Fallout 4 Workshop DLC: Cages and Conveyors Guide
Short answer: Wasteland Workshop is the DLC for "capture creatures and use them to defend your settlement," and Contraptions Workshop is the DLC for "sort and process materials automatically with conveyors and factory machines." With the first, each captured creature type adds to a settlement's defense rating, but raids by the captured species also increase, so plan it together with a Beta wave emitter. With the second, check the power needs first: a Sorter needs power of 3 or more, an elevator 5, and a Builder 8.
Version covered and how I sourced this. The latest game update on the official Steam news is "Fallout 4 Update - August 18th" (August 18, 2026), and it is still the latest as of November 9, 2026 (the October posts are about the Creation Kit and Fallout Day). The official descriptions of the two DLCs are from their Steam store pages (Wasteland Workshop and Contraptions Workshop). Per-object power, perk and behavior details come from the community-run Fallout Wiki, which is not official and does not state a game version.
How the two DLCs differ
| Item | Wasteland Workshop | Contraptions Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Released | April 2016 | June 2016 |
| Official description | Design cages to capture creatures, tame them or have them fight; also adds nixie tube lighting, letter kits, taxidermy (Steam) | Build gadgets with conveyor belts, scaffolding, tracks and logic gates; also elevators, greenhouse and warehouse kits, fireworks, armor racks (Steam) |
| Perks needed (per wiki) | To build every new object: Animal Friend 1, Wasteland Whisperer 1, Science! 4 | The wiki page lists no perk requirement |
| Key power needs (per wiki) | Beta wave emitter: 1 | Sorter: 3 or more / Elevator: 5 / Builder: 8 |
| Best for | Settlements that need heavier defense (and can survive raids) | Settlements where you want sorting and processing automated |
Both are easier to manage if you connect settlements with supply lines first and then focus on one settlement.
Wasteland Workshop: capture creatures and use them for defense
Cages come in three size groups (wiki). Each cage captures a fixed kind of creature. The creature's level and subtype are not fixed, though; a Deathclaw cage can release anything from a standard Deathclaw to a much stronger one depending on your level.
| Size | Cages (wiki list) |
|---|---|
| Small | Cat, Dog, Mole rat, Mutant hound |
| Medium | Feral ghoul, Gorilla, Gunner, Insect, Raider, Super mutant |
| Large | Brahmin, Deathclaw, Mirelurk, Radscorpion, Radstag, Yao guai |
The wiki notes the Gorilla cage requires completing the main quest "The Nuclear Option" with any faction and giving the evacuation order.
How a cage works
- Build the cage and connect power. It needs power, but it does not count against the settlement's power balance (treated like indoor lighting; wiki).
- Leave it alone for a while. After you sleep in a bed or leave the settlement, the door closes and noises come from inside. Wherever it sits, even walled in, it captures its target within one to two in-game days (wiki).
- To open it, cut the power or hit the door with a melee attack. The captured creature comes out.
- Repair the cage. After release the cage counts as broken, and once repaired it can capture again. One cage can be reused indefinitely.
Captured creatures attack you without a Beta wave emitter
According to the wiki, cats, gorillas and brahmin are docile by default (a junkyard dog caught in the Dog cage is also treated as friendly), and the others turn hostile the moment they are released. What holds them back is the Beta wave emitter, which needs 1 power and works across the whole settlement. Building it requires the perks Animal Friend 1 and Wasteland Whisperer 1.
- While the emitter runs: released creatures do not attack you, your companions or settlers. They patrol and defend the area, and add a species-specific defense value without taking a settler slot.
- Not affected: Gunners, Raiders and Super mutants ignore the emitter and always attack when released.
- If you turn it off: the creatures the emitter was holding back turn hostile to you and the settlers.
- Different species: even with the emitter, species that are normally hostile to each other still fight (the wiki's example: Yao guai kill Radstag does). A tamed Deathclaw, however, will not attack a cat or gorilla.
Raids increase: the biggest trap
The wiki says keeping captured wild creatures or enemies in a settlement leads to regular attacks on it by that species or faction. For example, a settlement with pacified Yao guai starts to suffer attacks from packs of wild Yao guai. The added defense can be cancelled out by the extra raids, so check whether the settlement can withstand them first.
| Creature | Defense rating (wiki) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Deathclaw | 10 | A high-level one can reportedly wipe out a same-level raiding party alone |
| Gorilla | 10 | Also raises settler happiness |
| Radscorpion / Yao guai | 7 | |
| Mirelurk | 6 | |
| Mutant hound / Junkyard dog | 5 | Junkyard dog also raises happiness |
| Feral ghoul / Mole rat / Mongrel | 4 | |
| Cat / Brahmin | 0 | Cat raises happiness; Brahmin produces fertilizer |
A defense number alone does not show strength. The wiki says a heavy laser turret with defense 12 will struggle alone against most late-game attackers, while creatures such as Mutant hounds and most Mirelurks, despite good ratings, usually do not last long.
Arena
The arena lets you assign settlers to a red or blue team platform (Arena contestant) to fight. One settler per platform; build more platforms to enlarge a team. The Quitting time siren tells everyone combat is over. Hostile creatures and people cannot be assigned to platforms. Pacified and tamed creatures cannot be assigned directly either, so point a cage's exit into the arena and release the creature there (wiki).
Contraptions Workshop: automate sorting and processing
Per the wiki, Contraptions objects fall into conveyor belts, factory machines, logic gates, elevators, warehouse and scaffolding structures, and display racks. Below are only the ones with conditions worth knowing.
| Object | Role and conditions (wiki) |
|---|---|
| Conveyor belt | Moves items. It cannot be wired directly to a generator; it works when connected to a powered machine such as a weapon forge, but only up to a fixed range before a second power source is needed |
| Sorter | Place the item you want in the Sorter to choose it, and it sends that item (weapons, armor, consumables and so on) down a different belt. Needs power of 3 or more. Useful for pulling one item out of a large pile of loot |
| Component sorter | Place the component you want in it, and it sends junk containing that component down a different belt. Needs power of 3 or more. Unscrapped weapons, armor and apparel pass through unsorted |
| Builder | Makes junk items from scrapped items and components stored in the machine. Needs power of 8. A connected terminal changes what it makes |
| Conveyor storage | The end point of a belt line; stores whatever is fed into it, with no limit on quantity |
| Elevator | Reaches two, three or four floors. Needs power of 5. Its stops align with the taller floors of structures such as the warehouse, but are misaligned with other settlement structures |
Logic gates: one trap
There are seven logic gates: AND, NAND, NOR, NOT, OR, XNOR and XOR (wiki). The red port is the input and the black port the output, and the gate decides whether power passes based on the input state. AND, OR and XOR behave as expected. NOT, NAND, NOR and XNOR only work as expected downstream of a logic gate that has active power. The wiki describes adding an always-powered AND gate in front of the first gate when you use a negative gate.
Building an elevator into a structure
The wiki says no flat component such as a floor or roof can be placed on top of an elevator frame (inclined roofs can snap on if they do not overlap). If you want extra floors, plan the elevator's height first and build it second.
Easy-to-miss rules and recommended use
- Use Wasteland Workshop only in a settlement that can survive raids. Raids by the captured species increase, so avoid thinly defended settlements and ones that anchor important supply lines.
- Build the Beta wave emitter first. It needs only 1 power and covers the whole settlement. If it stops, the creatures it was holding back turn on you, so keep its power supply safe.
- Do not capture Gunners, Raiders or Super mutants. The emitter does not affect them and they always attack when released.
- Plan Contraptions around power. Sorter 3 or more, elevator 5, Builder 8. Belts run by being connected to machines.
- Put negative logic gates downstream of a powered gate.
- Some cages cannot be built on the Island or in Nuka-World. Per the wiki, Gunner, Raider, Gorilla and Dog cages cannot be built there because those creatures are not native. Cages cannot be built in Vault 88 either.
What I could not confirm
- A worked belt and sorter layout. This article sorts out object conditions; I did not confirm build steps.
- Japanese names of objects and perks. I did not check the in-game Japanese.
- Material costs for each object. The wiki lists them, but I did not confirm they match the current version.
- How many more raids you get. The wiki says raids increase but gives no frequency or strength figures.
- Whether the wiki's object details still match the current version. The pages state no game version, and the official update notes show no change to workshop objects, which is as far as I can verify.
- Perks needed for Contraptions. The wiki's Contraptions page lists no perk requirement.
Summary
Three points. First, Wasteland Workshop comes paired with the Beta wave emitter. Without it, most released creatures are hostile. Second, capturing creatures increases raids by that species. Even with extra defense, check whether the settlement can withstand them. Third, Contraptions starts with power needs: Sorter 3 or more, elevator 5, Builder 8. For the basics of settlement building, also see the Sanctuary settlement guide and the defensive settlement guide.
Sources
- Fallout Wiki: Wasteland Workshop (overview, object list, required perks. Community wiki, last edited April 7, 2026, no game version stated)
- Fallout Wiki: Contraptions Workshop (overview, object list. Community wiki, last edited March 13, 2026)
- Fallout Wiki: Cage (Wasteland Workshop) (how cages work, raids, notes. Community wiki, last edited June 25, 2026)
- Fallout Wiki: Beta wave emitter (power, perks, defense ratings. Community wiki, last edited April 7, 2026)
- Sorter, Component sorter, Builder, Conveyor belt, Logic gate and Elevator (object conditions. All community wiki)
- Steam: Fallout 4 - Wasteland Workshop and Steam: Fallout 4 - Contraptions Workshop (official descriptions. Official)
- Steam: Fallout 4 official news (the August 18, 2026 update is the latest. Official)
