Fallout 3 - Official Thread

[Joyrex-J9]

also, do any of them add new side-missions to the main game area, or are all the side bits contained within the new areas? if that makes sense

They are all in their own little areas which you get to from the main Capitol wasteland map. They don't really effect the main area other than adding a new location/door/character/thing for you to access the DLC from

[son_of_helvetica]

Any one DLC in particular that's better than the others you guys would recommend?

The Pitt and Broken Steel? I think The Pitt edges it for having a more "out there" feel - like you feel bewildered to be in a new environment. There's some new environments in Broken Steel, but The Pitt manages to succeed with its own style. Plus those

trogs

are bastards.

One thing I hate now is that Fallout 3 has its own new Cliff Racer now -

Albino Radscorpions

. GAH. Whose idea was it to put them in everywhere when all I want to do is explore?

[errollw]

For all enemies that attack at close range, I suggest investing in a dart gun. Slows them right down so you can either back pedal dropping bottlecap mines or just run away from them and they'll never catch up.

[Elliott]

Right, I've finally gotten round to starting this after having had it since Christmas. Has anyone got any tips or things I should look out for at the start of the game? Any particular skills I should build up before others?

Skills I focussed on building up were:

Lockpick and science are absolutely essential and essential in that order. I'd aim to get both past 50 with relative speed and just let them build up.

Small guns. Really, really useful. Rifles, pistols, shotguns. This is THE skill you should focus on unless you're going for big guns. Big guns is fun if you want to minigun/missile launcher it up but imo not worth it unless you're specifically trying to do that. Laser weapons is a moot point, depends on how many of them you acquire.

Repair is, imo, very important. Sure other people can repair your stuff but not when you're in the fray.

Speech/Barter are moot points but I like them. The speech challenges (It'll offer you a statement with a percentage of success next to it) are fun in a strange way and occasionally have decent benefits, and for barter it brings shop prices down and sale prices high. Some people see it as useless but I'm a junk hoarder and thus like to be able to sell what I get for a decent amount, and I like being able to stock up on ammunition and Stimpaks before I go in somewhere.

Which brings me to medicine. I think this is useful.

Anything other than that I can't remember so clearly hasn't impeded my experience too much. Unarmed is overwhelmingly pointless and melee is a bit niche. Sneak is very niche. Explosives should be at least 30 because you'll need it for a really important quest. Wink wink nudge nudge. Disarming mines is well useful too.

Some other stuff to keep in mind.

TAKE. THE. COMPREHENSION. PERK. EARLY. You'll find skill books lying around that give you an extra point in any given skill area. This perk doubles that. If you're willing to scour, there are ~25 of each skill book hidden in the wastes.

Nothing to do with plot is given away in this spoiler, it just mentions two specific items that it's well, well worth keeping hold of. Doesn't explain why, just says to. Spoilered just in case.

Save your Nuka Cola Quantums. You'll bugger yourself for a quest if you use them. Jet is more effective and more commonly found anyway. Same with Pre-War Books, pick them up and stick them somewhere safe.

[Elliott]

The Pitt and Broken Steel? I think The Pitt edges it for having a more "out there" feel - like you feel bewildered to be in a new environment. There's some new environments in Broken Steel, but The Pitt manages to succeed with its own style. Plus those

trogs

are bastards.

One thing I hate now is that Fallout 3 has its own new Cliff Racer now -

Albino Radscorpions

. GAH. Whose idea was it to put them in everywhere when all I want to do is explore?

Going to put a shout in for Operation Anchorage as

I fucking adore that Gauss Rifle

, and I've not ventured into the other DLC areas yet. What level should I start poking around? I heard one of them is really challenging.

[donpeartree]

TAKE. THE. COMPREHENSION. PERK. EARLY. You'll find skill books lying around that give you an extra point in any given skill area. This perk doubles that. If you're willing to scour, there are ~25 of each skill book hidden in the wastes.

This is correct in theory, but I think you'll do fine without collecting this perk, especially with Broken Steel. Once you get to Level 30 you can pretty much max anything you want to. This perk relies on the fact that you're going to search out each skill book for the stats you want, when I found myself just pumping the points into stats I wanted with each level up.

It depends what kind of player you are I guess:

Really interested in optimising your character as much as possible and exploring EVERYTHING (get the perk)

Happy to just wander the Wastes and do things as they come (in which case some other perks might be more immediate and practical).

[son_of_helvetica]

The zomed in map on the Pipboy 3000 frustrates me somewhat when I go exploring - I see blank spaces in the distance and they turn out to be places I've already been to. I can understand the way it's been planned out like a grid, but I'm sure I didn't have that kind of trouble with Oblivion.

In response to Elliott, there's one part in Broken Steel which is a pretty immense and difficult, but you do get a very nifty weapon to help you out. It's quite something.

[waddie]

The zomed in map on the Pipboy 3000 frustrates me somewhat when I go exploring

So zoom out then?

[Elliott]

This is correct in theory, but I think you'll do fine without collecting this perk, especially with Broken Steel. Once you get to Level 30 you can pretty much max anything you want to. This perk relies on the fact that you're going to search out each skill book for the stats you want, when I found myself just pumping the points into stats I wanted with each level up.

It depends what kind of player you are I guess:

Really interested in optimising your character as much as possible and exploring EVERYTHING (get the perk)

Happy to just wander the Wastes and do things as they come (in which case some other perks might be more immediate and practical).

I am the former, I'm 15 hours in and not even been to GNR yet. Considering the perks at that point in the levelling process, if you're female and have Black Widow there isn't much else to be getting. I don't find the bumping skills up ones to be awfully useful and Educated isn't a massive help either.

[donpeartree]

I am the former, I'm 15 hours in and not even been to GNR yet. Considering the perks at that point in the levelling process, if you're female and have Black Widow there isn't much else to be getting. I don't find the bumping skills up ones to be awfully useful and Educated isn't a massive help either.

Is educated the one where you get 3 extra skill points per level up?

That's pretty useful over time. I think you can get it at level 4/5? That's an extra 45 points, or 75 with Broken Steel.

Though one of the things I like about Fallout is the fact that you can't really 'mess up' your character. You can take the perks and stat increases as you like, really, without too much of a negative effect, and depending on your play style.

Well... I guess if you pump all your skills into melee and unarmed and then stand far away with guns shooting you're pretty fucked, but that's an extreme.

[son_of_helvetica]

So zoom out then?

No, no - the local map - whether it's zoomed in or not. There's bits where I see a doorway on the map surrounded by nothing, and I think "coo, not been there..." - turns out I have, just that the Pipboy only appears to display the grid square you're currently on.

[waddie]

Ah, that one. I never used it for navigation outside much, just for finding the manhole covers for emergency transmitters.

The Pitt was my favourite DLC in terms of quests. It's pretty much the only one in the entire game with a genuine moral dilemma. I'm not sure I'd consider Broken Steel worth it if not for the level cap raise and continuing play. The quests are almost as linear and combat-oriented as Anchorage, which in turn was worth it more for equipment than quests. The Anchorage simulation might only have lasted an evening, but the stealth armour and shock sword were with me for dozens of hours. To the extent that my wish list for the sequel starts: point number one, toned-down stealth. Raiders and Mutants might not be all that smart, but I figure they'd notice the guy they were talking to turn into a pile of glowing ashes. "Sneak is very niche"?! Sneak is the most game-breaking of skills. I can punch Deathclaws to death with my bare hands without them ever figuring out where I am.

[son_of_helvetica]

Not true. I got the lot of them without looking at a guide.

Needed a few hints from folk about the locations of the 5 behemoths, though.

Yeah, I think I need one more. Haven't a clue where the bugger could be.

[son_of_helvetica]

I can punch Deathclaws to death with my bare hands without them ever figuring out where I am.

I'm guessing you'll need stealth for the ultra-horrendous baddies roaming about with the Broken Steel add-on. Even at lvl 30 and almost all specced up, they still give me trouble.

[locke_211]

What happens if you give all the keys from "You Gotta Shoot Them in the Head" to Crowley? Can you still get the cool stuff?

[waddie]

Yeah. You can either

unlock all the doors (but not pick up the armour) , hand the keys over, then get back for the armour before he does

. Or just

follow him out of Underworld (unless you don't mind pissing off all the residents), shoot him, and take the keys back

. Or

let him fetch it, then kill him for it at the Fort, back at Underworld, or anywhere in between

.

[Dandy_Sephy]

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/You_Gotta_Sh...7Em_in_the_Head

will help you there

[And]

After 80 hours of play I've finished the main game, done the first 2 DLC's and started the broken steel missions.

I have all bobbleheads, killed all behemoths and done all side missions.

My karma is, surprisingly, good and I have fawkes as a follower. Who is dead tough.

And for some reason I was out in the wasteland I got the message that dogmeat had died, despite him having spent the entire time waiting at vault 101 for me, go figure.

I made some silly perk choices between 20 and 28, so dont have room for puppies, i'll be having finesse and near perfect for my last two i reckon.

Or cannibal.

I took, 2 swift learners, the well rested one, to get lots of xp to make sure i could whore the level 30 chieves.

and gunslinger, which may not be that good as i realised later i only regularly use 1 pistol. doh.

I also took solar powered and night person which are pretty good, explorer and cyborg.

My dude is well solid now. got 100 in small guns, big guns, pew pew lazer guns, sneak, speech, repair, lockpick and science.

So

Main game = 1000/1000

Anchorage DLC = 100/100

The Pitt DLC = 100/100

Broken steel DLC - Started, and I am level 28 so heading towards the achievements for hitting 30.

Swampy DLC - not yet released.

Alien DLC - not yet released.

So that's my First 1000 point game, and I am going to have to get full marks on all the DLC now

[locke_211]

Gah, there's no info anywhere about operation anchorage being released this week. You think Bethesda would actually advertise it. I started playing this again yesterday in anticipation of the DLC finally arriving for PS3 and I think I'll go mad if nothing appears in the next few days.

[cloutbasher]

I stopped playing this after about 6 hours at my first go. I was doing the quest with the fire ants; 'Those!' and it just seemed such a struggle, I wasn't getting much out of it and couldn't see how I would ever find it fun.

Then, this weekend in a bored mood I stuck it on, started again and have been absolutely gripped - even though much of it (wandering round Megaton etc.) is what I was up to before. I've been sitting at work thinking which areas I'm going to explore next etc.

The one element I still find I'm uncomfortable with is leveling up, assigning skill points etc. For someone who hardly ever plays RPGs it feels daunting assigning points and so on, there's such a sense that I could totally bugger it up by focusing on certain areas and not others. I know that's part of the point, but I spent ages last night agonising about whether I was right to have bumped up my small arms and repair skills at the expense of barter etc.

[FeedMeVibration]

I only thought the DLC was arriving in October on PS3; all 5 DLC together with Fallout 3 in a 'Game of the Year' set.

[Majora]

I stopped playing this after about 6 hours at my first go. I was doing the quest with the fire ants; 'Those!' and it just seemed such a struggle, I wasn't getting much out of it and couldn't see how I would ever find it fun.

Then, this weekend in a bored mood I stuck it on, started again and have been absolutely gripped - even though much of it (wandering round Megaton etc.) is what I was up to before. I've been sitting at work thinking which areas I'm going to explore next etc.

The one element I still find I'm uncomfortable with is leveling up, assigning skill points etc. For someone who hardly ever plays RPGs it feels daunting assigning points and so on, there's such a sense that I could totally bugger it up by focusing on certain areas and not others. I know that's part of the point, but I spent ages last night agonising about whether I was right to have bumped up my small arms and repair skills at the expense of barter etc.

If you have the broken steel DLC then you don't really need to worry about that since it raises the amount of skill points you can accrue, but even if you don't then I still wouldn't worry too much. You can easily boost your stats with books or bobbleheads or some perks.

Don't worry about barter, after a while you'll have more money than you can spend anyway. Concentrating on small arms early on is pretty smart.

[locke_211]

I only thought the DLC was arriving in October on PS3; all 5 DLC together with Fallout 3 in a 'Game of the Year' set.

No, operation anchorage is apparently out 'late June', with the others following one at a time, spaced out by a month or so. Plus the set in October.

[Joyrex-J9]

I stopped playing this after about 6 hours at my first go. I was doing the quest with the fire ants; 'Those!' and it just seemed such a struggle, I wasn't getting much out of it and couldn't see how I would ever find it fun.

Tackling 'Those!' early on is a classic mistake, fuck knows why they chuck it at you so early on. I tried doing it straight after I bumped into the kid outside the Super-Duper Mart, I barely had enough ammo to take down 3 of those Fire Ants let alone a whole nest.

Come back to it once you've skilled up and got a bit of ammo & amour.

I'm not going to be an apologist, much as I adore the game, I think some of the early pacing and missions could have been handled much better by Bethesda

[son_of_helvetica]

Tackling 'Those!' early on is a classic mistake, fuck knows why they chuck it at you so early on. I tried doing it straight after I bumped into the kid outside the Super-Duper Mart, I barely had enough ammo to take down 3 of those Fire Ants let alone a whole nest.

Come back to it once you've skilled up and got a bit of ammo & amour.

I'm not going to be an apologist, much as I adore the game, I think some of the early pacing and missions could have been handled much better by Bethesda

Yep, I had a lot of trouble with "Those!" but I beat it and it was rewarding to do so.

[JPickford]

Tackling 'Those!' early on is a classic mistake, fuck knows why they chuck it at you so early on. I tried doing it straight after I bumped into the kid outside the Super-Duper Mart, I barely had enough ammo to take down 3 of those Fire Ants let alone a whole nest.

Come back to it once you've skilled up and got a bit of ammo & amour.

I'm not going to be an apologist, much as I adore the game, I think some of the early pacing and missions could have been handled much better by Bethesda

That's my main complaint about the game. If you just follow the plot (as you would expect to in most games) you end up in a right mess. Once I realised I was better off exploring it all started to fall into place.

[Dax]

Point Lookout is up on the marketplace. You have to navigate to it through the marketplace. Just under 450mb.

[Talk Show Host]

Point Lookout is up on the marketplace. You have to navigate to it through the marketplace. Just under 450mb.

PSN?

[Elliott]

Knob, more DLC to buy. Will wait til I've tackled the other two I think. Unless you get anything cool and unique for beating it.

[Shepperton]

I think Im going to wait for the game of the year version and by the game again, will prob work out cheaper than getting all the DLC togther now any way.