Bethesda Softworks has been tight-lipped about Fallout 4, instating an information lockout that has become par for the course for the developer, except for one particular companion: Dogmeat. In fact, we know more about Dogmeat than pretty much any other character in Fallout 4 at this point, in some cases more than even The Sole Survivor, especially in how this adorable brown-eyed German Shepherd will act as one of the essential characters in the game.
Some of the info in this analytical recap may not be new to those religiously following every scrap and morsel of info that Bethesda has shown about the game, but there are some bits and pieces that even these fans might have missed or forgotten over the last six months. So let's dig into what Bethesda has revealed so far about Dogmeat and deduce what that means for Fallout 4 as a whole.
Man's Best Friend Is Also The Earliest
As Fallout veterans will know, Dogmeat is a familiar mainstay in the series as the protagonist's trusty canine sidekick, though we should not fail to mention Pariah from Fallout 2 and the cyberdog Rex in Fallout: New Vegas (who are technically not Dogmeat, per se). Dogmeat, in his Fallout 4 incarnation, was revealed right from the start when Bethesda showed off the game for the first time at its E3 press conference, and Todd Howard himself used Dogmeat as an introduction to how Fallout 4's companion system would work in a short official video interview (embedded above).
Apart from The Sole Survivor's Mr. Handy named Codsworth, Dogmeat will likely be one of your starting companions in the game, as he's waiting near Red Rocket station in Sanctuary Hills, the hometown of The Sole Survivor that also serves as the game's starting point. As Todd Howard revealed, Dogmeat is actually named Dog until you are told by someone of his actual name. I assume that this means that Dogmeat's owner is actually deceased and that this "someone" is a character who is old enough to know Dog's true name, which would make it easier to explain how Dogmeat decides to follow your character indefinitely, though we've had other canine companions in the Fallout series who have had owners before.
Sick 'em, Dogmeat!
The main feature that Dogmeat brings to the table is the ability for you to issue simple commands. By pressing a face button, you can enter command mode to issue orders and then press another button to quit out of the mode. In the videos revealed so far, Dogmeat can be told to stay, go, fetch objects like a combination wrench, and inspect areas like a cooking station and a workshop.
Now, we're not sure if other companions in the game will be as obedient as Dogmeat or whether you can give human companions commands in the first place; if not, Dogmeat will be extremely valuable. Outside of command mode, it can be difficult to tell if something is a combination wrench or a cooking station. But while you're panning over objects in command mode, you'll actually be able to identify objects from a distance much more clearly, which is great for reconnaissance and strategy. You can also command Dogmeat to inspect an area, which can flush out enemies or perhaps keep you undetected while you send Dogmeat into the frontlines.
Eternal Companionship
While sending Dogmeat to do your dirty work might seem heartless, it has been confirmed that Dogmeat cannot die. In fact, all companions cannot die: Any companion that loses all of its health will merely be incapacitated and you'll need to rush over to that companion with a stimpak to revive them. This change is meant to prevent what Todd Howard calls "auto-reload scenarios," when players will automatically go back to their latest save immediately when a companion dies because it's permanent. (I've done this so many times.) Fallout 3 had a Puppies perk at Level 22 which allowed you to regain another Dogmeat as a companion, but this led to a lot of loading time, inventory management, and fast travelling (so why not just reload instead?).
At any rate, this will allow you to be more liberal with the tactics you choose for Dogmeat and any of your companions. However, what this system seems to imply is that your companions can no longer carry any stimpaks of their own. If this is the case, it will be vital to keep your companion close to you at all times so that you don't have to waste time running toward your incapacitated friend while you take bullets like a sponge along the way. If this isn't the case, then it would seem that companions likely won't fall in battle so long as they're well-stocked. This brings up the question as to whether Dogmeat will know how to use a stimpak on itself and whether stimpaks will even help Codsworth being robotic and all, but hey, video game logic.
Some have suggested that Dogmeat being immortal means that he'll be a part of some emotional plot device where you have to choose between the dog or someone else, channeling all of the emotion that Peter Molyneux wanted the player to feel about the dog in Fable II. But since every companion will be immortal, the likelihood of this is quite low. However, it could work the other way around: Because Dogmeat is immortal in combat, his death would be more effective if it's done through your decision in a cut-scene. (Please don't do this to us, Bethesda.)
Dogmeat Steals Hearts, Rips Necks
In the behind-the-scenes look of Dogmeat (above), we see all of the audio capture and motion capture work the team did with River, the German Shepherd owned by level designer Joel Burgess. There's even one sequence where River is seen fetching a Frisbee in a studio, so you might be able to play fetch with Dogmeat as well. The most intriguing part of the footage is that Dogmeat can be seen ripping the neck out of a Raider and actually killing him without you having to waste any bullets (good dog!). That said, while Dogmeat pins another enemy to the ground, it will give you a much better chance of hitting that enemy outside of VATS.
The Charisma 4 perk, Attack Dog, which I detailed in my perks feature for the game, allows "your faithful canine companion to hold an enemy, giving you a greater chance to hit them in V.A.T.S." This leads me to believe that both instances where we've seen Dogmeat pin enemies to the ground were performed with The Sole Survivor already haven taken this perk. It could be that Dogmeat already has this pinning ability and that the perk simply adds a bonus to VATS, but I don't think that's the case.
It's also interesting that the Attack Dog perk has three ranks in total. If these ranks only contributed higher VATS bonuses, it won't be worth the trouble, so I assume that Levels 2 and 3 of the perk will give Dogmeat even more abilities than we know at the moment. While we haven't seen this in any Fallout 4 footage yet, it would be fantastic to have Dogmeat be able to sniff out collectibles, dig for treasure, sniff out threats, and otherwise use the greatest asset a dog has anyway: its nose.
Several Observations on Dogmeat
– It's unclear what the maximum number of companions that can be with you will be. All of the information and quotes from official sources tends to use "a companion" instead of "companions" plural, which suggests that you'll only have one companion at a time. This would be a downgrade from Fallout: New Vegas where you could have three, sometimes four, people in your group at all times. If so, it's likely that we'll see a multi-companion mod very close to the launch of the game.
– Dogmeat is seen in front of the player in much of the official footage of him, which leads me to believe that he will play a vital role as a scout and be quite active without waiting around for you to give orders. That said, I hope that this doesn't mean that having Dogmeat as a companion means that stealth is nigh-impossible. My best guess is that crouching will put Dogmeat in a quiet crouching state as well, so that you can take enemies down quietly, though Dogmeat would seem to create a lot of noise with his mauling attacks. We'll have to see if Dogmeat is a Diamond Dog in this instance.
– When building your town, you can construct a custom doghouse for Dogmeat too. Under miscellaneous decorations, you can plop down a weathered red doghouse which Dogmeat will consider its home. Whether this means that Dogmeat can defend your plot of land so long as he's stationed there is yet to be seen.
– On the upside, you won't need to worry about friendly fire while Dogmeat is around. From what we can gather from the Charisma 8 perk, Inspiration, we know that companions can hurt you. But since Dogmeat is mainly a melee character (unless we can strap a gun to his mouth or a rocket launcher on his back… which would be adorable, yes), you won't have to worry about him hitting the wrong target. We're not sure if this means that Dogmeat is immune to friendly fire from you, though. I hope he is, because that would be quite a disadvantage for wielding big guns like missile launchers. Stimpaks don't grow on trees, you know.
