Most used INT range in Fallout 1/2 characters?

[shihonage]

I would like to know! For science!

 

[MMXI]

Thanks for the screenshot. It helped me answer correctly.

 

[shihonage]

As long as your answer actually reflected reality.

 

[Oriebam]

There should be an AGI thread too

 

[shihonage]

AGI is just a mechanical tweak that plugs into a formula. Your agility as a person doesn't really transfer to the character.

This poll is narrowed to INT because it's the attribute that "leaks" the most through the player-->character barrier.

As result of this leak, you can play the game with low INT as the improbable Forrest Gump, talking retarded out of your ass, but inexplicably always being in the right place at the right time, making great accomplishments.

Thus, I've been reassessing the validity of INT's existence "in pure form" for a long time, suspecting that

a) most people use 8-10 range

b) it needs to be split up into context-dependent, session-dependent checks, i.e. "character can talk smart with car mechanics but stupid with doctors". These checks may have to be tied to actual skills "repair" and "doctor", and/or dynamic in-game accomplishments.

Whether a) is right, this poll will show. I hope that my current bias does not skew its results in either direction.

 

[Excidium]

Well, I don't know what the hell but i just pumped int because it gives more skill points. Int modifying skill point gain is just horribly unbalanced.

 

[Vibalist]

Had my best playthrough of Fallout 1 ever with a minigun-wielding repairman with lots of strength and an INT of 7. Good times.

 

[Surf Solar]

Out of the blue I'd say the range goes from 7 to 10, shihonage, for the reason Excidium already gave - it gives you more skillpoints. Sure, there is the occasional "dumb guy 1-3 INT" playthrough, but this is more the exception of the rule. INT and AGI always were the most powerful stats in SPECIAL.

 

[sea]

I use 8 to 10, usually 10 with Gifted (yeah, I'm lame), since more IN equals more skill points.

 

[Xor]

Usually start at 9.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Intelligence of 10 and Gifted is the way to go.

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I can never find the spare points to get above 7. Beats me how you guys manage it.
7's good enough anyway, though, I always thought.

 

[Vibalist]

I can never find the spare points to get above 7. Beats me how you guys manage it.
7's good enough anyway, though, I always thought.

Not if you want to convince The Master to abandon his plan. I think.

 

[Mastermind]

I can never find the spare points to get above 7. Beats me how you guys manage it.
7's good enough anyway, though, I always thought.

I use strength as a mostly dump stat since I can get the best gear without combat anyway and only need to carry enough stuff to sell it and buy a plasma rifle. Charisma too.

Talking about 1 of course. 2 doesn't exist.

 

[Roguey]

I can never find the spare points to get above 7. Beats me how you guys manage it.
7's good enough anyway, though, I always thought.

Not if you want to convince The Master to abandon his plan. I think.

You only need 7. Plus there's always mentats if you want to game it.

 

[Jaesun]

Yeah, I usually just have 7 INT.

 

[Gentle Player]

I use 8 to 10, usually 10 with Gifted (yeah, I'm lame), since more IN equals more skill points.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Yeah, I usually just have 7 INT.

I usually have 7 in all stats, except Luck. I prefer balanced characters. And they work! I managed to see most of the content with balanced characters. 8, 9, or 10 in any stat other than Agility seem to be a waste.

(Otherwise, I may give up a little Endurance to push up my Luck to 10 and take Finnese to be a constant Critical Hitter.)

 

[Wyrmlord]

Has anybody playing Fallout 1 done Super Mutant Grinding in order to get to level 18 and use the Slayer Perk?

I haven't, because I figured that high Unarmed, high Luck, More Criticals, and Better Criticals would achieve the same results anyway at much lower levels. Am I wrong?

And what about the Sniper perk?

Both these perks confused me while going through the manual again after finishing Fallout for the first time. The game was not made for level 18.

 

[sea]

I can never find the spare points to get above 7. Beats me how you guys manage it.
7's good enough anyway, though, I always thought.

Depends on your build, but generally 10 IN, 9 PE/ST (either guns or melee/unarmed), 9 AG and 5-6 LK works fine so long as you drop EN, CH and others. I find that generally EN over 3 isn't very useful once you get decent armour (plus, followers take hits for you), and you can get away with ST of 3-4 and boost it using Power Armor. LK is useful but the gains aren't as great as you'd think (1% critical chance per point isn't valuable compared to the gains you get elsewhere, i.e. extra AP). CH is the odd one out, but usually I don't need more than one or two followers to get by, and in Fallout 1 at least, they tend to bite it more often than not (unless you use the NPC Mod, but even so, then they're just pulling their own weight rather than simply drawing fire). During the early game you can use Ian to mow through the weaker enemies, then dump him/let him die by the Glow, when he's no longer going to be doing much good.

The problem with min/maxing, of course, is you need to change your play style a bit to accommodate your limitations (less HP means more time spent resting and greater reliance on Stimpaks, and renders certain tactics suicidal), but the rewards far outstrip the losses due to the fact that IN, PE and AG do all the heavy lifting for you the majority of the game.

As for Fallout 2, I can see a variety of approaches being more useful because of the greater weapon selection and larger number of followers (I don't play it nearly enough to make detailed recommendations), but generally you want to go with either the Gauss Rifle, Bozar, Turbo Plasma Rifle or Pulse Rifle by the endgame, so the focus on Small Guns and Energy Weapons usually works out fine anyway. A high PE will give you all the skill you need to use firearms early on, and will still help you if you make the jump to Energy Weapons. Generally, unlike Fallout 1, I find melee and unarmed are a good deal less useful, mostly due to the larger numbers of enemies, especially the Enclave soldiers in the final third of the game that stand up to almost everything melee can offer.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Fuck SPECIAL

 

[Excidium]

Something awesome must happen when you succed on a Success test.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Generally, unlike Fallout 1, I find melee and unarmed are a good deal less useful, mostly due to the larger numbers of enemies, especially the Enclave soldiers in the final third of the game that stand up to almost everything melee can offer.

Uh huh. Here's one reason you are wrong, and it is exclusive to Fallout 2.

Stand still with only a Mega Power Fist (it counts as an empty slot). 20 ACs from 10 APs. 75 ACs from 150% Unarmed. 35 ACs from Advanced Power Armour. 10 base AC.

Result is 140 AC. Nobody can lay a shot on you. I have done it. I stand still and let Cassidy, Sulik, Vic, Myron, Lenny, Marcus, Boris, and K-9 do all the fighting. Enclave guys focus fire on me. Result is hilarity.

 

[hakuroshi]

Int 8-9 in Fallout 1 modified later by Gifted or Night Person.
On the other hand my two "most enjoyable" playthroughs in Fallout 2 were done with Int1 and Int10 characters respectively.

 

[Mastermind]

Has anybody playing Fallout 1 done Super Mutant Grinding in order to get to level 18 and use the Slayer Perk?

I haven't, because I figured that high Unarmed, high Luck, More Criticals, and Better Criticals would achieve the same results anyway at much lower levels. Am I wrong?

And what about the Sniper perk?

Both these perks confused me while going through the manual again after finishing Fallout for the first time. The game was not made for level 18.

I did deathclaw grinding and picked up Sniper. Better criticals increases damage, not chance, so it's extra useful when combined with critical increases. 10 luck + more criticals = 15% increase, so for ranged weapons at least sniper is still useful. Slayer makes every attack a critical so I'd imagine that for melee you can use luck as a dump stat and not bother with more criticals.