Tips, tricks, and questions thread! Help some Escapists, or ask for help!

[Daniel_Rosamilia]

Hello all! Just thought I'd throw this thread out there as:
1. I haven't seen one in a while
2. It'll make a nice change from all the *insert ME3 hate./love thread topic here* threads.
So, ONWARDS!
I've ben playing through Fallout: New Vegas recently in Hardcore mode, and I've hit upon a few things that might make it easier to play through:
1. Survival skill. This is ESSENTIAL. It increases how useful food and drink are, and at 70 points, you can get the 'Home on the Range' perk, which allows you to sleep at campfires, along with all the benefits of sleeping in a bed.
2. Bighorners. When you find one, kill it. The food it drops can be turned into Bighorner Steak with 50 Survival points, and is really useful in keeping food levels low.
3. Plants. When you find some plants, pick them. Most of them not only lower your food level, but your H2O levels as well, which saves space where you would normally have water. It's not as effective, but it's still useful in a pinch.
And now, just a question someone might be able to help me with:
Which story-line is easiest to do in Hardcore mode? I've done all of them in 'Normal' mode, so I know how they end. I just don't want to go through one and find out it's going to take ages to complete. I'm thinking of doing the Legion line again, courtesy of Boone popping his clogs on me in the Tops against Benny's henchmen, so I might grab ED-E and someone else (maybe Veronica) and begin the Wasteland trek again.
CAPTCHA: trust me (I'm the Doctor)

 

[DustyDrB]

The Legion faction line is probably the hardest actually, since you'll probably make enemies of the NCR (well...you definitely will. How early that happens is the question). And you will encounter them more than other factions out in the world.

You should befriend the Followers of the Apocalypse. If you do enough for them, they'll give you a Follower's Labcoat (boosts your Medicine skill) and a key to their safehouse. There are tons of medical and food supply in that safehouse (including a rad-free water source), and it gets restocked from time to time. Plus, the Followers are awesome. I'd so be a Follower in that world.

And make sure to take the perk "Them's Good Eatin'". It gives enemies a 50% chance of dropping Thin Red Paste and Blood Sausage. While these items don't help your hunger, they heal a lot over time (especially with higher Survival skills and the perk that makes food heal you better). And since enemies who do have them typically at least have three of them, you'll accumulate more than you'll need and be able to sell them. And they are very valuable in relation to their weight (one of the top 3 most valuable items going by that ratio).

 

[ChupathingyX]

Veronica isn't a good companion to take if you plan on doing Legion (as you will be destroying the BoS).

The best humanoid companions to take are Lily and Raul as they don't care about allegiances.