Fallout 3 Hard Mode Advice/Tips

[tigermilk]

I'm planning a hard run through of Fallout 3 and could do with any tips/advice you have.

I'll be aiming for poitive karma.

I am currently planning to focus upon lockpick, small guns and repair to suit my scanvenger orientated play stlye.

Looking to get the most out of levelling up I will be using the extra XP perk for the first three levels to level up as quickly as possible and fully exploit the perk.

I can't remember which perk comes up at level four but I know there is one which has long term benefits I think in terms of xp.

As soon as it becomes available I will use the perk to immediatly increase one level.

I'm aiming to increase explosives to 25 when I reach level two so I can access the Megaton house, a bed, storage and clean water.

I'll be aiming to get my science skill up to 50 before the robot mission for Moira.

I've never played F3 on hard before so any advice about ensuring regular sleep is naturally factored into the game and any other advice/tips of things to do or not do would be vey much appreciated.

Also I have a save just before I leave the vault on normal difficulty can play from there set to hard for the game to register a complete playthrough as hard.

 

[CAPTCHA]

Play it in real hardcore mode - no stimpacks or rad-away; one rifle, one side arm, one melee weapon; don't carry any ammo for guns you don't have.

You actually get to see the game mechanics in action this way.

Good luck.

 

[tigermilk]

Many thanks for the advice on how to be truly "l33t", having a blast with hard mode.

 

[KhaoticOne]

I seriously wouldn't recommend getting the bonus XP perk at all. In FO3 you actually gain more experience the harder the enemies are (they changed this back to normal in FNV). Furthermore the enemies scale with you as well so the bonus xps do not give any combat bonus, and getting perks are always about giving some little more oomph to your character. So all it does is some seemliness "time-saver" for an RPG game which is silly since many people want to remain immerse in any RPG universe. I mean part of the fun is the leveling progression, why shorten that experience? However despite all this Hard (Very Hard too), of FO3 will be just fine no matter what you roll, this game isn't really punishing on building whatever. Same for here and now (gain a level) perk, it just makes the enemies "harder" and leave you relatively weaker (compared to getting a more versatile perk).

Of course since if you want a more difficult FO3 experience feel free to purposely gimp yourself to make up for the game's shortcoming of difficulty. I don't really like having to arbitrarily restrict myself to have an challenge in a game.

I don't really have any specific advice to make hard mode easier besides the standard; stick with one primarily combat-skill, focus on either Lockpick/Science, proceed slowly and carefully anywhere, get a companion for power/utility, scavenge well and stockpile supplies.

You dont have to worry about karma like at all. Good karma is way too easy to get. Just trending the wastes normally will guarantee good karma for you. Since your trying for it makes it like twice as easy (building bad requires a bit more effort though).

 

[Mirroga]

I've only got 1 tip. Get 9 intelligence and instantly run towards Rivet City to get Int Bobblehead. That's it. Max Intelligence has always been my favorite build.

 

[DEAD34345]

Eh... I'd recommend rethinking all those XP and here and now perks, they don't help your character at all. Enemies usually scale with your level, so by choosing those perks you're increasing the power of your enemies without as much of a corresponding increase of your own power.

Other than that, if you want to be powerful I'd say you should either set your intelligence to 10 at the start or set it to 9 and get the increased intelligence bobble-head as soon as possible. It sounds stupid, but intelligence is the most important attribute for practically any character, as it gives you more skill points (which matter much more than attributes).

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

I've only got 1 tip. Get 9 intelligence and instantly run towards Rivet City to get Int Bobblehead. That's it. Max Intelligence has always been my favorite build.

No, get the radiation quest from Moira Brown then swim to Rivet city. There are several unguarded boxes beside the river (one has a power fist) as well as some boats that you can loot. I generally get 300 rads as well as a whole heap of items including a hunting rifle.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Don't know if this is PC version, but is it possible that a mod exists to put hardcore mode from NV into Fallout 3 somehow?

 

[Wereduck]

I've only got 1 tip. Get 9 intelligence and instantly run towards Rivet City to get Int Bobblehead. That's it. Max Intelligence has always been my favorite build.

No, get the radiation quest from Moira Brown then swim to Rivet city. There are several unguarded boxes beside the river (one has a power fist) as well as some boats that you can loot. I generally get 300 rads as well as a whole heap of items including a hunting rifle.

Swimming, never thought of that - brilliant!
As far as maxing int though, I couldn't diagree more. In Neverwinter you get a real skill bonus from int. but in FO3 you get 1 extra skill point/level for every 2 points in int. In order to max intelligence you've got to make do with low strength, perception or dexterity and the extra encumbrance capacity, threat awarenes or combat ability from those attributes are all more valuable. For example, if you put those same attribute points in luck you immediately improve all skills by more, plus you get a permanent, all-weapon bonus to your critical chance. Just take the skill point bonus perk at level 4 and even with the un-increased level cap & low intelligence you'll max all your core skills by the endgame.