Fallout 3 Help

[Jezzascmezza]

Here's my advice:
Don't take any advice.
It'll be a much more enjoyable game if you really don't know what to expect.
Probably a bit late for me to be saying that now though.

 

[xdgt]

Small guns are the most important thing on early stages, other than that, I recommend going to VATS and headshooting a merchant or two...sure you might get bad rep at start but with the equipment and cash you get it's a giant boost.

I would advise against this course of action.

Killing traders works to your disadvantage in the long run, as they are an infinite supply of essential items. The only ones you may never need again are random encounter traders.

Hello, who do you think I was talking about? The city traders?

You didn't specify, so a new player would take your advice and kill any merchant they see.

OKAY then, *grumble grumble* kill the merchants you see outside in the wasteland with a brahmin, not the guys withing city limits - steal from those.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Small guns are the most important thing on early stages, other than that, I recommend going to VATS and headshooting a merchant or two...sure you might get bad rep at start but with the equipment and cash you get it's a giant boost.

I would advise against this course of action.

Killing traders works to your disadvantage in the long run, as they are an infinite supply of essential items. The only ones you may never need again are random encounter traders.

Hello, who do you think I was talking about? The city traders?

You didn't specify, so a new player would take your advice and kill any merchant they see.

OKAY then, *grumble grumble* kill the merchants you see outside in the wasteland with a brahmin, not the guys withing city limits - steal from those.

Lol, I once had Lucky Harith glitch and disappear forver, that sucked. I'm way too dependant on him and his lovely guns.

 

[xdgt]

Small guns are the most important thing on early stages, other than that, I recommend going to VATS and headshooting a merchant or two...sure you might get bad rep at start but with the equipment and cash you get it's a giant boost.

I would advise against this course of action.

Killing traders works to your disadvantage in the long run, as they are an infinite supply of essential items. The only ones you may never need again are random encounter traders.

Hello, who do you think I was talking about? The city traders?

You didn't specify, so a new player would take your advice and kill any merchant they see.

OKAY then, *grumble grumble* kill the merchants you see outside in the wasteland with a brahmin, not the guys withing city limits - steal from those.

Lol, I once had Lucky Harith glitch and disappear forver, that sucked. I'm way too dependant on him and his lovely guns.

Never had a problem with weapons, the ammo was a bit more tricky.
If running low on ammo, should also carry a gun - wastes less ammo than an assault rifle and can do decent damage of the headshot variety.
(I remember stealing stuff from the merchants then donating to charity to get my rep up, awesome. Also my guy was an alcoholic... and 6 other addictions... Drugs are bad kids don't use them)

 

[Kaymish]

don't bother with skill raising perks there are plenty of skill books around for the skill perks to be pretty much useless to you

 

[TankTop]

IMO, tag Medicine, Repair and Small guns. There is no way you can go wrong with them.

Don't attempt all quests early on (e.g. Wasteland Survival Guide).

Intelligence is probably your most important SPECIAL stat (more skill points per level)

Educated and Comprehension. Pick these up early on, so the +3 skill points per level and 2x skill points from books applies as early as possible.

Don't get the Fast Learner Perk (becomes useless quickly), and don't use Intense Training if you have Broken Steel. You'll get a perk at level 30 that raises all SPECIAL stats to 9.

 

[Rakkana]

Make sure you get the bobble head at the beginning. Its on your dads desk i think.

 

[JokerCrowe]

Do you find it hard to make decisions on your own? Just experiment! See what happens if You do blow up megaton. See waht happens if you don't. To me it seems like you're trying to take short-cuts through a MASSIVE game. Try Roleplaying while you play it. try not to die. Live with the decisions you've made. OR just got batshit bonkers and kill everyone in sight and see what happens then. I coudnlt presume to tell you how to play, but if you want it easy mode. Tag Repair, try to get the MIRV as soon as possible and find the t51b Power Armour as soon as possible too.

 

[ryai458]

before you leave the vault grab the bobblehead off your dads desk it will instantly boost medicine by ten, and before you blow up megaton, if you are going to, pick up the bobblehead from the sheriffs house. Good perks are cannabal, child at heart, night person and solar powered.

 

[cuddly_tomato]

For what platform Op?

 

[Chrono212]

Small guns, stealth, small guns, stealth, small guns, stealth and...lockpicks.



Get it on PC if you can so you can abuse have console commands if something like an important NPC dies by accident, such as Dogmeat <3
Oh, and also mods. There are lots and lots of good mods but only on the PC

(DAMN YOU XBOX!)

 

[rees263]

I'm guessing since you're asking for advice that you want a more min-maxed character, rather than a strong role-play.

Some of these will have been said already but I'll just give you everything I can think of:

Spoiler: Big wall of text

When you pick SPECIAL stats at the beginning never go above 9, you can increase them all by 1 (Luck should be kept at 8 or under since you can get another item to add another point).

3 bobbleheads are missable (medicine, strength and energy weapons). If you intend to blow up megaton then make sure you pick up the strength bobblehead first. The other 2 will become inaccessible later on.

For the easiest possible time develop small guns, repair and either lockpick or science. small guns are the most common weapons in the wasteland and repair is essential to keep your weapons useful (you can repair weapons with a low skill, but not very well). Lockpick and science often fulfill the same function in game (to open locks), so I would pick whichever you find easier, though there are far more opportunities to use lockpick so I would go with that.

As for the other skills, barter is unnecessary since you should be swimming in caps after a few hours. Big guns and energy weapons are rare at the start but can be very useful later on, especially EW. Ignore to begin with though. Explosives can be useful. You need a little to defuse the megaton bomb and it is also used for disarming various traps. You can put a few points here. Melee weapons and unarmed can be very powerful if used properly. If you would rather use these then they are a viable alternative to small guns. A little harder to use though. Medicine is probably not needed. There are a lot of ways to heal yourself and chances are that you will have more stimpacks than you know what to do with. Sneak is a lot of fun and can make some enemies a lot easier, it depends on your play style. Speech again is a style choice. It's rarely needed but it can make a few quests easier or more rewarding.

For perks, never choose a perk that will boost experience (swift learner, here and now) or one that adds skill points (all the ones like daddy's boy/girl, with the exception of silent running and cyborg since they give other bonuses too). You can gain the benefits other ways. The most useful perks are the ones that offer something you couldn't otherwise get. Some of those choiceswill come down to play style. Comprehension is probably the most useful perk since it doubles the effectiveness of skill books, giving you a potential 320+ skill points (that's why you shouldn't take other skill-boosting perks). Loads of others boost damage some way, or effectiveness in VATS or damage resistance so you need to decide if you would benefit from that. If you are using guns Grim reaper's sprint is hands down the best level 20 perk. If you use melee/unarmed you could make a case for ninja also.

I think that's enough for now. My brain hurts a little. I haven't checked it over so feel free anyone to point out errors. There might be a few...

 

[Wolfram23]

Small guns are the most important thing on early stages, other than that, I recommend going to VATS and headshooting a merchant or two...sure you might get bad rep at start but with the equipment and cash you get it's a giant boost.

I would advise against this course of action.

Killing traders works to your disadvantage in the long run, as they are an infinite supply of essential items. The only ones you may never need again are random encounter traders.

Hello, who do you think I was talking about? The city traders?

You didn't specify, so a new player would take your advice and kill any merchant they see.

OKAY then, *grumble grumble* kill the merchants you see outside in the wasteland with a brahmin, not the guys withing city limits - steal from those.

Or... don't, and then upgrade their supplies at Cantebury Commons (travelling merchants)

 

[LWS666]

get the PC version.

the console version's good too, but the PC version has an awesome modding comunity.

EDIT: woop, new page! that's good luck.

 

[kotorfan04]

Yeah I would make sure Repair is one of my tagged skills, now as for what to do. GO TO PARADISE FALLS! I always have fun (ab)using the Mesmetron, use it on anyone, worst case scenario their head explodes and you have to leave town for a few days, but the hilarity will make up for it.

 

[o_O]

This is advice for when you finish the game and have not too terribly much to do with it.

There'll be little things that crop up that you wish were different, or irritate you. Well, fear not, for there are player mods! Everything is patchable to your whim! All kinds of fun little things that people have come up with. Check out Fallout3Nexus. They're one massive database of mods.

Man, player mods breathe a whole new life into the game...

EDIT: Oh hell, someone bet me to mentioning mods. >_>
He is right though, get the PC version. While you *can* mod console versions, it's a massive pain in the ass I hear.

 

[indiana_104]

Do you find it hard to make decisions on your own? Just experiment! See what happens if You do blow up megaton. See waht happens if you don't. To me it seems like you're trying to take short-cuts through a MASSIVE game. Try Roleplaying while you play it. try not to die. Live with the decisions you've made. OR just got batshit bonkers and kill everyone in sight and see what happens then. I coudnlt presume to tell you how to play, but if you want it easy mode. Tag Repair, try to get the MIRV as soon as possible and find the t51b Power Armour as soon as possible too.

Well, I do try to, but sometimes I get a feeling that I'm missing out on some important things within the game that might help me out later or something.You made a good point though. And thanks to you guys for the help.

Now give me a cuddle.

 

[Druyn]

For stats, pick small guns, energy weapons, repair, lockpick, speech, or stealth. Appearance doesnt matter, perks are really all personal preference.

But heres a big one: BUY BROKEN STEEL. IF YOU DONT BUY THIS DLC, YOU WILL BE SEVERELY DISAPPOINTED AT THE END OF THE GAME.

Also, its easier, I think to go through the game on the first try being evil. Thats where stealth comes in handy. Youll get good money from slaving and stealing, and itll just be easier. Being good is harder, but you get Fawkes as an ally, so that makes up for everything. If you go good, get fawkes. No excuses. Youll know when you meet him.

Just a baseline thing tho. For moral choices, exploring, do that on your own. You get no advice from me there. Its personally my favorite game, and you really need to do it on your own for the full experience.