How To Build A Great Character

Norzan said:
Wait, this is an actual thing? Who thought this was a good idea? The more i learn about this game, the worse it gets.
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That's the main complaint of the Swampfolk, they have a 25 DR or something attack?
 
Danuis said:
That's the main complaint of the Swampfolk, they have a 25 DR or something attack?
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From my reserch, only Mirelurk Kings and Swamplurk Queens that seem to have the ability to do this. And it's their sonic blast that completey ignore damage resistance.

New Vegas has a variant called Lakelurk which is the same basically. Their sonic blast ignore Damage Threshold, which is stupid. They seem to deal 50 damage in both games.
 
I tried my hand at making a character that focused on dealing as much damage as possible without relying on critical hits. However, I found that this type of character isn't very effective. When I got my hands on a minigun and lots of ammo from using the ammo press in the Pitt, it took a lot of ammo to bring down super mutant brutes and masters. And even when wearing Talon Company Combat Armor and an endurance of 9, he still took a lot of damage.

Maybe it would still work in New Vegas.
 
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Sorry for going off-topic here, but I need to clarify this.
Norzan said:
From my reserch, only Mirelurk Kings and Swamplurk Queens that seem to have the ability to do this. And it's their sonic blast that completey ignore damage resistance.

New Vegas has a variant called Lakelurk which is the same basically. Their sonic blast ignore Damage Threshold, which is stupid. They seem to deal 50 damage in both games.
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In Fallout 3 there are a few weapons that have an "enchantment" that deals extra (on top of the normal damage) unavoidable (DT and DR does not work against this damage) damage when used against the PC.
The Tri-beam Rifle from the Broken Steel DLC deals an unavoidable 40 points of damage per beam (so 120 unavoidable damage if all three beams hit) against the PC.
Point Lookout DLC has a lot of weapons that when used against the PC deal an unavoidable 35 points of damage:
  • Double-Barrel Shotgun (35 damage per pellet, which means it can deal a whooping 315 extra unavoidable damage if all pellets hit)
  • Shovel
  • Axe
  • Lever-Action Rifle
  • Ritual Knife
And Non-Playble weapons (they are weapon versions that only the enemies can use against the player, when enemies die they "drop" a playable version for the player to loot) that the Swampfolk and Tribals in Point Lookout use:
  • Knife
  • Combat Knife
  • Tire Iron
  • Lead Pipe
  • Hunting Rifle
  • Baseball Bat
  • BB Gun
The ignore DT/DR is a different effect that makes the damage those creatures/weapons deal bypass all armor values. It is still not as bad as the unavoidable damage, because unavoidable damage will always deal this amount of damage on top of normal weapon damage and in the case of Tri-Beam rifle and Double-Barrel Shotgun will deal this damage several times over. While ignore DT/DR will always deal just the normal weapon damage.
 
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I've been reading on certain sites that you should either focus on either small guns or energy weapons, but not both. Yet I know from experience that there are times when the game forces you to use small guns. For example, the Pitt, Operation Anchorage, and Point Lookout. The only DLC in which you can find an abundance of energy weapons is Mothership Zeta. So maybe it would be better to use both. And maybe I'll be able to use powerful big guns such as Vengeance against the most powerful enemies late game such as overlords, behemoths, reaver, and enclave troopers. I can unarmed and melee to save ammo, and use paralyzing palm to make the tougher fights easier.

When I tried making a big guns build (which clearly did not work for me), I dumped my luck and had difficulty setting my S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats perfectly so that I did not feel like I had wasted any stat points. I may have the same trouble in New Vegas when I make High Damage builds that do not rely on critical hits.

This is what I did for the Big Guns Build:

S-7
P-6
E-9
C-1
I-9
A-7
L-1

At the start I tagged Small Guns, Big Guns, and Melee Weapons. I didn't bother getting Better Criticals, Finesse, or even investing into sneak. I planned to use power armor and use it until I got Almost Perfect, then switching to Lag-Bolt's Combat Armor.

But obviously, a character that specializes primarily in Big Guns late game doesn't really work. According to the tvtropes website entry for Fallout 3, Big Guns fall under Awesome but Impractical. So I'm guessing that it would only be useful as a secondary combat skill.
 
How quickly should I go through the main quest and finish it by what level? When should I tackle the DLC's? In what order?
 
Perfect Fallout 3 build

Eject Fallout 3 disc
Under new Vegas disc
...
Profit
 
I just recently beat the main questline Fallout 3 with a sharpshooter. He's already at level 24 and I will continue to do side quests until he reaches level 30. He uses all forms of combat, unarmed, melee, small guns, energy weapons, and big guns. This allows him to to tackle any opposition without too much difficulty. So far, he's taken one rank of intense training and demolition expert, lady killer, comprehension, bloody mess, better criticals, concentrated fire, all three ranks of iron fist, paralyzing palm, sniper, grim reaper's sprint, action boy, toughness, cyborg, strong back, pyromaniac, quantum chemist, robotics expert, entomolgist, life giver, and finesse. I intend to get the remaining two ranks of demolition expert, gunslinger, commando, nerves of steel, and almost perfect. I intend to max all the important skills by level 30. He's already equipped with ranger battle armor and the matching helmet, and he's carrying a powerful arsenal.

Since this character does not rely on killing from stealth, I did not invest any points into sneak, only raising the skill through the bobblehead and skill books. And the same applies for barter and speech due to low charisma.

Once this character is complete, I'll play again, this time making a stealth character taking ninja, and replacing finesse with silent running. Once done, I'll have mastered Fallout 3. Then I'll tackle New Vegas.
 
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I just beat the main quest of Fallout 3 with my stealth build. I had a lot of fun sneaking up on my enemies and sneak critical hitting them. I did not take finesse, but instead I took silent running. Ninja also suited the build perfectly due to the sneak requirements.

With a stealth build, I took a lot less damage than I did with the sharpshooter build, thus used less stimpacks. Of course when I was forced into normal combat when sneaking failed, I didn't critical as much as with the sharpshooter due to not having max luck. I had only raised my luck up to six in order to get better criticals. Like the sharpshooter, I used all main forms of combat to tackle all opposition of different difficulty and strength. Once I got the chinese stealth armor, I had a much easier time sneaking up on enemies.

Of course, sneaking up on your enemies is more difficult if you have a companion.

Both builds are quite reliable. Now I will tackle New Vegas.
 
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