I've never liked fast travelling in this game, because it takes too long (game time; sprinting is faster). When I got access to the Institute's teleporter, I found that I could fast travel almost instantaneously, as long as I go via the Institute's HQ (A → Institute → B-). This has been very helpful when I'm about to fail a quest because I postponed it for too long, so I don't want to lose the teleport ability. If I decide to finish the main storyline, will I have to side with the Institute to keep it? (Not playing on PC, so mods and console commands can't help me.)

Well it would take less time to load the institute than the world but you would do the same loading when you leave.

Let's use a little simple deduction here...

The Institute built/owns the teleporter.
If the Institute gets destroyed, the teleporter gets destroyed.
If the telporter is destroyed...

Can you finish this sentence?


Just being funny, not meant as anything else...so hard to joke in text only.

I'm talking about game time, not real time. Fast travelling in this game is actually slow. Teleporting via the Institute is almost instantaneous, but it obviously takes a little longer in real time due to unnecessary loading of the Institute HQ.

I have already built a teleporter in Sanctuary Hills, and I was hoping to be able to build more teleporters in other settlements, to be able to teleport directly. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be possible. I had a little hope that some of the endings would give me control over the Institute HQ, but this game seems to think that the only way to settle anything is to nuke it, so I'm probably never going to finish the main storyline. The game is better without it anyway, but it would be nice with some closure, that's all.

side with the Institute, family must stick together man.

It seems you have to burn bridges and murder innocent people no matter which side you choose, and that's not the character I want to play, so I'm just going to ignore the main quests. The game world is richer with all factions still in there, and I keep my teleporter. It's a shame Bethesda didn't give us more options in the main story though. If they made a DLC that offered a more diplomatic ending, I wouldn't definitely buy that.

So as to not break the immersion of the game by fast traveling, I am currently using Vertibirds as my own personal taxi. I just have to buy signal grenades.

Obviously only works once you side with the BoS and they exist after the end of the game following the faction wars.

I had forgotten about those, thanks for the tip. I had some problems the first time I tried them (the vertibird glitch-landed inside a building, so I couldn't enter it), and just forgot that I could call them.

The Institute teleporter is an great advantage of siding with them.

Zapping in and out like a star trek transporter never gets old. And its incredibly useful for getting somewhere if you don't want to waste in-game time.

You willingly board a vertibirt? Are you suicidal?! ;p

I kept my Institute save just for that and Institute PA paint.


My MOT is fresh asf in his armored clean grey suit and dapper hair cut beaming all over the Commonwealth like some Sci-Fi James Bond. Must be how Zimmer felt in FO3. Director indeed.


Being the bad guy is fun. But being a BoS good guy is badass. Still can't make up my mind.

I have no son.

-Shoots Shaun in the face with Kellogs gun-

Vertibird are pretty fast as well.

I know right? I told the pilot (usually Ashley Williams ) to keep the bird high and out of range.

Well not really but I pretended to tell her that. Interestingly enough the vertibird does fly pretty high up and out of range. And none of the silly circle low and hitting objects and such. Pretty much A to B transport.

And as for glitching into buildings, have not had that problem. I make sure to call the bird when I am out in an open area. And obviously I won't have it try and land me in the streets of Boston. I'll pick an area nearby where I want to go that is clear. Then once my boots are on the ground, I hoof it in.

Its a great way in and out of the Glowing Sea.

To be honest, I don't think the Teleporter is fast-travelling faster. Your console / hardware is still loading the same amount of data, there shouldn't be any difference. I have played this game four times with all four factions, I didnt notice any difference in terms of fast-travelling.

OP is talking about the actual game time, not the real world loading screen time. If you fast travel from Sanctuary to Spectacle Island, hours of in game time will have passed. If you teleport from Sanctuary into the Institute HQ, and then teleport from the Institute HQ to Spectacle Island, virtually no time has passed on the in game clock.

This is because teleportation is instantaneous. Fast travel is basically "and the sole survivor made the long journey home" summed up into a loading screen. The game clock advances a given amount depending on how far you're fast traveling.

Siding with the Minutemen only causes the Institute to be destroyed leaving the Railroad and Brotherhood of Steel intact, but siding with anyone except the Institute causes the most collateral damage. Killing off the Railroad just means a bunch of soldiers die and some Synths might have their personalities wiped. Killing off the Brotherhood of Steel means a bunch of soldiers die and some Squires will be killed as well, but they know the risks for being on an easy target. However, killing off the Institute means that a bunch of civilians and children will be killed.

Thanks for explaining, QuantumCurt. I have never tried teleporting from one location to the Institute HQ then straight away to another location.

Not necessarily. It depends on the quests you do prior to getting banished from the Institute. The Minutemen may want you to destroy the Brotherhood of Steel as well. This is, as far as I know, only the case if you've done something to cause hostility with the Brotherhood (such as completing Mass Fusion). This may seem fairly obvious, but I think it's important to note that it's not as simple as -just- siding with the Minutemen in the end.

Regarding the innocent lives in the Institute, I like to think that issuing the evacuation order cleared the majority of them out.

True enough, but you have to actually make a deliberate attempt to go to war with the Brotherhood. Completing Mass Fusion requires you to actually work with the Institute to get that mission. There are plenty of ways to get banished from the Institute before you get to that point like the ending of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

So evacuating a bunch of eggheads that have no survival skills into the wasteland is not killing innocent lives? Also, the Institute is the bogeyman of the Commonwealth and lots of Wastelanders would love to relieve some of their frustration with the Institute. Their only future is enslavement or death.

The Minutemen and Rail Road ask you to save the civilians and children in the Institute anyway. Preston Garvey would specifically ask you again after the ending cut scene. It would be a safe assumption that the evacuation order on Shaun's PC would have saved most of the civilians. Moreover, most Scientists aren't hostile when you infiltrate the Institute, they tend to run and hide.

Unless the MM are offering to escort the civilians to a safe place, or unless any sort of follow-up is being done after letting them go...its really not a safe assumption at all.

Considering that we never see any of the scientists every again after sounding the evacuation order. Its a pretty safe bet they're all dead regardless of what you do.

Which is why I think its more merciful to just blow them up. At least make it a quick death for the families and children. Rather than being subjected to god knows what out there in the wasteland.

Good point in terms of there is no follow up available to definitely confirm their safety.


For my peace of mind and in my opinion, I rather know that I have at least tried to save their lives than killing them all.