Fallout 2 RP 2.2 Hardcore (Spoilers, advice requested)

[Svankensen]

Welp, since im already asking a lot in the RP thread, i thought i would make a thread of my own about this.

As far as im concerned, Hardcore means no Do-Overs. A companion dies, hes gone, you die, game over, lots of hours wasted. That means no stealing from NPCs unless you are VERY confident on your skills, and avoiding most of the random encounters. Combat set to rough game set to Hard.

I build a Gifted+Small frame Female with S5 P7 E7 C5 I10 A9 L6, taggged Small guns, Speech and Outdoorsman. So far ive cleared most of the non combat quests in all towns down to new Reno, except for redding, it always bored me to death for some reason, besides most fo the quests there seem to revolve around killing afreaking pack of wanamingos, wich i aint prepared to handle. Out of good stuff to do, i went to the EPA. I managed just now to clear most of EPA, getting my AG to 10 ! Almost died (got to 1 HP!) trying to get to the Mr Chemie, i wasnt aware of the poisonous fumes there, it seems you cant get there without a power armor, cause i was almost dead halfway to the vents you need to clear. My current entourage is composed of Cassidy, Vic and Marcus (Sulik died), all of them with metal armor Mk2 except Marcus, tho i intend to go to the Abbey now to get some more XP the safe way. I have Myron waiting in Vault city so that i can have lots of super stims when i get my science high enough. Since im afraid of going to the NCR cause a single random encounter could spell doom for me, my current options seem to be the raiders and looting the very dangerous room under the Toxic caves in order to get the combat armor Mk 2 instead of the Mk 1 im using. That could work with the EMP grenades and Marcus throwing skill, but seems risky, altrough i think with psycho and the Combat armor i could make it out alive if push comes to shove if i stay close to the elevator. Afterwards i could clear the Sierra Army Depot, MAYBE, but i aint confident that my 100 HP can take a critical from the turrets, i suspect they cant.

So, thats it so far, any advice id be glad to take. BTW, im using a Sniper rifle as main and a Magnum/Grease gun as secondary weapons, currently leveling doctor and science to get stimms and cure for jet, those extra AP could come handy in some tight spots.

 

[valcik]

Almost died (got to 1 HP!) trying to get to the Mr Chemie, i wasnt aware of the poisonous fumes there, it seems you cant get there without a power armor ..

Hello Svankensen,
there's another way how to protect yourself from environmental dangers in the EPA. Look around carefully while exploring the base, you're missing good equipment!

 

[Drobovik]

Kudos for trying this...RL playthrough of yours.)

My lil tip. You can get quite a bit safe experience by stealing. Yes, safe stealing. Hear me out. I use it to level up the weaklings of a character.

It works best with "drunk geckos" in Arroyo. You know, grazing grounds map. I believe the respawn after some time, if you killed them. Ok, so you go there or to Klamath (can abuse the regular resident, generic ones) and stuff them geckos with beer or booze, 4-5 times, drops their perception to 0. Now since the above mentioned critters don't go hostile when you fail, you can steal a money or a zander root, lite and small, from them, then without closing dialog plant it back on them. Repeat 5-6 times. Woya-lya, you will receive 150-300 exp. points per session. It's a little tedious since occasionally you get caught, but just keep going and you'll level up with no harm to your precious 100 HP.

Was able to get this character going and probably finish the game without upgrading the prime stats. It's actually a female horse. (special animal animations used)

Screen translated to English

[spoiler:ddab09bc26] FALLOUT
VAULT-13 PERSONNEL RECORD
25 July 2241 0824 hours

Name: Skakunya Age: 16 Gender: Female
Level: 01 Exp: 0 Next Level: 1,000

::: Statistics :::
Strength: 10 Hit Points: 027/027 Sequence: 10
Perception: 01 Armor Class: 010 Healing Rate: 01
Endurance: 01 Action Points: 10 Critical Chance: 001%
Charisma: 01 Melee Damage: 09 Carry Weight: 275 lbs.
Intelligence: 01 Damage Res.: 000%
Agility: 10 Radiation Res.: 002%
Luck: 01 Poison Res.: 005%


::: Traits :::
Heavy Handed
Bloody Mess

::: Karma :::
Karma: 0 (Wanderer)

::: Skills ::: ::: Kills :::
Small Guns ..... 045%
Big Guns ....... 020%
Energy Weapons . 020%
Unarmed ........ 090%
Melee Weapons .. 060%
Throwing ....... 040%
First aid ...... -006%
Doctor ......... -003%
Sneak .......... 025%
Lockpick ....... 031%
Steal .......... 020%
Traps .......... 011%
Science ........ -006%
Repair ......... -007%
Speech ......... -005%
Barter ......... -006%
Gambling ....... -005%
Outdoorsman .... 014%


::: Inventory :::

Total Weight: 0 lbs.[/spoiler:ddab09bc26]


Talking about being a flexible role-playing game.)) Fallout Forever.

Good luck

 

[Brunzer]

i could clear the Sierra Army Depot, MAYBE, but i aint confident that my 100 HP can take a critical from the turrets, i suspect they cant. (…)BTW, im using a Sniper rifle as main

Due to the better range of a sniper rifle you can kill the turrets without being hit. Just tell your companions to wait, so they don’t join the fight. I’d advise you to do the SAD before the Toxic Caves. You can get three combat armours from the SAD which should improve your chances of survival for you and your companions in the caves.

 

[Svankensen]

Hmm, thats interesting indeed. I intended to try that, since thats how i cleared some other stationary enemies like the spore plants at EPA, but considering how a single mistake can spell doom for me i passed. If this isnt true, the ghost of Buffy will haunt you! (Uhh, right, i did take advantage of that easter egg after my first hardcore died clearing the slavers camp)

Now, about the stealing thingie, I consider it an exploit. While im not above some of them (like upgrading cans of 5 units of flamethrower fuel to get 10 back, since its very rare), im against free XP exploits (specially ones as tedious as yours =P), as well as that 0 pressing and stuff like that. I dont consider door locking to be an exploit, since it does make sense considering how much real time a round takes in game. An heroically agile fella' can run trough a room OR shoot 2 times. Finding an unexpected locked door in your way is bound to take a few minutes to solve, and by then the firefight is over.

And about that Pony... I enjoy an ocasional episode of "My little pony" as much as the next guy, but i seriously dont think that they would be able to survive on the wasteland. And seriously, irradiated pony? I however do like his awfull build, so im simpathetic with your exploiting for the sake of survival.

 

[Tom9k]

That unicorn model looks like King Sombra imho

 

[Svankensen]

Please dont derail my thread with cool ponies.

Welp, lost my whole party to a random encounter with raiders. Luckily i stopped selling those repair tomes at some point and starting reading them myself. That leaves, as potentially usefull NPC companions, Cat, the Ghoul, Myron, Goris and the assortment of mechanical companions...

Ill miss Cassidy, he was quite the badass and i was looking forward to getting him his Heart Pills.

EDIT: Wow, i cleared most of the SAD and got the cool Red Ryder LE. Its freaking awesome at close range, 2 aimed shots to the eyes each round, and for long range theres always the sniper rifle. Im now clearing the wanamingo mine with Lenny and Myron, a sad pairing, but at least they help me carry stuff around.

 

[Svankensen]

Lost my sad party (Myron and Lenny) at the NCR, when buster got angry at me for some unknown reason. Something to do with being a grave digger perhaps? Otherwise my reputation was impecable. Anyway, i Might miss Myron, he would have been pretty decent with a Gauss Gun. So for now it seems all the NPCs Left are Goris, Cat and an assortment of Dogs. I MIGHT Go for Skynet, but getting to 121 Science without it being tagged seems not worth the trouble, specially since Skynet suposedly is the science expert... Im gussing ill take a run to San Francisco now. My Trunk is filled to the Top, and i could really use some power armor and gauss rifles, at least to be able to go into the casinos of the other families without being immediately attacked. I want to try to complete the Raiders quest. Luckily im becoming quite the powerhouse, not even a Critical from a Light Support Weapon could take me out, but im sure ill need some leveling before Horrigan if i am to finish this Hardcore play.

 

[Matthews]

Buster can go mad if you enter his shop at the wrong time (aka when not open)...

... or what's the name of the Dwarf in the Bazaar?

 

[Svankensen]

Yeah, that must be it. i got there on the night and waited until 8 to get in there, maybe he opens later. Well, too late now, my companions are already dead.

Im struggling to keep Cat alive now, K-9 was a victim of an Enclave Patrol i ran into, wich pretty much leaves Goris as my only other possible companion. Ill do some leveling here and there, completing Vault 13 and maybe 15, and then ill move on ot finish this hardcore play! These take a lot more time than normal ones, with the no do-overs thing you really do most quests, in order to level safely. I somehow pissed off the Zeta-Scan guy in the NCR, so i had to take mine in the Hubbologist base, wich, luckily, increased my luck by one, the Int increase being wasted on my Heroic 10 int. I forgot that Cat comes set to Charge, he almost got killed by some random fire geckos. Now i have him in Hardened power armor tho, so he should be OK. I hope he levels soon tho, 90HP doesnt really absorb criticals. I got my hands on some spare cures for Jet (100 each, pretty darn cheap), so ill be hogging some from New Reno for using Jet when things get rough. Also, im really becoming used to using psycho before any dangerous fight, that drug is simply amazing. I used it and lots of buffouts and Jet to get the Prize-Fighter Title and to challenge Lao Pan, luckily they dont do dopping tests these days. Welp, thats it for now, ill keep you updated!

 

[Svankensen]

Wel, i finished the hardcore game, with the impressive acomplishment of getting all companions killed except for robodog and Cat (Wich i nursed like he was a baby).

Im now planning on doing a dumb Hardcore playtrough:
S5 P6 E7 C4 I3 A10 L6
Traits: Small Frame and Fast Shot
Name: Buffy, i intend to get those early powerfull items from the Den.
Tags: Big Guns, Steal, Outdoorsman

I do plan to use Mentats heavily, if i can get them, as this character is already pretty hard to play on its own, and i dont intend to miss valuable XP just because im most of the time an idiot, im already loosing tons of skill points. I plan to use small guns quite a lot until i can get the Bozar, ill rely on Guns and Ammo magazines and short range shots/bursts to make up for the lack of aim. I surely hope those steals work, but im planning on playing it evil anyway, so if someone needs to die, so be it.

Im guessing if having AG at 10 at the start might be a waste, since you can get one point not that late in the game, and buffouts are kind of common. OTOH, outdoorsman wont save me from most random encounters with only 11 skill points per level, so i need to be able to get 2 bursts per turn rather quickly. Good thing is that if i manage to get to Vault city alive, you can pick some decent stuff there as soon as you arrive if you are dumb.

 

[mobucks]

Hard fucking core bro!

Yeah man drugs are amazing. You should be injecting your party members every chance you get. (AFAIR only Jet will perma-fuck up your party members, sans Cassidey)

Here's a tip I don't think a lot of people realize, with a good stealth skill, you can run 9/10 ap away from combat encounters, hit the stealth button, and it will let you leave combat if you are far enough away.

It's not really an exploit since you need the AP, lucky initial positioning, and the skill to do it. Feel free to disagree on that though. Also it might not jive with the type of character you're playing, ie. a huge hulking brute probably could'nt dissappear like that, while a small frame scrawny person might.

 

[Svankensen]

Thats a very good tip indeed!

Buffy one died from Kids throwing stones at her after stealing from a hooker.

Since i took small frame i think it works, and seriously, using stealth to escape an encounter makes lots of sense. I just Killed Flick in the Den and he had 3 magnums on him! Im feeling lucky indeed, ill equip 2 (for 12 shots before reloading) and give one to Vic once ive released him. It seems like you cant get the "Buffy" bonus from the den if you are dumb. Might be worth it to spend a mentat on it, its still a lot of money on gear, but Mentats are almost non existant on the early game, and getting to Broken Hills to get them from the doctor seems impossible, the encounters there can have miniguns! With these magnums i feel confident ill be able to clear the Toxic mines easily tho.

Im wondering if tagging steal was a good idea, i might be better with lockpicking, my lockpick skill of 26 cant get shit open.

As first perk i took Thief instead of Awareness, as getting 30 skill points for free is quite a lot in a dumb character, and lockpick and steal im sure ill be needing.

 

[Svankensen]

Welp, managed to kill metzger at level 4. For a dumb character im pretty crafty. Got him drunk, stole his weapons, got his guard drunk, broke into his room and looted it (his Guns and ammo came very handy, 95% hit chance at point blank with the shotgun, thats 2 shots per round, reload included, with fast shot), locked both doors (with a horrible 30% lockpick skill, had to invest on that one, with 26 i wasnt getting anything open/closed), and then proceeded to kill everyone. Metzger and his personal guard i shot from the window. Still had to spend most of my stimpacks, im down to 2. And now im kinda stuck at this skill level. I might dare to go to Vault city and use the drunk technique to steal mentats from Lynette, but getting there might mean doom to this character, altrough i have 80% outdoorsman already. Ill probably get one more level, raise my lock pick and outdoorsman a bit, and try to loot the vault in vault city. With the motion sensor there i can cherry pick only the easiest encounters, or the ones where 2 sides fight each other, and i believe there are lock picks in gecko. Being dumb, tho, i dont know how to get the location of modoc/vault city, so ill have to metagame a bit and "wander aimlessly" in the right direction.


Managed to buy an SMG with Metzgers guns. I wonder if i should give it to Sulik, since neither I nor Vic can use it, im pretty afraid he will kill me.

 

[Svankensen]

Kudos for trying this...RL playthrough of yours.)

My lil tip. You can get quite a bit safe experience by stealing. Yes, safe stealing. Hear me out. I use it to level up the weaklings of a character.

It works best with "drunk geckos" in Arroyo. You know, grazing grounds map. I believe the respawn after some time, if you killed them. Ok, so you go there or to Klamath (can abuse the regular resident, generic ones) and stuff them geckos with beer or booze, 4-5 times, drops their perception to 0.

Hey man, your Drunk stealing technique has worked wonders with my Dumb hardcore character. I just pump reasonable characters (those who would have a drink or 2 with me, like the chemist from Broken Hills after i freed his friends) get them drunk, and rob them blind. Broken Hills bartender sells you beers, that dont weight annything, at 4 each, so im stockpiling them for important thefts. I got Metzgfers guards drunk too, and stole his guns and ammo magazine. Havent tried getting them drunk before fighting people, but since that lowers perception, theres a good chance it will make their aim go to hell. So, yeah, might be a bit of an expliot, but it works!

 

[Drobovik]

It's actually a fair exploit, since that's what happens in real life. You get wasted and its easy for thugs to rob you. So it goes along with the turf.

 

[Svankensen]

Welp, im doing pretty good on my dumb run, i managed to steal a lot of stuff from busters and now im in San Francisco. I managed to sneak into Navarro, but when i presented myself to the drill sergeant he identified me as a civilian. How do i get into Navarro as a dumb character? Noone bothered me until i talked with the sergeant, but that gave me the feeling i was doing something wrong. I didnt bother to talk with anyone else before going to the sergeant, and im pretty sure i wouldnt survive turning Navarro hostile. So, any advice?

 

[JimTheDinosaur]

It's actually a fair exploit, since that's what happens in real life. You get wasted and its easy for thugs to rob you. So it goes along with the turf.

"Fair" is being a bit charitable. The idea that Lynette would let you get her stupid drunk is a bit unlikely. For my mod I'm thinking of making it Charisma (versus the target's Intelligence) and town rep dependent whether they want to have a drink with you.

 

[Svankensen]

It's actually a fair exploit, since that's what happens in real life. You get wasted and its easy for thugs to rob you. So it goes along with the turf.

"Fair" is being a bit charitable. The idea that Lynette would let you get her stupid drunk is a bit unlikely. For my mod I'm thinking of making it Charisma (versus the target's Intelligence) and town rep dependent whether they want to have a drink with you.

Yeah, i didnt use the technique on Lynette at the end, seemed cheesy. I did get Drunk with the scientist on Broken Hills after taking his tests tho. Then i killed the radscorpion.

 

[Yamu]

My advice would be to avoid the drill sergeant entirely. Unless I was looking for some lulz before I blew up the base, I only ever ended up having to talk to him by mistake.