Fallout 4

[Art Blade]

cheers

Walking around with enough confidence to take on bears and deathclaws with nothing but a sharp knife is actually funny. Well. I'm level 132 and got a lot of perks that make life easier now without godmode. But still. I don't think I ever ran around in FO3 and FO4 without god mode until now. It's new.

[fragger]

Well done on the completion, Art I have no idea how far along I've gotten with that as I never check it. Where do you check that, btw? If it's on Steam, well, I never play online so I guess I'll never know... I also don't bother about achievements and such. I'm not knocking them you understand, they just don't interest me

Did you get the "Quantum" upgrade schematic for mini-nukes from Bradburton's office in Nuka-World? Combined with the special, double-shot "Big Boy" Fat Man you can buy from Arturo in Diamond City, it makes for a kick-*bleep* weapon You'll need as many bottles of Nuka Quantum as you can find - or at least, one for each mini-nuke in your supply that you want to upgrade via Chemistry Station. But you probably know all this already

Interesting to see a totally different play style from my own. I still almost never use V.A.T.S., except sometimes for scanning. I never did like it much... I guess I'm a "traditionalist" in that I prefer to do my own aiming and fighting Using V.A.T.S. for knife takedowns (with the corresponding Perks maxed) makes things a bit too non-challenging for my tastes - like, the enemy is about thirty feet away, but then suddenly you're right there on top of them I very rarely use melee weapons for that matter, and if I run out of ammo with a baddie in my face and don't have a chance to reload or switch, I bash them up with whatever weapon I'm still holding. There's a kind of "finishing move" your guy does if you kill a human enemy while gun-bashing them: there's the usual "backhand" bash with the swing from right-to-left, hitting them with the side of the butt, but if that turns out to be the fatal blow, it's automatically followed up with a swing back the other way, with the end of the butt to the face. It's like, "whomp - smack!" It's quite satisfying to take a bad guy out that way.

I do sometimes like socking Ghouls with a Power Fist though, for variety's sake. Like in the Super-Duper Mart in Lexington. I enjoy a good clobberfest in there


Once you get well up in Perks and have well-modded weapons and gear, you can pretty much go anywhere without concern. The beginning and early stages of the game are the hardest, when you emerge from Vault 111 with no Perks, no armour, a blank map, and just a basic, unmodified 10mm Pistol and a Security Baton for weapons (and your bare fists). At that time, even a run-in with a single low-level Raider can get you dead if you aren't careful, especially if you play on anything above Easy level (I'm currently playing on Normal, or whatever the middle level is called). In this 'thru, I ventured as far south as Walden Pond while on about Level 3 and spotted a Yao Guai, luckily before he spotted me. Shooting him with an un-modded 10mm Pistol at that point would have just irked him, so I'm not ashamed to say that I ran away, quickly. Discretion is the better part of valour - in other words, I see the red skull, I run

I actually enjoy the getting of stuff to barter with for building materials and such, as it lends a kind of strategic aspect to the game. I sometimes even sell excess materials which aren't used much, like Acid, Antiseptic and Bone. Purified Water brings in some good caps too, which I always seem to end up with an excess of. Thank heavens for shipments, especially Concrete - I'd be lost without those. I always carry my "trading outfit" around with me, which consists of Black-rimmed Glasses, a Militia Hat and Reginald's Suit, all of which add 5 to my Charisma when I put them on, to bring prices down for trading purposes. And every once in a while, for a big deal, I'll pop a Grape Mentat so that I can sell for 10% higher and buy for 10% lower (and push my Charisma up even higher). I also carry around an Addictol or a Radscorpion Omelette in case I get hooked on the 'tats. In my current game I've yet to get the Perk that negates drug addiction, can't remember what that's called off the top of my head.

IMO, the toughest parts of the game to play without God mode are (in no particular order): the final fight inside the Mechanist's Lair, cleaning out the ruins of Quincy (with that bloody stealth robot), going Open Season in Nuka-World, or any part of Far Harbor. I wouldn't recommend anyone take on any of those until they're at Level 50 at least. Particularly in NW and FH, where the enemies are tough. And those giant Hermit Crabs in FH that wear half a truck for a shell Fortunately there's only three or four of them altogether. But there's a unique one which lurks somewhere in the SE part of the island, near some houses - I think he's an "Albino" or something. That bugger looks to be a bit bigger than the others, and is a real handful to take out without some pretty heavy-duty weaponry. A Fat Man, a quad-barreled Missile Launcher, a few Nuke Grenades and maybe a hit of Psycho recommended. And a Spray-and-Pray for taking out the littlies it sends at you - but try not to let them get too close...

[Art Blade]

thanks, fragger

Achievements/completion thereof: yep, steam, library. You don't have to play online, just allow steam to connect so FO4 can upload your progress and steam will show the achievements.

As to the Thirst Zapper upgrade:

"In the secure beverageer lab beneath the World of Refreshment, near Rex Meacham's skeletal remains, on a table. The location is accessible after restoring the park's main power in the quest Power Play or after Open Season."
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Project_Cobalt_schematics

For the short cut, you need to take a lift which requires the power to be restored in Nuka World, and I chose that way. It led me to areas I had been to before. I can't say whether or not you can access it without restoring the power first, I didn't bother to try a different route. All I wanted was to get it and get it over with

As to VATS, it's a perfect assist that helps me overcome my bad eyesight with ease. You may have heard the clicking sound all the while: I keep "pinging" the area with the VATS key in order to lock on to enemies which will happen if there are any. Like that, it's less likely that they'll surprise me but instead, a whole lot more likely that I can surprise them. Overpowered? Hell, why would I want to take chances if I don't have to? More fun fighting conventionally? Only if it's fun to risk one's life. Sure, sometimes I do that, but not in general. If I fight, I fight to kill, and the quicker the better. Like, instantly. There are still situations when it doesn't w0#k like that which is when I'll have to fight conventionally, without VATS. Can be fun if I'm more kitted out and stronger than the opponent, can be bothersome if not. Essentially, enemies are walking loot containers to me. The longer it takes to loot them, the more annoying. I don't fight because I love to, I fight because the other idiots want me dead. I much rather turn the tables. (Hey, that doesn't refer to being a DJ)

Also, I keep a very high perception value to make my VATS as sensitive and far-reaching as possible. Almost all my gear adds to the perception stats so I can "see" and aim better and farther with VATS. Almost means, I changed a perception hat to a strength and endurance hat because without godmode it adds to melee and carrying weight and I use up less of my AP when running.

[fragger]

That's the beauty of this game - it really does let you play it your way. Many games that make that kind of claim don't often live up to it. This one does, giving you the tools to build your character into what you want to be. If you like stealth and sneaking around, you can make yourself into quite the silent assassin; if you like a high-tech or long-range targeting approach, you can concentrate on developing your V.A.T.S. skills; if you like up-close-and-personal stabbing, clubbing and thumping (or hacking, whacking and smacking ), you can become an accomplished biff merchant; or if you're the gung-ho, go-in-guns-blazing type, you can build yourself up into a lean mean assault machine. Or you can go for a mixture of some or all the above.

Then there are all your tactical choices. You have your carrying weight limit (and you can even concentrate on improving that - I've been able to get mine up to 625 with the right Perks, a weights workout and appropriately modded Power Armour). Do you use it to lug an arsenal around with you, or do you arm yourself with a few good weapons and leave plenty of room for loot and scavenge? Do you bring a friend to help with the lugging and fighting, or do you go it alone? Do you Power Armor yourself up into a metal juggernaut, or do you don light armour and rely on stealth and agility to dodge trouble? Do you want to be a day person or a night person, and build up the Perks that enhance either choice? Do you want to go for getting wildlife to do your bidding, or make radiation your best friend? Do you want to try becoming the Lord of the Robots, or w0#k on intimidating your enemies into meek acquiescence? The combinations and possibilities seem almost endless. Even the myriad ways you can modify your weapons and armour allow you to tailor them to suit your preferred approach. I think it's the most flexible game I've ever played.

There are many Perks and choices that I haven't even tried yet, even after a year of playing. Enough for a lot of playthroughs...

How you play it is all up to you. You could give the game to a hundred different people and they'd play it a hundred different ways. It's a true sandbox and I love it

[Art Blade]

yep It's great freedom you get in this game regarding gaming preferences.

Here fragger (and D_B) a test against the same bear, with and without VATS and a few different weapons. I am NOT using any mods for combat, armour or weapons, it's all perk-related.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah I never liked the laser gatling guns, seems like they are all show and no damage.

Some of the stuff in my builds are from mods. The display racks for Nuka Cola bottles and the recipes are, even though they are in game, the mod just allows the stuff to be placed on them.

The power armor with the giddyup buttercup heads all over it is from the creation workshop when they had it for free.

[Art Blade]

ahhhh! alright

[Art Blade]

currently I'm busy with something that I've never tried before: a production line. With sorters, conveyor belts, hoppers and all that. Interesting stuff but it's not exactly self-explanatory and easy. Trial and error, and fun

[Art Blade]

essentially, it's nonsense. Takes a huge amount of space to produce something you don't really need and most things that can be produced are not worth more than the stuff needed to produce them.

DISCARDED. 

[fragger]

Yeah, the manufacturing machines are pretty pointless, except for the Armor Forge, which I like for producing Heavy Combat Armor for my settlement guard-duty people. Even then, you can't choose which armor parts to produce - they come out randomly, so you might put in enough resources to manufacture 5 pieces, but get something like 3 chest pieces and two right arms Still, what I don't need I can sell.

The ammo one can be handy early in the game as I often find myself running short of shotgun shells at first, and I like my shotties After a while though, it's no longer needed.

Since I bumped up the difficulty level, I find that I'm not drowning in ammo like I was on Easy mode. I actually have to try and conserve a bit. My favourite weapon (before getting to NW) is actually the humble Combat Rifle, but after I re-chambered it to take 308 ammo, I sometimes run dry. Then I use an Assault Rifle until I can build my store of 308 back up. I like the Combat Rifle because I can stick a bayonet on it - which I can't do with the Assault Rifle - and I like the sound of it better. Once it's modded up, the Combat Rifle is harder-hitting than the Assault Rifle. The trade-off is that the AR can have the much larger drum magazine fitted, and thus requires less, and faster, reloading.

I like energy weapons too, but sometimes old-fashioned bullets are best. And sometimes, the brute force of a Combat Shotgun can be the best face-to-face argument-winner

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah I never did much with the machines either. You can see the remnants of what I did in the vault 88 part of the video I posted. There was more to it than that, I took some of it down to make room and left the rest. I only set it up to get the achievement for making 100 of a thing, and also used a mod, I think, which had a machine to take things apart. So I ran a conveyor belt from the machine making things to the machine that took them apart, then ran a belt back into the first machine where the raw materials went back into making more of the thing. That way I only needed enough raw material for a dozen or so of the thing and just let them recycle through the system a bunch of times. As I recall it only took about 5 minutes of running it in a circle like that to get the achievement.

[Art Blade]

I created a lot of different things after my achievement, which by the way were 100 Preserved InstaMash boxes.

Then I dismantled everything.

[Art Blade]

here a little adventure with Strong in Far Harbor. Although I didn't like Strong, recent discussions here made me give it another shot. And he blew it:

When Strong failed to save Dogmeat from getting massacred and then disliked the fact that I administered a stimpack to Dogmeat to get him back up again, it was time for Strong to go. That was one green thing. And then we found what we came here for.. the green Vim power armour.

[fragger]

How were you able to have two companions at once? Is that another mod?

[Art Blade]

yes. It allows you to keep Dogmeat at all times (unless you dismiss him) and you may recruit any one additional companion. Technically, Dogmeat isn't a typical companion: you cannot build a relationship (i.e. you can't romance him) and also, the "lone wanderer" perk works while you have Dogmeat around and therefore I consider him a pet dog, not a companion. Imagine you had a dog and met a girl. "Sorry girl, it's either the dog or you and I'll keep the dog." Or you had a girlfriend and found a dog. "Sorry girl, I'll take that dog home which means 'good-bye' to you." Well, not exactly funny.. you'd much rather walk the dog out with that girl by your side or whatever, but you definitely wouldn't want to trade in one for the other but keep both. With the mod, it works just that way.

So I can either have any one companion AND Dogmeat, or just Dogmeat, or any one companion WITHOUT Dogmeat. I can use any of the previous options at any time. Essentially, I like to have Dogmeat around and sometimes a companion, too. Sometimes I just dismiss all of them and run around alone, but not for long. I dismiss Dogmeat if I don't want that dog to set off all the alarms and alert every enemy around, like when I want to play stealthily. But usually I have him around. Sometimes I think, hey, lets have a companion like Valentine or a robot, so the two of them trudge along. Really, I think it's a very nice mod and the way it should be