Just got Fallout 3. Any advice?
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In the basic fallout content, the SPECIAL points are more or less worthless with a few key exceptions. Perception allows you to pick up enemies you may not have seen yet on your compass, but given how quickly the game becomes laughably easy, this boost is only dubiously useful. Strength increases the damage you do in melee slightly, but the is such a discrepency between guns and melee that you only go the melee route if you want a bit of a challenge. It also affects your carry limit, adding 10 lbs for each point. Given the presence of the strong back perk (adds 50lbs to your limit), and the very common mild drugs that boost carry capacity (booze, buffout) and power armor (+1 or +2 to strength) plus the bobblehead, you can easily get by with a score of five here. Agility affects the total number of action points you have, but the difference between a score of 5 and a score of 10 works out to about one additional burst from any of the better weapons in the game (or almost 3 shots from the 10mm pistol, which would be worth something if that weapon remained useful for more than the first few hours). Charisma adds a slight modifier to all non-violent interpersonal problem resolution, but the effect is so minor that investing a few points in speecraft is all it takes. Endurance seems useful as it increases the health you gain with each level, but by end game even with an unmodified score you have several hundred HP and you shrug off up to 85% of all incomming damage thanks to armor and perks.
All the SPECIAL stuff governs initial skill points, which may make you tempted to invest heavily in skills that pertain to your preferred play style but such things are folly. Investing heavily in intelligence adds more points by end game than any other decision. If you also take the educated perk when it's available, and are diligent in bobblehead collection and perk selection, it is easily possible to max most skills by level 20. The increased level cap in broken steel makes this less necessary and makes the perks that do not directly increase a skill more appealing.
When it comes to playing the game itself, the most obvious skills to pick up early on are small guns (the most common weapon throughout the game), lockpick (increased loot and experience for the most part) and repair (keeps weapons in working order without having to pay the insane fees merchants charge to do the job for you). Barter is largely useless by end game but early on it can be helpful keeping rarer ammunition in stock. You always have rifle and pistol ammunition, but .308, .44 and missile/fat man ammunition are hard to come by. In the case of the last two, you never really end up with giant piles of the stuff, which is probably a good thing. The Fat Man ends worlds well enough on it's own and there isn't a thing in the game that will shrug off a Mirv with the right skills.
In fact, most of the skills become more or less useless as you progress. Medicine is useful primarily because stimpacks are difficult to find at first and this skill helps to stretch the supply, but simply sleeping, eating whatever you find or drinking water will ensure you only really need a stimpack in dire circumstances (like when a deathclaw appears seemingly out of nowhere and demonstrates just how awesome your armor was when it bypasses all of it with each attack). Explosives only seem to govern thrown or placed weapons and it was quite rare when I found either useful. Science is somewhat useful, but the minigame is a bit frustrating and there is almost always a lockpicking route to be had instead. It's worth picking up because it at least remains somewhat useful throughout. Hand to Hand and Melee weapons are quite useless unless you specifically intend to play the game in that fashion. Even when using the best weapon either skill governs you find it is outclassed handily by any number of firearms. If you want to play it up close and personal, you should invest heavily in both the skills and the perks that add boots (especially the iron firs perk chain for unarmed combat - when combined with a fully functional fisto you can actually explode heads in single punches with ease)
All the SPECIAL stuff governs initial skill points, which may make you tempted to invest heavily in skills that pertain to your preferred play style but such things are folly. Investing heavily in intelligence adds more points by end game than any other decision. If you also take the educated perk when it's available, and are diligent in bobblehead collection and perk selection, it is easily possible to max most skills by level 20. The increased level cap in broken steel makes this less necessary and makes the perks that do not directly increase a skill more appealing.
When it comes to playing the game itself, the most obvious skills to pick up early on are small guns (the most common weapon throughout the game), lockpick (increased loot and experience for the most part) and repair (keeps weapons in working order without having to pay the insane fees merchants charge to do the job for you). Barter is largely useless by end game but early on it can be helpful keeping rarer ammunition in stock. You always have rifle and pistol ammunition, but .308, .44 and missile/fat man ammunition are hard to come by. In the case of the last two, you never really end up with giant piles of the stuff, which is probably a good thing. The Fat Man ends worlds well enough on it's own and there isn't a thing in the game that will shrug off a Mirv with the right skills.
In fact, most of the skills become more or less useless as you progress. Medicine is useful primarily because stimpacks are difficult to find at first and this skill helps to stretch the supply, but simply sleeping, eating whatever you find or drinking water will ensure you only really need a stimpack in dire circumstances (like when a deathclaw appears seemingly out of nowhere and demonstrates just how awesome your armor was when it bypasses all of it with each attack). Explosives only seem to govern thrown or placed weapons and it was quite rare when I found either useful. Science is somewhat useful, but the minigame is a bit frustrating and there is almost always a lockpicking route to be had instead. It's worth picking up because it at least remains somewhat useful throughout. Hand to Hand and Melee weapons are quite useless unless you specifically intend to play the game in that fashion. Even when using the best weapon either skill governs you find it is outclassed handily by any number of firearms. If you want to play it up close and personal, you should invest heavily in both the skills and the perks that add boots (especially the iron firs perk chain for unarmed combat - when combined with a fully functional fisto you can actually explode heads in single punches with ease)
Everything posted above me is something you will figure out by yourself once you played more of the game.
Just get some sweet ass mods for your 2nd (or 3rd) playthrough. I know i did (that includes mods for sweeter looking asses as well
What was that? you have it for Xbox? HAHAHAHAHAAA! your loss
Just get some sweet ass mods for your 2nd (or 3rd) playthrough. I know i did (that includes mods for sweeter looking asses as well
What was that? you have it for Xbox? HAHAHAHAHAAA! your loss
I enjoyed the game on Xbox but when the GOTY edition (with all the expansions) was released, I purchased it on the pc. I remembered just how awesome the oblivion modding community had been and the tradition continues. If I were to point to just one example however, it would be the Fallout Wander's Edition mod, which adds dozens of subtle (and not so subtle) changes to the game. Most of the purported changes that we will see in Vegas seem to have been outright lifted from FWE.Sjakie said:Everything posted above me is something you will figure out by yourself once you played more of the game.
Just get some sweet ass mods for your 2nd (or 3rd) playthrough. I know i did (that includes mods for sweeter looking asses as well
What was that? you have it for Xbox? HAHAHAHAHAAA! your loss
Now, if it weren't for the fact that a vast number of the mods utterly ruin the desired atmosphere of the game, we'd be all set. I can understand the body model and texture upgrades, but the ones where the lady raiders are suddenly dressed like anime floozies?
Max Lockpick really quickly. Being able to pick any lock is incredibly useful. Small Guns is also a must have skill and is incredibly useful, as it covers normal pistols, shotguns, rifles, sniper rifles, Assault Rifles, and SMGs, which is what you'll primarily be using in the game, or at least until you can get your hands on a steady supply of energy weapons. Taking points in Medicine and Stealth isn't a bad idea either, and maybe some in Energy Weapons.
If you're about to help 3 Dog by fixing the Antenna, there's an opportunity for a GREAT weapon. When you enter the museum of technology, one of the terminals on the opposite wall of the starting room will have a message for some guy about a treasure in the museum.
Now, you'll get another option at this terminal to unlock the first of three terminal sections. You're given a set of numbers, and you must choose the prime number among them (The one only divisible by itself and 1). The other two are scattered around the museum, so hunt them down. After that, you'll be given a password for a terminal in the museum office, which will get you access to a safe with some drugs, money, and a key to a gun locker with some good stuff in the security room. But the real prize is that you get a marker on your map to the Jury Street Metro Station.
Head there (You have to do the quest first, or this won't appear!) and go into the diner. Behind the counter you'll see a shredded body. Loot it and you'll find some more drugs, money, and best of all, the Xaunlong Assault Rifle, an incredibly powerful Chinese Assault Rifle.
Those will get you off on the right foot. If you like rifles, head to the Republic of Dave in the upper right corner of the map, kill Dave, take his key, and open the safe in his office to find Ol' Painless, a unique Hunting Rifle.
If you're about to help 3 Dog by fixing the Antenna, there's an opportunity for a GREAT weapon. When you enter the museum of technology, one of the terminals on the opposite wall of the starting room will have a message for some guy about a treasure in the museum.
Now, you'll get another option at this terminal to unlock the first of three terminal sections. You're given a set of numbers, and you must choose the prime number among them (The one only divisible by itself and 1). The other two are scattered around the museum, so hunt them down. After that, you'll be given a password for a terminal in the museum office, which will get you access to a safe with some drugs, money, and a key to a gun locker with some good stuff in the security room. But the real prize is that you get a marker on your map to the Jury Street Metro Station.
Head there (You have to do the quest first, or this won't appear!) and go into the diner. Behind the counter you'll see a shredded body. Loot it and you'll find some more drugs, money, and best of all, the Xaunlong Assault Rifle, an incredibly powerful Chinese Assault Rifle.
Those will get you off on the right foot. If you like rifles, head to the Republic of Dave in the upper right corner of the map, kill Dave, take his key, and open the safe in his office to find Ol' Painless, a unique Hunting Rifle.
Well, that is certainly true enough. For every good mod, there are at least 10 that ruin the game, stay away from God Items and such.Eclectic Dreck said:I enjoyed the game on Xbox but when the GOTY edition (with all the expansions) was released, I purchased it on the pc. I remembered just how awesome the oblivion modding community had been and the tradition continues. If I were to point to just one example however, it would be the Fallout Wander's Edition mod, which adds dozens of subtle (and not so subtle) changes to the game. Most of the purported changes that we will see in Vegas seem to have been outright lifted from FWE.Sjakie said:Everything posted above me is something you will figure out by yourself once you played more of the game.
Just get some sweet ass mods for your 2nd (or 3rd) playthrough. I know i did (that includes mods for sweeter looking asses as well
What was that? you have it for Xbox? HAHAHAHAHAAA! your loss
Now, if it weren't for the fact that a vast number of the mods utterly ruin the desired atmosphere of the game, we'd be all set. I can understand the body model and texture upgrades, but the ones where the lady raiders are suddenly dressed like anime floozies?
As for the Anime floozies: stuff like that is fun for 15 minutes but ultimatly it will ruin the atmosphere in the game.
Bethesda games will always be best played on a PC, because of the great modding community it has. I dont pity the people who play them on consoles, since it's the only thing left that PC gamers have going for them nowadays. (yes, i am a PC elitist jerk and proud of it)
To tell you the truth i am not really waiting for Fallout New Vegas for the exact reasons that you mentioned about the FWE Mods. I will wait and see when it gets here.
Play through it twice. The first playthrough focus on the story. Second playthrough get yourself a guidebook... (Mostly for the maps - Fallout should come with a map book) and go exploring and try and find as many overpowered weapons/skill books / armour as possible and try and create the best character you can. After your first playthrough you will have a good understanding of how the game works...
Oh yeah hold down the (circle) button (the one that activates the pip-boy) to turn your light on and off
If you are drinking water from a tap hold the drink button.
These are things I didnt figure out until the second playthrough and my roommate who has logged over 300hrs on the game didnt figure out at all. Until then we had the brightness on our tv cranked up to max.
Oh yeah hold down the (circle) button (the one that activates the pip-boy) to turn your light on and off
If you are drinking water from a tap hold the drink button.
These are things I didnt figure out until the second playthrough and my roommate who has logged over 300hrs on the game didnt figure out at all. Until then we had the brightness on our tv cranked up to max.
You're right actually. Not that you give a reason why you're right, but you are.MiracleOfSound said:
I had forgotten about Very Hard locks/terminals which require 100.
True. The reason would be the one you just stated, because some very cool loot is hidden behind Very Hard locks. I would agree with you though that Science ain't all that important. I usually max it around level 18 when I've spare points.Jesus Phish said:
I wasn't trying to mean though... sorry if it came across that way.
This is a nice way to look at it. Fallout 3 was one of the few games I ever used a guide for, but only after a playthrough or two without one. It's nigh-on impossible to find and do everything in F3 without a guide.UnlimitedCreativity said:
That said, my favorite playthrough ever was my first, where I was constantly on the verge of running out of ammo, stimpacks, decent guns... it can be very tough when you first start, whihc makes it extra rewarding when you whoop ass!
I remember hearing some crazy noises. The building was completely dark, everything was trashed, and something really sounded like it wanted to eat me.AMMO Kid said:Why? What's in that building?-Samurai- said:I couldn't remember what building that was, so I looked it up. I get chills just thinking about that building. I didn't get more than 20 feet in before I turned around and sprinted for the door. I marked that building on my map as a reminder to never ever enter it again.Mcface said:Agree!Doctor VonSexMachine said:High intelligence means more skill points per level.
Repair is a great way to break the economy.
Do all the side quests, and go into every building you can*. Explore!
*Except the Dunwhich building, unless you like shitting yourself.
Except, being a hardened S.T.A.L.K.E.R veteran, Dunwhich was no problem for me.. but i would suggest avoiding it.
Feral ghouls. They freak me out. One second you're walking, and they next you've got this super fast, crazy thing on you.
Buy the Broken Steel DLC. Raises level cap, gives you new (and pretty cool) perks and lets you carry on after the endgame with some good missions to boot.
And go exploring.
And go exploring.