Fallout 4

[Art Blade]

yep.. I found it underwhelming when I got it.

[fragger]

It's not bad to have early in the game, but agreed, there are much better options later on. Like one of those AK-ish "handmade" weapons modded up for sniping. I had a beauty last game, it was a low-recoil Legendary semi-auto which I juiced up, fitted with a long sniper scope and a sound suppressor. I could knock down just about anything in very short order with that

[mandru]

Sounds like the luck 'o' the drop fragger. 

I know for myself getting leveled up enough to go after Kremvh's Tooth in my last game (2nd uncompleted) was a priority for my stealth build.  It was the powerful sneak attacks I drew that made it something I was planning on obtaining this round as well.

However, I was fortunate enough early on in this game to receive the drop of an electrified Chinese officer's sword which was maxed on all possible mods within the first hour of game play.  It was purely a matter of being in the right place at the right time and successfully killing the right enemy.  While this sword is not even legendary it consistently delivers monster hits which was especially helpful through my early levels.  When I finally reached stat lvl 85 and went after Kremvh's Tooth I gave the two blades a thorough side by side comparison. 

Kremvh's Tooth went straight into storage. 

[Art Blade]

hehe

I keep using one of those NW knives, serrated for bleeding effect. If you ahem, get, a legendary version of it, it's essentially the mother of all knives. It turned that other knife into "Kremvh's Toothpick." 

[mandru]

... It turned that other knife into "Kremvh's Toothpick." 

[fragger]

I never bothered much with stealth in my first playthroughs, but this time I am, so I've started acquiring stealth-related Perks. I've maxed out the "Sneak" Perk and just acquired Deacon's special "Cloak and Dagger" Perk (yep, I met up with the Railroad before meeting Preston this time around). With those, combined with Muffled/Shadowed Combat Armor, I'm like a regular shadow in the night - and day

[Art Blade]

I had maxed out every possible perk and all kinds of stats related to stealth and you may remember my vids showing how devastating my knife stealth attacks were. "Silenced" firearms are so much more powerful than without "silencer" with those perks that I can't imagine not going on full stealth.

[mandru]

In my last play through I ran into a glitch in the Nuka World repeatable side quest Amoral Combat.  I had maxed several key skills before arriving in Nuka World working under the premise that the best Defense is an insanely overpowered Offense. 

Dead enemies can't shoot back. 

I'd maxed Sneak for surprise attack bonuses (in Mister Sandman +50% Damage), Heavy Gunner (2X D), Ninja (3.5X D), Rifleman (2X D), Lone Wanderer (+25% D), and Better Criticals (2.5X D).  Critical Banker was also in play as I had a couple spare critical shots ready on hand.  Also there were probably a few of the perks granted from Bobble heads and Magazines I'd collected but I don't recall the added buffs that were being stacked into the mix when I broke the quest Amoral Combat.

Entering the Arena I wanted to make a quick kill so I was wearing a set of fully upgraded X0-1 PA with a Targeting helmet and a stealth boy equipped torso.  I was crouched so my opponent would not be able to see me to give me time to make the first shot with an upgraded Legendary Instigating Gauss rifle.  That rifle had a 2X Damage value on any target with full health.  Sure it wasn't, as if I needed any additional insult to injury for the deadly cocktail of buffed up perks I was already sporting but it was Mae West who said "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." 

The door on the other side of the arena opened and my opponent was revealed to be a Gunner Commander.  They are typically outfitted in T-45A PA without a helmet as was he.  This was a perfect treat for me as it gave me a much desired opportunity to deliver a head shot without damaging the PA pieces that I would be adding to my growing collection. 

Since my Stealth Boy torso was engaged my opponent hesitated in the vestibule where upon I kicked into VATS and nailed him before he had a chance to blink and that was what killed the Amoral Combat for me.

I can only speculate but because he had not stepped out into the floor of the combat zone the quest could not properly acknowledge my win or even a loss making it unable to proceed beyond that point for the event as a completed/fail.  Even applying one of the known triggers to push the Amoral Combat quest forward to be able to get to fight the Rogue Knight and acquire his legendary weapon failed to deliver me any more opponents.

In my current game I was careful to avoid the temptation of a quick kill and always draw the enemies out onto the game floor proper before I even fire a shot.  I did once try luring one stubborn opponent out of the staging room by squirting them with a Thirst Zapper in an attempt to anger them but had to finally get behind them and bump them a few times before they engaged and realized the fight was on.

Having completed Open Season, restoring the power plant, and unlocking the Red Rocket settlement I will still occasionally trigger Immoral Combat when entering Nuka Town by way of the Southern Entrance.  The enemies generated at this point of the game are all standard raiders and Super Mutants all of them so far have been non-legendary.


One oddity that I had in this side quest this time around was when finally encountering the Rogue Knight he hesitated entering onto the arena.  I tried applying the 'get behind and push' technique to get things rolling.  When I got close I was surprised to see that the "Talk to..." option appeared.  So I tried talking to him and he was affable and apparently fairly chatty as if he didn't realize that his sole purpose was to die and give me his Legendary weapon Aeternus, T-60 PA, and other various loot.

I didn't feel too bad about being the one who had to take the first shot but still it was quite the "Huh?" moment. 

[Art Blade]

  weird, but nice

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah strange. I saw that it updated recently so I waited for the new F4SE and booted it up to make sure it ran OK. Something must be wonky as my save game won't load while running F4SE, but will load with mods under the normal launcher. Then I can save a game which is marked as modded, then quit and load F4SE and load that game and it will w0#k with all the rest of the mods loaded. Strange. If I was playing more I'd look more closely into it, probably one of the mods needs an update if there is one, if not, finding the one that causes it would be a chore.

[fragger]

I don't know what's going on there at the Arena, mandru. As it turns out, I just completed Open Season myself and restored the park power (and am now preparing to get a large settlement going at the Red Rocket). I previously drew a few Amoral Combat missions and the second opponent of such (the Super Mutant "Rage") didn't make it through the door into the arena. As soon as his door opened, I let him have four Missiles in quick succession from my Legendary quad-tube launcher (which does +50% damage against SMs) and blew him to smithereens before he could even get into the arena. It still registered as a win, so I don't think it matters whether opponents make it onto the arena floor or not. Rage certainly didn't

I think one of the iffiest locations in NW is Robco Battlezone in the Galactic Zone. During the course of four playthroughs, only twice has it worked the way it's supposed to, which is that when you enter the robot battle area to get the Star Cores from within it, the door is supposed to seal behind you and not open again until you have successfully defeated all the robot battle contestants which emerge from the doors around the room. On two occasions, that hasn't happened, i.e. there was no recorded announcer's voice, no battlebots, and the doors for them to come through stayed firmly shut. I've just walked in, gotten the Star Cores out of the console, then walked back out again without incident. It worked properly this time around, btw.

Here's my new dedicated stealth suit:

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It's the Marine Wetsuit and Tactical Helmet from Far Harbor with Muffled Shadowed Combat Armor on top (except for the Chest Piece. I've come to the conclusion that there is no such thing as a M/S Chest, so this one is Shadowed paired with Ultra-Light Build). Arms are of the "Sturdy" level of M/S Armor, the legs are "Regular". I don't yet have a complete pair of legs in either the "Sturdy" or "Heavy" M/S formats, just one of each for the same leg. With the "Sneak" Perk maxed (plus a couple of other stealth-oriented ones), nobody hears me coming in this get-up. I cleaned out the whole of Corvega Car Plant in this suit without getting spotted (I went in through the drainpipe in the basement and worked my way upstairs).


EDIT: mandru, I just had a thought. If you're able to lift him, can you pick your opponent's body up and carry it into the arena? Maybe if you drop it on the floor, the mission will tick over. It's a long shot though - I would have thought that the death of the opponent would trigger the mission ending, not where they died.

I know it's not what's happening in your case, but the Amoral Combat missions cease to appear once you've completed Open Season. I'm sure you know that already though.

[mandru]

Nice stealth outfit fragger. 

It was a previous trip through Nuka World on a now dead computer where the Arena got gummed up so there's no going back to check it.  I had a glitch going on with being unable to move faster than a slow creep in PA so rather than risk importing a bugged save into a new build and fresh reinstall of FO4 I erased all previous save files so I could start out fresh once again.


I've completed Open Season this play through and restarted the power plant.  I like to have my settlements completed and ready to move in before switching on the recruitment beacon to attract settlers so all beds, shops and other various happiness generators have been installed at the N/W Red Rocket settlement complex.

Subsequently I've drawn in seven settlers who've been re-outfitted (armor and weapons) and put to w0#k.  Now awaiting for more to trickle in.

There's also a brahmin, four dogs, and four cats under foot too.


I like the food trough that becomes available in the Nuka World accessories.  Compared to the wonky bathtub feeder it looks a lot cleaner and sits level.  Whether the brahmins prefer one over the other I can't tell as they are keeping their opinion to themselves.

[Art Blade]

bugger, they're a secretive breed, aren't they

Regarding that arena and the Battlezone, I don't recall having had issues there. I too killed raiders before they could set a foot into the arena and still it counted and in the Battlezone, I remember playing that at least twice the way it was supposed to.

[mandru]

 

[fragger]

I like to have my settlements completed and ready to move in before switching on the recruitment beacon to attract settlers

I'm the same