indiana_104 said:
Hi guys and gals,
I'm gonna pick up Fallout 3 tomorrow, and I'd really appreciate some advice as to what sort of character to create,etc etc.I'd also like some advice on what important decisions to make like the whole blowing up Megaton thing. My playing style or preference doesn't really matter and any suggestion will be taken as long as its, you know, good.
I do hope this topic hasn't been done before.
Well, some builds are better than others.
Without reading all of the responses I will say that Intelligence is probably the most useful attribute since it nets you more skill points. While there are plenty of books and things that will raise skills hidden throughout the game, finding absolutly everything is really hard, even with a guide.
Otherwise, all of the stats can be fairly important. The only one that is generally considered a true "dump stat" is Charisma, since having high speech skill will do just about anything Charisma will.
HOWEVER having a very high Charisma score of 8+ will open up a few extra dialogue options here and there. Various people have played a Charisma build and said it made some things easier, I haven't tried it myself. It's generally an 'all or nothing' investment however.
When it comes to skills, generally speaking the most important ones are Lockpicking, Science, and Repair (other than weapon skills) in roughly that order. Lockpicking and Science being used for opening things to get treasure (picking locks, or hacking computers for information, or to open electronic doors). Repair is needed so you can take duplicate weapons and repair the ones your using, weapons degenerate quickly. What's more if you can maintain a weapon at 100% repair or close to it (you won't generally find weapons in this condition, you have to repair them to that level yourself) it gives you a substantial advantage.
Generally speaking the biggest choice is going to be whether to focus on small guns or energy weapons as a primary weapon skill. Heavy weapons tend to wear down quick and weigh a LOT while not giving much in the way of a practical firepower boost. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.
Simply put Energy Weapons are probably a better investment, especially if you do the quest for Moira entering the first town, agree to get the food from the super-duper mart, and grab a couple of laser pistols in there (which you can use to repair one to a fair condition). Energy Weapons aren't as rare as you might think.
What's more if your getting the "Game Of The Year" edition, you can pretty much head for the mothership Zeta add on right away (follow the waypoint) and load up on Alien death rays and such from the very beginning if your so inclined. The effectiveness of these varies, but the bottom line is that with the way things play out your liable to have no shortage of energy weapon access and power cells from that time forward (not that it would be a real issue otherwise).
Such is my advice.