Fallout 3 character creation

[carnage11]

Yeah, so.....I got to about level 5 and am starting to think I want to start over. I think I put too many points into too many different things and I seem pretty freakin' weak. I had started out with my Intelligence, Agility, and Perception pretty high and I left everything else at 5. I focused on the Science, Repair, Small Guns, Medicine, Sneak, Lockpick and Speech skills. Which I think is maybe where I went wrong. I think I'm allocating too many points to too many skills and nothing is very high. I mean I can't un-arm the megaton bomb, i get completely owned if I run into 3 or more raiders. I often times lose speech challenges even though my speech skill is like 40. I'm almost always too low to unlock locks, I can't ever use computers even though my computer skill is pretty high (upper 30s) at level 5. I dunno. What am I doing wrong? Or is this game just really hard? I'm playing on normal difficulty, or whatever the default was.

So my question is, what have some of you Fallout veterans made for characters. It's clearly not like Oblivion where you can max everything out and be a god. I think mostly you should focus on a few things and be low on everything else, but just how many stats and what not can you safely focus on without being mediocre at everything? What are good stats to focus on? I want to be able to hack stuff and pickpocket people, but I also want to be able to survive using guns. Is it like you can maybe hack stuff or be a thief? Do you have to pick just one thing to do? If so that's cool, I'll just end up playing the game multiple times for different stuff, but I just want to know if you can be good at a few things at once or literally just one thing each play through?


Ok, sorry for the wall-o-text. Bare with me please. Help's appreciated. Thanks.:)

[Variable Gear]

I'm sorry, this isn't the most well-thought out reply you're going to read, but I thought that I would try to suggest a few things despite the fact that I'm not the best at creating optimal characters in a RPG.

Anyway, now that the disclaimer's out of the way, I do have one thing to say. Not everything should be accessible or possible. If you go into the downtown D.C. area at level five, you will get destroyed by Super Mutants. You'll have to do some backtracking in order to unlock every safe or hack every computer terminal. That said, I think that you can improve your overall situation by focusing on a smaller number of skills.

That's a good start. I'd say to focus on three main skills, and level up the others if you feel like it. I don't know what would be most efficient, but I'm focusing mostly on Speech, another skill I can't remember and Small Guns. I'm improving the others as much as I can, and I'm keeping an eye out for perks that raise specific skills. This can either allow you to improve skills you haven't been focusing on or allow you to layer even more levels of quality onto your existing skills, depending on your preference.

That's all I've got for now. :)

[carnage11]

Hmm...interesting. So you're saying to grab perks that help other skills i might not be working on? So far I've been getting the perks that help the skills im going after. Well I picked the perk that gives you 10% more xp, and I think I got the perk that allows you to increase an attribute, which I put into Intelligence so I would get more points to spend on skills. I also think I got the thief perk.

I understand about going places that I might not be able to yet at level 5, but it seems to be that I'm getting my ass kicked by stuff just out around mega ton. Like I was doing the survival guide mission and I got my ass kicked by a rad scorpion. It was like nothing I did would take away his life. He hit me 3 or 4 times and I was dead. I'm using stim packs like their crack. I also use all my ammo because I rarely ever hit my target. Even in vats I miss. I just feel like I suck. Maybe tonight I'll start over and do as you said and only focus on just 3 skills instead of the 6 i've been working on.

Thanks for the advice,

[Ancalagon]

Some spoilers below, beware.

I created a character with big guns, small guns, and repair as tag skills, and with 7 int and agility, and 6 luck. I raised int and agility again using perks, for the extra skill points and action points, and at level 5 my repair and small guns skill are both 50. I've raised my explosives skill enough to disarm the bomb, my lockpicking is close to 30, pretty much everything else hasnt been touched (oh science might be 25). I chose a perk that gives me +5 to barter and speech, cos those skills are both kinda low right now.

So far it hasnt been too bad. Close range with my hunting rifle, I can kill most humans in one or two shots, and I have quite a few action points. Mirelurks are incredibly tough, I usually use hand grenades for them. My survivability actually isnt too bad, I can survive for a while without dying. I've fought the super mutants next to the cemetary, and killed all of them, bagging a minigun in the process. Havent gone after the main quest, am gonna do that next.

Although I havent used big guns much, I chose it as a tag skill because I'm worried that I'll run into enemies too tough for small guns to take care of (or at least too well armored to be affected by them). I guess I dont know, I've never played the game before. I dont think the game is playable by a non violent character.

[Murtaug]

Variable has the right idea.

I felt very weak and screwed up at first, and maybe I am giving Bethesda too much credit, but I believe that is the intention.

My first couple of levels I threw points at a wide spread of skills, then I chose three or four to put a majority of my points into. I throw extra points at skills I need or want, and perks I am mainly picking things that feel helpful or just plain fun (Bloody Mess, Mysterious Stranger)

You certainly do not have to start over unless you really want to, just focus your stuff down a bit and you should be fine. I am by no means indestructible, but I can tear raiders and mutants up fairly nicely if I use a little brains.

[Variable Gear]

Also, I'd recommend that you pick up the Educated perk when you get to level four. It's a great help.

In my opinion, the Swift Learner perk (the one that gives you 10% more XP for each rank) is a waste because you'll get the experience eventually. All you are doing when you pick up that perk is speeding the time it takes to get to the level cap.

[Mr. Murphy]

Six skills is simply too many to properly level in a fallout game. If you're a science nerd and a repairman, you can't also expect to speak well and be a master thief. It's just too much.

Fallout games are designed to be played multiple times in different ways. You can't really create a character who can do everything. Pick two or three skills - two social skills and some form of combat skill is good - and there will usually be a way you can use one of your tag skills to complete the quest. Also, there will be some quests you simply won't be able to do because you don't have the right skill, and some quests that only appear to you because you have a certain skill.

It's not the kindof RPG where you can do everything in one runthrough, so don't try. Focus on a few things and do everything you can, and then next time you play, there will be stuff you didn't even know you were missing.

[alienmastermind]

Personal Build?

Started with 6s and 7s in Strength, Endurance, Perception, and I think in Intelligence.
Then I used skill points in Small Guns, Science, and Lockpick.

First two levels after first, bought 2 levels of Intense Training. (Str and Int)
Fourth Level - Gun Nut
Fifth Level - Thief
Gained Rad Regeneration via a quest as well as Ant Might via a quest.

Current Level is 5 with these stats:
My current S.P.E.C.I.A.L. is 9,6,5,5,6,6,6
And my highest skill at 53 is Small Guns.

Small Guns is probably the best skill to max out on, because it covers Assault Rifles, Hunting Rifles, Pistols, and Shotguns.

Big Guns I think I have at 25.

You have to think in terms of: Okay, I'm out of bullets. I need to hit as hard as possible. Hence, Strength for damage...A knife or a club never runs out of bullets. (And ants don't run out of flames, so, save your shots. :) )

I'm pretty fairly matched with most stuff. It takes some sneaking (Thief Perk) to get good shots on Super Mutants, but most basic stuff like bloatflies and vicious dogs I can kill with one shot from far away.

And it's probably unrelated, but my char looks like Ed Norton with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome hair.

[Nameless]

As has been said already, you can't max everything out in these games. For example, I wanted my character to be a complete bastard, so I decided I'd not focus on speech at all. My charisma is 3, and I've not put a point into speech. However, I've focused on Small Guns, Stealth (Sneak?), and Lockpick, with a little bit of Repair now and then. Now I'm Level 6 I believe, and I've got 75 Lockpick (which is good enough to unlock most things) and a decent Small Guns (I believe it is 60). I did recruit an NPC (Jericho) to help me out in combat because I'm not very strong or tough. However, even though I can get most of the stuff by stealing/killing, I'm not going to be able to hack into many computer systems (Science is 21 or something along those lines), or heal anyone (low Medicine) and I'm not going to convince anyone of anything. Next time, I may play a completely different character, focusing on Speech, and Melee weaponry, perhaps!

So the main point is that it's tough to be a generalist. If you want to do that, you need lots of Intelligence (10 and possibly +1 with a perk, if that's possible), as well as the perk that gives you extra skill points, and you'd have to take lots of skill based perks like Thief and Daddy's Boy. It's not impossible, but I'd say it's really difficult.

For a new player, I would suggest a weapon skill (particularly Small Guns and Melee Weapons), an useful skill like Lockpick, Science or Repair, and Speech to cover all your bases (especially if you want to go the good karma route). For things like disarming the bomb in Megaton or hacking into computers for quests, you can get by pretty well by taking Mentats (especially if your Int is already pretty high). Once you have a solid base with your prime skills you can start to branch out and put points into Big Guns for the late game.

These are just my suggestions, but they've worked well for me in the past.

It was mentioned earlier that non-violent characters would have a hard time in this game... I'm wondering how far you could get with a very Charismatic leader type with no tagged weaponry skills. I don't think it would be that bad, especially once you start getting NPCs to join up with you. Maybe I'll try it with my next character.

[Mr. Murphy]

It was mentioned earlier that non-violent characters would have a hard time in this game... I'm wondering how far you could get with a very Charismatic leader type with no tagged weaponry skills. I don't think it would be that bad, especially once you start getting NPCs to join up with you. Maybe I'll try it with my next character.

Maybe it changes later, but my char is Int 9 and Cha 8 with a focus on speech, and I've had no problems up to level 5. I have to pick and choose my battles, use VATS strategically and put a couple of points into small guns, but if you just avoid combat situations, you can still get plenty of exp. just from questing.

It sure would be nice to find a party member who could kick ass for me, tho. I'm assuming one will show up soon, Megaton is still the biggest town I've found.

[Variable Gear]

Ok, so I started over. :p

This time through I have high Intelligence, Agility, and Perception, I left everything else at 5. Left it pretty much the same as last time.

However, this time, I'm focusing only on small guns, speech, and the third was tough to choose but I believe i chose lock pick or sneak I forget.Thanks guys for the advice....some stuff I didn't know and I think it will help me out to make a better build. Maybe next playthrough I'll try the bad karma and focus more on strength and endurance.
It's unfortunate that you had to start over, but I think that you'll better understand the game because of it.

Have fun out there. :)

[carnage11]

Ok, so I started over. :p

This time through I have high Intelligence, Agility, and Perception, I left everything else at 5. Left it pretty much the same as last time.

However, this time, I'm focusing only on small guns, speech, and the third was tough to choose but I believe i chose lock pick or sneak I forget.

Variable, I think you made a good point about the 10% more xp perk. So I'm not gonna get that one this time. I just came out of the vault and I'm level 2, I picked the perk where you get to add a point to your attribute, which I picked Intelligence I believe. Having a high intelligence is good because you get more skill points each level. I'm gonna try to play through the game without touching most stats like barter, repair, explosives, unarmed, etc. Hopefully this will work out better. I'm going the good karma route, so I want a high speech craft and I'm gonna try to focus on sneak a little to get a little help with combat. I also am getting my small guns pretty high this time so I don't have to worry so much about dying. Here's hoping this build works out better. lol

Thanks guys for the advice....some stuff I didn't know and I think it will help me out to make a better build. Maybe next playthrough I'll try the bad karma and focus more on strength and endurance.

[carnage11]

Are you sure that the weapon you were using in this situation was of decent quality?

If it wasn't, make sure repair it and then see if you're more effective out there.

If it was, I think a reload is in order. I tear Radscorpions up.

I've been using the same pistol that the chick in the vault gave me, which started out as excellent condition. I never checked, but I'm pretty sure it's still in good condition. I just seemed to miss a lot of shots.

[Nameless]

Avoiding Barter is one of those classic Fallout traits, I don't think it's ever been useful.

[Sazime]

Glad to hear you're having better luck. I took a Perk to get more skill points at each level and it seems to have helped. I think I have ~5 skills over 70 (a couple over 80) right now.

Next character is going to be all about Small Arms, Speech, Explosives, Lockpicking and Stealth. Yeah, lots of skills, but I think I can work it. :)

[Deadend]

Avoiding Barter is one of those classic Fallout traits, I don't think it's ever been useful.

Barter is not that bad to have it worked up to at least 20, so that you get a bit of the value of items when you sell them.

I have found sneak to be both awesome and shitty, as depending on the area and creatures I am fighting, it does not help. It also depends on the gun, as Sneak + assault rifle does no good, but sneak + hunting rifle is great.

It seems repair is a great combat related skill as a good condition gun does a huge chunk more damage and armor absorbs much more damage. as well.

[Blue]

I started off focused on Small Guns mainly with a wee bit of Science and Bartering. It's not the best build and while I didn't know that at the time, I never felt really underpowered. My lockpicking, explosions, speech were all pretty low (under 20 I think) so there were a lot of things I wasn't able to do just yet but again, I never felt hampered.

With how you spend your points leveling and what perks you choose, you can honestly focus on any build you'd like in the beginning, see if it works, and if not just go in another direction. I think I'm sitting at level 9 with some combat perks (small guns, commando, and the one where everything just explodes) along then with some speech, science, and extra points perks (education, maybe?) making me around 75 in both small guns and science with a good amount near that in lockpicking and a few others.

So really how you focus points leveling is what matters and I would shift gears that way if anything (should you be feeling gimped). The only things that really make me run or drop a ton of ammo are the Mirelurks. Most other enemies save for Super Mutants I've been dropping with one quick go in V.A.T.S. with little trouble.

[sparkfizt]

I'm sorta all over the place but feeling alright, I ended up surging for 75 science really fast and have picked my perks based on maximal skill points along with 10 int. I get 23 skill points a level which by level 20 will be a considerable number of points, I'm also getting 2 skill points per book as I figured that would end up yielding a decent spread of skills by the end. I'm also looking at stacking up on the +15 heavy weapon perk, as 45 skill points for pseudo-free is quite nice.

I first got small arms to about 40 in order to survive and am now pumping energy weapons since pew pew is pretty cool. Repair also seems invaluable, but i'm also finding i've got a huge overflow of caps and not much to spend it on other than repairs. I'm also about 20 hrs into the game and have spent maybe 3 of that on the main quest :P

[Orca]

Anyone who has a character like mine that doesn't sneak very well, a good strategy against Super Mutants (or other enemies) is to back behind a corner and when they come around the corner put your gun in their ear and VATS as many headshots as you can.

You can kill them while you're a ridiculously low level that way - especially if you find a small object like a bus that you can keep retreating around.

[ClannerDelta]

Anyone who has a character like mine that doesn't sneak very well, a good strategy against Super Mutants (or other enemies) is to back behind a corner and when they come around the corner put your gun in their ear and VATS as many headshots as you can.

You can kill them while you're a ridiculously low level that way - especially if you find a small object like a bus that you can keep retreating around.

I find the .32 hunting rifle to be just fine. They drop ammo for it enough that you can spend the ammo on them without worrying too much.

[KingGorilla]

I have, thus far, found the fallout win button still works. Skills to start with, Small Weapons, Energy Weapons, Medicine. Then you Min-Max. For economy I went with max strength, highest carry capacity so I can sell more. A major convenience of this relative to the past games and STALKER is that ammo does not take up weight(makes life a lot easier). Also, mele can be great if you are in a pinch. Minimum to Luck and Charisma, the rest are around 6 or 7.

You use Perks to offset your shortcomings, for most weapon skills anything around 60 is great. I have been going with Thief to help me pick locks, I went with Bloody Mess for the damage bonus, Daddy's Little Girl helped with more to Medicine. I also have 2 into the Baseball perk for mele and explosives help(mines are a bitch).

[Camel]

I have distributed my talent points all over the place and have not been having any problems (currently level 6). My problem is that once I see a challenge I can't overcome, I will try to use the next skill points I get to do so. Can't access a computer terminal? Use skill points in science next turn! Can't fix those leaky pipes? Put points in repair, dammit! I have not been focusing on very many weapon skills, but have energy weapons high enough that I have not had any problems with enemies so far, super mutants included. Truth be told, the enemies I have had the most problems with so far have been ants, and that is because I ran out of bullets for the weapon that was working best against them for me.

[carnage11]

I have, thus far, found the fallout win button still works. Skills to start with, Small Weapons, Energy Weapons, Medicine. Then you Min-Max. For economy I went with max strength, highest carry capacity so I can sell more. A major convenience of this relative to the past games and STALKER is that ammo does not take up weight(makes life a lot easier). Also, mele can be great if you are in a pinch. Minimum to Luck and Charisma, the rest are around 6 or 7.

You use Perks to offset your shortcomings, for most weapon skills anything around 60 is great. I have been going with Thief to help me pick locks, I went with Bloody Mess for the damage bonus, Daddy's Little Girl helped with more to Medicine. I also have 2 into the Baseball perk for mele and explosives help(mines are a bitch).

Daddy's Little Girl? So I take it you chose to be a girl. I was wondering about this. So is the Overseer's kid a boy this time? I figured that maybe if you chose to be a girl that your boyfriend would be the bully if you're a boy and the bully would be Amara or whatever her name is? I had wondered about the differences. How they changed things to fit with a girl instead of a boy. I thought about playing as a girl, but I'll probably wait for my second play through for that. So are all the hookers guys? Or are you like a lesbian?

[Kelegacy]

My SPECIAL stats sound similar to yours, though I'm doing great (playing on Normal). My starting stats were:

Strength 4 (with bobblehead I found early on I am now a 5)
Perception 7
Endurance 6
Charisma 4
Intelligence 8
Agility 7
Luck 4

My focus is on Small Arms, Lockpick, Repair and Sneak. Though I think I need to stop putting points into Sneak. Still, I don't have any problems with the baddies...yet. I have Gun Nut perk, Thief, and Educated, as well as a special Perk I received from the Wasteland Guide quests.

I don't understand why you're having a hard time. With a high intelligence, you should have a high skill point allocation at each level up. But make sure you focus on just a couple skills instead of trying to level EVERYTHING up. In the perfect RPG, you're character will have flaws. That's just the way of the world. You can't be perfect at everything. My guy stinks at bartering, meleeing and many other fields. But I wanted to excel in the fields that would impact MY preferred play style. Which essentially is being a thief.

I'm level 4 going on 5 BTW.

[Wilkz07]

Getting Sneak up to 60 and being lvl8 or higher opens the Sandman Perk which give you the option of Murder when you sneak up on sleeping people. you get 50xp for the perk bonus plus whatever xp the kill would normally get you.

i'd recommend that.

Also save the 'here and now' for when you really need a perk to open, it will boost you an entire level with all the bonus stats a level up brings.

[sparkfizt]

I find the .32 hunting rifle to be just fine. They drop ammo for it enough that you can spend the ammo on them without worrying too much.

The hunting rifle is pretty nice actually. I've been surprised with the laser rifle, it's listed damage is'nt huge but I can get 4 shots off in VAT with a full AP bar and it seems to be quite effective.

The corner strategy is one I've often used, but I've never run around a bus to keep doing it :P If the face salvo does'nt kill I'd usually just pump ammo into em realtime to finish em off.

[sparkfizt]

Also save the 'here and now' for when you really need a perk to open, it will boost you an entire level with all the bonus stats a level up brings.

does it actually just level you though? ie you activate it at 10, and you're immediately 11? because like the bonus xp perk that would be semi-useless if you're gonna end up playing to max level (although I wonder what happens when you hit that at lvl 20)

[Ancalagon]

Does luck do anything else besides a minor bonus to skill and a bonus to critical hits? I was hoping it would influence everything, from random encounters to the guardian angel (a perk I'm definitely going to get)

[Kelegacy]

does it actually just level you though? ie you activate it at 10, and you're immediately 11? because like the bonus xp perk that would be semi-useless if you're gonna end up playing to max level (although I wonder what happens when you hit that at lvl 20)

Yes, it jumps you one entire level, with all bonuses. Like skill points, perks, etc.

[Kelegacy]

Does luck do anything else besides a minor bonus to skill and a bonus to critical hits? I was hoping it would influence everything, from random encounters to the guardian angel (a perk I'm definitely going to get)

bonus to skills and criticals. That's about it. It's handy if you have a high luck, but not necessary. Mine is a 4.

Then again, I always leave my luck fairly low in games, or average. I'd rather spend the points in more specialized fields.

[Sazime]

I hit 20, and the gauge still says that there's another level.... expansion much?

[Variable Gear]

does it actually just level you though? ie you activate it at 10, and you're immediately 11? because like the bonus xp perk that would be semi-useless if you're gonna end up playing to max level (although I wonder what happens when you hit that at lvl 20)
That's what I was thinking. If you select "Here and Now" when you are level 20, will you be level 21? I didn't think was worth experimenting with, because I was just going to pick "Grim Reaper's Sprint" and be done with it, but what I have decided to do is to select "Here and Now" at 20 and pick up "Grim Reaper's Sprint" at 21. It'll be nice to have those extra skill points, health, etc. that comes with another level.

[Sazime]

That's what I was thinking. If you select "Here and Now" when you are level 20, will you be level 21? I didn't think was worth experimenting with, because I was just going to pick "Grim Reaper's Sprint" and be done with it, but what I have decided to do is to select "Here and Now" at 20 and pick up "Grim Reaper's Sprint" at 21. It'll be nice to have those extra skill points, health, etc. that comes with another level.
Oh holy hell, that's genius!

[sparkfizt]

After skimming the net it looks like here and now isn't selectable at lvl 20. :(. Sadly the exp perks are useless for those of us who intend to digest the whole game. Useful for anyone who intends on just doing the main quest though.

[Nameless]

I guess they didn't want to change too much; Here and Now had the same limitations bin Fallout 2, it wasn't really that good unless you were trying to get through the game quickly. Here's hoping for some DLC for new areas/higher levels/new perks, etc.

[Variable Gear]

After skimming the net it looks like here and now isn't selectable at lvl 20. :(. Sadly the exp perks are useless for those of us who intend to digest the whole game. Useful for anyone who intends on just doing the main quest though.
Yeah, that sucks. There goes my master strategy. Still, I think I'm running a good Perk build. I'm not picking anything that won't be useful when I'm maxed out.

[Gerbs]

I'm not done my first playthrough (35 hours in so far) but I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on a melee and sneak combination. Is it feasible to sneak up on all these gun wielding foes and bash their brains in? Worked fine for me in Oblivion. I like to plan out my characters ahead of time while playing a different character.

[KingGorilla]

I have a good concentration on Mele weapons and a bit into sneak. The problem I have is that you cannot target body parts in VATS. But when you have a large group on you or have broken guns, it can really bail you out. You can block with the weapon as well. I find it to be a handy way to dispatch ghouls in particular, so I do not waste ammo as they muck about. A swing of my sledgehammer does more damage, if I hit a head, than a burst from the SMG or Assault Rifle.

[carnage11]

My SPECIAL stats sound similar to yours, though I'm doing great (playing on Normal). My starting stats were:

Strength 4 (with bobblehead I found early on I am now a 5)
Perception 7
Endurance 6
Charisma 4
Intelligence 8
Agility 7
Luck 4

My focus is on Small Arms, Lockpick, Repair and Sneak. Though I think I need to stop putting points into Sneak. Still, I don't have any problems with the baddies...yet. I have Gun Nut perk, Thief, and Educated, as well as a special Perk I received from the Wasteland Guide quests.

I don't understand why you're having a hard time. With a high intelligence, you should have a high skill point allocation at each level up. But make sure you focus on just a couple skills instead of trying to level EVERYTHING up. In the perfect RPG, you're character will have flaws. That's just the way of the world. You can't be perfect at everything. My guy stinks at bartering, meleeing and many other fields. But I wanted to excel in the fields that would impact MY preferred play style. Which essentially is being a thief.

I'm level 4 going on 5 BTW.

I dunno, I just seem to miss a lot when using guns. Now on the other hand, I can blast most animals in the game with my baseball bat and they die in two hits max. People take a little bit more but I get a lot of criticals with my baseball bat.

I'm not done my first playthrough (35 hours in so far) but I was wondering what everyone's opinions are on a melee and sneak combination. Is it feasible to sneak up on all these gun wielding foes and bash their brains in? Worked fine for me in Oblivion. I like to plan out my characters ahead of time while playing a different character.

I dunno, my experience with sneak is limited, but that's because I can never sneak up on anyone. It seems they see me most times even if I'm not moving. Now if you use the thing I forget what it's called but when you activate it it sends your sneak up to 100 and you turn almost invisible. You can sneak up and kill everything with that thing, but unfortunately it is a temp power. It seemed a lot easier to sneak in Oblivion. It might get better with higher levels.

[Kelegacy]

I dunno, I just seem to miss a lot when using guns. Now on the other hand, I can blast most animals in the game with my baseball bat and they die in two hits max. People take a little bit more but I get a lot of criticals with my baseball bat.



I dunno, my experience with sneak is limited, but that's because I can never sneak up on anyone. It seems they see me most times even if I'm not moving. Now if you use the thing I forget what it's called but when you activate it it sends your sneak up to 100 and you turn almost invisible. You can sneak up and kill everything with that thing, but unfortunately it is a temp power. It seemed a lot easier to sneak in Oblivion. It might get better with higher levels.

Do you use VATS? Or are you going through as if it were a FPS in real-time? I miss, but I don't miss THAT much. My small arms, as of level 5, is like 60. But that's with a +5 bonus I have with my armor currently.

[Wolvie]

I tagged big guns small guns and medicine with my starting bonuses. After that I spread all remaining bonus points across the board. Well, except for Melee and unarmed skills, which I bumped up to 20 and 19 respectively. Hell ya never know when ya might need those skills right? Also I picked the "Gun nut" perk.

So far I've been doing pretty well. The only time I died so far was when I stole some stuff in Megaton, and I got some urban justice put down on my candy ass. Of course I had to start over from the vault save point, and since then I've been beating most enemies down fairly well. I think I built a pretty good fighting class character.

[Sazime]

You guys have inadvertently talked some sense into me. No more xp bonus or "Here and Now" perks for me! Being at lvl 20 and realizing two perks are now useless is kind of a bummer. :(

[Variable Gear]

You guys have inadvertently talked some sense into me. No more xp bonus or "Here and Now" perks for me! Being at lvl 20 and realizing two perks are now useless is kind of a bummer. :(
I feel the same way. The kind of person that's even going to consider the thought of buying Fallout 3 isn't going to be interested in either of those perks.

The more I look at the perk list, the more constricting it seems. I'm playing a good small guns specialist, and that informs quite a bit of my Perk choices. I plan on playing through the game again with an evil big guns/melee specialist that also is a cannibal, and there's pretty much only one set of perks that is appropriate for that build.

[carnage11]

The perk that allows you to add one point to your attributes has 10 ranks (Intense Training?). Does this mean that you can eventually add 10 points to your attributes? If so....this kinda seems like a no brainer, right?

[Drayven]

Maybe someone can help me out here. I took sneaking, lockpicking and small arms for my main 3 skills and I've been keeping them up. One thing I'm finding is that for some reason they don't seem to be working properly. using the hunting rifle I have to get so close to my enemies to have any sort of accuracy that they see me anyways. Am I doing something wrong? It seems like using a rifle like that I should either be somewhat accurate from range or be able to get closer without being seen.

I've tried wearing lighter armor and using rocks and trees and such to my advantage, no dice.

[Variable Gear]

Random Mini-poll: Strong Back, Yea or Nay?

[Sazime]

Maybe someone can help me out here. I took sneaking, lockpicking and small arms for my main 3 skills and I've been keeping them up. One thing I'm finding is that for some reason they don't seem to be working properly. using the hunting rifle I have to get so close to my enemies to have any sort of accuracy that they see me anyways. Am I doing something wrong? It seems like using a rifle like that I should either be somewhat accurate from range or be able to get closer without being seen.

I've tried wearing lighter armor and using rocks and trees and such to my advantage, no dice.
That is odd. I've been using my Hunting Rifles a lot and I love it. How's the stat associated with it?
Random Mini-poll: Strong Back, Yea or Nay?
Yay for me, then again, I carry all kinds of grenades and big weapons all the time. :)

[Camel]

Random Mini-poll: Strong Back, Yea or Nay?
HUGE yay. I am a huge packrat, and find the need to carry about 500 weapons on me at all times. Now that I have the Rock-It Launcher, I need all that extra carrying capacity to hold things like irons and hotplates and scalpels! The extra 50 pounds is a godsend.

[Nameless]

The perk that allows you to add one point to your attributes has 10 ranks (Intense Training?). Does this mean that you can eventually add 10 points to your attributes? If so....this kinda seems like a no brainer, right?

I don't know about that, attributes don't seem to affect as much as they used to in the original Fallouts, so I don't think boosting them is as important. Boosting skills seems to give me more of a benefit than boosting attributes. I think it's on par with a lot of the other perks, especially ones that significantly increase skills. The perk that gives you +15 to Big Guns is pretty crazy, as I could theoretically bring big guns from about 20 to 55 in one level. And then next level bring it up to 90.

It's still good, though, especially for stats like Endurance and Agility, which increase your HP and AP pools.

[nixpayn]

after playing a character to level 8, i too decided that i was spreading myself too thin.

so what i did was specialize.

i realized that most of the guys you find early on have small guns ammo, so i went specializing in small guns. then i figured well.. i love punching the heads off stuff.. i so i went unarmed as well.

at level 12 my small guns is at 60, my unarmed is at 60. i also have been putting points into medical because i was burning through stim packs - enemies seem to have REALLY good accuracy at pretty damn far range.. and i found i was wasting too many bullets, so i decided to just take a few hits and get closer hehe.

the first of the perks i put in was for increasing stats - think i took about 6 or 7 levels. my str is 10 (because i was ALWAYS encumbered..), my endurance is like 8 or something, for the extra durability.. the rest of my stats are 6/7. Also as soon as it was available, i took the perk that gives you extra skill points to spend.. cuz its handy.

i have totally neglected repair, and all the science skills. got lockpick up so i could do easy locks, explosives up just high enuff to disarm basic mines, but in general those skills havent been touched. i have speech at about 65 because i have found the extra dialog options have come in handy.

its good to focus and go strong with what you want to do. but dont do everything.

maybe next character i make after i finish will be a total laser gun weilding tech geek. now that i know where to pharm ammo for all the different types of guns (thank you re-spawning enemies), i can accommodate any style of class i guess.

[Variable Gear]

I am pissed because I forgot about the prerequisites for some of the perks I wanted. Unfortunately, I'm way too far down the line to re-roll, so I'll just have to fold this knowledge into the creation of my second character.

[SilentScreams]

Well at level 7 I seem to be pretty strong. I can handle 3 Super Mutants no problem as long as I get the drop on them.
At the start I put 2 points into Agility, 2 into Perception and 1 into Luck. As for skills, I focused on small guns (I use the hunting rifle almost exclusively), lockpicking and sneaking.

Edit: Perks. I forgot perks.

I have 2 ranks of the lockpicking/sneaking boosting one (forgot the name) and 2 ranks of Gun Nut and a rank of Commando. I forget the rest, but those are the main ones that boost my already decent skills higher.

[Sazime]

I pumped up Int all the way as soon as I could this time. Next up are some perks in my gun and sneak skills so I can pump them up a bit.

I realize now that my first character was designed and laid out pretty poorly, even though he kicks ass with a lot of weapons. I now realize there were much better ways to get him there.

[ClannerDelta]

By the end of my first play through, I found I was just too powerful to enjoy anything. Even on Very Hard difficulty I could do absolutely everything and instagib just about anything short of a Mirelurk or those Rocket/Gatling Lazer sentries.

This time around, I'll be playing more or less neutral. Leaving my INT low (3ish) so I have to choose skills wisely and focusing on Melee/Explosives. This time will be all up in everyone's face. No sneaking. Near constant drug use. ;)

I already miss my Lincoln Repeater though. That rifle was so amazing.

[Variable Gear]

I started a new character, and I actually thought about perk prerequisites this time around!

Violet Graves
Level 2 Vault Martyr

S.P.E.C.I.A.L.:
Strength: 5
Perception: 6
Endurance: 6
Charisma: 6
Intelligence: 5
Agility: 6
Luck: 6

Skills:
Barter: 17
Big Guns: 32
Energy Weapons: 32
Explosives: 17
Lockpick: 17
Medicine: 25
Melee Weapons: 15
Repair: 15
Science: 30
Small Guns: 32
Sneak: 18
Speech: 17
Unarmed: 17

Perks:
Level 2: Black Widow

Planned Perk Progression:
Level 3: Daddy's Girl, Requirement: Intelligence 4
Level 4: Educated, Requirement: Intelligence 4
Level 5: Daddy's Girl Rank 2, Requirement: Intelligence 4
Level 6: Bloody Mess, Requirement: None
Level 7: Toughness, Requirement: Endurance 5
Level 8: Strong Back, Requirements: Strength 5, Endurance 5
Level 9: Commando, Requirement: None
Level 10: Mysterious Stanger, Requirement: Luck 6
Level 11: Entomologist, Requirements: Intelligence 4, Science 40%
Level 12: Cannibal, Requirement: None
Level 13: Sniper, Requirements: Perception 6, Agility 6
Level 14: Adamantium Skeleton, Requirement: None
Level 15: Contract Killer, Requirement: None
Level 16: Better Criticals, Requirements: Perception 6, Luck 6
Level 17: Cyborg, Requirements: Science 60%, Medicine 60%
Level 18: Concentrated Fire, Requirements: Small Guns 60%, Energy Weapons 60%
Level 19: Fast Metabolism, Requirement: None
Level 20: Grim Reaper's Sprint, Requirement: None

[Savok]

Basically I've found the best thing you can do is forget everything you know about Fallout. This is Oblivion with guns, the skills are treated as such.

Perks are dumbed right down, most needed only 6 in a SPECIAL tops, of the 3 that need 7 only one of them is remotely useful, and you can only get it at 20 anyway. So keeping stats at 5 and getting their bobbleheads for the +1 works out just fine for the most part.

Strength is only important if you're a melee character, each point is only 10 pounds of extra weight, not a whole lot. Even then quest perks, power armour and bobbleheads ramp it up pretty quick. Perception is all but useless now, really only affecting when the little red markers appear on your compass.

Agility is also a joke now, each point is only +2ap for VATS. When you consider the base is 65, it's not a whole lot. The Action Boy/Girl perk adds 25ap though, so that's good. Charisma is especially useless, even if you're a conversation person you're better pouring skill points into Speech.

On the useful side Luck gives more crits, and crits are your lifeblood against things like super mutants (unless you're firing miniature nukes at them). Endurance adds more hp and resistance to radiation and poisons, very useful. Intelligence is the motherload, not only extra points in 3 different skills but more per lvl too. Making it 9 then quickly maxing it out to 10 with the bobblehead isn't the worst idea in the world.

Skills like Science and Lockpick work in 25s with 1-24 allowing access to Very Easy up to 100 giving you Very Hard. You want at least 50 in both. Repair is now vital for maintaining your weapons and quite a few things in the environment. Medicine too is quite helpful for a number of things outside of making Stimpacks better. Explosives only needs to be 30 for Megaton, beyond that is up to you.

On perks, ignore the bonus xp ones AND the bonus skill ones (unless it adds other things, like Silent Running), you're getting perks not subsidizing your skills. I would suggest Scrounger and Educated ASAP, some ammo is quite rare and a pain to buy too, the stuff is weightless so you want as much as possible; more skill points are always good.

[SPBTooL]

bonus to skills and criticals. That's about it. It's handy if you have a high luck, but not necessary. Mine is a 4.

Then again, I always leave my luck fairly low in games, or average. I'd rather spend the points in more specialized fields.That is disappointing. One of the things that was great about the original Fallouts were the strange random encounters that could happen with high luck.

[Savok]

There are "random encounters" in what you see spawning, anything from traders to a battle in progress. There's even a few unique ones (at least one of which has a schematic), but nothing on the level of the Unwashed killing that spammer and so on.

[KingGorilla]

Originally Posted by Variable Gear View Post
Random Mini-poll: Strong Back, Yea or Nay?
Nay, Mule a companion, they do not get encumbered.

[Scaryfaced]

Nay, Mule a companion, they do not get encumbered.

While they can't become encumbered, they all have a set weight limit. I've reached it multiple times on my mule.
________
Weed Vaporizers (http://weedvaporizer.info/)

[Hyperglide]

Random Mini-poll: Strong Back, Yea or Nay?

Yay here. Love this perk. I don't usually play with Mules and with the equivalent of 5 strength points in one perk it's a perk i'd use pretty much on all my characters. I'm a pack rat so I think this is essential.

My next character i'm gonna try to go Unarmed, with Big Guns.

My base S.P.E.C.I.A.L might look something like this:

S 4+1 (level 2)
P 5+1 (level 7)
E 6
C 1
I 9
A 5+1 (level 3)
L 5+1 (level 8)

This will give me a character well suited for my Ninjaesque evil, melee affairs. High intelligence this high early on i'll will give a lot more skill points to spread around. Also with the high Intelligence this is gonna give me a good boost to medicine and repair early on which is good cause i'm gonna need to keep myself and my gear in pristine condition.

The high Endurance will be imperitive for ALL my skills. I'm gonna need some of HP, and also boost to my two key damage skills.

The lower Strength is because i'm gonna go Melee but not so early on and i'll get the Strong back Perk to comp. for my lack of Wg.

Also the Luck will be to amp up my crit's. I'm gonna do a lot of sneaking up and then garotting someone from behind. Assassins are so cool.

Perks for my char will look like this:

Intense Training Level 2 (point to Strength)
Intense Training Level 3 (point to Agility)
Educated Level 4 (3 points extra per level from level 4 on will really help boost my skills)
Comprehension Level 5(2 points from every book read. I think this one is essential)
Bloody Mess Level 6 (5% damage bonus)
Intense Training Level 7 (point to Perception)
Intense Training Level 8 (point to Luck)
Strong Back Level 9 (50 lbs of extra Wg)
Toughness Level 10 (10% bonus to damage reduction)
Size Matters Level 11 (15 pts. for my back up skill gives me a lot more points to spread around, specifically to add points to sneak and melee for Ninja at level 20)
Size Matters Level 12 (now extra 30 pts.)
Size Matters Level 13 (capped at 45 pts.)
Silent Running Level 14 (essential for sneaking)
Robotics Expert Level 15 (25% bonus damage to robots and unique shut down ability)
Cyborg Level 16 (10% bonus to damage reduction, rad and poison resistances)
Action Boy Level 17 (more time in VATS)
Better Criticals Level 18 (50% more damage to all my criticals)
Paralyzing Palm Level 19 (chance to paralyze which will be synergized by Action Boy)
Ninja Level 20 (15% chance for crits, and 25% more damage to 'sneak' criticals)

Gonna go primarly with Power Fist, Mini Guns, and a Super Sledge, in that order. Or maybe a sword instead of the Sledge, I mean after all I am an Genius Evil Ninja Scientist. :D

[biosc1]

My next character i'm gonna try to go Unarmed, with Big Guns.

Gonna go primarly with Power Fist, Mini Guns, and a Super Sledge, in that order. Or maybe a sword instead of the Sledge, I mean after all I am an Genius Evil Ninja Scientist. :D

I went into my current character as mostly unarmed, but now I'm doing small guns. It's hard to get close to an enemy with an assault rifle or mini-gun without getting chewed up.

Be sure to bump your medicine up, because you'll be healing a lot.

[carnage11]

Well with all the skill books, it kinda doesn't matter what character you make. You can pretty much get everything up there if you get all 324 skill books. Especially if you get the perk that allows you 2 points for every skill book. That's 648 points to your skills not to mention what you already get when you level. I have my Int up at 10 with the bobble head and I get 23 skill points each level. I think I got a perk that allows you 3 more skill points everytime you level as well, so damn.....that's a lot of skills.

[Variable Gear]

Like I'm gonna hunt for skill books...No thanks...

[Hyperglide]

I went into my current character as mostly unarmed, but now I'm doing small guns. It's hard to get close to an enemy with an assault rifle or mini-gun without getting chewed up.

Be sure to bump your medicine up, because you'll be healing a lot.

That's why i'm going with Big Guns I understand that my close quarters will be most effective in corridors or buildings. Out in the wastes i'll probably be relying to much on my Big Guns.

[Sazime]

I think on my third (yes, third) play through I'm going Sneak with Unarmed and Big Guns. Sneak seems like it would be essential to get close enough in some situations, and outside I can just whip out my 200lb sidearm and pump 5mm bullets into everybody. Then again, Energy Weapons my be a good idea, just in case.

I'm just so happy with my Sneak-Small Guns build right now. That little lady can smoke most targets with a single shot.