How often do you run away from encounters in FO2?

Makatak

Makatak

First time out of the vault
I am just asking because, between levels 1 and 6 (and probably a bit beyond) I have been making encounters with enemies so numerous that I have to run away from them about 80-90% of the time. And sometimes, I even have to load a save game and try traveling again because either me or one of my henchmen dies in the process. This is extremely stupid and frustrating and I'm wondering if it is "normal" for players to be dealing with this. I don't remember having nearly this much trouble with encounters in Fallout 1.
 
The biggest problem IMHO, is that encounter level on foot in F2 is huge, while one the same side muc lower when using car.

Tough early, easy late game.
 
well then how do I get a fuel cell controller for Smitty in the Den as quickly and easily as possible?
 
Well, best way is going from Den to Vault City.

From there, in Gecko (nearby town), you'll find controller.
After doing all important quests there, go back to Den and that's it.
 
Ok, now I'm having a very serious problem.

The encounters that i make are becoming worse. Now I officially CANNOT get to Redding, or Broken Hills, or anywhere without being ambushed by enemies with automatic weapons who kill me in the 1st 1-2 rounds.

So you know what , just FORGET IT. I'm uninstalling this game and tossing it in the garbage. What a complete waste this is. I don't understand how people can like Fallout 2 more than Fallout 1.
 
The further you get in the game, the harder the encounters become. Those Raider encounters between VC and Broken hills are extremely bad the first time you pass there. It get's even worse when they are fighting a unity patrol and you get caught in the middle. If you can't handle them, try to run away. Later you'll get better equipment so you can handle them. It would be a shame to give up on this game now but it's up to you.
 
I have played FO2 several times with and without mods, on hard difficulty and rough combat, and i have never had such troubles with random encounters, except for one or two encounters here and there (mostly against bounty hunters on lower levels when playing an evil character).

- Maybe you have too much of a non-combat character?,

- or have too low outdoorsman skill and perception? (if you have regular to good outdorsman skill and perception, it should give you the option to skip the encounter from the worldmap screen itself),

- or you are making poor combat decisions? like having a very low AP, low weapons skills for the guns you have at the moment, or not taking out the most dangerous enemies first?

- or perhaps you're traveling to places you shouldn't travel yet given your current experience and skill levels?

- or the game and/or combat difficulty is too high?

FO2 is a game of patience and strategy, that's how you should take it. Some people like FO2 more than FO1 because of the greater amount of options, quests, and ways to solve those quests, that is, it's greater scope (ironically, the same things you have complained about in some, or all, of the other topics you posted). I personally like FO2 more than FO1 in this regard, but like FO1 much more than FO2 in the atmosphere and plot department. Anyway, hope this post helps with your random encounter issues.
 
I was able to play Fallout 1 with low outdoorsman, average perception, not much combat ability (1/3 of the way through the game) and I still didn't have problems travelling between shady sands, junktown, brotherhood and hub because the encounters were a little more reasonable and I had Ian and Tycho by my side.

At low levels, The only places I really had to stay away from was the desert (mutants) and, to a lesser extent, the mountainous area leading to the Glow. Other than that, absurd encounters were quite rare.

In Fallout 2, all I"m trying to do is travel around the Den, VC, Broken Hills, New Reno, and Redding. But it gets brutal all throughout. And having Sulik and Cassidy by my side isn't enough.

Do you always buy yourself a car as quickly as possible?





I like Fallout 1 and I just completed it a 3rd time. I wish I could find Fallout 2 just as good, but right now this issue with encounters is really breaking the experience for me. I see only two options available:

1. Don't use anything to fix the insanely fast travel speed on map, and encounter hardly anything. But that feels like cheating.

2. Get that car from the Den as quickly as possible. But that puts alot of financial strain on me very early and makes the beginning of the game very inflexible.
 
Here's the perfect solution for you:

Save your game before traveling. Then, if you encounter something bad, load it. If you are traveling between two locations far one from another, then stop at the middle, save your game, and continue. That's what I do, and random encounters are never a problem for me.


I'm glad you liked the fallouts. By the way, a lot of fans prefer Fallout 1 rather than Fallout 2.
 
I like to be the champ at boxing in new reno, after you become the champ you get a +12 to +14 thresh hold on normal damage making enemies do almost no damage to you (unless they get criticals)
 
Makatak said:
Ok, now I'm having a very serious problem.

The encounters that i make are becoming worse. Now I officially CANNOT get to Redding, or Broken Hills, or anywhere without being ambushed by enemies with automatic weapons who kill me in the 1st 1-2 rounds.

So you know what , just FORGET IT. I'm uninstalling this game and tossing it in the garbage. What a complete waste this is. I don't understand how people can like Fallout 2 more than Fallout 1.
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In all the years I've been visiting this site, I've never encountered a person like you.

Is the game too difficult for you?
 
If I could make and show a 5 minute video showing me make a typical attempt to get from one city to another in Fallout 2, and getting slaughtered easily, I would.
 
Makatak said:
well then how do I get a fuel cell controller for Smitty in the Den as quickly and easily as possible?
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Go to Vault City and get a Super Tool kit by giving the lass in the Town a Wrench and a Tool and then go to Gecko and trade it for the Fuel Cell. But for your first question even later in the game I still run away from encounters. But in the beginning you'll run away a bit until you have good enough HP and Weapons but then after that straying to far can cause a bit of a problem. My tip for this is steal steal steal I had my skill at 100 or above before going to Vault City and I stole Stimpacks everytime I could. When you get to New Reno the Steal Skill Pays off big time. Especially in the Shark Club (Bishop) and Desperado (Mardino) you can come out with a lot of guns ammo and money. :twisted:
 
Makatak said:
At low levels, The only places I really had to stay away from was the desert (mutants) and, to a lesser extent, the mountainous area leading to the Glow. Other than that, absurd encounters were quite rare.

In Fallout 2, all I"m trying to do is travel around the Den, VC, Broken Hills, New Reno, and Redding. But it gets brutal all throughout. And having Sulik and Cassidy by my side isn't enough.
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At low levels (1 through 6 as you say) one should definitely avoid traveling to New Reno, Broken Hills and (possibly) Redding. Even if you just finish all the quests between Klamath and Vault City, you should be closer to level 10 than 6 (usually fixing the Gecko reactor bumps me to level 9). With some good armor and a little bit of luck, surviving the raiders between VC and Broken Hills should be bearable.

And yes, a car helps a ton. FO2 is a bit more restrictive as far as when you can travel to certain locations, but by the time you hit levels 12-15, you should be able to go anywhere short of end game areas without getting gibbed every three steps.

Edit: Didn't notice you had already filled the front pages with your arduous experiences. Congrats on finishing the game though. :)
 
the first couple times i played through i had no idea you could even get the car... but i still made it through just fine. i think your problem might be related to your character level. did you go through klamath/the den/modoc/gecko/VC and complete all of the possible quests? there are so many to be had and a lot of XP to be gained.

also, are you wearing armor? i know it costs a lot but metal armor in VC is pretty choice early on. also if you find Jonny at the Slag/abandoned farm area then his dad (the Modoc tanner) will give you some good leather armor.

if you're concerned about financial issues ingame, you should try bumping your gambling skill. there are certain games you can play and always net $ if your gambling skill is high enough. at 100 you can literally put something heavy on the 3-key and just roll away over and over for $25 bets on craps... make a sandwich, come back and have $50k

early on i almost always split long trips up into 3-4 sections. travel 25% of the way, make camp, save, travel the next 25% and so on. reload upon bad encounters. after the car this becomes unnecessary though.

all else i can think of is: if for some reason you can't go a single tile on the world map without experiencing a super death mutant-alien-fire gecko fiesta, maybe you could put the game or combat difficulty to easy? just until about level ~10 or so of course
 
The best or safest route between two points is not necessarily a straight line. I've made a modified map [1400x1500, 2.5MiB] that shows the encounter rate of each square. (red > orange > yellow > blue) One concentration of high encounter rates is directly between the Den and Modoc. Traveling south to Redding, then up to Modoc will find fewer random encounters, and the ones you do run into are less likely to be robbers or highwaymen.

Also notable are the frequent Enclave patrols around Navarro and the large 'mutant alley' centered on the EPA. The areas near civilized places tend to be relatively safe. The Den and New Reno are exceptions, but they're arguably less civilized than other cities.
 
I would suggest buying some psycho in The Den if the combat is hard. Also, are you playing with a evil karma character? If so, you may be getting slaughtered by the Bounty Hunters.

EDIT: AVOID that corridor between Den-Modoc. Its pretty much the highway of death. The straight path between New Reno and NCR is even worse, with Supermutants.
 
I feel your pain, Makatak. After completing FO1, which was brilliant in just about every aspect, I started FO2 and it made me want to punch myself in the face. After I did my thing at the Den, I decided to go straight to Vault City because it seemed like a logical idea (it's exactly what I would have done in FO1). I mean, I have to get that GECK as soon as possible for my people, right? Well, no. I kept on getting killed in the random encounters before I got even 8 squares away from the Den. So after putting the game down for a few days, I decided to head southeast and my game took on a whole new direction.

Another tip is to use the terrain that is given to you. Run to the trees for cover or use tents to your advantage. It does suck that the game puts you smack dab in the middle of a pretty large square and make you run away from up to 8 thugs who take their sweet time chasing you down (I have a dart board near my PC, so I hone my real-life throwing skills while I wait for my next turn). Even though it can be frustrating, it is fun to really feel like you are running for your life in a wasteland with a bunch of drugged up psychos hot on your tail.

It seems appropriate to bring up another random encounter issue. This one happened to me down by NCR and the two Vaults, just before I got my hands on that GECK. I would constantly encounter "remnants of Master's army" and have to watch those impossibly slow moving red laserballs destroy me time after time. I was a pretty powerful character for that stage of the game, but yet, the game put me in situations where I had zero chance of survival. I do not like to play the game saving and reloading every 30 seconds, but I had to bite the bullet and do that here.

Overall, the random encounter attributes of FO2 can, and often do, create a positive feel to the game. They are also frustrating and annoying (no I do NOT want to encounter a pack of wolves hiding in a field of spore plants). I hope you did not toss your disc, because if you can have the patience to deal with the random battles, FO2 is a fine game. It is not it the same league as FO1, but it is fun it its own regard.

I realize my post comes well over a month after the last reply, but I hope it is still relevant.
 
polar_joe said:
I feel your pain, Makatak. After completing FO1, which was brilliant in just about every aspect, I started FO2 and it made me want to punch myself in the face. After I did my thing at the Den, I decided to go straight to Vault City because it seemed like a logical idea (it's exactly what I would have done in FO1). I mean, I have to get that GECK as soon as possible for my people, right? Well, no. I kept on getting killed in the random encounters before I got even 8 squares away from the Den. So after putting the game down for a few days, I decided to head southeast and my game took on a whole new direction.

Another tip is to use the terrain that is given to you. Run to the trees for cover or use tents to your advantage. It does suck that the game puts you smack dab in the middle of a pretty large square and make you run away from up to 8 thugs who take their sweet time chasing you down (I have a dart board near my PC, so I hone my real-life throwing skills while I wait for my next turn). Even though it can be frustrating, it is fun to really feel like you are running for your life in a wasteland with a bunch of drugged up psychos hot on your tail.

It seems appropriate to bring up another random encounter issue. This one happened to me down by NCR and the two Vaults, just before I got my hands on that GECK. I would constantly encounter "remnants of Master's army" and have to watch those impossibly slow moving red laserballs destroy me time after time. I was a pretty powerful character for that stage of the game, but yet, the game put me in situations where I had zero chance of survival. I do not like to play the game saving and reloading every 30 seconds, but I had to bite the bullet and do that here.

Overall, the random encounter attributes of FO2 can, and often do, create a positive feel to the game. They are also frustrating and annoying (no I do NOT want to encounter a pack of wolves hiding in a field of spore plants). I hope you did not toss your disc, because if you can have the patience to deal with the random battles, FO2 is a fine game. It is not it the same league as FO1, but it is fun it its own regard.

I realize my post comes well over a month after the last reply, but I hope it is still relevant.
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A thing to consider is that a lot of new copies of Fallout 2 seem to be shipping with KillAp's restoration patch as some sort of default. This greatly increases the frequency and dangerousness of encounters, especially in the early game.

Even, in stock Fallout2, traveling out past the Den is not recommended until you get some experience under your foot. Highway men are mean, and unless you've got armor and a few levels of hitpoints behind you, Highway Men will kill you for attempting to go East. Between Klamath and the Den, however, there are ton of quests that could level you up and get you enough for some leather armor. Recruiting NPCs does not hurt either.
 
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