Here i will place various pieces of information (aka "hints"), which may (or may not...) be helpful to other players. All info here is first-handed: before writing here, i made all those things myself.
IMPORTANT! This thread is about:
* 1.27 version of FoT;
* Turn-Based mode (i use cooperative - old X-Com and JA fan here indeed, and sometimes it DOES matter);
* Full-squad playing;
* Normal difficulty mode (by default, if ever i will go higher - i'll surely mention that).
Numbers of articles are numbers of missions. So, "1." means "about mission 1", etc etc. And i will say whether i made mission in daylight or at night - things changes with that, sometimes significantly.
1. Brahmin woods. Daylight.
1.1. In the middle of first mission, you will see sleeping raider and two sleeping dogs. Don't shoot them from afar. Instead, crouch with all your people close enough (but not too close, not closer than about 5 meters from both dogs and raider). Place your "shotgun" character to have clear line of shot to both dogs and raider, other characters - a bit back. Turn TB on. Shot a shotgun - one for dogs, one for raider. If something remained alive (happens... =) ), - add as required from other persons. Reason to do it: that raider have shotgun shells. Can damage, and surely you would like to spend shells instead of letting someone else to spent them firing at your people.
1.2. Do not use your shotgun near hostages. Ever. They are important for the mission, - general will be pleased if everyone of them will remain alive.
1.3. In the "final" fight, it's possible to go on the roof and shoot raiders inside from above (they will shoot back, though) - there are openings in the roof. I wonder, are there any rains in after-nuclear-war world? =) Anyways, it's quite tricky, direct front assault is much more easier - few stimpacks used, at worst. Perhaps one guy on the roof with two others taking the front assault is most universal for this encounter. In any case, for me it was no problem to take out with really few stimpacks spent. Proning, ofcourse, all the time.
2. Freeport. Daylight.
2.1. In 2nd mission, it's very possible to do the job without sounding the alarm - and without or almost without sneaking! All it takes is to get your shooters in proper position and under cover, wait until patrol will go somewhere else, and then, staying low, go forward. If required, take cover there, until patrol is back. You can shoot anyone(s) without triggering the alarm, provided that no other raiders are in vicinity. It means that if you waited until there are no other raiders than your target(s) in about 1 screen in any direction (and clear "line of sight), - you can shoot your target(s), and alarm won't happen. Even more, you can shoot, for example, a shotgun laying near the wall, and if on other side of the wall there is a sleeping raider - he won't wake up! =)
Doing things in this manner will result in all "most tough" enemies within the camp being sleeping. Then it's easy to go into all these tents, and take out pairs of sleeping raiders with 1-2 shootgun shots without any danger to the character(s) and without spends of 7.62 ammo (their 7.62 ammo remain intact too ) - just turn on TB manually before doing first shotgun shot, and if someone will live first one - he/she will stay down for a second.
2.2. Destroy raider's installation for making alcoholic drinks - but only *after* you saved hostages (both). Blowing that thing out gives 200 exp and worth about 2 7.62 shots spent. General will be pleased, too.
3. Rock Hills. Daylight.
3.1. Scientist Dyson have a science book, it's possible to steal and read it. He doesn't trade at all, and general will not be pleased if player will kill that person - he's important for the mission.
3.2. If you have some picklocker in team - do not go frontal assault. Instead, go right corner of the map, then move forward, kill the patrol quickly, kill the guy wondering near wall with alarm (and don't let him to touch it), move forward to kill 2 sleeping raiders, then few more further ahead. You will see some junk piles near the wall of their fortress in the end. Well, if you prone, then all your team can go in - there is a low-height hole in the wall, invisible for a player as long as characters are on their feet. Now you're inside, near the mines. Kill 1 raider, move to the building carefully, and then 3 more raiders, more careful movements between the mines to reach the gates. Then, unlock the door near the gates (good pickloking helps here, i had over 100 with 2 picklock kits), and here we are - already near the "last" raider's leader. Note: before flipping the switch for the gates, if your men were really near the gates, then gates can remain closed - since your characters block it. In this case, move your men, and flip the switch again.
From this point, simply clear the base, starting from this place, and then going "backwards" to the main entrance. You even can snipe down all the raiders outside the fortress, - near gas tanks. I mean, not going out of the fortres: climb up onto the wall for this, ofcourse. Avoid blowing gas tanks: general will be pleased if they will stay intact, and you get no exp bonus for blowing them out.
In the middle of the fortress, you'll find almost a dozen of raiders in one building. Sudden attack with a shotgun and/or grenades is fun: i was able to kill 5 raiders with 2 shotgun shots in very start of the fight, just use "back" door for this, and use most tough of your characters (healthy one) to make first appearance in prone position: they will fire some bullets first.
4. Macomb, namely. Daylight.
4.1. In the middle of the map, there is a guy with rocket laucher. There are various ways to kill him, but this one will also save every one of his rockets - and can be done with *any* squad of moderate-to-good shooters. The trick is that you can safely roam - even without sneak, - any ground "before" the gates, he won't launch his rocket - you see him, most likely, he sees you, but, heh, it seems he have anorder not to shoot anything before the gates - or whatever else. So, open the gates, crouch for extra +5% to small guns, and get all your shooters 1-2 step "before" the gate's line. They will have solid percentages to hit the "rocket guy", using hunting rifles. I hope at least 4 of your men are 100%+ with small guns, and have not-so-bad perception - then you got enough firepower for sure. So, select all prepared shoters, do NOT turn TB mode on - instead, fire at him with all selected men (3 required, 4 recommended) at once. TB mode will turn on. If you're lucky, he's dead already. If not - just shoot once again with all selected people, quickly. This will surely kill him; in my game, half of second volley killed him, - and two more shots went to his neighbour with AK-47. This "next" one is no-big-problem, anyways, especially if you will move your tank a bit ahead-and-side of your shooters (after they dealt with rocket guy) and prone with him - before finishing the turn.
4.2. It's possible not to kill at least some of these angry civilians. Just avoid them when possible. Even more, i choose not to kill them: loot is not any much worthy, mission description states that it's food and medicine shortages, exp reward is barely worth any ammo spent (5 experience per a kill). If you play charismatic character, like me, - perhaps you will want to spare as many civilians as you can. Even while it's not a roleplaying game. Your choice, though: Requiem says that they can be killed without any negative effects. For me, though, things will remain the same: i'll let them live, when possible. That civilian before fourth gates, as well as 4 others on the roof, can be saved if desired too: big building, which is left of the fourth gates, and "previous" building near it - have very narrow z-like passage between them. Even male character in leather MKII armor fits in that passage well, though. This way you can go past fourth gates by feet, kill raiders there, clear the mines. To flip the switch for fourth gates, use sneaky characters. There are 6 raiders inside, 2 groups of 3. Nothing too tough, 2-3 good shooters is more than enough for clearing inside. Then go up, push the switch, and go out in same carefull manner. When everything prepared, get all men into the Hammer, and speed ahead through the gates and into the deadend beyond. I can't say whether it will work while civilian before the gates is alive - he attacked me, so i shot him down (he followed my men back to the second gates. I tried...). But guys on the roof *will not* attack, if you pass them in a Hammer, - at least, if you will do it fast. I made it without any problem.
4.3. You can avoid some cross-fire from the roofs, if you will take left turn after very first gates. And i mean *just* after first gates, - not the big one further ahead. This turn is hard or even impossible to notice, in fact, there is just little space between two buildings - but more than enough for your men. There is break in the wall of the building you need to go into, and 3 raiders are in there. Not too dangerous, tho. And some Dinamyte in a freezer.
4.4. If you made Preoria before Macomb, and got all the books about traps read by main character there and before, - then barter for one more book with Librarian as soon as you will see him. And read it right away. Mines will be after next gates, and with 60+ skill, you can try to disarm them, if you want. If not, then you better not spend any ammo, but drive over mines with Hammer, taking 1 or 2 hits at a time. After Hammer's "health" will go below 100, get your best repairman out, apply some repair work, then repeat the process. This way you save some ammo for experience-worthy targets (it's also possible to blow up the mines with gunfire - Ctrl-rightclick on any mine... And be out of range ).
5. Preoria - daylight.
5.1. Corpses in top grounds, as well as two corpses "back" from starting point, contain quite valuable and sometimes rare loot - including really not-so-bad at this point of the game pistol for 9mm ammo, with 3AP single shot and moderate damage. Load armor-pierciong rounds into it, and give it to any fast-shot character in your party (if any), - then you'll get 2AP back-up weapon. Be sure to loot.
5.2. Do not trade with chieftain. He tends to get your wares giving nothing in exchange. Shaman, on contrary, trades "honestly".
5.3. Some people in the village got some Voodoo. If you're about stealing, - it's your day. Sadly, no books, though.
5.4. Speaking of books - you'll find some underground. Be sure to check every single thing - tables, lockers, and such.
5.5. There are two "trapped" containers in underground part of the mission. I was able to disarm both - without single failure (i,e, without being too unlucky to set off the trap), with nearly 4-5 attempts for each. My traps skill was 50%, including bonus to the skill from Leader's +1 agility - so, if you got a Leader in a squad, be sure to get him near. Second trapped container have traps-book inside, first one have leather armor mark-II, so it's definitely worth to try and disarm the traps.
5.6. In the latest part of the mission, you will see few areas with green light. It seems that these are radiated. I intentionally spent as little time in these areas as possible, and managed to get back to the surface without any single one "radiated" character. All that with only 1 Rad-X consumed by main character beforehandedly (due to his low endurace = 2). Tip for the last fight: that big room have some "non-green" space in upper part. Move here with your squad, and fire with all you have. Worked for me.
5.7. Turrets.
Well, in fact, they are very easy with proper approach. At least, in normal difficulty mode. What i've done:
* Bought two energy knives in BoS bunker, and every energy cell for those i could see in trade. Two characters with about 105 melee weapons skill deal serious damage to any turret each turn.
* Had 3 pump shotguns, about 100 usual 12 gauge ammo, and bought 80 "green" ammo for shotguns as well. Any character in point-blank range and about 100+ in small guns deal good damage to a turret as well.
* Had Kevin in squad, and he got Leader perk. Most important for turrets due to +10 AC feature! Turrets have rather low chance to hit even in point-blank range. So, i figured out that Robin, being closer to the turret than anyone else, under Kevin's Leader, and kneeling, - have too high AC to be hit by a turret! His AC is 42 (i gave him Mark II leather armor, as he's my melee boy before level 9), and turrets really can't hit him with any better than 5% probability (most likely, even far less).
* Learnt how to place shotgun guys to 1) be at almost point-blank range, 2) but not too close to draw fire from your "tank" (Robin in my case), and 3) do not shoot each other or "tank" character while firing at the turret. Basically, if your tank is, say, very close to the turret being at north side of it, - then, for example, place 3 shotgun guys 0.5 tiles from turret, being at east (or west) side of it, together, staying in tight "shooting" line. Second "knife" guy can join the tank, usually.
* Approach turrets running, with your high-AC character(s) being closer to the turret(s) all the time.
* Do, when possible, aimed strikes with knives, and aim with AK-47 of 6th character as well; target - lenses. It seems that sometimes this disables the turret for several turns.
5.8. Three turrets outside. Well, these deal nearly twice the damage, but still same "blind". My AC42 character - Robin, - never took a hit, even with the fact that he was under fire of two turrets while rest of the team killed first and then second one (about 7 rounds). I killed those turrets for exp and energy cells (BTW, they drop about 50-60 cells, really not that much - but still worth a kill), - with 5 characters positioned carefully, and one more at the switch underground, it's even possible to take all 3 of them out in a single fight. But surely, you can turn them off at any moment, if fight is too nasty for you. To make it easy, be sure to get two turrets firing at one AC 42+ character, while third firing at another AC 42+ character.
5.9. Weight. Well, if you will kill every single turret in mission (13 turrets total, IIRC), and if you won't allow any turret to fire for long periods of time, - then you should get about 6750 energy cells (6766 for me). That's about 675 weight. Seems a lot, eh? But if you do with 6-men team, and if you didn't bring lots of crap with you to the mission, then you got enough capacity to take every one with you, especially if you traded some "crap" items to the Shaman for Voodoos. In my case, only one character was over-loaded by 24 by the end of the mission. But since i got Hummer already, quick stop in the field right after the mission and quick transferring of all cells into the vehicle, - solved that minor problem.
6. Quincy - daylight.
6.1. This mission is all about sneak and stealth. Use it to observe, and use it to quickly kill any enemy who is not visible to other enemies. Having at least one character with 100% or more sneak is very recommended.
6.2. Sneaky character(s) will have good use of two-barreled shotgun in "double" mode to make quick kill from short distance.
6.3. On top floor of Barracks you will find four alarms, - and 5 enemies *really* near these alarms. But it's very possible to kill all five in one turn, not allowing anyone to touch any alarm. The trick is that in certain areas of that floor, even *very* low sneak-skill character can go around (proning, ofcourse). So, for example, give Neosteed to one such person (he had 24% sneak in my case), and place him (in passive mode, ofcourse) behind two guys near one alarm. One good sneaker with shotgun will kill sleeping enemy near other alarm. Rest of the team, proning, in sneak mode, just go out the door, - and as soon as they're out, just press Enter for TB mode. Neasteed guy should be able to take out both guys near him in one turn (burst + single at least), sleeping enemy is not a problem as well. So, you have 3-4 persons to deal with two enemies up there, on the "towers". Well, M16A1 is very effective in burstmode against these (1-shot kills), but AK-47 also can do.
6.4. 65% in traps was not enough to disarm all explosives near generators without failures. In detail: 65% traaps allow to disarm "remote explosive traps" (green ones) without any problems, but plastitte (perhaps it's C4 in english version?) - well, almost white ones, - these are dangerous. It's better not to try them with 65% traps or so, if you're not load-save addict (if you're, then it's possible, i checked that).
6.5. If you use your best sneaker(s), with lights down, to sneak into the generator's room, get closer to the commander, then turn TB on and kill her fast - then she won't have the time to send "explode!" signal.
6.6. One Neosteed burst (from moderate distance) will, quite often, kill both enemies near the ladder in the generator room - and won't hurt civilians.
6.7. All in all, the more 12 gauge ammo you have, the easier this mission is. Flechette rounds + neosteed is totally deadly, even for bigger deathclaws. If you have anyone who's capable to do 2 bursts a round, - give him Neosteed (found in Barracks 1st floor), and you're king.
6.8. M16A1 in burst mode - about twice more effective against human targets in this mission (in compare to AK-47, that is). Even from distance, very often it's instant-kill. Bring it in too, ammo can be bought in BoS bunker, and is not that expensive.
7. Mardin - daylight.
7.1. There are some mines in the beginning of the mission. It's rather easy to lure enemies on them. But it seems that if enemy is killed by the mine - then you won't get the experience for the kill. So, your choice.
7.2. Underground, near leader of the enemies, you can find a dead body of a soldier - and P90 submachinegun on it. The trick is that there is an enemy nearby, and quite possibly this enemy will die right "on top" of that dead body, so it's easy to miss the body. Keep your eyes open.
7.3. If you want slightly more experience, wait with releasing the Mother (if you're going to release her, that is). As long as she's locked - smaller deathclaws will be hostile, and that's some more kills - and exp. It won't hurt the mission to kill everything first, release the Mother - second. On the other hand, if you have any troubles going through the mission - try to release her as soon as possible. Perhaps then smaller deathclaws will become friendly and will help (didn't try that), and surely Mother herself will add some punch. Again, your choice.
8. Sent Louis - daylight.
8.1. You will get your first sniper rifle pretty early in the mission. If you have anyone with 9 or 10 perception and Sharpshooter perk (and at least 100% in small guns, the more the better, ofcourse) - then you can "save" serious amounts of ammo. I mean, enemy's ammo, which is in fact gonna be YOUR ammo. In many places, with proper positioning, single sniper can outrange any enemy in this mission: sniper rifle have range of 50, browning M2 - 45, rocket launcher and most usual big gun - 40. Some enemies won't move; others are stupid enough to stay under fire, if "straight" road is blocked by a trench; in some cases, some waiting helps - usually, wounded enemies tend to go back to their initial position after some time. So, single sniper in CTB mode can take many enemies out from maximum distance, - while these enemies are not shooting at him. Just to tease dear reader: in the end of the mission, I stored in a truck 180 .50 uranium rounds, 570 .50 regular rounds, 26 rockets, and about 3700 7.62 rounds (on top and above of what i spent in the mission, i mean). Now that's something!
8.2. There is a guy in the trench right before the main entrance to the mutants base, named Burk (or Berk?). If you defuse the explosive trap on him, this trap will fall on the ground near your feet. There is a message in a log that character defused "core_burkebomb", hovering with mouse cursor over the item - won't display anything. DO NOT PICK THAT ITEM UP!!! Bug or something, but you won't get any item in inventory - but your weight will raise by 5.
8.3. With traps skill of 65%, it's not possible to reliably disarm any mines in the mission. With load'n'save, you can try the ones far from the mutant's base, though. In any case, mines at the entrance of the base are impossible to get with 65% traps, i couldn't even see them; but few rounds from CAW, with safe distance, doing force-fire on the ground (ctrl-rightclick) will clear them. It seems that there are 8 mines there.
8.4. You can drive over trenches, and that's convinient if you cleaned the base carefully - loot weights a LOT. These uranium .50 rounds, for example, - heavy like hell.
8.5. I made the mission without single grenade throw; but it's just because my team doesn't have any good thrower yet. Grenades are usefull in this mission - but there's no need to bring in many, as there are some mutants with good amount of grenades (about 100 total in whole mission, most of that going to player in almost any case, and can be used right away).
8.6. If you don't affraid to get some drugs - then mentats (+2 perception for better long-range shooting) and Voodoo(s) should be very helpfull. Although, i made it through without any single drug. Your choice.
9. Jefferson - daylight.
9.1. Mines are abundant. My 80% traps skill main character was able to disarm with rare failures; smaller mines didn't kill him on occasional explosion - except one "chain reaction".
9.2. Both turrets and several mutants can be killed from 40+ meters distance with a good sniper - no injures, and more ammo in loot.
9.3. Even low-sneak character (about 20% in my case) can use sneak in some places. This, plus CAW shotgun with best available ammo for armored mutants, can do lots of 1-burst kills around.
9.4. If you won't damage anything in the mutant's lab - general will be happy about that.
9.5. With 3rd generator destroyed, not only gates will be open - but also doors outside the lab, east-side, leading to a long corridor near the edge of the map, - will be opened too. There are 5 "passive" mutants there. Killing them will result in significant penalties to both rank and reputation. Blowing them with mine will result in penalties as well, - even if these mines are simply laying on the ground near them (not "set up"), and were blown up by "chain reaction explosion", started far enough from mutants! Alas, you can overdose them with any suitable drug - to death. This won't result in penalties to rank or reputation; but you'll spend serious amount of valuable drugs. Reason to kill them - Browning M2 plus 90 .50 ammo from any of them but one (another 30 .50 rounds can be stolen). For me, though, optimal decision was to let 'em be.
9.6. If you have good grenadier: lots of enemies in this mission are in "fortified" fire positions. So, even single sniper can force them to cover - making few shots from maximum distance. Then, use your grenadier to close in and kill the enemy with grenades, - without any direct line of sight to the enemy, of course.
10. Kansas City - daylight.
10.1. If you want very low or zero casualties for Ghouls - then do it at night. Definitely. It's no problem to have lower than 8 killed ghouls for a daylight mission, though (as far as i know, that's how much we need to get that bonus to rank and reputation after the mission). I've done it with 4 dead ghouls.
10.2. Do not turn TB on until first shot by any ghoul. Or mutants will start to shoot sooner than it could be otherwise.
10.3. Send 1 person to north gate at the start. Kill just one mutant there - the one with big gun; then quickly move that character from north to west gates. With another character, these two are enough to deal with west gates, north ones will remain safe. So, all other characters (up to 4) go to south gates - and it's not too much there. If you have *really* good big gun character (high skill, high perception both required) - then he will do very nice things at south gates... With *rocket launcher*.
10.4. Be sure to loot any fallen ghouls. If you're lucky, you'll get FN-Fal or even two. And/or some sniper rifles.
10.5. Don't bother to loot M249's. You probably have a lot in a hummer, and there is enough more valuable loot to provide enough cargo for all of your characters.
10.6. All these buildings with "commanders" are very great for doing burst with combat shotgun - loaded with slugs, it's not that rare to kill all 3 mutants in the room with 1 single burst. Some luck or some traits/perks for increased damage - helps.
10.7. Be sure to kill mutant with rocket launcher *very* quickly, - the one who attack south gates in second wave. He got rare "armor-piercing" rockets, so the less he fire, - the more you'll get.
11. Osceolla - daylight.
11.1. There is an "alarm" in one of first buildings. Sneak around from the start, keep your feet north. Avoid patrol. Three muties in building with alarm are easily insta-killed, as all three are weakly armored, and only one is not-sleeping (if no alarm). Sneak in and shotgun, if you like it "easy" way: or face all three from inside plus (quite likely) 3 more of a patrol = 6 total. As for the patrol, - it's very doable to ambush them with same sneak-shotgun characters (or anything sneak + great quick damage, that is).
11.2. Again, if you like easier times, - continue to the north all the way to the north-west corner of the map, then head east to the crash site, and then further all the way to north-east corner of the map. Clear 3 muties there. Use your best sniper to outrange one "sniper" on the tower, then climb up with your "tank" and deal with second. Now comes "easy" part: bring up all your viable snipers, and shoot some muties inside the base. This will clear some place to get in (via north-west opening in the wall, avoid the mines). Then, get a good use of small "up" ladder on the north-west side of the higher grounds inside the base (easy to overlook), - and then you can clear reast of the base, shooting muties one after another (in most cases), and in their backs!
11.3. These guys with M2's and strong armor are quite a pain, especially when they're paired up. Aimed shots have not so great chance to cripple them. I found that headshots are most usefull; shots to the left arm have somewhat small chances to break that arm (effectively disarming enemy's M2; it's not required to break right arm, - left is just the one to shoot at). Well, if ever you'd need your own M2 - it's here.
11.4. Underground. Room with many gas canisters: both mutants there are pretty armorless. If you want experience, line up your squad before the door to be in sight with one of mutants inside, switch to CTB, turn on aimed shots (right click on "aimed" button to set up "default" target), then with one character approach the door (it'll open). If your team is any good - mutant insede won't make a shot, gas won't blow, you will get your kill (and experience). Repeat with another one.
11.5. Last room - there is a hidden item "under" south wall. closer to western part of it. Totally invisible by an eye, hunt it with your mouse. General will mention this find, so i guess it's worth to take.
11.6. Quite possibly, this is first mission where you'll get LOTS of weight looted - far more than your team can carry. For me, only .50 ammo (looted) was about 400 weight. There is little trick, though: place one character (preferebly - the least required in combat) at very start location, and transfer ALL the desired loot to him/her, no matter how heavy that would be. With rest of the team, go get more kills/loot, if again too much weight - go "unload" the loot to that "cargo" person. The thing is to place him/her inside exit grid. So, when mission is done, he/she will go out with rest of the team, no matter how "motionless" and overweighted he/she is. Then make a stop in the waste, drive your vehicle close enough to that "cargo" person, hop in and transfer all the loot into the truck.
12. Junction City - daylight.
12.1. If player have 3 or more decent snipers - this mission is easy. I do. In fact, i made it all in CTB. Be sure to climb city wall and kill all you can from there first. Then go outside, north of the city, and take left turn. Pretty straight.
12.2. If your snipers are not that good at far range, or you just have 2 or less of them - then do this mission at night. Definitely. There are all sorts of big guns and energy weapons. If you can't take them out from afar, - then go at night.
12.3. There is something worth visiting in north-west corner of the map.
12.4. There are at least two books available only via stealing. One of them is held by the civilian near the mayor of the city. Other is held by pretty "random" civilian in town. Be sure to check booshelves as well for some more books and things.
12.5. These "mines" are deadly. And you need pretty high skill to disarm - perhaps far above 100%. Shotgun, anyone?
12.6. And again, consider doing "cargo mule" trick. Loot is worth to take - at least if you would like to have solid reserves of various types of "sell" things for bartering whenever required later. On top of large amount of ammunition and supply of all sorts, that is.
12.7. I believe it's better to kill enemies first, collect robot's parts second, - if player would like to prevent civilian casualties. And when you will go out of the town going north, - try to stay as far from the city as possible. If any enforcer will be close enough to your fighting character(s) - they will join the fight and, most likely, will die in the process.
13. Coldwater - daylight.
There is very solid reason to do Coldwater before Great Bend: power armor will be available before Great Bend, and its protection from energy weapons is very handy in Great Bend.
13.1. Be sure to get guns'n'bullets magazine (marketplace).
13.2. Upper levels have *lots* of loot. So, if you're "get anything i could use in the future" type, - then it would be smart to get one character into start place and load him with all the loot from 2 lower levels - before going with other character into upper levels.
13.3. I didn't check all of civilians, but several dozens i did. Seems there is nothing too worthy on them.
13.4. I have reasons to think that it's better to not kill Ma Baker, - it seems that this way player will get more experience (additional 5k at the end of the mission), and there seems to be no penalty for not killing her - nor definite "order" to kill her.
13.5. Don't rush into last room of 4th level. It's, naturally, much safer to kill guys in there from previous room, one by one.
13.6. There is small cave behind the priest, entrance there starts in low tunnel near him.
13.7. Fights were rather easy for me. I think that .50 caliber is better to be saved for later - snipers and shotguns works well here.
14. Great Bend - daylight.
14.1. Two guns'n'bullets magazines on this map! Both are on corpses of dead civilians - one with many books right near the start, and other on dead body inside the factory in northern part of the map.
14.2. Be sure to take first right turn, go under wires (the ones that lay sparkling on the ground), turn right again soon after, unlock the door and speak with woman inside. This will make the difference in end-briefing after the mission (perhaps, some "rank" points too?); and that woman won't talk *after* you kill pacification bot. And you need to kill that bot to complete the mission - at least, i didn't find any other way to complete the mission.
14.3. If you have anyone with high (i'd say 125%+) energy skills, - then give him(her) power armor, and this mission is rather easy (i made all the killing solo with my main character, plasma rifle vs sensors, power armor, CTB). If not... If not, you better have some browning M2 or two - or, at least, good and big team of snipers. Note that there is very little .50 ammo in the loots in this mission.
14.4. There is low tunnel from lower grounds into locked biulding with angry guy inside. Definitely worth to visit, as his chest have science book in. Also, in very eastern part of lower grounds, is a corpse with unusually rich loot.
14.5. After junkyard, take right turn before the bridge - about screen away from the bridge, going west on the road, is the hooker. Some items to barter, some funny sayings to listen (speak with her several times).
IMPORTANT! This thread is about:
* 1.27 version of FoT;
* Turn-Based mode (i use cooperative - old X-Com and JA fan here indeed, and sometimes it DOES matter);
* Full-squad playing;
* Normal difficulty mode (by default, if ever i will go higher - i'll surely mention that).
Numbers of articles are numbers of missions. So, "1." means "about mission 1", etc etc. And i will say whether i made mission in daylight or at night - things changes with that, sometimes significantly.
1. Brahmin woods. Daylight.
1.1. In the middle of first mission, you will see sleeping raider and two sleeping dogs. Don't shoot them from afar. Instead, crouch with all your people close enough (but not too close, not closer than about 5 meters from both dogs and raider). Place your "shotgun" character to have clear line of shot to both dogs and raider, other characters - a bit back. Turn TB on. Shot a shotgun - one for dogs, one for raider. If something remained alive (happens... =) ), - add as required from other persons. Reason to do it: that raider have shotgun shells. Can damage, and surely you would like to spend shells instead of letting someone else to spent them firing at your people.
1.2. Do not use your shotgun near hostages. Ever. They are important for the mission, - general will be pleased if everyone of them will remain alive.
1.3. In the "final" fight, it's possible to go on the roof and shoot raiders inside from above (they will shoot back, though) - there are openings in the roof. I wonder, are there any rains in after-nuclear-war world? =) Anyways, it's quite tricky, direct front assault is much more easier - few stimpacks used, at worst. Perhaps one guy on the roof with two others taking the front assault is most universal for this encounter. In any case, for me it was no problem to take out with really few stimpacks spent. Proning, ofcourse, all the time.
2. Freeport. Daylight.
2.1. In 2nd mission, it's very possible to do the job without sounding the alarm - and without or almost without sneaking! All it takes is to get your shooters in proper position and under cover, wait until patrol will go somewhere else, and then, staying low, go forward. If required, take cover there, until patrol is back. You can shoot anyone(s) without triggering the alarm, provided that no other raiders are in vicinity. It means that if you waited until there are no other raiders than your target(s) in about 1 screen in any direction (and clear "line of sight), - you can shoot your target(s), and alarm won't happen. Even more, you can shoot, for example, a shotgun laying near the wall, and if on other side of the wall there is a sleeping raider - he won't wake up! =)
Doing things in this manner will result in all "most tough" enemies within the camp being sleeping. Then it's easy to go into all these tents, and take out pairs of sleeping raiders with 1-2 shootgun shots without any danger to the character(s) and without spends of 7.62 ammo (their 7.62 ammo remain intact too
) - just turn on TB manually before doing first shotgun shot, and if someone will live first one - he/she will stay down for a second.2.2. Destroy raider's installation for making alcoholic drinks - but only *after* you saved hostages (both). Blowing that thing out gives 200 exp and worth about 2 7.62 shots spent. General will be pleased, too.
3. Rock Hills. Daylight.
3.1. Scientist Dyson have a science book, it's possible to steal and read it. He doesn't trade at all, and general will not be pleased if player will kill that person - he's important for the mission.
3.2. If you have some picklocker in team - do not go frontal assault. Instead, go right corner of the map, then move forward, kill the patrol quickly, kill the guy wondering near wall with alarm (and don't let him to touch it), move forward to kill 2 sleeping raiders, then few more further ahead. You will see some junk piles near the wall of their fortress in the end. Well, if you prone, then all your team can go in - there is a low-height hole in the wall, invisible for a player as long as characters are on their feet. Now you're inside, near the mines. Kill 1 raider, move to the building carefully, and then 3 more raiders, more careful movements between the mines to reach the gates. Then, unlock the door near the gates (good pickloking helps here, i had over 100 with 2 picklock kits), and here we are - already near the "last" raider's leader. Note: before flipping the switch for the gates, if your men were really near the gates, then gates can remain closed - since your characters block it. In this case, move your men, and flip the switch again.
From this point, simply clear the base, starting from this place, and then going "backwards" to the main entrance. You even can snipe down all the raiders outside the fortress, - near gas tanks. I mean, not going out of the fortres: climb up onto the wall for this, ofcourse. Avoid blowing gas tanks: general will be pleased if they will stay intact, and you get no exp bonus for blowing them out.
In the middle of the fortress, you'll find almost a dozen of raiders in one building. Sudden attack with a shotgun and/or grenades is fun: i was able to kill 5 raiders with 2 shotgun shots in very start of the fight, just use "back" door for this, and use most tough of your characters (healthy one) to make first appearance in prone position: they will fire some bullets first.
4. Macomb, namely. Daylight.
4.1. In the middle of the map, there is a guy with rocket laucher. There are various ways to kill him, but this one will also save every one of his rockets - and can be done with *any* squad of moderate-to-good shooters. The trick is that you can safely roam - even without sneak, - any ground "before" the gates, he won't launch his rocket - you see him, most likely, he sees you, but, heh, it seems he have anorder not to shoot anything before the gates - or whatever else.
So, open the gates, crouch for extra +5% to small guns, and get all your shooters 1-2 step "before" the gate's line. They will have solid percentages to hit the "rocket guy", using hunting rifles. I hope at least 4 of your men are 100%+ with small guns, and have not-so-bad perception - then you got enough firepower for sure. So, select all prepared shoters, do NOT turn TB mode on - instead, fire at him with all selected men (3 required, 4 recommended) at once. TB mode will turn on. If you're lucky, he's dead already. If not - just shoot once again with all selected people, quickly. This will surely kill him; in my game, half of second volley killed him, - and two more shots went to his neighbour with AK-47. This "next" one is no-big-problem, anyways, especially if you will move your tank a bit ahead-and-side of your shooters (after they dealt with rocket guy) and prone with him - before finishing the turn.4.2. It's possible not to kill at least some of these angry civilians. Just avoid them when possible. Even more, i choose not to kill them: loot is not any much worthy, mission description states that it's food and medicine shortages, exp reward is barely worth any ammo spent (5 experience per a kill). If you play charismatic character, like me, - perhaps you will want to spare as many civilians as you can. Even while it's not a roleplaying game. Your choice, though: Requiem says that they can be killed without any negative effects. For me, though, things will remain the same: i'll let them live, when possible. That civilian before fourth gates, as well as 4 others on the roof, can be saved if desired too: big building, which is left of the fourth gates, and "previous" building near it - have very narrow z-like passage between them. Even male character in leather MKII armor fits in that passage well, though. This way you can go past fourth gates by feet, kill raiders there, clear the mines. To flip the switch for fourth gates, use sneaky characters. There are 6 raiders inside, 2 groups of 3. Nothing too tough, 2-3 good shooters is more than enough for clearing inside. Then go up, push the switch, and go out in same carefull manner. When everything prepared, get all men into the Hammer, and speed ahead through the gates and into the deadend beyond. I can't say whether it will work while civilian before the gates is alive - he attacked me, so i shot him down (he followed my men back to the second gates. I tried...). But guys on the roof *will not* attack, if you pass them in a Hammer, - at least, if you will do it fast. I made it without any problem.
4.3. You can avoid some cross-fire from the roofs, if you will take left turn after very first gates. And i mean *just* after first gates, - not the big one further ahead. This turn is hard or even impossible to notice, in fact, there is just little space between two buildings - but more than enough for your men. There is break in the wall of the building you need to go into, and 3 raiders are in there. Not too dangerous, tho. And some Dinamyte in a freezer.
4.4. If you made Preoria before Macomb, and got all the books about traps read by main character there and before, - then barter for one more book with Librarian as soon as you will see him. And read it right away. Mines will be after next gates, and with 60+ skill, you can try to disarm them, if you want. If not, then you better not spend any ammo, but drive over mines with Hammer, taking 1 or 2 hits at a time. After Hammer's "health" will go below 100, get your best repairman out, apply some repair work, then repeat the process. This way you save some ammo for experience-worthy targets (it's also possible to blow up the mines with gunfire - Ctrl-rightclick on any mine... And be out of range
).5. Preoria - daylight.
5.1. Corpses in top grounds, as well as two corpses "back" from starting point, contain quite valuable and sometimes rare loot - including really not-so-bad at this point of the game pistol for 9mm ammo, with 3AP single shot and moderate damage. Load armor-pierciong rounds into it, and give it to any fast-shot character in your party (if any), - then you'll get 2AP back-up weapon. Be sure to loot.
5.2. Do not trade with chieftain. He tends to get your wares giving nothing in exchange.
Shaman, on contrary, trades "honestly".5.3. Some people in the village got some Voodoo. If you're about stealing, - it's your day.
Sadly, no books, though.5.4. Speaking of books - you'll find some underground. Be sure to check every single thing - tables, lockers, and such.
5.5. There are two "trapped" containers in underground part of the mission. I was able to disarm both - without single failure (i,e, without being too unlucky to set off the trap), with nearly 4-5 attempts for each. My traps skill was 50%, including bonus to the skill from Leader's +1 agility - so, if you got a Leader in a squad, be sure to get him near. Second trapped container have traps-book inside, first one have leather armor mark-II, so it's definitely worth to try and disarm the traps.
5.6. In the latest part of the mission, you will see few areas with green light. It seems that these are radiated. I intentionally spent as little time in these areas as possible, and managed to get back to the surface without any single one "radiated" character. All that with only 1 Rad-X consumed by main character beforehandedly (due to his low endurace = 2). Tip for the last fight: that big room have some "non-green" space in upper part. Move here with your squad, and fire with all you have. Worked for me.
5.7. Turrets.
Well, in fact, they are very easy with proper approach. At least, in normal difficulty mode. What i've done:
* Bought two energy knives in BoS bunker, and every energy cell for those i could see in trade. Two characters with about 105 melee weapons skill deal serious damage to any turret each turn.
* Had 3 pump shotguns, about 100 usual 12 gauge ammo, and bought 80 "green" ammo for shotguns as well. Any character in point-blank range and about 100+ in small guns deal good damage to a turret as well.
* Had Kevin in squad, and he got Leader perk. Most important for turrets due to +10 AC feature! Turrets have rather low chance to hit even in point-blank range. So, i figured out that Robin, being closer to the turret than anyone else, under Kevin's Leader, and kneeling, - have too high AC to be hit by a turret! His AC is 42 (i gave him Mark II leather armor, as he's my melee boy before level 9), and turrets really can't hit him with any better than 5% probability (most likely, even far less).
* Learnt how to place shotgun guys to 1) be at almost point-blank range, 2) but not too close to draw fire from your "tank" (Robin in my case), and 3) do not shoot each other or "tank" character while firing at the turret. Basically, if your tank is, say, very close to the turret being at north side of it, - then, for example, place 3 shotgun guys 0.5 tiles from turret, being at east (or west) side of it, together, staying in tight "shooting" line. Second "knife" guy can join the tank, usually.
* Approach turrets running, with your high-AC character(s) being closer to the turret(s) all the time.
* Do, when possible, aimed strikes with knives, and aim with AK-47 of 6th character as well; target - lenses. It seems that sometimes this disables the turret for several turns.
5.8. Three turrets outside. Well, these deal nearly twice the damage, but still same "blind". My AC42 character - Robin, - never took a hit, even with the fact that he was under fire of two turrets while rest of the team killed first and then second one (about 7 rounds). I killed those turrets for exp and energy cells (BTW, they drop about 50-60 cells, really not that much - but still worth a kill), - with 5 characters positioned carefully, and one more at the switch underground, it's even possible to take all 3 of them out in a single fight. But surely, you can turn them off at any moment, if fight is too nasty for you. To make it easy, be sure to get two turrets firing at one AC 42+ character, while third firing at another AC 42+ character.
5.9. Weight. Well, if you will kill every single turret in mission (13 turrets total, IIRC), and if you won't allow any turret to fire for long periods of time, - then you should get about 6750 energy cells (6766 for me). That's about 675 weight. Seems a lot, eh?
But if you do with 6-men team, and if you didn't bring lots of crap with you to the mission, then you got enough capacity to take every one with you, especially if you traded some "crap" items to the Shaman for Voodoos. In my case, only one character was over-loaded by 24 by the end of the mission. But since i got Hummer already, quick stop in the field right after the mission and quick transferring of all cells into the vehicle, - solved that minor problem.6. Quincy - daylight.
6.1. This mission is all about sneak and stealth. Use it to observe, and use it to quickly kill any enemy who is not visible to other enemies. Having at least one character with 100% or more sneak is very recommended.
6.2. Sneaky character(s) will have good use of two-barreled shotgun in "double" mode to make quick kill from short distance.
6.3. On top floor of Barracks you will find four alarms, - and 5 enemies *really* near these alarms. But it's very possible to kill all five in one turn, not allowing anyone to touch any alarm. The trick is that in certain areas of that floor, even *very* low sneak-skill character can go around (proning, ofcourse). So, for example, give Neosteed to one such person (he had 24% sneak in my case), and place him (in passive mode, ofcourse) behind two guys near one alarm. One good sneaker with shotgun will kill sleeping enemy near other alarm. Rest of the team, proning, in sneak mode, just go out the door, - and as soon as they're out, just press Enter for TB mode. Neasteed guy should be able to take out both guys near him in one turn (burst + single at least), sleeping enemy is not a problem as well. So, you have 3-4 persons to deal with two enemies up there, on the "towers". Well, M16A1 is very effective in burstmode against these (1-shot kills), but AK-47 also can do.
6.4. 65% in traps was not enough to disarm all explosives near generators without failures. In detail: 65% traaps allow to disarm "remote explosive traps" (green ones) without any problems, but plastitte (perhaps it's C4 in english version?) - well, almost white ones, - these are dangerous. It's better not to try them with 65% traps or so, if you're not load-save addict (if you're, then it's possible, i checked that).
6.5. If you use your best sneaker(s), with lights down, to sneak into the generator's room, get closer to the commander, then turn TB on and kill her fast - then she won't have the time to send "explode!" signal.
6.6. One Neosteed burst (from moderate distance) will, quite often, kill both enemies near the ladder in the generator room - and won't hurt civilians.
6.7. All in all, the more 12 gauge ammo you have, the easier this mission is. Flechette rounds + neosteed is totally deadly, even for bigger deathclaws. If you have anyone who's capable to do 2 bursts a round, - give him Neosteed (found in Barracks 1st floor), and you're king.
6.8. M16A1 in burst mode - about twice more effective against human targets in this mission (in compare to AK-47, that is). Even from distance, very often it's instant-kill. Bring it in too, ammo can be bought in BoS bunker, and is not that expensive.
7. Mardin - daylight.
7.1. There are some mines in the beginning of the mission. It's rather easy to lure enemies on them. But it seems that if enemy is killed by the mine - then you won't get the experience for the kill. So, your choice.
7.2. Underground, near leader of the enemies, you can find a dead body of a soldier - and P90 submachinegun on it. The trick is that there is an enemy nearby, and quite possibly this enemy will die right "on top" of that dead body, so it's easy to miss the body. Keep your eyes open.
7.3. If you want slightly more experience, wait with releasing the Mother (if you're going to release her, that is). As long as she's locked - smaller deathclaws will be hostile, and that's some more kills - and exp. It won't hurt the mission to kill everything first, release the Mother - second. On the other hand, if you have any troubles going through the mission - try to release her as soon as possible. Perhaps then smaller deathclaws will become friendly and will help (didn't try that), and surely Mother herself will add some punch. Again, your choice.
8. Sent Louis - daylight.
8.1. You will get your first sniper rifle pretty early in the mission. If you have anyone with 9 or 10 perception and Sharpshooter perk (and at least 100% in small guns, the more the better, ofcourse) - then you can "save" serious amounts of ammo. I mean, enemy's ammo, which is in fact gonna be YOUR ammo.
In many places, with proper positioning, single sniper can outrange any enemy in this mission: sniper rifle have range of 50, browning M2 - 45, rocket launcher and most usual big gun - 40. Some enemies won't move; others are stupid enough to stay under fire, if "straight" road is blocked by a trench; in some cases, some waiting helps - usually, wounded enemies tend to go back to their initial position after some time. So, single sniper in CTB mode can take many enemies out from maximum distance, - while these enemies are not shooting at him. Just to tease dear reader: in the end of the mission, I stored in a truck 180 .50 uranium rounds, 570 .50 regular rounds, 26 rockets, and about 3700 7.62 rounds (on top and above of what i spent in the mission, i mean). Now that's something! 8.2. There is a guy in the trench right before the main entrance to the mutants base, named Burk (or Berk?). If you defuse the explosive trap on him, this trap will fall on the ground near your feet. There is a message in a log that character defused "core_burkebomb", hovering with mouse cursor over the item - won't display anything. DO NOT PICK THAT ITEM UP!!! Bug or something, but you won't get any item in inventory - but your weight will raise by 5.
8.3. With traps skill of 65%, it's not possible to reliably disarm any mines in the mission. With load'n'save, you can try the ones far from the mutant's base, though. In any case, mines at the entrance of the base are impossible to get with 65% traps, i couldn't even see them; but few rounds from CAW, with safe distance, doing force-fire on the ground (ctrl-rightclick) will clear them. It seems that there are 8 mines there.
8.4. You can drive over trenches, and that's convinient if you cleaned the base carefully - loot weights a LOT. These uranium .50 rounds, for example, - heavy like hell.
8.5. I made the mission without single grenade throw; but it's just because my team doesn't have any good thrower yet. Grenades are usefull in this mission - but there's no need to bring in many, as there are some mutants with good amount of grenades (about 100 total in whole mission, most of that going to player in almost any case, and can be used right away).
8.6. If you don't affraid to get some drugs - then mentats (+2 perception for better long-range shooting) and Voodoo(s) should be very helpfull. Although, i made it through without any single drug. Your choice.
9. Jefferson - daylight.
9.1. Mines are abundant. My 80% traps skill main character was able to disarm with rare failures; smaller mines didn't kill him on occasional explosion - except one "chain reaction".
9.2. Both turrets and several mutants can be killed from 40+ meters distance with a good sniper - no injures, and more ammo in loot.
9.3. Even low-sneak character (about 20% in my case) can use sneak in some places. This, plus CAW shotgun with best available ammo for armored mutants, can do lots of 1-burst kills around.
9.4. If you won't damage anything in the mutant's lab - general will be happy about that.
9.5. With 3rd generator destroyed, not only gates will be open - but also doors outside the lab, east-side, leading to a long corridor near the edge of the map, - will be opened too. There are 5 "passive" mutants there. Killing them will result in significant penalties to both rank and reputation. Blowing them with mine will result in penalties as well, - even if these mines are simply laying on the ground near them (not "set up"), and were blown up by "chain reaction explosion", started far enough from mutants! Alas, you can overdose them with any suitable drug - to death. This won't result in penalties to rank or reputation; but you'll spend serious amount of valuable drugs. Reason to kill them - Browning M2 plus 90 .50 ammo from any of them but one (another 30 .50 rounds can be stolen). For me, though, optimal decision was to let 'em be.
9.6. If you have good grenadier: lots of enemies in this mission are in "fortified" fire positions. So, even single sniper can force them to cover - making few shots from maximum distance. Then, use your grenadier to close in and kill the enemy with grenades, - without any direct line of sight to the enemy, of course.
10. Kansas City - daylight.
10.1. If you want very low or zero casualties for Ghouls - then do it at night. Definitely.
It's no problem to have lower than 8 killed ghouls for a daylight mission, though (as far as i know, that's how much we need to get that bonus to rank and reputation after the mission). I've done it with 4 dead ghouls.10.2. Do not turn TB on until first shot by any ghoul. Or mutants will start to shoot sooner than it could be otherwise.
10.3. Send 1 person to north gate at the start. Kill just one mutant there - the one with big gun; then quickly move that character from north to west gates. With another character, these two are enough to deal with west gates, north ones will remain safe. So, all other characters (up to 4) go to south gates - and it's not too much there. If you have *really* good big gun character (high skill, high perception both required) - then he will do very nice things at south gates... With *rocket launcher*.
10.4. Be sure to loot any fallen ghouls. If you're lucky, you'll get FN-Fal or even two. And/or some sniper rifles.
10.5. Don't bother to loot M249's. You probably have a lot in a hummer, and there is enough more valuable loot to provide enough cargo for all of your characters.
10.6. All these buildings with "commanders" are very great for doing burst with combat shotgun - loaded with slugs, it's not that rare to kill all 3 mutants in the room with 1 single burst. Some luck or some traits/perks for increased damage - helps.
10.7. Be sure to kill mutant with rocket launcher *very* quickly, - the one who attack south gates in second wave. He got rare "armor-piercing" rockets, so the less he fire, - the more you'll get.
11. Osceolla - daylight.
11.1. There is an "alarm" in one of first buildings. Sneak around from the start, keep your feet north. Avoid patrol. Three muties in building with alarm are easily insta-killed, as all three are weakly armored, and only one is not-sleeping (if no alarm). Sneak in and shotgun, if you like it "easy" way: or face all three from inside plus (quite likely) 3 more of a patrol = 6 total. As for the patrol, - it's very doable to ambush them with same sneak-shotgun characters (or anything sneak + great quick damage, that is).
11.2. Again, if you like easier times, - continue to the north all the way to the north-west corner of the map, then head east to the crash site, and then further all the way to north-east corner of the map. Clear 3 muties there. Use your best sniper to outrange one "sniper" on the tower, then climb up with your "tank" and deal with second. Now comes "easy" part: bring up all your viable snipers, and shoot some muties inside the base. This will clear some place to get in (via north-west opening in the wall, avoid the mines). Then, get a good use of small "up" ladder on the north-west side of the higher grounds inside the base (easy to overlook), - and then you can clear reast of the base, shooting muties one after another (in most cases), and in their backs!
11.3. These guys with M2's and strong armor are quite a pain, especially when they're paired up. Aimed shots have not so great chance to cripple them. I found that headshots are most usefull; shots to the left arm have somewhat small chances to break that arm (effectively disarming enemy's M2; it's not required to break right arm, - left is just the one to shoot at). Well, if ever you'd need your own M2 - it's here.
11.4. Underground. Room with many gas canisters: both mutants there are pretty armorless. If you want experience, line up your squad before the door to be in sight with one of mutants inside, switch to CTB, turn on aimed shots (right click on "aimed" button to set up "default" target), then with one character approach the door (it'll open). If your team is any good - mutant insede won't make a shot, gas won't blow, you will get your kill (and experience). Repeat with another one.
11.5. Last room - there is a hidden item "under" south wall. closer to western part of it. Totally invisible by an eye, hunt it with your mouse. General will mention this find, so i guess it's worth to take.
11.6. Quite possibly, this is first mission where you'll get LOTS of weight looted - far more than your team can carry. For me, only .50 ammo (looted) was about 400 weight. There is little trick, though: place one character (preferebly - the least required in combat) at very start location, and transfer ALL the desired loot to him/her, no matter how heavy that would be. With rest of the team, go get more kills/loot, if again too much weight - go "unload" the loot to that "cargo" person. The thing is to place him/her inside exit grid. So, when mission is done, he/she will go out with rest of the team, no matter how "motionless" and overweighted he/she is. Then make a stop in the waste, drive your vehicle close enough to that "cargo" person, hop in and transfer all the loot into the truck.
12. Junction City - daylight.
12.1. If player have 3 or more decent snipers - this mission is easy. I do. In fact, i made it all in CTB. Be sure to climb city wall and kill all you can from there first. Then go outside, north of the city, and take left turn. Pretty straight.
12.2. If your snipers are not that good at far range, or you just have 2 or less of them - then do this mission at night. Definitely. There are all sorts of big guns and energy weapons. If you can't take them out from afar, - then go at night.
12.3. There is something worth visiting in north-west corner of the map.
12.4. There are at least two books available only via stealing. One of them is held by the civilian near the mayor of the city. Other is held by pretty "random" civilian in town. Be sure to check booshelves as well for some more books and things.
12.5. These "mines" are deadly. And you need pretty high skill to disarm - perhaps far above 100%. Shotgun, anyone?
12.6. And again, consider doing "cargo mule" trick. Loot is worth to take - at least if you would like to have solid reserves of various types of "sell" things for bartering whenever required later. On top of large amount of ammunition and supply of all sorts, that is.
12.7. I believe it's better to kill enemies first, collect robot's parts second, - if player would like to prevent civilian casualties. And when you will go out of the town going north, - try to stay as far from the city as possible. If any enforcer will be close enough to your fighting character(s) - they will join the fight and, most likely, will die in the process.
13. Coldwater - daylight.
There is very solid reason to do Coldwater before Great Bend: power armor will be available before Great Bend, and its protection from energy weapons is very handy in Great Bend.
13.1. Be sure to get guns'n'bullets magazine (marketplace).
13.2. Upper levels have *lots* of loot. So, if you're "get anything i could use in the future" type, - then it would be smart to get one character into start place and load him with all the loot from 2 lower levels - before going with other character into upper levels.
13.3. I didn't check all of civilians, but several dozens i did. Seems there is nothing too worthy on them.
13.4. I have reasons to think that it's better to not kill Ma Baker, - it seems that this way player will get more experience (additional 5k at the end of the mission), and there seems to be no penalty for not killing her - nor definite "order" to kill her.
13.5. Don't rush into last room of 4th level.
It's, naturally, much safer to kill guys in there from previous room, one by one.13.6. There is small cave behind the priest, entrance there starts in low tunnel near him.
13.7. Fights were rather easy for me. I think that .50 caliber is better to be saved for later - snipers and shotguns works well here.
14. Great Bend - daylight.
14.1. Two guns'n'bullets magazines on this map! Both are on corpses of dead civilians - one with many books right near the start, and other on dead body inside the factory in northern part of the map.
14.2. Be sure to take first right turn, go under wires (the ones that lay sparkling on the ground), turn right again soon after, unlock the door and speak with woman inside. This will make the difference in end-briefing after the mission (perhaps, some "rank" points too?); and that woman won't talk *after* you kill pacification bot. And you need to kill that bot to complete the mission - at least, i didn't find any other way to complete the mission.
14.3. If you have anyone with high (i'd say 125%+) energy skills, - then give him(her) power armor, and this mission is rather easy (i made all the killing solo with my main character, plasma rifle vs sensors, power armor, CTB). If not... If not, you better have some browning M2 or two - or, at least, good and big team of snipers. Note that there is very little .50 ammo in the loots in this mission.
14.4. There is low tunnel from lower grounds into locked biulding with angry guy inside. Definitely worth to visit, as his chest have science book in. Also, in very eastern part of lower grounds, is a corpse with unusually rich loot.
14.5. After junkyard, take right turn before the bridge - about screen away from the bridge, going west on the road, is the hooker. Some items to barter, some funny sayings to listen (speak with her several times).
