Quick question that I could probably look up, but I’m trying to avoid spoilers (i.e. information): is Far Harbor high-level content? The DLC for New Vegas always warned you that you should be a certain level. Is that how Far Harbor works?
-Tom
Survival tip 7: (I think 7): (and I’ll answer Tom’s question as well as far as I can).
The number one killer in survival mode as a vanilla character are traps, mines, and explosives. I don’t know who at Bethesda is such sado-masochistic bastard, but land mines and explosive traps are EVERYWHERE. Almost ALL raider lairs, secret places, etc --but that’s not all --there are explosive traps on the road, in the alleys, in the fields, and around campfires. And everywhere else. Look: you can be a sharp eagle-eyed veteran of all Fallouts but you WILL die from these explosives. In survival one explosion is often enough to kill.
So you are super Fallout veteran – you start looking for the old perk “Light Step” --now this was a great perk. You could run allover mines and traps and not get blown up! Where is that?
It is there – it is just not as easy to see – you see: Look at level 2 and level 3 of stealthy under at least 3 agility: there they are! Stealthy one looks common (“ho hum a bit more stealth ill pass”) (no you wont pass --you will die, in disfiguring ways and often).
Most essential perk in survival mode Fallout 4: Stealthy up to 3. It is almost required. With that perk filled with 3 levels you can dance on land mines --it is NOT just when you are crouched and sneaking – it is anytime. Sneak smeak even you bad boys in power armour need this perk.
Be careful traps and mines can still go off sometimes, but rarely.
Next tip: why vats, moving, and listening are so important.
ps --Tom what I can gather is far harbor is for high-level end game. Survival done right takes time --so I haven’t popped in there. But its high level probably plus level 35 or so at least. Though I will be a lot higher probably with high intel and me still running around the outback with militia quests and “sweeps and clears”.
The Far Harbor quest opens up after you free a certain detective, which I suspect would usually be around level 20, give or take a few levels. So there’s that.
Squee
4060
Does any of that make the lighting in Fallout 4 better? That was the absolute worst part to me. Almost the entire game (Apart from some exterior bits) seemed to have really flat lighting coming from everywhere. Drives me crazy every time I play.
Edit: Rooted around in there and found this. Looks like it might still be a bit washed out but it may help. Might give that a whirl.
I haven’t the foggiest about graphics. Sweet mercy there’s enough going on in survival mode then to worry about enb. Like staying alive.
About four hours in on Far Harbor. I really like the first town you start in. Some of the new loot is cool.
It’s pretty much more of the same, which is fine.
I started a survival game this weekend and made it about 5 hours or so before starting over on very hard. Survival was just too punishing for my tastes. I really loved the combat difficulty, but that combined with the save only on resting meant replaying the same 20 minute sections over and over. Then add in the food-water-rest system, where if one gets out of whack you’re basically guaranteed to get a disease which can and will kill you, just made things far more of a burden than I was able to stand. Plus cutting your carry weight by about 2/3 right off the top is just evil. So I started over on Very Hard and so far I’m having a much better time. A single explosive or molotov will kill you, but with quicksave at least I’m back at the start of the room, not 5 or 10 mins back at the last place I slept. I really loved the survival mode in New Vegas, but this just went too far over the line into masochistic territory for me.
Kristi has the right of it though, you NEED chemist for making antibiotics right off as finding a doctor or a merchant who might have one is near impossible at the start. Then having the stealth to step over mines is huge, because they are EVERYWHERE and as she said, Beth was evil and placed them in places you feel would be safe.
Also concerning Far Harbor, this has some of the same issues the main game has in terms of trying to make me care about a faction that no right-thinking person would give a shit about. The Children of the Atom are so dumb and annoying that there’s really no impact to the conundrum the DLC is trying to set up.
PSA to PS4/Xbox One players: Far Harbor has terrain blanketed in radioactive fog, swirling mist, and heavier use of lighting effects. This means framerates will tank in some areas.
I am thinking something new – maybe a new start and a fresh thought: “The Avenging Mom” spec. No settlements. No gun nut. No crafting. No affiliations. NO Companions. Lone Wanderer, me and my dog. No “what Bethesda wants me to do”. This whole sweep and clear junk to use to build settlements etc gets old. The game itself is incredible for what it does. But the settlement stuff and the constant sweeps for junk is starting to drive me crazy. Esp on survival mode. Ill miss gun nut, but it is very clear I can find the mods as I go.
BTW Shellfishguy – they have a mod that brings you the old survival mode to very hard – just fyi. Yeah survival mode is hardcore.
I’m thinking of doing a LeBron james on this place --and I THINK the best way may be described above. And yes – a luck spec for crits.
More tips this week: “Why do you use vats?” etc
In a survival game, I like the idea of scavenging for junk, or harvesting, or hunting, or whatever. I even enjoyed it in Fallout 4 when it wasn’t a survival game by any stretch of the imagination. Going through an old factory looking for fans because I need, say, springs for my gun turrets. What eventually drove me crazy was that there was no meaningful gameplay system as a foundation for this activity. It was all just pointless frippery for the optional settlement stuff. So the thing I’m most looking forward to in survival mode* is that atmospheric scrounging and hunting finally having some meaningful purpose.
So I’m bit taken aback that you’re finding it tedious. Is it just too much? “Constant sweeps for junk” makes it sound dreadful. Or are you not liking it because that’s not something you like in a game? Or is it because of something specific to Fallout 4?
-Tom
- I’m this close to booting it up!
Thanks KristiGaines, I’ll have to take a look at that mod!
Bateau
4068
I started a fresh survival run last night (first time with the new version) and let me tell you, I wished I had outposts everywhere, lol. And when I found some irradiated radstags (?) I was jumping up and down in my chair with joy - leather, baby! I killed a few and immediately upgraded some of my leather pads to shadowleather.
The whole no-save experience is just fantastic, it can be frustrating, sure, but it makes you use everything at your disposal instead of just relying on F5/F9 and bumrushing the enemies. I am kinda thinking of starting over though, I can see the Local Leader being very useful - so useful in fact that I might just mod it in because fuck investing 6 charisma just to get it. I’ve started a stealth melee build, high agi, high int, I’ll likely grab some Luck points and related perks later on and I’ll probably also invest into science and other perks to support Power Armor modding. I think it will come in very handy in some sections.
Question for Kristi - does investing points into Chemist automatically unlock extra recipes at the crafting station? I tried to locate the Refreshing Beverage one but couldn’t find it anywhere.
Survival is great until you decide to clean up Boston around Dimond City. There are so many cheap deaths around every corner.
Hangman’s Alley is the most important settlement in the game.
Does anyone find it odd that there’s no specific achievements for Survival Mode?
Bateau
4071
No, I’ve never really cared about achievements in Bethesda’s games. Hell, I have over 400h played in Skyrim and I’ve never even finished the game. It’s all about the adventure for me in these games.
Perhaps, as in real life, the conundrum is trying to do the right thing, regardless as to whether you “like” everyone involved. Yeas, Some people can be real assholes, but that doesn’t mean they should die.
Isn’t that pretty much the definition of someone who should die?
It’s not survival mode if you cheat! :)
That sucks. What the hell, Bethesda? Although I recall on the Xbox, until Halo got some sort of special dispensation, Microsoft wouldn’t let developers add achievements to free DLC or patches. I wonder if that might be what’s going on with Steam? Either way, that’s lame to add a new mode without any achievement incentive.
Come to think of it, I don’t think Far Cry Primal’s survival mode had achievements. I don’t even think it had achievements for Ubisoft’s dopey Uplay points, or whatever they’re called. Ubipoints.
-Tom
The most expedient solution in Fallout 4 is killing. Only rarely do you talk things out. This is a game with 50 zillion gun parts, unlimited ammo, and a handful of conversation trees in the critical path.
Far Harbor does have more solutions offered that involve talking (and there is a way to broker peace with all three main factions) but it’s very obvious that one faction is a bunch of idiot assholes that worship radiation, whereas the other two factions have the opportunity to be productive.
Steam cares not one bit what developers do with achievements I believe.
