Fallout 3

[NLxAROSA]

VATS is used for close quarters battle.

Hell no. With a high small guns skill (higher damage) and a hunting/sniper rifle for instance (especially with the Commando or Sniper perk), it's very handy for taking on multiple enemies at medium/long range. Remember that VATS gives you an additional 15% critical hit chance advantage and reduces damage done to yourself. And it has pretty animations. The downside is of course that you are limited to action points and the hit chances provided. If you aim yourself you'll always hit exactly where you aim.

The way I use it, is something like this: stumble onto party of 3-4 supermutants. Use VATS to target each mutant's head. Obviously this will not kill them all, so move away (keep out of range) until your action points are regenerated (high sneak can help here). Rinse and repeat. Works very well, especially at higher difficulty settings.

Ofcourse, this can also be done quite nicely without VATS, but VATS makes it so much easier (for me).

Grenade tossing (which I assume you don't do in close quarters battle ) works also very nicely from VATS.

That's what I like so much about Fallout 3. For someone like yourself, you can play the whole game without VATS if that's what you like to do. But a VATS addict like me can use it all the time if I want to. This game makes so many different approaches possible, that's IMO the biggest feat of this game.

 

[land sea air]

I think Moglet summed up the problems some people are having with the game best, you really should walk before running and take it easy early on in the game. If you just go out into the wasteland at lower levels you'll get killed over and over again and just get frustrated (this happened many times on my first play through). Here are my recommendations (at least if you want to play good guy) (mild spoilers)
1.stick around megaton and take care of those quests early on in the game and remember, if you are low on health and a long way from home you can always fast travel back once you are out of harms way.
2. one of the best early quests has to be power of atom (just get some repair skill early on and/or use a vault jumpsuit combined with some mentats if needed) you get your own place to heal for free and a free source of water (5 bottles every week I believe)
3. another good quest to do early on is blood ties, if only for the EXP and schematic you get. it doesn't necessitate any fighting at all if you can run past some mirelurks and disarm or avoid some traps. this is also a good way to get some areas of the map explored for being able to reduce your travel time to long distance regions later on.
4. the first chapter or two of survival guide are very rewarding and not too difficult for early players.
5. Focused at least half of my skill points on lockpick and repair early until they were both at 100 (this time around that happened around level 10). The rest of my skill points went to small guns, sneak, medicine, etc. I completely ignored melee and unarmed and have not once regretted it (even though I do use them both on occasion, deathclaw gauntlet anyone?) but that's just my playing style.


hope this helps!

 

[TigJackson]

That's the only way you can use it, I know. Sneaking to land a VATS shot is pointless, though, hence why I'm not too crazy for sneaking. Taking cover and staying HIDDEN is fun, but sneaking (moving) for a closer shot is not fun at all.

My character is at Level 20 and I'm playing on normal mode. My favorite weapon is the Dart Gun, and you can buy a Schematic for this weapon from Lydia Montenegro in Tenpenny Tower for about 500 caps (or thereabouts). My Explosives Skill is 93, Speech is 90, and Melee Weapons and Unarmed are at 65. All other Skills are at 100 and my Luck is shown as 10+. I am wearing the Modified Utility Jumpsuit, Three Dog's Head Wrap, and the Lucky Shades, while the Lucky 8 Ball is in my inventory. My carry weight when I take off from my Megaton Shack is 7/270 and my DR=24, but I seldom get hit. Staying [HIDDEN] while sneaking for a closer shot is what keeps my interest in this game up, but you have to remember to turn off your Pipboy light, and realize that it is easier to do this at night.

I fast travel into the Fairfax Ruins at about midnight. There are ten (10) raiders there every three game days, and I know exactly where they all are. The challenge that I've made for myself is to go in there, and use exactly ten (10) darts total....one for each of the Raiders without a single shot (or missile from two Raiders with Missile Launchers) being fired in my direction. I've managed to do this many times, an although it is time consuming, it is ultimately satisfying.

There are typically more than ten Raiders on a re-spawn at the Bethesda Ruins, but I've done the same thing there as well. The secret to the Bethesda Ruins is that the Raider with the Flamer Weapon in the Bethesda Offices East building will always have a copy of the U.S. Army: 30 Handy Flamethrower Recipes in his inventory. It is therefore not necessary to spend any skill points at Level Up on Big Guns.

 

[hamstrings]

Grenade tossing (which I assume you don't do in close quarters battle ) works also very nicely from VATS.

It might surprise you that I did use them as melee weapons. VATS raises your DR all the way up. I was throwing them like packing peanuts at Super Mutants and coming out without a scratch.

Those Fort Independence guys are a good source of frag grenades. I didn't find 5.56 ammo all that useful once I had a mountain of it.

VATS in Fallout 3 frustrated me since I was used to Fallout 1 and 2 where having high PER, high AGI, and high small guns lets you land a perfect shot to the eye or groin from a block away with a sniper rifle. I gave up trying to snipe with VATS since my accuracy at range is only 60% or lower even with 90+ small guns, gunslinger, commando, and sniper. Magnum rounds aren't worth shooting if I'm getting 60% accuracy.

Solid Lifters:
Moira has a fully functional workbench in her store, but having one in your house by the storage lockers can be useful. Moira also sells everything you need for a Rock-it Launcher. Projectile weight affects damage, so garden gnomes work like anti-tank rounds.

 

[Giancarlo]

Damn it, my follower Star Paladin Cross just died. A Yao Guai got her while i was investigating a certain "anomaly" in the mideast portion of the map...

Spoiler

The crashed flying saucer, complete with alien corpse and his special Alien Blaster.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I haven't even found Dogmeat yet. I watched a video on YT of a guy who had four human followers. Nice. Battles should be a cinch for him.

I just found the Alien Blaster, but haven't had time to use it, yet. Is there any more ammo for it than what I found? I hope I can find or buy some more. This weapon has a pretty high damage rating.

Couldn't finish Minefield quest for Moira 'cause I didn't have enough Explosives skills. I had to roam around the area and kill stuff to get to Level 6 and spent just enough on that skill to collect the mines in town. However, right now I'm stuck getting shot at by some damn sniper who blows up the mines I approach. Is he in the rocky cliff behind the Gibson's house? I need to get him first before going any farther.

 

[hamstrings]

He's always at the same spot. He's in a tall house near the top of the hill.

 

[TigJackson]

****Snip****
However, right now I'm stuck getting shot at by some damn sniper who blows up the mines I approach. Is he in the rocky cliff behind the Gibson's house? I need to get him first before going any farther.

As stated above, he is in the ruins of a multi-story building in Minefield, but when you eventually find and target him, you might notice that he is a 'named' NPC. His name comes up in another quest, so you may (or not) want to leave him be for a while.

 

[Giancarlo]

Is there any more ammo for it than what I found? I hope I can find or buy some more. This weapon has a pretty high damage rating.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm hoping the little ammo pods will respawn there at some point, but i highly doubt it.

 

[land sea air]

I was thinking the same thing. I'm hoping the little ammo pods will respawn there at some point, but i highly doubt it.

random encounter in the wastes, but it will never be enough to sustainably use the weapon unfortunately.

 

[Solid Lifters]

How do I turn on/off the light to my Pipboy 3000?

 

[NLxAROSA]

Hold 'circle' until it goes out.

 

[hamstrings]

Don't try to sneak around with the radio and flashlight on too.

"Oh, bongo bongo bongo, we don't wanna leave the Congo oh no no no no no"

 

[Sureboss]

People actually listen to the radio on the pipboy?

Is there anything more satisfying than finding a big weapons dump? Just hit about 5 raiders by a station and they had a big stash. I'm constantly running at maximum weight though. I think I have about 8 types of gun. No probably more than that.

10mm pistol
" Sub-machine gun
" Silenced pistol
Chinese Assault Rifle
Combat Shotgun
Gatling Gun (Is it called that in the game?)
Missile Launcher
Laser Pistol

I'm missing something...

 

[TigJackson]

random encounter in the wastes, but it will never be enough to sustainably use the weapon unfortunately.

There's not that many Alien Power Cells in the entire game, but there's more available than just those found at the Alien Crash Site.
Alien Power Cells

I've been tempted to sell a few cells of this rare ammo to some of the vendors in order to see if they somehow manage to miraculously find some more.

 

[hamstrings]

The vendor stock "resets" as far as I can tell.

The Pip-boy is handy for finding pre-war bomb shelters. Find the signal tower; look for the shelter.

There's a gatling laser and a minigun. Fallout has pretty generous auto-aim too outside of VATS. Try hosing your enemies down with the minigun while strafing. It tends to get in the way of sniping enemies behind obstructions though, since bullets and lasers curve toward the torso.

 

[ceiling_fan]

I found the gatling laser, I was pretty dissapointed considering how much Fawkes pwnzz with it.

 

[hamstrings]

The regular gatling laser and miniguns are underwhelming. Big Guns really don't have the punch they're expected to in the game. Try looking for the unique ones. Eugene puts the hurt down if you have time to empty the magazine.

I had a Mirelurk King rocket jump over me too. I'm not sure that was intentional by Bethesda.

 

[ceiling_fan]

I saw a Centaur tongue spread across the entire map, was really creepy, reminded me of the CoD4 glitch like this:

(I took the picture...)

 

[Picc84]

Rented the game again. I'mma have to buy this damn thing, still expensive though. I'm sucking it up just running around blasting enemies looking for loot..

 

[Solid Lifters]

I went through the entire subway "Blood Ties" quest without the light. It could have helped. The entire time I was down there, I said, "This game can really use a flashlight!"

Finally got 'Lock Pick' level to 50 and got the Repair Bobblehead. Repair Skill is now up to 81, and I still have plenty of lock pick books that need to be found (found only one so far). That means I have 24 more to find with 48 points possible (Comprehension perk is AWESOME!), I guess I added too much to Repair, (waisted 29 skill points that could have gone elsewhere), but oh well.

Have some new questions...

1.) At the lower level at the School, can I use grenades, or other explosives, to clear away what appears to be blockages in the path? I hear ants behind some of those areas, and read the Desktop notes about Raiders using explosives in the ant tunnels, so I want to know what I need to do.

2.) How useful are Pulse Grenades? 7 DMG level, yet have a high VAL? Should I keep the ones I find?

3.) How effective is the Silent Running perk? Does it only work while running? Seems weird I'd make noise when walking while crouching, but not when running. I understand this perk only works while crouching.

4.) When I find a new 'Schematic' for a weapon I can assemble, do the DMG level increase for ALL previous made weapons? Should I wait until I have all the plans before putting them together?

5.) What 'Perks' are you favorites, and why? I ask this 'cause 'Grim Reaper Sprint' perk sounds awesome! I like the following...

Finesse
Commando
Strong Back
Sniper
Silent Running
Cyborg (Four perks in one!)
Action Boy
Better Critical
Grim Reaper's Sprint

 

[Picc84]

What level are all you? I'm only like, 8?

 

[ceiling_fan]

Hey look what I got!!

 

[land sea air]

1.) At the lower level at the School, can I use grenades, or other explosives, to clear away what appears to be blockages in the path? I hear ants behind some of those areas, and read the Desktop notes about Raiders using explosives in the ant tunnels, so I want to know what I need to do.

nope, grenades can only be used to harm baddies and a very limited amount of inanimate objects. iirc there are no areas where you can change the environment with explosives. The area you are talking about most likely has a door near by where you can access the room with the ant tunnel

2.) How useful are Pulse Grenades? 7 DMG level, yet have a high VAL? Should I keep the ones I find?

very destructive for robots and good to sell if you get more than you need, I usually only keep a small number on hand. Same goes for pulse mines

3.) How effective is the Silent Running perk? Does it only work while running? Seems weird I'd make noise when walking while crouching, but not when running. I understand this perk only works while crouching.

I've never used this perk, but by the sound of it you make the same level of noise when sneak running as you would sneak walking instead of more.

4.) When I find a new 'Schematic' for a weapon I can assemble, do the DMG level increase for ALL previous made weapons? Should I wait until I have all the plans before putting them together?

it only improves versions made after the subsequent schematic is acquired, I usually build a new weapon each time and sell the old one since there are generally plenty of parts scattered about the wasteland which I store in my house.

5.) What 'Perks' are you favorites, and why? I ask this 'cause 'Grim Reaper Sprint' perk sounds awesome! I like the following...

Finesse
Commando
Strong Back
Sniper
Silent Running
Cyborg (Four perks in one!)
Action Boy
Better Critical
Grim Reaper's Sprint

Animal Friend
comprehension
whatever perk opens all locations on the map
child at heart
strong back
lawbringer

 

[Solid Lifters]

What level are all you? I'm only like, 8?

I just got to level 7 before I quit yesterday. I've got 1,000 more Exp to earn for level 8.

Hey look what I got!!

Nice! 👍

I don't like most of your perks, because they so limited or not really needed.

Animal Friend is horrible because it requires you to have a 6 in Charisma, which is a HUGE waste. That and how often do you encounter an animal, or worst yet, an animal that can actually come to your defense? Not often.

Explorer Sounds nice to have all the locations opened up to you, but you can do that on your own by using the map I provided a few posts back. In time, you'll search the entire map on your own, too. Plus, it's a Level 20 perk and nothing is going to stop me from getting "Grim Reaper's Sprint!"

Lawbringer Selling the fingers of your enemy sounds tempting, but is money (Caps) a major concern at the end of the game? No. That would make this perk useless as money wont be a problem, later on.

Child at Heart Your Charisma needs to be at level 4, which I already said was absolutely useless and a waste of level ups. Plus, how often do you run into kids? Only one town (Little Lamplight) has kids, so I don't see this as being useful. Besides, just be nice to kids, and they'll treat you nice, anyway.

Thanks for the feedback, though! I appreciate it. 👍

 

[Giancarlo]

Strong Back is a godsend.

 

[hamstrings]

Animal friend is very useful. Only one level is really required as they have pretty wide aggro range. I've had it in two games so far. There's nothing quite like a Yao Guai ripping the stuffing out of a Talon hit squad or a sentry bot. They're effective against giant radscorpions as well. However, I spend a fair amount of time roaming the wastes and exploring. Animal friend doesn't make much sense if you mostly fast travel or do the main quest.

There's also a certain bobblehead that gets very easy to acquire with Animal Friend.

Grim Reaper's Spirit doesn't work well for Big Guns. I kinda wish I took Explorer on my first play through instead of GRS. On my second play through, I took Ninja.

My favourite is Silent Running. They never see nor hear me coming.
My second favourite is Size Matters. I love man-portable miniguns and rocket launchers.

 

[Giancarlo]

Oh you guys should look into the Scrounger perk too, right now i have 61 missiles!

 

[hamstrings]

That reminds me. Repair is not a useless skill: it will make you most of the money in the game. Also, keeping your weapons in a good state prevents costly malfunctions after reloading.

 

[Sureboss]

I've just downed the Super Mutant Behemoth at GNR. Problem is I have 270WG out of 220WG maximum. But I don't want to drop anything...