Fallout Shelter - how to unlock and use Mr Handy
How to get your very own sassy helper robot.
Mr Handy - or technically Mister Handy, if we're being particular - is a useful, multi-limbed robot who was featured in both Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. In Fallout Shelter, his main purpose is the automation of your resource collecting, as Mr Handy can be assigned to roam an entire floor, picking up resources for you when they're ready and saving you a few taps. Aside from acting as an RSI prevention tool, this can be particularly handy (sorry) when your Vault and Dweller count grows to near unmanageable sizes.
Mr Handy will also, importantly, automatically tend to any Disasters or incidents on his assigned floor, fight off intruding Raiders and - unlike your Dwellers - chase intruders through multiple rooms on his floor. Here on this page then, we'll be taking you through exactly what Mr Handy does, how to get Mr Handy, and how to use Mr Handy well.
What is Mr Handy in Fallout Shelter and how does he work?
The thing that makes Mr Handy so special is the automation. If you have enough of them, entire resource incomes can be left alone whilst you deal with the more management-intensive duties like breeding new Dwellers, training them and checking up on those in the Wasteland.
He also makes a significant difference to your counter-Disaster measures, by providing an instant response anywhere on his floor. Individually dragging and dropping your guard Dwellers - or assigning them weapons and outfits - can get rather clumsy when your population increases, so it makes a huge difference having a Mr Handy there on-hand (sorry, again - that's the last one).
How to unlock Mr Handy in Fallout Shelter
Mr Handy can only be gained in two ways: at random from a Lunchbox, or via directly purchasing either one or a group of five via the in-game shop - at the point of writing, he costs £0.79 in the UK or $0.99 in the US.
The chances of finding a Mr Handy via Lunchbox are incredibly slim but, if you're intent on doing it the hard way, then the only thing you can do to speed up the process is remember to cancel any non-Lunchbox-rewarding Objectives each day, and prioritise completing the ones that do provide Lunchboxes as quickly as possible.
Other Fallout Shelter guides:
Looking for more guides on Fallout Shelter? Take a look at our main Fallout Shelter guide and tips page, our guide to room functions and room placement, advice on dwellers, SPECIALS, happiness and breeding, explainations of Legendary Characters, Pets, Weapons and other collectibles, how to unlock and use Mr Handy, plus how to earn Bottle Caps and Lunchboxes with Objectives, and our page on Quests, combat, and Daily Quests in Fallout Shelter, too.
How to use Mr Handy to collect resources in Fallout Shelter
Using Mr Handy is suitably easy - simply drag and drop him to the desired floor as you would when assigning a Dweller to a room, and he'll automatically get to work collecting, roaming, and defending it without your supervision.
It's really as simple as that. The robot is a great way to take a little weight off your shoulders in the general maintenance of your Shelter - whether or not that's worth the price, however, is your call.