So, I just beat Fallout 3 but...

[Saelune]

Either get the DLC or start over.
If you plan on getting far enough early on in the plot, energy weapons are good, particularly when the Enclave are everywhere, otherwise its not.
Melee weapons are better than they seem, it just requires luring and smart playing.
I cant explain lock picking verbally, or I would try to help.

If you start over, there are tons of side quests to do, and just personal goals you could set. Maybe try to get all the achievements?

 

[lacktheknack]

My question is fellow escapists, should I just play a new character (explain how the re-run can be longer, better, more complete) or should I just go onwards to Fallout: New Vegas.

You should purchase and install the "Broken Steel" DLC and keep playing your current character.

While i'm at it, should I specialize in energy weps? It just seems that early ingame, energy weapons are rare and if you are able to find one, really really worn. I can't seem to get lock-picking right, I just don't understand it. If someone could explain that to me. Meelee weapons are useless, along unarmed, I think. Is it true?

There's energy weapons the the Super Duper Mart (or whatever it's called), by the entrance. They work well, I think.

Lockpicking is done by placing your bobby pin in any one position and then using the "Open" command. If the pin shakes, you're off the target. The harder it shakes, the farther off target you are. It's a game of "Hot and Cold", mostly. When you get it in the right spot, the lock opens. Very easy locks have two spots the bobby pin can go (left side, right side), easy ones have three/four spots, average locks have six/eight spots, etc, kind of like pizza slices. At least, that's what I remember from the PC version. Corrections appreciated.

And no, very untrue. A strong character with 100 melee or 100 unarmred is VERY dangerous indeed. Your high-end melee weapon will be as powerful as any small gun and not have an ammo requirement. As for unarmed, your fists don't wear down (unless you use unarmed weapons) and IGNORE ARMOR. Basically, if you encounter a hostile with massive armor ratings, it may be quicker to kill him with your bare hands than with a minigun. Really. Plus, using Deathclaw gloves is nice and satisfying (Did I mention you can make Deathclaw gloves to fight with? Because you can.), especially against Deathclaws.

Plus, if you go Melee, you get to make a sword that's ON FREAKING FIRE. The only thing more awesome then that is the Experimental MIRV (which is an epic ammo waster).

 

[Krinku]

My question is fellow escapists, should I just play a new character (explain how the re-run can be longer, better, more complete) or should I just go onwards to Fallout: New Vegas.

You should purchase and install the "Broken Steel" DLC and keep playing your current character.

While i'm at it, should I specialize in energy weps? It just seems that early ingame, energy weapons are rare and if you are able to find one, really really worn. I can't seem to get lock-picking right, I just don't understand it. If someone could explain that to me. Meelee weapons are useless, along unarmed, I think. Is it true?

There's energy weapons the the Super Duper Mart (or whatever it's called), by the entrance. They work well, I think.

Lockpicking is done by placing your bobby pin in any one position and then using the "Open" command. If the pin shakes, you're off the target. The harder it shakes, the farther off target you are. It's a game of "Hot and Cold", mostly. When you get it in the right spot, the lock opens. Very easy locks have two spots the bobby pin can go (left side, right side), easy ones have three/four spots, average locks have six/eight spots, etc, kind of like pizza slices. At least, that's what I remember from the PC version. Corrections appreciated.

And no, very untrue. A strong character with 100 melee or 100 unarmred is VERY dangerous indeed. Your high-end melee weapon will be as powerful as any small gun and not have an ammo requirement. As for unarmed, your fists don't wear down (unless you use unarmed weapons) and IGNORE ARMOR. Basically, if you encounter a hostile with massive armor ratings, it may be quicker to kill him with your bare hands than with a minigun. Really. Plus, using Deathclaw gloves is nice and satisfying (Did I mention you can make Deathclaw gloves to fight with? Because you can.), especially against Deathclaws.

Plus, if you go Melee, you get to make a sword that's ON FREAKING FIRE. The only thing more awesome then that is the Experimental MIRV (which is an epic ammo waster).

Unarmed was frikkin' broken. Go get a yao guai claw(IGNORES DEF) and own basically everything and melee oh man, get pyromanic and shishkebab and go town on everything.

 

[ChupathingyX]

Well personally I would say get New Vegas and never go back to F3 ever again.

F3's DLCs sucked and were mostly just "for teh awesome lootz"..

 

[Pipsquid]

Just to update, I got all the DLCs last night. I'm doing the mothership zeta quest or whatever, and i'm loving every single second of it. Thanks guys! ^^

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Well, half of Point Lookout was great. The long story quest part.

I though the PL monsters and baddies were waaaaaaaaaaay overpowered, and having PL installed puts Feral Ghoul Reavers and an extra tough flavor of Super Mutant in DC. Man, I just didn't need that. If PL had scaled its difficulty to that of the Capitol Wasteland I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

There's a mod I saw -- called something like "Point Possible", which tones down the difficulty.

Man, FUCK that DLC. Reavers are easily the hardest enemies in the game, since they're so fast, so powerful, have tons of health and strength, and you usually aren't expecting them since they look similar to Roamers.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

While i'm at it, should I specialize in energy weps? It just seems that early ingame, energy weapons are rare and if you are able to find one, really really worn. I can't seem to get lock-picking right, I just don't understand it. If someone could explain that to me. Meelee weapons are useless, along unarmed, I think. Is it true?

Energy weapons is freaking expensive to upkeep, but so long as you kill several Enclave or Brotherhood of Steel members, you'll be set. In the beginning, your best bet is to head to Super Duper Mart to get the Laser Pistol there, and then head to Flak and Shrapnel's shop on Rivet City.

Lockpicking... kind of think of it as a "warmer-colder" game. If you twist the lock a little bit and it doesn't budge, that means cold, move somewhere else on the lock; if it twists to being close to opening, then jiggle the bobbypin around in that area.

Also, exiting then re-entering the lock resets the durability of your bobby pin.

Melee/unarmed, I honestly have never used. Ever. I just carry a combat shotgun around for when it gets close-ranged. But, get Pyromaniac perk + Shiskebab and you possibly have the strongest melee weapon.

 

[LuckyClover95]

You could either get DLC, or load your last save and, at the critical moment that you must go into the chamber and save or corrupt the water supply, you decide to go finish making a Wasteland Survival Guide or collect some Bobbleheads.

 

[Rock 'n' Soul]

Bethesda's games are usually worth a replay. I would try it again. You're bound to find something new. Or, if you played a good character, go back and be a total badass.

 

[Creator002]

*snip*

As others have said, get Broken Steel because it allows you to continue, but don't get every DLC. Read up on them all and decide which one(s) you like the best. I despise them all except Point Lookout (and Broken Steel, but only for coninuing. The quests are shit). I only got them all because I loved the main game.

EDIT - New Vegas is an alright game. I hardly had any of the problems other people claimed, but I'm lucky like that. Happened with Fallout 3 too, but NV would only be considered worth buying if it dropped below $70 (that's Australian, maybe under $45-50 if Amercan? Don't know, decide the price for yourself. :/).

EDIT 2 - Never mind. I see you got all the DLC before my post. Ha ha. My post is useless to you now, except the part about NV maybe.

 

[gNetkamiko]

Get all of the DLCs (Broken Steel, Mothership Zeta, Point Lookout, The Pitt, and Operation: Anchorage) plus any mods that you'd like to download (I only downloaded 2: Vault Dweller Survival Perks pack and GNR: More where that came from which has an additional 5 files, each with 20 songs from the 50's at the latest), and go exploring.

Seriously, just start exploring as soon as you escape Vault 101. I'm doing so with my current character on very hard difficulty.

EDIT: yeah, many of the melee weapons, apart from the Shishkabab, are more or less useless. Unarmed, however, takes some time to truely become effective. The required perks for an unarmed expert are all 3 ranks of Iron Fist, Bloody Mess, Better Criticals, Finesse, Paralyzing palm and Ninja. And the only unarmed weapon that's worth using is the Deathclaw Gauntlet, as it has the armor-ignoring effects of a Deathclaw's swipe, a Luck X 5 multiplier to critical hits, and allows you to use the Paralyzing Palm perk.

 

[Lord Kloo]

I'd say get broken steel and the other DLCs but also if you're on PC have a good look into the mods, millions of them and they make playing the game more interesting and to your specific style.. you missing that special hat/realistic gun/cigarette in your mouth then get to the mods.. now..
That said if you're on console I'd still hit the DLCs some very good fun in them..

 

[DigitalSushi]

While i'm at it, should I specialize in energy weps? It just seems that early ingame, energy weapons are rare and if you are able to find one, really really worn. I can't seem to get lock-picking right, I just don't understand it. If someone could explain that to me. Meelee weapons are useless, along unarmed, I think. Is it true?

you should specialize in whatever you want to specialize in, but Energy Weapons and Explosives are the most powerful tags of the game. People will tell you its small arms, but thats hookie, small arms is only good against wild animals.

 

[dancinginfernal]

While i'm at it, should I specialize in energy weps? It just seems that early ingame, energy weapons are rare and if you are able to find one, really really worn. I can't seem to get lock-picking right, I just don't understand it. If someone could explain that to me. Meelee weapons are useless, along unarmed, I think. Is it true?

you should specialize in whatever you want to specialize in, but Energy Weapons and Explosives are the most powerful tags of the game. People will tell you its small arms, but thats hookie, small arms is only good against wild animals.

Unarmed is pretty damn boss, dude. Unarmed 100 lets you punch most human's heads off in one hook. Don't even get me started with the Deathclaw Gauntlet.

 

[CD-R]

Just get some mods. There's everything from more weapons to complete game balance overhauls. Even entirely new places. If there's something you don't like about the game odds are there's a mod to fix it.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2761

This one includes all the weapons from the classic Fallout games including the energy weapons.

You bought the PC version right?

Right?

 

[Pipsquid]

Just get some mods. There's everything from more weapons to complete game balance overhauls. Even entirely new places. If there's something you don't like about the game odds are there's a mod to fix it.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2761

This one includes all the weapons from the classic Fallout games including the energy weapons.

You bought the PC version right?

Right?

PC, yes. That page has tons of stuff, I had never heard of it before. Thanks for that and let the modding begin ^^

 

[TheEldestScroll]

play it again. don't go to new vegas, that game is shit. you'll see soon enough when you inevitably ignore my warning.

 

[CD-R]

Just get some mods. There's everything from more weapons to complete game balance overhauls. Even entirely new places. If there's something you don't like about the game odds are there's a mod to fix it.

http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=2761

This one includes all the weapons from the classic Fallout games including the energy weapons.

You bought the PC version right?

Right?

PC, yes. That page has tons of stuff, I had never heard of it before. Thanks for that and let the modding begin ^^

Be sure you watch this series of tutorial videos. There's actually a couple of separate programs you want to get that will make things much easier. Namely Fallout Mod Manager.


It also shows you some great stater mods as well. Particularly Mart's Mutant Mod that adds tons of new enemies. If you follow the steps in the video you will basically have an entirely new game.

 

[Mr Companion]

Unarmed is useless? Ahem deathclaw gauntlet and ahem paralyzing palm.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Yeah, level up your Melee.
Get Broken Steel, and you unlock Enclave Hellfire Armor.
Hellfire Helmet+Recon Armor+Sword= Makes you look like a robot ninja.