Should you save or kill Pickman in Fallout 4? Answered

This is an easy choice.

pickman in a suit covered in blood in fallout 4
Image via Bethesda

You’ll encounter Pickman, a super creepy serial killer, inside Pickamn’s Gallery in Fallout 4, and when you do you’ll have the option to spare his life or let the raiders kill him.

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As one is a serial killer and the others are the scourge of the Wasteland, knowing which option to pick can be difficult in any Fallout 4 playthrough.

Fallout 4: Should you save or kill Pickman

picnic for stanley painting in the gallery in fallout 4
If you spare Pickman, a quest marker will show you the safe’s location. Image via Bethesda

Even though he’s quite disturbed, you should save Pickman in Fallout 4. This is because, regardless of your choice, you’ll get Pickman’s Key, which is needed to open the safe on the ground floor of the Gallery; this has Pickman’s Blade and some bottle caps.

Killed Pickman? Here’s the safe’s location:

The safe can be found behind the painting “Picnic for Stanley” on the ground floor.

However, the reason you’re saving the creep guy is that the two situations are different, and how you get the key and the loot are affected. We’ve detailed both scenarios below to see what happens if you kill Pickman or choose to save him.

Kill PickmanSave Pickman
– Must kill the raiders.
– Must loot the key from his body.
– Must find the safe without assistance.
– You don’t receive a thank you note because you killed him.
– Must kill the raiders.
– Pickman gives you the key to his safe.
– Pickman tells you where to find the safe. It will have a quest marker as well.
– You receive a thank you note because you spared his life.

From a Fallout story point of view, it doesn’t matter whether you kill Pickman or save him because you still have to kill the raiders, you still get the key, and you still get the loot. However, whether you disagree with his vigilante ways of killing any raiders who enter his Gallery is another story. So, if you believe you must rid the world of Pickman and his vigilante ways, you can because no one will stop you, and there’s no recourse.

Tip:

There is a bobblehead in the Gallery you should get as well.

Unless you’d like a thank-you note, there’s not all that much difference between saving or just killing Pickman. But keeping Pickman alive makes it a little easier to find the safe, so the best option is keeping him alive.

Author
Image of Hayley Andrews
Hayley Andrews
Hayley Andrews is a staff writer for Dot Esports with a dual degree in business and human resource management. After discovering her passion for creative writing and gaming, she now writes about MOBAs, MMOs, and cozy games.