Leveling guide

[TheLastOutlaw]

Since we're calculating skill points/boosters keep in mind that there are articles of clothing that add skill points as well.

Clothes I carry with me:

Vault 101 Utility jumpsuit. +5 lockpick and +5 repair.

Button Gwinnets Wig. I can't remember the exact stats but it has (I'm at work and can't reference the game at the moment) but it does -1 perception, a boost to barter and to speaking.

Reilleys Ranger Armor: +10 small guns, +1 luck, +5 AP

The Surgeons Coat. +10 medical, + 5 science.

Naughty Nightwear. +10 speech, +1 luck.

Shady Hat. +5 sneak +1 per

Recon Armor. +5 sneak.

There's more I can't think of at the moment, but the reason I bring it up is because for a lot of these skills I don't bother advancing them past 90 or 95 because I carry an article of clothing to give me that 100 point skill when I really want it. Clothes are light (usually no more than 3 pounds unless it's armor) so you should be able to factor clothing boosts into the available skill point pool as well.

It seriously feels like cheating to be able to pull up the PiPBoy, swap my gear, repair a gun, put the armor back on, shoot up a stimpack while I'm at it and then get back to the killin'

 

[coyo7e]

That is what Bethesda said themselves, but they already said, that accuracy isn´t changed much by weaponskills. It would be really bad if the damage increase is neglegtable too.

You're half-remembering a quote you're taking out of context.

The actual explanation was that they had to nerf how much skills affected the "shot cone" at low levels, because too many players didn't like having their bullets go completely wild 90% of the time.

A higher skill will drastically improve your VATS accuracy, noticeably improve your shot cone when hipfiring or sighting, and help you deal lots more damage.


But overall, combat skills are not highly necessary if you play smart and careful. I don't think I've TAGged any of my characters' weapon skills, and even in Very Hard I have little trouble most of the time.

 

[Humpsalot]

Since we're calculating skill points/boosters keep in mind that there are articles of clothing that add skill points as well.

Clothes I carry with me:

Vault 101 Utility jumpsuit. +5 lockpick and +5 repair.

Button Gwinnets Wig. I can't remember the exact stats but it has (I'm at work and can't reference the game at the moment) but it does -1 perception, a boost to barter and to speaking.

Reilleys Ranger Armor: +10 small guns, +1 luck, +5 AP

The Surgeons Coat. +10 medical, + 5 science.

Naughty Nightwear. +10 speech, +1 luck.

Shady Hat. +5 sneak +1 per

Recon Armor. +5 sneak.

There's more I can't think of at the moment, but the reason I bring it up is because for a lot of these skills I don't bother advancing them past 90 or 95 because I carry an article of clothing to give me that 100 point skill when I really want it. Clothes are light (usually no more than 3 pounds unless it's armor) so you should be able to factor clothing boosts into the available skill point pool as well.

It seriously feels like cheating to be able to pull up the PiPBoy, swap my gear, repair a gun, put the armor back on, shoot up a stimpack while I'm at it and then get back to the killin'

I got my repair to 95 then put on the suit to get it to 100. But doesn't repair also affect the degrade of the weapon? With 100 repair does the weapon not supposed to degrade at all?

 

[Kipi]

I got my repair to 95 then put on the suit to get it to 100. But doesn't repair also affect the degrade of the weapon? With 100 repair does the weapon not supposed to degrade at all?

I think those still get degraded. Perhaps in slower rate, but they do.

 

[Kashrlyyk]

Are there skills which you need to have at 100 points in order to not miss out on anything?

Are there chests that need 100 lockpick and so on?

 

[Barbalute]

Yes, some chests and computers require 100 skill to access. I can't think of any time they hold anything vital, it's usually just a few nice trinkets, like ammo or stimpacks or something.

 

[Limbabnees]

Nice data, but did you really played the game ?

I 10 (the +1 int bobble head will go to waste, but who knows how soon you can get that one) = 10 or 11

Such a waste of a special point.
8 or 9 will do .
I preferre 9, not wear Lincoln Hat Found it in Museum Underground, Give's you + 1 INT.

Intelligence : Rivet City, in Dr Li's Lab on the table in Science Lab. Just run for it and you have it before you reach LvL 3

 

[Kashrlyyk]

Nice data, but did you really played the game ?

I 10 (the +1 int bobble head will go to waste, but who knows how soon you can get that one) = 10 or 11

Such a waste of a special point.
...

We already have two dump stats, Per and Cha. You will have enough special points. Any other dump stats??

 

[Limbabnees]

For me as sneaky sniper, Perception isnt a Dump stat. You see them much sooner with hig per.

 

[ScottXeno]

Nice data, but did you really played the game ?

I 10 (the +1 int bobble head will go to waste, but who knows how soon you can get that one) = 10 or 11

Such a waste of a special point.
...

We already have two dump stats, Per and Cha. You will have enough special points. Any other dump stats??

Assuming you mean stat you don't need, luck. Luck is fairly useless. For me Perception was actually useful, since it helps you spot enemies sooner on your compass. It's more useful than luck, anyway. My luck is at 1.

 

[Gandar]

So far the best "minmax" char I had was:

STR 5 -> 6

PER 6 -> 7

END 5 -> 6

CHA 1 -> 2

INT 9 -> 10

AGI 9 -> 10

LUK 5 -> 6

Number after the -> is after bobbleheads.

This unlocks most of the useful perks. Someone earlier posted a build with low perception. You lose out on sniper, which makes VATS even more overpowered for headshots. You may want to consider dropping one point of agi for a point of end. That will unlock solar powered at 20 which is pretty sweet.

[spoiler:dcc3124bdb]Some armor also has pure bonus to stats. Reds bandana (you can take it off her when she follows you) coupled with lucky shades gives a nice mix of +1per and luck). Power Armor trades off 2 of the best stat for 2 of the worst. Avoid it like the plague.[/spoiler:dcc3124bdb]

Tag whatever you want. With bobbleheads and books you can get everything to 60 or 70. Comprehension is therefore something I don't take. I feel like its cheating somewhat. I tagged:

Energy Weapons
Lockpick
Science

One last hint: consider pumping stealth. Its the most overpowered ability in FO3. Stealth head shots with a plasma rifle are insta death for most everything. Yay for the Oblivion engine >_<

 

[Limbabnees]

Yes, some chests and computers require 100 skill to access. I can't think of any time they hold anything vital, it's usually just a few nice trinkets, like ammo or stimpacks or something.

Well i pick a lock 100 needed and found a stupid Metal Armor & Stealthboy.

For 100 i expect something better

 

[AndreiD]

If you guys want to level fast I suggest you go to the center of DC where the Super Mutants and Talon Company are fighting, but I do suggest you bring A LOT of stimpacks, you'll get acceptable weapons from the dead and the talon company armor (combat armor) is quite good.

 

[Tarissky]

I've already got an Excel spreadsheet that shows me how to level up to get max stats. Just as long as I got the INT bobble head before hitting level 6 I would be just fine. I also used fallout.wikia.com's list of book locations, and should have barely enough skill points to cover it (2 to spare). Here's what I did:

Starting Stats:
STR 5
PER 5
END 5
CHA 5
INT 9
AGL 6
LUK 5

Tagged Skills:
Small Guns
Repair
Science

Perks:
2-Lady Killer
3-Intense Training LUK
4-Educated
5-Comprehension
6-Intense Training PER
7-Child at Heart
8-Scrounger
9-Intense Training LUK
10-Mysterious Stranger
11-Finesse
12-Strong Back
13-Sniper
14-Intense Training AGL
15-Intense Training AGL
16-Tag! Lockpick
17-Intense Training END
18-Intense Training AGL
19-Intense Training LUK
20-Explorer

Also, one of the quests gives a +1 bonus to PER or STR, and I'm allocating that to the former. My final stats end up being:

STR 6
PER 8
END 7
CHA 6
INT 10
AGL 10
LUK 9

And, once again, after finding all known books and bobble heads, all of my stats should be at 100, but who knows, maybe I'll manage to screw it up.