Have to say they did a great job on defending it only had to take care of 2 out of the 6 raiders. Im only lv13 with 8 settlers my question is will the attackers increase in number as my lv and settlement grows?

It can vary. Sometimes it's only 2 super mutants. Others are some ghouls. Mild annoyances really. And don't think that you 12+ settlers equipped with state of the art pipe pistols and turrets everywhere can handle it without you. It's auto failure if you don't show.

I'm not really sure how that works. I'm level 35 and experienced some ghouls attacking Sanctuary last night. I had multiple crossfires of automated machine guns that cut them to ribbons.


I would also like to know how frequently settlements get attacked.

Thats kinda weird soo even if you had high powered turrets surrounding your base everyone equip'd in the moded guns and armor but if your not there you fail? Theres no option to put a settler in command when your not there?

the enemies level as you do, the same as enemies out in the wasteland, but their numbers and frequency are independent of level. Now, richer settlements tend to get attacked more than poor ones, so they will appear to scale as you improve your settlements and generally acquire more things to be raided, but these are not directly dependent on level.

For 20 and 62 I had 2 ghoul attacks on the same settlement, the first time it had around 15 normal feral ghouls, with a few reavers and a legendary, the second one had about the same number, made of withered feral ghouls and a legendary, so the ghouls were much tougher, but their numbers were about the same.

The same goes for others, at this point there are usually 2-3 in power armor with heavy weapons and generally better equipment, but the same total numbers.

Super mutants are usually few in number, but they get really tough, with the latest attack being a regular and a legendary super mutant primus' and nothing else

Edit

When you are not there the game simulates as if the settlers and enemies were lined up shoulder to shoulder firing at each other like revolutionary armies, completely disregarding terrain, and settlers almost always lose badly because the enemies have a lot more hitpoints and way better guns. In the open with no cover a single super mutant with a minigun can kill an entire settlement's worth of defenses simply because he has a bigger health bar.

You at least have to show up.

Thank you for the information .

Thank you aswell sorry for the double post.

I've gone nearly a week of game time with no attacks, and I've had 3 attacks occur simultaneously. Attacking groups have ranged from 3-6, to a dozen or so; raiders, mutants, gunners typically, rarely see critters.

Level 60, 350+ hours in, have 27 settlements, all with stout defenses and full of settlers, 26 in most places, all armed to the teeth.

I can't find any rhyme, and definitely no reason, to cause or frequency.

Attackers also depend a lot on the mobs that frequent the area. Sanctuary has never had a serious attack, but I died multiple times helping the beach settlement. Level 60. Lots of super mutant primus. Hate green skins with missile launchers.

yeah, the level scaling should be based on another variable, like settlement defense or number of settlers. unless you manually upgrade each settler's equipment, they will remain the same while enemies get stronger.

I've built up nearly all of the settlements.

Presently my level is in the 100's and mostly the attackers have leveled up with me.

Some settlements are more prone to attack than others, although if you build up resources you are more prone to be attacked.

From my experience sometimes your settlement is attacked in your absence and the settlers take care of it themselves.

When you next visit that settlement the residents remark how they cut the invaders to shreds.

Sometimes the attackers contain a number of legendary types.

From my experience the game notifies you of an attack when some of your improvements take damage.

A turret taken out, water pump damaged, generator damaged, trading stall, crops damaged or scavenger bench damaged and so on.

So, for instance, if a mutant mongrel damages a turret you get a call out to help defend the settlement.

Or if a Gunner blows up your turret with a plasma grenade or missile, you can expect a call out.

Or if the game deposits a couple of boss bears in the middle of your settlement you can expect a call out.

As has been said before in the thread if you don't respond it's instant fail and a portion of your improvements will be rendered damaged by the game.

Sometimes an advance party will damage the improvements while the rest of the attack force moves into position.

The scenario that mystifies me is when you turn up at a settlement and everyone looks glum with half the improvements damaged.

There has been no prior notification of assistance required.

It's happened to me about four times.

A short video here of an example where a call out was received but a settler turns nasty

I had to leave and come back later to find they had calmed down and resumed their guard duties.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiaTff4KClo

One thing I noted about settlements is your response time determines where the attackers will be. For example I got a message about an attack on a farm and after dispatching some nearby enemies fast traveled there. The Synths were in the center of town and it was a huge battle between me, settlers, and turrets vs synths. But an annoying problem came up. The enemies were dead but the "help defend" quest was still active. A search of the area turned up nothing. I turned off the autosave and reloaded a couple times. Same issue, Finally I went back two autosaves and when directly to that farm. The synths spawned outside the perimeter rather then in the town square and were quickly torn apart and the misc quest was completed.

Yes, the defense value only determines how likely is it for the settlement to get attacked. Higher defense = rarer attacks. Due to how the game engine works, nothing can happen in an area (Cell) you're not in, and as such default outcome must be defeat, because otherwise you could just ignore defenses altogether

Attackers do level somewhat with you. I don't think it's exactly dependent on the strength or size of the settlement though. I'm level 90 and I've got groups of 12-15 gunners or raiders, some with power armor and a bunch of legendary foes attacking my settlements now. Deathclaw attacks are more common.

FYI, I'm level 26, have 16 settlers and have never had an attack at sanctuary.