T. Reich
Arcane
No, the combat is just shit. The gunplay is godawful and don't even get me started on Vats. The fact that even takedowns from your companions trigger those annoying slowmos is just laughable.
Other than that, I agree with all your advices. I followed every single one and suddenly a great game has revealed itself
Only Patiencia has been a bit lackluster. I prefer a modded Hunting Rifle despite lower dps (switched to Bozar as soon as i could afford it)
Well, duh, the disgusting nature of FO3+ combat is undisputable. It's just that I assumed that you guys were lacking some skill/insight to deal with it, so you'd perceive et as even more sucky.
Paciencia is god! As long as you aim just right and don't try to hit heads at extreme distances - it's got a bit higher spread than other sniper rifles. What makes it so strong is 2 things: its critical damage bonus is not just the +1x base damage, but +2x (which makes it as high as one of AMR in terms of pure damage), and it comes with 3.5x zoom, which is highest in the game, same as what you get from the scoped sniper rifles. Its damage is enough to 1-shot anything but the most hp-bloated enemies.
Scoped hunting rifle is a very solid choice and is more than enough damage for all the normal enemies anyway. Hell, while exploring the area between Novac and Camp Searchlight I found some cave with a unique varmint rifle (Ratslayer) that came pre-equipped with cope and silencer + a bit stronger damage (which was still very low, around 20 per shot). It was enough to take out legionnaires in Cottonwood Cove and Nipton entirely, with mostly 1-shots, without ever needing to enter these locations even.
I found Bozar lacking in terms of per-hit damage (maxes out at 20, IIRC, which means it's halved or more vs any well-armored enemies), but it's a good bursty close-combat weapon vs unarmored enemies, I suppose. For close gun combat I use 12.7mm SMG instead, it rips through anything as if it was paper, due to its very high per-hit damage.
I know. AMR is only really needed against the toughest hp-bloated mobs like the special deathclaws etc. It's pretty unwieldy otherwise - too heavy and slow. I found Paciencia adequate vs strongest mobs (its crit bonus damage is the same as AMR), and gauss rifle can be used as energy weapons alternative, too. Most enemies don't even need that kind of power, though - I used the silenced sniper rifle instead (and later replaced it with Christine's unique version from Old World Blues).
The easiest way to boost sniper weapon damage through the roof is actually simply using the hollow-point ammo. Whatever DT enemies could have, tripling it will still be a much lower compensation than the 1.75x damage bonus.
Armor-piercing ammo is really just for full-auto guns, which (almost) all have the low per-hit damage and thus suffer from the DT most.
Sneaky! I totally forgot that you can bypass the black mountain patrols this way.
