The Fallout Thread

[Imperializt Russia]

The New Vegas combat system makes you quite vulnerable with low weapon skills and late-game enemies should really only be tackled late in the game.

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

I intentionally am playing a character with low weapon skills. I found a plasma rifle and other good energy weapons by clearing out REPCONN test centre, and looting all the Bright Brotherhood corpses; haven't used the heavy incinerator; and the only minigun I've even found is looted from the Nightkin that attacks the McBride farm in the unmarked "midnight shootings" quest in Novac.

I also found this character after a couple dozen hours of play and admittedly would have done so much more quickly had I played the main questline as priority, but the ammunition scarcity would have been a huge issue. It also requires STR 10 to be effectively used, and my character has relatively low strength (base 4, +1 through SPECIAL Training perk).

I think the Varmint Rifle is a great change to how the game starts you out - its very high AP use and the moderate scarcity of 5.56mm ammunition means that a handy starting weapon isn't OPAF or otherwise useful against basically every enemy in the game, unlike the .32 cal hunting rifle in FO3 which is useful all the way through the game until you find the Lincoln Repeater, which will deal with literally every enemy in the game and is repaired with this ubiquitous weapon.
My character, without chems, can only fire the Varmint Rifle once in VATS, and a second time after a very brief pause. It also loses a lot of its potency by the midgame and becomes fairly underpowered.

It's levelled to the world, it's well designed. I love it.

[Alekseandrea]

The New Vegas combat system makes you quite vulnerable with low weapon skills and late-game enemies should really only be tackled late in the game.

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

Try fighting a deathclaw or a pack of cazadors.
You'll feel vulnerable, I assure you.

Fo4 hands you power armour near one of the starting town. And if you're a real bastard (like me), you can just snipe everything below instead of risking it getting damaged. Fo4 never made me feel vulnerable. It made me feel underleveled and short on crafting materials, sure. But vulnerable? No.

[Imperializt Russia]

Deathclaws and Cazadors border on the ridiculous, yes.
Like I said, banging my head against a wall on the same Deathclaw encounter, with two proficient ranged companions and some pretty hefty weapons. But I think this says more about the state of the combat system inherent to the engine than anything else.

[Alekseandrea]

Deathclaws and Cazadors border on the ridiculous, yes.
Like I said, banging my head against a wall on the same Deathclaw encounter, with two proficient ranged companions and some pretty hefty weapons. But I think this says more about the state of the combat system inherent to the engine than anything else.

Nah, that's not it.
It's because Deathclaws have 15DT and ignore your DT.
You need armour-piercing ammo and/or a high damage (damage not dps) weapon to get past their DT alone, and if they get on top of you, you're screwed.

I prefer to use the the anti-materiel rifle to down them. That thing takes deathclaws down in 3 shots and a mere 2 shots if you're sneaking. It's still hard, but SO satisfying.

[The Illusive Mans Cerberus]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

[Imperializt Russia]

Deathclaws and Cazadors border on the ridiculous, yes.
Like I said, banging my head against a wall on the same Deathclaw encounter, with two proficient ranged companions and some pretty hefty weapons. But I think this says more about the state of the combat system inherent to the engine than anything else.

Nah, that's not it.
It's because Deathclaws have 15DT and ignore your DT.
You need armour-piercing ammo and/or a high damage (damage not dps) weapon to get past their DT alone, and if they get on top of you, you're screwed.

I prefer to use the the anti-materiel rifle to down them. That thing takes deathclaws down in 3 shots and a mere 2 shots if you're sneaking. It's still hard, but SO satisfying.

I do actually use the 5.56mm AP on the Varmint Rifle (my only scoped weapon) to open up and then plasma rifle up close.

I still don't really understand the DT system. Is it a straight subtraction from the damage my weapon has?

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

Try fighting a deathclaw or a pack of cazadors.
You'll feel vulnerable, I assure you.

Fo4 hands you power armour near one of the starting town. And if you're a real bastard (like me), you can just snipe everything below instead of risking it getting damaged. Fo4 never made me feel vulnerable. It made me feel underleveled and short on crafting materials, sure. But vulnerable? No.

The worst power armor with no mods and only one fusion core.

My power armor was always falling apart after that first deathclaw fight.

I kept on running out of ammo and had to carry around plenty of guns.

The corvega assembly plant was a place where I was really scared, lack of ammo and cems, week armor.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

gauss rifle

[The Illusive Mans Cerberus]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

gauss rifle

i only have 200. 2mm ec. ammo. but i have 1.5k fusion cells

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

gauss rifle

i only have 200. 2mm ec. ammo. but i have 1.5k fusion cells

Thats way more then what you need to kill kellogg.

Just be careful, he has a stealth boy.

[Licana]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

Pipe pistol.

I still don't really understand the DT system. Is it a straight subtraction from the damage my weapon has?

On the surface, yes. But it's a little more involved than that since NV uses both DR and DT, and DR is applied before DT, and there is a minimum damage value for all weapons (in vanilla, this is 20% of their base damage) so you can't just negate low-damage enemies. Actual calculations are here.

[Harbertia]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

Pipe pistol.

We got our selves a legend here!

[Alekseandrea]

Nah, that's not it.
It's because Deathclaws have 15DT and ignore your DT.
You need armour-piercing ammo and/or a high damage (damage not dps) weapon to get past their DT alone, and if they get on top of you, you're screwed.

I prefer to use the the anti-materiel rifle to down them. That thing takes deathclaws down in 3 shots and a mere 2 shots if you're sneaking. It's still hard, but SO satisfying.

I do actually use the 5.56mm AP on the Varmint Rifle (my only scoped weapon) to open up and then plasma rifle up close.

I still don't really understand the DT system. Is it a straight subtraction from the damage my weapon has?

The varmint rifle simply doesn't do enough damage. It's slow and not that powerful.
The plasma rifle is better, but still a bit low on damage.

On the other hand, if you have access to mines, you can drop some between you and the deathclaw and then aggro the damn thing.
Keeping it on the other side of some impassible thing while you unload your fire in it might work, but I haven't tried it.
I prefer sneaking + anti-materiel rifle + save scumming. This works.

But it better to go around really. The loot in quarry junction isn't that great and the deathclaws are in fact intended as a beef gate so low-levels can't use it as a shortcut to vegas.
Go around, go to vegas and if you still want to kill them, stock up at the gun runners and give them hell.


The DT system is simple. DT is subtracted from the damage of a weapon. If the DT absorbs all damage, you receive some scratch damage, though. But it isn't much.

I stand corrected by the gentleman above.

Try fighting a deathclaw or a pack of cazadors.
You'll feel vulnerable, I assure you.

Fo4 hands you power armour near one of the starting town. And if you're a real bastard (like me), you can just snipe everything below instead of risking it getting damaged. Fo4 never made me feel vulnerable. It made me feel underleveled and short on crafting materials, sure. But vulnerable? No.

The worst power armor with no mods and only one fusion core.

My power armor was always falling apart after that first deathclaw fight.

You simply need to find an insurmountable pole, tree or car or something. Keep the deathclaw at the other side while you unload whatever at it. Really. It's that simple. Deathclaws are pushovers in fo4.

You only need to use the power armour to trigger the event. You can exit it and snipe everyone safely from above the museum if you feel like it.

I kept on running out of ammo and had to carry around plenty of guns.

The corvega assembly plant was a place where I was really scared, lack of ammo and cems, week armor.

Well, you can always give up, walk outside, earn some money/ammo and go back.
Use foodstuffs that give you radiation if you have to.
It can also help to use semi-auto weaponry with a good damage to ammo consumption ratio.

[Shadowwell]

Pipe pistol.

We got our selves a legend here!

Fun fact, in fallout New Vegas there are achievements if you kill certain things certain ways, such as Caesar with a knife, or President kimble, with a pistol, that one is called Sic Semper Tyranus, a phrase used by John wilkes booth.

[Gloriana Americana]

The New Vegas combat system makes you quite vulnerable with low weapon skills and late-game enemies should really only be tackled late in the game.

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

What weapons you find are based on your level, not on your skill.

If you lack the skill or strength necessary to use it properly, you'll find wielding the weapon properly to be a challenge.

You could use console commands to give yourself the most powerful weapon in the base game with enough ammo for it at level one and it will still feel weak and useless against deathclaws if you don't have the skill level or strength to use it. Skills and strength play an important role in how effectively you can use weapons in NV. If you lack the proper strength, you'll find hitting anything difficult. If you lack the proper skill, you won't be doing nearly the amount of damage you could be doing.

The Heavy Incinerator requires an Energy Weapons skill of 100 and a Strength of 8 to use properly, while the Plasma Rifle requires an Energy Weapons skill of 25 and a Strength of 3. Thus it'd be easy for an average Joe to use the latter, while the former would require a fit individual with complete knowledge of energy-based weapons.

Sure, you can still use it, but if you don't meet the minimum requires don't expect to do much damage - assuming you can even hit anything.

[CITY18]

If I remember correctly, Using the Anti Material Rifle without out meeting the STR req of 10 only effects the recoil.

Most of my characters can use it with little accuracy issues other then the gun having really annoying kickback.

[Licana]

If I remember correctly, Using the Anti Material Rifle without out meeting the STR req of 10 only effects the recoil.

Most of my characters can use it with little accuracy issues other then the gun having really annoying kickback.

It increases scope sway and increases the spread (real accuracy) of the weapon. The latter isn't a big deal, as the AMR already has a very low spread.

edit: The AMR also has a strength requirement of 8, not 10. With the Weapon Handling perk, you can get that down to a very reasonable 6.

[Imperializt Russia]

I do actually use the 5.56mm AP on the Varmint Rifle (my only scoped weapon) to open up and then plasma rifle up close.

I still don't really understand the DT system. Is it a straight subtraction from the damage my weapon has?

The varmint rifle simply doesn't do enough damage. It's slow and not that powerful.
The plasma rifle is better, but still a bit low on damage.

On the other hand, if you have access to mines, you can drop some between you and the deathclaw and then aggro the damn thing.
Keeping it on the other side of some impassible thing while you unload your fire in it might work, but I haven't tried it.
I prefer sneaking + anti-materiel rifle + save scumming. This works.

But it better to go around really. The loot in quarry junction isn't that great and the deathclaws are in fact intended as a beef gate so low-levels can't use it as a shortcut to vegas.
Go around, go to vegas and if you still want to kill them, stock up at the gun runners and give them hell.

Nah, I'm not that bad. It was the "Blind" Deathclaw family at Gypsum Railyard (between Vault 34 and Ranger Station Bravo).

They're clearly meant to prevent or discourage use of the direct route from Vault 34 to RS Bravo (or possibly, McCarran and Bitter Springs) which would make sense, but it is also stumbled upon by the roadway, which doesn't strike me as great design. Surely a beefgate should encourage you to use a specific "safe" route - as the Quarry Junction does, by explicitly telling you to head south to Nipton, then to Novac, then Boulder and Freeside if you want in on The Strip.

Speaking of design, the Pip-Boy map is still fucking terrible at relaying information. Fallout NV (and limited areas of Fallout 3, though for more cynical reasons imo) is clearly a world designed to be traversed in a way that isn't just the straight line directly between you and your intended destination.
But because of the FO3 engine, that's exactly how the game tells you to get there.
I've spent basically all of today being pissed off trying to reach Ranger Station Foxtrot. After running up the east side of the mountain and blitzing through 80 Cazador flocks, I find out via the wiki that it's impassable - and then have to spend all my time going down the mountain, gaining fast-travel points near the mountain, and then working out how to get from the main road on the north slope to the camp itself.

---

I could have been told by Comms Officer Reyes that RSF is not easy to reach and I should find the north approach - there could be signs to a Pre-War location next to where RSF now is where "Ranger Station Foxtrot - next left" have been painted over or something, or the Pip-Boy map could try and communicate to me that the south and east slopes of this giant fucking mountain in the northwest corner of the world map are impassable and I should make for the north approach. I don't know about FO4, but the Pip-Boy map in FO3/NV basically tells you to take a straight line route to reach any location, whether self-set marker or objective marker.

In FO3 this is easy because the world is badly designed and you can just do that, in FONV it is not because the world is nicely designed but not in a game that accommodates it.

[Ozzy]

i need fallout 4 advice laser sniper rifle or. gauss rifle to kill kellogg

Gauss rifle, I killed him in one VATS assault with it before he could use a Stealthboy.

Don't forget to aim for the head lol

[Licana]

I don't know about FO4, but the Pip-Boy map in FO3/NV basically tells you to take a straight line route to reach any location, whether self-set marker or objective marker.

That's more or less how FO4's system works too. It's best to ignore the marker entirely for long-distance hauls, because of the issues you've mentioned.

[The Derpy Democratic Republic Of Herp]

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

What weapons you find are based on your level, not on your skill.

If you lack the skill or strength necessary to use it properly, you'll find wielding the weapon properly to be a challenge.

You could use console commands to give yourself the most powerful weapon in the base game with enough ammo for it at level one and it will still feel weak and useless against deathclaws if you don't have the skill level or strength to use it. Skills and strength play an important role in how effectively you can use weapons in NV. If you lack the proper strength, you'll find hitting anything difficult. If you lack the proper skill, you won't be doing nearly the amount of damage you could be doing.

The Heavy Incinerator requires an Energy Weapons skill of 100 and a Strength of 8 to use properly, while the Plasma Rifle requires an Energy Weapons skill of 25 and a Strength of 3. Thus it'd be easy for an average Joe to use the latter, while the former would require a fit individual with complete knowledge of energy-based weapons.

Sure, you can still use it, but if you don't meet the minimum requires don't expect to do much damage - assuming you can even hit anything.

Or was it a normal incinerator? I forget.

I don't know about FO4, but the Pip-Boy map in FO3/NV basically tells you to take a straight line route to reach any location, whether self-set marker or objective marker.

That's more or less how FO4's system works too. It's best to ignore the marker entirely for long-distance hauls, because of the issues you've mentioned.

Not really. I have never experienced the issues like what Imperializt Russia is talking about in FO4.

[Harbertia]

We got our selves a legend here!

Fun fact, in fallout New Vegas there are achievements if you kill certain things certain ways, such as Caesar with a knife, or President kimble, with a pistol, that one is called Sic Semper Tyranus, a phrase used by John wilkes booth.

That is certainly a fun fact!

[Husseinarti]

The New Vegas combat system makes you quite vulnerable with low weapon skills and late-game enemies should really only be tackled late in the game.

Eh, I have only played for four hours and already it gave me a plasma rifle and an heavy incinerator.

Fallout 4 did a better job at making me feel vulnerable early on with only pipe guns, 10mm and, shotguns early on with very little ammo.

Yes, you can get a minigun early but there isn't that much ammo for it and it's impracticality heavy.

yeah i didn't feel all that vunerable when i had fucking power armor

[Gloriana Americana]

If I remember correctly, Using the Anti Material Rifle without out meeting the STR req of 10 only effects the recoil.

Most of my characters can use it with little accuracy issues other then the gun having really annoying kickback.

You remember incorrectly, then.

If you don't meet the strength requirement of weapon, you'll find it impossible to keep it steady - scoped or not. This affects accuracy as the bullets are spread everywhere and often go off target, especially the further the target is away from you. You can't hit anything, and it gets worse the lower your strength is. Recoil is the least of your worries.

As Licana pointed out, the AMR isn't affected much due to it's low spread but it's still affected nonetheless. All weapons are.

[Harbertia]

So... I got creeped out.

I made a new automatron-
White painted Assaultron with a Robobrain and Turtle Head Armor-

I've created a Cylon! WHAT HAVE I DONE!

This thing has long engagement distance yet fights melee- and keeps agroing everything!