Fallout New Vegas Chracter Building Help?

[ItsNotRudy]

I'm absolutely positive that a newbie to the genre would find HC mode or even the highest difficulty quite the challenge.

Yeah, but why would a newbie play on hardcore mode?

I don't think HC Mode is particularly something that needs only be done on a new playthrough. It makes it a vastly different game for quite a while (face it, it doesn't matter about 10 hours in when you're swimming in caps) and I'd recommend people use it. Vanilla Fallout NV without HC Mode has a downward difficulty curve from the get-go. HC not so much.

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

You should probaly look at a list of perks to determine the stats you need for the ones you want. I know I always take a 6 perception because I love the critical perks.

Also consider a high luck. If you have at least 7 you should have no problem breaking the bank at all the casinos, that money can come in handy.

There is also a clinic that sells implants. There is one implant for each stat (7 in all) that will raise that stat by 1. There are also two other implants, one that regenerates health and one that give DR. Thats 9 implants in all, and you can only get a number of implants equal to your endurance. So you need 9 endurance to get all implants, less if you don't want them all. And the endurance you get from the endurance implant doesn't count.

There is also a perk in old world blues you get for free which will increase you strength by 2, so going over 8 in that might be a waist.

 

[Shpongled]

Don't put anything at 10 for the start.. you can get implants and various perks and what not to get a few extra SPECIAL points later on, and things tend to cap at 10 as far as i recall.

Really intelligence it's the important stat as it determines how many skill points you get per lvl, everything else is just a go for what you want sort of thing.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

Don't put anything at 10 for the start.. you can get implants and various perks and what not to get a few extra SPECIAL points later on, and things tend to cap at 10 as far as i recall.

Really intelligence it's the important stat as it determines how many skill points you get per lvl, everything else is just a go for what you want sort of thing.

Yes. Do not raise anything higher than 8 from the get-go. You can buy boosts later and certain perks also (Temporarily at times) raise a particular stat by 1.

 

[Machine Man 1992]

Well, first you're gonna want to get rid of luck; critical hits and gambling is nice and all, but you can reliably get crits from sneaking (which uses agility) and you'll be swimming in money by the half way point, so gambling is pointless (and it cheats because, you, know, computer)

Next, put as many points into Intelligence as you can. 9-10 would do, eight in a pinch. As mentioned before this will give you lots of skill points. The other SPECIAL stats are up to your personal preference.

After that, take the Skilled trait, as it is hands down the most useful trait to have. The others are just flavor; pick Skilled, and you'll be picking bad guys out of your teeth in no time.

When it comes time to pick your tagged skills, heres some advice; you only get three skills to tag and raise by fifteen points, so they will usually be the first to reach 100. Pick two combat skills- one for ranged and one for close combat, like Energy Weapons/Melee or Guns/Fist- and one of what I call the Bill Paying Skills: Repair, Barter, and Science. These skills are what let you build, fix, and sell weapons, allowing you to make fucking insane amounts of caps. If you have Gun Runner's Arsenal, you'll need that money to purchase super-weapons, like Bozar and Greased Lightning.

 

[madwarper]

It doesn't really matter what your build is, just make sure you get at least 25 in Lockpick and make a beeline for Novac.
Wait until night fall, talk to Boone, take his quest.

Spoiler

Then, break into the inn's office, pick the lock of the safe, steal the ledger. Then, don the Recon Beret and "escort" Jeannie May in front of the Reptar statue.

And, boom. Craig Boone is now your companion.

 

[SouthernStar]

Charisma and Perception help a deal. A lot more then fallout 3 I'll tell ya what. (Hank hill voice)

 

[Fanta Grape]

Amazing tutorial that I used for my first playthrough. Quite indepth for the new player and helps a lot. Just make sure you focus points in gun, that's the main concern.

 

[Eddie the head]

It doesn't really matter what your build is, just make sure you get at least 25 in Lockpick and make a beeline for Novac.
Wait until night fall, talk to Boone, take his quest.

Spoiler

Then, break into the inn's office, pick the lock of the safe, steal the ledger. Then, don the Recon Beret and "escort" Jeannie May in front of the Reptar statue.

And, boom. Craig Boone is now your companion.

Spoiler

You can just escort Jennie May out have Boone kill her then pick up the key off her body and open the safe.

No need for lock picking in that quest.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

For a start, charisma 1. Charisma is a pointless stat which deserves no advancement. Try and set your luck to 7 or above and then you can bankrupt all the casinos in New Vegas with little effort. Int needs to be high so you get good advancements when you level up. Str is important for carrying things and ultimately means you can carry more offensive power. The rest you can average out as you feel, they aren't that important.

As for tag skills, avoid tagging weapon skills as they will climb fairly quickly when you start advancing them. I would recommend Lockpick, Science and Repair...3 skills that generate you lots of cash and special items. Make sure both Science and Lockpick are at 50 as soon as possible to reap most of the locked area rewards and have repair at 50 aswell so you can fix your weapons upto a good usable level.

One little thing that most people ignore is melee...which is overpowered with no skill advancement. Upset the legion early on and they send hit squads after you...1 guy carries a super sledgehammer and that is the broken weapon your after. Once you have it, don't bother with VATs just use it manually and it is ridiculously powerfull. Explosives are similar but you don't get the grenade MG till later on...but once you have it it is a weapon that needs no skill advancement. *note* (I've tested both skills on very hard and it's just as overpowered).

But to be honest this is a game that will benefit from your own interpretation. Don't over think your first playthrough, just play it. Make your own mistakes and then consider how to improve them next time. There are 4 full storyline endings so you have plenty of chances to sample everything the game has to offer. One last tip, save before finishing quest lines.