Fallout: New Vegas, Revisited. Options

[_Pax._]

The FPS version gives a better immersion for the character in my mind, but the 3/4 view allows for better tactical control.

I find myself unable to assign less than 110% agreement to this. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[taeksosin]

The only problem I have with 3 and NV is that I tend to lone wolf. I hate dealing with party members, and in general would rather just not. 1 and 2, well...I gotta have someone to sacrifice on my run down the coast to get my power armor.

[_Pax._]

Even in 1 and 2, I went Lone Wolf. Was always just too much of a PITA trying to keep some crap-for-brains NPC alive; having a companion actually made most combats HARDER for me, as a result.

[CanRay]

RIP Dogmeat.

[X-Kalibur]

RIP Dogmeat.

Only in FO. in FO2 he was ungodly. (undogly).

But yes, NPCs in FO were just as likely to hit you (love of burst fire) as they were the enemy. In FO2 you had a little more control over them and one of my favorite things to do was to have Goris, both cyberdogs, and Dogmeat.

[Stahlseele]

i liked having the fallout boy as a companion . . and the paria dog was an incredibly assholish thing to code in, but also kinda fun . .

[X-Kalibur]

i liked having the fallout boy as a companion . . and the paria dog was an incredibly assholish thing to code in, but also kinda fun . .

Oh gods, that damn Pariah dog. Although a 10 luck, jinxed, unarmed or melee character could be really successful in FO2.

[nezumi]

I'm re-installing FO3, plus a ton of mods. Since I haven't played it in a few years, I feel like the mods, harder difficulty setting, etc. should make it feel like new to me.

I also realized my kid is big enough to play Fallout 1 now, so I"m downloading and setting up that and Never Winter Nights for him to choose between (I was going to do Baldur's Gate 1, but the amount of 'explore this empty space' I think might bore him).

[CanRay]

I know my constant spear-wielding FO2 character went quite far in FO2!

[Stahlseele]

Oh gods, that damn Pariah dog. Although a 10 luck, jinxed, unarmed or melee character could be really successful in FO2.

Yeah, "If i have to suffer, i will make DAMN SURE that YOU have to suffer too!"

I'm re-installing FO3, plus a ton of mods. Since I haven't played it in a few years, I feel like the mods, harder difficulty setting, etc. should make it feel like new to me.

I also realized my kid is big enough to play Fallout 1 now, so I"m downloading and setting up that and Never Winter Nights for him to choose between (I was going to do Baldur's Gate 1, but the amount of 'explore this empty space' I think might bore him).

Heh, the best part of Fallout 1 and 2 were the humor things. the random encounters. but for that, you have to know a bit of random trivia to enjoy it . .

I know my constant spear-wielding FO2 character went quite far in FO2!

yeah, a bit sad that there was so little to mod close combat weapons . .
the only higher end close combat weapons were the ripper(imi chain knife) and the power-fist and the super sledge . . not that you would ever need more than this, but still sad that there was no modding for these . .
the ranged weapons could be modded with some stuff even back then already . . and the variety was much bigger . .

[X-Kalibur]

Yeah, "If i have to suffer, i will make DAMN SURE that YOU have to suffer too!"

Heh, the best part of Fallout 1 and 2 were the humor things. the random encounters. but for that, you have to know a bit of random trivia to enjoy it . .

yeah, a bit sad that there was so little to mod close combat weapons . .
the only higher end close combat weapons were the ripper(imi chain knife) and the power-fist and the super sledge . . not that you would ever need more than this, but still sad that there was no modding for these . .
the ranged weapons could be modded with some stuff even back then already . . and the variety was much bigger . .

Power fist in FO2 -> Mega Power Fist. It owns.

[Stahlseele]

ah, right, i forgot about that one . .
to be honest, i never much bothered with close combat stuff in f1 and f2.
as soon as i had a relatively good supply of ammo, i was shooting everything.
guns, in fallout, are the big equalizer . . so the deathclaw can kill you in one hit?
who cares, if you let it get too close with guns available, it's your own fault <.<

[X-Kalibur]

ah, right, i forgot about that one . .
to be honest, i never much bothered with close combat stuff in f1 and f2.
as soon as i had a relatively good supply of ammo, i was shooting everything.
guns, in fallout, are the big equalizer . . so the deathclaw can kill you in one hit?
who cares, if you let it get too close with guns available, it's your own fault <.<

Gauss rifle was the big equalizer for small guns users, but you couldn't get any until San Francisco. Unless you were brave enough to try and get a G11E from Mel or the one Morton brother. Whereas for energy weapons you can just take a plasma rifle over to good ol' Algernon in Reno for a turbo plasma rifle.

Actually, that reminds me to gripe about power armor in FO3 and NV - it bothers me that it slows you down significantly. Maybe if you stripped the servos in it or something, but otherwise once you have proper training to wear it you should be moving normal speed, after all, you never lost APs for wearing it (well, or any armor) in FO or FO2.

[Stahlseele]

get the plasma to turbo, then go to mel or the morton brothers, kill who's in the way and take the gauss rifle.
there is, literally, no question that can not be answered by a bolt of super heated gas to the face.

[Irion]

@Stahlseele
Well, close combat sucked hard in fallout 2, if you ask me. Only starting the game hand to hand combat had some value to beat up rats, radscorpions and ants.

The gauss rifle was just to darn superior to even consider. And if you made your way to the avarage firearms, there were no unarmed or melee to match them.

I mean the way of combat:
Fallout1:
Unarmed, guns (after having read some magazins), ENERGY FOR THE WIN (modified plasma rifle was over the top))
Fallout2:
Unarmed, guns, energy, guns (Or if you followed an other playthrough: Unarmed, guns, guns, guns)
Fallout tactics:
Guns, Guns, guns, Energy+guns.
Fallout 3:
What you found.
Fallout New Vegas:
What you found.

@X-Kalibur
You could get a gauss pistol in the Military base. And I found a gave which hold a gauss pistol or a gauss rifle.

Actually, that reminds me to gripe about power armor in FO3 and NV - it bothers me that it slows you down significantly. Maybe if you stripped the servos in it or something, but otherwise once you have proper training to wear it you should be moving normal speed, after all, you never lost APs for wearing it (well, or any armor) in FO or FO2.

Well, fallout 3 and new vegas made a big jump considering armor and weapons in general.
In the older Fallouts the more high tech it got, the more bang you got (and the later you found it in game)
In Fallout New Vegas it may happen, that you finish half of the game with never changing your weapon...

[_Pax._]

@Stahlseele
Well, close combat sucked hard in fallout 2, if you ask me. Only starting the game hand to hand combat had some value to beat up rats, radscorpions and ants.

The gauss rifle was just to darn superior to even consider. And if you made your way to the avarage firearms, there were no unarmed or melee to match them.

I mean the way of combat:
Fallout1:
Unarmed, guns (after having read some magazins), ENERGY FOR THE WIN (modified plasma rifle was over the top))

... Red Ryder LE BB Gun. The only effectively silenced gun in the game.

Alternately, the .223 FMJ was a pretty damned effective gun.

Fallout2:

See Fallout 1.

Fallout 3:
What you found.

Crafted dart gun. Ultimate cheese, made from old toys and bug parts.

Fallout New Vegas:
What you found.

Oh, yes. Very much so.

[X-Kalibur]

With New Vegas it really depended on what sort of "build" you were going for. By the time you hit the strip and get the chip you can get whatever weapon you want. This includes getting past deathclaws with a stealth boy and heading straight to the strip; namely because you can easily have 4 snowglobes for 8000 caps. (goodsprings, fort mormon, test site, vault 21).

[Irion]

... Red Ryder LE BB Gun. The only effectively silenced gun in the game.

Alternately, the .223 FMJ was a pretty damned effective gun.

See Fallout 1.

The BB was good, but quite hidden. Sierra depots last level using computer...
Actually by the time I found it I had around 3 Power armors and at least 2 Gaussrifles...
Great for NPC, though. Cheap and light ammo.

Crafted dart gun. Ultimate cheese, made from old toys and bug parts.
Oh, yes. Very much so.

Did not play it so long... So as I had the Questgiven Plasma rifle, I stick to it. (Oh, and I stoll the laser pistol from the big boss..)

@X-Kalibur
Well, it also depends on the mods/packeges you used.
The auto-recharger pistol from the gunrunners arsenal was quite handy for close range combat. Long range would be the gauss rifle or an modified or special sniper rifle.
If you got mods to mod special weapons all hell broke loose...

[_Pax._]

The BB was good, but quite hidden. Sierra depots last level using computer...

.... or get lucky with the right Random Encounter. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[almost normal]

If you're relying on getting lucky, Alien Blaster, all the way.

[_Pax._]

If you're relying on getting lucky, Alien Blaster, all the way.

Only if you planned to work Energy Weapons up. If your Small Guns is seventy or mroe points higher than Energy Weapons ... I'll take the .223 or LE BB gun, any day.

[X-Kalibur]

@X-Kalibur
Well, it also depends on the mods/packeges you used.
The auto-recharger pistol from the gunrunners arsenal was quite handy for close range combat. Long range would be the gauss rifle or an modified or special sniper rifle.
If you got mods to mod special weapons all hell broke loose...

I much preferred the upgraded holorifle to the gauss rifle, even the special one. For one (well, 2) main reasons. Holorifle with full mods doesn't degrade, even after patches, so you can fire max overcharge cells without worry, and you only reload it after every 4 shots instead of every shot. Also, Gauss scope always felt off to me, even in FO3.

The special recharger pistol was nice, can't remember if it counts as a laser for the Laser Commander perk, otherwise the special laser rifle from Vault... 12? 5? The one with the plants. Along with the Laser Pistol from collecting the Star Sunset caps were ridiculously powerful and the only plasma weapon that could compete was the Plasma Caster.

For regular guns it again depended on perks. Going the Cowboy route? Brush gun and a ranger sequoia handled most problems (also Lucky and Mysterious magnum to round out ammo usage, and even That Gun is considered a revolver). Grunt route of course you have the All-American and Light Shining in the Darkness as stand outs along with the Battle Rifle (forgot survivalist rifle, it rocks). Putting snipers into their own category for a moment, only 3 come to mind - Gobi (degrades slowly, no silencer), Cristine's COS (silenced, degrades quickly) and the Anti-materiel rifle (with GRA mods - sound suppression).

I will note, that Chance's Knife, already considered one of the best melee weapons in the game - boosted by both Grunt AND Cowboy. I still love using an unarmed character alongside logan's loophole though. Hit whatever drugs you want and go to town wailing on them with a power fist or ballistic fist or your goddamned bare hands if you want. You want to be a real man? Kill a deathclaw bare handed!

[Irion]

@X-Kalibur
Yeah, it did counted for laser commander.... (Add to this the bonusdamage from having ED with you...)
(And as the gauss rifle a great damage per AP ratio...)
My holorifle always degraded....Anyhow, I always used vigilant recycler. Optimized energy cells had even less weight...

gauss rifle has a good damage per AP... Good range, too.

Hit whatever drugs you want and go to town wailing on them with a power fist or ballistic fist or your goddamned bare hands if you want. You want to be a real man? Kill a deathclaw bare handed!

Yeah, I made my second playthrough with the rebalance mod... (meaning no HP per level only body bonus)
Deathclaws pretty much killed you with 1-3 hits. So hand to hand with a deathclaw was never an option for my. Espacially playing on very hard...

I will note, that Chance's Knife, already considered one of the best melee weapons in the game

You could find that early on, if you can avoid cazadores ...

But I ought to say, if you go melee go gehenna with pyro...
@almost normal

If you're relying on getting lucky, Alien Blaster, all the way.

Alienblaster ain't that good. Gauss has much higher range and better armor penetration...

[X-Kalibur]

Implant GRX and/or turbo. Bonus time from Logan's Loophole, Day Tripper, and Chemist. Plus those expand the amount of slowed down time. Turbo only lasts 2 or 3 real seconds, but time is stretched while you use it. Combine that with the slayer perk, penetrating strike, and some psycho and you're looking at a good chance to down a deathclaw with your bare hands. (As for the holorifle, for some reason with all 3 upgrades on it, it will never decay at all, but only with all 3 installed. Even after every patch.)

The advantage to the alien blaster was the low AP cost and close, but high, damage range. Assuming you're talking FO1 and 2 which also meant you needed luck to find it. I'd never waste the trait on it for New Vegas (limited ammo) but it was awesome for FO3 if you didn't have Mothership Zeta installed. You could grab it at a super low level and run to any place with deathclaws and make short work of them.

[Irion]

@X-Kalibur
I am not doubting that... But deathclaws come in packs most of the time...

So it takes quite a bid of preparation. Find single death claw, make sure it is alone, do drugs and then attack.