I traded in some holiday gift certificates the other day for a copy on the PS3 (the xbox version was sold out) and my PS3 has decided that now is the perfect time to breakdown, just when I’m in the honeymoon stage with this game. grumble
I’m only a level 5, but my biggest accomplishment so far has been taking out one of two super mutants up in a (very far away) causeway with just a hunting rifle while the other was firing rpgs at me. I had gotten him down to half health when I think I must’ve hit one of the rpgs that his buddy was shooting right as it came out of his gun. There was an explosion and the dead one fell down down down. I either died before I could get to the body to loot it, or the game froze. I can’t remember, but I was pleased with myself for about 30 seconds there.
I have no idea how long it will take for me to get a functional PS3 back, but I’m looking forward to picking up where I left off.
As far as the Hunting Rifle goes, I was rather fond of it myself (got my Small Guns skill up super high, and that thing seemed to do rather well for me until the Enclave troopers turned up).
If all else fails, you can use them for spare parts for the Lincoln Repeater.
It’s a shame that I didn’t figure out I could repair my own stuff until I was about to finish the game. :smack:
On my second playthrough, I’m using an evil female character, primarily utilizing a melee fighting approach (though I have to use some guns for the turrets and some of the enemies that are hard to get to on upper levels of buildings). I got the Deathclaw gauntlet; that thing is sweet! It bypasses damage resistance entirely, so I can take out Mirelurks in maybe three or four swings. Of course, the tradeoff is that you expose yourself to a lot of potential damage from enemies with ranged weapons while you try to close the gap…which means it’s important to be patient and let companions draw some fire while you circle around for the attack. Tactics!
I know it is early in the game for me, but the hunting rifle is my favorite weapon so far, only surpassed by the Firebrand, but the fuel cells for it seem to be few and far between.
I definitely liked the hunting rifle early on. With high small guns skills it works fairly well, though it’s not a long range weapon like it was in earlier versions of the game. I didn’t know you could use it to repair the Lincoln repeater though. :smack:
I like the Victory Rifle a whole lot (I do a lot of sniping by eyeball, as it seems to work better than VATS at very long range). The plasma rifles are right on as well, and the Blackhawk is swell.
To say nothing of the little blaster, which I swear makes the sound effect that the blasters do near the end ot the Rocky Horror Picture Show.)
Especially when you take into account that it has no sights (iron or telescopic), is literally held together with fencing wire and duct tape, and fires the incredibly anaemic .32 S&W Long cartridge- which isn’t a rifle cartridge anyway.
Once your Small Guns skill gets high enough, it’s actually quite effective, I’ve found.
I’m on my first playthrough at level 10, and have gone seriously sniper/thief route. For level 10, I have about 75 in lockpick, 65+ in small guns, and 65+ in sneak. Pretty sure that’s pre-enhancement (don’t have game up right now).
So, I’m finding the two sniper guns (rifle and .44) both pretty good. I keep them repaired constantly. Also love them for the zoom.
However, it does seem that for whatever reason, the newer enemies I’m coming across I tend to miss more often.
Sniper/thief fits my personal play style really well too, although it will take FOREVER to finish this game. I wander and look at everything and do most of my inside buildings and half my outside travel by creeping along in sneak mode.
Which is leading to the question - will I be able to functionally finish this game ok as a sniper/thief? Or will I get enough points/perks at the end that it won’t really matter as I can dump points into Big Guns/Energy/Science, etc as needed?
With the unique longarms, you can get through the endgame just fine. Fallout 3 is actually pretty forgiving about limiting the number of mandatory serious combat encounters in the endgame.
From what I understand, you can actually get through all of Fallout 3 while killing a fair minimum of people (some Supermutants, and one of the main villains). Everyone else you can let live. It just gets a bit more difficult that way.
Yeah, I downloaded it last night. I hadn’t checked much on Nexus since I got back to the states from my last trip but found it yesterday after I posted that. It’s not bad, though the gun looks exactly like the Sniper Rifle…just has a name plate that says “.50 Cal Sniper Rifle” on the side. And of course takes .50 Cal ammo (which you can now find occasionally laying about). Not sure if you can fix it with the older Sniper Rifles yet (you find the first one in a box), but I think you probably can. Which is good since I have several in my house in various states of repair.
Hmm, with a high sneak, speech and science skills, making medicine and repair - (for armour) a priority too, along with a shedload of StealthBoys you could probably get away with not killing anyone at all.
[spoiler]Aside from yourself or Sarah, of course. Colonel Autumn can be talked into submission at the end. Only problem is Vault 87, where you have to kill in order to get out of there - although they’re not technically dead if you do it the evil way. Getting a follower early on (Charon/Sergeant RL-3) would help a great deal.
A quick run through the MQ to see if killing is necessary…
Escape - Just run past the guards straight to the overseer’s terminal, hack it, and get out of dodge.
Skip to Rivet City and talk to Doctor Li, skipping Moriarty and Three Dog - You’d have to hot foot it across the wastes, but should be able to dodge any raiders (or lure them to the Citadel for the BoS to take care of).
Head to Project Purity, cap the uglies (they don’t count as people, right?), get the holotapes and head to Vault 112.
Once at Vault 112, you’ll have to do it the evil way. Activating the failsafe kills off the residents for real, leaving Braun trapped alone, whilst doing his bidding allows him to endlessly resurrect the poor sods.
Fast travel back to Rivet City, then back to Project Purity, clear the rest of the uglies out.
Tricky bit next; I’m fairly sure Li is essential, so it’ll be a matter of hauling out of there, with the rest of the scientific team and any other followers being cannon fodder.
Speech your way into Little Lamplight, through Vault 87, rescue Fawkes (who’ll be useful later) and get captured by the Enclave.
Stealth your way to the President. Raven Rock will be quite easy if you talk Eden to death (he’s a computer - he doesn’t count) - his robots will distract the soldiers while you get out of dodge.
Fast travel back to the Citadel, then let Liberty Prime, Sarah and Fawkes do all your killing. Talk Autumn into sodding off (he takes the two Enclave troops with him).
[/spoiler]
I have discovered an antidote to giant radscorps - Vengeance (the unique gatling laser). Does chew through the ammo a bit, though, and kinda sucks in VATS mode, but very nice for those “Oh shit!” moments.
Best Buy exchanged my PS3 for a new one, and we ended up with a “free” (minus the cost of the 2 year service plan) upgrade since they don’t make the 40 gig model anymore.
About the music…
Earworms from HELL. But I somehow don’t get tired of the ones playing on GNR over and over again. I swear to god the man singing in the Bongo, Bongo, Bongo song sings “I’ll stay right here” with an affected voice that sounds exactly like the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz (1939).
My gutter mind misheard I’m in love with a wonderful guy and I will, I fear, be found singing “I’m as horny as Kansas in Autum…” while doing dishes or folding clothes, for the rest of my life.
Yeah, the GNR playlist has burrowed into my brain by this point. My three favorite songs are Civilization (the aforementioned “bongo bongo bongo song”), Let’s Go Sunnin’ and Butcher Pete.
Yeah, Civilization and the “wonderful guy” song have been stuck in my head for weeks. Putting the entire soundtrack on my mp3 player hasn’t helped, mind.
Regarding radscorpions (and robots), the best weapon I’ve found is the trusty grenade (frag for the former, pulse for the latter). Find a nice spot where you’ve a decent hit % chance in VATS, and keep lobbing until it’s raining pieces. It does kind of rely on you not getting ambushed, though.
By the way, Martigen put up the first beta of his Diverse Creatures mod. He has size- and stat-scaling implemented, so you’ll come across weaker and tougher (and taller and shorter) versions of creatures. He has a few new skinned versions of creatures ready, too, including some passive and semi-passive animals.
