Fallout 4

[Dweller_Benthos]

Are we talking about the big, dome-shaped nuclear reactor from the vault-tec DLC? I built at least one of those and it never blew up either. But then, that was late in my game and it wasn't really in game for very long before I stopped playing.

[Art Blade]

yep, the biggest thing there is, you need two storeys to completely wall it up and I think it's 2x2 floor tiles wide.

I used them early on and for long.

[fragger]

I've done all of the main activities and quests in Nuka-World now, short of going Open Season on the gangs. I just need to snaffle the last couple of outstanding Star Cores. STILL haven't met Preston nor any of the main faction people yet.

I maxed out Gage's affinity and took him to Sanctuary intending to dismiss him and send him to the unlocked but as-yet uninhabited Hangman's Alley, with the idea of getting him out of the way when I go Open Season on Nuka-World's scumbag population, but when I dismissed him I didn't get an option to send him anywhere. He just left, saying, "You know where to find me" and wandered off, presumably back to NW and the Fizztop Grille (haven't checked on his whereabouts yet). So it looks like I'll still have to top him along with all the others when the time comes. I thought possibly that if he were alone at Hangman's when I did Open Season, I'd go to him afterwards and there might be a one-on-one showdown with him or something. But evidently Gage can't be excluded from NW in the event of an Open Season brouhaha. C'est la guerre.

This time, before tackling Kiddie Kingdom, I first went into Bradberton because in my last playthrough, I found Oswald's dead missus, Rachel, in a ruined house with a Holotape near her which detailed what had happened to her (she never found a cure and took her own life rather than turn into a Feral). So this time, when it came time for the final meeting with Oswald, there was an option to give him Rachel's Holo. This induced him to leave Nuka-World with no speech checks and a minimum of fuss. He still gave me his hat and sword on his way out.

So now I'm on Level 55, got some formidable Power Armor (XO1 Mk VI), a few choice "hand-made" weapons, and Mr. Bradberton's Nuka Fat Man (plus the schematics for making my own Quantum Mini-nukes). Next, once I get the remaining Star Cores, I'll declare Open Season and have a big lowlife cull, then power up the park, get that last Star Core from the tower, open up the diorama and grab that sweet blue Quantum XO1 PA suit. Then maybe I'll rock into Concord wearing it, armed to the teeth with major weapons and an attitude.

If those Raiders in Concord had any idea of what was going to be coming their way in the near future, they'd skedaddle quick smart if they knew what was good for them

I only recently tried, for the first time, modding a PA suit to have rocket-assisted jumping. Why didn't I try this sooner? It's great, I can get to all sorts of places that I couldn't reach before. Drains the Core a bit quicker when in use, but it's worth it for the extra exploratory ability It's almost like having a whole extra map to explore. I've been bounding all over the rooftops like a giant metal cricket

[Dweller_Benthos]

I wonder if they patched the Oswald quest, because I had the tape from Rachel and wasn't given an option to give it to him. I had to fight it out with him. Was a bit of a bummer you couldn't tell him what happened to her.

A jetpack for power armor is great, you can get so many places, some that are only accessible that way, or easily, anyway. There's a hideout on top of Diamond City you can check out, among other things.

[fragger]

Maybe they did fix the Oswald mission. I couldn't say because this was the first time I'd had Rachel's Holo on hand to give to him (the option was a "down-arrow" one but didn't appear until after an exchange or two). I also managed to avoid fighting him the first two times, but I think only by managing to pass a red speech check.

Funny you mention that DC hideout D_B, I found it last night.

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From there, I started jumping all around the rooftops of Diamond City, or as much of them as I was able to.
Interesting lights, must be the new "super flat" model.

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I then tried to jump across into the upper stands, but apparently you aren't supposed to do that.
Here's what DC looks like from up there. Oh dear... Looks like DC disappeared into a giant sinkhole which then refilled itself.
So did almost all of Greater Boston, evidently.

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I think one of the glitchiest missions in the game (or in NW, anyway) is the one with the Hubologists. Every time I play that one, something goes kablooie: cult members get stuck enroute to the junkyard, or they won't all get into the ship, or they start running back and forth when they get there instead of clustering around their leader when they're supposed to, etc. The first time I played this mission there was a hiccup or two, but it concluded properly. Second time I played, as soon as the ride in the ship stopped, all the cult members dropped dead In both of my two previous games, one of the cult members got killed by a Radscorpion on the way to the junkyard - the same cult member on each occasion - and apparently it was expected because when we got to the ship, the leader had a line about so-and-so not making it. This time though, they all made it, and there were no Radscorpions along the way - just a few Bloodworms - but one of them got held up somewhere. I didn't notice at first because I was used to one of them dying enroute and thus expected five of them to be at the ship including Dara, but when they all stood around outside the ship in their wheel arrangement and did nothing, I went looking. Sure enough, one of them was still way back at the bridge near the camp, and only started running towards the junkyard when I got close. THEN it all worked properly, once he got there.

In each playthrough, I've had to reload this mission at least once to get it to come out right. It does finally, but there always seems to be some sort of hassle with it.

[mandru]

fragger I noticed that you didn't mention the Thirst Zapper as one of the impressive obtained items from NW.

That led me to wonder if you were aware that the Thirst Zapper was capable of being upgraded to fire Nuka blasts ammo you can make at a chemistry workshop if you've got the proper perks and enough of the right Nuka Cola products.  Those rapid fire shots are something like short range ultra-mini nukes.

Definitely not something you want to equip on a companion or a settler.  Even in my hands I've learned to use the Nuka Zapper with extreme discretion. 

Too many times I've popped a roving band of Rust Devils with it but it turns out that one hit is not enough to take out the entire group.  Which means that if you hit them with another blast it's even odds that you won't find any remains of enemies killed with the first shot.  You don't want to have it equipped while defending a settlement or in a town where a fight may arise around innocent civilians.

It's funny how a solitary target with any explosive ranged weapon will pretty much fall down dead where you shot them.  They may be in bits but you're not having to beat the bushes hoping to find a large enough remaining scrap to be able to loot them.  A previously dead body when hit with the same weapon tears apart and flies to the winds.

Now a conflict that occurs some place indoors where walls contain the splatter (like the interior of Gunner Plaza) is a another whole proposition. 

The NW smart grenades are pretty interesting as well. 

[fragger]

Thanks for the tips, mandru I did know about the Thirst Zapper's capabilities, it's just one of the many things I haven't gotten around to experimenting with yet, along with smart and MIRV grenades. As stated earlier, I only just tried out rocket-assisted jumping for the first time - after only about eight months of play Sounds good, I'll see if I have the necessary Perks and such to set the Zapper up thus.

Nuka-World is now done and dusted. Power to the park is back on, I have six complete sets of XO1 PA and I have accumulated a not-so-small arsenal of captured "handmade" weapons of various configs. Over time, I'll start equipping my settlers with them.

Man, a beefed-up handmade converted into a fully automatic "submachinegun" style makes a wicked room-clearer To get the gangsters cleaned out of the NW marketplace fast and without hitting any bystanders, I popped a Psycho right before I opened the door and followed that up with a Jet once I was inside. This made it a breeze to pick out the bad guys, quickly and accurately mow them down with the automatic handmade (henceforth known as "The Persuader") while avoiding any Trader casualties. I got all but one baddie in the initial "rush", and that last guy was easy to nail as he was off by himself. I used the same approach to render Cappy's Cafe enemy-free without offing any civvies. The Jet wore off before I could get them all on that occasion, but then I holed up in the dunny and let the last couple come to me to receive their comeuppances in the doorway.

Must be a drag to snuff it face-down on a dirty toilet floor. Not good for one's health at all... It's like when I loot a dead Ghoul and find a cigarette on them. I want to say, "Don't you know cigarettes are bad for you?"

Getting back to our earlier brief discussion of sniper rifles,
I found this to be a pretty good alternative to the more common variants - a "handmade" converted into a sniper rifle.
(I appropriated the name from the Japanese moniker for the Bristol Beaufighter aircraft used by British and Australian air forces during WW2).

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It has more hitting power than a "standard" sniper rifle, however it still won't drop tougher enemies with a single shot even to the head, but by dint of its rapid-fire semi-auto nature and having had the best anti-recoil barrel and stock mods applied, what it may lack in punch it makes up for with rapidity. With anti-recoil mods plus suppressor it is extremely controllable, allowing me to accurately place four or five rounds into a target at long range in very quick succession. It'll take down a Gunner Commander in no time, and with a 75-round Quick Eject Drum Mag, I can plug away with it for a good while before having to reload.

So old Reba II has been retired now that I've gotten hold of this baby

[Art Blade]

I think one of the glitchiest missions in the game (or in NW, anyway) is the one with the Hubologists. [...] Second time I played, as soon as the ride in the ship stopped, all the cult members dropped dead

They drop dead when you don't follow the order "5 fuses" to make the UFO ready: if you fill the fuse box with 6, then it's one too many and you sentence those Hubbies to death. Getting into the UFO for them is like entering a massive washing machine with the spin-drying maxed out to lethal levels

Spin-off.
Hubbies feel like puking before they get torn up.
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[mandru]

So basically...

Spoiler

... fragger scrubbed the hubs. 

[fragger]

lol mandru

I'm pretty sure the game's "Hubologists" are the devs' way of sending up Scientology, judging by Dara's description of their "religion", her talk about "Zetans", and so forth.

Hub. From the name of Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard?

[Art Blade]

that had crossed my mind, too

[fragger]

I finally met up with the Minutemen and got them to Sanctuary. The Concord mission was a breeze with advanced weapons and me being at Level 70 already

Once I got them to Sanctuary, I did the obligatory couple of settlement missions for Preston, then he brought up retaking the Castle. Since I'd already cleared it out quite a while ago, a dialogue option appeared where I could tell him that I'd already done so. He said, "Are you serious?" followed by something like, "Things just got a whole lot simpler!" He still told me to meet him there, so I met up with him and three other Minutemen at the ruined cafe just outside the Castle, as per usual. But then we just walked into the place without having to fire a shot. I built a temporary genny, hooked up the radio and the mission was accomplished

So I have Preston and all three Minutemen there already with no losses, and the three Minutemen will become future guard units once I get the settlement going.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I always liked that, having a mission done and they tell you about it and you can then snap back that it was taken care of a while ago. Makes them think about you in a different light, or so I think in a role-play sort of way.

[LowPolyOWG]

That weapon of yours looks like a SVD mashed together with a 75 round RPK drum mag. So, a sniper that doubles as a sniper and LMG 

[fragger]

D_B, it was even easier with Sturges once we got to Sanctuary, where I already had a thriving settlement of 15 people going. He was saying, "We'll need beds". Done. "We'll need fresh water". Done. "We'll need some defenses". Done. All completed without moving from the spot while we were both standing on the old bridge, before Sturges had even set foot in the settlement

GKID, Yeah, it does look like an SVD It's a fast-action semi-auto so it fires quickly, as fast as I can "pull the trigger", so to speak, and it's been modified to have as little recoil as possible, so I can accurately put about half a dozen rounds into a bad guy within a second. The recoil of the regular "sniper rifles" in the game is quite brutal. They generally kick like mules, and as Art mentioned, they're somewhat underpowered, so all they usually accomplish is to merely damage a bad guy and give him/her time to get behind cover before you can steady the rifle for another shot. With this baby, they get repeatedly staggered off-balance until they fall. It's like "PAF-PAF-PAF-PAF-PAF  -  plop" The almost complete absence of recoil means the targets stay in the scope the whole time - I often don't even need to hold my breath if the targets aren't too far away.