Fallout VII - Vault-Tec calling

[druid91]

Chase is the second female I wish they had made romanceable.

I never really interacted with her. On my first run I was too busy slaughtering Far Harbor for being heretics. My second run broke probably something to do with ignoring the defense of the hull and just running out into the wild.

And I dusted off my first character to give it another go. The Director of the Institute is coming to town.

[Avilan the Grey]

I finally can drop a lot of crap. I got an Instigating Plasma pistol as a reward from Mr Nakano. Very quickly made into a top-modded sniper rifle.
I also found a double-shot laser rifle... Which is now a laser shotgun for close quarters.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Chase is just that good.


Okay, the novelty and wonder of Lonesome Road has officially worn off forever. Now I just want to end this darn DLC so I can get back to doing something interesting.

Don't forget the Elite Recon Gear/Helm and all five eyebot upgrades for ED-E. He keeps the upgrades back out in the Mojave, making him an exceptionally useful utility companion. Also the trenchcoat you get at the end is one of my favorite pieces of armor. Decent DT on light armor with +5% crit modifier. Good times.

[DigoDragon]

Don't forget the Elite Recon Gear/Helm and all five eyebot upgrades for ED-E. He keeps the upgrades back out in the Mojave, making him an exceptionally useful utility companion. Also the trenchcoat you get at the end is one of my favorite pieces of armor. Decent DT on light armor with +5% crit modifier. Good times.

I just got the 5th upgrade, so that part is done. Have to keep an eye out for that coat at the end. More crit is always fantastic for me.

[Winter_Wolf]

So I finally got back to my laptop and installed FO4, which only took three days to install. Managed to play for two hours--or more accurately, watch an hour of cutscenes and actually played for an hour. Some thoughts:
-I have no idea what I'm doing or even supposed to do. Well vaguely I know what I'm supposed to do, but still.
-The combat with firearms sucks. Aiming is weird. I haven't tried VATS, but I don't think it'll help as much as learning to compensate for the way the game handles shooting. Still, it's fun bashing/shooting at things.
-The UI and menu controls. My god Bethesda, just please make it a little more keyboard friendly.
-What's up with having to toss your junk on the ground to scrap it? It's not a huge deal, but it is mildly irritating.
-I'm not particularly bothered by the "find my son, avenge my wife" plot handed to me. I'm not particularly engaged by it, but whatever.
-Even on "low", the graphics are decent enough for me, and I had very little stuttering or tearing while keeping a very passable frame rate.
-Seriously what am I supposed to do. Got to Concord, feels like I'm standing around with my thumb somewhere that t ought not to be.

On its face this might seem largely like a bunch of negatives. Maybe. It's just stuff that's really noticeable to me more than anything else.

[Triaxx]

The game will auto scrap stuff to get what you need when you need it. It's really hilariously annoying. There are mods for that naturally enough, but if you like to know exactly what you've got, you'll need mods.

[Avilan the Grey]

Damn. I realize (once again) that I really prefer ballistic weapons. There is no... OMPH in energy weapons (except Gauss). It's just a much more... satisfying feeling to see the armor pieces etc fly away.

I think I will be a bad person and try to farm the Abandoned House (have not been there yet) for an explosive Handmade Rifle. I Love the look of them.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Damn. I realize (once again) that I really prefer ballistic weapons. There is no... OMPH in energy weapons (except Gauss). It's just a much more... satisfying feeling to see the armor pieces etc fly away.

I think I will be a bad person and try to farm the Abandoned House (have not been there yet) for an explosive Handmade Rifle. I Love the look of them.

Why explosive? Handmade Rifle has some much better mods, depending on what you are wanting to do with it. For example, it makes a better sniper rifle than the Combat Rifle or Hunting Rifle, making it arguably one of the best, if not the best, sniping weapon in the game. While instigating gauss rifle is technically better, I find it to be a very overhyped and underperforming weapon. Obviously, if you are sniping, Instigating will blow away any other modifier.

The two legendary Handmade Rifles you obtain actually have really strong affixes for automatic weapons, ramping up damage per shot based on how many have already hit the target. This can easily out-perform explosive on higher difficulties where you are effectively shooting rubber bullets for all the damage it appears to deal, letting you ramp up to the point where it becomes actually effective. Eventually.

[Avilan the Grey]

Why explosive? Handmade Rifle has some much better mods, depending on what you are wanting to do with it. For example, it makes a better sniper rifle than the Combat Rifle or Hunting Rifle, making it arguably one of the best, if not the best, sniping weapon in the game. While instigating gauss rifle is technically better, I find it to be a very overhyped and underperforming weapon. Obviously, if you are sniping, Instigating will blow away any other modifier.

The two legendary Handmade Rifles you obtain actually have really strong affixes for automatic weapons, ramping up damage per shot based on how many have already hit the target. This can easily out-perform explosive on higher difficulties where you are effectively shooting rubber bullets for all the damage it appears to deal, letting you ramp up to the point where it becomes actually effective. Eventually.

I am playing on Hard, and I have no desire to go higher. Though the only real difference between hard and normal I can tell is more legendary enemies. No real difference in difficulty but that, I think, I can understand due to two things: I have played the game before and more importantly with all the DLC you get far more overpowered allies (robots) and weapons.
The reason I don't want to go higher on difficulty is because I do dislike HP sponges as a way to increase difficulty.

I have the Problem Solver; it is so easy to get. I have it specced as a sniper though since I do not have any commando perks yet (I focused on Rifleman and Big leagues).
But to answer your question: I like Explosive, it's fun. If you pick Demolition it also staggers enemies. But if I get an Instigating one I'll be satisfied with that, of course.

[Triaxx]

I find I really like Plasma as a Sniper weapon. Nothing like Zwip-splash. Not quite boom headshot but still cool.

[Avilan the Grey]

I find I really like Plasma as a Sniper weapon. Nothing like Zwip-splash. Not quite boom headshot but still cool.

I prefer it to Laser, but I still prefer the... weight behind a bullt. Also, the Handmade Rifle is just a gorgeous weapon.

[DigoDragon]

The feel of handguns is better in my mind than energy weapons. But alas, I went energy on this NV run.

Welp, finally made it to Ulysses darn temple. Lonesome Road is apparently annoyed at my stealth sniper crit build. The last few fights against marked men was basically Everyone pops into existance behind me and has a stealthboy! And grenades! And Harmonicas! I couldn't be sure if I was hitting anything until I saw gibs. It's also kind of creepy that in the middle of the night I'd go rest in a cave and then wake up in the morning seeing that I was not in a cave, but out in the open and the walls were just shadows from whatever. O.o

Geez.

So... anything I should know before I kick open Ulysses' door and string him up by his nose hairs?

[factotum]

-Seriously what am I supposed to do. Got to Concord, feels like I'm standing around with my thumb somewhere that t ought not to be.

You should meet up with a group of people in Concord who, once you've saved their butts, will pretty much tell you what you should be doing next. They're pretty hard to miss, just look for the biggest building around!

[Triaxx]

Hint: It's the one with the screaming lunatic hanging off the side.

[veti]

Welp, finally made it to Ulysses darn temple. Lonesome Road is apparently annoyed at my stealth sniper crit build. The last few fights against marked men was basically Everyone pops into existance behind me and has a stealthboy! And grenades! And Harmonicas! I couldn't be sure if I was hitting anything until I saw gibs.

Yeah, that sounds like my impression of Lonesome Road, and it's why I hate that DLC. It just - cheats. I'm not sure the confrontation with Ulysses isn't over-scripted as well, I know that when I tried to fight him he turned out to be the most ungodly bullet sponge I've ever encountered.

Compare and contrast Dead Money, which is far more lethal but at least plays honestly. By its own evil lights, at least.

[Triaxx]

He only took one of mine. Then again it was a .50 cal sneak attack to the back of the head, so... (Of course I was then immediately murdered from behind by dwellers.)

[ShneekeyTheLost]

The feel of handguns is better in my mind than energy weapons. But alas, I went energy on this NV run.

Welp, finally made it to Ulysses darn temple. Lonesome Road is apparently annoyed at my stealth sniper crit build. The last few fights against marked men was basically Everyone pops into existance behind me and has a stealthboy! And grenades! And Harmonicas! I couldn't be sure if I was hitting anything until I saw gibs. It's also kind of creepy that in the middle of the night I'd go rest in a cave and then wake up in the morning seeing that I was not in a cave, but out in the open and the walls were just shadows from whatever. O.o

Geez.

So... anything I should know before I kick open Ulysses' door and string him up by his nose hairs?

There are a number of those nuclear heads you can detonate remotely, you should be familiar with the mechanic by now. Instead of immediately hitting them all, wait until after the fight starts. Some of the enemies spawn around them, and you can take out a pack at a time using them offensively.

Other than that, how you handle Ulysses will determine how the fight proceeds. And you have a rather big choice to make, and not much time to make it in. This will have lasting consequences on your game which will open, or deny, areas permanently. No take backs.

[Avilan the Grey]

So, my wishlist for handmade rifle is:

Two-shot (instigating is in theory great but it won't do enough damage to one-shot powerful enemies anyway. Better then to increase damage per shot).
Wounding
Exploding

in that order. I feel bad about farming but I LOVE the feel and design of the handmade rifle and I don't want to kill off every raider in Nuka World and not find one I can use.

Edit: Has anyone tried to fill the raider HQ's with mines before attacking?

[Alias]

So, I've played through a couple times and frustrated with Bethesda's storytelling, or more accurately railroading, I'd decided to make a pen and paper Fallout. Here's the revised opening monologue - would any of you play this based on this?


War…
War never changes.

At the onset of what would become known as Second World War scientists exiled from Germany warned the Allies that physics had progressed to point where the construction of bombs of unimaginable power was possible, and that the Germans were intent on developing such weapons. In order to develop such a weapon first the United States began the Manhattan Project. As part of this project a city was built in the hills of east Tennessee and kept secret from the world.

By the time the bombs fell on that fateful October day in 2077 that city was still a secret, still unknown, yet determined to destroy whatever lay there the Chinese threw a third of their arsenal at it.

For generations the radiation had been impenetrable, but it has recently begun to mysteriously subside. Factions from across the wastes have gathered to find out why and discover what lies within the secret city.

[BladeofObliviom]

This sounds like a fine Premise. The South is honestly a portion of the Fallout setting that's been largely neglected anyway.

[Mutazoia]

Edit: Has anyone tried to fill the raider HQ's with mines before attacking?

Yes. It works, though you can screw yourself out of some loot if your not careful. Bodies fly at random, and some will land places you can't get to....but then I put nukamines next to the boss of each group before I attacked....just to be sure. (Since I couldn't dust off and do it from orbit.)

[Avilan the Grey]

Yes. It works, though you can screw yourself out of some loot if your not careful. Bodies fly at random, and some will land places you can't get to....but then I put nukamines next to the boss of each group before I attacked....just to be sure. (Since I couldn't dust off and do it from orbit.)

The first boss will be easy, I will one-shot him or her. With a Disciple blade and bloody mess, so I will be sure about that one . But good, now I need to stock up on mines.
In the meantime I am testing out robot designs on Gunner's Plaza on Hard. If it can clear out the place without my help I'll bring it to Nuka World for that.

[Triaxx]

Assaultron head laser, Assaultron Torso, Handy thruster, Cryo Jet and scatter laser would work well. Or a Tesla weapon since two of three are interior fighting.

[Avilan the Grey]

...Or I just get Danse with a wounding minigun...

After trying to farm handmade rifles for about 1½ hour I gave up and instead simply bought the splattercannon and got the problemsolver. One modded for automatic, the other for sniping.

[Triaxx]

Bah, squishy organics are so boring.

[NeoVid]

Not a problem, he said he's bringing Danse.

[Avilan the Grey]

So... you ever get a feeling you're overleveled for some encounters?
I ran into that Random Encounter where you see two deathclaws fight. Last playthrough they were regular, but I was about lvl 20 and had just got Piper. This time... Two glowing ones.
The benefit here is that they don't bother with you until one of them is dead. So I just ran up to them with my big hammer... and um... They exploded. One swing with the Judgement and there was glowing Deathclaw chunks all over the road.

[kraftcheese]

This sounds like a fine Premise. The South is honestly a portion of the Fallout setting that's been largely neglected anyway.

If only Obsidian's Project Louisiana had really been Fallout: New Orleans...

[Alias]

So... you ever get a feeling you're overleveled for some encounters?
I ran into that Random Encounter where you see two deathclaws fight. Last playthrough they were regular, but I was about lvl 20 and had just got Piper. This time... Two glowing ones.
The benefit here is that they don't bother with you until one of them is dead. So I just ran up to them with my big hammer... and um... They exploded. One swing with the Judgement and there was glowing Deathclaw chunks all over the road.

On my current playthrough I went straight to Diamond City, bypassing Concord and the start of the Minuteman quests. By the time I got around to starting Concord the Prydwen had already showed up and Brotherhood patrols where out and about. So I go into the building in full BoS power armor with minigun - Sturges is a little miffed at that and the dialog changes, but when I exited to the roof of the Museum by chance the random encounter where BoS troops drop down at the Concord church from a BoS Vertbird had started. Between me and two other BoS knights the raiders didn't stand a chance and Neither did the poor deathclaw what with one of the BoS boys packing a gatling laser.

It was glorious, and hilarious.

[Avilan the Grey]

On my current playthrough I went straight to Diamond City, bypassing Concord and the start of the Minuteman quests. By the time I got around to starting Concord the Prydwen had already showed up and Brotherhood patrols where out and about. So I go into the building in full BoS power armor with minigun - Sturges is a little miffed at that and the dialog changes, but when I exited to the roof of the Museum by chance the random encounter where BoS troops drop down at the Concord church from a BoS Vertbird had started. Between me and two other BoS knights the raiders didn't stand a chance and Neither did the poor deathclaw what with one of the BoS boys packing a gatling laser.

It was glorious, and hilarious.

I am a little surprised they changed the dialogue