An exciting arena battle depends on much more than the venue. The opponents you select, the gear you provide, and the devices you utilize go a long way toward determining how long a fight will last, how bloody a fight will be, and how well it will go over with your audience.
You can equip most human competitors with any gear you like. Why not provide one team with powerful weapons while giving the other team superior armor? Perhaps you’d rather pit a single, well-armed contestant against an army of opponents? You can even provide aid items for specific contestants to use during a fight. Of course, not every fight has to be a fair one. Whether you’re looking to balance the playing field or give one team an unfair advantage, the items your competitors carry into the arena help determine the nature of each battle.
If you’re looking for a pure test of skill, try stripping your contestants of their weapons before a fight. Under the right circumstances, settlers can utilize a surprising variety of strikes, blocks, throws, and takedowns. A battle between unarmed combatants can quickly turn just as brutal as anything involving guns, blades, or clubs.
To add an element of suspense to your fights, consider leaving items like weapons and ammo scattered around the arena. Contestants will often ignore loose items, but a well-timed acquisition can often allow a struggling combatant to emerge victorious.
If you really want to mix things up, try placing a functional suit of Power Armor in the ring—the first opponent to reach it will have a serious advantage in battle. Of course, you should never wager what you can’t afford to lose. If a contestant wearing Power Armor dies, you won’t be able to reclaim the Power Armor frame from his or her body.
Pressure-activated traps make great additions to arena battles, but you can also use powered traps to create manually controlled hazards. With a properly wired switch, you can choose just the right moment to activate a dormant trap.
If you plan to use tamed creatures in arena battles, it’s best to place the required cages within the combat area. Because different creature types are usually hostile toward each other, you can combine cages to achieve different effects. Build a variety of cages to stage creature-only bouts, or use duplicate cages to establish creature-based arena teams.
If you’re interested in staging a friendly exhibition, simply assign idle companions to opposing arena teams. Companions can never be killed in arena battles, so you can pit them against each other as often as you like. Whether you’re worried about a fatality-related drop in Happiness or you’re simply running short of contestants, staging fights between your companions is the safest and easiest way to keep your arena active and your settlers entertained.
You can also release captured hostiles during arena battles, but your audience isn’t likely to respond well to uncooperative competitors. Instead of cheering from the sidelines, nearby settlers and idle companions generally attack enemies and hostile creatures on sight. The result can be fairly exciting, but such a disruption tends to cause a temporary drop in your settlement’s Happiness rating.
When a battle ends, take a moment to repair damaged devices, collect items from slain competitors, and make desired modifications to your arena. You can use any combination of settlers, companions, and tamed creatures in your arena battles, and as long as you maintain a supply of competitors, there’s no limit to the number of fights you can stage.
