Just got Fallout

[El Dee]

After hearing a lot of you folks here rave about it I decided to order the Fallout 1 and 2 combo pack. The character creation is a little overwhelming, especially without a manual, so I was wondering if any of you had some advice on which skills were useful. Note: I'll probably play a combat focused character on my first run through.

Any other comments or tips would be welcome, but please keep the spoilers to a minimum.

 

[bryce777]

Well, first off there are two strategies to take as a gunner.

Fast shot (and take fast shot trait), or else doing aimed shots. If you want to use Big Guns, then take fast shot. If you want to use small guns (which you will have to use to some extent til later on) then either one is ok.

The trait 'gifted' is a must.

I high intelligence of at least 8 is a must,a nd I recommend 9-10. This gives skill points, and it allows you to get good conversations.

I recommend a perception of 8 so that you can get a certain perk later, and so you can get certain quest options.

You do not need a high constitution so use it as your dump stat. You need at least a 5 strength, and if you use big guns, then a 6.

Dexterity is good but not necessary as long as it's 6 or above because that will give 8 action points, more than enough to fire any weapon with an aimed shot.

You don't really need beyond say 140 in any weapons skill, so I would not tag any weapons skill.

Instead, tag science, which is super useful. As a second tag you can do steal if you are into that kind of thing, orelse repair, which also is handy quite often.

Keep an eye out for books, which can raise your small guns skill, scouting skill, or medial skill.

If you go for higher charisma, then forget about luck, but if you have luck of 6 or above you can get the tough guy perk a few times and it is very useful.

 

[Zomg]

The manuals are on .PDFs on those discs from the US dual jewel and the UK F1+F2+FoT combo. They're pretty fun as manuals go, not as good as the old Microprose ones but better than most, more so if you had the original spiral-bound versions.

 

[El Dee]

The manuals are on .PDFs on those discs from the US dual jewel and the UK F1+F2+FoT combo. They're pretty fun as manuals go, not as good as the old Microprose ones but better than most, more so if you had the original spiral-bound versions.

Thanks for the info. The manual didn't download automatically but, like you said, I found it on the disc.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I loved the Fallot 1 manual, very enjoyable to read...

 

[denizsi]

Dexterity is good but not necessary as long as it's 6 or above because that will give 8 action points, more than enough to fire any weapon with an aimed shot.

He means Agility.

 

[kingcomrade]

edit: PLAY FALLOUT 1 FIRST

The trait 'gifted' is a must.

Only if you want the game to be very easy.

Each of the stats is basically useful for one thing.

Strength= Carry Weight (min Str for some weapons, but that is easily overcome by increasing your weapon skill)

Perception= Range modifiers (You are more accurate). You can also get a few better descriptions and stuff.

Endurace- Fallout's dump stat. I usually play with an endurance of 3.

Charisma- In FO1 it isn't that important, it helps you get some quests and lie your way out of situations, bluff the stupider baddies and stuff.

Intelligence- Probably most important stat. Dialogue choices and skill points.

Agility- Second most important, controls APs. Keep an even number, as you don't get anything besides a tiny boost to your AC for going above to the odd number

Luck- Not really that important unless you set it very high or very low. It just affects critical hit, like one quest or trigger, and random encounters.

For the traits, they are all useless or disadvantageous except for:

Gifted, which is Fallout's version of cheating or Easy mode.
Finesse- The one truly balanced stat, only use it if you have 6+ luck and go for the critical hit perks.
Fast Shot & One Hander- Good if you have lots of APs, and works well with One Hander so you can shoot multiple times per turn (with a pistol)
Good Natured- This is probably the best one to take, as it is essentially free skill points (you get more than you lose, I mean, usually people only specialize in one or two weapon skills anyways, so most of the points, you won't miss them)

If you have a decent PER and min STR for your gun, you don't need more than 100% in your gun skills for a 80-90% hit rate on non-called shots.
The important skills:
(A Weapon Skill)
Lockpick
Speech
Science
In that order.

Make sure you get a Tool (they're cheap and found in most stores) and up your repair a little bit, it makes the game a bit more fun. I think a Tool adds 30% to your repair skill. Same for lockpicks. If you tag lockpicks when you create a character, you get a free set, so I usually do that.

What else...
The guns are pretty imbalanced. The SMG murders at close range (and counts as one-handed), the .223 rifle and .223 sniper rifle are best at long range (yeah, that makes sense), all the other guns are kinda useless compared to them, especially as AP ammo is worthless, and the 5mm rifle's ammo is bugged. Shotguns are about the same in effectiveness as .223, but they aren't as good against armor. Energy weapons are better than most of the guns and are the most powerful weapons in the game, but you don't get any until pretty far into the game.

 

[Nicolai]

Instead, tag science, which is super useful. As a second tag you can do steal if you are into that kind of thing, orelse repair, which also is handy quite often.

Tagging science and repair? I usually get by without spending a single point on them since there are very few situations that require high science/repair skills. Personally, I often tag steal, small guns, and speech. Three skills that suit my playing style quite well.

 

[kingcomrade]

Small Guns, Lockpick, and Energy Weapons is the best route for FO1, as those are the skills you need the most points in and lockpick gives you a free set of lockpicks (there's only two other sets in the game, I think). Sometimes Speech instead of Energy Weapons, if you don't plan on using them, but energy weapons are so powerful it's kinda worth it, and if you take Good Natured (which is worth it, like I said above) the two tags help you overcome the disadvantage really easily.

Steal is kinda useless, I never needed it, science you can upgrade with spare skill points and books, repair you can upgrade with books and you have the Tool which gives you a massive bonus, speech you can give a big boost by taking Good Natured.

 

[Nicolai]

Steal is great if you want free stuff.

 

[El Dee]

edit: PLAY FALLOUT 1 FIRST

Of course! :D

 

[kingcomrade]

So is Energy Weapons

You never need free stuff in FO as there's plenty lying around, and there are more important skills to tag. The thing about tags, they are wasted if you don't put them on something with a really low % value (which is why I keep saying Good Natured) because otherwise you don't get as much worth out of them.

 

[Tris McCall]

I loved the Fallot 1 manual, very enjoyable to read...

Best manual in the history of manuals!

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Fuckin eh right it is the best manual. Fallout still gives me a warm spot deep down there, and makes me tingle all over.

 

[Elwro]

I don't like the Gifted trait; I only played with it once and felt a bit out of character.
I almost always take Finesse, tag Small Guns and aim for the eye.
Small Frame is also good for that 1 stat point more.
I also like to tag Steal. Those NPCs have a surprising amount of useful things on them

 

[bryce777]

If you dont take gifted it is difficult to make a character with good dialog options who is not otherwise a gimp.

 

[Elwro]

No, just take INT 8 AGI 8 END 4 STR 4/5 tag Small Weapons , take Finesse, invest some points in Energy Weapons (you can take the "Tag!" perk later on and boost the skill to insane levels) and you're a sniper with good dialog options. (even with PER at 5 or 6).

 

[El Dee]

I took the 'Good Natured' trait and have 9 intelligence hopefully everything works out.

 

[bryce777]

No, just take INT 8 AGI 8 END 4 STR 4/5 tag Small Weapons , take Finesse, invest some points in Energy Weapons (you can take the "Tag!" perk later on and boost the skill to insane levels) and you're a sniper with good dialog options. (even with PER at 5 or 6).

You can't get the sniper tag, or some dialogs witht hat low perception. Without the sniper tag it would be better to use big guns and fast shot. Finesse is the stupidest trait ever, too.

 

[kingcomrade]

Small Frame is also good for that 1 stat point more.

Wrong, Small Frame is one of the worse investments. The primary point of Strength is carry weight, and you are effectively trading 2 points of strength for 1 point of agility. The only thing that STR effects otherwise is min strength, and that is, like I said, easily overcome with just a few skill points, especially if you have the weapon skill tagged.

If you dont take gifted it is difficult to make a character with good dialog options who is not otherwise a gimp.

This is wrong.

You can't get the sniper tag

You can't get the sniper perk until level 21, if I'm not mistaken, and as much as I love Fallout, I usually reach the end of the game at around level 14-16. You won't get sniper anyways, in a normal game.

Finesse is the stupidest trait ever, too.

It's quite effective once you your first crit perk perks, and if you have high Luck. 10% chance for crit means 1 in 10 shots will be a critical hit. You have a base (LCK)% chance, so 5 or more means 15%, and at level 6 or 9 you get your first crit upgrade (+25%) if you have LUck>6 (I think)I played a Finesse character a while back, 7 Luck, I ended up with 25%+ chance for crit by level 15 (I think) and I had Better Criticals, pretty much every other shot was critting when I used called shots and those were usually 1 hit kills with Better Criticals.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

People tag science and repair? With enough cash from the sales of equipment from enough dead raiders and you can buy enough books to boost both those skills, as well as first aid and small guns up to a reasonable amount.

My character's usually run the snipr route. 6 Strength (never get anymore as Power Armour adds +4), as high agility and perception as I can get with the rest going into intelligence. Luck, Charisma and Endurance I culdn't care less about. Then I tag Speech, Energy Weapons and sometimes Small Guns (mainly because tagging anything doesn't have any value to me). Gambling can be fun if you want bucket loads of free money.

 

[Elwro]

You can't get the sniper tag, or some dialogs witht hat low perception.

OK, I used the word "sniper" not in the technical "guy who has the "Sniper" perk" sense but in the "guy who defeats the majority of his foes by shooting at their eyes from a distance" sense. I'm sure you won't get some dialogs, but INT 8 gets you many good dialog options.

Without the sniper tag it would be better to use big guns and fast shot. Finesse is the stupidest trait ever, too.

We just seem to like exactly opposite ways of playing the game :D I only took fast shot when I played for the first time and never use big guns, while Finesse is absolutely essential because critical hits are the way to go :D

 

[kingcomrade]

while Finesse is absolutely essential because critical hits are the way to go

Finesse gimps you in the beginning of the game when you only have around 15% chance for crit, though, and you end up doing like 3 to 5 damage per shot. But otherwise, yeah, I really liked playing crit characters. In FO2, I played a onehander finesse guy with 8 luck and used the revolver to snipe people in the eyes twice per round.

 

[Elwro]

Wrong, Small Frame is one of the worse investments. The primary point of Strength is carry weight, and you are effectively trading 2 points of strength for 1 point of agility.

I never care about how much my char can carry and I never encounter problems with encumbrance. Maybe because I use small guns for the majority of the game. On the other hand, I do care about AGI or INT points, so Small Frame is reasonable for my chars.

 

[kingcomrade]

So why not just take the 2 points from Strength and put them in Agility?