Fallout 3 Character Building

*Dr. Doom* · 03-10-2009, 06:01 PM

I picked this up a few days ago and finally got the chance to start it out earlier today. I definitely like what I've played so far, but as is the case with all other games where you need to decide permanent attributes at the beginning of the adventure, I am somewhat intimidated and overwhlemed by the prospect of being locked into a certain role throughout the who game when I know very little about how that will actually play out and what stats in the game are particularly important.

My initial idea was to try and aim for a kind of sneaky guy who creeps around, picks locks, and kills people from behind or at a distance with crazy crits. Sort of a Rogue-ish character, I guess. But as I tried out the battle system I became less certain and decided that maybe I wanted to focus on more direct damage and melee weapons and stuff like that. I also didn't really know what the hell I was doing when I tried to pick my first lock, so I'm wondering if Science would be better (since I've ready you should only tag one of the two after the G.O.A.T. These are just a fraction of the dilemmas I'm facing with this whole thing in mind.

Basically I'd just love some insight and opinions about the games' stats, skills, perks, weapons, and all that so I can try and make an educated decision about what direction to go in. I ahve read some FAQs and such but much of that informantion conflicts from person to person it seems.

For reference, (if I recall correctly, because I am at work) I believe my SPECIAL stats are as follows (though I am still able to change them), based on what I gathered was important for the rouge-ish character I wanted to play based on info from FAQs about skills and perks I'd like to get eventually.

Strength: 4
Perception: 6
Endurance: 4
Charisma: 6
Intelligence: 7
Agility: 7
Luck: 6

Also I believe I have Small Guns, Lockpicking and Sneaking as my Tag Skills from the G.O.A.T., but I can still change those too.

Peanut · 03-10-2009, 06:44 PM

Playing a rogue-like character in Fallout 3 simply isn't effective. The entire character building aspect in the game is extremely thin, especially in comparison with the original Fallout's and other Bethesda RPG's. The only thing that'll be effected by stats to any degree is your ability to pick locks and break into security systems, and it only revolves around the levels of locks and computer systems you can break.

It's not as deep a system as it's made out to be. Every character I created ended up turning out exactly the same in the end. Mostly because there are very set weapons that do the most damage, and you'll use them for the majority of the game.

Also, small guns and sneaking are wasted traits, you'll almost never use small guns and sneaking is entirely useless in every situation. Don't use them.

The reason the FAQs conflict is because people refuse to believe that the system really is as shallow as people say it.

*Dr. Doom* · 03-10-2009, 08:07 PM

Ok now somebody who isn't utterly depressing respond.

Peanut · 03-10-2009, 08:08 PM

I'm telling you the truth. I played enough Fallout 3 to know how it works, and I've played more than enough western RPG's to know when the character creation is lacking. Fallout 3 is lacking.

*Dr. Doom* · 03-10-2009, 08:11 PM

So are you saying you'd reccomend a more direct approach to damage? More focus on strength and endurance? Do you have any suggestions for perks I should definitely be taking and skills I should tag?

Peanut · 03-10-2009, 08:19 PM

Yes. Go for direct damage in every possible way you can. EXCEPT with your special stats. Strength and Endurance aren't really all that important, because you'll most likely be using long-range weapons for the majority of the game.

And scratch what I said about small guns, because I forgot they put all the assault rifles into that description in Fallout 3, which doesn't make sense, but whatever. Medicine, Speech and Science are all really good initial skills.

As far as perks go, that's totally up to your play-style. You'll know when they're worthless and when they'll aid you. Just read the descriptions and you'll be fine in that regard.

All I'm trying to get at is that in most cases, your character is going to turn out the same either way, so just go with what you want to and don't worry about it.

*Spitfire* · 03-17-2009, 01:50 PM

Personally I always ditch Charisma and use those points to up my other stuff even more. Being able to carry more stuff, having more life, and so fourth is more useful then having a higher percent rate of winning the speech game.

The speech game is completely random, as the lock picking game, where you can save right before you do it and attempt it as many times as you like. I've had it give me several successes in a row with a very low percent rate. As with lock picking I've had several locks break on me forcing them with a high percent success rate. That's really all Charisma is used for so I keep it low.

I think Small Guns are the way to go as far as combat. The #1 things to level up first are lock picking, repair, and science. I've played through once before so on my second play through I have all 3 of those topped out and I'm working on topping out Big guns as I already have Small guns maxed. I'm only level 11 on my second game. I plan on getting the bobble heads, which give you +10 to your skills when you find them, so I don't go past 90 on things I haven't gotten a bobble head for.

I'm more of a direct approach kinda guy. Unless someone is trying to use a sniper rifle on me, which is rare, I normally tank damage and rush in shooting. I don't die very often because I dumped so many points in raising my max health and damage resistance.

It really all boils down to how you like to play. I tried the sneaking stealth thing and I found it takes more time then I'm willing to spend as most areas have so many enemies that if just one finds you the whole place will can down on you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peanut

All I'm trying to get at is that in most cases, your character is going to turn out the same either way, so just go with what you want to and don't worry about it.

Yeah he's got it. All this does is make the earlier levels easier. By the end of the game I didn't know where to put points because I had maxed everything I wanted to.

*Candy Kappa* · 03-17-2009, 01:53 PM

a friend of mine plays a sneaky character and he's doing fine

*Dr. Doom* · 03-17-2009, 06:07 PM

I ended up tagging Small Guns, Science, and Stealth. For a while I was spreading all my points around haphazardly whenever I leveled but more recently I began focusing them all in Small Guns, Stealth, Lockpicking, Repair, and Medicine. I've been playing as I expected I would, sneaking around and sniping people from a distance, and it seems to be going pretty well. It's definitely very satisfying to watch someone explode after getting a sneak attack critical.

03-10-2009, 08:07 PM	#3
Dr. Doom Allons-y! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Castle Doom Posts: 4,535	Ok now somebody who isn't utterly depressing respond. __________________ I love you, Pickle.

03-10-2009, 08:11 PM	#5
Dr. Doom Allons-y! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Castle Doom Posts: 4,535	So are you saying you'd reccomend a more direct approach to damage? More focus on strength and endurance? Do you have any suggestions for perks I should definitely be taking and skills I should tag? __________________ I love you, Pickle.

03-17-2009, 01:53 PM	#8
Candy Kappa The Agenda of Existing Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vikingland Posts: 14,596	a friend of mine plays a sneaky character and he's doing fine __________________ devianArt Instagram Youtube Tumblr Art Blog Patreon

03-17-2009, 06:07 PM	#9
Dr. Doom Allons-y! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Castle Doom Posts: 4,535	I ended up tagging Small Guns, Science, and Stealth. For a while I was spreading all my points around haphazardly whenever I leveled but more recently I began focusing them all in Small Guns, Stealth, Lockpicking, Repair, and Medicine. I've been playing as I expected I would, sneaking around and sniping people from a distance, and it seems to be going pretty well. It's definitely very satisfying to watch someone explode after getting a sneak attack critical. __________________ I love you, Pickle.

03-10-2009, 06:01 PM	#1
Dr. Doom Allons-y! Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Castle Doom Posts: 4,535	Fallout 3 Character Building I picked this up a few days ago and finally got the chance to start it out earlier today. I definitely like what I've played so far, but as is the case with all other games where you need to decide permanent attributes at the beginning of the adventure, I am somewhat intimidated and overwhlemed by the prospect of being locked into a certain role throughout the who game when I know very little about how that will actually play out and what stats in the game are particularly important. My initial idea was to try and aim for a kind of sneaky guy who creeps around, picks locks, and kills people from behind or at a distance with crazy crits. Sort of a Rogue-ish character, I guess. But as I tried out the battle system I became less certain and decided that maybe I wanted to focus on more direct damage and melee weapons and stuff like that. I also didn't really know what the hell I was doing when I tried to pick my first lock, so I'm wondering if Science would be better (since I've ready you should only tag one of the two after the G.O.A.T. These are just a fraction of the dilemmas I'm facing with this whole thing in mind. Basically I'd just love some insight and opinions about the games' stats, skills, perks, weapons, and all that so I can try and make an educated decision about what direction to go in. I ahve read some FAQs and such but much of that informantion conflicts from person to person it seems. For reference, (if I recall correctly, because I am at work) I believe my SPECIAL stats are as follows (though I am still able to change them), based on what I gathered was important for the rouge-ish character I wanted to play based on info from FAQs about skills and perks I'd like to get eventually. Strength: 4 Perception: 6 Endurance: 4 Charisma: 6 Intelligence: 7 Agility: 7 Luck: 6 Also I believe I have Small Guns, Lockpicking and Sneaking as my Tag Skills from the G.O.A.T., but I can still change those too. __________________ I love you, Pickle. Last edited by Dr. Doom; 03-10-2009 at 06:08 PM.

03-10-2009, 06:44 PM	#2
Peanut Second Gear Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The New World Posts: 15,422	Playing a rogue-like character in Fallout 3 simply isn't effective. The entire character building aspect in the game is extremely thin, especially in comparison with the original Fallout's and other Bethesda RPG's. The only thing that'll be effected by stats to any degree is your ability to pick locks and break into security systems, and it only revolves around the levels of locks and computer systems you can break. It's not as deep a system as it's made out to be. Every character I created ended up turning out exactly the same in the end. Mostly because there are very set weapons that do the most damage, and you'll use them for the majority of the game. Also, small guns and sneaking are wasted traits, you'll almost never use small guns and sneaking is entirely useless in every situation. Don't use them. The reason the FAQs conflict is because people refuse to believe that the system really is as shallow as people say it.

03-10-2009, 08:08 PM	#4
Peanut Second Gear Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The New World Posts: 15,422	I'm telling you the truth. I played enough Fallout 3 to know how it works, and I've played more than enough western RPG's to know when the character creation is lacking. Fallout 3 is lacking.

03-10-2009, 08:19 PM	#6
Peanut Second Gear Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: The New World Posts: 15,422	Yes. Go for direct damage in every possible way you can. EXCEPT with your special stats. Strength and Endurance aren't really all that important, because you'll most likely be using long-range weapons for the majority of the game. And scratch what I said about small guns, because I forgot they put all the assault rifles into that description in Fallout 3, which doesn't make sense, but whatever. Medicine, Speech and Science are all really good initial skills. As far as perks go, that's totally up to your play-style. You'll know when they're worthless and when they'll aid you. Just read the descriptions and you'll be fine in that regard. All I'm trying to get at is that in most cases, your character is going to turn out the same either way, so just go with what you want to and don't worry about it.