The Official Fallout 3 thread of post-apocalyptic proportions!
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The perks that I'll pick regardless of character build will be: Educated, Comprehension, Cyborg, Scrounger, Fortune Finder, Strong Back, Better Criticals, Action Boy/Girl and Mysterious Stranger. The rest of the perks will depend on my character's specialization. If I'm using any form of guns, I'll be picking up Sniper. Specialists in melee and explosives won't need bonuses to hit% in VATS, since they can't target specific limbs and from my experience, as long as you're in range the hit% is 95.
Roleplay options - Child at Heart, Ladykiller/Black Widow. The +10% to damage against the opposite sex is cool, but not really useful as SuperMutants, organic and robotic monsters are asexual.
Explosives - all 3 ranks of Demolition Expert.
Melee - Pyromaniac + Ninja. The Shiskabab is the strongest melee weapon and gets my personal vote as the coolest weapon in Fallout 3. At base it is 40 with 100 Melee and in 100% condition, and Pyromaniac augments it further into a whopping 60 points of damage. The only problem is finding enough motorcycle parts to last you a good 20~40 hours if you don't have a secondary/tertiary weapon specialization.
Big Guns - I'll go with Pyromaniac for Flame Thrower's increased power, as well as Action Boy/Girl and Grim Repear's Sprint as heavy weapons take up a shit load of APs to use. I'm not sure if Commando affects Big Guns, and until I'm sure I'm not taking the risk of wasting one perk.
Energy Weapons/Small Guns - definitely Sniper + Commando. The A3-21 is governed by Energy Weapons; is both a rifle and can easily decapitate most humanoid foes. Despite being energy weapons, the Alien Blaster and Gatling Laser are governed by Small Guns and Big Guns respectively. The huge array of uniques in Small Guns are mostly 2-handed rifles as well - The Terrible Shotgun, Lincoln's Repeater, Xuanlong's Rifle etc.
Unarmed - Ninja + Paralyzing Palm + Iron Fist.
Borderline useful perks. I consider these to be mildly useful, and should only be taken when there's nothing else useful on the option list during level up:
- Finesse/Concentrated Fire/Bloody Mess. The bonuses aren't really worth it. +5% to critical is the better choice, since if you've scored a critical to disarm/cripple/decapitate you no longer need the bonuses to hit normally.
- Animal Friend. This is another roleplaying perk, because killing Yao Guai isn't too hard from level 8 onwards, and I would rather take their meat and kill myself than let them do the work for me. Exp..exp~
- Entomologist. You don't really encounter a whole lot of Radscorpions, and even the giant variants go down easily without this perk. Radroaches are weak, and Fire Ants also require little effort to deal with. I'm not sure if Mirelurks are affected by this perk, but no biggie, aim for their face and they go down fast.
- Master Trader. Only useful if you buy a lot. I don't, all my parts and ammo are loot picked up from the Wastelands. I spend money only on followers who need caps in exchange for services, and schematics. I'm not sure if it affects the selling price of items..
Perks I'll avoid completely:
- Rad Resistance. Biosuits + decent Medicine skill + Rad-X, or even power armors + Rad-X is sufficient.
- Lead Belly. Pop a Rad-X before consuming food.
- Gun Slinger. The only pistol worth a damn is the Alien Blaster, and unfortunately its ammo is rare. Its high critical rate is already awesome without the need to add a bonus to hit.
- Nerd Rage. Bonuses only kick in when your life bar is < 20%. Unless you're going for a challenge which means constantly living on the edge, I won't recommend this for players seeking a safe and stable build in their plays. Further, DR is capped at 85, and there're 3 ways to improve base DR. The Oasis quest has an outcome that gives + 10%, Cyborg gives + 10% and Toughness give + 10%. That's 30% base and combined with armors that give 30~40 DR, it is almost close to the cap of 85. Besides, cover does matter in this game, so you shouldn't be taking that much damage anyway.
- LawBringer/Contract Killer. Never tested this myself, although 10 caps per finger is a complete waste of time when Fortune Finder constantly gives you 30~80 caps from each random container.
- Impartial Mediation. With Naughty Nightware and Button's Wig, that's +20 to Speech right there; stacked with Speech Bobblehead and we've 30 free points in Speech.
- Here and Now. lv cap is at 20, period. You should only be taking this if you plan on speed runs and have no intention of finishing that play at 20.
- Fast Metabolism/Life Giver. Medicine + Stimpaks or Rad-X > consume food. Why is there a need for extra health?
- Adamantium Skeleton. Find a bed to rest/consume Stimpaks. Problem solved.
- Chemist/Chem Resistance. I've never come close to a situation in Fallout 3 where the heavy usage of drugs is mandatory, as opposed to optional.
- Inflitrator/Computer Whiz - After 3 failed attempts, exit and try again.
- Mister Sandman. Look, most of the foes in this game won't be sleeping when you face them, you can count on that. If you must murder an isolated individual without pissing off an entire town, do it when everyone is sleeping, and if you do get caught, just run and zone out of the town. The residents will forgive you after a few days.
- Robotics Expert. One major caveat being when you managed to shut down a robot by sneaking, it does not give you any ammo. In a shut down state, you can't use VATS to target, negating all +hit/critical% bonuses and the possibility of OHKO from Mysterious Stranger. In other words, the amount of ammo you get back by manually targeting a robot is almost the same (or more) spent killing it. The +25% to damage isn't really significant against Sentry type robots.
- Cannibal. Useless you like to roleplay. There are plenty of ways to restore health in Fallout 3.
- Explorer. I have access to 4 maps of Fallout 3 and I enjoy the initial leisure stroll needed to discover a location for future fast travels.
- Night Person/Solar Powered - SPECIAL is capped at 10, and really more health bonuses? This is getting old, but yes, beds/Stimpaks/Rad-X + food.
Skillpoints perks: should you be using them? Depends on your play-style. I've addressed this before. If you plan to locate all skillbooks you get 50 free points per skill, and eXistor mentioned that bobbleheads also give +10 skill points to each corresponding skill. They are just an option for you to get more skill points at the expense of perks, so if you find that you have an extra perk slot or 2, but need skillpoints in 2 sets of skills feel free to go ahead and pump them. I view this as a failsafe against "bad" builds, for Fallout 3 does not allow you to undo your investments in skill points and perks (Etrian Odyssey/Fable II). Think of it as a safety net to encourage pushing through with your current build without having to start all over from scratch.
Roleplay options - Child at Heart, Ladykiller/Black Widow. The +10% to damage against the opposite sex is cool, but not really useful as SuperMutants, organic and robotic monsters are asexual.
Explosives - all 3 ranks of Demolition Expert.
Melee - Pyromaniac + Ninja. The Shiskabab is the strongest melee weapon and gets my personal vote as the coolest weapon in Fallout 3. At base it is 40 with 100 Melee and in 100% condition, and Pyromaniac augments it further into a whopping 60 points of damage. The only problem is finding enough motorcycle parts to last you a good 20~40 hours if you don't have a secondary/tertiary weapon specialization.
Big Guns - I'll go with Pyromaniac for Flame Thrower's increased power, as well as Action Boy/Girl and Grim Repear's Sprint as heavy weapons take up a shit load of APs to use. I'm not sure if Commando affects Big Guns, and until I'm sure I'm not taking the risk of wasting one perk.
Energy Weapons/Small Guns - definitely Sniper + Commando. The A3-21 is governed by Energy Weapons; is both a rifle and can easily decapitate most humanoid foes. Despite being energy weapons, the Alien Blaster and Gatling Laser are governed by Small Guns and Big Guns respectively. The huge array of uniques in Small Guns are mostly 2-handed rifles as well - The Terrible Shotgun, Lincoln's Repeater, Xuanlong's Rifle etc.
Unarmed - Ninja + Paralyzing Palm + Iron Fist.
Borderline useful perks. I consider these to be mildly useful, and should only be taken when there's nothing else useful on the option list during level up:
- Finesse/Concentrated Fire/Bloody Mess. The bonuses aren't really worth it. +5% to critical is the better choice, since if you've scored a critical to disarm/cripple/decapitate you no longer need the bonuses to hit normally.
- Animal Friend. This is another roleplaying perk, because killing Yao Guai isn't too hard from level 8 onwards, and I would rather take their meat and kill myself than let them do the work for me. Exp..exp~
- Entomologist. You don't really encounter a whole lot of Radscorpions, and even the giant variants go down easily without this perk. Radroaches are weak, and Fire Ants also require little effort to deal with. I'm not sure if Mirelurks are affected by this perk, but no biggie, aim for their face and they go down fast.
- Master Trader. Only useful if you buy a lot. I don't, all my parts and ammo are loot picked up from the Wastelands. I spend money only on followers who need caps in exchange for services, and schematics. I'm not sure if it affects the selling price of items..
Perks I'll avoid completely:
- Rad Resistance. Biosuits + decent Medicine skill + Rad-X, or even power armors + Rad-X is sufficient.
- Lead Belly. Pop a Rad-X before consuming food.
- Gun Slinger. The only pistol worth a damn is the Alien Blaster, and unfortunately its ammo is rare. Its high critical rate is already awesome without the need to add a bonus to hit.
- Nerd Rage. Bonuses only kick in when your life bar is < 20%. Unless you're going for a challenge which means constantly living on the edge, I won't recommend this for players seeking a safe and stable build in their plays. Further, DR is capped at 85, and there're 3 ways to improve base DR. The Oasis quest has an outcome that gives + 10%, Cyborg gives + 10% and Toughness give + 10%. That's 30% base and combined with armors that give 30~40 DR, it is almost close to the cap of 85. Besides, cover does matter in this game, so you shouldn't be taking that much damage anyway.
- LawBringer/Contract Killer. Never tested this myself, although 10 caps per finger is a complete waste of time when Fortune Finder constantly gives you 30~80 caps from each random container.
- Impartial Mediation. With Naughty Nightware and Button's Wig, that's +20 to Speech right there; stacked with Speech Bobblehead and we've 30 free points in Speech.
- Here and Now. lv cap is at 20, period. You should only be taking this if you plan on speed runs and have no intention of finishing that play at 20.
- Fast Metabolism/Life Giver. Medicine + Stimpaks or Rad-X > consume food. Why is there a need for extra health?
- Adamantium Skeleton. Find a bed to rest/consume Stimpaks. Problem solved.
- Chemist/Chem Resistance. I've never come close to a situation in Fallout 3 where the heavy usage of drugs is mandatory, as opposed to optional.
- Inflitrator/Computer Whiz - After 3 failed attempts, exit and try again.
- Mister Sandman. Look, most of the foes in this game won't be sleeping when you face them, you can count on that. If you must murder an isolated individual without pissing off an entire town, do it when everyone is sleeping, and if you do get caught, just run and zone out of the town. The residents will forgive you after a few days.
- Robotics Expert. One major caveat being when you managed to shut down a robot by sneaking, it does not give you any ammo. In a shut down state, you can't use VATS to target, negating all +hit/critical% bonuses and the possibility of OHKO from Mysterious Stranger. In other words, the amount of ammo you get back by manually targeting a robot is almost the same (or more) spent killing it. The +25% to damage isn't really significant against Sentry type robots.
- Cannibal. Useless you like to roleplay. There are plenty of ways to restore health in Fallout 3.
- Explorer. I have access to 4 maps of Fallout 3 and I enjoy the initial leisure stroll needed to discover a location for future fast travels.
- Night Person/Solar Powered - SPECIAL is capped at 10, and really more health bonuses? This is getting old, but yes, beds/Stimpaks/Rad-X + food.
Skillpoints perks: should you be using them? Depends on your play-style. I've addressed this before. If you plan to locate all skillbooks you get 50 free points per skill, and eXistor mentioned that bobbleheads also give +10 skill points to each corresponding skill. They are just an option for you to get more skill points at the expense of perks, so if you find that you have an extra perk slot or 2, but need skillpoints in 2 sets of skills feel free to go ahead and pump them. I view this as a failsafe against "bad" builds, for Fallout 3 does not allow you to undo your investments in skill points and perks (Etrian Odyssey/Fable II). Think of it as a safety net to encourage pushing through with your current build without having to start all over from scratch.
AndresON777
shooting blanks
Can anyone please tell me how to get in the bow of the ship in Rivet City?
Danne-Danger
Member
There's a bridge leading to a door at the side of the broken-off part, if your lockpick is too low then there's an underwater entrance just to the left of it.ChrisGoldstein said:
stupid AI.M3wThr33 said:
Fuck that asshole. I gave him six waters in a row and he still wanted more. I went off for a quest and came back and he was DEAD. And then I went to god damn Rivet City and there was ANOTHER one of those dickwads done by the same voice actor.
I blew his head off out of spite. Fuck you, water men.
Also,
My guy looks so awesome.
Kritz said:Fuck that asshole. I gave him six waters in a row and he still wanted more. I went off for a quest and came back and he was DEAD. And then I went to god damn Rivet City and there was ANOTHER one of those dickwads done by the same voice actor.
I blew his head off out of spite. Fuck you, water men.
Also,
My guy looks so awesome.
He looks like Robin Williams.
ZombieSupaStar
Member
a few mods trickling in for the pc version (obviously nothing to awesome untill an sdk or something)
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/categories.php
someones already made a killable children mod....
http://www.fallout3nexus.com/downloads/categories.php
someones already made a killable children mod....
I hit the level 20 cap tonight and I'm just post-Tranquility Lane. Part of me wants to just finish the storyline now and finish the game. But then I got sidetracked and started exploring... and cleared out a bunch of Raider strongholds. Got the Terrible Shotgun. Nuked another bohemoth. Got the Spirit of Death or whatever perk.
This game is just too damn good. :lol
This game is just too damn good. :lol
Shake Appeal
Member
Very Hardkbear said:
But I'm coming into it from a hardcore RPG/Fallout background, which makes this game a delightful prance through the park. I was still taking out Super Mutant Masters at level 7 with a hunting rifle.
sennin said:
Great post, thanks.
Like in previous Fallout games, about 65% of the perks are useful imo, there are only a couple I think anyone should focus depending on the style they want to play.
The "Intense training" perk I think that makes sometimes the decision too easy, in the first levels you can pick this 4 or 5 times and up the INT soon, so you will have a lot more points to put on the skills. There are a few interesting perks, but I don't like to waste picking perks just to up 5 points more a couple of skills, it's a bit lame imo, I think the perks that give % bonus are more interesting.
Since I'm focusing all my skill points in Science, Speech and Lockpick (for the achievements) I was tempted to pick up "Gun Nut" but it's not worth only 5+ points in "Small Guns and Repair" sacrificing the option to have one more point in any stat.
Shake Appeal
Member
Strong Back isn't necessary. My character has STR 3 and a weight carry of 180 and it's never been a problem if I'm judicious; I can still afford guns, caps and ammo in abundance, and have around ~40-50 weight of space to lug other stuff (for schematics/sidequest rewards mostly) back and forth to storage.
But yeah, I started out with INT 9, got it to 10 with Intense Training, and couple that with some of the perks and my skills are nutty. Although I guess the fact that they cap out at 100 sort of mitigates their effect (I'm glad someone told me this, incidentally, so I could leave them around the 90-95 mark and spend elsewhere while still finding skill books and bobbleheads).
Also, as with the previous Fallout games, there is absolutely no excuse not to tag and boost Small Guns as quick as possible, unless you are making a very specific build. I haven't even got that far or explored that much (I'm level 12 right now, going to Vault 112) and my Chinese Assault Rifle eats everything for breakfast.
But yeah, I started out with INT 9, got it to 10 with Intense Training, and couple that with some of the perks and my skills are nutty. Although I guess the fact that they cap out at 100 sort of mitigates their effect (I'm glad someone told me this, incidentally, so I could leave them around the 90-95 mark and spend elsewhere while still finding skill books and bobbleheads).
Also, as with the previous Fallout games, there is absolutely no excuse not to tag and boost Small Guns as quick as possible, unless you are making a very specific build. I haven't even got that far or explored that much (I'm level 12 right now, going to Vault 112) and my Chinese Assault Rifle eats everything for breakfast.
"shoot 'em in the head" sends you to like 3 of the 4 corners of the wasteland, spent all evening just trying to complete that side quest and I keep getting side tracked. All I need to do now is get to the fort and see what's there. Did the wannabe superheros quest on the way. The machinist's forge was awesome
I love all the little random enounters that happen. I saw an Enclave camp in the distances, but by the time i got there they were all dead with a couple of raiders in Tesla power armor. :lol
I love all the little random enounters that happen. I saw an Enclave camp in the distances, but by the time i got there they were all dead with a couple of raiders in Tesla power armor. :lol
disappeared
Banned
I've started carrying much less on my character lately, taking only what I need for a trip throgh the wasteland and to wherever I end up. Just my armor, guns, and a few stimpacks and chems. The desk in my Megaton home has now become a bank too.
Shake Appeal
Member
I've got one closet full of schematics stuff for my workbench and one full of weapons and ammo I am not currently using, and probably never will use (Fat Man, Minigun, other Heavy Weapons, as well as one or two Energy Weapons I don't really feel the need to use yet). As long as you are organized, carry weight should never be a problem. Even with 180 I've only used Buffout three or four times in 25 hours.disappeared said:
You're welcome.Leonsito said:
I don't really focus a lot on SPECIAL, the only ones I pay attention to are Luck and Int, and even then I don't put it above 7 each. I'm aware of one quest that boosts your SPECIAL stats (Those! gives you a choice of +1 to Str or + 1 to Per) and equipment that further augments it (Ranger's Armor, Lucky 8 ball etc.). Honestly speaking though, I don't spend a lot of time worrying about SPECIAL.
A higher carrying capacity cuts down on the redundant trips from the middle of the dungeon back to your safe house and fast traveling all the way back to said dungeon to resume the exploration.Shake Appeal said:
Bobbleheads also grant you a + 1 to SPECIAL and there are 20 in total - 7 for SPECIAL and 13 for the skills. There is absolutely no reason to pump a SPECIAL above 9 if you plan to hunt down all bobbleheads.Shake Appeal said:
Small Guns has great appeal for the casuals and beginners. They are carried by almost every random humanoid foes, so parts and ammo are in abundance. However, veterans will find it boring to rely on Small Guns during their subsequent runs, as they will seek to experiment with other weapons either for novelty or for the challenge.Shake Appeal said:
nelsonroyale
Member
damn, I was using my old oblivion tactics the other day...attacking while running away
Shake Appeal
Member
With STR 3 and Weight 180, I've never made a trip back to my safe house from the middle of the dungeon. Never even had to consider it. The only consequence of being frugal with what I pick up is that I'm probably not maxing out the caps I could get from bartering, but caps have never been an issue. Like everything else in this game, there's never any shortage of them (and I'm playing on Very Hard and haven't bothered to pick up the perks that give you more caps/ammo when searching).
Didn't know there were SPECIAL ones. Frankly it bothers me that there are so many ways to boost SPECIAL stats (and skills in turn). Bethesda give you opportunities at every corner to undermine or negate the roleplaying course you're on. It's like they're determined to make you a jack of all trades.
Isn't that what I said? As with previous Fallouts, Small Guns will serve you pretty much the whole way through the game unless you want to build something specific or use one of the wackier guns. I never bothered much with heavy or energy weapons in the original games either except for one build in Fallout 2. And I still haven't finished my first playthrough of F3.
Metalmurphy
Member
Wat? It actually crashes? I always thought it was just there from the start.voltron said:
gregor7777
Banned
voltron said:
What? I thought you just happen upon it already crashed??
beelzebozo
Jealous Bastard
Fizzle said:
LOL
i've put almost 60 hours into it already.
i think i need to finish it up this weekend though. i've run my course with it.
Danne-Danger
Member
Well I had 40, might have been slouching a bit.Fizzle said:
For junk collectors: there's a lot of shit that has no real purpose. In fact there are only 28 items needed to make all the weapons and one of them is caps so really you're looking for 27 items. You can ditch the rest. I found this list helpful in deciding what to take and store at home for when I found the right schematics.
10 Bottle Caps
Abraxo Cleaner
Cherry Bomb
Conductor
Crutch
Deathclaw Hand
Firehose Nozzle
Fission Battery
Lawnmower Blade
Leaf Blower
Leather Belt
Lunch Box
Medical Brace
Motorcycle Handbrake
Motorcycle Tank
Nuke-Cola Quantum
Paint Gun
Pilot Light
Pressure Cooker
Radscorpion Poison Gland
Steam Gauge Assembly
Sensor Module
Surgical Tubing
Tin Can
Turpentine
Toy Car
Vacuum Cleaner
Wonderglue
10 Bottle Caps
Abraxo Cleaner
Cherry Bomb
Conductor
Crutch
Deathclaw Hand
Firehose Nozzle
Fission Battery
Lawnmower Blade
Leaf Blower
Leather Belt
Lunch Box
Medical Brace
Motorcycle Handbrake
Motorcycle Tank
Nuke-Cola Quantum
Paint Gun
Pilot Light
Pressure Cooker
Radscorpion Poison Gland
Steam Gauge Assembly
Sensor Module
Surgical Tubing
Tin Can
Turpentine
Toy Car
Vacuum Cleaner
Wonderglue