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I finally picked up Fallout 3 yesterday. Been kicking around picking it up and read a bunch of reviews and made up my mind. Picked it up along w/ the guide. Just what I need, something else to distract me from painting my GeeW models.

I have a couple of questions for the vet players:

- Should I go ahead and pick up the expanisions or should I get some time w/ the main game first?

- What advice would you give to a beginner player?

(trying to stay away from the thread about Fallout making players crap themselves No spoilers for me thanks.)

Thanks in advance.

Stay away from any perks that increase experience (i.e. Swift Learner) or add a level. You are going to get plenty of levels anyway, it is a wasted perk.

Early on focus on Small Guns. Most weapons you find you can use and most of the powerful weapons are Small Guns.

Start your INT at 9 and run to Rivet city (Very bottom right corner of map) enter science lab for INT Bobblehead. Don't stop for anything, even if attacked. It is a pain but worth it in the long run as INT is directly linked to Skill Points given when you level up. (And you can 'Fast Travel" back) A bit hardcore but worth it. Don't start any stat greater than 9 as there is a Bobble-head for each one, not to mention Intense Training perk.

Don't read a single skill book until you get Comprehension perk (I think level 3 or 4) It gives you 2 skill points per book instead of 1. It is a difference of 260 skill points versus 520!!! (Meaning if you search around and level correctly, you can get all of your skills up to 100)

Don't pick the perk that gives you more caps as you don't find many anyway, get the perk that lets you find more ammo, it'll double the ammo you find and you can sell as much as you like (Not to mention keep your favorite piece of iron loaded).

Invest in the merchants as soon as you get the chance. Especially Wolfgang and Lucky. It is really worth it in the long run.

Save early, save often! Especially when doing jobs for people. Sometimes an alternate solution will give you another free Perk.

Bloody Mess is another wasted perk. It is actually not much bloodier or messier than a normal crit kill.

Also, stay away from perks that increase your skills. If you do the Comprehension/Book perk and have a high INT, you are gonna have every meaningful skill in the 70-80's by level 15.

When you can't find a perk that doesn't increase your skill, improve a SPECIAL stat with Intense Training. Perception is a good one and so is Agility, Luck is good as well. They add to your skills and give other benefits.

Perception = See beasties before they see you
Agility = More Action Points (Important later in the game for tackling multiple Super Mutants)

Perks that increase Criticals are pretty good

I built a Super AP/Crit character with Reaper's Sprint (I know this doesn't make much sense to you right now) and he can kill pretty much anything with one V.A.T.S. session and gets all his Action Points back for the next victim.

If and when you find the Lincoln Repeater rifle, don't sell it unless you never use V.A.T.S. In VATS it is one of the best in the game.

Don't follow Liam Neeson until later. There is so much to see and do it's like its own Tranquility Lane in of itself (This will make more sense later). If you complete the game, it's over.

Hope this helps.

This game is as deep a game as I have ever played. Enjoy.




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Oh and I'm a PS3 baby so I have to wait for the add-ons. But I'm getting them when available. This game is one of my personal favorites, ever! So any chance to continue on with the game, I'm for it.

Ditch the guide and just play the game the first time round.

I recommend straying from the beaten track.

EXPLORE, that's how I've shamelessly plugged 97 hours out this game since Christmas last year, without even nearing the end of the Main Quest. Do what you feel like, it's your playground.

Make sure you trade with merchants before you use your caps to buy stuff. That's a feature that's the most logical trading system in any game up till now, and would have made Oblivion 100x better. Caps are rare, and best kept safe in a safe in your Tenpenny suite.

VATS is awesome. Just don't use Sniper Rifles in it, they're gak with VATS. Use them only when you have >75 Small Guns, it's almost perfectly still and a 1HKO on Humans normally.

Don't feed the Yao Guai.

If you're playing at night in game time, and walking in the Wasteland, look behind you as a matter of principle and habit. You'll hear from many that Yao Guai and Deathclaws sneak up on you during the night -- that's basically the 'crapping yourself' thread in precy.

Don't use the guide the first time round, just enjoy it as an adventure and as a challenge.

Play on Very Easy until you learn the ropes, then I moved up to Hard. Very Hard is silly. I 1HKO a Yao Guai with a Hunting Rifle headshot in VATS on Easy. The challenge is fun.

Oh, and if you get the stealth suit from O:A, try and Mesmetron Raiders and capture them as slaves (you'll know what I'm talking about when you get to it), it's a 0 Karma loss way to get money, and helps clear the wasteland of donkey-caves.

sA

I would increase your repair skill, as I find that it is far more effective to combine multiple damaged items into one full strength one than it is to carry them all around and sell them and use the money to repair the best one.

I would agree with most of the rest of the above.

I certainly agree that you should just play the game the first time round... enjoy it. Then go back and power game the next time round.

Oh yeah, and pump points in Speech. If you're a realistic RP minded player like me, speech gets you a lot further than a shotgun.

sA

Get your game guide out and burn it. Or return it if you can. Seriously, why avoid spoilers in the first place if you've already sold out?

The game itself is quite easy. I've just made a Melee character, run straight to the Talon Mercenary Base and clobbered everyone's heads in at Level 3. Knocked over a few Super Mutants on the way. Since I assume you never played the earlier games, you can't imagine how dissatisfying this is. Irregardless, it is easily one of the most immersive games you'll ever play.

Unlike a lot of RPGs, Stealth isn't just a matter of complimentary mathematics. It really does matter which way your opponents are facing, and if they're looking at you, they'll see you.

I enjoyed the game most as a Small Guns / Stealth / Repair sort of character, but as mentioned, all of your skills get up pretty high if you play it right. VATs is interesting but I enjoy the game more when I deliberately avoid using it. It makes firefights ridiculously simple.

Bring your stats only up to 75, each stat gets +10 for their respective bobblehead and you can egt perks that increase them. Gun Nut is an amazing perk that gives bonuses to both repair and small guns.

Later on focus on energy weapons and repair. Little can stand a full round of VATS with a 100% condition plasma rifle. Couple it with grim reaper's sprint.


Fenris, you might as well get the GOTY edition seeing as though it comes out at about the same time and has all 5 DLC's. Its basically the DLC plus $10 for the original game.


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Oh, and don't go to old olney without stealth boys, grenades, plasma rifles, or any good old fashioned deathclaw killers. Especially if you want the medic armor.

Regarding Death Claws - Get and make the Dart Gun as fast as possible. It slows Death Claws in their tracks. (not Yao Gui though )

I disagree with Halonachos, Comprehension and Skill books are the way to go as it frees up Perks (for other Perks like Intense Training whose benefits out-weight skill only Perks in the long run). With the Bobbleheads, Skill Books and Comprehension there is no need for Skill Improvement Perks. All of my skills are at 100% except for a few that I rarely need (i.e. Big Guns, Unarmed, HtH) and even those are 80+ and I didn't take any skill improvement Perks.

Also, sorry for my enthusiasm OP but many of the posters are correct. Just play through once and enjoy the game. Save all of these 'Power Tips' for the second play through.

I'm actually on my third and I STILL find new stuff. This is without the DLC! Deep, deep, DEEP! Did I mention this game is deep?

I don't know about the perks thing you said. I mean if you want to focus on certain skills early on then they're the way to go. In fact it seems as the only perks available at lower levels boost skills.

Deathclaws are what I save my bottlecap mines for. Cripples their legs, making them easy picking.

halonachos, pay more attention.

Strong back, get it as soon as possible 50 pounds of swag can be a couple hundred caps depending on what you pick up. Also, anything that wieghs nothing pick up even if its only worth a one cap, thats one more cap then you would have had, and it doesn't weigh anything.

Strong Back = Wasted Perk.

You can always store the swag in a locker, desk, mailbox or where-ever near the front door and fast travel back and forth.

Or just take one of Fallout 3's many strength boosting drugs or use a mule.

HOLY CRAP! Fallout 3, where have you been all my life! Was there anything before you? Well, other than 40K and Fantasy and sex, that is.

GoFenris: I'm such a d-bag. Somehow I got it in my head that you wanted me to go and get the Endurance bobblehead not the INT one. Well, 6 hours after I left Vault 101, I finally got it. The End. one, that is. I just read what you posted and now I feel rather 'tarded. Oh well. So worth the effort. I think I got distracted about 10 or 20 times trying to get to the Deathclaw Sanctuary.

Found the jackknifed rig w/ the laser rifle. Ran into the Raider car fort and got a combat shotgun and a flame thrower (that was a chore a couple of times through). Found the drifter hiding in the chapel and got his stuff. Crapped myself the first time I ran into a Super Mutant camp. And finally found the DC Sanctuary. Walked in and avoided the wandering DC and grabbed the Bobblehead. Took off and started exploring the area and died. When I re-spawned it was back outside the DC Sanctuary, I ran into a DC. Always wondered what it was like to be an ant being picked on by a deviant kid. Started over at the last save and that was back before I got the laser rifle. I'm such a tool. I play so many RPGs that I know better. Oh, well.

I have to say that I really enjoy this game. Makes me think back to Diablo II and wandering around looking for loot wondering what I can find next.

Oh, and incase you missed it, I REALLY like this game.

One thing I would do if I were you go get the experimental MIRV and also get the alien laser gun its sooo awesome.

Where do you get the alien lazor?

Duh.

Or get Mothership Zeta and just let yourself be beamed up into an adventure of anal probing and a massive stockpile of alien weaponry.

BrookM wrote:Or get Mothership Zeta and just let yourself be beamed up into an adventure of anal probing and a massive stockpile of alien weaponry.

Ooohhhh.... anal probing, where do I sign up?

AS the prober, not the probee.

Being an Energy Weapon character can be different in the beginning, but not much more difficult and has some interesting rewards. Keep some effective small guns until you start to find laser pistols n such. From then on, all of the plentiful small guns and ammo for them you find become money. The perk that lets you find more ammo? More money. You'll be rolling in it if you invest in lockpick and hacking at the same time like I did so wherever I went I cleaned out every possible container I could.

I'm level 19 on my first play through and here's what I did to make it interesting:

My favored skills: Big Guns, Unarmed, and First Aid. The most satisfying thing is punching a super mutant and having their head explode with your bare fists.

Energy weapons with mainly hacking and some lockpicking. Repair is up too.

To make things more interesting I took the bloody mess perk.

Do try to bring a Dart Gun to a Deathclaw fight. If you try to lure them onto mines without it, they tend to run right over them and detonate them to no effect. My hunting kit was a Dartgun, several bottlecap mines, and a powerful cleanup weapon if the mines somehow didn't finish it off. Or more often just the Reservists rifle to pop them in the face to get their attention from far away and then dart them as they approached.

I can honestly say I've never used a dartgun on...well, anything. Deathclaws, I usually just unload a lot of firepower on them. Usually via sniper rifle (with a lot of bonuses to criticals) or the metal blaster.

Why the Yao Gui is scarier than the Death Claw...

To defeat a Death Claw: High perception, Dart Gun and Terrible Shotgun, Lincoln's Repeater or Xuanlong. Hit them with a dart and finish them off with the gun (or mines as you find multitudes of them). The dart will slow them to a virtual crawl. With the high perception you will almost always see them before they see you.

Yao Gui, they must have a Perception of 10+ because mine is ten and VERY RARELY do I see them before they see me. A dart does not really slow them down much at all (the benefit of being semi-bipedal, I guess) and they love to ambush you. Thankfully, they don't do nearly as much HtH damage as a Death Claw.

Those damn Yao Gui still make me jump when they ambush!


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The Dreadnote wrote:I can honestly say I've never used a dartgun on...well, anything. Deathclaws, I usually just unload a lot of firepower on them. Usually via sniper rifle (with a lot of bonuses to criticals) or the metal blaster.

I cleared the whole exterior of Evergreen Mills from the cliffs with just the Dart Gun without ever being spotted (except for the Behemoth of course) it was a fun little exercise. I just ate the poor behemoth up once I got down on the ground because no one was left to let the poor little BIG guy out of his cage.

Someone mentioned high Unarmed skill, I haven't tried that, I'll have to give it a whirl. Sounds like fun.

Bloody Mess I didn't find any crazy than a decent critical kill. I was disappointed by it, actually.

I think I'm gonna go start a fourth Walk-through to try out some new stuff (thanks all) and further refine my PC in anticipation of the PS3 add-ons. (and waiting for Champions Online and Arkham Asylum)

Yao Gui have some sort of either glitched or poorly animated gate that gives them their rediculous speed. They don't really run so much as they kick their legs and then glide a dozen feet.

Once you get past a certain level Deathclaws become a joke, but early on, especially if you aren't so much a combat focused character, a hunting kit and strategy are needed to kill them without being mauled to death.

Lvl 29 and I laugh at how powerless Deathclaws have become. Then after I blow them away with the androids plasma rifle I feel so disappointed that what was supposed to be the nastiest creature on two legs has become such wuss.

Shiskebob is the coolest melee weapon ever.

Have you tried turning up the difficulty railguns?

I have a perception of 4, but with a luck of 10, and every perk that boosts crit%, I get a critical about 1/3 of the time.

What sucks though is that I beat the majority of the game before the PS3 got its trophies so I'm missing everything before the "take it back" trophy. I really don't feel like a second playthrough though.

I do sometimes, but all that does is ludicrously ramp up the health and damage of enemies, without really changing the game. I'm already a bit incredulous about nailing a raider in the head with a 10mm pistol just to have him turn around and perforate me with an assault rifle he's firing from the hip while I'm sitting behind a concrete wall that covers me up to my face. Or when I put a rocket into a Super Mutant just to have it laugh it off and charge me. Soft tissue does not behave like that.

But it's a game, so I play it for what it is.