Take the role of a Vault Overseer and lead your dwellers to survival in Fallout Shelter.
Life can be solitary for vault dwellers, just as it can for current-day humans, and pets remain great companions to ease the loneliness by filling our hearts with love.
But everything must have an efficient purpose in a Vault, and pets are no exception.
Only the most useful bonuses should be allowed in your underground paradise. And I’m going to tell you which ones to pick out during your next playthrough.
15. Calypso – Lykoi
Bonus: Damage
Lykoi are shorthair cats with a slight genetic mutation that affects their fur, leaving part of their face uncovered.
It gives them a distinctive “werewolf” look, which is where their name comes from. Lykoi means “wolves” in Greek.
Much like an actual werewolf, Calypso and the rest of the Lykoi in Fallout Shelter are vicious, providing you some extra damage in battle.
Common ones provide +2, Rare +4, and the Legendary Calypso will make their owner a whopping +6 points more dangerous.
14. Wanderer – Pirate Parrot
Bonus: Damage Resistance
Speaking of parrots, consider Wanderer – a useful Pirate Parrot that’ll provide a whopping 46-50% decrease in damage received.
It even protects its owner from radiation damage!
Of course, this comes at the cost of making your dwellers the easiest target in the entire Wasteland, thanks to having a bright multi-colored bird on their shoulder when everything else is brown or gray.
Common Pirate Parrots have also been found to provide 20-24% protection to their owners, and Rare ones can range from 36% to 40%.
Whether you’re out in the Wasteland fighting for your life or guarding the entrance of the Vault – this feathery friend will do you good.
13. Zula – Abyssinian
Bonus: Damage Resistance
As one of the most popular cat breeds in the world, it’s no surprise that there would be some Abyssinian cats still roaming the land after the bombs fall.
Often called “the supermodel of cats” due to their sleek figure, these short-haired cats have an elegant disposition and project a sharp intellect – which they use primarily to get their owners to play with them 24/7.
Of course, you can’t play with your owner if Raiders kill them. So these cats do their best to provide damage resistance ranging from 20-24% to a solid 46-50% in the case of the Legendary Zula.
12. Scavver – Boxer
Bonus: XP
Staying alive in the Wasteland means preparing for everything.
So continually improving your skills is just as necessary as staying hydrated.
An excellent pet that’ll help you in that department is the Boxer dog breed – and more specifically, the Legendary Boxer Scavver.
These devoted dogs will increase your experience gain depending on their rarity. Common ones will make you anywhere from 6% to 15% more efficient at learning, Rare goes up to 21-30%, and Scavvers provides a massive 36-46% more experience.
Just make sure to let them know they’re doing a good job, and they’ll never leave your side.
11. Ginger – Scottish Fold
Bonus: XP
These cute furballs are known for their strange ears, which tend to fold back, giving them a distinctly silly look that’s just perfect for their lovely round faces. It makes them look like an owl!
Much like our previous entry, the Scottish Fold will help dwellers level up faster by keeping them happy… or something like that.
While Common and Rare specimens will provide up to 15% and 30% more XP, it’s the Legendary Scottish Fold known as Ginger that changes the game with a range of 36% to 45% XP increase.
10. Muttface – Black Lab
Bonus: Training Time
If you’ve ever visited Little Lamplight while playing Fallout 3, chances are you’ve met Muttface: an underground-dwelling black Labrador Retriever who’s protective of everyone in the community.
Muttface was raised by children, and as such, they’ve seen plenty of humans grow up.
Maybe that’s why his skill is reducing the time needed to train SPECIAL stats in the different training facilities at the Vault.
Common and Rare Black Labs in Fallout Shelter enable 6-10% and 16-20% faster training times, but Muttface is on a league of his own.
Not only does he provide 26-30% speedier training times, but it’s uninterrupted – meaning the dweller will keep training without your supervision until the stat is maxed.
9. Bangor – Maine Coon
Bonus: Training Time
Maine Coons are possibly the cutest, most friendly cat breed in the history of felines.
And that hasn’t changed after the nuclear apocalypse.
Calm and cuddly, these ridiculously furry creatures are almost dog-like in their behavior. Maybe that’s why the Maine Coon provides the same training time bonuses as a Black Lab.
Common Maine Coons speed training up by up to 10%, Rare ones achieve up to 20% shorter training times – and the Legendary Bangor will help your dweller reach their goal 30% faster without your supervision.
8. Cinder – Pallas’s Cat
Bonus: Wasteland Junk
Once you’ve developed your Vault into a bustling center of survival far into the late-game, you’re going to need a lot of Rare and Legendary junk from the Wasteland to craft Legendary weapons and armor.
The Central-Asian Pallas’s Cat can help your dwellers find the choicest scraps with their fantastic tracking skills.
This translates to 25-33% better chances of finding valuable junk with Common cats, 58-66% with Rare ones – and up to double your base chances with the Legendary cat Cinder.
7. Barry – St. Bernard
Bonus: Wasteland Junk
St. Bernards were bred as rescue dogs built for the harsh conditions of the Italian-Swiss Alps.
These excellent skills of tracking wounded or freezing people in the snow translate surprisingly well to finding junk in the Wasteland.
Much like the Pallas’s Cat, Common and Rare St. Bernards will increase your chances of finding valuable junk by 25-33% and 58-66%, respectively. The Legendary rescue dog Barry takes that up to 91-100%.
Just don’t expect them to carry some bourbon on their collars. At most, you’re getting Nuka-Cola cans.
6. Cocoa Bean / Mr. Peepers – German Pointer
Bonus: Wasteland Return Speed
Few things are quite as critical for survival in the Wasteland as a good sense of direction.
If your dwellers lack on that front, a German Pointer might… you know, point them in the right direction.
These classic hunting dogs are prized for their tendency to point at stuff with their nozzles – a bizarre trait in the animal kingdom that makes them perfect for anyone scavenging for resources or just hunting game.
A Rare German Pointer will help your dwellers find their way back to the Vault after a successful Wasteland exploration trip in half the time. The Legendary versions – Cocoa Bean and Mr. Peepers – will provide a 4x increase in return speed.
5. Trench – Husky
Bonus: Wasteland Return Speed
Widely known for their prevalence as sled dogs in snowy regions around the world, Huskies are a unique breed with some Gray Wolf DNA mixed in.
This gives them the distinctive “wolfy” look that’s made them so popular among edgy kids since times immemorial.
Other than intimidating Raiders, these canines will help your dwellers return home faster from the Wasteland once their pockets are full of valuables.
There’s the Common variety with a 1.25x increase in speed, the Rare one with 2x, and the Legendary Trench with a whopping 4x faster return time.
4. Duchess – Turkish Van
Bonus: Child SPECIALs
Overseeing a vault is much more than managing your day-to-day problems.
You also need to plan for the future – sometimes generations in advance.
The Turkish Van cat can help you a lot in this regard by magically improving newborn babies’ SPECIAL traits upon birth. It’s like folic acid in feline form!
Rare Turkish Vans only increase a random SPECIAL stat by +1, but two Legendary cats go further. These are Pumpkin, who provides +2, and the aristocratic Duchess, who goes up to +3.
3. Bandit – Australian Shepherd
Bonus: Child SPECIALs
If rather than just apply bonus SPECIAL stats to your children, you want a pet that’ll be a lifelong friend for them, the Australian Shepherd is the breed for you.
Rare Aussies can give either +1 or +2 to a SPECIAL stat at birth depending on the individual dog, and the Legendary Bandit will provide a +3 increase.
2. Pip – Vault-Tec Parrot
Bonus: Objective Completion
The most potent bonus a pet can provide to their owner is help completing mission objectives, and Vault-Tec has just the genetically-engineered bird for that.
Pip is a cool, electric blue parrot that’ll multiply any step you take toward objective completion by three.
If you put out a fire, it’ll count as putting out three. Kill a Radroach, and it’ll be like clearing an entire room of them.
This applies to all sorts of objectives both inside and outside the vault.
It’s invaluable for ridiculous challenges like “Kill 15 Deatchlaws without a weapon”.
1. Dogmeat – German Shepherd
Bonus: Objective Completion
German Shepherds are among the most widespread dog breeds.
And even the Wasteland has a fair amount of them – including Dogmeat, the Legendary pooch who debuted in Fallout 4.
A true hero of the Wasteland and the Fallout 4 community alike, Dogmeat stands proud alongside other influential figures of the Commonwealth such as Preston Garvey, Nick Valentine, and – of course – the Lone Survivor, all of which he has helped of his own canine volition.
In Fallout Shelter, Dogmeat provides a 3x multiplier on completed objectives.
You can also find Rare German Shepherds providing a solid 2x multiplier.
Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina. He’s a writer and translator passionate about history and foreign cultures. His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon.
