I need some tactical advice. I’m fighting Deathclaws, and no, not in the mine (those are dead), in the spot at the railyard. Strangely, using VATS seems to make them harder to kill, not easier (am I targetting the wrong spot?) A couple of iron sight shots at long distance seem to do more damage, but they usually frenzy and run all over, making this a big chore. I’m good with energy and bullet weapons, but neither kill a Deathclaw effectively well. I’m level 24, but I’m thinking they are effectively tied to whatever level I am. My strength is so-so, so I’m using combat armor rev 2, which is damned nice for it’s weight. I also have Veronica, but she’s not of much use if I pull more than one of them, and that’s just about every time, she tends to die fighting even 1. These things are making me crazy. Help me QT3.
Wolff
4122
Having a perk that gives you some sort of DR reduction is huge vs deathclaws and other heavily armored foes. Or using a weapon that quickly burns through their “armor”. Using VATS if you have decent skills and a weapon, target a leg of every deathclaw you are engaged with you till you hobble all of them, then take out the other leg, then take your time with them.
I think I’m at 90 with energy weapons and about 80 with guns, I switched late in the game, like an idiot. Targeting anything with VATS usually lets me hit them, but barely damage them when using Q-35 plasma rifle. I’m talking about 6-8 hits to do any significant damage to a limb or part, and I’m hitting maybe 2 of my 3 VATS hits at range. Using that weapon up close, no, using ANY weapon up close on a Deathclaw seems to be suicide. These guys are amazingly fast as well, forcing me to try to constantly find terrain cheats just to kill them, i.e. the mine.
Is there a better ammo for energy I should be using?
You can max charge or overcharge your ammo at a workbench at a cost (I think) of 2 or 3 normal charge cells per charged cell.
I think this does more damage but I didn’t actually use it all that much.
I made it almost to New Vegas (did everything on both “arms” leading there), and even went up the Deathclaw route…and then, with the farm watering mission done, I suddenly realized that I didn’t care at all about the rest of the game.
Not sure what caused that. First time I’ve been going along having fun and then just…moved on.
Deathclaws have a 15 DT. Which means that armor-piercing effects of some kind are fairly important. For energy weapons, that means using Overcharge cells, which you can make at a workbench, or Maximum Charge if you’ve taken the Efficient Recycler perk, which is generally a good idea for an energy-weapons user. Both types do more damage per shot, but more importantly they penetrate DT.
The mine is really poor terrain for fighting them, because you really want lots of open space. My preferred method, the way I took down the specials (Queen and Alpha Male), is to cripple a leg with a sniper weapon at very long range, ranges where manual aiming is much more accurate than VATS. I may then switch to a higher fire-rate weapon, depending on what I’ve got.
For an energy weapons specialist, that means using a gauss rifle for your initial shot, and then switching to something like a plasma rifle. If you’re close enough where VATS is viable, you’ve only got a couple of shots left. Usually that means you’re shooting for the head, though you could try queuing leg-then-head shots.
If you’re in constricted terrain and can set up before hand, you might want to place a bottlecap mine or plasma mine or two.
You almost certainly want a good ranged companion, like Boone. You probably want to upgrade their base weapon to something decent as well. I’ve done it with Lily, but only because I wanted her to get badly hurt so I could work through her quest. She’s tough enough that few other opponents will trigger her psychotic breaks.
You may also want to take some Psycho or Slasher, and some Med-X. Rocket and Rebound can be helpful as well if they get into VATS range.
All my comments are geared for Very Hard / Hardcore.
Perhaps take ED209 as a helpful extra decoy? That deathclaw section is pretty tough. I cam back a few times and picked off any stragglers that were on their own.
This is for hardcore mode, i should have stated that. For those not on that difficulty, hardcore mode means if you let the deathclaw close, you’re in major trouble, even a supper-stim/food/sass combo will not help much after a few swings from a frenzied foe. The comments on ammo from both you and Spoofy have me thinking this will help significantly. Weapon switching I had not thought of either, very possibly it would allow that huge hit from range and allow me to switch to something quicker as they close in. The Q-35 is an excellent overall plasma rifle, but not ideal for the extremes here.
The other things you mentioned made me take pause. I’ve neglected AP/damage/DR drugs in game a lot and that was a forehead slap moment when you mentioned it. And the companion tips … well, it’s time I found a new one. I’ve finished Veronica’s quest line and I think it’s time to wave goodbye to her. She was great when I was weaker, now, not so much.
I’m very similar with Bethesda’s games. I spend an age deciding exactly what type of character I’m going to play, jot down the plan for the first few levels. The first few hours are great. Then the realization that the rest of the game is going to be exactly the same, fed-ex’ing this and that. The invisible walls start to wear me down. The dodgy textures. The grating character movement (creatures seem to rotate on an invisible axis, very false looking).
Eventually it seems a chore to boot the game up again and trudge through it and I see another shiny game to play. This gathers dust on the shelf. Then 2-3 months later I come back, realise i have idea where i left off and start a new game. Then that lasts for another few levels and the cycle begins again…
I just had the exact same reaction. Dead Money was the most frustrating quest chain I think I’ve ever played in any game, but the writing for the NPCs in there and how they tie into people you’ve met in the main game (specifically Brother Elijah and Christine to the BoS chapter in Hidden Valley and Veronica’s backstory) was exceptionally well-done.
When I figured out the link between Christine and Veronica, I actually stood up off the couch and shouted “Holy shit, continuity! Awesome!”
New Vegas may be built on Bethesda’s engine, but it was written by Obsidian. It’s not properly a “Bethesda game,” though Fallout 3 was.
I think Fedex quests get a bad rap. Yes, they’re not fundamentally interesting in their own right. They’re just a motivation to go deal with a specific location. It’s the location itself that’s generally interesting, both in figuring out the layout and dealing with the local opposition. Through gaming history, most shooters have had far less plot than a Fedex quest, so by that standard a Fedex quest is a step up.
I’m playing through New Vegas again for maybe the fourth time, building up a character who will find the expansions I purchased suitable. I can’t say it’s been dull, even though I know what to expect. The tactical situations just never play out precisely the same way.
The respawning enemies actually get a little bit old, too. At some point it’s “yes, I’d like to go to X-8 without the same massive spawns in the same locations”. I’m enjoying the DLC quite a bit but I’m getting a little tired of the constant ammo sink interference going between here and there.
Sarkus
4133
I never had any ammo issues, though I did get down to about 150 rounds for my mainstay riot shotgun. But in general the DLC is not standard gun friendly since it only offers you limited ammo unless you are using a gun that uses .357 or .44, which forces you to use the FIDO gun. On the other hand there are boatloads of ammo and weapons if you are a melee or energy weapons user.
Edit: I did notice that even after completing the DLC those same three lobotomites hanging out at the sat dish are still there. I guess some things never change . . . ;-)
Wolff
4134
Hmmm did a reinstall to check out latest DLC. Stuttering seems worse, from fallout Nexus it appears the Stutter Remover isn’t being updated anymore. Anyone using it or something different?
I know it’s not a true Bethesda game but I’m trying to group Oblivion + the Fallout titles, more by the engine than the team behind each game.
I wouldn’t consider Fallout a shooter so to compare it to FPS games with less plot isn’t quite fair. It’s an RPG if anything.
Agree with you on the variation on each playthrough though, different every time.
No stuttering for me (anymore) I forgot what I did to solve that, I think I rolled back my video driver. I have an issue with the neverending loading screen about 1 out of every 10-15 fast travels. It seems to happen more for certain locations though.
flyinj
4137
I’m getting back into the game again, ny save was right when I got into the new Vegas strip. How does the DLC integrate this time? Is it post-endgame content, or is it integrated with the main game? Or is it a mix?
Wondering which ones I should buy for the point I am currently at. Any suggestions?
Arbit
4138
Yeah, it’s pretty stupid. It’s apparently A-OK to wander into a Caesar’s Legion camp and blast everyone to pieces and loot their corpses, but raiding their footlockers? Not OK. The karma system should be based on who you’re allied or enemies with. If I’m allied or neutral with the legion then stealing from them would not be OK. If we’re enemies, it should be acceptable to “liberate” their items.
Does anyone know how the nitty gritty works? Do you lose karma per item or according to each items’ value? It would be really stupid to lose to more karma taking three brahmin steaks than I would taking one high value item.
They made a lot of interesting choices like that, Karma wise.
That said, I have robbed literally everything I wanted to see the beginning of the game with two separate characters (who pride themselves on being able to get into anything)…and it has had no effect at all. I am the Savior!
I’ve been wondering the same thing, flyingj. Finish the story, or get the DLC now?
