homepage Forums Land & Armor Combat Tactical Simulations - General Re: Fallout 4 (now with extra New Vegas!...and a dash of 76)

Yeah man, the Commonwealth Kingpin. That's rollin' right. And that's how you amass 200k caps.

The way to make real caps, is to set up some productive settlements, and shake them down in the name of your raiders.

All you have to do from that point is periodically collect your ill gotten gains in Fizztop.

R A I D * L Y F E

Make that blue Jet to be Commonwealth Heisenberg.

Say my name.

That was a great show.

I wish I hadn't gone all the way back to get the X-01 because I soon found the Vim T-51b set in Far Harbor and now have two sets to transport back to the collection. I built a warehouse in Sanctuary, built a power armor stand and have them all neatly arrayed so I can look at them. If I had just gone another 100 yards up the road I would have found the Vim armor, and saved all that time and effort going all the way to Sanctuary and back and have two armors to bring back. I could leave one here, but the display collection!

Far Harbor's a nice change of pace from the 'Wealth, but I'm not feeling it much. Dark, foggy, feels claustrophobic. I picked up a couple rabbit legs and can't cook 'em up, need seaweed and bat droppings or whatever to make up a stew. Sup with that? That's fine to have more advanced recipes for better bonuses, but I should still be able to have roasted rabbit. In Survival I only eat for the nutrition, never the bonuses. Roasted rabbit legs should be an option dangnabbit.

I've maybe done 1/4 of the island and am ready to head back. Honestly after 300+ hours I'm starting to feel like I should see the game to its conclusion. Run down the main quest. But its so much fun to just get out there and stir it up.

Hit Level 66 but didn't spend the two points yet. The perks in Fallout are great, but there aren't many left (and within reach) that I still want to get. I wouldn't mind just training attributes, but in this game they are more of a perk unlock level than any real advantage for the character. Carry a little more, a little better VATS accuracy or sneak ability. I wish there were more mechanics attached to the attribute points. Which reminds me of one of the things I am most disappointed with FO4. Skill checks. Where are they? Ya gotta have skill checks all over the place in Fallout. Which would make the SPECIAL points feel more important. I think I've had one, in my first run, where my high INT let me take a shortcut through the USS Constitution mission.


I'm leaning toward the high-end Luck perks, like Grim Reaper's Sprint for example. But the benefits would be so situational that it feels like going through the motions just to spend the points. A 15% chance to refill AP sounds great, but how often do I need to use VATS that long? Never, really. My build has a lot of AP with max Agility and it's rare that I'll ever chain more than three targets together and actually benefit from the perk with another three or four targets to immediately need to engage. Combat's rarely that dense. With Action Boy the AP regenerates quickly already, so while these top Luck perks are cool, I just don't see them ever really being all that useful.

I love the idea of Ricochet, to instantly kill an enemy that lands a shot, but I read that it's about as rare as Mysterious Stranger. And a few words about that perk. In previous Fallout games I took this perk. It's fun, and from time to time he would show up and make a real difference, swing a tough battle. But in Fallout 4 it's been a wasted point. I could have dropped more points to increase appearance chance, but it's been so underwhelming I feel like it's good money after bad. I took this perk at level 27, I am level 66 now, and I've seen him twice. Twice! And the first time he popped up to kill a radroach for me. Gee, thanks mate.

So if Ricochet is about the same probability to trigger there's no sense in getting it, and anyway I'd need to train Luck up just top unlock it. Even a 5% chance would be great, but it must be more like .005%. Maybe the info's bad and it triggers more often, but it's too much investment to find out.

I preferred Nuka World to Far Harbor, even though the consensus is that the latter is far better in terms of story and overall quality.

Nuka World felt like a rushed product and I wish Bethesda had put more effort into it, even if they'd sought to charge more.

You really should start wrapping up the major quests as you might be over levelled for at least some of them at this point.

As for me, while I doubt I could bring myself to ever play vanilla Fallout 4 again, I hope one of the megamods is released before S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and the Cyberpunk DLCs.

https://www.pcgamer.com/upcoming-fallout-mods/

There's no comparison in my opinion. The main story for Far Harbor is really intriguing and it's especially interesting for people who are into the whole sci-fi theme of artificial intelligence.

Nuka World had minimal story but I really enjoyed crafting the different varieties of Nuka Colas and also exploring the different theme park areas.

Good advice, but I reckon that ship sailed 30 levels ago

I've maybe done half of Far Harbor. It's mainly the terrain/fog/lighting that I don't like. It's so close, traveling around you rarely can see more than 50 yards in any direction. Not a big deal, but I prefer the sweeping vistas of mass destruction haha. I don't much care for the story either, I feel no affinity nor rejection of synths. I'm content to let them live, but have no cause to assist them either. Live and let live, if that's what synths do.

I complained of pricing earlier, but it's only the Marine armor that is this way. The rest is reasonable, or so it seems. I made it to Nucleus and saw that Kiloton Radium Rifle and had to have it, so bought it. I plan to make it my carry rifle, replacing (at least temporarily) my assault rifle that has performed well. The Kiloton comes bone stock, so I added a new barrel, sight, stock and receiver. I was very pleased to see that this weapon doesn't have high Gun Nut requirements, and most of the good mods can be done with Gun Nut 1 and Science 3, both of which I have! I need Science 4 for the suppressor, and that will be the next point spent.

This rifle is better in just about every way. It is lighter weight, and the ammo is too. Base ballistic damage is higher, it also does 50 points of radiation damage and explosive damage as well. I have Demo Expert 4 which seems to apply and it just wrecks. The radiation damage probably isn't all that powerful against many enemies, who I suspect have resistance or are immune? Against humans it should be especially strong though.

I took my X-01 PA back to Sanctuary, leaving the Vim T-51b in Far Harbor. Crane's comment earlier was particularly poignant, as I went on a long loop patrol around the island. The more modest repair requirements make the T-51 much easier to repair in the field, whereas the X-01 is going to need to be in a settlement where you have stocks of mats, which you won't have at a random station encountered in your travels. After reading his comment I decided to run that patrol in the T-51 and it worked out well. My approach now is to use the heavily modified and very strong X-01 for specific difficult missions, but wear a lesser model when out on routine patrol. I haven't modded the T-51 yet, and as it stands the X-01 has double the protection stats. But the T-51 and T-60 are good enough. I now have about ten suits of PA. But aside from Far Harbor and the Glowing Sea, I rarely use them.

The levels keep rolling, and I hit level 68. I spent the four points I had to get Strong Back 2. Two points were spent to train Strength to level 6 and two spent on the perks. Carry weight without PA is now 295. I'm nearly level 69 at which point I will take Science 4.

What's the most dangerous enemy you have encountered?

How to judge?

Legendary Vampiric Bloodbug is a b!tch
Courser?
Some-prefix Fog Crawler?
Behemoth?
Alpha Deathclaw? No, those go down pretty fast these days
The Rust Devil contraption with tank in the name?
Mirelurk Queen?

What are the toughest enemies? I could pick those I've encountered from the list

Anybody in power armor equipped with a fatman. Maybe not as bullet spongy as the already mentioned enemies, but the can usually survive enough hits to launch that thing and if it hits, will usually kill me instantly.

So I've spent the intervening time scouring the 'net. Yeah, most of what they talk about I've not seen, like Mythic Deathclaw or Enraged Fog Crawler.

Here's one writer's take on the most difficult spots in the game

https://gamerant.com/fallout-4-hardest-parts-enemy-encounters/

Of those, anyway, I've been to 35 Court, killed Sarge, cleared Quincy, took out Bugsy Malone

I've let Swan live thus far. VATS'ing him I can see a couple shots from my rifle will kill him at this stage, not to mention sowing mine seeds. But he never bothers me, and isn't in the way, and having him around makes others think twice of coming downtown and stepping on my toes, so he yet lives.

I have yet to enter the State House, and wish I hadn't seen this spoiler. And I don't know I've even seen Gunner's Plaza, but this seems like a good place to try out my new Radium rifle!

Took one out very early, the one in Lexington near Corvega. But I sniped him from the overpass above. Anyway, that's a formidable foe you are right.

Crane's question is a good one for everyone. Who IS the toughest enemy you fought in Fallout 4?

BTW, I've enjoyed my time in FO4 so much I am thinking of playing FO3 or FNV again. Last night I looked at FNV and saw most of my gameplay was in November of 2010, judging by the timestamps on the achievements. I then returned to it in 2013, and played enough to get Come Fly With Me. But I'm not sure I actually finished the game. I thought I did, but the achievements tell a different story. Might be worth another go, in Hardcore mode.

It seems I didn't buy Fallout 3 on Steam.

I found Assaultrons a major threat at the point in the game where I initially encountered them.

Once I'd levelled up a bit they were not so bad, but to an early character they are boss tier IMO.

Yeah, assaultrons are tough. There are some elite level versions too that will fook your sh!t up.

I'm still interested in more answers about hard enemies, but all this got me thinking about something else, and am curious how others approached it, and that is combat support. By this I mean all items and other means of receiving additional assistance for combat. Drugs, flare guns, artillery and that sort of thing. I use none of this.

I've been carrying the flare gun for the Minutemen through the entire game and never fired it once. I always think that will come in handy one day, and then I never think to use it when those times actually happen to me lol.

I read about players who swear by the bullet-time drugs like psychojet. Never used it once. I did use Med-X twice I think early on, but no other combat-enhancing drugs even though I always have them on me.

I've built artillery in several locations, and carry the grenades, but never used it aside from when you have to in the quest. I mean, that was cool, calling in those rounds, yet I never think to call for it in the field.

So really, I've not used any of this support. There have been times it might have come in handy!

I was heavily melee sneak attack oriented, and managed to kill many formidable opponents fairly easily and at a relatively low level.

For example I managed to kill Swan with a VATS sneak attack when I was under level 10 on my first playthrough. He never even managed to rise out of the water, and I didn't even know what he looked like until I gave him a fighting chance on my second playthrough.

It was mostly the enemies that I had difficulty sneaking up to within knifing range of that I had issues with.

As far as support weapons, I used artillery and synth relay grenades quite a bit on my first playthrough, I didn't bother with the Minuteman flares as the summoned Minutemen won't even last a minute in any serious encounter.

As far as drugs use goes...

🎵 Rush rush to the Psycho
Buzz, buzz, gimme Psycho {oh oh}
Yo, yo, no, no, Psycho {Go, go}
Rush, rush to the Psycho 🎵

Is that by The Clash?

What's a synth relay grenade?

Inspired by:



Synth grenades are an Institute provided item that cause synths to relay in and fight for you, the synths aren't that tough but can be a useful distraction.

MedX, RadX, and psychojet can be very useful in some situations.

Thanks for the info gentlemen. I continue to neglect screenshots, for whatever reason I rarely think to snap them. But I got a few

Fenway Park, otherwise known as Diamond City. Green Monster in the background






Arriving at Far Harbor






I noted yesterday how I've failed to call for artillery. Last night I was coming out of the Four Leaf Fishpacking Plant having done a mission there for the BoS. As I came up this street I spotted Rust Devils in a half-destroyed house. It was two stories, with the whole front facade blown out, and the rubble piles reached up to the second floor. The roof was gone. I told Dog to stay in place and crept forward and tossed an artillery smoke grenade over the wall and into the house. The Rust Devil said "huh?". I quickly went back down the street to clear the immediate vicinity. A few seconds later I could hear the tube fire from back at the Castle and then the rounds came screaming in. I snapped this shot just at the instant one of these rounds came right down inside that open roof and took out the Rust Devils. It's blurry due to the explosion, and the flash can be seen on the adjacent buildings, but the spot it actually detonated is out of view since it is inside the house. But I think it's a cool image

Hit level 70. Seven-tee! That's nuts and I'm nowhere near done. I haven't set foot in Vault 88, I haven't done Nuka World. Not built a robot, hardly touched the Institute content. Locations undiscovered, plenty of interiors unexplored. But yet I'm level 70. I think in FNV and FO3 it was a stretch to even approach 40, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

At level 69 I took Science 4. That opens up a whole host of craftables,including the suppressor for the Kiloton Radium rifle, and fusion generators! Haha, at least I could build these now Crane. The suppressor for the Kiloton is a bit of a larf. I mean I am suppressing a weapon that has explosive rounds. It still goes boom every time you pull the trigger. Perhaps it still makes it difficult for the NPCs to know where it is coming from? But the real reason is to get the +30% damage from Sandman.

One of the reasons I wanted to switch to this rifle is weight. But now that I've upgraded it it is only 4 pounds lighter than the assault rifle I had been using. And if and when I upgrade the receiver from Powerful to Advanced it will add another 2 pounds, to 20, and make it just two pounds lighter than the other rifle.

But it hits like a freight train. I was making my way back from Far Harbor last night, and had just passed Coastal Cottage and I made my way south along the shoreline. Up and over the hills toward the ironworks and came to a sunken road, where I paused to sweep with VATS. Just about 75 feet to my right was an Alpha Deathclaw, which had not detected me. I took aim and one-shotted him. Boom, done.

Later I came across a group of ghouls with some high level ones like glowing bloated or whatever. In VATS, this weapon kicks serious ass, especially against ghouls who can tend to gang up and get close to one another. The area effect of the explosive just wrecks. On the way to the fishpacking plant I cut through a junkyard or something (the whole map looks like a junkyard so I can't be sure lol). Inside a building I could see the flashing red light that betrays a suicider. I wondered if the explosive radius would detonate that mini-nuke he is carrying. The answer, with a sample of one, is hell yeah it does!

I think I need to be careful though, and not get caught with this rifle with enemies at arm's length or I could get caught up in the boom.

Weapons like this are a lot of fun to use. When I am done with this game I plan to bookend this thread with a review. But for the moment I want to talk about how Fallout 4 handles weapons, and why I like it so much. Aside from the excellent variety of weapons, and cool variants, the weapons modifications and scaling is very appealing. I love being able to modify my guns, to customize and personalize them. It gives me a sense of agency, and produces weapons tailored to my vision of how the game is played. Customized weapons feel personal and foster a sense of attachment. This is my rifle.

But it would mean little if the scaling had been designed differently. In many RPG-style games it's a continual progression through weapon after weapon. You're constantly on the hunt for the next one, which is only marginally better than the one you have. But in Fallout, the weapons scale to the player and his perks, and this means you can carry the same weapon throughout the game, it levels up with you in a sense. So it is not a loot grind. That's not to say I haven't gone through a progression, I have. But it also means that the weapons remain viable for a very long time, not just the next two levels. Since I have become attached to the weapon I have spent so much time and mats refining, and it does not become obsolete in short order, it imparts that sense of 'this is my rifle' that other games fail to capture due to how weapon scaling works.