I experienced a Synth settler for the first time at my Spectacle Island fortress yesterday. I was there, just working on a few things, when suddenly my defenses go wild. You hear the rocket turrets firing, but it is all over in like 2 seconds. One of my settlers says "OMG I think I'm going to be sick." I thought some mirelurks were trying to attack and wonder, what my turrets where shooting at.

I look around and see a body without a head. I check the inventory and it's one of my settlers, I had equipped just a few days earlier. I remember adding a ballistic weave to the Military outfit she was wearing. I didn't see her face, since, well the head was missing, but she had synth components and an Institute rifle on her.

So, I am wondering, does the Institute steal a settler and then replace them with a Synth? Or are these settlers Synth from the get go? And why would they do that? I'm still on good terms with the Institute. I also didn't see any Gen-1's, just that lone dead settler. I didn't see the fight either. Is that synth wired wrong and just suddenly goes ballistic? What's the real story behind these Synth settlers?

Does this happen if you are allied with the Institute?

Well, I'm still allied with them at this point. I haven't done anything to make them hostile to me, yet, so I say yes, it happens even if you are in good standing with the Institute.

Which is why I'm leaning towards them being Railroad Synths rather than Institute, the faulty reprogramming leads to them going loco and your turrets slaughter them.

I don't know about spies, but upon reaching one of my settlements after it had been attacked I did find a synth component on the body of the only settler that died. In fact, I wondered if he was supposed to die so I could find it because that was the only settler that was ever killed in one of my settlements to date.

Of course, the component could have been a souvenir he kept in his pocket.

Maybe. But I had zero of them my first playthrough (worked all three factions to the decision point before annihilating the institute), and a few this playthrough where I postponed getting involved with the institute. They stopped when I met Shaun.


So I think they're institute terrorists, just as the diamond city folks think.

If it floats your boat.

The more realistic assumption is, that Bethesda didn't program different options according to your actions and afiliations. They're simply happening at the role of a dice, so to speak.

Well I've had only the one playthrough and I've had random synths in my settlements before I joined any faction, i've had them after I joined factions and I've had Institute Synths attacking my settlements after I joined the Institute.....there is no real pattern to the settlement attacks.

Also as terrorists they don't seem to achieve much themselves since they seem to die before they do any damage every time and I only take settlement damage if I fast travel directly to the settlement.

There seems to be nothing in game that suggest Institute involvement beyond them being Synths and well the Institute is not only people infiltrating Synths into communties and your new settlements are the perfect place for the Railroad to send newly reprogrammed Synths since they are full of new people......actually they are probably one of the few places in the Commonwealth that (outside of Goodneighbour) is always excepting strangers into town.

Exactly, that would definitely be my first guess, unless, the Institute is experimenting with their "Infiltrator" program and are using random settlements to test their theories!