Game: Fallout: New Vegas

[Kenco]

For hardcore, you just need to plan ahead. Getting into a tough fight, shoot a stimpack or eat food (if you have 40+ Survival) before things get really hairy.

Being a sneaker/sniper helps me because I usually don't put myself in direct danger, but conservative play and thoughtful planning before combat starts helps a ton. Knowing you can lob a bomb, run them back into prepared minefields, or an alpha-strike from afar can make or break combat when you're outnumbered. I used a stealthboy to get in close and drop a bomb on a clustered group when I couldn't take them out with my pistols and rifles. Another time I waited for an NCR patrol to get slaughtered when they came across a Legion encampment before going in and finishing off the remaining Legion troops with sneak attacks. That one allowed me to take no negative karma and still complete a quest.

Companions are also your best friends. There are some really skilled and amazing ones in this game. The sniper and a certain gunslinger especially. Some of their perks are super useful, some not at all. They seem a little smarter too, they fight to their strengths. Find one that compliments your chosen focus.


The more time I spend on the Strip, the more complicated this game gets. The writing in New Vegas really puts FO3 to complete shame. I really have no idea what I'm going to do, there are just too many choices and paths to take. I've managed to get my character into quite the conundrum.

I second this, companions are a life saver on Very Hard w/ hardcore mode. They take a few hits (but Oh man, Boone gets eaten alive by a pack of giant rad scorpions). All in all, you just have to be careful, watch out for mines, and have a long range and short range approach to kill everything.

Hiding/cover fire works too!

[Ryllharu]

Funny, I had the opposite experience.

Boone, ED-E (yay companion limit exploits!) and myself destroyed the Giant Radscorpions in that one pass where they are all clustered. In fact, I didn't really do much of anything. The two of them slaughtered them before I could even bring up V.A.T.S. the majority of the time.

I'm playing Normal and not Very Hard, so maybe that's the difference.

[Lucifus]

I just got boone to join me......just wow.

Despite knowing what was going to happen, I still wasn't prepared for it. xD

[Kenco]

Funny, I had the opposite experience.

Boone, ED-E (yay companion limit exploits!) and myself destroyed the Giant Radscorpions in that one pass where they are all clustered. In fact, I didn't really do much of anything. The two of them slaughtered them before I could even bring up V.A.T.S. the majority of the time.

I'm playing Normal and not Very Hard, so maybe that's the difference.

Oh on VHHC they can handle a rad scorpion, but not 5. Haha, I learned that the hard way.

[itadakimasu]

I finally found a companion yesterday : Raul. Had lots of fun w\ him raping people w\ a super sledge. Currently he's got metal armor and a chainsaw

The most fun I've probably had so far in the game was when I went to this town where previously some thugs had attacked me....

I was just walking around and all of a sudden Raul starts chasing these people around w\ his chainsaw lol

[TwisT]

I haven't been able to play that much and when i do i explore and sidetrack a lot so haven't gotten tot he strip yet. Think i have reached Novac and sent away the Ghouls. Have Raul and ED-E as companions.

3 questions about companions though. First, how many can you have? 2? 3? Or just 1 + ED-E? Saw Ryll mention something about an exploit which led me to believe that it might just be a 1 companion limit but you can have 2 if you count ED-E. Picked up ED-E first and then found Raul. Didn't pick Boone because i thought it was a limit of 1 and i already had ED-E but with Raul he insisted so badly i couldn't turn him down.

Second, is there a limit at how much a companion can carry? Because it seems ED-E don't have a limit or it's very high. have packed him with tons of stuff. That's why i can't get rid of him, because i never have to go back to town. Can just loot everything of worth everywhere and just pack it in ED-E. So money isn't really an issue for me. So do human companions have a limit or are they able to carry as much as ED-E?

Third, can human companions die? Ed-E don't seem to be able to. Only get's knocked unconscious and once the fight is over he gets back up again. This got me wondering

Boone gets eaten alive by a pack of giant rad scorpions

or was that just another way of saying he got raped?

Another question. Have anyone found Brotherhood of Steel? I found 2 of their armors and wants the skill to use them badly but it requires you to find someone to that can teach you to use it, which I'm guessing is BoS themselves.

As for what i play, i play in normal or hard (dont really remember which i picked) and i specialize in speech, lockpicking, science. Also have repair quite high. I usually when i level put 5 points in speech, then 5 point in whatever i need to do something specific that i really wanna do or need, or i just put it in lockpicking, and then the last point i put in sneak. It feels like i sneak everywhere. Almost always in every game where speech is something yo can level i usually go for that as my main objective. And picked lockpicking and science to get access to places to get nice loot and find secrets.

Also seems like i have a quest to return ED-E home, but when i get the scrapyard there is no option to return her. Now since i found out he basically have an unlimited storage and the heightened senses perk i will never return him even if i could. But have anyone else come across this?

[Ryllharu]

The companion exploit seems to occur because you already have one companion, and then complete a quest to earn another. As in, I built ED-E back together, and then got Boone's done. But after that, you're done. I tried to build an army by recruiting Veronica, but they wouldn't let her join because I already had a companion. I liked Boone and ED-E though, so I skipped her. A second time it happened, I needed Rex, so I had to drop both Boone and ED-E. Then later I acquired Cass through her mini-quest, and had two again (Rex and Cass). I had to let them both go in order to recruit Veronica.

I think it only works one time, and only when you already have a buddy and acquire another, but only through quests, not voluntarily like Veronica.

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ED-E dies. I lost him (and had to reload) a half-dozen times during one quest because he kept getting mobbed.

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I have found the BoS, and they're not too hard to get to, but I don't really want to ruin it for you. I will say that it is super easy once you have the right companion, and know where to go. Getting the ability to use armor? I haven't figured that out yet, but it should just be a matter of doing their quests. They're very close to Novac.
(Hint: It is one of the companions I mentioned above)

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ED-E needs some kind of Enclave code words, and you hear the first data set inside the scrapyard, but I don't know where to go after that.

[TwisT]

I see. Well i ahve completed Boone's quest but turned him down. You think he will still go with me as my second companion if i get Veronica first (finally met her). Well either way i guess i have to get her so i guess i will find out. Don't have to the time to try it out now though. Will miss ED-E's sensor ability though since it made me able to see people on the compass further away then they could spawn on my screen, and it made stealth targets targetable with V.A.T.S

I think i know where BoS is now too. See mentioned Bunkers and holes in the ground, and there is a field with bunkers that i went trough to get to the fallen BoS soldiers that i got the armors from. And in all bunkers that i explored, one had a locked door that required 100 lockpicking to open.

One thing though. When i give a companion that uses a range weapon another range weapon in his inventory he doesn't use it. How does that work. Can i somehow make them use a different one? And even if not, will a companion that uses melee switch to my given range weapon if i switch her to range? And if so, do companions require ammo, or could i simply give Veronica my minigun (which don't have any ammo) or my sniper rifle without sacrificing my own ammo which is low?

And does your ED-E die right away of have they ever been knocked unconscious? Because i jumped down a cliff, and Raul came after me just fine, but ED-E took the longest way around and ran in to a fire gecko that knocked ED-E unconscious 4 times before i found him and killed the gecko. If your's die right away i guess it's safe to assume on my difficulty they don't die. Which i thank whoever deserves my thanks, because there is nothing more infuriating then having to reload because your companion can't handle himself or is just plain stupid.

[Ryllharu]

One thing though. When i give a companion that uses a range weapon another range weapon in his inventory he doesn't use it. How does that work. Can i somehow make them use a different one? And even if not, will a companion that uses melee switch to my given range weapon if i switch her to range? And if so, do companions require ammo, or could i simply give Veronica my minigun (which don't have any ammo) or my sniper rifle without sacrificing my own ammo which is low?

Companions will always use the best weapon in their inventory for each ranged or melee. I think they also account for condition (in FO3 their weapons and armor didn't degrade no matter how much they got abused, not sure if they degrade in NV). In NV, condition matters quite a bit more (preventing jamming and not punching through damage thresholds), so that might also be part of the problem.

However, any ranged weapon other than their default also requires ammo, which they do consume. Sometimes they'll switch weapons when you drop them ammo for it.

[itadakimasu]

I haven't confirmed this, but I think you can swap companions as you wish.

I dropped Raul so that I could get Cassidy and Raul just went back to the lucky 38... but I guess you probably have to have been there for this to happen. I haven't gone back to see if I can just get him back if I wanted him.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, I swap them all the time. Except they don't go to the Lucky 38, they go home. I'm spurning Mr. House while hanging on to the Platinum Chip, he gets a little pissy about it when I talk to him from time to time.

[TwisT]

Yea Raul went back to his shack (Raul's shack) which is close to Nellis Air Force Base.

And i found a bug in the Brotherhood of Steel quest line. There is a Scribe there that needs help with the bunkers computersystem. There is a virus that jumps between the computers and you have to find it on 3 of the 12 computers in 30sec. If you have Science skill of 70 or higher, you get an extra option which allows you to once you find a virus, lock it to that terminal, so the next time you start it it will always be there. Well if you manage to lock 2 of the 3 and start it with only 1 left to lock down, it will get stuck and be unable to complete. What you need to do is to save the game before. Easiest way to do this quest is to start it and when he tells you that the virus jumped you save the game. Now they have a fixed position. Just find them, and when the time runs out you reload until you have found all 3 and then just complete it. I managed to get the quest to get bugged and had to reload. Luckily i have autosave enabled so i only needed to reload from when i entered lvl2.

And i was unable to get both Veronica and Boone. Once i had Veronica, Boone didn't wanna join up. Maybe if i had her when i finished Boone's quest line, but not going back later. Also Veronica is so freaking awesome. Even though she is a melee she kicks ass with the default gun of hers. And she kicks as much ass with melee. Also since she is a BoS member, she can wear BoS power armor. I tried to give it to Raul before (just to carry it since it was so heavy) and it said that companions cant wear reputation armors. So that makes Veronica the only companion capable of using BoS power armor. She is a fucking tank. She can take on 5-10 guys and rarely gets knocked out. Raul (with metal armor) and ED-E got knocked out against only 1-3 that hit hard a few times.

Also if anyone is interested in a great energy weapon, i found one in the REPCONN facility on the way to the Strip. There is a room right before the stairs to the second floor that require either 100 Science or 100 Lockpicking (i think it was Very Hard at least). In there is a prototype plasma weapon that does a lot more damage then the regular plasma rifles. It uses the same ammo as Laser Rifles. There is also ammo laying everywhere for it. Both in the same room and a room on the same floor. Had over 1000 MF cells after i finished looting this building. I have 40 in Energy Weapons and like 15 in Guns, but i still found the Cowboy Repeater to do much more damage then my Laser/plasma pistol/rifle. Had to get 3-4 mods for my Laser Rifle before it started to even get close. Until i found this. Finally energy pays of.

[Ryllharu]

My only issue with Veronica is that she sucks at sneaking. Since that's my primary mode of killing, it can be a huge hazard. I had to force her back using companion commands three or four times in a row so she would stop creeping up on the Legendary Deathclaw which always slaughtered her. I managed to kill the bastard after a dozen reloads (the thing has unbelievable senses).

You bet I have her wearing BoS Power Armor.

I am a slaughterer of all Deathclaws (provided I see them first!). They're still much, much harder than they were in FO3. A headshot with a .308 sniper rifle on a sneak attack critical is the only thing that can take them out easily on one shot. On Alpha-Males, Mothers and Legendary Deathclaws, it can take 2-4 shots from the rifle. Everywhere else their high DT keeps them going. In FO3 you could easily cripple their legs and then just whittle them down with your ranged weapon of choice. Not in New Vegas...

I don't know, I had something like 17 science at the time, and I managed to do that virus sub-quest in the first try. Lucky I guess.

[TwisT]

When i read on how to fix the bug, i read that some people that didn't have 70 in science spent over 40min until they got all 3. So yeah lucky ^^

Since you're a sneaky bastard, have you tried stealing the power armor that's in Hardrins room? The other kind of power armor that the elite guards have. I have the urge to swipe it. Maybe try and save it before.

And speaking of stealing. What does Karma do? You lose it when you steal. But i can't really find anything that it affects. Will people start to hate you if it gets to low or something? Since you lose it i almost never steal even though i want to. Only takes things that feel like it's worth it. And i rarely steal from groups I'm friendly with.

[Ryllharu]

Since you're a sneaky bastard, have you tried stealing the power armor that's in Hardrins room? The other kind of power armor that the elite guards have. I have the urge to swipe it. Maybe try and save it before.

I probably should for Veronica, but the thought never occurred to me because I never wear anything better than light armor. Good idea.

And speaking of stealing. What does Karma do? You lose it when you steal. But i can't really find anything that it affects. Will people start to hate you if it gets to low or something? Since you lose it i almost never steal even though i want to. Only takes things that feel like it's worth it. And i rarely steal from groups I'm friendly with.

It lowers your karma, but never on a remotely substantial level. Maybe if you get caught, but I never steal within eyesight, even when I'm hidden (I do pickpocket for every key I can get my hands on, that let me sweep through the Strip casino quests). It doesn't even compare to killing someone at random or completing a quest in an evil manner. I'm still considered of saintly general demeanor.

[Genma]

God, I wish this game came out before Fallout 3. It's got so much in common with the first Fallouts that every little reference to the prior games gives me nostalgia.

Sadly... it's an Obsidian game. Meaning it's pretty much a full game mod. I honestly expected this (after playing Kotor2), but I still bought the game regardless. I was holding out for a while, but in the end I just couldn't resist. I've been a Fallout fan since the age of 10 when I first got my hands on a copy of Fallout 2, 12 or so years ago. Since that time I've played the original at least a dozen times, the sequel countless times (I've yet to beat it -- fuckin' Frank Horrigan and his turrets), and I've put over a hundred hours into Fallout 3.

Still, I'm enjoying this game immensely. Glad I put my hatred for Obsidian aside and bought it.

[Ryllharu]

Finished it!

Not everything turned out the way I wanted, and I certainly didn't do everything, but I beat it with the, "Wild Card / No God, No Masters" ending on Hardcore. 37 hours, level 27, mostly sneaker/sniper with constantly improving Speech toward the end. I favored pistols most of the game, until I got the sniper rifle and anti-material rifle.

Excellent game. Time to start all over, maybe work a few of the kinks out. Eventually I'm going to try for a pacifist run, Fallout 1/2 style.

[darkshadow]

Someone already finished a pacifist run apparantly. Took him 50 hours.

[TwisT]

I still haven't made it to the strip yet O_o

Keep getting sidetracked by all these places to explore. Got the Explorer perk and now i just wanna run to every place on the map.

I finished BoS quest line it would seem. Hardin said that i should come back in a few days for the changes to be made so have to wait and see what happens. i have the feeling i will never be able to wear BoS power armor though. Oh and i went to the quarry junction or whatever the name was (near Sloan), and damn those Deathclaws are crazy. How in the hell are you supposed to beat them. Came 3 at me right away and downed Veronica in like 1-3 hits then me in 6 (managed to heal me after the first 3). It's like mission impossible.

And just to enlighten me, what is a pacifist run? To not hurt anyone?

[Ryllharu]

In Fallout 1/2 you could beat the game without killing anyone. At all. In NV, this includes your companions doing the dirty work since their kills count toward your total. That's what a pacifist run is. It's very possible, but also very difficult. I don't know if abominations (deathclaws) or monsters (ants) count, I'm guessing not.

@DS: That's what inspired me to want to do it. A challenge!

As for the Sloan Deathclaws, see this above post. It did manage it, but it took a .308 sniper rifle, 100 sneak, 100 guns, a pair of stealth boys, and a lot of quicksaves. You must shoot them in the head, and you have to take them down one at a time. Every time I aggro'ed another nearby one, Veronica and I both got slaughtered in seconds.

I bet you could do it pretty easily if you had high explosives. Then you'd have a good chance to cripple their legs. You just might have to have then run through a minefield.

I went back time and time again to the BoS and the two of them both said the same thing over and over. I bet mine got a little bugged. That was one of the things I wasn't too happy with the way it turned out.