Necessary technical prep for New Vegas

[Volken]

Did you install all mandatory sex slave and mutant rape mods?

 

[Blaine]

Scoured Puesta del Sol, still didn't find it.

The Sierra Madre put a curse on me for making off with all the gold. It beat me. I'm a quitter and a loser.

I belatedly remembered that the gambling comps aren't per game, but per tier of chips won (I'd gotten comped playing blackjack and slots, knew better than to mess with roulette), and that getting "escorted out" of the casino gets you an additional 1k chips every 3 in-game days for life. I'm a dab hand at blackjack even in real life (although I'd slowly lose my wad in a real casino because I'm not that good), so I handily scooped up another ~2,500 chips before leaving.

55 Weapon Repair Kits worth of chips every three days, and even if you only retrieve them occasionally, they accumulate. DM must be the most OP DLC of all time.

 

[Trashos]

55 Weapon Repair Kits worth of chips every three days, and even if you only retrieve them occasionally, they accumulate. DM must be the most OP DLC of all time.

Nah, OWB takes the cake. At any rate, I never remember having problems with money in the game (after the early game), not until I installed the economy overhaul anyway. Even with the economy overhaul, I don't have any problems after I raise Barter. So personally I don't see how DM breaks the balance.

For the same reasons, I don't mind The Sink in OWB either. By the time I get there and earn my personal "Farm & Factory" that is The Sink, I can get all that stuff somewhere in the wasteland anyway. The Sink just makes it easier and offers me the satisfaction of producing them myself. On the other hand, OWB also gives SPECIAL and poison immunity bonuses, which are perhaps a bit too overpowered.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

55 Weapon Repair Kits worth of chips every three days, and even if you only retrieve them occasionally, they accumulate. DM must be the most OP DLC of all time.

Nah, OWB takes the cake. At any rate, I never remember having problems with money in the game (after the early game), not until I installed the economy overhaul anyway. Even with the economy overhaul, I don't have any problems after I raise Barter. So personally I don't see how DM breaks the balance.

For the same reasons, I don't mind The Sink in OWB either. By the time I get there and earn my personal "Farm & Factory" that is The Sink, I can get all that stuff somewhere in the wasteland anyway. The Sink just makes it easier and offers me the satisfaction of producing them myself. On the other hand, OWB also gives SPECIAL and poison immunity bonuses, which are maybe a bit too overpowered.

Yeah, the poison resist makes Cazadores significantly less threatening, I think. The SPECIAL bonuses you get are just STR points which are middling-to-marginal (mostly useful for carrying more shit and for weapon reqs). Not the worst stat they could have chosen for balance purposes, though.

 

[Trashos]

The SPECIAL bonuses you get are just STR points which are middling-to-marginal (mostly useful for carrying more shit and for weapon reqs). Not the worst stat they could have chosen for balance purposes, though.

You 've got a point. Still, the +2 Strength bonus is the reason why I reach the requirements for the antimateriel rifle with the characters I build (otherwise I would have to use alcohol, fixer, doctors etc). My main point is that OWB's bonuses are not available anywhere else in the game, while DM's are.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

You 've got a point. Still, the +2 Strength bonus is the reason why I reach the requirements for the antimateriel rifle with the characters I build (otherwise I would have to use alcohol, fixer, doctors etc). My main point is that OWB's bonuses are not available anywhere else in the game, while DM's are.

I will say that the Strength bonus basically saves a lot of characters from having to blow a perk on Weapon Handling (I used to suck it up and burn a perk on WH before OWB). WH isn't godawful if you like big shootiebangbangs like the CZ57 and such and don't want to blow too many SPECIAL points, but it isn't a "fun" perk and fun perks are always better choices if they can be afforded.

 

[Blaine]

Nah, OWB takes the cake. At any rate, I never remember having problems with money in the game (after the early game), not until I installed the economy overhaul anyway. Even with the economy overhaul, I don't have any problems after I raise Barter. So personally I don't see how DM breaks the balance.

Well, Weapon Repair Kits add 500-1500+ caps per Kit to the nominal value of mid- and high-tier weapons. A couple hundred repaired mid- and high-tier weapons later and you've afforded every weapon mod, unique weapon, and piles of every ammo type in the game. In fairness though, it does take some focus to abuse this to its fullest, such as a high Repair skill and at least a decent Barter skill. Jury Rigging helps too.

I agree though that OWB loads you down with special perks and implants, which is pretty OP. Frankly I feel I've earned them by the time I finish slogging through OWB's hordes of un-sneakable bullet sponges. To this day I fully believe OWB is bugged somehow, because during OWB enemies can sense you from miles off with 100 Sneak skill and Silent Running at night; whereas in DM, most types of Ghost People can't even see you at all past [CAUTION] if you're bumped right into them from the front with the same advantages. In the main game too, 100 Sneak and Silent Running are far more effective than in OWB.

Speaking of that, if there's one failing of New Vegas that isn't explicitly Bethesda's fault, it's how powerful certain stat and perk combinations are, and how many near-useless perks can be safely ignored. It handily outdoes Fallout and Fallout 2 in this regard, and encourages min-maxing. For example, you're almost certainly going to want END 7 or even 8 for implants, which for a couple tens of thousands of caps permanently increase a bunch of SPECIAL stats, grant +4 DT, and slow health regen. LCK is a gateway to riches through the casinos including Sierra Madre, as it well should be; combined with its importance in skill increments and crit chance, you wouldn't want it to be below 6 to start. Then there's STR, which you'll never want to start above 4 or 5 at the most due to implants and OWB perks, and Power Armor if going that route (but why would you, since Riot Armor is cool and Power Armor is barely any better than Medium for some reason?). CHA, as always, is a dump stat to some degree.

Diplosniper was the go-to power build in Fallout and Fallout 2, but New Vegas has its own version. It's good though that it's not really possible to max out every skill even by level 50, unless perhaps you have INT 8, Educated, and carefully metagame the skill books to ensure you snag most or all of them before maxing anything. At least, I don't think it is.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Something that gets me about OWB (and HH actually) is how easy it is to find scads of Sugar Bombs. They're honestly kind of a bitch to find in the Mojave, but in Zion or Big MT? They're all over the place (Big MT includes them in random loot tables too). DM allows you to buy them, but as far as getting them as loot I seriously never saw so many boxes of the things until HH.

EDIT: Out of curiosity I looked it up, apparently they can be snagged in a number of places in the Mojave, but I seriously never noticed them. I definitely don't remember Cliff Briscoe selling them.

 

[Blaine]

Oh, it's quite deliberate. New Vegas is incline overall, but they're still DLCs, and they still include a hook of player benefit to entice people to buy them.

Whereas they're rare in the Mojave, HH dumps literally hundreds of Broc Flowers and Xander Roots (and a bunch of other plants besides) on the player, which, if you lack the hundreds of Empty Syringes necessary to turn into Stimpaks (handily provided by OWB), can be crafted into a flipping Stimpak + Doctor's Bag combo using two other plants that HH provides in droves, with minimal Survival skill (20). HH is the "ubiquitous healing" DLC.

OWB provides a conveyor belt of certain resources, a player home, powerful implants, Battle Brew, and a few other benefits.

DM provides near-infinite repair kits, many types of drugs, junk food for powerful recipes if you're short on specific types, and the Holorifle, one of the most powerful and efficient energy weapons when upgraded. The other weapons are terrible both in stats and appearance, but it's a survival DLC, so the nerf to superpowered uber-equipment is understandable.

LR... not really sure anymore. All I remember about it is riot armor (no more powerful than the [very rare] riot armor in the base game), fireworks launcher, and existential crisis black duster man. I'd completely forgotten that an ED-E analogue plays a central role in it for example.

 

[Trashos]

Diplosniper was the go-to power build in Fallout and Fallout 2, but New Vegas has its own version. It's good though that it's not really possible to max out every skill even by level 50, unless perhaps you have INT 8, Educated, and carefully metagame the skill books to ensure you snag most or all of them before maxing anything. At least, I don't think it is.

Haven't played 50 level cap for a while, but I thought it should be easy to max or near-max almost everything at such a level cap. Here is my skill distribution in my last playthrough at the 35 cap of JSawyer (INT 7, 8 with the implant):

Spoiler

Barter 80
Energy 79
Explosives 75
Guns 100
Lockpick 100
Medicine 64
Melee 37
Repair 100
Science 100
Sneak 100
Speech 100
Survival 96
Unarmed 41

Didn't even take Educated or Skilled, but took Comprehension (+1 sp/book). I think this setup is already too convenient at a cap of 35, so I don't agree that the amount of skill points is OK for the level cap of 50. Simply put, with a cap of 50 and decent INT one doesn't have to plan much regarding skills.

For example, you're almost certainly going to want END 7 or even 8 for implants, which for a couple tens of thousands of caps permanently increase a bunch of SPECIAL stats, grant +4 DT, and slow health regen.

I am happy that they made Endurance useful. The only SPECIAL they fucked up badly is Charisma (agreed), I think the rest are ~OK.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

I am happy that they made Endurance useful. The only SPECIAL they fucked up badly is Charisma (agreed), I think the rest are ~OK.

I don't think I've ever had a companion lose their nerve on any of my low-CHA runs. I usually just leave CHA at 4-5 though because I'm not fond of minmaxing unless the game absolutely demands it. As for the regen implant (Monocyte Breeder), it's alright in regular, but really shines in Hardcore.

CHA has been the perennial Fallout dumpstat since the very first game (notable exception only in Fallout Tactics because of perks like Divine Favor and the rank system).

 

[Blaine]

Companions can't actually lose morale and flee in New Vegas. Never is just a straight-up percentage bonus to their damage and DT.

It's quite tricky to implement winning smile-type stats/perks/traits/feats into combat-heavy games while having them be equally desirable. New Vegas suffers more than F2 did because you get one companion and one pet, period, whereas in F2, you got one companion per 2 CHA (gameable with Mentats and Mirrored Shades, I believe). Also, both of the originals had more and more significant raw CHA checks.

There are a grand total of two CHA perks in New Vegas, fewer than in F3 despite the (I believe) series-highest massive number of perks in NV. The one potentially good one, Ferocious Loyalty, is ruined by requiring the Courier to be below 50% health before companions get the 50% DR boost. Two ranks each of 25% permanent companion DR each would have been much better.

It also annoys me that raw STR (or at least STR above requirements) doesn't add to melee and unarmed damage.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

Two ranks each of 25% permanent companion DR each would have been much better.

Especially for Rex, that poor dog can't stand up to much in a fight. Even if you get Lupa's brain for the DT bonus he crumples pretty quickly. Doesn't help that he's psychotically aggressive regardless of his Aggro/Passive setting and charges off constantly into fights he can't win.

In general, perks that state "you have to be under x% health for this to kick in" are garbage unless they provide you with emergency DR/DT/healing/speed. I don't know why they keep fucking making perks with that condition.

 

[Blaine]

I'll tell you what though, Raul with the Medicine Stick and hand-loaded 45-70 Gov't fucking murders the living shit-all fuck out everything even with just 4 CHA. With 10 CHA and 50% Nerve combined with Old Vaquero, his damage potential would be significantly higher than any Courier build using the Medicine Stick, and I imagine you could just walk anywhere you pleased and let him shoot everything.

 

[PorkBarrellGuy]

I'll tell you what though, Raul with the Medicine Stick and hand-loaded 45-70 Gov't fucking murders the living shit-all fuck out everything even with just 4 CHA. With 10 CHA and 50% Nerve combined with Old Vaquero, his damage potential would be significantly higher than any Courier build using the Medicine Stick, and I imagine you could just walk anywhere you pleased and let him shoot everything.

Yeah, Raul's the surprise killing machine ghoul basically (we all remember how ineffective Lenny was in combat). I'm pretty sure Vaquero Raul + Medicine Stick + HL ammo easily gives Boone + Gobi + HL ammo a run for his money (and Raul's funnier to have around most of the time/doesn't automatically go murderdeathkill on Legion). Raul does really well with the Mysterious Magnum + HL ammo as well (.44Mag HL ammo is really good). As a bonus, low weapon degradation with Raul in the party puts him head and shoulders above Boone for sheer utility. (Spotter is marginally useful when visibility is iffy, but beyond that it's a really garbage perk)

On a related tangent, Arcade's aim is seriously impressively terrible. I knew better than to try and give him something like the Q-35, because the AI can't hit things with plasma bolts for shit. Tried just about everything else though, including the mighty YCS/186 (which is ungodly accurate and powerful in the Courier's hands) and he seriously can't hit the broad side of a barn at times. No other follower I've run with was this bad. Veronica is a better shot.

 

[Blaine]

On a related tangent, Arcade's aim is seriously impressively terrible. I knew better than to try and give him something like the Q-35, because the AI can't hit things with plasma bolts for shit. Tried just about everything else though, including the mighty YCS/186 (which is ungodly accurate and powerful in the Courier's hands) and he seriously can't hit the broad side of a barn at times. No other follower I've run with was this bad. Veronica is a better shot.

My pet theory is that Joshcade Sawyon is an inobvious Josh Sawyer self-insert. He's homosexual (all modern progressives who are straight wish they were gay or trans, and also black), he's saddled with imperialist Enclave guilt, he's intelligent and witty, and he's part of the cool and smart hippy good guy faction that's out to help the downtrodden. Also, Arcade is extremely oversensitive to anything that he dislikes or disagrees with to a greater extent than any other companion, including Boone and Cass, suggesting that Josh might actually have a semblance of self-awareness—a true rarity for a progressive.

In keeping with this theme, since all guns are bad and should be banned, Arcade misses on purpose.

Arcade was written by Josh, so it's not like this is some massive revelation, but I rarely see it discussed.

 

[you know what time it is]

Probably was posted already, but there's a fairly extensive guide out there on modding. Which includes all of the necessary prep, like cfg fiddlery, installing appropriate tools and shit like that.

http://wiki.step-project.com/User:EssArrBee/FalloutNewVegas

 

[Blaine]

If I ever take the time to autism around with the necessary tools make a mod, it's gonna be one to make power armor not be a weak piece of shit.

The T-45d has the same DT as the fucking Desert Ranger riot gear you get at level 12 in Honest Hearts. Its only net benefit is 10% radiation resistance, but hey: It ends up weighing 5 lbs. less than the Desert Ranger gear, although that carry weight comes from the +2 STR that's in exchange for -2 AGL.

It's so fucking dumb, it beggars the imagination. There are numerous rebalance mods out there I'm sure, but I doubt any of them fix it properly. It might be impossible to really fix due to the way the game mechanics work.

In my view, small-arms fire doesn't do shit to power armor, not the 20% minimum, but 0%, armor-piercing or not. You need to get up to .50 MG, 45-70 Gov't., and 12.7mm AP ammo before appreciable damage begins to get through. It's more vulnerable to energy weapons, but still a high threshold. It's not actual tank armor though, so normal explosives and the like would still be quite effective.

"We outnumbered the Brotherhood at HELIOS One 20:1 but we still lost a lot of men!" How? Did they trip and fall into a fissure in the Earth? For a game that does logical and natural world-building so well, asking me to pretend that power armor isn't pre-nerfed and that it can turn 20:1 odds into a merely lopsided conflict in this universe is a real eye-roller.

Custom scripts perhaps to ward off most small-arms fire completely (but such rounds still reduce the armor's condition; maybe crits or the occasional lucky round find chinks), coupled with DR on top of DT (that doesn't stack too exploitatively/at all with chems DR), and tweaked DT values for what does get through would be good.

 

[Master]

I am happy that they made Endurance useful. The only SPECIAL they fucked up badly is Charisma (agreed), I think the rest are ~OK.

Perception sucks...

 

[Blaine]

Well, don't forget that Perception is necessary for some perk prerequisites.

Otherwise... same complaint I have about Strength making absolutely no difference in weapon damage. Funnily enough though, not meeting the Strength requirements for a rifle actually reduces its accuracy incrementally, regardless of skill level or Perception.

And then there are non-explosive throwing weapons, which cost almost as much as .50 MG explosive ammo to replenish, weigh more, have far less range, and do far less damage, venom or no venom. I suppose that's realistic (just like hit points!), but at least make them dirt-cheap and craftable. They're fun, though.

 

[Trashos]

Perception sucks...

I know that a lot of people have this opinion, but I don't get it. You see the enemies before they see you, how is that not powerful?

There is the problem with ED-E making personal Perception useless, but that's ED-E's issue, not Perception's.

 

[Perkel]

Honestly speaking TTW is imo the definitive experience. Play rpg in mojave and kill EVERYTHING in capital wasteland. It works so good if you hated Fallout 3.

 

[Master]

Perception sucks...

I know that a lot of people have this opinion, but I don't get it. You see the enemies before they see you, how is that not powerful?

There is the problem with ED-E making personal Perception useless, but that's ED-E's issue, not Perception's.

You(the player) see them anyway, even with low Perception, even if you have 1 Perception. Theres only a minor difference between having lowest and highest PE in the game. And it modifies energy weapons which doesn't even make sense.

 

[Trashos]

You(the player) see them anyway, even with low Perception, even if you have 1 Perception. Theres only a minor difference between having lowest and highest PE in the game.

That's not my experience with it. At great PE, I get red marks that I don't see unless I spend time with my scoped rifle (provided that the landscape permits it). But looking through the scope all the time is not very practical.

Of course, I am not claiming that PE is amazing or anything (no stat is have-or-die in New Vegas), but it is as decent as the rest of them (CHA excluded).

 

[Master]

Afaik even though it says so on NV wiki, distances of ticks are actually always the same, only the number of them increases(pretty lame). Either that or the lower PE ticks are too close to viewdistance limit, ie it's too unbalanced to matter.