If you want to access premium loot and get an upper hand over your enemies, you should know how to hack terminals in Fallout 4. Although it can be quite difficult to spot the password in a screen full of jargon, there’s a simple way to go about understanding the system. To make things easier, here’s a no-nonsense guide on how you can hack terminals in Fallout 4.
Hacking Terminals in Fallout 4
Hacking terminals can get you access to secret lore, security systems, and robotic helpers so it is important not to ignore them. Before you start hacking, you must have a high enough hacker level to access terminals. Look at the table below:
| Hacker Perk Level | Description | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hack Advanced terminals | Intelligence 4 |
| 2 | Hack Expert terminals | Player Level 9 Intelligence 4 |
| 3 | Hack Master terminals | Player Level 21 Intelligence 4 |
| 4 | You will not be locked out of terminals anymore | Player Level 33 Intelligence 4 |
You must have the Hacker Perk in the Intelligence perk tree before doing anything. Novice terminals will already be available for hacking but Advanced to Master ones will require you to level up the Hacker perk. This means increasing your Intelligence several levels. Now that you know what the requirements are, let us see how you can hack the terminal.
Finding the correct password for Terminals in Fallout 4
Find a terminal to hack and ensure you have the required skill level to hack it. Interact with the terminal and it will open up a screen filled with jargon. You will have four attempts to guess the correct password or the terminal will lock out. To hack the terminal in a simple way, follow these steps:
- Start with brackets. Any open and closed brackets like (), [], {} or <> will either reset the number of attempts or remove a redundant word that is not the password.
- These brackets DO NOT consume attempts so it is a good idea to go after them first.
- Once you do this, you will need the likeness rating to guess the password left from the remaining words.
Every word you select will give you a Likeness rating. Suppose the password is “SHIFT” and you selected “SHELL,” it will give you a likeness rating of 2 because two out of five words in the letter are correct and in the right spot. Using this info, you will have to deduce the password.
If you pick the word “MONEY,” you will receive a likeness rating of 0 since none of the letters match the word or the positioning. Combining the brackets to eliminate redundancies and then using the likeness system is the key to hacking terminals.
Additional Hacking Tips You Should Know
If you still struggle with hacking, then we recommend trying out these tips:
- Bring along Nick Valentine as a companion since he can hack terminals. Max out your affinity with him.
- Remember to exit the terminal if you only have one attempt left, this will prevent lockout and refresh your attempts.
- Open and closed bracket groups (), [], {} or <> are your biggest allies, use them wisely to either refill attempts or remove duds.
- Pick words that do not have duplicate letters. For example, avoid picking words like CLASS, GLASS, or BRASS since they have repeating words. Prioritize words that have individual lettering to start a process of elimination.
- Find the Science Bobblehead from Vault 75 so that you can permanently unlock another chance at guessing the password.
For more Fallout 4 content, visit our Fallout 4 guides page.
