On my PS4 playthough Trashcan Carla got killed in the crossfire and now she is gone forever. And she is a really good merchant. Traveling merchants should not be able to be killed!

If Trashcan Carla got killed, I'd sacrifice my progress and reload an earlier save. She's one of the most valuable merchants in the game, and I wouldn't accept her loss. I can't count the number of times I've been crafting weapon mods at Sanctuary and run out of oil, then simply turned around and bought a shipment of oil from her. This is incredibly convenient.

If you've got your own merchants in town, though, Carla becomes redundant. Not like her wares are all that numerous, or vary that much from the junk vendors you can have in town. Pretty sure wandering merchants can respawn, if actually killed.

That's weird. I've seen some of them get in some horrific battles. I've actually seen pack brahmin running wildly while on fire while that travelling doctor (forget his name) was on fire and getting attacked by 5 mutants and he never died. I've seen Carla get in to skirmishes with 4 gunners and lived.

I'm playing the game on 'Normal'. Maybe it depends on what setting you are playing?

I did run in to a little girl out in the middle of nowhere named Kat (IIRC?) who is a travelling trader. She had a huge sentry bot with her. I traded with her and went on my way and when I got quite a ways away I heard a bunch of explosions and my screen flashed white. Suddenly her name came up in front of my face with an 'X' as if she was standing in front of me, but when I hit 'X' on my controller nothing happened, so I went back looking for her. Her bot got in a fight with someone and laid there in pieces and she just stood in the middle of the road by herself and wouldn't talk to me or move so I just left her.

The odd things I've ran in to while playing this game are just incredible.

If they die, they die; it's a sad loss, but it's part of the setting and the downside of the Commonwealth.

I'm fairly sure the main traders are Protected, that is, they can be only killed by the player character. The little girl and bot it a random encounter and I don't know how persistent their fates are. I got today a dublicate from one random enemy encounter that wouldn't make sense since I'd killed the said enemy earlier already.

One of the first mods that will come out with the editor will make your traveling merchants essential. For sure I am going to get it, or make it myself, when the editor comes out.

Until then, the best thing you can do is avoid combat when the Merchant is in the same cell as you, then they won't be shot at.

what is so special about her?

She sells building supplies for settlements and she is always at the diner or Sanctuary. I cant even count how many times I bought off of her on PC.

Good job on killing her then. Traveling merchants are actually protected, like settlers are, and can only be killed by the player. This why people can see them fight off 5 super mutants or crazy stuff like that but still survive... They can't die unless you make the final blow.

Also, Carla stole a suit of T-51 PA from me but I don't care. I knew where to get a replacement set for it.

Has this changed from the earlier games? In those games, if you were in the cell the merchant was in, it could be killed by other NPCs with no action needed by the player.

Yes. It's a good change since it allows traveling merchants do their job without worry but still be killable by an evil player.

I tested it myself by attacking Carla in Sanctuary then watch Preston and his bodies attack her. Sturges even had a Fat Man and shot one at her... She was still alive, just in knockout mode.

In my game, Trashcan Carla was killed out in front of the Red Rocket in the crossfire between my settlers, my turrets, and some Super Mutants. I was busy working on power armor and heard the commotion. I came outside to find her and her pack Brahmin dead. Explain THAT one, all of you who think she can only be killed by the player.

Her body disappeared in a game-day or so, but her pack Brahmin remains there where it fell, several game-weeks later, blown into the ditch between the guardrail and hill across the road down to Concord. I expect that's where it landed after being hit by a rocket or grenade from one of the Super Mutants but as I didn't witness it, I couldn't tell you.

I watched Cricket and her guards from a distant in huge battles in Quincy ruins and she and her guards eventually won after getting knocked down a few times. It may have something to do with how close you are and whether anyone in your faction is participating. As far as I can tell, Cricket is essential.

I came to Carla's aid once on the road and she handled herself just fine. I watched a few other merchants from a distant in battles and so far, no merchants in my game has die. In those cases I helped out with my sniper rifle.

I wished there's an easy way to guarantee that one of my power armor will go to her instead of some random settler or attackers! I stopped using the PA and gave my first one away to the Atom Cats.

People hates merchant NPCs dying, I think the next game will have essential merchants. I hope not.

They should just add a feature where you can loot their store items if they die, and that way most people will find it a bit more bearable.

I definitly hated that about FO3, when the trade caravan merchants would die, as they could be upgraded to have goods that were just as good or superior to any other trader in the game.

This is where FO4 is weird, if you don't do any of the settlement stuff I've found that there is maybe 3 or 4 places that I can even sell any thing too, while only 2 places that have what I would like to buy. But if you have merchants set up in your settlements it is almost like having a limitless resource to trade with.

What do you mean under "like settlers are"? I thought only named characters and Provisioners are protected (like the starting 5 at Sanctuary) but not regular ones at your settlements.

She must have had a Fusion Core in her inventory and there was some danger (e.g. Raiders) nearby. Multiple players reported such event, it's not that frequent but could happen.

In my playthrough (X-Box One) Trashcan Carla got killed and then showed up in my settlement the next day.

It has to be a bug.......or collateral damage from you.

I have seen named traders take a nuke to the face and just sit down until the battle is over.......I have shot them and they have died. Cricken especially.....

I have never seen a trader die or on the side of the road dead.....I do see things like provisioneers getting aggro and rushing into a super mutant stronghold just outside of Diamond City and live to tell about it..all the while missiles were tossed and nukes were flying.

Are their any traveling caravan traders besides Trashcan Carla and Cricket?

Because if their are I have never met them.

Oh come on people that's FO....Traveling merchants have always had to fight off raiders/SU's etc or be killed....Put ya big panties on, plus with merchants all over DC does it matter?

Yeah, there is that armor salesman who often stops at Covenant and a sleazy doctor type who goes to the Slog.