Fallout 3 - Advice for the new guys

[Banana Phone Man]

Get high repair early on. It will help a bundle during the whole game. If you use the same gun or armor as enemies then you will never have to pay to get your stuff fixed. I would also recomend wearing the Ranger battle armor if you find it because this can be repaired with the Talon company armor. If not a power armor will also do but I just don't like them.

I also recomend that you learn to use small guns. The hunting rifle is strong when you know how to use it and it is a very common weapon so with high repair you will always keep it good quality. Also the special rifles such as the Lincolns repeater and Ol' painless get repaired with ordinary rifles so they stay good quality and with a high level in small guns they pack on hell of a punch. Same thing with the Terrible shotgun.

 

[Byakuren]

I don't like the Combat Shotgun very much since it sucks for long distance combat.

Well, you've been blessed with a pair of perfectly good legs and enough brain capacity to use them both at the same time. Turn it into short range combat! That's when you use the Combat Shotgun. Again and again, until whatever you're aiming at keels over. Or explodes. Or rockets into the wasteland sky. You know.

But I guess non-believers can also use Sniper or Hunting Rifles.

 

[Chamale]

Play through the game normally the first time, so you enjoy the experience and don't act all obsessive.
High INT lets you gain stats faster.
Don't take EXP boosting perks, it makes you level up faster, which encourages you to spend less time exploring.
Raise whatever stats you want, but (except for Repair) don't take them to 100 right away, because then the bobblehead you find will be wasted.
Don't murder Moira Brown. She can survive the Megaton Explosion if you really want to nuke the town, though.
If you have Broken Steel, the best followers are Fawkes, Sergeant RL-3, and Dogmeat. If you don't, the best followers are Fawkes, Star Paladin Cross, and Jericho.
If you're patient and you have Operation Anchorage, you can do that quest first. Then use Chinese Stealth Armour to sneak around and get sneak attack criticals on everything. With a sneak score of 60 and Silent Running, you should be able to approach anything carefully and kill it.
If you're just starting and you have Point Lookout, don't do Point Lookout. It's the hardest of the 3 expansions, and absolutely brutal for a weak character.
Pick up loot all the time, always carrying about 80 pounds of stuff you need and as much loot as you can. Drop or repair cheap loot as you find more valuable things.
If you want to kill people with abandon, kill people with generic names like "Wastelander", "Raider" or "Local Resident". Named people will most likely be quest related or able to help you.

 

[jimduckie]

gee i hated vats , killing death claws and yao gaus was easy using the flamer , take the repair skill , stong back perk ,comprehension and educated

and for some reason... don't finish main quest without broken steel or the pitt ( accessing ammo press is worth your time )

 

[Spaghetti]

The best advice I can give is:
Always know where you're towel is...

...seriously though: Always know where a source of water is, even if it is just a turlet. I learnt this the hardway when I accidently quick saved when I had 5% health. After an extended period of being minced to pieces by Enclace idiots, I eventually remembered that water heals all wounds. A neard by toilet saved my life...shame it didn't save me the consternation of the past 1/2 hour.

 

[TeacakeWeasel]

(Only if you have Broken Steel)

if a supermutant overlord attacks you, take out his laser rifle first, i have lost count of how many times i died from being hit 3 times by them.
but without the rifle all they can fight with are their fists which act like they have giant invisible sheep straped to them (during this time i frequently put my gun away and take them on in hand to hand combat, the most fun you can have).

also, get get the "bloody mess" perk for fun, nothing makes a fist fight more fun then when your opponent suddenly explodes.

 

[ItsAPaul]

Screw heavy weapons, keep all that ammo unless you really need to sell it, and do all the side quests. Most are Fallout-rific.

 

[cernik]

Absolute first skill you should max is Repair

Gives you powerful weapons and armor, and minimizes your inventory

 

[Sleekgiant]

The Lone Wanderer's guide

1. Glitches are your friend
2. Sneaking is always a good thing(CSS FTW)
3. Never EVER sell Lincoln's Repeater
4. Followers are trash unless it's Fawkes and Dogmeat
5. Stimpaks have no weight, carry thousands of them
6. Never waste skill points on unarmed(read No.1)
7. Callahan's Magnum is definitely worth it
8. If you don't have this game and your reading this, stop and go get it.
9. Don't rely on VATS until you get grim reapers sprint
10. Alien Power Cells aren't super rare, you can get 700+ if you have GOTY

 

[Tddawg25]

Unless you have your heart on being evil get the house in Megaton
Buy the GOTY Edition, it's worth the extra $$$ trust me

Save all of your Nuka-Colas for later

Keep the unneeded things at home and only carry what you need, questing = a lot of loot and it would suck if you got to many things to carry

You really only need 1 set of armor on you at all times, maybe 2 if you want to be really cautious

Vats is a nice way to slow down the enemy if you need to get shots in without getting smashed

Bobbleheads are your friends if you find one pick it up without hesitating

If its weightless take it


Most Importantly SAVE OFTEN!!! When you die you reload your last save, plus it helps if you want to go back and change outcomes in the game

... that's it for now

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

Hunting Rifle Headshots are your freind

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Being evil may profit at the beginning, but letting traders and towns live and prosper is a much better investment in the long run.

Invest in Lucky Harith's caravan.

You can do this with Uncle Roe in Canturbury Commons. When you reach level 12-13 he will always carry the best weapons and you'll never be stuck for Chinese Assault Rifles, the strongest small gun in the game.

 

[Ze_Reaper_Of_Zeath]

If possible, go to the Alien Ship(follow the signal when you reach the North power station), and get the Alien Blaster, with ammo. Great weapon for heavy enemies(excluding Fat Man)

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Put skill points into Small Guns, Science, Lockpick and Repair. Melee is rubbish.

I disagree on the Melee skill being rubbish.

While the other three are certainly the most useful in the game, Melee is great for one reason: The Shishkebab.

With 100 Melee + Pyromaniac perk, the Shishkebab is insanely powerful and by far the best way I have found for dealing with berzerker enemies like Mirelurk Hunters and Giant Radscorpions.

Entomologist perk is pretty much a must too, due to Giant Rads being the toughest bastards in the game. I'd rather a roomfull of Deathclaws than one of these horrors.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

Get Point Lookout and Broken Steel. These two are must-have DLCs, really, the latter should have been part of the original game.

If you have Point Lookout, take the ferry there once you steal enough money and buy a Lever-Action Rifle.
If you don't have Point Lookout, do one or both of the following:
1) Go to the very north-east of the map and find the Republic of Dave. 'Fix' their election and get the unique Hunting Rifle called... wait, what was it called? Someone help me here. Oh yeah, Ol'Painless.
2) Go to the History Museum and get Lincoln's Repeater from the second floor, its in a glass case in the central office.

With these rifles in hand, now max out sneaking and small guns, as well as repair. All combat becomes elemental, my dear Watson, after that.

Or, ignore my opinion and play it the way it's supposed to be played, with wonder and fear in your eyes.

 

[number2301]

Put skill points into Small Guns, Science, Lockpick and Repair. Melee is rubbish.

I disagree on the Melee skill being rubbish.

While the other three are certainly the most useful in the game, Melee is great for one reason: The Shishkebab.

With 100 Melee + Pyromaniac perk, the Shishkebab is insanely powerful and by far the best way I have found for dealing with berzerker enemies like Mirelurk Hunters and Giant Radscorpions.

Entomologist perk is pretty much a must too, due to Giant Rads being the toughest bastards in the game. I'd rather a roomfull of Deathclaws than one of these horrors.

Put skill points into Small Guns, Science, Lockpick and Repair. Melee is rubbish.

I disagree on the Melee skill being rubbish.

While the other three are certainly the most useful in the game, Melee is great for one reason: The Shishkebab.

With 100 Melee + Pyromaniac perk, the Shishkebab is insanely powerful and by far the best way I have found for dealing with berzerker enemies like Mirelurk Hunters and Giant Radscorpions.

Entomologist perk is pretty much a must too, due to Giant Rads being the toughest bastards in the game. I'd rather a roomfull of Deathclaws than one of these horrors.

I formed that opinion very early on and perhaps didn't give it a fair shot. I'd decided that I wanted to be a melee character when I started so put skill points into that but as soon as I got to the first group of raiders out of the vault (on the flyover north of the vault) I found I did better with small guns with less points in than melee.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Start with an INT of 9 or 10.