Bartering in FO2

[Spiffy McBang]

I just beat FO1, in which I became a maniac shopper destroying all the stores I came across until I had more stuff than I could ever dream of using. Needless to say, FO2 has put somewhat of a damper on that. I have to say, though, that I'm kind of stunned by just how large the price gap is between myself and traders despite having a 110% barter score (since I could trade away one stimpack and get two with 90+% in FO1).

Now I'm wondering just how useful it is to push barter. I'm asking now because I just got to level 6. I can boost barter a lot- 20% perk plus 16 skill points- but to use a perk on that and spend the points when the cost is doubled would require barter to turn out pretty damn good at very high levels. How high do people tend to go with it in FO2? And am I just going to have to deal with highly unbalanced trades in the other direction?

 

[alec]

AFAIK it's not useful at all to put points in Barter in FO2 (unless you go for, say, 150% or more). IIRC bartering is also dependent on your CH.

I rarely put points in it, unless maybe in the endgame when I'm swimming in a pool of skill points and don't know what else to do with them except for raising stupid skills like Barter, Throwing and First Aid.

 

[Kanhef]

It's not worth putting much into Barter. Money is tight early on, but once you start looting guns from your enemies, you can buy just about anything you want.

 

[QuixotesGhost]

I find barter pretty useful for when you have a character with high Charisma and are walking around with an army of NPCs. It gets expensive to keep them equipped, armored, and to make sure they have enough stims and ammo. There's a several skills that get more useful with more NPCs in your party, such as First Aid, Doctor, and Barter.

If you're playing with less than 8 CHA, however, it probably isn't worth it to raise too high.

Also the trader's reaction to you plays a big role, that one woman trader in Klamath lowers her prices a ton once you've rescued Smiley for her.

 

[Kuj2]

And I always thought you were rescuing Smiley for Ardin and it was her daughter Maida who did the bartering there

Also, this is not reaction. Reaction, which doesn't work (at least in official versions), is the combination of your karma, reputations, some perks like Presence and other stuff. Like I said, it doesn't work, so the only thing that actually can net you lower prices is doing favors for shopkeepers, and there aren't many occasions to do that - if any at all. Barter definitely sucks, you'd have to pump it very high at the very beginning to make any difference for the times you are tight on money, and you can't do that because 1) You haven't tagged Barter (or you did? Hmmm) and 2) Even if you did tag it, you simply don't have enough skill points.

@QuixotesGhost: The moment you start walking around with an army of NPCs (and actually putting up fights which can damage them seriously) is probably long after you start getting a lot of guns from killing the bad guys and random encounters. For example, you can loot a lot in vicinity of Vault City, raiders encounters and stuff, and by that time how many NPCs could you have? Two, Sulik and Vic. Maybe Miria/Davin and Laddie, but Miria/Davin suck so hard that the black hole couldn't escape them, so you don't want to be giving guns to them, and Laddie doesn't wear armour, use weapons, anything. That's 2 NPCs, hardly an army. You'll get Cassidy in Vault City, but like I said, by that time you'll also encounter raiders with lotsa expensive shotguns. Lotsa lotsa expensive shotguns. Barter seems pointless here, and besides, Charisma influences the prices as well - and you have it high, like you said

And yeah, I am using info from Per's guide. Having translated those 280 pages of stuff I did remember something, after all

 

[Pipboy2000]

This thread makes me sad. I never put skills in barter, I usually tag melee and use the sharpened spear til I got through Klamath, read all the guns and bullets. When I arrived at the Den I had gotten so much stuff from Klamath, I got new items at the Den. By the time I did the Laura/church quest and raided the bodies, I had so much stuff I never had a problem bartering.

 

[Kuj2]

So why does this thread make you sad, you have another occasion for enlightening a poor Barter-imprisoned soul, don't you? That's what I'm talking about. Sooner or later, and rather sooner than later, you'll no longer have problems with cash. I think Fallout 2 is a little unbalanced here, but how about bringing Ian to the Khans' camp in Fallout 1 and getting him to carry all these leather amours, pistols, Desert Eagles, spears, throwing knives and you name it after you kill the whole bunch. I usually only have money problems when I want to buy the combat armour from Jack.