I've been thumbing through the "Official Fallout 2 Strategies & Secrets", and there are a few things I thought people would like to know, in regards to fixes, mods, plain stupidity and whatnot. As the book was released before the game was, take these things with a grain of salt.
The interesting things:
# Floaters are vulnerable to fire and energy damage.
# Wanamingos are very resistant to laser weapons, but vulnerable to fire weapons.
# The game does not tell you how armours protect against electrical damage, but the guide does. Generally, it is the damage most armours have the highest protection against, but Metal Armours give little to no protection against electrical damage. Tesla Armour, however, gives the greatest electrical protection, even more than Advanced Power Armour. Sadly, there are no stats given for the Robes, Combat Leather Jacket and the Advanced Power Armour Mk II.
# Cheezy Poofs are supposed to heal you for 5-10 hit points, and have an addiction level of 25% per box, which lowers your IN by 2 and your PE by 1 for 2 days.
# Tragic The Garnering has an addiction rate of 25% per game played, and lowers your IN by 1 and your PE and LU by 2 for a whole week!
# Red Jimmy Hats are supposed to improve the user's "performance".
# Apparentely, you are supposed to be able to enter the bottom of the Gecko Reactor Pit (also known as the lair of The Brain). For this you need to fix the crane first, so you can use it to lower a cable into the pit.
# The Mutagenic Serum is supposed to be poured into the town well in Broken Hills to kill all the mutants at once. Ouch.
# The tunnels beneath Broken Hills are supposed to have lots of traps and contain the supply room for the anti-mutant resistance.
# Chad's skimming quest is mentioned in the book, but only briefly.
# The book suggests wearing a leather outfit when entering the Golden Globes studio - to make a good impression, it says.
# You can persuade Old Man McGee to let you try using his slot machine, which will give you a load of cash. Won't make the geezer very happy though.
# If you tell Orville Wright who really are behind the murder of his son, he wants you to kill them.
# If you have Bishop's quest to kill Carlson, Merk in NCR can help you to get into his complex.
# A few characters in the game are supposed to recognize your status as a Ranger. None of them are named, though.
# The book has an interesting way to kill Carlson. His son keeps running around, but periodically runs back to Carlson. If you can time it just right, a well-planted explosive on the boy will complete your quest.
# Melchior the Magnificent summons his pets by throwing rats into the F.E.V. pool around him. That's one hell of a magic trick.
# In Navarro, when assigned to stand guard by the Drill Sergeant, the shift only lasts for six hours. The Drill Sergeant will check on you every two hours, so don't go far!
The odd/incorrect things:
# Apparentely, Karma bestows additional bonuses upon your character. High positive Karma gives you a bonus to your Armour Class, while a high negative Karma gives you more hit points. Also, high Karma of either kind gives increases the damage you do with each attack.
# The Shiv is supposed to be undetectable, but I guess everybody knows that already.
# The Stealth Boy is listed as an item, but is not found anywhere in the game.
# The Gauss Rifle and the YK42B Pulse Rifle have Burst fire modes. Oddly enough, firing thes Gauss Rifle in burst mode costs as many AP as firing a single shot.
# Healing Powder is supposed to lower your Perception by 2 for 36 hours.
The stupid things:
# When creating characters, the book broadly defines every character as a "Combat Boy", a "Charisma Boy" or a "Stealth Boy". I would think the SPECIAL system is a bit more versatile than that. Also, playing stupid characters is not recommended...at all.
# When it comes to Traits, the traits Skilled & Gifted are strongly recommended, but the only Trait it recommends against is Fast Shot, because you lose the ability to aim your shots.
# Apparentely, using guns at night is a good idea.
