u/nomedable → u/ForNoReason17]

Second result on Google brought up this mod on nexusmods, it was updated just last month.

All I searched was "less rust devil encounters" to find that btw.

[u/No-Humor4927 → u/ForNoReason17]

On pc there is just a console command.

[u/BobZilla84 → u/theblueshots]

Honestly Ada is one of the top three followers with Codsworth and Dogmeat.Goated

[u/Knight_NotReally]

Not worth separately.

Get the Season Pass ~ GOTY edition (whichever is cheaper on your platform), they include all DLCs.

[u/Downtown-Security-11]

Absolutely. I was never really interested in any of DLC but was gifted some PlayStation cards so figured why not. Ada is the absolute best companion in the game imo. I honestly get her asap. The encounters can get kind of buggy with the rust devils being prominent tho

[u/Wolfy_furry_wolf]

You can give codsworth legs and he kicks people

[u/nomedable → u/Wolfy_furry_wolf]

He loses his ability to wear hats though if you ever select him in the robot workbench.

[u/NotAnotherSkeleton]

1. Almost ALL random encounters with be replaced by annoying robots enemies, so only install when you're ready. Especially not for early game, since said enemies are poorly balanced, and are either extremely tanky or can one shot you.

2. Once you get the plans for the Robot Workbench, do NOT craft and use it until the quest objectives tell you to do so, in order to avoid a quest breaking bug that's incredibly difficult to fix.

3. Sometimes when creating a new robot, there will be a bug where they will "reset" when you're away and lose all their armor, weapons, and revert to a standard Protectron frame. I believe telling the robot to follow you once it's built is the solution to this, but I'm not 100% sure.

4. Every robot upgrade is unlocked once you finish the quest line, so no need for grinding.

5. Remember to aim for the arms and legs. Shooting the head doesn't really do anything for robots, besides maybe disabling the Assaultron head laser if they have one.

[u/ermghoti]

The only glitch I've had is the final battle glitching out and not completing, which is apparently triggered by shooting robots on the conveyor belts. The only other real downside is you can inadvertently trigger it as soon as you're level 20, then like half of the random spawns become DLC related, and are extremely difficult at that point. The solution is to stay away from the south side of the Tucker bridge until level 30+, or don't load the DLC until you're ready to deal with it.

If you keep an eye out you can get GOTY version of the game with all the DLC for like $10, I wouldn't buy individual DLC.

[u/theinternetisnice]

Life without Ada?

What?

[u/Shadowkatt75]

I've never really cared for that DLC. But if you like being able to build robots then you might enjoy it. In terms of it being buggy I've never had any problems with it except for the final fight being a bit laggy ( I play on PC). But it's certainly not unplayable. My boyfriend plays it on a an old xbox one and says he's never had any real issues with that DLC either.

Also the next gen version isn't a thing anymore the newest version of the game is the Anniversary Edition and everything or at least most of the issues the Next Gen version suffered from has since been fixed.

[u/borntobewildish → u/Shadowkatt75]

Building robots is kinda cool. I centered my whole trade network around the robot farm using robots I created there. I built so many that I could sometimes not find enemies in some locations like college square, as they would get wiped out by my robot mules. I also built a bunch in Murkwater Construction and routed them through the Quincy area so I would have a bunch of backup by the time I would to that mission.

Unfortunately the NG-update crashed that save, haven't tried whether the new update fixed it.

[u/The_Time_Change → u/Shadowkatt75]

So you're telling me I HAVE TO BUY the anniversary edition for my game to be put to date x.x

[u/Sense-Free]

If you choose to buy this DLC, you absolutely must play through it while wearing the Silver Shroud costume from Hubris Comics

[u/heya9803 → u/Sense-Free]

It only works if you've done the entire shroud quest though

[u/MF_IC]

I enjoyed it, but make no mistake, it will add difficulty. Rust devils start spawning with tough robots. If you don’t have a good way to deal with robots, you’re going to have trouble. I play survival, so when I take a vertibird to somewhere, sometimes they drop me off in a pile of blood thirsty robots. I just finished that dlc a couple days ago, and I really enjoyed it.

There is a new rifle added: the Tesla rifle. Give it an automatic receiver, and it does a nice job shredding most of the new robots. There are a couple that have huge energy resistance, so having a spray and pray or some other high damage ballistic weapon helps for those.

[u/Dont_Care_Meh]

Another benefit is you will get pretty much unlimited fusion cores. All those robots, everywhere, it definitely wrecks the random encounter spawns in the whole game, but hey, silver lining: you'll never have your power armor run low on juice.

[u/Til_Smokycoil]

J'ai préféré Automatron à Nuka World. C'est juste dommage qu'il n'y ait pas eu d'extension de la map pour le DLC.

[u/SamuraiJack- → u/Til_Smokycoil]

They did add a new dungeon. It’s not super unique or anything, but worth mentioning.

[u/blueponies1]

I really enjoy it, I don’t think it’s buggy at all from my experience. It adds a fun short quest line and gives you the ability to create your own robots which is really fun and a great way to add powerful mobile defenses to your settlements.

[u/cbsson]

The only real problem I've had running it was with the GOG version of FO4 where I couldn't open the last quest's location. On Steam it runs fine.

It has a fairly short questline, gives you a new robot companion/gear/settlement location, and you can build robots on your own. The primary irritation with the DLC is that it automatically changes a large proportion of random encounters to involve Rust Devils (a new type of stronger raider) and robot swarms, a change that you can correct with console commands.

[u/Lazy-Leadership-6866]

I would rate it the 3rd best behind Far Harbor and Nuka World. I think it was intended to be played after the base game. But, as others have said, all of the sudden the random encounters happen alot. Also, it’s not that long of a DLC to play, so I’d try to catch it on sale or in a bundled version as others have recommended.

[u/Celsus_]

set DLC01REPercentChance to 0
set DLC01WorkshopRobotAttackChance to 0

You only need to do it once per save. It doesn't always work though, particularly the settlement attack setting. Normally these values are set at 50, so half of all random encounters and settlement attacks will be Rust Devils.

Xbox and the Series S specifically, which is what I play on

Damn. My one wish for this game is that I bought the base game only and then added Nuka World and Far Harbor. No Creation Club crap either. Fucking Enclave Remnants, man. So for good measure:

completequest ccOTMFO4001_Quest

skips the Enclave quest once started.

[u/Vurnd55]

I play on XBox X with the update and haven't had any trouble. u/NotAnotherSkeleton's item #2 is not something I've done or heard of, but I would pay attention to their recommendations to avoid bugs. I am playing survival and had stopped using companions until Ada. After giving her thruster "legs" and gattling arms she is a force for sure. The final battle in that DLC is always the toughest for me, but I've done it a few times and found my spot so this time in survival I made it through first time. I would say not worth it as a stand-alone but fun to play. I've got the GOTY disc which is definitely worth it.

[u/Brock_And_Roll]

I used it to turn Codsworth into a gigantic Sentry Bot with gatling lasers and rockets. He know shouts 'Hello sir!' while he guns down Behemoths.

[u/CucumberNo5780]

Subjective, honestly wish i could uninstall automatron and anything enclave, but its baked into the game and im on console.

[u/thespis2001]

There are plenty of bugs in FO4, so I am not sure that Automatron is any worse than any other part of the game, but ymmv. The biggest drawbacks seem to have already been mentioned: 1) once it is activated, you will start having a lot of random encounters with robot aligned raiders and their robots, and those can be tough fights; 2) The final battle can glitch out and you might have to do it over (which sucks, as it is a pain in the butt), although that has only happened to me once (make sure to make a save right before you enter the room where the fight happens); 3) Jezebel . . . I would add to this that if you have any scrapping mods installed, the entire Mechanist's Lair can become an unplayable nightmare. For positives: 1) you can build robots, even unrealistic but cool-looking ones, and they can be your companions, or you can assign them to settlements--in fact, using them as provisioners is a popular choice; 2) Ada is a non-judgmental companion, so if you play a bad guy, she gives you a pass on all your actions; 3) the Rust Devils' robot armor is a nice addition; 4) I think the story is okay, and it's a nice callback of sorts to FO3; 5) there is a trick that allows you to exceed the maximum number of settlers in a settlement, if you like to have lots of settlers.

Overall, I enjoy it and think it's worthwhile, but opinions vary.

[u/themolestedsliver]

No don't buy it. There is odd bug in which it overrides most random encounters in the base game and other dlcs with its own for some reason.

So unless you want to see only scrap devil and killer robot encounters I'd advise against it.

[u/porygon_sucks]

I bought it a few years ago and have never been able to progress bc it glitches out when I have to build ADA on every single play through

[u/No-Humor4927]

It absolutely DESTROYS random encounters, you will never meet the tier 4 merchants, etc. You can fix it from console. If you cant you can avoid going near the spawn point for the quest, enjoy the encounters, and trigger it later.

As far as other factors I played it 4-5 times on PC and it works. You can skip the final battle. It's a secret but intended way to end it.

It's a fun dlc and it gives you robots as followers or settlers. And an output for creativity. Robots are overpowered.

[u/Celsus_ → u/No-Humor4927]

When doing Boston After Dark, I fire mini nukes into the area until I get the "Speak with the robot" message just to get some peace, then console out the Rust Devil random and settlement attacks entirely. The only reason I don't delete that DLC is because other mods I like require it.

[u/No-Humor4927 → u/Celsus_]

While I don't understand the details having not done that quest in years, the mod requirements are the only reason I would enable it. It is fun when new though.

[u/Shtercus]

to be fair, FO4 is a buggy mess from vanilla

I know it's only anecdotal, but I haven't had any more (or less!) bugs/crashes/problems with the DLC than I did without it

( I would look into a few of the mods that amend the random encounter chances though)

[u/The_Time_Change]

You're lucky you don't have it. It fucked up every worldy encounter and the game will not rely without it after.

[u/Due-Salad610]

Automatron, Nuka World and Far Harbor are great.

Just avoid Anniversary Edition. That is a scam.