Fallout 3

[DirtyMartini]

Is it just me or does one die A LOT in this game? Admittedly, I haven't played a FPS in a long time apart from a little bit of Resistance: FOM). Even with RFOM I wasn't this bad. My free aiming and straffing are pretty poor -- mostly because of the need to conserve ammo. VATS helps, but it's useless at any kind of range.

Do love the game though -- I've put in many (way too many) hours already and haven't really done much (lvl 6). I'm in a serious "take my time and check every container" mode.

[Solver]

Don't strafe, don't free-fire, use VATS. I do combat almost exclusively with VATS, which leads to not dying a lot.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by Solver
Don't strafe, don't free-fire, use VATS. I do combat almost exclusively with VATS, which leads to not dying a lot.

Spoiler:

Thanks for the hint Solver

[DirtyMartini]

Hmmmmm,

I can't hit diddly squat with VATS from range. Can take like 4 shots with my hunting or assault rifle before I'm out of AP, then I've got to free fire or run around to regenerate AP. This doesn't work on some of the tougher baddies.
I've started closing to short range and then engaging the old VATS, but you take a lot of fire in the meantime and if you don't take 'em down, they're right on top of you with their claws or stingers or whatnot. (I suspect some of the foes I'm having trouble with would succumb to different weapons.)
Also, I know it's sad that I'm posting on Xmas, but I'm stuck at work til 4. Darn sick people

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini
Hmmmmm,

I can't hit diddly squat with VATS from range. Can take like 4 shots with my hunting or assault rifle before I'm out of AP, then I've got to free fire or run around to regenerate AP. This doesn't work on some of the tougher baddies.
I've started closing to short range and then engaging the old VATS, but you take a lot of fire in the meantime and if you don't take 'em down, they're right on top of you with their claws or stingers or whatnot. (I suspect some of the foes I'm having trouble with would succumb to different weapons.)
Also, I know it's sad that I'm posting on Xmas, but I'm stuck at work til 4. Darn sick people

not sad, your posting in a very interesting hread

[DirtyMartini]

I'm scared to read most of the thread -- I have a love/hate relationship with spoilers.

I'm curious and impatient so I end up reading them, but I really would rather get through the game once without cheating. Hard not to surf game guides at work though and think (Oh, maybe I'll just look and see where the is located.

[Grandpa Troll]

Originally posted by DirtyMartini
I'm scared to read most of the thread -- I have a love/hate relationship with spoilers.

I'm curious and impatient so I end up reading them, but I really would rather get through the game once without cheating. Hard not to surf game guides at work though and think (Oh, maybe I'll just look and see where the is located.

I usually use a game early on to acclamate myself to where and what to look for so I am not as blind but moreso see what the game is about, of course Im 49 so being old, I wont remember everythang...or will I??

[Spaced Cowboy]

In the early game use sneak a lot and get in better range for a shot, of course the better your small gun and sneak skills are, the better the results.

At this point in the game, I'd avoid combat with tough opponents, get more exp by completing quests and hacking comps and lock-picking (I love the combo ones where the comp opens the safe; I hack the comp, then pick the lock, double xp...now I'm lv 20 anyway so doesn't matter anymore).

The best weapons in the game at your point, is...

1. long range: Sniper rifle (although good luck keeping enough ammo for this beaut) and the scoped 44- magnum (also an ammo issue). These are the sneak and zoom weapons. If you are "hidden" and hit the target, you generally get a one-shot kill.

2. short range: the sawed-off shotgun (and later the combat shot gun) are your short range friends. Here is where I use the VATS. The 2 shot sawed-off is okay, but the 12-shot combat is the bomb.

So in the wasteland, use the sniper to pick off targets at a distance, use the 44 in buildings at a distance, and the shotgun elsewhere.

Standard methodology in a building is to sneak up to a corner, try a ranged hidden kill, fall back around the corner and pull out the shot gun (if multiple enemies or I missed), then just wait for them to come around the corner (about 5 feet from the corner is ideal). Time the VATS key to get a clear headshot, rinse and repeat.

[Spaced Cowboy]

LOL, I just finished the game, did not think I was that close.

They are right went they say the end game is weak.

[ZEE]

My problem is this:

I beat the game the first time around with my evil stealthy ninja dude (a character i really liked,) but the problem was i beat the game with him. So i made a new character with hopes of trying something new so i made an evil raider chick but got bored with the concept halfway through it and decided to go with a neutral bum-fighter that hurled tin cans to kill Yao Guai. By this time i had restarted 4 times (oh ya i tried a good character before the ninja dude but i so completely borked that game it wasnt worth mentioning... oops,) but I found myself despising the very build i made relying on the junk hurler and spending half the game scrounging for goddamn AMMO so i threw that concept away and restarted for a 5th (i think) time. The idea here was to go with a psychotic maniac woman that does whatever i fancy myself (as a player) to do. So if i want to do every quest in the game then go around blowing their heads off that would be fine as would it be for me to sit and stare at Clover in a Raider Badlands outfit for 3 real time hours in various positions and fap.

So as you can see all spark of adventure and life has been sucked out of this game for me, mostly due to my own ineptitude at making a character, ironic since im schizophrenic and creating conflicting personalities is usually my forte, (especially at ForumWarz with my 6 alts,) Maybe im getting old or just at the stage in my life where i dont give half a ****.

Ill be damned if im restarting again so im sticking with the psychotic Lady who I designed (and am acting) almost identical to the evil stealthy ninja dude i made in the first place.

[FrostyBoy]

Originally posted by Solver
Don't strafe, don't free-fire, use VATS. I do combat almost exclusively with VATS, which leads to not dying a lot.

I don't entirely agree. When it comes to robots, I would rather not use VATS. They are slower and stupider and I don't seem to have much luck with VATS. You really need a powerful weapon and to take them down as quick as possible. Powerful weapons use up too much AP to bring them down quick enough.

I have found the flamer to be the most useful against robots. Mines are almost useless as they either know how to avoid it or can fly over it.

[UnOrthOdOx]

I rented this thing this week after all the fuss here.

Having never played a fallout before, I really didn't know what to expect. I'm not a FPS player, but the 3rd person view just seems 'off' on the controls. It's been mildly amusing so far. Especially killing the overseer. Then getting disappointed that the game wouldn't let me kill his daughter, just knock her unconscious. Nothing I'ld pay $60 for, but a bargain bin, maybe.

I've been pretty much completely evil, yet I'm "too good" to have some random merc I met join me. wtf?

So far, all guns I've found are weak. Better off running up with my baseball bat and wailing away.

Though, I did just kill a super mutant and steal his rocket launcher. That might be fun.

Found some school thing that was full of raiders, "Big Town", And a cemetery that's full of super mutants.

[pg]

I used the hunting rifle the majority of the game as my main weapon due to the fact it had good long distance accuracy and mutants always were dropping back ups. With small arms maxed out it's pretty effective and easy to keep it near top condition if you have good repair skills. You don't need VATS for up close combat indoors, just whip out a combat shotgun and head shot.

The sniper rifle and scoped magnum are nice but near useless for any real combat. The sniper rifle degrades so fast and there are barely any in the game. The magnum faces similar issues if not quite as badly. You can snipe with any weapon just fine if your skill is good. Now that I'm high level I use the laser rifle a lot since it doesn't degrade fast. You can hit anything you can see.

The flamer and plasma rifle are probably the most powerful weapons. The nuke/missle/grenades/etc are very powerful but too slow and hard to aim. Plus you can easily kill yourself or do serious self damage. Many other weapons are just as powerful and easier to use.

[FrostyBoy]

That brings me to a question. Why is it that even though my repair skill is set to 100, I still can't repair anything, (or at the very most, 2 things).

If I need scrap metal or something, how do I know how much I need in order to repair? I got a lot of broken weapons.

Agree with you on the rifle, its a good weapon, of course, I will switch to the Chinese Assault Rifle if I am in a tight situation.

The Sniper Rifle is not bad if you've got the skill and the advantage, there are quite a few spots where sniping is the safest option. Also, the sniper packs a powerful punch, so it can be used up close if you have no other powerful weapon left to use.

I have never found the plasma rifle to be that effective, then again, I barely increased that particular skill either.

[DirtyMartini]

you need a (nearly) identical item to sac for spare parts