Please Bethesda, if you are reading this, please fix Covenant.

My original idea was to set up a Minuteman base in the town. I figured I drove the crazies out and I'd use the prebuilt defenses to use the site for good. Oh how wrong I was.

The Turrets

At first I thought it was nice to have pre-built turrets. Oh how wrong I was. Foremost, the turrets don't count towards your defense rating. That means the town is prone to attacks. I was in the middle of rebuilding when a horde of supernatants with missile launchers came and blew up all the defenses. At first I shrugged it off. I figured the turrets would either despawn or respawn. So 10 hours later, I come back. Like the bodies of the townspeople, those things never go away.

And its not like I could've set my own defense system up. You know, since the turrets auto-agro your defenses.

Yes, I know there are workarounds, but its my main file, and the file I want to do the DLCs on. Please, at least let me scrap broken turrets and bodies (I've had super mutant corpses lying around Sanctuary for weeks, and theres a pile of ash I think has become a permanent feature of the town).

The Items

Nothing like setting up a Minuteman base only to be fired upon for taking some .38 ammo out of a mailbox. The settlers are dead. There should be stealing in MY settlement. I replaced the nut jobs with upstanding settlers. Don't make the fire on me.

The Doors

Who locks the doors? I have all the keys!

The Beds

An easy fix, but annoying nonetheless

Deezer

Seriously, that guy moves to the most inconvenient places. I can push him, but it takes a while. Also his idle dialogue is pretty much gone.

The Store

Would it seriously be that hard to have a settler take over Penny's store? I've seen modders use floor mats as vendor stands. Bethesda has to have the capability.

The Furniture

This is more an overreaching settlement problem, but I know Bethesda has the assets to add more furniture into the game. The Covenant beds, regular Terminals, heck even those concrete walls.

The Takeway/TDLR

If nothing else, please fix the turrets, doors and ownership issues. Maybe something like a hard reset the first time the workbench is activated (from immutable Covenant to mutable Covenant). Let me scrap bodies/turrets too. The outpost turret despawns, why not the covenant ones?

Ideally I'd like to see this by (or with) the second DLC. I have a feeling I'll be doing alot of settlement building then.

I sided with the people there.


The main problem I have is that in the guest room, the middle double bed (which counts as 2 beds) is bugged. No settlers can be seen sleeping in it. Because of this two settlers just stand around at night and act like there is no spare bed. This makes the happiness go down. The happiness stays at around 60-65.

yeah that town shows so many of the games problems if you side with the merc.

IT is sad really. Also the never spawning dead bodies are the biggest immersion breaker of the game.

I managed to get a decent covenant growing, think deezer was dead so he wasn't an issue. I used the locked building as my house and for the most part settlers stayed out unless they spawned in it, which was uncommon.

Managed to build a workshop area/2 vendors in the area near the red workshop/food area. Moved mutfruit to back or side of buildings for enough food and managed to fit the vault guys stand in the old shop. That house in the back was a planning/recon hut with RP-ing the back cage room as an interrogation room until I made it my power armor store room/workshop. This door managed to stay open even though it had the same locked feature as the other house. Not sure why.

The only thing I didn't like that the not so easy to remove beds, and if you kite the old tenants outside the bodies are out there anyways if they don't disappear. But before I had just pulled them and the bodies into the water and they stayed out here.

I also liked how a merchant was sometimes outside too.

Think I sided with them once to remove the turrets and another time just destroyed them. The time I was able to remove them ( same way as bed ) I was able to recreate the defenses with my turrets.

Only problems for me was no space outside wall to build, wouldn't mind that water front a little, and slowly moving bodies and turret pieces if you've killed them inside the walls. Ill usually snipe the turrets and the settlers come running out to you, all of them. I also hate how that store kinda goes to waste after in a way, id rather it be a general store already that you can assign a settler to and take over. Other than that It was my fave place really.

Was debating making a whole " second floor " to it somehow but that idea died quick and didn't know how high id be able to build.

There is a "lid" over Covenant that limits how high you can build. Add that to the bug list.

I found one story was about as high as I could go - so that is where my defenses are.

All the named residents I had no problem picking up and stacking in a body pile behind one of the houses. They stay there.

That extra building I made inside was at least 2 "storeys" as in I was able to build stairs up to a second floor and roof that no problems. Remember being able to floor above the natural roof of the undamaged building but didn't go any farther than a floor to see, ill check maybe later.

Yeah highest you can build is the 2 shack foundation high and a little extra. So that why my custom building worked but my idea of a second floor to the whole of covenant wouldn't lol. I think it was only a roof idea but cant remember, all I know I the wires and poles everywhere got in my way haha.

Although I am a bit irked by the "PLEASE MAKE ALL THE CHANGES I ASK FOR, BETH, NOWWW" threads that pop up, I do have to agree with many points in this one. It is ridiculous that the destroyed turrets remain, or that the ones not destroyed don't count towards defense, and that there's issues of items already being pre-owned by the dead Covenant members. It really should not be so difficult to obtain Covenant as a 100% MM settlement, especially since it has a workbench. I guess the quest related to the location screws it up.

Ok so theres that low point where the food is you can get a 3 storey custom building going, not sure how big but im able to go that high in that area.

Ran out of materials but Im liking how that area looks, might post a pic if I make something nice lol

also another bug/problem, cant delete that hut area where you do the SAFE test, and the chairs. Everything else there is delete-able

I agree, it needs to be completely fixed.

While it should be fixed its really in no better condition than any other settlement, having trouble with egress tours marina too. Everyone keeps thinking im jumping into water because I built another boatyard over the water haha.

I started building more turrets, to give Covenant a defense rating, and as noted, they immediately started trying to kill the turrets that were already in place. Those turret remains never go away, but I was able to build new turrets in roughly the same spots.


The space around Covenant is actually big enough on the back to house walled platforms for power generators, and some of the corners will fit a prefab dwelling block with a turret atop it.


So, not disputing that Covenant has many traits that are not ideal, but there are some advantages to be eked out.

I've seen settlers sleeping in that bed. Did you build something near it that is blocking them from getting in maybe?


The only problem I've had with this settlement is the voices stopped working on every character there when I installed the previous patch, 1.2. I use captioning so I could see what they were trying to say, but they just stood there, mouths shut, not moving. If I wouldn't have had captioning on I would have thought the game locked up when I tried to talk to the merchant lady and the mayor.

I Agree.

Covenant had so much potential as a small outpost or a player home, but the bugginess is just too much.

It's also annoying that you can't make those nice beds yourself anywhere else.

I decided I would make it a medical center/hospital instead, but not even that.

it's just too bugged all around.

I stole the flowers in covenant for my settlement to make it nicer, so far they've stayed put, also the yellow lamps that don't work lol

Thats the thing i have nothing extra built there. I left covenant as i got it cause it looks fresh/new and unique.

I was fortunate enough to discover the workaround for the turrets before I destroyed any, so I managed to replace them with my own without any bother. I also moved all the dead citizens to the bushes around the outside of the walls - not ideal, but out of sight out of mind. As for the 'owned' items I think if you store them all in the workshop and place them down again, they become normal, although I can't confirm this as I haven't done it myself. Regardless, you can put them in the workshop and replace them with other items if you just want the place to look realistic and lived in.

My biggest gripe with Covenant at the moment is the power. I'm sure there's wiring and a power source already in place by default, but you can't use it for some reason. So if you wish to add anything new that requires power you're forced to litter the place with crude generators.

Beds and turrets are a super easy, well-documented fix. Takes 15 minutes.

markfordelete? The two beds in the guest room actually count as two beds each. Two settlers sleep in each individual bed at the same time. So just deleting them isnt an ideal option.

See my earlier comment: there is ample space outside the back wall, but still within the build space, for several top-tier generators, as well as metal walls to protect them.


I haven't had to endure an attack there yet so my tune may change, but for now that's how I was able to route in power without cluttering up the place.

Any attacks seemed to happen near he entrance but I RARELY get attacked ever so meh.

I was hoping to use Covenant as a Settlement but won't until it is (hopefully) patched.

The best advice I can give regarding Covenant is...side with the town and that scientist. I know that this might go against your "good guy mentality" (and BELIEVE me I understand! I tend to also be a good guy vs an evil one), but I made an exception with Covenant. Plus, it's a blast having named NPCs to protect. You also get a store merchant (Penny) and a doctor (Patricia). AND you avoid most of the glitches (turrets you add aren't attacked by the existing turrets, etc).


Covenant is also centrally located on the map, and therefore convenient to access.


I think people undervalue its usage as a settlement (likely because most chose to side with Amelia).

I'll be siding with the townspeople in my next playthrough unless Bethesda make settlers interesting.