{"id":979,"date":"2024-07-24T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T03:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/?p=979"},"modified":"2024-07-23T21:44:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-24T00:44:54","slug":"fallout-new-vegas-character-creation-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/fallout-new-vegas-character-creation-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Fallout: New Vegas \u2013 Character Creation Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Table of Contents:<\/strong>

I. Introduction\t\t\t\t{INT001}
\t1. Hardcore Mode\t\t{INT002}
II. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Attributes\t\t{SPC001}
\t1. Implants\t\t\t{SPC002}\t
\t2. Why Get the Monocyte Breeder {SPC003}
\t   Implant?\t
\t3. Strength\t\t\t{SPC004}
\t4. Perception\t\t\t{SPC005}
\t5. Endurance\t\t\t{SPC006}
\t6. Charisma\t\t\t{SPC007}
\t7. Intelligence\t\t\t{SPC008}
\t8. Agility\t\t\t{SPC009}
\t9. Luck\t\t\t\t{SPC010}
\t10. My Personal Build,\t\t{SPC011}
\t    Attributes
III. Skills\t\t\t\t{SKL001}
\t1. Base\t\t\t\t{SKL002}\t
\t2. Tag!\t\t\t\t{SKL003}
\t3. Leveling\t\t\t{SKL004}
\t4. Books\t\t\t{SKL005}
\t5. Magazines\t\t\t{SKL006}
\t6. Breakdown of Skill Points\t{SKL007}
\t7. Apparel and Skill Points\t{SKL008{
\t8. Barter\t\t\t{SKL009}
\t9. Energy Weapons\t\t{SKL010}
\t10. Explosives\t\t\t{SKL011}
\t11. Guns\t\t\t{SKL012}
\t12. Lockpick\t\t\t{SKL013}
\t13. Medicine\t\t\t{SKL014}
\t14. Melee Weapons\t\t{SKL015}
\t15. Repair\t\t\t{SKL016}
\t16. Science\t\t\t{SKL017}
\t17. Sneak\t\t\t{SKL018}
\t18. Speech\t\t\t{SKL019}
\t19. Survival\t\t\t{SKL020}
\t20. Unarmed\t\t\t{SKL021}
\t21. Skills I Tag! (and why)\t{SKL022}
\t22. Skill Point Allocation \t{SKL023}
IV. Traits\t\t\t\t{TRT001}
\t1. Built to Destroy\t\t{TRT002}
\t2. Fast Shot\t\t\t{TRT003}
\t3. Four Eyes\t\t\t{TRT004}
\t4. Good Natured\t\t\t{TRT005}
\t5. Heavy Handed\t\t\t{TRT006}
\t6. Kamikaze\t\t\t{TRT007}
\t7. Loose Cannon\t\t\t{TRT008}
\t8. Small Frame\t\t\t{TRT009}
\t9. Trigger Discipline\t\t{TRT010}
\t10. Wild Wasteland\t\t{TRT011}
V. Perks\t\t\t\t{PRK001}
\tLevel 2 Perks\t\t\t{PRK002}
\tLevel 4 Perks\t\t\t{PRK003}
\tLevel 6 Perks\t\t\t{PRK004}
\tLevel 8 Perks\t\t\t{PRK005}
\tLevel 10 Perks\t\t\t{PRK006}
\tLevel 12 Perks\t\t\t{PRK007}
\tLevel 14 Perks\t\t\t{PRK008}
\tLevel 16 Perks\t\t\t{PRK009}
\tLevel 18 Perks\t\t\t{PRK010}
\tLevel 20 Perks\t\t\t{PRK011}
\tLevel 22 Perks\t\t\t{PRK012}
\tLevel 24 Perks\t\t\t{PRK013}
\tLever 26 Perks\t\t\t{PRK014}
\tLevel 28 Perks\t\t\t{PRK015}
\tAdditional Perks\t\t{PRK016}
\tMy Personal Build, Perks\t{PRK017}
VI. IssacFrost's Energy Weapons Build\t{EWB001}
\t1. Attributes\t\t\t{EWB002}
\t2. Perks\t\t\t{EWB003}
\t3. Skills\/Traits\t\t{EWB004}
\t4. Weapon Selection\t\t{EWB005}
\t5. Companions\t\t\t{EWB006}
\t6. Getting Established \t\t{EWB007}
\t   in the Mohave
VII. Getting Started in the Mohave \t{MOH001}
\t1. The New Vegas \t\t{MOH002}
\t   Medical Clinic Run
\t2. Alternate Routes\t\t{MOH003}
\t3. Jackpot Winner!\t\t{MOH004}
\t4. Infinite Experience \t\t{MOH005}
\t   Exploit #1
\t5. Infinite Experience \t\t{MOH006}
\t   Exploit #2
\t6. Infinite Experience \t\t{MOH007}
\t   Exploit #3
\t7. \"Free\" Repairs\t\t{MOH008}
\t8. Early Combat Armor\t\t{MOH009}
\t9. Gobi Campaign Scout Rifle\t{MOH010}
\t10. Pew-Pew\t\t\t{MOH011}
\t11. Q-35 Matter Modulator\t{MOH012}
\t12. Remnant Power Armor\t\t{MOH013}
\t13. Remnant Power Helmet\t{MOH014}
\t14. This Machine\t\t{MOH015}
\t15. YCS\/186 -or- Alien Blaster\t{MOH016}
VIII. Hardcore Mode Blues\t\t{HMB001}
\t1. Survival of the Skilled\t{HMB002}
\t2. H20\t\t\t\t{HMB003}
\t3. Food\t\t\t\t{HMB004}
\t4. Sleep\t\t\t{HMB005}
\t5. 'Tis But a Flesh Wound..\t{HMB006}
\t6. Ammo Weight Hate\t\t{HMB007}
\t7. And Then There Was One..\t{HMB008}
\t8. First Do No Harm\t\t{HMB009}
\t9. Don't Mind the Grind\t\t{HMB010}
IX. Books\t\t\t\t{BOK001}
X. Updates\/Thanks\t\t\t{UPD001}<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Introduction {INT001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Hello, kiddies! Another Fallout game, another Fallout Character Creation\nFAQ. If you read my previous FAQ for Fallout 3 you'll have a good\nunderstanding of how this FAQ will be laid out, and what it'll try to\ndo. If not, then read on. This FAQ is designed to help you create a\ncharacters with the best chances of surviving in the Wasteland, or at\nleast to give you an idea of how the SPECIAL stats, perks, and skills\nwork so you can make an informed decision on how to best build the\ncharacter you want. It's mostly informational, but I do have my own\nopinion on the best way to do things and what works best. Follow it or\nnot, but most of all, I hope you come out with a better idea of how you\nwant to play the game. If that's the case, Whether you do things my way\nor not is irrelevant. I'm fairly power-gamey, and I focus more on a\ngeneral build, rather than specialization.. or rather, I try to focus\non making the most powerful character I can. After all, a character who\nis good at talking his way out of a fight is fine, and a gunslinger has\nits uses.. but a character who can do both is obviously better. Right?\n\nAll that said, this is a FAQ written relatively close to the game \nlaunch, and I'm sure I haven't found everything the game has to offer,\nso what I have proposed should all be viewed as tentative, and hence,\nsubject to change. Also, if you followed the previous Fallout FAQ I\nwrote you'll notice that it gradually gained more and more information\nthat wasn't strictly character-build related until it evolved into a\nfull FAQ\/Walkthrough. We'll see how that goes this time around.\n\nThis is for the vanilla version of the game. If you have any of the\nDLCs or especially the Ultimate Edition of the game, see my Ultimate\nEdition Character Creation FAQ, instead. The build for the vanilla game\nis not really a great build for the Ultimate Edition.\n\nHardcore Mode\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{INT002}\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nWith New Vegas comes the addition of Hardcore mode, which adds\nsignificant gameplay changes. These include weight for ammo, the need to\nmind food (FOD), dehydration (H20), and sleep deprivation (SLP) meters,\nas well as a host of other tweaks, like the need to use a Doctor's Bag\nto heal crippled legs, or to go find an actual doctor. This makes the\ngame a much more tedious experience, and in my mind it exists more for\nchallenge and realism than for any sort of story benefit. On that note,\nwhen I played Hardcore mode it made me rush through the story more, and\nexplore less. I ignored most sub-quests and side-areas, and I really\nwouldn't recommend it for a first play-through. If you do, however, play\nHardcore mode, save before you go out exploring and when you find new\nareas, assess their resources and decide whether it's worth your time to\nrun out there. If not, reload.\n\nAs far as Hardcore mode affects my build.. It mostly changes perk and\nskill point allocation, rather than affecting SPECIAL stats. It also\nmeans I have to be more picky when it comes to buying Implants. I would\nrather have Sub-Dermal Armor and Monocyte Breeders than many of the\nSPECIAL stats, and since I wasn't running out and killing Super Mutants\nfor gear, and by extension, Caps, I was a little more conservative with\nmy spending. If you're lucky enough, however, you can gamble at the\nvarious casinos in the Strip to rake up some Caps without wasting time..\nthat's right, time doesn't flow in the gambling mini-games. Other than \nthat, I stand by my general build as Hardcore friendly. The only thing \nI suggest changing are a handful of Perks, and the priority of skills. \nObviously Survival as a skill is more important in Hardcore Mode.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
S.P.E.C.I.A.L Attributes {SPC001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Your seven attributes are cleverly formed into the acronym 'SPECIAL',\nwhich stands for Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, \nIntelligence, Agility, Luck.\n\nAttributes do a number of things for you-depending on what the actual\nattribute is, but they all give a 2 point bonus to their related skills\nfor each point in that attribute. For example, if your Strength was 5\nyour base Melee Weapons skill would get a 10 point bonus. Luck is the\nexception, which gives a 1 point bonus for each two points in Luck to\nall your skills. This also means that when determining your skill\npoints, each skill starts out with at least a +2 bonus (for your\nminimum of 1 in each attribute.) But.. more on that later.\n\nI will give you a brief description of each attribute, as well as list\nwhat bonuses it gives. Below the chart listing the nuances of the\neffects of that attribute will be my build choice when it comes to that\nattribute, and a rating following it. The rating is somewhat arbitrary,\nas it 'rates' the attribute in measure of importance. You can get a\nfeel for the rating an attribute will get just by looking at the number\nof points my build requires.\n\nImplants\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC002}\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nInstead of Bobbleheads, in New Vegas you have Implants. Again, anybody\nwho played Fallout 1 or 2 shouldn't be surprised by the concept of\nshelling out caps to have your character surgically augmented. You can\nget one Implant per point of Endurance you have (not counting points\ngained from gear worn or from getting an Endurance-boosting Implant).\nNaturally, this means you shouldn't use Endurance as a dump stat, at\nleast, and at most, if you're a power gamer, you should strive to have\na high Endurance to get as many Implants as possible. The Implants are\nlisted below, along with the Caps they cost, and the bonuses they give.\nNote that buying an Implant rewards you with a perk corresponding to\nthat Implant, which is how I will identify the Implants listed below.\nAlso, to my knowledge there is no significant down-time associated with\nthese surgeries. You shouldn't starve to death or dehydrate from having\na surgery, even though it does fast-forward time by three hours.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Implant<\/th>Cost<\/th>Effect<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Agility Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Agility<\/td><\/tr>
Charisma Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Charisma<\/td><\/tr>
Endurance Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Endurance<\/td><\/tr>
Intelligence Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Intelligence<\/td><\/tr>
Monocyte Breeder<\/td>12,000<\/td>Regenerate Hit Points<\/td><\/tr>
Luck Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Luck<\/td><\/tr>
Perception Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Perception<\/td><\/tr>
Strength Implant<\/td>4,000<\/td>+1 Strength<\/td><\/tr>
Sub-Dermal Armor<\/td>8,000<\/td>+4 Damage Threshold<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Obviously these Implants differ in potency.. the Sub-Dermal Armor \nImplant is better than a Toughness perk, and for Hardcore players, how\ncan life get much better than health regeneration? On the other hand,\nfor a build like mine that uses Charisma as a dump stat it might seem\nmindless to bother getting enough Endurance in order to boost Charisma.\n\nYou can buy the Implants from Doctor Usanagi at the New Vegas Medical\nClinic. Check the {MOH002} section to see how to reach this area with a\nnew, low-level character.\n\nWhy Get the Monocyte Breeder Implant?\t\t\t\t{SPC003}\n<----------------------------------------------------------------------\nThe Monocyte Breeder is NOT a combat implant. It heals too slow to make\nany difference in a fight. Why bother with it then? Well, two reasons,\none good, one bad. First the bad reason-save a few essential\nconsiderations, such as meeting perk requirements, weapon requirements,\nand having enough Intelligence (and hence skill points) to max out all\nyour skills, there are few good reasons to invest more or less into\nmany of the attributes. Simply put, the health and extra implant we can\nget with a point of Endurance is worth more than what the other SPECIAL\nattributes offer. Now for the good reason-in Hardcore mode, the Monocyte\nBreeder is not a lackluster implant, as it will allow you to heal by\nresting, waiting, or even fast travelling. Sure as hell beats having to\nsnarf food, constantly drink from a water source, or make yourself a\nStimpak pin-cusion.\n\nStrength \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC004}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Melee Weapons\n\nStrength is a measure of your raw physical power. It affects how much\nyou can carry, the power of all melee attacks, and your effectiveness\nwith many heavy weapons.\n\n\"Strength'll tell you how easily a cowboy totes his saddle, and those\nbigger firearms, or how much help he's gonna be for ya in a saloon\nbrawl.\"\n\nStrength has a more important role in New Vegas than it previously had.\nIf you played Fallout 1 or 2, you'll remember that weapons in those \ngames also had a minimum Strength requirement. So too, for New Vegas.\nStrength also increases your melee damage, carrying capacity, and gives\na bonus to your Melee Weapons skill. In my mind, however, the most \nimportant thing it does is it effectively limits what weapons you can\nuse. If you don't have enough Strength to use a weapon, your aim will\nwobble, and you'll have a laughable to hit rate in VATS. For melee\nweapons, it may slow down your rate of attack. Now, as far as unarmed,\nmelee, and explosives are concerned this is only so much of a\nhandicap. Most of the time you don't need a great deal of accuracy\nwith, say, a Fat Man. The increased spread hurts, but with an \nexplosive or Minigun, some inherent inaccuracy is built into the\nweapon anyways. But with a Sniper Rifle, accuracy is a much greater\nconcern, and considering that higher damage weapons give a much\nbetter damage return over high Damage Threshold than lower damage\nweapons, you're going to want to use the bigger, badder guns. That said,\nthe 'bigger, badder' category really starts at a Strength of six, \nespecially if you use ranged weapons. With the Weapon Handling perk you\ncan lower this requirement by two points, meaning that most characters\nreally only need four Strength.. or three, with the Implant.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Melee Damage<\/th>Carrying Capacity<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>0.5<\/td>160<\/td>+2<\/td>Wet Noodle<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>1.0<\/td>170<\/td>+4<\/td>Beached Jellyfish<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>1.5<\/td>180<\/td>+6<\/td>Doughy Baby<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>2.0<\/td>190<\/td>+8<\/td>Lightweight<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>2.5<\/td>200<\/td>+10<\/td>Average Joe<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>3.0<\/td>210<\/td>+12<\/td>Barrel Chested<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>3.5<\/td>220<\/td>+14<\/td>Beach Bully<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>4.0<\/td>230<\/td>+16<\/td>Circus Strongman<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>4.5<\/td>240<\/td>+18<\/td>Doomsday Pecs<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>5.0<\/td>250<\/td>+20<\/td>Hercules’ Bigger Cousin<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I put *THREE* points into Strength.. decidedly low, but hear\nme out. With the Implant my Strength will raise to four, and with the\nWeapon Handling perk I effectively have access to six point weapons,\nwhich.. pretty much includes all the pistols and rifles in the game.\nConsidering that I don't have any Strength-dependent perks, I don't\ncare to specialize in Melee Weapons or Unarmed, so the damage doesn't\nconcern me one bit.\n\nRating: ***\n\nPerception\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC005}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Explosives, Lockpick, and Energy Weapons\n\nA high Perception grants a bonus to the Explosives, Lockpick and Energy\nWeapons skills, and determines when red compass markings appear (which\nindicate threats).\n\n\"A perceptive cowboy always knows when there's a lit stick of dynamite\nnearby... or when a varmint's sneakin' up on him.\"\n\nPerception's big draw is that it increases the distance as which you\nnotice threats-red marks on your compass. Granted this is only useful\nfor avoiding said threats, or ambushing\/sneaking up on them. Still, if\nyou are a ranged fighter, this is useful for letting you know where your\nenemies are before you engage. Yep, that's right out of the old FAQ, and\nit holds true in New Vegas. There are, however, a few changes in New\nVegas that diminishes.. or rather, replaces.. the use of Perception in\nNew Vegas. First, you can just toggle VATS to spot enemies far outside\nof your range to locate them, so long as you have a line of sight. With\none side kick you get a perk that highlights enemies when you aim, and\nwith another you get a perk that vastly increases your detection range.\nBoth of these perks make having a high personal Perception score rather\nmoot. Add into this the fact that with the new iron sights you can \neffectively snipe outside of VATS much easier.. you don't need a high\nPerception to find-and kill-enemies. It still has its tactical uses to\nbe sure, and more importantly it is a requirement for some perks, but\nyou don't need nearly as much Perception this time around. In fact,\nwith the larger range of Perception you'll get from one companion, you\nwill see enemies on the compass much earlier than is useful. It doesn't\nreally do you much good to know that there are hostiles on the far side\nof a mountain, does it? Especially not until you find a way to reach \nthat side of the mountain, in any case. The best thing Perception does\nis it allows you to get the Better Criticals perk. Without this you can\nreally use it as a dump stat. That said, I can't see why anybody would\nignore +50% critical damage. Keep your Perception up at six (or five\nplus the Implant) to have access to this perk.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>+2<\/td>Deaf Bat<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>+4<\/td>Senile Mole<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>+6<\/td>Squinting Newt<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>+8<\/td>Unsuspecting Trout<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>+10<\/td>Wary Trout<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>+12<\/td>Alert Coyote<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>+14<\/td>Big-eyed Tiger<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>+16<\/td>Monocled Falcon<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>+18<\/td>Sniper Hawk<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>+20<\/td>Eagle with Telescope<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I start out with a base of *FIVE* Perception.\n\nRating: **\n\nEndurance \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC006}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Survival and Unarmed\n\nEndurance is a measure of your overall physical fitness. A high \nEndurance gives bonuses to health, environmental resistances, and the\nSurvival and Unarmed skills.\n\n\"You can't keep a good cowboy down, not if he's the endurin' type...\nand not if he's got a six-shooter the size of all tarnation.\"\n\nAs the description says, Endurance increases your Health and some\nresistances. Presumably your resistance to poison is the same as in\nFallout 3, as your radiation resistance remains unchanged. Since you\nonly receive five Hit Points per level in New Vegas (as opposed to 10\nin Fallout 3) Endurance plays a more crucial role. Most importantly,\nhowever, in New Vegas your Endurance determines how many stat-boosting\nImplants you can receive. There are a total of nine Implants, and you\ncan get one for each point of Endurance you have.. not including an\nextra Endurance you may get from an Implant. If you want as many \nImplants as possible, you're going to want a high starting Endurance.\nSince this attribute also boosts your Survival, it's a good pick for \npeople playing in Hardcore mode.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Hitpoints<\/th>Poison\/Rad Resistance<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>120<\/td>0%\/0%<\/td>+2<\/td>Basically Dead<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>140<\/td>5%\/2%<\/td>+4<\/td>Crumbly<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>160<\/td>10%\/4%<\/td>+6<\/td>Do Not Bend<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>180<\/td>15%\/6%<\/td>+8<\/td>Handle with Care<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>200<\/td>20%\/8%<\/td>+10<\/td>Stain-resistant<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>220<\/td>25%\/10%<\/td>+12<\/td>Hardy<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>240<\/td>30%\/12%<\/td>+14<\/td>Tough-as-nails<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>260<\/td>35%\/14%<\/td>+16<\/td>Flame Retardant<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>280<\/td>40%\/16%<\/td>+18<\/td>Bulletproof<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>300<\/td>45%\/18%<\/td>+20<\/td>Unstoppable<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: The more the merrier in Endurance, I start out with a whopping\n*EIGHT* Endurance. This allows me to get all the Implants in the game,\nsave the Charisma Implant.\n\nRating: *****\n\nCharisma \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC007}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Barter and Speech\n\nHaving a high Charisma will improve people's disposition of you, and\ngive bonuses to both the Barter and Speech skills.\n\n\"You'll find there are some smooth-talkin' cowboys out there that got\nthemselves a voice that sounds like an angel's harmonica.\"\n\nCharisma isn't any better in New Vegas than it was in any other Fallout\ngame, with the exception of the bonuses it gives to your companions'\nnerve, which significantly increases their Damage Threshold and Damage.\nStill, this is a character creation guide aimed at making the strongest\ncharacter for this game as possible.. not for making the strongest\ncompanions. At the end of the day I'd rather have a strong main \ncharacter than a strong side-kick. Keep the benefits in mind, sure, but\nrealize that a high Charisma is going to cost you in other areas. I use \nit as a dump stat and let Speech and Barter get me through the \nconversations in the game.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>+2<\/td>Misanthrope<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>+4<\/td>Old Hermit<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>+6<\/td>Creepy Undertaker<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>+8<\/td>Peevish Librarian<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>+10<\/td>Substitute Teacher<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>+12<\/td>Cheery Salesman<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>+14<\/td>Diplomat<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>+16<\/td>Movie Star<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>+18<\/td>Casanova<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>+20<\/td>Cult Leader<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I start out with *ONE* point in Charisma. There's really no\ngreat reason to start out with more. If you want to be a silver-tongued\ndevil, get a high Intelligence and just use Speech instead.\n\nRating: *\n\nIntelligence \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC008}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Science, Repair, and Medicine\n\nIntelligence affects the Science, Repair and Medicine skills. The\nhigher your Intelligence, the more Skill Points you'll be able to\ndistribute when you level up.\n\n\"A smart cowboy's good at most anything, from suckin' the poison out of\nyour rattler bit to fixin' your broken wagon axle.\"\n\nIntelligence is again a solid attribute.. and even though it has been \nreduced in potency, the fact remains that a character with higher \nIntelligence will have higher skills, which does all kinds of good \nthings. Not only will you pass more [Intelligence] checks, but more\nskills means you'll pass more skill checks, too, and in New Vegas,\nthere are alot of them. Simply put, a more Intelligent character is\na more versatile, stronger character. And yes, half-points do carry\nover to next level, so with a 9 Intelligence, you'd get 16 skill\npoints to distribute on one level, and 17 on the next.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Skill Point per Level<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>10.5<\/td>+2<\/td>Sub-brick<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>11<\/td>+4<\/td>Vegetable<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>11.5<\/td>+6<\/td>Cretin<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>12<\/td>+8<\/td>Knucklehead<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>12.5<\/td>+10<\/td>Knowledgeable<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>13<\/td>+12<\/td>Gifted<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>13.5<\/td>+14<\/td>Smartypants<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>14<\/td>+16<\/td>Know-it-all<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>14.5<\/td>+18<\/td>Genius<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>15<\/td>+20<\/td>Omniscient<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I start out with *NINE* Intelligence. My first priority, as\nin Fallout 3, is to bring this nine up to a ten.. and this involves \nheading to the Emergency Service Railyard, through Primm Pass (if\npossible), and north until I find the New Vegas Medical Clinic. The \nlower my level when I do this, the better my character will end up over \nall, so I take pains to avoid getting experience until I have the \nIntelligence Implant, after which I play the game more or less \nnormally.. Normal for me, anyways.\n\nRating: ****\n\nAgility \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC009}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: Guns and Sneak\n\nAgility affects your Small Guns and Sneak skills, and the number of\nAction Points available for V.A.T.S.\n\n\"When a fella's in a gunfight and shoots the other guy six times before\nthey can get off a shot, it's cause that fella is agile.\"\n\nAgility is more of a mixed bag in New Vegas than it was in Fallout 3.\nAction Points are still good and all, but since VATS doesn't make you\nmore-or-less invincible anymore, it can be a liability. It's often\nbetter to use VATS sparingly, when you have time to pull off some safe\nshots, rather than spam VATS relentlessly. Being able to use VATS more\noften is better than taking more shots in VATS. Also with the new iron\nsights, you can kill enemies more effectively at a distance.. again,\nlessening the need for VATS this time around. Still, you should keep a\nminimum of six points (or five plus the Implant) if you intend to get\nthe Silent Running perk.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Score<\/th>Action Points<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>67<\/td>+2<\/td>Walking Disaster<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>69<\/td>+4<\/td>Accident Prone<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>71<\/td>+6<\/td>Oaf<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>73<\/td>+8<\/td>Butterfingers<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>75<\/td>+10<\/td>Under Control<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>77<\/td>+12<\/td>Catlike<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>79<\/td>+14<\/td>Knife Thrower<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>81<\/td>+16<\/td>Knife Catcher<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>83<\/td>+18<\/td>Acrobatic Marvel<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>85<\/td>+20<\/td>Walks on Water<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I grab *SIX* point of Agility to start with, raising it to\nseven with the Small Frame trait. It will eventually reach eight when\nI get the Implant, which is plenty as far as Action Points and reload\nspeed is concerned.\n\nRating: ***\n\nLuck\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SPC010}\no======================================================================o\nSkills: All skills\n\n\"Some folks claim not to believe in luck, but when they lose in a duel\nyou'll hear them say, 'That lucky son-of-a-gun!'\"\n\nLuck is a great skill, especially with poor Intelligence suffering.\nFrom Luck you will get a half-point bonus to all your skills (rounded\nup), which tops out at +5 once you have nine Luck, making nine really\nthe terminal score for Luck. Considering this, Luck can potentially\ngive you the highest skill bonus of any attribute, and the fact that\neach point also translates to your critical hit chance makes it a very \nnice attribute indeed.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Luck<\/th>Critical Chance<\/th>Skills<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>1%<\/td>+1<\/td>13 Pitch-black Coats<\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>2%<\/td>+1<\/td>Broken Gypsy Mirror<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>3%<\/td>+2<\/td>Sickly Albatross<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>4%<\/td>+2<\/td>Spilled Salt<\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>5%<\/td>+3<\/td>Coin Flip<\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>6%<\/td>+3<\/td>Stacked Deck<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>7%<\/td>+4<\/td>Lucky 7<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>8%<\/td>+4<\/td>Leprechaun’s Foot<\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>9%<\/td>+5<\/td>21-Leaf Clover<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>10%<\/td>+5<\/td>Two-headed Coin Flip<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
My Build: I start out with *EIGHT* Luck, and with the Implant I bring\nit up to nine, which is as high as it needs to be. Even the critical-\nhit happy builds should be satisfied with this, and I really can\u2019t see \nstripping a point from another S.P.E.C.I.A.L. state for one measly \npoint of critical hit percentage.\n\nRating: *****\n\nMy Personal Build, Attributes\t\t\t\t\t{SPC011}\no======================================================================o\nI will purchase all the Implants save Charisma, and focus on Guns..\nbut I'll have enough skill points that I can bring Energy Weapons and\nExplosives up to snuff, too. In fact, on a typical build I get all\nmy skills as high as I want them save Melee Weapons, Survival, and\nUnarmed, which is pretty good, if you ask me. Also, I have recently\ndecided to disdain Power Armor, as it.. well, it's just too heavy and\nI rarely needed that much protection. Instead I typically go with\nVault Security Armor, which has a Damage Threshold of 16 and a repair\ncost of 100-200 caps. It's also light armor, which is handy.\n\nOverall the build can be described as a Gun-using skill-junkie. I will\nhave the skills to handle many different situations in the game, but\nthis character will excel in direct confrontations. The plain number is\nmy starting score, the number in parentheses is my ending score, with\nImplants and traits considered.\n\nStrength\t3 (4)\nPerception\t5 (6)\nEndurance\t8 (9)\nCharisma\t1\nIntelligence\t9 (10)\nAgility\t\t6 (8)\nLuck\t\t8 (9)\n\nFor characters who want to play through the game in Hardcore mode-not\nmerely run through, it might be a good idea to grab Perks such as\nStrong Back and Pack Rat. The following adjustments can be made without\nthe overall building suffering much, if any.\n\nStrength\t4 (5)\nPerception\t5 (6)\nEndurance\t8 (9)\nCharisam\t1\nIntelligence\t9 (10)\nAgility\t\t5 (7)\nLuck\t\t8 (9)\t<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Skills {SKL001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Skills determine how good you are at various activities, anything from\npicking locks, hacking computers, attacking with various weapons,\nsneaking, interacting with NPCs and so forth. Your skills are every bit\nas important as your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes and your perks.\n\nBase \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL002}\no======================================================================o\nYou start out with two points in each skill, and get an additional two\npoints per S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attribute in related skills with the\nexception of Luck, which gives .5 point for each point of Luck\n(rounded up).\n\nTag! \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL003}\no======================================================================o\nYou select three skills to tag after being tested early in the game.\nUnlike the first two Fallout games, this doesn't double your rate of \nskill point increase, it merely adds a 15 point bonus to those skills.\n\nLeveling \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL004}\no======================================================================o\nYou gain 10 skill points per level plus half your Intelligence score.\nThe sooner you get to the New Vegas Medical Center and buy yourself a\nshiny new Intelligence Implant, the more skill points you'll have in\nthe long run.\n\nBooks\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL005}\no======================================================================o\nIn addition to perks, leveling, and intelligence, you can get skill \nbonuses from books throughout the game. Unlike in Fallout 3, you no \nlonger gain one point for each book, you now get three (or four, with\nComprehension). Of course, with bonuses like this you can't expect to\nfind quite as many of them.. but even if you find three or four, that's\na significant number of skill points.\n\nMagazines\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL006}\no======================================================================o\nMagazines, like books, exist only to boost your skill points, albeit\ntemporarily. Magazines normally boost your skill points by +10, but with\nthe Comprehension perk this bonus increases to +20. For most skill this\nis not a huge deal, although the benefits of popping a Milsurp Review\nto boost your Guns before a big fight is obvious enough. For some \n'checked' skills, however, a temporary boost can be just as good as a\npermanent one. For example, the Speech skill is really only used in\nconversation. If you reach certain benchmarks you can succeed at Speech\nchecks, which greatly helps with questing, improves rewards, etc. \nHowever, you don't ALWAYS need a 100 Speech. In fact, most of the time\nyou're not even using that skill. This is where magazines shine, as with\nComprehension you can leave Speech at 80 and just read a magazine before\nyou need to make a check. The Barter, Lockpick, and Science skills all\nfall into this category as well.\n\nBreakdown of Skills Points\t\t\t\t\t{SKL007}\no======================================================================o\nThere are 13 skills in the game, each of which can be raised to a score\nof 100, for a grand total of 1300 possible points in the game. Because\nof several factors, namely the lack of Bobbleheads and a reduction in\nthe number of skill points per level, you will likely not reach 100 in\nall of your skills.. but you can certainly reach 100 in many of them.\nHere's a breakdown of where our skills stand with this build at level\none. Note that these numbers do not include any trait bonuses.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Skill<\/th>Base<\/th>SPECIAL (+Luck)<\/th>Total<\/th>Implants (+Luck)<\/th>Total<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Barter<\/td>2<\/td>2 + 4<\/td>8<\/td>1<\/td>9<\/td><\/tr>
Energy Weapons<\/td>2<\/td>10 + 4<\/td>16<\/td>3<\/td>19<\/td><\/tr>
Explosives<\/td>2<\/td>10 + 4<\/td>16<\/td>3<\/td>19<\/td><\/tr>
Guns<\/td>2<\/td>12 + 4<\/td>18<\/td>3<\/td>21<\/td><\/tr>
Lockpick<\/td>2<\/td>10 + 4<\/td>16<\/td>3<\/td>19<\/td><\/tr>
Medicine<\/td>2<\/td>18 + 4<\/td>24<\/td>3<\/td>27<\/td><\/tr>
Melee Weapons<\/td>2<\/td>6 + 4<\/td>12<\/td>3<\/td>15<\/td><\/tr>
Repair<\/td>2<\/td>18 + 4<\/td>24<\/td>3<\/td>27<\/td><\/tr>
Science<\/td>2<\/td>18 + 4<\/td>24<\/td>3<\/td>27<\/td><\/tr>
Sneak<\/td>2<\/td>12 + 4<\/td>18<\/td>3<\/td>21<\/td><\/tr>
Speech<\/td>2<\/td>2 + 4<\/td>8<\/td>1<\/td>9<\/td><\/tr>
Survival<\/td>4<\/td>16 + 4<\/td>24<\/td>3<\/td>27<\/td><\/tr>
Unarmed<\/td>2<\/td>16 + 4<\/td>22<\/td>3<\/td>25<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Now that we've got that, lets figure out how many points we can expect
to get from leveling and Tag! skills, and see where that leaves us.

265 Base Skill Points
+ 45 Tag!
+435 15 Skill Points\/29 Levels (w\/ 10 Intelligence)

+ 52 2 Skill Points\/26 Levels (w\/Educated)
------         
797 Skill Points to spend by level 30

With 797 skill points we can get an average of 61~ in each skill..
Simply put, that doesn't really cut it. Fortunately, that's not all
there is to it. The previously mentioned books weigh in at three skill
points per copy (or four, with the Comprehension perk). Since there are
four of each type of book (save Big Books of Science, which has five
copies floating about).. that adds up to a lot of potential skill 
points. Four books per skill, thirteen skills, with an extra Big Book
equals 212 skill points that can be obtained from books.. provided you
find them all, which can be a major chore in and of itself. Still, if
you are dedicated to power gaming, if we add in all the skill points
we would receive from books to our base build, this is what we'd end up
with:<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Skill<\/th>Base<\/th>w\/ Skill Books<\/th>Total<\/th>Points to Max<\/th>Real Req.<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Barter<\/td>9<\/td>+16<\/td>25<\/td>+75<\/td>+55<\/td><\/tr>
Energy Weapons<\/td>19<\/td>+16<\/td>35<\/td>+65<\/td>+65<\/td><\/tr>
Explosives<\/td>19<\/td>+16<\/td>35<\/td>+65<\/td>+65<\/td><\/tr>
Guns<\/td>21<\/td>+16<\/td>37<\/td>+63<\/td>+63<\/td><\/tr>
Lockpick<\/td>19<\/td>+16<\/td>35<\/td>+65<\/td>+45<\/td><\/tr>
Medicine<\/td>27<\/td>+16<\/td>43<\/td>+57<\/td>+57<\/td><\/tr>
Melee Weapons<\/td>15<\/td>+16<\/td>31<\/td>+65<\/td>+65<\/td><\/tr>
Repair<\/td>27<\/td>+16<\/td>43<\/td>+57<\/td>+57<\/td><\/tr>
Science<\/td>27<\/td>+20<\/td>47<\/td>+53<\/td>+33<\/td><\/tr>
Sneak<\/td>21<\/td>+16<\/td>37<\/td>+63<\/td>+63<\/td><\/tr>
Speech<\/td>9<\/td>+16<\/td>25<\/td>+75<\/td>+55<\/td><\/tr>
Survival<\/td>27<\/td>+16<\/td>43<\/td>+57<\/td>+57<\/td><\/tr>
Unarmed<\/td>25<\/td>+16<\/td>41<\/td>+59<\/td>+59<\/td><\/tr>
Breakdown<\/strong><\/td>265<\/td>+212<\/td>477<\/td>819<\/td>739<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
739 Skill Points (Real Requirements)
- 45 Tag!
- 435 15 Skill Points\/29 Levels (w\/10 Intelligence)\t
- 52 2 Skill Points\/26 Levels (w\/Educated)
------  
207 Number of Skill Points Required to Max all Skills<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Keep in mind that by 'base' I mean what our scores will be after \ngetting all the Implants, and an Intensive Training perk in Luck to\nbring our Luck score up to nine. Comprehension is counted into the book\nskill point total, to bring us to our potential skill results without\nspending a single point from leveling. This might be an unrealistically\nambitious goal (certainly in Hardcore mode), but it does give those\nperfectionists out there something to shoot for. The 'Real Req.' column\ngives the amount of skill points you should spend into a skill at most\nbefore spending more becomes redundant. For example, I view it wasteful\nto bother spending more than 80 points into Barter, Lockpick, Science,\nand Speech, since these are mostly 'checked' skills that can be raised\nby reading a magazine prior to a check in order to succeed (see my\ndescription of the Comprehension perk for more about this.)\n\nAs you can see by the math above, with this build we will be able to get\nabout 1095 Skill Points in total, where we would need 1300 to max all\nthe skills at 100. Even getting as many skill points as humanly possible\nyou're going to have to let some things go.. which amounts to roughly \nthree skills that you can't put any points into.\n\nApparel\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL008}\no======================================================================o\nIn addition, if you really want to be a skill point hoarder, some\ntypes of Apparel increase your skill points. While not as handy as a\nmagazine (or as rewarding, typically) this doesn't change the fact that\nif you carry around a Vault Utility Jumpsuit, you really only need 75\nRepair, for example, to reach 100. When you find a Very Hard lock pop on \nthe Jumpsuit and read a magazine and get to work. It can be unwieldy to \ncarry around several outfits for the purpose of skill point boosting.. \nbut you can potentially save a good bit of skill points this way.. skill \npoints you can then put into other skills that need a boost on a more \npermanent basis. Also keep in mind that certain Apparel increases \nSPECIAL stats, which in turn boost skills.. but it's rather tedious to \nkeep on hand hats for the two point boost you'd get to Lockpick. Where \nyou draw the line at convenience and min\/maxing is up to you, but below \nare some examples of stat-boosting gear, just in case.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Apparel<\/th>Boost<\/th>Max Skill w\/ Boost<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Followers Doctor Coat<\/td>+5 Science<\/td>75<\/td><\/tr>
Pre-War Businesswear<\/td>+5 Speech<\/td>75<\/td><\/tr>
Roving Trader Hat<\/td>+5 Barter<\/td>75<\/td><\/tr>
Vault Utility Jumpsuit<\/td>+5 Repair<\/td>n\/a<\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>+5 Lockpick<\/td>75<\/td><\/tr>
NCR Engineer Outfit<\/td>+5 Repair<\/td>n\/a<\/td><\/tr>
Chinese Stealth Armor<\/td>+5 Sneak<\/td>n\/a<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Barter (Charisma)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL009}\no======================================================================o\nThe Barter skill affects the prices you get for buying and selling\nitems. In general, the higher your Barter skill, the lower your prices\non purchased items.\n\nThe higher your Barter, the more Caps you'll get when you sell things,\nand the less Caps items will cost when you buy them. In addition to\nthis useful bonus, Barter often acts as a Speech substitute.. allowing\nyou to haggle for better deals and rewards. However, Barter may not be\nworth picking for everyone. Barter will not cover all your Speech\nchecks (and vise versa), and Repair may actually do better at saving\nyou money. In Hardcore mode you typically have to find things to sell to\nmake Barter effective.. which means exploring or hunting\/killing\nenemies, which takes time, and hence, resources. It's a fine skill if\nyou have the points to spend, and if you plan on hunting down all the\nskill books in the game, there's really no reason not to bring Barter up\nto 80. Unless you absolutely need to have three or four weapon skills..\nand good luck getting the perks to make that work.\n\nRating: ****\nSuggested Score: 80\n\nEnergy Weapons (Perception)\t\t\t\t\t{SKL010}\no======================================================================o\nThe Energy Weapons skill determines your effectiveness with any weapon\nthat uses Small Energy Cells, Micro Fusion Cells, EC Packs, or Flamer\nFuel as ammunition.\n\nA bit of a weapon shakeup here, Flamers now belong to Energy Weapons,\nand not to the now-defunct Big Guns category. Still, Energy Weapons are\nin direct competition with Guns as a primary arms. Explosives might \nhave their own niche, but if you're using a ranged weapon, it's either\nGuns or Energy Weapons. The most conventional Energy Weapons are either\nLaser Pistols, Laser Rifles, Plasma Pistols, or Plasma Rifles, which\nare by default short to mid-ranged weapons. There are weapons that\nfunction like shotguns, the Gauss Rifle takes the place of a Sniper\nRifle, and there's even a cannon-type weapon. There are fewer types of\nammo.. which is a blessing and a curse. You won't get Armor-Piercing\nammo, and more powerful weapons tend to burn through their ammo quickly\n(the Gauss Rifle, for example, takes five 'rounds' of ammunition per\nshot.) Overall I prefer to go with Guns, which just seem to have a\nbetter selection of ammo and higher relative damage. Not to mention\nthe fact that they are more readily available. Still, I can't argue with\nthe fact that YCS\/186 is a superior long-ranged weapon, outperforming\nthe Gauss Rifle in both damage, weight, proficiency requirements, and\nammo consumption, and a Multiplas Rifle kills enemies with satisfying\nspeed. Seriously, take a Multiplas Rifle out with Maximum Charge ammo\nand go shoot up some Deathclaws. It's effective, I'll give it that.\n\nRating: ****\nSuggested Score: 100 (for Energy Weapons users, base for everyone else)\n\nExplosives (Perception)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL009}\no======================================================================o\nThe Explosives skill determines the ease of disarming any hostile mines\nand the effectiveness of any explosive weapon (all mines, all grenades,\nMissile Launcher, Fat Man, etc.)\n\nYou will certainly notice the delay you get when it comes to disarming\nmines, but that's not a reason to raise a skill, right? No, it's the\nfact that Explosives now govern all weapons that.. you know.. cause\nexplosions? Now it's a skill worth considering, since Explosives are a\nwide and often powerful variety of weapons, easily able to overcome the\nDamage Thresholds of enemies. Of course, it is still a limited-use and\noften expensive collection of weapons.. and certainly not one for use\nagainst most enemies. Frankly, I'd rather shoot a Deathclaw with an\nSniper Rifle, rather than stock up on heavy and expensive Explosives. \nIn fact, I'd rather use Guns to do everything Explosives can do, which \nis why I have no inclination to endorse it as an essential skill. If you\nhave points left over after focusing on Energy Weapons or Guns, and you\na taste for destruction, it makes an interesting-not essential-secondary\nweapon skill.\n\nRating: ***\nSuggested Score: 100 (for Explosives users, base for everyone else)\n\nGuns (Agility)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL010}\no======================================================================o\nGuns determines your effectiveness with any weapon that uses\nconventional ammunition (.22 LR, .357 Magnum, 5mm, 10mm, 5.56mm, .308,\n.45-70 Gov't etc.).\n\nThe Guns skill consists of a stupidly wide variety of weapons with an\nequally stupidly wide variety of ammunition. Including such mainstays \nas the 9mm Pistol, Hunting Rifle, Assault Carbine, Light Machine Gun, \nRiot Shotgun, Sniper Rifle and.. Anti-Material Rifle?.. It is a truly\ndiverse and powerful weapon skill set. It is in direct competition with\nEnergy Weapons for your primary ranged arms, and in my mind, Guns win\nout. Guns typically deal more damage (especially with Hand Loader) and\nsettle at a comfortable Strength requirement of six.. even for the\nSniper Rifle. If anything, Guns might suffer from having too many\noptions. Do you go with the Brush Gun for its low Action Point costs,\nget the Cowboy perk, and get your Repair skill up to 90 in order to \nmake 45-70 Gov't Hand Load ammo, or stick with the Sniper Rifle, Gobi \nRifle, or The Machine and use .308 Hand Load ammo? Or do you do both? \nHeck, you can even decide to play with revolvers and stick with the \nRanger Sequoia. No matter what you decide to do, you can expect to deal \na lot of damage with Guns, at close range, long range or from even \nbeyond the Perception range of your enemy. It's a lot of power and \nversatility for one skill, and in my mind everybody who really wants to\nkill things, and kill them well, should get at least 75 points in Guns.\nAn exception can be made for devoted Energy Weapons users.\n\nRating: *****\nSuggested Score: 75 (Everybody can benefit from getting Guns up to 75.)\n\nLockpick (Perception)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL011}\no======================================================================o\nThe Lockpick skill is used to open locked doors and containers.\n\nIt's a brief description for a rather straight-forward skill. You'll\nfind locked boxes, doors, crates, etc. of various degrees of difficulty.\nObviously you're going to want to get into them, and this requires \nyour Lockpick skill to be at different levels. This is a pretty useful,\nif not obligatory skill for everybody to have. Thankfully, however, if\nyou get Comprehension you can just get your score up to 80 and just\nuse a Locksmith's Reader Magazine for when you encounter a [Very Hard]\nlock.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Lockpick Skill<\/th>Lock Difficulty<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
0<\/td>Very Easy<\/td><\/tr>
25<\/td>Easy<\/td><\/tr>
50<\/td>Average<\/td><\/tr>
75<\/td>Hard<\/td><\/tr>
100<\/td>Very Hard<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Rating: *****\nSuggested Score: 80\n\nMedicine (Intelligence)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL012}\no======================================================================o\nThe Medicine skill determines how many Hit Points you'll replenish upon\nusing a Stimpak, and the effectiveness of Rad-X and RadAway.\n\nThis skill, for all its apparent worth, can be ignored. There is always\nanother way of handling a situation, from donning an Environmental Suit,\nto visiting a doctor, to just using more Caps. It's more useful in\nHardcore mode to be able to ignore these inconveniences, but in a normal\ngame you don't really need a high Medicine score. That said, there are\na good number of Medicine challenges in this game, so from a story\naspect it's not entirely bad to splurge a little extra.. especially if\nyou've got the skill points to spare.\n\nRating: **\nSuggested Score: base\n\nMelee Weapons (Strength)\t\t\t\t\t{SKL013}\no======================================================================o\nThe Melee Weapons skill determines your effectiveness with any melee\nweapon, from the simple lead pipe all the way up to the high-tech Super\nSledge.\n\nMelee Weapons is again in competition with Unarmed, and it again loses.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Paralyzing Palm might not be as awesome in New Vegas as it was in \nFallout 3, but it does give Unarmed an edge. Also, many of the better\nperks the two share (Piercing Strike, Slayer) require you to have a\nlarge number of points in Unarmed. To its credit, Melee Weapons does\ncontrol the Ninja, Unstoppable Force, and Super Slam perks, but it does\nseem to be the loser in this competition, nonetheless. It's also hard\nto compare a Super Sledge to a Displacer Glove or Ballistic Fist. Your\nnatural inclination is to specialize in one or the other, but\nunfortunately New Vegas requires you to pay attention to both, whereas\nwith Guns and Energy Weapons you can get by just fine with one or the\nother.\n\nRating: **\nSuggested Score: 45 (for people who want the Cowboy Perk.) \n\t\t100 (for Melee Weapons users, base for every one else.)\n\t\t  \nRepair (Intelligence)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL014}\no======================================================================o\nThe Repair skill allows you to maintain any weapons and apparel. In\naddition, Repair allows you to create items and Guns ammunition at\nreloading benches.\n\nRepair is still good in New Vegas, for many of the same reasons. There\nhas, however, been one significant change to how the skill works. You\nno longer need to get your Repair skill up to 100 to repair an items\ncondition to 100.. the higher your skill the more you repair when you\ncombine an item, but if you have enough of them you'll be able to fix\nan item to your hearts' content. Also, some weapons and armor are\nprohibitively rare, making fixes with Repair difficult. In fact, most\narmors are easier to simply repair by going to an NPC and paying them\nto do it, rather than hunting down some armor with which to repair your\nown. That brings us to weapons. The best way to repair weapons in my\nopinion is to simply make Weapon Repair Kits, which is much cheaper and\nsimpler than other methods. This makes the terminal skill level for\nRepair 50, as far as I'm concerned.. unless you use Guns, then you\nshould get a score of 70 for Hand Loader.\n\nRating: ***\nSuggested Score: 50\n\t\t 70 (for Guns users who use .308 ammo.)\n\t\t 90 (for Guns users who use 45-70 Gov't ammo.)\n\t\t100 (for Guns users who use 50mg ammo.)\n\nScience (Intelligence)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL015}\no======================================================================o\nThe Science skill represents your combined scientific knowledge, and is\nprimarily used to hack restricted computer terminals. It can also be\nused to recycle Energy Weapons and ammunition at workbenches.\n\nAgain, like Lockpick, you'll encounter terminals with varying \ndifficulties which you'll typically want to hack. Also like Lockpick\nyou will be able to get your Science skill up to 80 and just fill in\nthe last 20 points with a Programmer's Digest for the [Very Hard] hacks.\nThe crafting is somewhat moot, as Stimpaks require a score of 70 and\ncomponents that are more annoying to find than simply paying the Caps\nfor the Stimpak. Everything else that's useful, like ammo recycling or\nDoctor's Bags, typically have a much lower requirement.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Science Skill<\/th>Hack Difficulty<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
0<\/td>Very Easy<\/td><\/tr>
25<\/td>Easy<\/td><\/tr>
50<\/td>Average<\/td><\/tr>
75<\/td>Hard<\/td><\/tr>
100<\/td>Very Hard<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Rating: *****\nSuggested Score: 80\n\nSneak (Agility)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL016}\no======================================================================o\nThe higher your Sneak skill, the easier it is to remain undetected,\nsteal and item, or pick someone's pocket. Successfully attack while\nundetected grants an automatic critical hit.\n\nSneak is a nice skill that allows you to steal loot, score sneak attack\ncriticals, and move past enemies when you'd rather avoid (or at least\ndelay) a fight. Most items can be stolen by being patient and waiting\nfor potential witnesses to leave, and sneak attack criticals are more\neasily to score than ever, now that you have iron sights and don't need\nto approach as close. Both of these factors mean you really don't need\na Sneak score that's terribly high, although if you want to sneak\nanywhere near an enemy, much less past one, you're going to want the \nSilent Running perk.. which requires an obligatory minimum investment of\n50 Sneak. To be fair, however, you will need a Sneak score of 70+ to\nreally be any good at sneaking, and since enemies are typically more\nmobile in New Vegas, you probably won't often be sneaking up to a\nhostile foe in order to get a melee or unarmed sneak attack.\n\nRating: ***\nSuggested Score: base (for Melee Weapons and Unarmed characters.)\n\t\t50 (for Silent Running.)\n\t\t70+ (for dedicated snipers.)\n\nSpeech (Charisma)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL017}\no======================================================================o\nThe Speech skill governs how much you can influence someone through\ndialogue, and gain access to information they might otherwise not want\nto share.\n\nThere are many quests that can only be solved-or that can be more easily\nsolved-through Speech. This skill largely eliminates the need for\nCharisma, so long as you're willing to invest points into it. Your \nability to get alternative solutions to quests is priceless and \nfrequent, and a character build that doesn't include at least 80 points\nof Speech is really missing the point of a Fallout game, in my opinion.\nOnce at 80 you can supplement your score with magazines for when you\nneed a higher Speech check.\n\nRating: *****\nSuggested Score: 80\n\nSurvival (Endurance)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL018}\no======================================================================o\nThe Survival skill increases the Hit Points you receive from food and\ndrink. It also helps you created consumable items at campfires.\n\nThe usefulness of this skill depends wholly on one thing; are you \nplaying in Hardcore mode? If so, you might want this skill, as it will \nincrease the usefulness of consumables and allow you to create better, \nmore wholesome consumables at campfires. If you don't play on Hardcore \nmode, you don't need to eat or drink anyhow and might as well just use a\nStimpak to heal. Seriously, 15 points of Survival makes Purified Water \nrestore 15 more H20, so 100 points of Survival.. well, it makes you need\nhalf as much food and water, which is a good thing indeed. On the other \nhand, if you're a veteran and make the New Vegas run, chances are you'll\nget yourself enough Caps to just buy all the food and water you need. \nIt's not essential, even in Hardcore mode, but it is nice. I suggest\nat least getting it up to 50 so you can make Bighorner Steaks, which\nare a staple healing\/food item. The fact that it also allows you to\nmake.. nearly every other recipe you're likely to find plenty of\ningredients for is just a bonus.\n\nRating: *\nRating: **** (Hardcore Mode)\nSuggested Score: base (normal gamers) or 50 (hardcore players)\n\nUnarmed (Endurance)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL019}\no======================================================================o\nThe Unarmed skill is used for fighting without a weapon, or with weapons\ndesigned for hand-to-hand combat, like Brass Knuckles, Power Fists, and\nDisplacer Gloves.\n\nThe other melee skill, Unarmed has a bit more going for it than Melee\nWeapons. For one, a high Unarmed skill is required for both the Slayer\nand Piercing Strike perks, both of which are obligatory for melee-type\ncharacters. Power Fists can be found pretty readily at Camp Golf, and\neven Spiked Knuckles tend to out-perform low-end Melee Weapons. Also,\nthe fact that most builds call for high Endurance plays into the\nUnarmed skill right from the start. On the other hand, New Vegas \nrequires you to have both skills high in order to get the full range \nof useful perks, so you'll either have to suck it up and waste a good\nnumber of skill points for Ninja, or go without. Still, if push comes\nto shove, I'd rather have Unarmed than Melee Weapons.. not to mention\nthat Unarmed Weapons typically weigh less helps, too.\n\nRating: ***\nSuggested Score: 100 (for Unarmed characters, base for everyone else.)\n\t\t  90 (for any melee character, most of the good perks\n\t\t     (require a high Unarmed skill.)\n\nSkills I Tag! (and why)\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL020}\no======================================================================o\nNow that Repair isn't as vital, I generally decide to Tag! Science,\nLockpick, and Speech to start out, which allows me to complete quest\nand explore places right from the get-go. \n\nSkill Point Allocation\t\t\t\t\t\t{SKL021}\no======================================================================o\nI prefer to start out with Lockpick and Science in the early levels,\njust so I have access to more areas and have to do as little back-\ntracking as possible. Companions can, for the meantime, pick up the\ncombat slack. I typically get Lockpick and Science up to 50 before\nswitching off to Speech, Sneak, and whatever weapon I am specializing\nin. Once those are up to 50, I generally put another level into all of\nthe previously-mentioned skills to bring them up to 64 or so. Then I\nlet books do the rest of the work for Science, Lockpick, and Speech\nwhile continuing to build on my specialty weapon. Below I've listed\nseveral sample builds, all using the same SPECIAL stats, but with\ndiffering skills to reflect different focuses.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Skill<\/th>Normal Build<\/th>With Books<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Barter<\/td>80<\/td>64 + 16 = 80<\/td><\/tr>
Energy Weapons<\/td>19<\/td>19 + 16 = 35<\/td><\/tr>
Explosives<\/td>19<\/td>19 + 16 = 35<\/td><\/tr>
Guns<\/td>100<\/td>84 + 16 = 100<\/td><\/tr>
Lockpick<\/td>80<\/td>64 + 16 = 80<\/td><\/tr>
Medicine<\/td>27<\/td>27 + 16 = 43<\/td><\/tr>
Melee Weapons<\/td>17<\/td>17 + 16 = 33<\/td><\/tr>
Repair<\/td>75<\/td>59 + 16 = 75<\/td><\/tr>
Science<\/td>80<\/td>60 + 20 = 80<\/td><\/tr>
Sneak<\/td>50<\/td>54 + 16 = 70<\/td><\/tr>
Speech<\/td>80<\/td>64 + 16 = 80<\/td><\/tr>
Survival<\/td>27<\/td>27 + 16 = 43<\/td><\/tr>
Unarmed<\/td>25<\/td>25 + 16 = 41<\/td><\/tr>
Total<\/strong><\/td>602<\/strong><\/td>578<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Skill Points Remaining<\/td>118<\/td>220<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
With the inclusion of the skill books and further play-testing, I can\noffer a more powerful 'general' build. Although it might accurately be\ncalled a general 'Guns' build, that's more because of the fact that\nGuns are just the strongest and most versatile weapons out there. If\nyou feel otherwise.. well, that's fine, but multiple plays with\ndifferent builds really points to Guns. That's not the say that's all\nthis build can do.. there are more than enough skill points left over\nto focus on any other secondary weapon skill.. granted, you might not\nhave the perks to make Melee Weapons and Unarmed too useful and get\nall out of Guns that you want, but you can certainly splurge on role-\nplay related perks (like Black Widow\/Lady Killer), or focus on a \nniche of weapons and get the Cowboy perk to beef up the Brush Gun or\nRanger Sequoia, or heck, even grab the Laser Commander perk if you\nreally like lasers. As long as you keep Guns, however, you should be\nable to survive any encounter with some ease, whether you like to\nfight at close range with a revolver or shotgun, medium range with a\nBrush Gun, or at long range with a Sniper Rifle. Most importantly,\nthis build has the skills available to do pretty much anything and\neverything in the game. You'll be able to pick any lock, hack any\ncomputer, and succeed at every Speech and Barter check in the game,\nwith plenty of points to spare.\n\n\"Guns\"\nIf you really dedicate your builds to Guns, you might also want to \nconsider getting yourself a Repair score high enough to make the Hand\nLoad ammo (90), and a Melee Weapons skill high enough for Cowboy (45).\nOn the other hand, if you want to be conservative with Guns you\nreally only need a Guns skill of 75 for a Sniper Rifle, and a Repair\nskill of 70 for .308 JSP ammo.\n\n\"Unarmed\"\nWith Unarmed you're obviously going to want to get up to 90 in \nUnarmed to get Slayer, but beyond that, there's nothing to prevent\nyou from playing hybrid. Use Guns to take out hordes of Deathclaws,\nand use Unarmed to kill everything else. Note that the Unarmed\nbuild is probably going to be less reliant on Sneak. Also keep in\nmind that as a fisticuffs character you're going to want all the\nDamage Threshold you can get, so keep an eye out for Power Armor.\n\n\"Energy Weapons\"\nIf you played conservative with Guns, you can still be pretty damn\nproficient at them while focusing on Energy Weapons. Energy Weapons\ndoesn't have too many great perks dedicated solely to it, but there\nis nothing to stop you from relying on Energy Weapons in place of\nGuns. However, I don't really think that the Gauss Rifle is worth its\nrequirements.. especially since a Sniper Rifle does a better job\nanyways. The one saving grace of Energy Weapons is the unique Gauss\nRifle YCS\/186, which has a lower strength requirement and deals \ndownright stupid damage. At the short-to-mid range, however, nothing\nstops you from going around with a Multiplas Rifle and decimating \nenemies, either.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Traits {TRT001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Traits are back in Fallout: New Vegas after a brief absence in the last\nFallout title. They are essentially bonus perks that have both\npositive and negative effects on your character. You may choose up to\ntwo when you create your character, but you can choose to pick less if\nyou prefer.\n\nBuilt to Destroy\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT002}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nThe Flamer that burns twice as bright burns half as long. All weapons\nhave +3% chance to Critically Hit, but equipment condition decays 15%\nfaster.\n\nThree percent critical rate doesn't sound that great at first, but it\nis equal to three points of Luck, and over the course of the game you\nwill be scoring lots of hits.. On the other hand, 15% weapon \ndegradation kind of sucks. Here's the rub, however. Early weapons will\nbe relatively plentiful, allowing you to just recombine them and fix\nthem at will. More expensive weapons, like the Riot Shotgun, Brush Gun,\nSniper Rifle, etc., could end up costing several thousand Caps to fix.. \nwhich is not a good thing. You can, however, create Weapon Repair Kits \nat a Workbench, allowing you to repair weapons for a handful of Caps \nusing a variety of items that can be purchased from most any merchant. \nThis will save you thousands of Caps, and makes the downside of this \ntrait negligible.\n\nRating: ****\n\nFast Shot\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT003}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile using Guns and Energy Weapons, you fire 20% more quickly but your\nshots are 20% less accurate.\n\nAccuracy and shooting speed are both important factors, and I can\u2019t see\nmyself happily sacrificing either. There are better traits out there.\n\nRating: **\n\nFour Eyes\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT004}\no======================================================================o\nReq: PER < 10\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile wearing any type of glasses, you have +1 PER. Without glasses you\nhave -1 PER.\n\nGlasses are plentiful and cheap.. but the fact that you can also just\nwear a hat for the same bonus makes this trait less useful. Oh, and the\nfact that Perception isn't terribly useful in this game. Also note that\nthis is an equipment bonus to your Perception-not a permanent one. For\nleveling purposes your Perception is always considered one point LOWER,\nglasses or not. So if you think you're going to be clever by picking\nFour Eyes, just make sure you have enough base Perception to get all\nthe perks you want.\n\nRating: **\n\nGood Natured\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT005}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nYou're Good Natured at heart, more prone to solving problems with your\nmind than violence. You gain +5 to Barter, Medicine, Repair, Science,\nand Speech, but have -5 to Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee \nWeapons, and Unarmed.\n\nIf you really want to play a pacifist, this is for you. Overall, it's\nbonuses equal its penalties, but that's not the whole story. Think about\nit. How many weapons will you use? Chances are, you're not going to get\nmore than one or two weapon skills.. three at most. On the other hand,\nall the skills that gain bonuses are pretty good skills. If you went\nwith a solo-weapon build (Guns or Energy Weapons, for example), the -5\nskill check on the one skill you'll spend points in is offset by the +5\nbonuses you'll receive. It's worth considering, at least.\n\nRating: ***\n\nHeavy Handed\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT006}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nYour melee and unarmed attacks do more damage, but less critical hit\ndamage.\n\nIf you want to use this trait.. well, you have to get Unarmed and \nMelee Weapons, which seems bad enough to me. You also have to choose\nbetween damage per hit, and critical hit damage. It seems pretty simple\nto me that you're going to score more normal hits than critical hits,\nso that's probably not a bad option. However, if you then go ahead and\nget Finesse, Better Criticals, and Ninja, you're just gimping yourself.\n\nRating: **\n\nKamikaze\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT007}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nIn the grand scheme of things, two points of Damage Threshold isn't a\nhuge deal. With Power Armor and Toughness you'll easily gloss over this\ndeficiency. On the surface it might seem like it's saying you're taking\ntwo more points of damage per hit.. but if your Damage Threshold is\nstill higher than the enemies' damage with Kamikaze slowing you down,\nyou're really not suffering at all. That said, many enemies like \nCazadors and Deathclaws will easily surpass your Damage Threshold. At\nthe end of the day the two-point penalty is fairly unnoticeable later on\nin the game, but the ten point bonus to your Action Points boosts a\nVATS system that is nowhere near as strong as it was in Fallout 3.\n\nRating: ***\n\nLoose Cannon\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT008}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nFrom Frag Grenades to Throwing Spears, you can throw weapons 30% faster\nat the cost of 25% less range.\n\nWhat do Frag Grenades and Throwing Spears have in common? They're not\ndecisively powerful. This trait allows you to waste more of them, while\nsacrificing range. Granted, you'll still lob thrown weapons pretty far,\nbut this whole trait just stinks of who-gives-a-crap.\n\nRating: *\n\nSmall Frame\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT009}\no======================================================================o\nReq: AGL < 10\nRanks: 1\n\nDue to your small size, you have +1 AGL but your limbs are more easily\ncrippled.\n\nFirst let\u2019s look at the bonus. Agility is a fairly useful attribute,\ngoverning two skills and influencing your Action Points, draw speed,\nand reload speed. And what is the downside? More frequently crippled\nlimbs? If you're not playing in Hardcore mode, this is a no-brainer.\nWho cares about crippled limbs? Beds and Stimpaks are plentiful. If\nyou're playing in Hardcore mode.. who cares about crippled limbs? You\ncan buy Doctor's Bags at every doctor in the game. It seems like a\nsmall price to pay for a better SPECIAL stat.\n\nRating: *****\n\nTrigger Discipline\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT010}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile using Guns and Energy Weapons, you fire 20% more slowly but are\n20% more accurate.\n\nAccuracy and shooting speed are both important factors, and I can\u2019t see\nmyself happily sacrificing either. There are better traits out there.\n\nRating: **\n\nWild Wasteland\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{TRT011}\no======================================================================o\nReq: --\nRanks: 1\n\nWild Wasteland unleashes the most bizarre and silly elements of post-\napocalyptic America. Not for the faint of heart or the serious of \ntemperament.\n\nSeriously. What good fallout game doesn't have abundant references to\nMonty Python and alien encounters? This perk might not do anything for\nyour build, but it should read \"Remember the old Fallout games? Pick\nthis trait to make New Vegas more like them.\" Nostalgia makes this an\ninteresting choice, indeed.\n\nRating: ***<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Perks {PRK001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
In Fallout: New Vegas you gain a perk every even level (starting at \nlevel 2). Perks are separated by their level prerequisite, with every \neven level opening up more perks. Prerequisites for perks may also \ninclude S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes or skill points. (For example, the \nEntomologist perk requires that you be level 4, have Intelligence 4, and \nSurvival 45.) Since there are fewer perks you can pick in New Vegas,\nyou should probably be more conscious of what Perks you pick. I have\nretained my rating system from the old FAQ for this one, although there\nare less useless perks in New Vegas (getting rid of all the skill\nperks will do that). Your perk choices should follow your build, and\nshould help you specialize in certain areas depending on your skills.\nI will note where the rating of a perk varies from normal mode to \nHardcore mode.\n\nNote that some perks are also rated by availability.. for example, \nLady Killer isn't a very good perk. But the fact that it's one of the\nvery few perks that actually do anything worth mentioning at level 2,\nit is rated a bit higher than it otherwise would be. And yes, if the\nsame values applied to perks in Fallout 3 that apply to them in New\nVegas, I copied the description right from my old FAQ. Some perks,\nlike Night Person, are just as horrible and for the same reasons, \nthere's really no need for me to restate the information arbitrarily.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Rating<\/th>Description<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
*<\/td>Horrible: Nobody should pick this perk.<\/td><\/tr>
**<\/td>Bad: Generally, this is a low-end perk. Sometimes they provide just enough of a benefit specific to a character to be worth it, but most characters will not find this perk useful.<\/td><\/tr>
***<\/td>Average: This perk is good simply because of the lack of competition, or there is a good, but not overwhelmingly good reason to pick it. It might look good on its own merit, but compared to truly great perks, it doesn’t measure up.<\/td><\/tr>
****<\/td>Good: A good perk for anybody to pick, or a perk that is absolutely essential to a specific build.<\/td><\/tr>
*****<\/td>Great: A perk everybody should get. Period.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Level 2 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK002}\no======================================================================o\nBlack Widow\/Cherchez La Femme\/Lady Killer\nReq: Level 2\nRanks: 1\n\nIn combat you do +10% damage against male\/female opponents. Outside of\ncombat, you'll sometimes have access to unique dialogue options when\ndealing with the opposite sex.\n\nYou won\u2019t use this perk much in dialogue.. it just doesn't have all that\nmany uses. And what few it has, you can get the same results from other\nmethods. Still, the +10% damage to the opposite gender is.. well,\nsomething, which is more than can be said for the other level 2 perks.\nNote that only 'human' enemies have a gender. This does not include \nFeral Ghouls, Animals, Insects, Robots, or Abominations. Since most of\nthe affected enemies are either NCR Troopers, Caesar's Legion Soldiers,\nRaiders, or Gang Members, it should be noted that there is a clear\nplurality of male-gender enemies that will be affected by this.\n\nRating: ** (vs. females) \nRating: *** (vs. males)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nFriend of the Night\nReq: Level 2, Perception 6, Sneak 30\nRanks: 1\n\nYou are a true friend of the night. Your eyes adapt quickly to low-\nlight conditions indoors and when darkness falls across the wasteland.\n\nFirst, you can use Cateye to duplicate this effect. Second, you have a\nPip-Boy light. Third, it never gets too dark to really need night \nvision, three, you have allies that can illuminate enemies for you. \nUseless perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nHeave, Ho!\nReq: Level 2, Explosives 30, Strength 5\nRanks: 1\n\nQuite an arm you've got there. All thrown weapons fly farther and\nfaster for you.\n\nOr you could just use a Grenade Gun or Missile Launcher. Seriously.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nHunter\nReq: Level 2, Survival 30\nRanks: 1\n\nIn combat, you do +75% Critical Damage against animals and mutated\nanimals.\n\nNote that this category doesn't include Ghouls, Insects, or \nAbominations. But if Big Horner\u2019s and Geckos are kicking your ass.. well,\nquit playing. Once you get decent guns you'll pop off Golden Geckos\nbefore they get anywhere near you, +75% critical damage or not.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nIntense Training\nReq: Level 2\nRanks: 10\n\nWith the Intense Training perk, you can put a single point into any of\nyour S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes.\n\nBeyond equipment and Implants, this is the only way to raise an\nattribute, and it is arguably a worthy choice for a level 2 perk. If \nyou don't care for a gender-perk, get this instead.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRapid Reload\nReq: Level 2, Guns 30, Agility 5\nRanks: 1\n\nRapid Reload makes all of your weapon reloads 25% faster than normal.\n\nThis.. well, it's mostly junk, but weapon reloads can be a problem.\nThe faster you reload, the faster you're firing, and it might be a\nconsideration if your Agility is a flat 5. If you have a higher Agility,\nlike, say you were actually following my build advice, you'll reload\nfast enough.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRetention\nReq: Level 2, Intelligence 5\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Retention perk, the bonuses granted by skill magazines last\nthree times as long.\n\nAs far as I'm concerned, skill magazines are meant to be used in order\nto pick a lock, hack a computer, or succeed at a skill check. This can\ntypically be done just before interacting with the object or character\nthat requires the check. There is absolutely no reason to require your\nskill magazines to last three times longer. They weigh nothing, and they\nare pretty cheap to buy, too. You don't need this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSwift Learner\nReq: Level 2, Intelligence 4\nRanks: 3\n\nWith each rank in the Swift Learner perk, you gain an additional 10% to\ntotal Experience Points whenever Experience Points are earned.\n\nIn New Vegas there are tons of quests, and many enemies give 50 XP,\nwhich was reasonably rare in Fallout 3. Add in the challenges, which\ngive you bundles of experience, and you'll find that you're leveling up\neven faster in New Vegas than you were in Fallout 3! You don't need to\nspeed up the process and in so doing waste one of your precious perks.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 4 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK003}\no======================================================================o\nCannibal\nReq: Level 4\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Cannibal perk, when you're in Sneak mode, you gain the option\nto eat a corpse to regain Health. But every time you feed, you lose\nKarma, and if the act is witnessed, it is considered a crime against\nnature.\n\nIf you want to be truly despicable, you can go ahead and get this\nperk. I would deride this perk more.. but in Hardcore mode it just \nmight come in handy. You'll apparently heal points of [FOD] for every \ncorpse you eat.. which isn't much, but if you kill a batch of Viper \nGang Members, you can get a good bit of.. you know what, this perk \nstill sucks, even in Hardcore mode.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nComprehension\nReq: Level 4, Intelligence 4\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Comprehension perk, you gain double the bonus from reading\nmagazines and one additional skill point  whenever a skill book is read.\n\nI was hesitant about this perk at first, and put it off for a long time\non my first character. With skill books giving three points per book,\nComprehension's one point increase wasn't as outstanding as it was in\nFallout 3. Later into the game, when I had found perhaps a dozen books,\nI decided that Comprehension was indeed worthy of selection. But more\nthan just the skill points from books.. the magazine bonus is what\nreally makes this perk worthwhile. Very Hard terminals and locks are\nfairly rare in this game.. rare enough that you can just keep a\nmagazine on hand for when you really need to pop a lock, or pass a\nSpeech check. With the Comprehension perk, you only need to be within\ntwenty points of 100 to pass such rare checks. This led me to the\nconclusion that checked skills like Barter, Speech, Lockpick, and\nScience could just be left at 80. Most of their benefit is there all\nthe time, but when you REALLY need more than 80 to pass a check, you\ncan just pop open a magazine. This effectively saves you scores of \nskill points that you can put into skills that need to be high all the\ntime.. like Sneak, or Guns. Oh, and since there are-as far as I have\nseen-four of each type of book (except Big Book of Science, of which\nthere are five) this perk also effectively can give you 53 extra skill\npoint.. one more per book. Provided you bother to find all the books,\nthat is.\n\nRating: *****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nEducated\nReq: Level 4, Intelligence 4\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Educated perk, you gain two more skill points every time you \nadvance in level. This perk is best taken early on, to maximize its\neffectiveness.\n\nSure, it's not as good as it was in the last game, but now that there\nare less skill points to go around, it actually becomes more important.\nI look at it this way. If you get it at level four, you will have 26\nlevels to reap the benefits. That's 52 skill points.. enough to bring\nup a single skill. That's one more thing your character can do well,\nwhether it's Barter, Energy Weapons, Guns, Explosives, Lockpick,\nScience, Sneak, Repair, or what have you. I don't know about you, but I\nlike my character being able to do things.\n\nRating: *****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nEntomologist\nReq: Level 4, Survival 45, Intelligence 4\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Entomologist perk, you do an extra 50% damage every time you\nattack a mutated insect, like the Radroach, Giant Mantis, or \nRadscorpian.\n\nGiant Radscorpians suck in this game, but not enough that I can really\nsuggest picking this perk. Later on you'll have weapons that can handle\ntheir Damage Threshold, and they're just never become the same level of\nthreat that Deathclaws become, although the extra damage against \nCazadors is somewhat welcome. It doesn't come high on my list of\npotential perks, but if you're just getting wasted by bugs later in the\ngame.. and you have good weapons and armor, maybe it's worth a look.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRad Child\nReq: Level 4, Survival 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYou truly are a rad child. As you go through the increasingly \ndevastating stages of radiation sickness, you will regenerate more and\nmore health.\n\nYeah, there's an Implant for that now, and frankly, it's better to\navoid becoming heavily irradiated.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRun 'n Gun\nReq: Level 4, Guns 45 OR Energy Weapons 45\nRanks: 1\n\nThe Run 'n Gun perk reduces accuracy penalties with one-handed Guns and\nEnergy Weapons while walking or running.\n\nLet\u2019s think about this critically, shall we? Most one-handed guns aren't\nvery strong, at least not against armor, and certainly not compared to\nrifle-grip guns. And there's another way we can negate this penalty..\nby stopping and aiming. Yeah, that defeats the purpose of the whole\nthing, but if you are running around shooting wildly at an enemy with a\none-handed gun, then there's something you did wrong at some point in\nthe encounter.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nTravel Light\nReq: Level 4, Survival 45\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile wearing light armor or no armor, you run 10% faster.\n\nLight armor or 'no armor' is not very good armor, and 10% isn't a huge\nspeed boost. I gotta say, even for Hardcore mode folks, I wouldn't\npick this perk.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 6 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK004}\no======================================================================o\nBloody Mess\nReq: Level 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Bloody Mess perk, characters and creatures you kill will often \nexplode into a red, gut-ridden, eyeball-strewn paste. Fun! Oh, and\nyou'll do 5% extra damage with all weapons.\n\nOkay, the aesthetics are cool, but that's no reason to get a perk. 5%\ndamage against everything is nice, though. Considering the fact that\nother damage increasing perks only affect certain weapon types, or\ncertain enemies, a pure, honest, damage boost is special. There's also\nthe nostalgia factor, for us old school Fallout players.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nDemolition Expert\nReq: Level 6, Explosives 50\nRanks: 3\n\nWith each rank of this perk, all of your explosive weapons do an\nadditional 20% damage.\n\nGuess what? This perk isn't so useless anymore. Explosives now \nencompasses all the weapon types it originally should have, and 20% is a\nhuge damage bonus, that goes a long way. Make your Explosives even more\nspectacular or.. if I may.. get more bang for your buck with the\nDemolition Expert perk. That said, if you don't consider Explosives a\nbig part of your build, you shouldn't consider this perk a priority.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nFerocious Loyalty\nReq: Level 6, Charisma 6\nRanks: 1\n\nThe power of your personality inspires die-hard loyalty from your \nfollowers. When you drop below 50% Health, your companions temporarily\ngain much greater resistance to damage.\n\nThree problems with this, well, four, really. First, you have to rely\non your companions to make the most of this perk. Second, if you drop\nbelow 50% of your health, the enemies are clearly attacking you, and\nnot your companions. Third, it's a duration effect, so you can't even\nstrategically keep your health below 50% so your allies reap the\nbenefits. Fourth, it requires six points of Charisma, which is just\nabout a waste of five S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points, as far as I'm concerned.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nFortune Finder\nReq: Level 6, Luck 5\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Fortune Finder perk, you'll find considerably more Nuka-Cola\ncaps in containers than you normally would.\n\nMore caps. Yay. You'll get plenty of caps killing things and selling\ntheir loot.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nGunslinger\nReq: Level 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile using a pistol (or similar one-handed weapon), your accuracy in\nV.A.T.S. is significantly increased.\n\nIf you plan to use one-handed ranged weapons-and V.A.T.S.-you should\ndefinitely pick up this perk. Now that V.A.T.S. is less useful and\nperks are more precious, I just can't bring myself to buy this perk.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nHand Loader\nReq: Level 6, Repair 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYou know your way around a reloading bench and don't let good brass and\nhulls go to waste. When you use guns you are more likely to recover\ncases and hulls. You also have all hand load recipes unlocked at the\nReloading Bench.\n\nOkay, I can admit when I was wrong.. grudgingly. This perk allows you to\nrecover ammo cases in hulls, which in and of itself isn't worth much. It\ndoes, however, unlock all the ammo recipes for guns, which includes the\nhand load ammo recipes. These, in turn, do wonderful things, typically\ngiving a damage boost as well as altering the ammo in some other\nwonderful way. For instance, the 50mg rounds you can build with this\nperk deal x1.2 damage and increase spread. Now, if you buy plenty of \nammo and break it down, and convert it to the better, hand load ammo\nrecipes you'll reap the benefits. It sounds like a lot of work, and you\ntend to take a loss on the ammo in the process (breaking down 100 rounds\nof ammo will not allow you to rebuild 100 rounds of ammo), but how can\nyou really argue with a damage bonus on EVERY shot? If you specialize\nwith Guns, you can't. Note that to actually make some of the ammo this\nperk gives you access to, you may need a significantly higher Repair\nscore. For example, .45-70 Gov't, SWC Hand Load ammo requires a Repair\nscore of 90, and .50MG, Match Hand Load ammo requires a whopping 100\nRepair score. Getting up to 75 and using magazines and wearing a Utility\nJumpsuit comes highly recommended, in this case. Also note that most\nGuns don't have Hand Load ammo recipes.. and some of the few that do\naren't really worth making. You're really looking at three types of ammo\nwhen it comes to the Hand Load recipes; .308 rounds, 50mg rounds, and\n45-50 Gov't rounds, all of which have excellent Hand Load recipes.\nFortunately, they are the ammo used by pretty much all the good Guns in\nthe game.\n\nRating: ****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLead Belly\nReq: Level 6, Survival 40 OR Endurance 5\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Lead Belly perk, you take 50% less radiation every time you\ndrink from an irradiated water source.\n\n*Sigh* Okay, if you're not playing Hardcore mode, this perk is safely\nuseless. If you are playing Hardcore mode.. there has to be a better\nway to reach water, right? I mean, you can create quantities of \nPurified Water? Heck, there are plenty of perfectly clean water sources\nsitting out in the wastes just waiting to be discovered. Still, I can\nadmit that there might be the need to do this once in a while.. but\neven so, you can surely get to a doctor before you die of radiation\npoisoning and just pay the 100 damn caps. In fact, it's cheaper to\ndrink irradiated water and just pay a doctor to fix you than it is\nto buy purified water! You'll never need this perk, Hardcore mode or\nnot.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nShotgun Surgeon\nReq: Level 6, Guns 45\nRanks: 1\n\nYour precision with a scattergun is something to behold. When using\nshotguns, regardless of ammunition used, you ignore an additional 10\npoints of a target's Damage Threshold.\n\nIf you use Shotguns, you need this perk, period. Shotguns function\nsomething like automatic weapons, firing numerous, low-damage shots\nat a time. This makes the Damage Threshold reduction absolutely\ncrucial for Shotguns, and the fact that SMGs and Assault Rifles \ndon't have a perk like this really argues for the supremacy of the\nShotgun. Combine this with Slugs, and you've got a good combination.\nI've managed to kill a Deathclaw in three shots with this perk and a\nRiot Shotgun, which is a pretty nice feat. That said, you can probably\njust use a Brush Rifle or an Anti-Material Rifle, which, although they\ndon't have any perks designed for them, do enough damage to negate an\nenemies Damage Threshold anyways.\n\nRating: ****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nThe Professional\nReq: Level 6, Sneak 70\nRanks: 1\n\nUp close and personal, that's how you like it. Your Sneak Attack \nCriticals with pistols, revolvers, and submachine guns, whether Guns or\nEnergy Weapons, all inflict an additional 20% damage.\n\nThe high Sneak requirement on this is somewhat accounted for by the fact\nthat you'd need a decent Sneak to get within range for these weapons. I\nhave to be honest, this isn't a great perk. It's a 20% damage bonus that\nonly applies to sneak attack criticals, and only to a variety of guns\nthat aren't really suited for sniping (or for doling out huge amounts of\ndamage, in any event). Surely perks like Finesse and Better Criticals\nput this to shame.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nToughness\nReq: Level 6, Endurance 5\nRanks: 2\n\nWith the Toughness perk, you gain +3 to overall Damage Threshold. This\nperk may be taken twice, with the second rank granting an additional +3.\n\nHere's how Damage Threshold works. If an enemies weapon can't overcome\nyour Damage Threshold, you only take a small fraction of that weapons'\ndamage. Many enemies use fairly typical weapons and thus do fairly low\ndamage. A suit of Power Armor (typically granting you 20 some Damage\nThreshold) is about the best you can shoot for. With two of these perks,\nthe Implant, and Remnant Power Armor and Helmet, you can aspire to the\nupper 30's. Many enemies, however, will do much more damage than this.\nA Deathclaw, Cazador, Giant Radscorpian, or an enemy with a high-end\ngun will still do plenty of damage to you, regardless of your Damage\nThreshold. This perk will help you mitigate a bit of damage from \nevery attack, but three points off a 50 damage attack is less impressive\nthan Fallout 3's base 10% damage resistance.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nVigilant Recycler\nReq: Level 6, Science 70\nRanks: 1\n\nWaste not, want not. When you use Energy Weapons, you are more likely to\nrecover drained ammunition. You also have more efficient recycling\nrecipes available at the Workbench.\n\nJust like the Hand Loader perk, but for Energy Weapons. Eh. There's a\nquest you can do which will net you a good bit of free Energy Weapon\nammunition that respawns over time. Also, there are fewer types of\nEnergy Weapon ammunition, and less need to convert such ammo. I don't\nsuggest picking this perk, even if you love Energy Weapons. You can\ncreate Maximum Charge ammo just fine without this perk, which makes me\nwhy bother with this perk? If you're an adamantly die-hard Energy\nWeapons user, perhaps, but this perk mostly just saves you money.. if\nthat's your goal, why not pick Jury Rigging instead?\n\nRating: *\nRating: *** (Energy Weapon nuts)\n\nLevel 8 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK005}\no======================================================================o\nCommando\nReq: Level 8\nRanks: 1\n\nWhile using a rifle (or similar one-handed weapon), your accuracy in\nV.A.T.S. is significantly increased.\n\nV.A.T.S. might not be the prime-and-only combat solution in this game, \nin fact, as often as it's a godsend it's a liability, but it does have\nits uses. In New Vegas, rifle-grip guns are by far the dominant branch\nof weapons. One-handed weapons typically lose the damage battle by a\nwide margin. While this was excusable to some extent in Fallout 3, you\nreally need that damage this time around, and no, being able to run\nfaster with a one-handed gun doesn't make up for their lack of power\n(especially not with the Agility this build calls for.) The bottom line,\nV.A.T.S. may not be king, but it has its uses, and if you use V.A.T.S.,\nand use two-handed weapons, this perk is calling to you. It's better \nthan Gunslinger, in any event.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nCowboy\nReq: Level 8, Guns 45, Melee Weapons 45\nRanks: 1\n\nYou do 25% more damage when using any revolver, lever-action firearm,\ndynamite, knife, or hatchet.\n\nPromising on paper, as 25% is a big chunk of damage, there's just one\ncatch. Most of the weapons this applies to are rather weak, with the\nexception of the Brush Gun and Ranger Sequoia. The Brush Gun is good at \nshort to mid range combat, and is easily a better choice for close \nencounters than the AM Rifle or Sniper Rifle. If you've got a good \nhandle on sniping (especially when it comes to the stronger enemies, \nlike Deathclaws), you may not even give this perk a second glance. On \nthe other hand, the Brush Gun has some excellent utility it when comes \nto slaying Cazadors, or swarms of moderately powerful enemies (many \nhuman enemies come to mind). In fact, if something isn't far enough away\nto bother shooting at with a Sniper Rifle, you might as well be using\na Brush Gun, and this gives a hefty 25% damage bonus to that weapon, \nmaking it a useful-although not vital-addition to any Guns build.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLiving Anatomy\nReq: Level 8, Medicine 70\nRanks: 1\n\nLiving Anatomy allows you to see the Health and Damage Threshold of any\ntarget. It also gives you a +5% bonus to damage against Humans and non-\nFeral Ghouls.\n\nAh, another pre-Fallout 3 perk that makes its return in New Vegas. First\nlets discuss the damage. 5% isn't much, and the fact that it applies only\nto humans and non-feral Ghouls means you can safely ignore it, as it's\nonly as effective as, say, Black Widow. On the other hand, being able to\nsee an enemies Health and, more importantly, their Damage Threshold is a\nhuge advantage, especially on your first playthrough. When you see a\nthat a Super Mutant Master has a 20 Damage Threshold, or a Giant \nRadscorpian has a 36, you begin to understand why your Cowboy Repeater\nwasn't hurting it. Once you've played the game a bit, however, you start\nto understand this intuitively, especially after playing with this perk.\nAnybody knows that a Deathclaw is going to have a high Damage Threshold,\nand even without knowing the exact number of hit points, you can always\nsee an enemies health bar in V.A.T.S. For veteran players, this perk \nbecomes much less useful, although anomalies exist, and once you have \nplayed the game more you'll realize that getting a bigger, stronger gun\nis always the answer.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPack Rat\nReq: Level 8, Intelligence 5, Barter 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYou have learned the value of careful packing. Items with a weight of 2\nor less weigh half as much for you.\n\nAt first this perk almost seems silly, and it does have some flaws. For\none, if you're not playing in Hardcore mode, it's a complete waste of a\nperk. If you are playing in Hardcore mode, however, it still requires \nwhat can be a brutal and potentially wasteful amount of points in \nBarter. On the other hand, anything that weighs less than a pound will\nweigh, well, half as much. This comes with an important implication for\nHardcore mode players; most of your vital food, ammo, and crafting\ncomponents will weigh half as much, allowing you to stock up and carry\naround twice as many, which is worth its weight in gold. Worth more,\nreally, gold isn't very good for drinking. Right Crassus? With this\nbenefit you have to weigh it against the Strong Back perk.. if you're\nnot going to carry more than fifty pounds of supplies, you might as \nwell get that perk instead. Also if you have some allies, you can just\nload them up full of gear. So, this perk does have its issues, but if\nyou just want to be sure you are carrying as much gear as possible..\n\nRating: *\nRating: *** (Hardcore Mode)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nQuick Draw\nReq: Level 8, Agility 5\nRanks: 1\n\nQuick Draw makes all of your weapon equipping and holstering 50% faster.\n\nWith the base of five Agility this perk calls for.. maybe.. but with\nanything higher you're going to be doing just fine on your own. And,\nsince this game allows you to be the sniper more successfully and from\na safer distance, chances are you'll have your gun out before the enemy\nanyways. Don't waste your perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRad Resistance\nReq: Level 8, Survival 40, Endurance 5\nRanks: 1\n\nRad Resistance allows you to -- what else? -- resist radiation. This\nperk grants an additional 25% to Radiation Resistance.\n\n25% is a fairly large amount of radiation resistance, but there are\nplenty of environmental suits in the game, and of course.. Rad-X. You can\ntake a perk to permanently gain resistance, or take a pill to get the\nresistance when you need it. Even if you get irradiated, it only costs \n100 Caps or some RadAway to fix you up. If you're the Hardcore mode\nsurvival type, just wait for Rad Absorption.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nScrounger\nReq: Level 8, Luck 5\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Scrounger perk, you'll find considerably more ammunition in\ncontainers than you normally would.\n\nBuy your ammo, instead. Problem solved.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nStonewall\nReq: Level 8, Endurance 6, Strength 6\nRanks: 1\n\nYou gain +5 Damage Threshold against all Melee Weapons and Unarmed \nattacks and cannot be knocked down in combat.\n\nSure, +5 isn't a big deal when it applies to only melee attacks.. but\nhonestly most of the enemies that will blast through your Damage \nThreshold are things like Cazadors, Deathclaws, Radscorpians, and to\nsome extent Nightstalkers and Geckos, all of which use.. you guessed it.\nOn the other hand, five damage probably won't slow most of them down\nmuch (especially the poisonous ones), and I've yet to be knocked down\nin combat.. save from an explosive.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nStrong Back\nReq: Strength 5, Endurance 5\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Strong Back perk, you can carry 50 more pounds of equipment.\n\nIt was in my build for Fallout 3, but with half the perks there's no way\nthis one is getting back in. Sure, carrying extra stuff is nice (perhaps\neven vital, in Hardcore mode), but otherwise it's not a big deal. If you\nare playing Hardcore mode and having the ammo-weight blues, give this\nand Pack Rat some consideration. 50 pounds of equipment can go a long\nway.\n\nRating: *\nRating: ** (Hardcore Mode)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSuper Slam\nReq: Level 8, Strength 6, Melee Weapons 45\nRanks: 1\n\nAll Melee Weapons (except thrown) and Unarmed attacks have a chance of\nknocking your target down.\n<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This is pretty simple, knocking enemies down will buy you some breathing\nroom and allow you to score more hits.. and the biggest issue of melee\nin New Vegas is easily the fact that enemies can retaliate more \nsuccessfully (especially compared to a sniper-build). If you are making\nan Unarmed, or especially a Melee Weapons build, you should consider\nthis perk.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nTerrifying Presence\nReq: Level 8, Speech 70\nRanks: 1\n\nIn some conversations, you gain the ability to initiate combat while\nterrifying a mob of opponents, sending them fleeing for safety.\n\nSeriously? Do I even have to discuss this one? Ah, I guess there are..\nuh.. some second generation mutants out there who might not understand\nwhen suck rears its ugly head. Okay, how often will this help you \nagainst Cazadors, Super Mutants, and Deathclaws? What's that? Never?\nOkay then. You don't need to scare off NPCs, they tend to be weak\nenough.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 10 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK006}\no======================================================================o\nAnimal Friend\nReq: Level 10, Charisma 6, Survival 45\nRanks 2\n\nAt the first rank of this perk, animals simply won't attack. At the\nsecond rank, they will eventually come to your aid in combat, but never\nagainst another animal.\n\nThis perk was useless in Fallout 3, and it's useless in New Vegas.\nThere is simply no animal that is dangerous enough to need sanctuary\nfrom it, much less aid.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nFinesse\nReq: Level 10\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Finesse perk you have a higher chance to score a critical hit\non an opponent in combat, equivalent to 5 extra points of Luck.\n\nAn extra 5% chance to critically hit sure fits into my game plan. \nActually, I can't imagine anybody not having a use for an extra 5%\nchance to critical. I'd rather take a sure damage increase any day, but\nthis is still a good perk. Think of it this way, taking Strong Back is\ngood because it gives you the best part of having five points of\nStrength. Finesse does pretty much the same thing, but with Luck, a far\nsuperior attribute. Again, if you get perks like Better Criticals, this\nperk becomes that much more useful.\n\nRating: *****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nHere and Now\nReq: Level 10\nRanks: 1\n\nThe Here and Now perk immediately grants an additional experience level,\ncomplete with all the advantages that brings.\n\nOr you could just level up like normal. If you're like me, you hit level\n30 well before you finished the game. This is a waste of a perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMath Wrath\nReq: Level 10, Science 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYou are able to optimize your Pip-Boy's V.A.T.S. logic, reducing all AP\ncosts by 10%\n\nIn Fallout 3 this would have been a killer perk. In New Vegas, V.A.T.S.\nis less important. In any event, using more V.A.T.S. at once is risky.\nI would shoot for perks that replenish or regenerate your AP, rather\nthan perks that reduce AP costs or raise your AP total. Sure, using\nVATS in short bursts works just as well (for example, taking two or\nthree shots instead of five or six) but with more powerful, Damage\nThreshold defeating weapons, you won\u2019t' get many shots off at once\nanyways. Also, think about this. Most characters will have around 100\nAP. In fact, the only way you'll get much more is by picking perks like\nAction Boy\/Girl or the Kamikaze trait. TO that end, having -10% AP costs\nfrom 100 AP is like having 10 more AP.. which is patently inferior to\nthe Action Boy\/Girl perk.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMiss Fortune\nReq: Level 10, Luck 6\nRanks: 1\n\nJust when your enemies think they have the upper hand, Miss Fortune\nappears to turn their world upside down. Appearing only in V.A.T.S., she\nhas the ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.\n\nTwo things about this, and it applies to Mysterious Stranger; the only\n'luck' I want to rely on in this game is critical hits. And the fact that\nthis perk only works in V.A.T.S., and then, unpredictably at that, makes\nme pass on it for something more certain.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMister Sandman\nReq: Level 10, Sneak 60%\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Mister Sandman perk, when you're in Sneak mode, you gain the\noption to silently kill any human or Ghoul while they're sleeping. And,\nall Mister Sandman kills earn bonus XP.\n\nFirst, if they're sleeping, you can probably just shoot them from a \ndistance anyways. Second, when enemies are sleeping, they seem to have \na greater ability to detect you. Hell, half the time I get detected it's\nby sleeping characters. Third, most enemies you'll want to kill won\u2019t be\ncaught sleeping, so this is mostly useful for assassinating NPCs. And\nfinally-how much XP are you really going to be getting from this in the\nlong run? Don't waste your perks.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMysterious Stranger\nReq: Level 10, Luck 6\nRanks: 1\n\nYou've gained your own personal guardian angel... armed with a fully\nloaded .44 Magnum. With this perk, the Mysterious Stranger will appear\noccasionally in V.A.T.S. mode to lend a hand, with deadly efficiency.\n\nFor the same reason that I won't use Miss Fortune, I won't use \nMysterious Stranger. Sure, the extra damage in V.A.T.S. might be nice,\nbut it can be done other, more reliable ways.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nNerd Rage!\nReq: Level 10, Science 50, Intelligence 5\nRanks: 1\n\nYou've been pushed around long enough! With the Nerd Rage! perk, your\nStrength is raised to 10 and you gain +15 Damage Threshold whenever\nyour Health drops to 20% or below.\n\nI've actually used this perk before in New Vegas.. more for novelties'\nsake than for any good reason. It was fun to mess around with a \ncharacter who stuck to mid-strength weapons, but once they got injured\nwhipped out a Minigun. It wasn't horribly effective, mind you, just\namusing for a spell. +15 Damage Threshold is pretty nice, but falling\nunder 20% of your health is cutting it awful close.. I wouldn't bother\nwith this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nNight Person\nReq: Level 10\nRanks: 1\n\nWhen the sun is down, a Night Person gains +2 to both Intelligence and\nPerception (up to a maximum of 10). This perk directly affects your\n\"internal clock\" and remains active both inside and outside.\n\nThe best part of this perk is the skill bonuses you'd receive from the\nstat increases. If you get the extra skill points from the Intelligence\nwhen you level up at night.. maybe. But still, having a bonus half of\nthe time.. eh. I mean, it's not like it adds to your combat abilities,\nit lets you see threats further (at night) and gives you some extra\nskill points. There's better out there.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPlasma Spaz\nReq: Level 10, Energy Weapons 70\n\nYou're just so excited about plasma that you can't (magnetically)\ncontain yourself! The AP costs for all plasma weapons (including Plasma\nGrenades) are reduced by 10%.\n\nYou remember Math Wrath? Yeah, it worked for all weapons, and still \nwasn't that good. How is a perk that only works for plasma weapons\ngoing to fare? Not so well.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 12 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK007}\no======================================================================o\nFast Metabolism\nReq: Level 12\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Fast Metabolism perk, you gain a 20% Health bonus when using\nStimpaks.\n\nStimpaks are cheap enough to buy, you don't need this perk. If it\nincreased the healing and other drug benefits, (perhaps H20 recovery),\nthen it might be good for Hardcore players, but as it stands, it\nsucks. Heh.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nGhastly Scavenger\nReq: Level 12, Cannibal\nRanks: 1\n\nWith Ghastly Scavenger, when you're in Sneak mode, you gain the option\nto eat a Super Mutant or Feral Ghoul corpse to regain Health. Every time\nyou feed, you lose Karma, and if the act is witnessed, it is considered\na crime against nature.\n\nMuch like the Cannibal perk, this perk is only remotely useful if you're\nplaying in Hardcore mode. Even then, this perk requires you to have\nCannibal-a perk with arguable value as it is-and only works on Super\nMutants and Feral Ghouls. Humans are more plentiful, and unless you're\njust starving away on Black Mountain, Camp Searchlight, or Vault 34,\nthere's not really any widespread use for this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nHit the Deck\nReq: Level 12, Explosives 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYour extensive familiarity with Explosives allows you to ignore a\nportion of their damage. Your Damage Threshold is increased by 50% \nagainst any and all Explosives--even your own.\n\nI don't suppose this applies to the explosive corona caused by the\nMeltdown perk? Ah well. I can actually see this perk having its uses,\nalbeit dependent upon your love of Explosives and your base Damage\nThreshold. If you use nothing but Explosives, and wear enough armor to\ngive you.. about 30 Damage Threshold, then the frequency of friendly\nfire and the Damage Threshold bonus may well be worth the perk. If not,\nyou can ignore this perk.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLife Giver\nReq: Level 12, Endurance 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Life Giver perk, you gain an additional 30 Hit Points.\n\nConsidering that you gain 20 hit points for a point of Endurance, this\nperk is pretty much on the same level as an Intensive Training perk\nspent on Endurance-minus the bonuses to resistances and the skills, and\nthe ability to grab another Implant. The fact that Implants call for us\nto have such a high starting Endurance makes 30 extra hit points\ndispensable, and although it's nice, I can't see it fitting into most\nbuilds.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLong Haul\nReq: Level 12, Barter 70, Endurance 6\nRanks: 1\n\nYou have learned how to pack mountains of gear for the Long Haul. Being\nover-encumbered no longer prevents you from using Fast Travel.\n\nSure, you might think this is nifty. After all, how wonderful would it\nbe to just grab up all the loot you can carry and fast travel back to\ntown? What about the implications for Hardcore mode? Hogwash. Crawling\naround scavenging the last few items in a room or on some corpses and\nthen having to inch your way outside to fast travel is not a time \nsaver. Just drop the excess and come back. Or store it on a companion.\nThis is an illusory time saver, and unless you stored an ungodly amount\nof loot in a container, picked it all up, and then waddled outside to\nfast travel, you wouldn't be doing anything. This isn't a good perk,\nit's just procrastination disguised as convenience.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPiercing Strike\nReq: Level 12, Unarmed 70\nRanks: 1\n\nPiercing Strike makes all of your Unarmed and Melee Weapons (including\nthrown) negate 15 points of Damage Threshold on the target.\n\nIgnoring 15 points of Damage Threshold is huge, even ridiculous,\nespecially considering that many Unarmed and Melee Weapons already do\ngood damage. Combine this with the Purifier perk and you will be able\nto deal with Deathclaws and Super Mutants as well as any weapon-bearing\ncharacter in the game. Frankly, however, against those enemies I'd \nrather keep my distance. If you go melee, however, you're going to want\nthis perk.\n\nRating: ****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPyromaniac\nReq: Level 12, Explosives 60\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Pyromaniac perk, you do +50% damage with fire-based weapons,\nlike the Flamer and Shishkebab.\n\nThis is a huge damage boost that effects a small variety of weapons.\nStill, the Heavy Incinerator can be fun. If you use Energy Weapons, and\nreally have the desire to use a fire-based weapon.. well, you might as\nwell get this perk. If you don't fall into this narrow niche, ignore it.\nThis perk is especially useful for boosting the Shiskebab melee weapon.\nWith this perk it becomes a viable weapon for late game use.. well, as\nmuch as any melee weapon becomes, anyways. It might not be as powerful\nas the Super Sledge, but it is much faster. Or you could just go Unarmed\nand use a Displacer Glove or something. Either way.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRobotics Expert\nReq: Level 12, Science 50\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Robotics perk, you do an additional 25% damage to any robot.\nBut, even better, sneaking up on a hostile robot undetected and\nactivating it will put that robot into a permanent shutdown state.\n\nThis is still as good of a perk in Fallout: New Vegas as it was in\nFallout 3, but with a few notes on the gameplay. First, it's much\nharder to sneak to within melee range of enemies in New Vegas. Second,\nthere aren't nearly as many robots in the Mohave as there were in D.C.,\nwhich makes this a less useful perk. Oh, also there's the Pulse Gun,\nwhich pretty much wastes robots on its own.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSilent Running\nReq: Level 12, Agility 6, Sneak 50\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Silent Running perk, running no longer factors into a \nsuccessful sneak attempt.\n\nAlright, let\u2019s be honest here. In order to Sneak effectively, you need\na fairly high Sneak score. However, in Fallout: New Vegas, you don't\nneed to get within most enemies' perception range to snipe them, making\nSneak less obligatory. However, if you want to sneak near an enemy,\nmuch less sneak up to them, you're going to need to be quick about it,\nas enemies wander around more regularly. To this end, you'll want\nSilent Running. If all you want Sneak for is to get within the generous\nsniping range, or to grab an item off a shelf, you probably don't need\nthis perk. If you want to get closer to enemies, or to sneak past them\nat any decent speed, you need this perk.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSniper\nReq: Level 12, Perception 6, Agility 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Sniper perk, your chance to hit an opponent's head in V.A.T.s.\nis significantly increased.\n\nIf it has a head, you probably want to shoot it there for the bonus \ndamage. If you only stick to melee attacks, or never use V.A.T.S., you\ncan ignore this perk. If you play realistically however, this is a \npretty good perk. Mind you it doesn't just cover 'sniping'. Popping a\nSuper Mutant in the face with a few rounds of Shotgun Shells at mid\nrange is also a good use of the Sniper perk.\n\nRating: ****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSplash Damage\nReq: Level 12, Explosives 70\nRanks: 1\n\nWhen you're deep in enemy territory, you just start chucking grenades\nand hope for the best. All Explosives have a 25% larger area of effect.\n\nI'm rather skeptical of all these area of effect perks.. first, it seems\njust as likely to hurt you as not, and second, just how many enemies are\ngoing to find clustered together? Three, or four at the most? I don't\nknow, I'd rather just take Demolition Expert instead.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nUnstoppable Force\nReq: Level 12, Strength 7, Melee Weapons 90\nRanks: 1\n\nYour martial might is truly legendary. You do a large amount of \nadditional damage through enemy blocks with all Melee Weapons and\nUnarmed attacks.\n\nJust how many enemies actually block in this game? Human enemies that\nuse melee weapons, which are, as a rule of thumb, usually easy to kill.\nSuper Mutants, Cazadors, and Deathclaws won't be blocking your attacks,\nso what use is this perk? And 90 Melee Weapons? Even a dedicated melee\nfighter can ignore this perk.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 14 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK008}\no======================================================================o\nAdamantium Skeleton\nReq: Level 14\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Adamantium Skeleton perk, your limbs only receive 50% of the\ndamage they normally would.\n\nYour limbs don't take much damage throughout the game, unless you step\non a mine or take a glancing blow from a missile launcher. You won\u2019t see\nmuch in the way of hit point preservation with this perk, if anything,\nyou'll just get crippled less. Sure, it can be handy in Hardcore mode,\nbut doctors and Doctors Bags are not rare enough that this should be\nan ever-present concern for you. The fact that I still perk the Small\nFrame trait for Hardcore mode characters should say a lot about how I\nwill rate this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nCenter of Mass\nReq: Level 16, Guns 70\nRanks: 1\n\nYou don't fool around with fancy trick shots. Straight to the midsection\nand down they go. In V.A.T.S., you do an extra 15% damage with attacks\ntargeting the torso.\n\n15% is nice and all, but note the 'in V.A.T.S.' line. Also keep in mind\nthat headshots tend to deal more damage.. if you're close enough to\npull off a V.A.T.S. shot with some expectation of success, you're \nprobably close enough to go for the head.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nChemist\nReq: Level 14, Medicine 60\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Chemist perk, any chems you take last twice as long.\n\nThere are few instances in the game when you will need to take chems,\nin fact, the most useful chemical in the game is Rad-x. You'll find\nplenty of chems in your travels, enough that you can just take two\ninstead of having this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nJury Rigging\nReq: Level 14, Repair 90\n\nYou possess the amazing ability to repair any item using a roughly \nsimilar item. Fix a Trail Carbine with a Hunting Rifle, a Plasma \nDefender with a Laser Pistol, or even Power Armor with Metal Armor. How\ndoes it work? Nobody knows... except you.\n\nThis can be an incredibly useful, Cap-and-bother saving perk. First off,\nhowever, let\u2019s just say with a high enough Repair you can just make\nWeapon Repair Kits with fairly common components that can be purchased\nfrom most vendors (Duct Tape, Scrap Electronics, Scrap Metal, \nWonderglue, and Wrenches), which, again with a good Repair skill, should\nrestore about 25% of a weapons' condition. This means you really don't\nneed this perk for any weapons in the game. Armor, however, has no easy\nfix, and you'll really feel it when you want to repair your Remnant\nPower Armor, or your Combat Armor, Reinforced Mark II. Still, if you're\nnot in Hardcore mode you can just kill some Super Mutants and sell their\nguns for the Caps you need, and even if you are in Hardcore mode.. wear\nless expensive armor (humble Vault Security Armor has a respectable\n16 Damage Threshold, is light armor, and costs under 200 Caps to fix.)\nThat said, there is probably no better 'legitimate' way to earn Caps\nthan by repairing high-end weapons with lower-end counterparts. Energy\nWeapons is by far more expensive per shot than Guns, making that build a\ngreat candidate for this perk on one hand. On the other hand, Energy\nWeapons requires a much lower Repair score than Guns, so you'll have to\nwaste more points to meet the requirements for this perk. Then again,\nif you're a die-hard Energy Weapons' user, what have you got to lose?\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLight Step\nReq: Level 14, Perception 6, Agility 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Light Step perk, you'll never set off an enemy's mines or\nfloor-based traps.\n\nLand mines are pretty common. Fortunately, they're also obvious, they\ndon't do a huge amount of damage-in the grand scheme of things, and you\ncan disarm them with a simple button click. Not only that, you get\nexperience and the mine itself when you do! Be observant, and you wont\nneed this perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPurifier\nReq: Level 14\nRanks: 1\n\nAs a purifier of the wasteland, you do +50% damage with Melee and \nUnarmed weapons against Centaurs, Nightstalkers, Spore Plants, Spore\nCarriers, Deathclaws, Super Mutants, and Feral Ghouls.\n\nIf you are going to be using Melee Weapons or Unarmed, you MUST get this\nperk. Deathclaws are bad enough, but capitulating and going toe-to-claw\nwith them in melee combat is insane. This perk helps even the odds.\nAlso, bonuses against Feral Ghouls and Super Mutants shouldn't be \noverlooked, especially not a damage boost of 50%, which can really add\nup big with a Ballistic Fist, Displacer Glove, or Super Sledge. If you\nare a hybrid character and have access to a decent gun, you can ignore\nthis perk, but for melee-specialized builds, this is gold.\n\nRating: ****\n\nLevel 16 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK009}\no======================================================================o\nAction Boy\/Girl\nReq: Level 16, Agility 6\nRanks: 2\n\nWith the Action Boy\/Girl perk, you gain an additional 15 Action Points \nto use in V.A.T.S.\n\nAction Boy\/Girl has been split into two ranks, radically diminishing\nthe effectiveness of this perk. On top of that, you have LESS perks\nwith which to choose from, further exacerbating the situation. If that\nwasn't enough, having a high Action Point total isn't as useful in New\nVegas. All of these conditions add up to one conclusion: you can look\nelsewhere for your V.A.T.S. perks.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nBetter Criticals\nReq: Level 16, Perception 6, Luck 6\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Better Criticals perk, you gain a 50% damage bonus every time\na critical hit is scored on an opponent.\n\nYour critical chance is determined by your Luck-1 point of Luck equals\na 1% chance of landing a critical hit. This doesn't increase your chance\nof landing a critical hit, instead Better Criticals improves the\ndamage you deal when you do land a critical hit. Therefore the\nusefulness of this perk is directly related to how high your luck is.\nWith sneak attack criticals, the Sniper perk, or the Finesse perk,\nBetter Criticals becomes greatly useful, but it really depends on your \nbuild. No character is hurt by having high luck however, so it stands \nto suggest that most characters could benefit greatly from this perk.. \nAnd since you need a Luck score of 6 for this perk, if you can get it, \nyou might as well. This perk is especially useful for players who have\nthe Laser Commander perk, for obvious reasons.\n\nRating: *****\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nChem Resistant\nReq: Level 16, Medicine 60\nRanks: 1\n\nHaving the Chem Resistant perk means you're 50% less likely to\ndevelop an addiction to chems, like Psycho or Jet.\n\nFirst, why you would ever need to use Psycho or Jet is beyond me.\nSecondly, addiction isn't a big deal. You can always get your\naddiction cured at a hospital, or you could just reload. If doubling\nthe duration of chems didn't appeal to you, this shouldn't either.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMeltdown\nReq: Level 16, Energy Weapon 90\nRanks: 1\n\nMeltdown causes foes killed by your Energy Weapons to give off a corona\nof harmful energy. Note: this can cause a chain reaction. \n\nAnother Energy Weapons perk, this one is more of a general perk, as it\napplies to all Energy Weapons, rather than either lasers or plasma\nweapons. I can't question the power of Energy Weapons, but I can and\nwill question the usefulness of this perk. Seeing enemies explode into\na corona of energy when they die is awful fun, but the explosion has a\nfairly short radius, although it can do good damage. The bad part is\nthat you can catch yourself in this blast, making it a hassle any time\nan enemy gets close to you in combat. Sure \"Don't let them get close\",\nyeah, whatever. In any event, blowing yourself up is not fun, and this\nperk doesn't make energy weapons exceptionally more powerful. On top of\nthat, there's not all that many situations in which you'll find enough\nenemies close together to cause a useful explosion, much less a chain\nreaction. It's slight usefulness is offset by the hassle of having to\nkeep away from enemies to avoid catching yourself in the blast.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nTag!\nReq: Level 16\nRanks: 1\n\nThe Tag! perk allows you to select a fourth Skill to be a Tag skill,\nwhich instantly raises it by 15 points.\n\nSkill points are good, I think we can all agree with that. But there is\na limit. A 15 point skill perk is arguably less useful than \nComprehension.. even if you don't find 15 skill books, and it is\ncertainly less useful than Educated, which can give up to 52 skill\npoints. Sure, I like skill points, but I won't sacrifice a perk for\nsuch a small return.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nWeapon Handling\nReq: Level 16, Strength < 10\nRanks: 1\n\nWeapon Strength Requirements are now 2 points lower than normal for you.\n\nStrength isn't a great attribute.. in fact, the only reason I both with\nit is because you NEED to have Strength to use weapons effectively. This\nperk gives you, essentially, two points of Strength. Or at least the\nbetter benefits of having two Strength. This perk allows me to start \nout with four Strength, and let Power Armor and an Implant get me to\nthe equivalent of eight.. which allows me to wield all the weapons I\ncare to wield anyways.\n\nRating: ****\n\nLevel 18 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK010}\no======================================================================o\nComputer Whiz\nReq: Level 18, Intelligence 7, Science 70\nRanks: 1\n\nFail a hack attempt and get locked out of a computer? Not if you're a\nComputer Whiz! With this perk, you can attempt to re-hack any computer\nyou were previously locked out of.\n\nWords can hardly describe how useless this perk is. Okay, yes they can.\nThis perk is damn near worthless. A 10 skill point perk seems fantastic\nby comparison. Here's a way to get the benefits of this perk without\nwasting your perk pick on it: before you hack a computer, save. If you\nget locked out, reload. Bam, no need for this perk. And considering\n90% of the computers you encounter in this game lock a door (which you\ncan pick) or disable turrets (which you can destroy) there's no great\nfear of getting locked out of a terminal in any case. Don\u2019t waste your\nperk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nConcentrated Fire\nReq: Level 18, Energy Weapons 60, Guns 60\nRanks: 1\n\nWith Concentrated Fire, your accuracy to hit any body part in V.A.T.S.\nincreases slightly with each subsequent hit on that body part.\n\nIf you've been paying attention, you'll know that most of the time\ntaking more shots in V.A.T.S. at one time is a bad thing. You know, the\nsitting duck thing? This isn't an issue if you're up on a ledge sniping,\nbut then again, you don't really need that much accuracy in that case.\nPoint is, you won't be taking as many consecutive shots in V.A.T.S. in\nthis game, meaning you don't need this perk, even if you use a fast\nweapon.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nInfiltrator\nReq: Level 18, Perception 7, Lockpick 70\nRanks: 1\n\nWith Infiltrator, if a lock is broken, and can't normally be picked\nagain, you can attempt to pick it again one more time. This includes\nlocks previously broken by a \"Force Lock\" attempt.\n\nThis perk sucks for the same reason Computer Whiz sucks. Why anybody\nwould be forcing locks in the first place is a mystery, and if you\nare going to bother forcing locks, why wouldn't you save first? Save\nand reload, and save a perk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nParalyzing Palm\nReq: Level 18, Unarmed 70\n\nWith Paralyzing Palm, you will sometimes perform a S.P.E.C.I.A.L.\nV.A.T.S. palm strike for 30 seconds. Note that in order to perform the\nParalyzing Palm, you must be completely unarmed.\n\nParalyzing Palm was the great unequalizer in Fallout 3.. but that was\nback when V.A.T.S. kept you safe from reprisal. In Fallout: New Vegas,\nrunning into a pack of Deathclaws and hoping for a Paralyzing Palm to\neven the odds is tantamount to committing suicide.. but against one or\ntwo enemies, it can eliminate one threat and let you concentrate on \nanother, or put down an enemy quick-like for a coup-de-gras. It will\nkeep an enemy down longer than a knockdown attack, and it remains\nuseful.. unless you don't use Unarmed attacks.\n\nRating: ****\n\nLevel 20 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK011}\no======================================================================o\nExplorer\nReq: Level 20\nRanks: 1\n\nWhen you choose the Explorer perk, every location in the world is\nrevealed on your map. So get out there and explore!\n\nYou can find all the areas on the map by yourself. You even get little \nicons that will guide you to them when you're close. Along the way, \nyou'll get to explore the wasteland, which is the meat of the game. \nYou'll find skill books, get experience, and find loot. Also, it must \nbe noted that this perk doesn't make your character stronger in any way. \nDownload a world map and search for places yourself, save yourself a \nperk.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nGrim Reaper's Sprint\nReq: Level 20\nRanks: 1\n\nIf you kill a target in V.A.T.S., 20 Action Points are restored upon \nexiting V.A.T.S.\n\nV.A.T.S. has been reduced in this game, and so has Grim Reaper's Sprint.\nStill, it's not abysmal. In the grand scheme of things it's better to\ntake fewer, safer, smarter shots in V.A.T.S. With this perk you can\nfinish off an enemy in V.A.T.S. and recharge your AP a bit. You'll do\nmost of your fighting outside of V.A.T.S., certainly, but popping an\nenemy in the head with a Brush Gun at the right time can be a very \neffective way to exterminate threats and thin the crowd.. and with\nGrim Reaper's Sprint you can manage to do this somewhat often.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nNinja\nReq: Level 20, Sneak 80, Melee Weapons 80\nRanks: 1\n\nThe Ninja perk grants you the power of the fabled shadow warriors. When\nattacking with either Melee or Unarmed, you gain a +15% critical chance\non every strike. Sneak attack criticals do 25% more damage than normal.\n\nThis perk seems like it's golden if you look at what it promises.. \nHowever, it only really shines if you're a melee character, whether\nUnarmed or Melee Weapons. A +15% critical rate is huge, and with a high\nLuck, Finesse, the 1st Recon Beret, and this perk your critical hit rate\ncan aspire to 35%. Of course, a gun-using character will almost \ncertainly get more use out of the sneak attack critical damage, as.. \nfrankly.. they can just pull them off easier. Which brings us to Ninja's\nglaring problem.. it's skill requirements are outrageous. Sneak is a \nfair skill, but 80 points is a huge investment, and Melee Weapons.. \nwell, they just kind of suck. Your chances of sneaking up on many \nenemies in order to gain one of this perks' benefits isn't very high, \nand certainly not against enemies against which it would actually be \nuseful to do so. This perk promises a lot, but in the end it just isn't\nworth it.\n\nRating: **\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSolar Powered\nReq: Level 20, Endurance 7\nRanks: 1\n\nWith the Solar Powered perk, you gain an additional 2 points to \nStrength when in direct sunlight, and slowly regenerate lost Health.\n\nAs tempting as two points of Strength are, I'd rather have two points\nall the time from Weapon Handling, and just buy the regeneration \nImplant.\n\nRating: **\n\nLevel 22 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK012}\no======================================================================o\nLaser Commander\nReq: Level 22, Energy Weapons 90\n\nFrom the humble Laser Pistol to the might Gatling Laser, you do 15% more\ndamage and have +10% chance to critically hit with any laser weapon.\n\nIf you decided to use Energy Weapons, you might want this perk. Lasers\nare generally weaker than plasma weapons, but the bonuses from this perk \ndo a good bit to close the gap. Turn your Tri-Beam Laser Rifle into a \ndestructive force! Okay, seriously, no laser weapon will become so \nstrong from this perk that it will easily overcome the Damage Thresholds\nof stronger enemies, but the bonuses are nice, nonetheless. Especially\nwith Gatling Lasers, which do little damage per hit, but fire fast..\nthe more chances you have of each little laser dealing critical damage,\nthe better off you're going to be. Still, seriously think about the\ndamage that most laser weapons are doing before getting this perk. At\n15%, you're looking at an increase of a couple of points, at best. Pick\nit for the crits, not for the damage boost.\n\nRating: ***\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nNuka Chemist\nReq: Level 22, Science 90\n\nYou have unraveled some of the greatest mysteries of Pre-War masters:\nformulas for developing special Nuka-Colas! This perk unlocks special\nNuka-Cola recipes at the Workbench.\n\nI've not been impressed by workbench-related perks yet, so why would I\nbe impressed by this? Simply put, I wouldn't. You can make Nuka-Cola\nQuartz, Nuka-Cola Victory, and Ice-Cold Nuka-Cola.. all of which are\nnovelties, but not great items in their own right. There simply aren't\nenough perks for this kind of profligacy.\n\nRating: *\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSpray and Pray\nReq: Level 22\n\nYour attacks do much less damage to companions, allowing you to \nliberally spray an area with reckless abandon.\n\nI've frankly never had a problem with killing my own companions. Maybe\nI'm just more careful? Or maybe I use long-ranged weapons that call for\nprecision, and not reckless abandon? Or best of all, just leave those\nworthless bastards behind. They're nothing but mules, anyawys.\n\nRating: *\n\nLevel 24 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK013}\no======================================================================o\nSlayer\nReq: Level 24, Unarmed 90, Agility 7\n\nThe slayer walks the earth! The speed of all Melee Weapons and Unarmed\nattacks is increased by 30%.\n\nAh.. Good old Slayer, returned to us in a different form in New Vegas.\nIf you use Melee Weapons or Unarmed, you must pick this perk. It\nincreases your damage output by 30%. What more is there to say? If you\ndon't use Melee Weapons or Unarmed attacks, ignore this perk.\n\nRating: ****\n\nLevel 26 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK014}\no======================================================================o\nNerves of Steel\nReq: Level 26, Agility 7\n\nWith the Nerves of Steel perk, you regenerate Action Points much more\nquickly than you normally would.\n\nAs I've already stated, the best defense in New Vegas is a good offense.\nOr failing that, high ground the enemy can't reach and a superior ranged\nweapon. When using V.A.T.S. it's often better to take fewer shots as the\nsituation presents itself. To this end, regenerating more Action Point\nis better than having more to spend at once, which makes Nerves of \nSteel a better perk choice than, say, Action Boy.\n\nRating: ***\n\nLevel 28 Perks \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK015}\no======================================================================o\nRad Absorption\nReq: Level 28, Endurance 7\n\nWith the Rad Absorption perk, your radiation level slowly decreases on\nits own over time.\n\nIn normal mode, you have doctors who will clear up any Rad problems you\nmight have for a measly 100 Caps. In Hardcore mode, this saves you the\nresource-wasting trip back to town. Even better, it allows you to \nsafely eat any type of irradiated food and drink from any water source\nyou want. You'll simply heal over time. This opens up many options for\neating and drinking on-the-go, and makes the run a good bit simpler.\nToo bad you have to wait until level 28 to pick it.. by then, you \nshould have already beaten the game or you should have plenty of \nresources that starvation and dehydration aren't imminent dangers.\n\nRating: *\nRating: *** (Hardcore Mode)\n\nAdditional Perks\t\t\t\t\t\t{PRK016}\no======================================================================o\nAdditional perks are quest-based or challenge-base perks that you get\nfor completing specific quests and challenges. Some quest-based perks\nmay be missable, and obviously if you don't buy a certain Implant, you\nwon't get the related perk. Challenge-based perks unlock automatically\nwhen you meet the conditions.. usually killing so many of a certain\ntype of enemy, or inflicting a certain amount of damage with a certain\nweapon.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nAbominable\n\nKill enough Abominations (Deathclaws, Centaurs, etc.) and you'll get \nthis perk, which increases your damage against this class of enemy.\nThere are multiple ranks of this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nAgility Implant\n\nBuy the Agility Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 \nbonus to your Agility (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nAnimal Control\n\nKill enough Animals (Bighorners, Coyotes, Geckos, etc.) and you'll get \nthis perk, which increases your damage against this class of enemy.\nThere are multiple ranks of this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nBeautiful Beatdown\n\nInflict 10,000 damage with Unarmed weapons to obtain this perk, which\nreduces the AP Cost of Unarmed attacks in V.A.T.S.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nBetter Healing\n\nWhile Arcade is a companion, the players gains more health from all\nsources.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nBug Stomper\n\nKill enough Animals (Giant Ants, Radscorpians, etc.) and you'll get \nthis perk, which increases your damage against this class of enemy.\nThere are multiple ranks of this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nCharisma Implant\n\nBuy the Charisma Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 \nbonus to your Charisma (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nEndurance Implant\n\nBuy the Endurance Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 \nbonus to your Endurance (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nEnhanced Sensors\n\nWhile ED-E is a companion, the player can detect enemies at an increased\nrange. Additionally, enemies will appear on the player's compass and can\nbe targeted in V.A.T.S. even when cloaked.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nIntelligence Implant\n\nBuy the Intelligence Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a \n+1 bonus to your Intelligence (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLord Death\n\nKill anything. Alot of anything. You'll get a damage bonus against\neverything. There are multiple ranks of this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLuck Implant\n\nBuy the Luck Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 bonus\nto your Luck (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMutant Massacrer\n\nKill enough Super Mutants and you'll get this perk, which increases your \ndamage against them. There are multiple ranks of this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n\nMonocyte Breeder\n\nBuy the Health Regeneration Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to\nget this perk (12,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPerception Implant\n\nBuy the Perception Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 \nbonus to your Perception (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRanger Takedown\n\nIn Novac you can find Ranger Andy, a retired NCR Ranger who is a down\non himself. Succeed at a Speech challenge and convince him he doesn\u2019t\nsuck and he'll teach you this perk.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nRegular Maintenance\n\nWhile Raul is a companion, the Condition of weapons and armor decays\nmore slowly.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nScribe Assistant\n\nWhile Veronica is a companion, the player can craft Workbench items \nthrough Veronica's dialogue.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSpotter\n\nWhile Boone is a companion, hostile targets are highlighted whenever the\nplayer is actively aiming.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nStealth Girl\n\nWhile Lily is a companion, the duration of Stealth Boys is increased by\n200% and all Sneak Attack Critical Hits do an additional 10% damage.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nStrength Implant\n\nBuy the Strength Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to get a +1 \nbonus to your Strength (4,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nSub-Dermal Armor\n\nBuy the Sub-Dermal Armor Implant from the New Vegas Medical Clinic to \nget a +4 bonus to your Damage Threshold (8,000 Caps).\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nTough Guy\n\nI got this perk while messing around, trying to get achievements.\nJumping off cliffs and using Stimpaks is fun! Anyways, you'll get this\nfor injuring limbs, which is paradoxically easier to do with Small\nFrame. That's right, Small Frame, which makes it easier to injure limbs,\nmake it easier to get Tough Guy, which makes it more difficult to injure\nlimbs.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nWhiskey Rose\n\nWhile Cass is a companion, she and the player gain Damage Threshold when\nthey drink Whiskey. Additionally, the player does not suffer \nIntelligence loss from consuming alcohol and ignores the negative \neffects of alcohol addiction.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n\nMy Personal Build, Perks\t\t\t\t\t{PRK017}\no======================================================================o\nThese are the perks I choose for my character.. hence the name of the\nsection. Note that most of the perks don't really require a specific\norder save the first two. Intensive Training is taken at level 2 \nbecause.. well, there's little else worth taking at that level, and \nEducated is taken at level four to maximize its usefulness. If I'm\nplaying a female character, I find it worth my while to pick Black\nWidow, since there are some interesting dialogue options for it, and\nsince there are a lot of male enemies in the game (for example, all of\nCaesar's Legion?) After that, it's really just preference and how you've\nallocated skill points that should determine your perk picks. Note that \nmy build is considered the 'base build' for this FAQ, to which extra \nskill\/perk choices are added at your discretion to make your own ideal \ncharacter. Some sample builds are included after the text for the base \nbuild.\n\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nLevel\n2\tBlack Widow\/Intensive Training\t\t\t\n4\tEducated\t\t\t\t\t\n6\tComprehension\t\t\t\t\t\n8\tHand Loader\t\t\t\t\t\n10\tFinesse\t\t\t\t\t\t\n12\tSilent Running\t\t\t\t\t\t\n14\tToughness (1)\t\t\t\t\t\n16\tWeapon Handling\t\t\t\t\t\n18\tBetter Criticals\t\t\t\t\n20\tToughness (2)\t\t\t\n22\t--\n24\t--\t\t\n26\t--\n28\t--\t\t\n30\t--\t\t\t\t\n\nThis build makes for a pretty proficient Guns-user, who is also adept\nat sneaking. This can arguably be called the 'sniper' build, as it is\nmostly designed to take advantage of the good range of Guns weapons, and\nthe ability to make shots from stealth. Note that while this build \nisn't specifically married to Guns, they've got a low Strength \nrequirement and do great damage, and I really see no good reason to not\nuse guns.. just like I don't see why this build can't spend skill points\nto be able to use Energy Weapons and Explosives, as well.\n\n\"Guns\" \nIf you want to make a more 'rangery' version of this build, consider \ngetting Melee Weapons up to 45, Repair to within striking range of 90, \nand pick the Cowboy perk to take advantage of the benefits it'll give \nthe Brush Gun. With the Brush Gun, using V.A.T.S. to pick off enemies at \nclose to mid range becomes a more rewarding option, meaning that in \naddition you can consider the Grim Reaper's Sprint and Nerves of Steel \nPerks. Also, for any ranged fighter Commando and Sniper are fair perks, \nespecially considering that many of the better weapons in the game are \ntwo-handed 'rifles', and shooting enemies in the head is almost always \nbetter than shooting them somewhere else.\n\n\"Unarmed\"\nThere are also enough free perks to pick up some essential Unarmed\nperks, although you'll have to settle for a Displacer Glove, as this\nbuild has nowhere near enough Strength for a Ballistic Fist. Purifier,\nPiercing Strike, and Slayer come to mind as perk choices for the really\ndedicated melee characters.\n\n\"Energy Weapons\"\nThe only changes that really have to be considered in this build for\nEnergy Weapons is with the Laser Commander perk. Frankly, however, most\nof the weapons that are good in the Energy Weapons category either\nrequire too much Strength for this build, or aren't even lasers. In my\nmind, there's no real reason to specialize in Energy Weapons-related\nperks at all. Even a diehard Energy Weapons supporter would be hard-\npressed to say that there are a great number of useful perks for the\nskill set. At least, honestly. Frankly, perks like Nerves of Steel,\nGrim Reapers Sprint, Commando, and Sniper affect all weapons (or at\nleast all ranged weapon) enough to make them recommendable, whatever\nyour favorite weapon type. If you're a die-hard Energy Weapons fanatic,\ngo for Vigilant Recycler to save some Caps (and perhaps Jury Rigging).\nThe biggest difference between Energy Weapons and Guns is cost per\ncaps.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Getting Started in the Mohave {MOH001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This little section of the FAQ is less character creation and more\ncharacter establishment. Since obtaining the Implants from the New\nVegas Medical Clinic greatly affects your character build, it is fairly\nessential for a guide of this sort. The early loot locations, unique\nweapons, and various exploits are thrown in just because I like you.\n\nNew Vegas Medical Clinic Run\t\t\t\t\t{MOH002}\no======================================================================o\nMy first goal is to make it all the way to the New Vegas Medical Clinic\nas quickly as possible. This is in every way reminiscent of the Rivet\nCity run from Fallout 3.. except this time around we can score our bonus\nIntelligence before we hit level two. We'll do our best to do so, at\nleast, and since this is a fairly important part of the guide, I'll help \nyou get there as best as I can. For Hardcore players, you may as well \npostpone this journey and try to reach the New Vegas area by questing \nyour way there.\n\nSave your game before you head off. You never know what might happen,\nso play it safe and keep a save of your character before you go \nrunning out into the Mohave. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n1) First step, follow the road south east out of Goodsprings until you \nfind Jean Sky Diving. From here head east along I-15 until you find \nsome railroad tracks. You may want to get off I-15 sooner to avoid any \nhostile Powder Gangers you see. The Bloatflies in the desert will mostly \nleave you alone unless you get too close.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n2) Get on the railroad tracks and follow it south past the Powder Ganger\nCap South area until you reach the Emergency Service Railyard. You now \nhave to follow the railroad south past Nipton until it connects with a \nroad running east-west. Don't follow along the road, as there are Viper \nGangers set up in ambush, instead head through the hills to the north of \nthe road. This will let you bypass the enemies. Once you reach the road \ncontinue east until you find a road sign that directs you to turn north \nto find Novac. You now want to continue north up these roads for the \nforeseeable future.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n3) You SHOULD find a merchant caravan heading north here. They'll be\nattacked by Caesar's Legion Recruits. Stay nearby but don't get\ninvolved in the fight. Once the fight is over, loot the bodies. It\ndoesn't matter who wins, and none of this gear is going to be all\nthat useful, but it will sell for enough to earn you a handful of \nCaps with which you can gamble yourself a small fortune later. If\nyou want to play it safe, you can follow the caravan up to Novac,\nletting them handle whatever baddies you may find. You will pass near\nRanger Station Charlie on your way north, which can (like all locations)\nbe avoided if you wish to forgo gaining experience.\n<----------------------------------------------------------------------><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
4) Either way, follow the road with the railroad tracks running next\nto it to find Novac. North of here you can find the Gibson Scrap Yard\nand the HELIOS One power plant. Cross the desert to the east of the \nHELIOS One plant and avoid any Fire Ants you find until you find another \nroad running north-south.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n5) You'll find yourself on I-95, near the El Dorado Gas & Service\nstation. The road will will run north and connect to I-93 at a site \nwisely called the 188 Trading Post. Our journey is, surprisingly, mostly\nover. Continue past the 188 Trading Post and follow I-95 west, then \nnorth into the outskirts of New Vegas. When you're getting close you'll \npass under a few underpasses and start seeing billboard signs promoting \nthe casinos on the strip.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n6) Once you start find numerous standing buildings.. well, you've\nfound the outskirts of New Vegas. Visual confirmation can be obtained\nby checking to the west to locate the lights of New Vegas in the\nnot-so-distant distance. The New Vegas Medical Clinic is between the\nCrimson Caravan Company to the west, and the Mole Rat Ranch to the\neast. I managed to reach this area with a total of 60 experience.\n\nNow that you're here you just need.. oh.. 4,000 Caps to get yourself\na shiny new Implant. There are two feasible ways of doing this.\nScavenging.. I mean, 'prospecting' and selling any and all loot you\nfind. This route seems the most sensible, but since you will most\nlikely have to discover new areas and\/or kill things, it might be\nsomewhat counter-productive. The second way is to head west to\nFreeside's East Gate. Enter Freeside and find the Atomic Wrangler.\nIf you are attacked by thugs, just run back to the entrance of \nFreeside and let the Bodyguards for Hire kill them. At the Atomic\nWrangler, save your game and play some slots, blackjack, or roulette\nto get money.. what else? If you win, save, if you lose, reload. Is\nthere a better way to make money in a game called Fallout: New Vegas?\nI didn't think so. Sure, there's a wait period for reloads.. \nanti-cheating measure indeed.. but it's a painless way to make money\nwithout leveling up.. so long as you don't accidently complete too\nmany challenges, anyways. Within 20 minutes I was 4,200 Caps richer,\nand off to get my Intelligence Implant.\n\nNote: You can bypass the waiting period if you don't exit the game\nin order to reload.\n\nYou can also visit Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan and loot the dead\nVan Graff guys there for some Combat Armor, which sells very well if \nyou're tight on experience. Durable Dunn's is south west of New Vegas, \nand can easily be found during your trip there.\n\n\t\t\t***ALTERNATE ROUTES***\t\t\t{MOH003}\no======================================================================o\nStatus: Tested\/Dubious Results\n\nMy suggestion for how to reach New Vegas is certainly not the quickest\nroute, but it might just be the safest. I have received several other\nroute suggestions, which I have tried to duplicate myself with varying\ndegrees of success. First there's the option to head north of \nGoodsprings and run past the Radscorpians and Cazadors.. let\u2019s just say\nthat didn't end well. Between not being able to outpace Cazadors and\nhitting invisible walls while trying to climb up rocks, it was just\nmore trouble than it was worth. Then there is Primm Pass, which was\npreviously mentioned in this FAQ but removed on the basis of the fact\nthat there's almost always a Deathclaw in the pass. Lastly there's the\nsuggestion to head to Hidden Valley, find Neil's Shack, and make your\nway along the cliffs there to avoid both Super Mutants and Deathclaws \nwhile heading east, which is actually possible and a good bit quicker. \nMy way, the worst you'll face are some Bark Scorpions, Coyotes, Mole \nRats, and, if you fail to avoid them, some gangers, most of which aren't \ntoo aggressive and are territorial, so they can be fairly easily \navoided.\n\n\t\t\t***JACKPOT WINNER***\t\t\t{MOH004}\no======================================================================o\nStatus: Test\/Confirmed (Xbox 360, unpatched)\n\nIt's also possible here to be greedy, especially if you have a lot of\nluck (both you personally and your character.) Since you can't really \nwin that much money at the Atomic Wrangler and stay under the cap.. why \nnot just blow the winnings cap all to hell? Play Black Jack and win nine\ntimes, saving after every win, and loading after every loss. After nine \nwins you should have at least 1800 Caps if you were betting max every \ntime.\n\nNow that you've got a windfall of Caps, be sure that you have NOT\ncompleted the Black Jack  challenge, \"Double Down\", which will get you\n100 unwanted experience points.. or just make sure you're not within\n100 Experience of hitting level 2. If you haven't played ten games of\nBlack Jack, you should be fine.\n\nYou can also gamble on Roulette, if you're more the big-rewards big\nrisk kind of person. Save your game, then make a bet of 200 Caps on\nwhatever number you think is lucky. At 35:1 odds, a single win can\nnet you 7000 Caps, which is pretty good money.. good enough to get you\nready for the real money winner..\n\nLeave the Black Jack tables and go over to the slot machines and save\nyour game. Now for the lengthy part.. bet max and play slots, reloading \nif you lose all your caps, or if your winnings exceed 4000 Caps (which \nwill get you banned from the casino). If you're lucky you will win one \nof the higher payouts, which at 200 Caps a gamble, even a x30 payoff\ncan win you well more caps than the Atomic Wrangler would normally\nallow you to win. If you're patient and lucky, you may just win the\njackpot of 32,000 Caps, which is enough to let you buy most of the\nimplants you'll want. Sure, it's time consuming, but it doesn't advance\ngame time any (for Hardcore mode players) and walking out of the\nAtomic Wrangler with 10,000 to 30,000 Caps is much better than walking\nout with 4,000. If you're super greedy, you can rob every casino in the\ngame this way.\n\t\t\t\n\t\t   ***INFINITE EXPERIENCE, VERSION 1****\t{MOH005}\no======================================================================o\nStatus: Tested\/Confirmed (Xbox 360, unpatched)\n\nAt the Aerotech Office Park (Aerotech Suite 200) you'll find a man in\na red jumpsuit named Keith. You can attempt a Barter challenge (Barter\n45) with him right from the get-go, which, if successful prompts him\nto sell you some Jet. Decline and the option to make a Barter attempt\nwith him will still-or should I say-always be available. Just keep\nmaking the Barter check for endless experience.\n\n\t\t   ***INFINITE EXPERIENCE, VERSION 2****\t{MOH006}\no======================================================================o\nStatus:\tTested\/Confirmed (Xbox 360, unpatched)\n\nAnother infinite experience glitch, pretty much the same thing as the\none above, but more rewarding, simpler to accomplish, and easier to\nreach. Find Deputy Beagle in the Bison Steve in Primm. Don't free him,\ninstead ask him about the man in the checkered suit who passed through \ntown. He'll try to negotiate to get himself free. Succeed at a Speech\nchallenge [Speech 40] and he'll agree to tell you what he knows, without\nactually doing so. You'll then get the option to ask him about the \npeople who came through town again.. which will lead to the Speech\nchallenge again. Simply continue to succeed at the Speech challenge for\n40 XP a pop to get as much experience as you wish.\n\n\n\t\t   ***INFINITE EXPERIENCE, VERSION 3****\t{MOH007}\no======================================================================o\nStatus: Tested\/Confirmed (Xbox 360, unpatched)\n\nHere's yet another infinite experience glitch (Obsidian was lazy eh?\nBut we all knew this already.) In Vault 11 - Lower Level, after \naccessing the Overseer's terminal and opening the way to the sacrificial\nchamber, kill all the robots that ambush you, then activate the Vault 11\nMainframe. Select the option 'Automated Response: Vault 11 Solution' \nand you'll be rewarded with a hefty 500 experience. Note that the option\nwill not go away after selected. Continue to select the option as many\ntimes as your little heart desires. Each time you select it, you'll get\n500 experience. If you exit the screen anytime after selecting the\nresponse, it'll be gone when you mess with the Vault 11 Mainframe again,\nso be sure to get all the experience you want in one go. The good thing\nabout this method is it's extrememly fast and mindless, just click until\nyou're as experienced as you want. The problem with this method is that\nyou've got to trek all the way through Vault 11, and then kill a handful\nof robots and turrets before you can reap your ill-gotten gains. It's\nreally not for weak characters.\n\n\t\t          ***\"FREE\" REPAIRS***\t\t\t{MOH008}\no======================================================================o\nStatus: Tested\/Confirmed (Xbox 360, unpatched)\n\nGet your gear repaired by Paladin Sato (Brotherhood Safehouse), Major \nKnight (Mohave Outpost), or your sidekick Raul (Black Mountain\/Raul's\nShack), then pick-pocket your Caps back. Talk about a money saver-this\nlittle trick makes perks like Vigilant Recycler and Jury Rigging even\nmore obsolete! It'll take a few tries-and hence some patience, even\nwith a fairly high Sneak score, but it is possible. I imagine this is\npossible with most any character who will repair stuff for you, but I\nhave the uncanny knack of failing to pick-pocket people even with (or\nI should say, especially with) a Sneak score of 100.\n\nEarly Combat Armor\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH009}\no======================================================================o\nThere are many ways to score yourself some Combat Armor early on in\nthe game, but these two methods require no fighting, and they can be\neasily done during or immediately after your New Vegas run. First, \nsimply search Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan, where you'll find plenty\nof corpses with Combat Armor just waiting for you to grab it. Also, you\ncan be rewarded with Combat Armor by winning enough at Gommorrah.\n\nGobi Campaign Scout Rifle\t\t\t\t\t{MOH010}\no======================================================================o\nThis wonderful weapon is a must if you're a Guns user. To get it, just\nhead over to the Sniper's Nest area, where you'll find a locked\n[Very Hard] footlocker. This gun is inside. sure, you need a 100\nLockpick skill to get it, but it's slightly more damaging than a normal\nSniper Rifle, carries an extra round per clip, weighs almost half as \nmuch, and has the same skill and strength requirements (75\/6, \nrespectively.)\n\nQ-35 Matter Modulator\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH011}\no======================================================================o\nA unique version of the Plasma Rifle, this weapon has the same damage\nas a normal Plasma Rifle-but double the DPS. Why? It fires much faster.\nToo bad it has half the ammo-but huzzah!-it uses half the ammo per shot.\nThe skinny? It's requirements for strength are lower and it pumps out\ndamage faster. To get your hands on it, you'll need to visit the \nREPCONN Headquarters. It's on the first level, behind a locked \n[Very Hard] door-but you can also use a [Very Hard] terminal! That, or\ngo up to the second level, then take another door down to the first\nlevel, go through a hole in the floor and bypass all those nasty locks\nentirely.\n\nPew-Pew\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH012}\no======================================================================o\nAt the Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters, cash in your Star Sunset\nSarsaparilla Caps to Festus, then make your way to the southern end of \nthe level and loot the body of Allen Marks for this interesting little\ngun. If you ever wanted to use a pistol Energy Weapon, but didn't want\nto sacrifice the YCS\/186.. well, this is as good as it gets. It deals\nout a whopping 119 damage and has no real requirements. The catch? It\neats up a whopping 15 Energy Cells per shot, and only gets two shots\noff per clip. You might not want to use it against groups of enemies,\nand against singular foes.. make sure they die in two shots.\n\nRemnant Power Armor\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH013}\no======================================================================o\nOne of the most interesting items in the game to find-in part because\nit's the most protective armor in the game, but mostly because of the\nfighting involved. Head east from the Techatticup Mine across the\nColorado River to find a beach with a slope leading up through the\ncliffs. You'll find that this side of the river is infested with Death\nClaws. Kill them and search to the south east. Once the first wave is\ndead, another pack of Death Claws will spawn, including a Mother Death\nClaw and an Alpha Male Death Claw. So long as you stay on cliffs, you\ncan simply snipe the Death Claws at will. Once they're dead, go search\nnear where they were walking to find two rather dead people-on one of\nwhich you'll find this armor.\n\nRemnant Power Helmet\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH014}\no======================================================================o\nEnter the Silver Peak Mine and enter the actual mine through the mine\nhouse. Inside you'll find swarms of Cazedors. Make your way through the\nmine to find a tunnel leading up to a ledge in a large room. You'll find\nplenty of loot here, including the Remant Power Helmet. Unfortunately,\nonce you're up on the ledge more Cazedors will spawn, including a\nLegendary Cazedor. On the bright side, you just need to make it out \nalive to keep your prize.\n\nThis Machine\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{MOH015}\no======================================================================o\nTo get ahold of this gun, do errands for Sgt. Daniel Contreras (found\nat Camp McCarran Supply Shack). What you'll get us a weapon that does\nmore damage (per shot, at least) than Gobi. It uses the same .308 ammo,\nand hence gets the same wonderful damage boosts from using JSP Hand\nLoad ammo. With the same strength and skill requirements, it seems like\na pretty obvious compliment for the Gobi, too. If that's not good \nenough, it's got an eight round clip and fires twice as fast in \nV.A.T.S., making it an ideal short to mid-ranged weapon for when trouble\ngets too close. Sure, the Brush Gun out-performs it, but This Machine\nis cheaper to use, and doesn't force you to hunt for 45-70 Gov't ammo.\n\nYCS\/186 -or- Alien Blaster\t\t\t\t\t{MOH016}\no======================================================================o\nHead over to Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch, which is north west of New Vegas.\nFrom the Tumbleweed Ranch, head east over some hills. If you have the\nWild Wasteland Trait you'll find a group of Aliens just hanging around.\nIf you don't, you'll encounter some Mercenaries. Kill them and you'll\nobtain the Alien Blaster (in the former case) or the YCS\/186, a unique\nversion of the Gauss Rifle. Sure, the Alien Blaster has a ridiculous\ncritical hit rate, but since the YCS\/186 is the best long-ranged Energy\nWeapon in the game, and quite possibly the best sniper weapon overall\n(certainly the most damaging), we'll consider it the real prize.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
IssacFrost's Energy Weapons Build {EWB001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Note from Nathan: Who the hell is Nathan? The bum who wrote this FAQ.\nIssacFrost has submitted this build to me, over much correspondance and\nediting on his part. Since it's his build, I'll post his email here so\nyou can question the source directly. If you as me about this build\ntheendbringer (at) hotmail (dot) com, I'll just refer your email to him,\nso you might as well cut out the middle man. Besides, this will let you \ntell IssacFrost directly how much you think his build is better than \nmine. So, to get in contact with IssacFrost and save me the trouble of \nforwarding your e-mail, contact him at: issacfrost (at) gmail (dot) com.\n\nMy buddy IssacFrost has gone through some considerable effort testing\nout Energy Weapons.. it's a labor of love (love of Energy Weapons, that\nis) that has driven him to suggest the following build. It's play\ntested in Hardcore mode on the Very Hard difficulty setting (at least,\nthat's what he tells me) so if you need any credentials.. well, what\nmore can you ask for? Note that this description is a little.. long\nwinded and it jumps from subject to subject. Also note that it does\ninclude some spoilers, so only use it if you're a veteran looking for\nsome solid hardcore Energy Weapon's advice that'll really hold your\nhand until you're established in Hardcore mode, or if you don't mind a\nfew spoilers in exchange for some great advice. Here's his build in his \nown words:\n\nAttributes\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{EWB002}\no======================================================================o\nThis is the best an EW can be as this build is deadly and has the Caps \nto maintain it with ease (ie rich.) Any EW aficionado can try, if they \ncan, to say otherwise but the results speak for themselves: this build \nis powerful, stupidly powerful. Specially since it's played on Very \nHard: Hardcore from the very start to the very end. \n\nNew Vegas Energy Weapons Build By IssacFrost This build is effective in \nVery Hard: <\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Attribute<\/th>Hardcore Initial<\/th>After Implants<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Strength<\/td>4<\/td>6 (+1 Implant, +1 T51-b Power Armor)<\/td><\/tr>
Perception<\/td>5<\/td>6 (+1 Implant)<\/td><\/tr>
Endurance<\/td>8<\/td>9 (+1 Implant)<\/td><\/tr>
Charisma<\/td>1<\/td>1 (+1 T51-b Power Helmet)<\/td><\/tr>
Intelligence<\/td>8<\/td>9 (+1 Implant)<\/td><\/tr>
Agility<\/td>6<\/td>8 (+1 Implant, +1 Small Frame)<\/td><\/tr>
Luck<\/td>8<\/td>10 (+1 Implant, +1 Intense Training)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Perks\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{EWB003}\no======================================================================o\nLevel\tPerk\t\t\t\t\t\t\n2 \tIntensive Training (Luck) \n4 \tEducated \n6 \tVigilant Recycler**\n8 \tToughness (1)\n10 \tFinesse\n12 \tBloody Mess\n14 \tToughness (2)\n16 \tWeapon Handling\n18 \tBetter Criticals\n20 \tGrim Reaper's Sprint*\n22 \tJury Rigging**\n24 \tSniper*\n26 \tSilent Running*\n28 \tNerves of Steel*\n30 \tLaser Commander* \n\n** Optional but helps to considerably reduce costs of weapon maintenance \nand shots per cap.\n* Optional \n\nLuck is very important in this build and an Intense Training (Luck) plus \nthe Luck Implant are necessary for a 10% crit chance. Educated is just \ngood for extra skill points. It gives you 2 points for every level when \ntaken. That is +52 more skill points and that's a good thing. Level up \nyour Science to 70 as fast as you can so you can get Vigilant Recycler \nat level 6. This will increase the efficiency of recycling your energy \nammunition as well as make you recover consistently more drained ammo \nwhich will help with the cost efficiency of this build. With your first \nrank in Toughness you will benefit from a +3 DT. With the Sub Dermal \nImplant, +4DT, your total will be +7DT. Finesse adds +5% more to your \nnatural crit and with the 10 LK that's a 15%. Add Built to Destroy and \nyou have a natural critical rate of 18%. Bloody Mess synergizes very \nwell with Lord Death R3 for an 8% damage boost with all weapons. This \nincreases your EW damage output exponentially with all the other Damage \nBonus Challenge Perks. You get your second rank of Toughness adding \nanother +3 DT making the total with the first rank and the Sub Dermal \nImplant to +10 DT. By level 16 you should have 100 Energy Weapons skill. \nAnd with Weapon Handling you can start making use of the Plasma Caster. \nTry to get it's mod so it's fire rate becomes faster. You definitely \nwant Better Criticals for it's additional +50% damage which will make \nALL your EW weapons criticals truly devastating. Grim Reaper's Sprint \nrecharges 20 AP every time you make a kill in VATS and with the \nefficiency of consistent crit kills it should be helping you to get back\nsome much needed AP for whenever you are using the Multiplas Rifle, Q-35\n or even the Pew Pew if you want. By level 22 you should have a Repair \nof 90. Jury Rigging is a handy perk to have as it increases repair \noptions for your gear as well as, if used correctly, net you LOTS of \nCaps by repairing much more valuable and expensive items of a category \nwith cheaper and common items of that same category. Sniper is probably \nthe best VATS accuracy related Perk because frankly you will be aiming\n for the head most of the time. This gives some extra range in VATS for \nthe Multiplas Rifle, Q-35 and Pew Pew. Silent Running is the best Sneak \nrelated perk you can get and since you are using Heavy PA it can help \nyou a lot when you are moving in for the kill. Mostly so you can pull \noff sneak criticals with a Multiplas Rifle which are extremely deadly, \nmore so if aimed to the head. Best used for enclosed areas where YCS is \nnot that useful. Nerves of Steel was retooled from Fallout 3 to be more \neffective then it used to be. Now it increases AP regeneration by 20%. \nThis is good because you don't want to stay in VATS you want to trigger \nVATS pull of a shot or two and move. Laser Commander is there mostly \nfor Pew Pew and any other laser weapon that strikes your fancy as it \nincreases damage by a +15% and critical chance by +10% making your \nlaser weaponry crit more often then your plasma based ones. With Bloody \nMess and Lord Death R3 your laser weapons do 23% more damage. Challenge \nPerks you want are Abominable R3 +10% damage to abominations, Animal \nControl R3 +10% damage to mutated animals, Bug Stomper R3 +10% damage \nversus mutated insects and Mutant Massacrer R3 +10% damage versus Super \nMutants and Set Lasers for Fun R2 +4% critical chance with all energy \nweapons. You won't really need Machine Head as the Pulse Gun makes short\nwork of them. With the above perks mentioned Bloody Mess and Lord Death\nR3 that's an 18% damage against bugs, animals, mutants and abominations.\nIf using laser based weaponry with, Laser Commander, that's a 33% damage\nincrease. \n\nSkills\/Traits\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{EWB004}\no======================================================================o\nTag Energy Weapons and two more skills then when approaching Jenny Sky \nDiving respec for Science, Lockpick, Speech TraitsSmall Frame for \nAgility +1. The tradeoff to this Trait is that you will take 25% more \nlimb damage which translates to getting crippled much more easily. Since \nthis build doesn't take Adamantium Skeleton your best option is to get \ninto PA as quickly as possible and to stock up on Doctor's Bag. The good \nnews is that with a Medicine of 40 and Forceps, Medical Braces, Scalpels \nand Surgical Tubing you can craft Doctor's Bags via Veronica. Also with \nthe Tough Guy challenge perk this drawback is cut down to 5%. Built to \nDestroy for 3% critical chance with the tradeoff of having a 15% \nincreased weapon degradation. Due to access to the \"free\" full repairs \nof people such as Paladin Sato, Mayor Knight and even Raul whom can fix \nyour gear and then you can pickpocket your caps back this tradeoff is \nnegligible. With a Repair of 50 you can craft and stock up on Weapon \nRepair Kits through Veronica and I suggest you save up on every Scrap \nMetal, Scrap Electronic, Wonderglue, Duct Tape and Wrench you can get a \nhold off. \n\nSkill Points\nBarter \t\t78\nEnergy Weapons \t100\nLockpick \t78\nRepair \t\t90\nScience \t78\nSpeech \t\t78  \n\n+12 to a skill if finding all 4 skill books\n+20 to Science if finding all 5 skill books \n\nWeapon Selection\t\t\t\t\t\t{EWB005}\no======================================================================o\nWhat's the best EW weapon? Ken Egervari has done a lot of work on \nbreaking down every weapon and shows you what weapons are the best. EW \nproponents beware that Guns trumps EW heavily in New Vegas but that's \nnothing new. A EW Specialist can be as deadly efficient as a Guns \nSpecialist but it will require more cost then a Guns Specialist needs \nto produce the same effect of deadliness. Thus Guns are more powerful \nand varied then EW as it requires less costs to do exactly what an EW \nwould even with lower crit rates. Thankfully you still have some pretty \nsolid options. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nQ-35 Matter Modulator (2) - This is the \"best\" Plasma Rifle you can get \nas it counts like a Plasma Rifle+ but only uses up one Microfusion Cell.\nIt is easily trumped by Multiplas Rifle and Plasma Caster+ but used \nagainst low tier DT enemies it's deadly and efficient, given it's ammo \nusage, slow degradation and the fact it crits consistently. When it \ncrits it tends to do astounding damage even to high DT opponents. But I \ndon't recommend it for high DT opponents; stick to Plasma Caster+, \nMultiplas or YCS. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nMultiplas Rifle (1) - Even though it uses a lot of Microfusion Cells it \nis one of the best plasma weapon you can get for it's low strength. \nThis is the closest an EW has to a VATS weapons. If this weapon \nperforms a sneak critical to the head of a target the damage it does is \nastronomically high. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPlasma Caster+ (1) - A ST 8 and EW skill of 100 is needed to properly \nwield this weapon. When mod acts as the Turbo Plasma Rifle. This is \nprobably the best EW Weapon you can have. It's fast rate of fire and \nhigh damage gives this weapon an incredibly high DPS. This weapon is \nbugged in third person and VATS and the blast hits an invisible wall but\nyou shouldn't use it in VATS anyway to benefit of it's DPS. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPew Pew (2.5)- It uses 15 energy cells but the damage output and crit \nrate are astounding. Since this build becomes self sufficient and rich \njust stock up on lots of SEC MC and make sure you have Laser Commander \nand most things will die with one shot. The best pistol an EW \nSpecialist has access too, but an expensive one to use.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nYCS\/186 (2) This is the upgrade to the Gauss. Don't use in VATS as it is\nbugged. Stick to sniping and whatever you snipe at dies, snipe something\nelse and it dies too as simple as that. Whenever you plan on using YCS, \nswitch to the 1st Recon Beret and if possible use MFC MC.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nPulse Gun - This is a great weapon for any build. It simply owns all \nrobots and people in power armor. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n(Optional) Euclid C Finder (50) - Deals one shot every 28 hours and \ndoes massive damage and an insane range but quite a delay before the \nblast hits. I find this more of a fun novelty weapon. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nA person using 10 LK, Finesse, Built to Destroy, Set Lasers for Fun R2, \n1st Recon Beret, Laser Commander if using laser based weapon, VATS and \nboosted with True Police Stories would have a natural crit rate of \n37%\/47%. Since this build doesn't use comprehension and preferably uses \nthe T-51b set your natural critical rate will be 22\/32 out of VATS, \n27\/37 in VATS, 27\/37 if wearing the Beret and 32\/42 if using the Beret \nand VATS. \n\nAmmo charge options: Over ChargeDeals 25% more damage per shot and \naccelerates degradation by 50%. Max Charge Deals 75% more damage and \naccelerates degradation by 150%. \n\nCompanions\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{EWB006}\no======================================================================o\nVeronica, E-DE I really love having these two as companions. E-DE is an \namazing pack mule surprisingly being able to lug around with a lot of \ngear. For this reason I tend to have it storing all the equipment, ammo \nand miscellaneous based items. His Enhanced Sensors perk is great as it \nallows you to ambush your enemies via sniping. Veronica is an unarmed \nexpert, breaking the limits at an Unarmed skill of 103 and with Bonds \nof Steel and Remnants Armor set she gains +40DT. Always make sure she is\narmed with the Ballistic Fist, which is a non unique weapon, and she \nbecomes a powerful ally despite the fact she is stuck at level 12. Also \nshe can soak up more hits than you can despite the fact you are a higher\nlevel with more health and more DT. Overall Veronica is your BEST \nmelee\/unarmed oriented character despite the bug. Her Scribe Assistant \nperk means you have access to a workbench 24\/7 and this is quite useful. \n\nGetting Established in the Mohave\t\t\t\t{EWB007}\no======================================================================o\nThis is where IssacFrost goes into quite a bit of detail about how to\nget his Energy Weapons character started.. And honestly, mostly \nfinished. Have your hand held as much as you wish, the first steps-the\nNew Vegas run-should be familiar to any player using this FAQ, the\nothers.. well, they mostly include quick ways to score top-notch loot.\n\n(Note from Nathan: IssacFrost quotes the Fallout Wiki\n[http:\/\/fallout.wikia.com] as his source for some of the following \ninformation he gives. I have no idea how much of this information he\npulled from the wiki, or even then, how much he paraphrased-if at all.) \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Do the New Vegas Medical Clinic Run from Nathaniel Garvin's FAQ-During \nthe run make sure you get Veronica at the 188 Trading Post.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Get banned from gambling in Atomic Wrangler. First max bet on BlackJack\nand reaload if you lose. Rack up some wins at least nine. Then save the \ngame and start playing the slots on max bet until you hit the jackpot of\nthree oranges. Reload if you see you have lost and repeat until you get \nit.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go buy the following Implants: +1 IN Implant, +1 LK Implant, \n+1 AG Implant +4 DT Subdermal Armor, +1 Health\/10 seconds Regeneration.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Return to Gun Runners. You should still have enough money to buy the \nCombat Armor Reinforced Mark II set if not then proceed to the next \nstep and purchase it when you have the Caps.\n\n(Note from Nathan: Don't bother buying Combat Armor Mark II. You can\nfind some Combat Armor at Durable Dunn's Sacked Caravan on one of the\nash piles. You'll also get some Combat Armor for being a high-roller at\nGommorrah.)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Steal all weapons from Silver Rush by using the Left Trigger click and \ncarrying them to the bathroom. Drop them there and repeat. When you have\neverything close the door and pick everything up. Transfer as much as \nyou can to Veronica.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go to Gun Runners or Mick and Ralph's and sell some of the stuff you \ndon't need. Keep the Plasma Caster and Multiplas Rifle and any other \nweapon that strikes your fancy. I personally sold everything except \nPlasma Caster, the Multiplas Rifle and a Plasma Rifle.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Accept the guard job and let the fourth man in without patting him \ndown. Then wait for the explosion and Simon to rush in. Once Simon \nrushes in go inside and talk to Simon then kill him. Now loot all the \nVan Graff corpses and on your way out kill the Silver Rush Crier then \nsell all you can.\n\n(Note from Nathan: This might affect some of the sidequests related to\nthe NPC Cassidy.)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Show your 2000 credit and enter New Vegas, you may want to go to Lucky \n38 and 'accept' to work for House to get access to the Presidential \nSuite but this is purely optional. Although I recommend it to stash the \nPlasma Caster and anything else you don't need to carry at the moment. \nAs well as take care of SLP and H2O by sleeping and drinking water from \nthe bathroom sink.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Get banned from gambling at Gomorrah just as you did in Atomic Wrangler\nby trying to win slowly until you build up for the jackpot that way you \ncan reap the house rewards.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Get banned from gambling at Tops just as you did in Atomic Wrangler but\nthis time try to win slowly until you build up for the jackpot that way \nyou can reap the house rewards.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Make sure you have Reinforced Combat Armor MK II Set and that Veronica\nis wearing the Reinforced Combat Armor you won at Gomorrah. At the Tops\nconfront Benny and let him convince you to use the Suite. Go up there \nand he is going to tell you via intercom that he isn't showing up. Kill \nthe thugs by using the pool cues. This should trigger Wild Card: Ace in \nthe Hole. Go check Benny's room to find Yes Man.\n\n(Note from Nathan: If your character is female and has the 'Black Widow'\nperk, you can seduce Benny and kill him in his sleep. Now that's the\ndefinition of a Black Widow!)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Talk to Yes Man and use up all the dialogue. He should give you map \nmarkers to the minor factions and you should level up twice when you \nare done. Get up to Science 70 if you haven't to get Vigilant Recycler. \nAlso one of the map markers is Hidden Valley.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Buy the remaining Implants: +1 ST Implant, +1 PE Implant, \n+1 EN Implant.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Make sure you have Multiplas Rifle and a Plasma Rifle, preferably \nmodded, as well as MFC OC. Fast travel to Jean Sky Diving then go \nstraight to Hidden Valley and start the quest for the Elder McNaran but\nfirst help Hardin find the information he needs to overthrow the Elder. \nAlternatively you could keep doing some more quests for McNaran to build\nyour reputation with the Brotherhood.\n\n(Note from Nathan: Do NOT try to play both sides. It might seem like a\nsly idea to do McNamara's quests, then turn the holotapes into Hardin\nafter you report to McNamara, but this can cause the quest to \npermanently freeze. No follow up quests, no Power Armor Training. That's\nnot a good thing.)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Perform the quest and then report the holotapes to Hardin. Wait three \ndays then after that talk to him again and tell him you want to join \nthe Brotherhood of Steel and he will accept and give you the task to \nkill the Van Graff. Wait a bit and talk to him again and an option \nappears where you let him know you took care of the Van Graff. He will \ngive you a T-45d set and Power Armor Training. You will also would have \ngotten access to the Brotherhood Safehouse as a way of thanks for \nhelping him become the elder.  \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\nDuring the quest McNaran gives you, you have to go to Repconn. Make \nsure to get the Q-35 as it is a \"better\" upgrade to your Plasma Rifle+, \nfiring at fast speeds, doing slightly more damage and using up only one \nMicrofusion cells it isn't the best EW weapon but it will remain useful \nand reliable until you can wield Plasma Caster+. \n\nAccessing the weapon without 100 in Science or 100 Lockpick: \nFloor 1: Take the tour. The tour guide will open the room to the \nplanetarium (average locked door if you do not like the Long tour or \nthe robot is dead) and go to the room back in the left. Walk upstairs \nand there is a key card for the main floor. Go back to the entrance and \nenter the room at the right (4 dead fiends in front of it) and walk up \nthe stairs. Go to Floor 2.\n\nFloor 2: In the room on the left is an easy terminal to add facial data \nrecognition (optional if you have the key card). At the southwest corner\nof the 2nd floor is a staircase which will guide you to Floor 3.\n\nFloor 3: There is a Mr. Handy who asks for the password, with luck 7 you\ncan say Ice Cream. Otherwise you have 30 seconds to find the next key \ncard (see below) before an alarm sounds, all the Mr. Handys turn \nhostile, and hostile heavy combat bots appear from hidden compartments \nin the walls. Where the roof collapsed there are lying 2 Brotherhood \nPaladins (holotape for accessing Hidden Valley) and next to the \ncollapsed roof at the other side (go all the way around) is a skeleton\nwith a briefcase with 200 Pre war money and key card for Floor 3.\n\nBack to Floor 2: Get to floor 2 again and find the door for floor 1 \naccess (not the main door). Back to Floor 1Use the keycard on the door \nand in the next room (where the floor has collapsed) walk in to it and \nin the right corner you see the Q-35 matter modulator!If you can't find \nthe correct door on the 2nd door, you can also unlock the very hard door\non the main floor now with the key card to enter the same room. If you \ndo not meet some of the stat\/skill requirements mentioned above, you \ncan simply kill all the hostile robots.If the gun is not there make \nsure to check your companions inventory as they may have taken it \nbefore you get to it. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go to the Quartermaster in Hidden Valley and buy the T-51b set, repair\nwith the Brotherhood T-51b armor you got from the Elder's quest. Do not \nuse the Brotherhood T-51b as it makes NCR hostile to you. Give Veronica \nthe T-45d set and buy her Ballistic Fist if available. Sell whatever you\ndon't need like the Plasma Rifle+ since the Q-35 is better.\n\n(Note from Nathan: If you don't care about who gets what armor, \nVeronica can wear Brotherhood T51-b Power Armor just fine without \narousing any hostility.)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go to Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch, which is close to a double road that \nheads northwest from the Strip. Once you arrive at the Ranch head east \nof it and go up the hill and you should find a mercenary camp. The \nleader is carrying the YCS so use the Multiplas for quick carnage and \nget the YCS. This is going to be your main sniping weapon. \n\n(Note from Nathan: If you have the Wild Wasteland trait, you will find\nsome aliens here instead of Mercenaries. Accordingly, you will recieve\nthe Alien Blaster instead of the YCS\/186.)\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Head to the Brotherhood Safehouse but be careful as you may encounter \nsome Young Deathclaws. Snipe them with the YCS. Once in the Safehouse \ntalk to Paladin Sato so he can repair everything you can at 100% \ncondition. Then steal the caps back from Paladin Sato, keep trying until\nyou get them back. Finish repairs and re steal the caps again. You might\nhave to wait a few days for him to appear. Use the cot to sleep and \ndrink from the water fountain but make sure you have food with you.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go back to Good Springs and do the quests you where supposed to do a \nlong time ago. First do the full tutorial and then kill Cobbs and side \nwith Good Springs during the Ringo storyline. Talking to Sunny or Trudy\nwill let you learn about Primm. Get the parts necessary to repair E-DE: \n3 Scrap Metals, 2 Sensor Module and 1 Scrap Electronics.\n\n(Note from Nathan: If you have a high enough Repair score, or a high\nScience and moderate Repair score, you can just repair him without\nusing up components.) \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Once you have these items head over to Primm enter the Mojave Express \nat your right and look at E-DE then go to the Vicky and Vance Casino a\nnd talk to John Nash about E-DE. Go repair E-DE and gain it's Enhanced \nSensors perks which is invaluable to ambush enemies or snipe them. Also\nE-DE is an excellent pack mule. Have him carry most of your weight \naffecting gear and miscellaneous but try not to give him any aid \nsupplies as he may end up attacking non hostile NPC.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Since you are in Primm do any quests related to it. Once you can head \nover to the NCR Correctional Facility head there and kill all the \nconvicts. Talk to Meyers but tell him you will think about his \nproposition. I suggest you reverse pickpocket a Combat Armor Reinforced \nthen accept his deal.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Travel to the Mojave Outpost and kill all the creatures and enemies you\ncan to rack up experience. Then at the Mojave talk to Mayor Knight then\nget your weapons and armor repaired. Pickpocket back the caps and go \ntalk to Ranger Jackson and take his quest, then talk to Ranger Ghost \nand take her quest as this will help you gain some much needed \nexperience.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-If you have a Speech of 50 travel to Black Mountain and talk to the \nfriendly mutant Neil and convince him to join forces with you. Proceed \nup Black Mountain and kill Super Mutants. You will be coming here often \nto grind for Caps so know the layout of the area quickly.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Carry out the Caesar quest so you can have access to Fortification Hill \non friendlier terms. Talk to Caesar and act as you are going to do what \nhe wants and he will give you the Platinum Chip. Talk to Benny on your \nway out and learn all you can.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go to the bunker area near Caesar's Tent: Weather Monitoring Station. \nYou'll get your equipment. Head on inside and do what House tells you \nand upgrade the Securitrons. Return to Caesar then kill Benny and loot \nhim. Talk to Caesar again and act as if you will do what he wants.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-By now Veronica should have triggered her quest and I suggest you go do\nit. At its conclusion tell her to stay so she can gain Bonds of Steel if\nshe gets stuck go visit Gibson's Shack re download the information, \ntalk to her use the option that you completed the quest then sneak. If \nyou go into Sneak and she sneaks she is following you again.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Go for the Pulse Gun quest for Veronica as it is good experience and \nbecause it is a great weapon against robots and people wearing PA. \nStock up on Radaway and Rad-X because the Vault you are headed to is \nirradiated.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-(Optional for Euclid C Finder) Do the Lucky Old Sun quest and route\npower to Archimides II and buy the Euclid C Finder from Max at East \nFreeside.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Make sure you are stocked up on MFC OC\/MC and you are at least level 18\nwith an EW skill of 100 and that you have Plasma Caster+, Multiplas\nRifle and YCS\/186, the Q-35 is more of a cheap reliable \"sidearm\" for \nthe weaker enemies. Head to Silver Pike Mine and obtain the Remnants \nHelmet, be wary as you will be going up against Cazadores. My advice is \nset up your partners on aggressive and to wait a little bit off where \nthe Cazadores are then YCS snipe if you can when they start to approach \nlet it rip with the Plasma Caster+ and once they are close switch to the\nMultiplas Rifle and VATS while leading them towards your companion's \nambush. Silver Pike Mine is home to the Legendary Cazador so take it \nslow, slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Go to the Safehouse and get \nthe Remnant Helmet repaired and hold on to it.- For the next part make \nsure you are stocked up on a LOT of MFC OC and MC. You are going up a \nbuttload of Deathclaws so my advice is that to be at least level 18 with\na 100 in EW, and you have brought Plasma Caster+, Multiplas Rifle and \nYCS\/186.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Travel sort of north east from Cottonwood Cove until you find the \nCliffside Prospector Camp then head east. From here make it to the \nwater by hugging the cliff and cross to the other side. Be wary of \nLakelurkers. \n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-At the other side, you should time wait to get your partners and have \nthem stay in a safe area. Clear the first area of Deathclaw by YCS \nsniping and if they discover you let then meet your Plasma Caster+ if \nthey make it close pull out the Multiplas and VATS, although the Plasma \nCaster+ should make short work of them. If they get close you can \nbacktrack towards the water. The Deathclaws will not go into the water \nand you can clear the area by using this tactic.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Once the first area is clear, very slowly approach the southern \neastern area making use of cliffs and cover to snipe at the Deathclaws \nfrom a safe range. A safe range being that when you sneak critical one \nand go into Caution they cannot detect you, reload if this doesn't \nhappen and find a better sniping position. You can then proceed to \nsnipe or wait until returning to hidden status to sneak critical. Once \nyou have cleared ALL the Deathclaws (they don't respawn) search the \nsouth eastern area for two dead prospectors one of them has the Remnant \nArmor which is what you really came for. Loot the corpses, Deathclaws \nand get the eggs in the south eastern most areas.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Then, if overloaded, walk slowly back to your companions. Spread the \nloot so you can fast travel to the Safehouse and get the Remnants Armor \nrepaired. Give the Remnant set to Veronica, which along with Bonds of\nSteel should have 40 DT.\n<---------------------------------------------------------------------->\n-Proceed with the game as you wish.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Hardcore Mode Blues {HMB001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
When I picked up the Ultimate Edition for Fallout: New Vegas, I knew I\nwould have to start a whole new character to write an update to this\nguide.. so I figured I'd just do the whole next playthrough in Hardcore\nmode, instead of just dabbling in it like I did in the original versions\nof the guide. This section will give some pointers to new players, or\nold players who haven't tackled hardcore mode yet. But first, a word of\nencouragement; Hardcore mode isn't very hardcore. Certainly having the\nUltimate Edition to give us the ability to max all our skill points\nhelps, but that's besides the point. The mere fact that I don't have any\nreal seperate build suggestions (save the odd, optional, convenience\nperk or two) for Hardcore mode gamers and normal gamers should say\nplenty. Despite being tested in the Ultimate Edition, all the advice\nhere works just fine for the vanilla version of the game, too... just\nwith the limitations of a lower level cap in mind.\n\nSurvival of the Skilled\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB002}\no======================================================================o\nIf you're playing in Hardcore mode, an obvious move to make is to boost\nyour Survival skill score. Tag! it, and boost it to 80 as soon as \npossible. This will make the restorative effects of food and water more\npotent, as well as allowing you to make superior meals at campfires.\n\nH20\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB003}\no======================================================================o\nWater is a constant concern in Hardcore mode, as it's the status that\ndegrades the fastest. If you have the Ultimate Edition installed, then\nyou'll start out with a Vault 13 Canteen, which you'll automatically\ndrink from occassionally. This mitigates-but doesn't eliminate-the need\nfor water. Fortunately there exist plenty of sources of clean water you\ncan drink-for free! In pretty much every casino in New Vegas (even the\nAtomic Wrangler in Freeside) has free water, as well as the troths at\nGoodsprings Source, and.. well, the whole freaking Colorado River. I\nnever had to worry about dehydration, and neither will you.\n\nFood\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB004}\no======================================================================o\nKeeping yourself fed is a secondary concern in Hardcore mode, as you'll\nneed food less often than water. Fortunately, getting plentiful food is\nquite easy to do. There are several locations where you can find herds\nof Bighorners, which can be killed by even low-level characters wielding\nmelee weapons. Bighorner Meat can be turned into Bighorner Steak at any\ncampfire, which becomes a great source of food, and healing, in a pinch.\nPlaces to find Bighorners include; along the railroad south-east of\nGoodsprings, north of Bonnie Springs, in the mountains west of New\nVegas (around Ruby Hill Mine), and around the Wrecked Highwayman south\nof Novac. These aren't the only places where they can be found, and\nthey aren't guaranteed to be free of risk (poke around the mountains\ntoo much and you'll certainly find Cazadors, for example), but with a\nlittle caution Bighorners will provide for all your food needs. A\nBighorner Bull gives 50 EXP, and will often drop 3-5 pieces of meat.\n\nSleep\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB005}\no======================================================================o\nSleep is the least of our concerns, and if you find that you're failing\nin Hardcore mode because of sleep deprevation.. well, then you really\njust need to quit now. There are beds all over the place. The only\nconcern with sleeping is that passing the time raises your other needs.\nSo.. sleep in a hotel, a safehouse, or near the Goodsprings Source,\nsomewhere near water.\n\n'Tis But a Flesh Wound..\t\t\t\t\t{HMB006}\no======================================================================o\nHealing in Hardcore mode is another, more serious problem. You have<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
plenty of ways to get food, water, and kip, but healing takes time, and\nresources. You'll have to use a variety of methods to keep your health\nup. These methods aren't exclusive-you'll have to be a lot more careful\nwhen you're lower level and have fewer resources, and over time\n'graduate' to simpler methods. \n\n  -->\tFirst, for low level characters, just drink from a clean water\n    \tsource. Each sip will heal you.. a tiny amount. The downsides\n\tare obvious, it's annoying to sit there and click fifty times\n\tuntil you're healed, and most of the safe sources of clean water\n\tare in towns. Cutting short your exploration is a bother.\n\n  --> \tAs you accumulate resources and levels, Bighorner Steak becomes\n\ta decent source of healing, as well as food. Ignore your hunger\n\tuntil you get hurt, and chow down on some steak. It'll heal\n\tabout 50 Hit Points per steak. Not great, but a hell of a lot\n\tmore convenient than finding water, and cheaper than a Stimpak.\n\n  --> \tGet the Monocyte Breeder Implant. This will cause you to slowly\n    \tregenerate. It won't save you in a fight, but it will allow you to\n    \twait and heal a bit. Also, just fast-travelling from place to\n    \tplace will heal you. It's great supplemental healing.. if you're\n    \tnot shot up going into a fight, chances are you won't need\n\thealing to stay alive.\n\nAmmo Weight Hate\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB007}\no======================================================================o\nOne of the biggest pains of Hardcore mode is ammo weight. This is\nespecially damning if you use Energy Weapons, as Energy Weapon ammo just\nweighs too damn much (save Electron Charge Packs). Still, how many\nranged weapons do you tend to carry around at once? Personally, I only\ntend to have one-the Gobi gets everything done. The fewer different\nweapons you have, the less different types of ammo you need. Just be\nfrugal, only take one good ranged weapon, and a moderate supply of its\nammo. This works better with the Ultimate Edition build, since we can\nnow freely invest in Melee Weapons and Unarmed-they don't require ammo,\nand they can deal with any enemy that gets too close, eliminating any\nneed for a short-to-mid range alternative. Then again, in the vanilla\ngame everything is much more tame, so I wouldn't worry about the lack of\nmelee prowess too much.\n\nAnd Then There Was One..\t\t\t\t\t{HMB008}\no======================================================================o\nWhen your allies bite the dust, they die for good in Hardcore Mode.\nEasily one of the most annoying aspects of Hardcore Mode, there are a\nfew ways to mitigate ally deaths.\n\n--> Keep healing items on your allies. It's not always convenient in a\n    gun fight to run up to your buddy and tell them to heal themselves.\n\n--> Give them the best armor. Lets face it, Enclave Armor looks stupid,\n    they'll be able to wear it before you will, and nobody wants to walk\n    around that slowly. Plus, unless you have the worst gaming reflexes\n    ever, you'll avoid damage better than any ally will.\n\n--> Most importantly, if you're going into a fight where you just can't\n    babysit them the whole time, make them wait somewhere out of the\n    fire. Hordes of Cazadors and packs of Deathclaws are usually where\n    I draw the line, especially since I tend to rely on long-range\n    sniping to deal with them.. or at least thin the herd.\n\n--> Use weapons that don't inflinct collateral damage. This should be\n    pretty easy, since most dangerous auto-fire weapons are low-damage,\n    high DPS affairs.. which is to say, they suck against anything that\n    is armored and dangerous.\n\nFirst Do No Harm\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB009}\no======================================================================o\nDoctors are an obvious source of health in the wasteland. Do not be\nafraid to visit a doctor to cure your Rads or heal you. Early on, it's\neasier to just pay the 50 Caps for a full healing at Goodsprings (limbs\nand all) than it is to use healing items. And if you wait until your\nRad count is high (600+) it'll probably be cheaper to just pay 100 Caps\nto get rid of your Rads than it is to use RadAway.\n\nDon't Mind the Grind\t\t\t\t\t\t{HMB010}\no======================================================================o\nThe higher your level, the more resources you'll have to deal with your\nneeds. Get your Survival skill high, and you'll need to eat less. Get\nyour Lockpick score high and you'll be able to get the godly Gobi. Once\nyou can obliterate Super Mutants, you can scourge Black Mountain for\nvaluable weapons. It's all got to start somewhere. Don't be afraid to\ntake your time, visit familiar locales for water and rest, and grind\nBighorners for food and experience.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Books {BOK001}<\/strong><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
In this section I will list the books I have found so far in this game.\nIf they're not listed here, it doesn't mean they don't exist, it just\nmean I have not personally found them, and hence, have no business\ncommenting on their locations. As a rule of thumb there are about four\nof each type of book in the game, save Big Books of Science.\n\nBig Book of Science (5)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tBrewer's Beer Bootlegging\n\tIn the cellar, in the back room. The book is on a table next to\n\ta chemistry set.\n\n[ ]\tCamp Forlorn Hope - Camp Forlorn Hope Command Center\n\tIn the south eastern corner of the command tent, on a table.\n\n[ ] \tHELIOS One - HELIOS One Power Plant\n\tIn order to get this you'll need to side with Ignacio Rivas\n\tduring the quest 'That Lucky Old Sun' and distribute power\n\tevenly to all the settlements. Since the alternatives-pissing\n\toff the NCR or helping Fantastic-are both unsavory, this isn't\n\ttoo terrible of an option, anyways.\n\n[ ]\tNipton - Town Hall Steyn's Office\n\tThis book is in Steyn's Office (the room, not just the level),\n\ton the desk near 'Mayor Steyn's Terminal.'\n\n[ ] \tREPCONN Headquarters - REPCONN Offices Main Level\n\tIn the first room of the REPCONN tour you'll find a door to the\n\teast that leads to the Gift Shop. Inside the Gift Shop there is\n\ta locked [Hard] door to the north. The book is inside, on a\n\tmetal shelf.\n\nChinese Army: Spec. Ops. Training Manual (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tCamp Searchlight - Searchlight Church Basement\n\tYou can find this basement within a chapel on the eastern end of\n\tSearchlight. The book is on the floor near some metal shelves.\n\n[ ]\tGoodsprings - Goodsprings Home\n\tIn the house east of the Goodsprings Schoolhouse, this book is\n\tin the living room (in the north east corner of the area map).\n\tIt's on a bookshelf amongst a bunch of other, mundane, books.\n\n[ ]\tNCR Sharecropper Farms - Sharecropper Barracks\n\tThis book is in the south eastern corner of the barracks, on\n\tthe floor near a desk, on top of some papers.\n\n[ ]\tVault 3 - Vault 3 Living Quarters\n\tWhen entering from the Vault\t 3 Entrance you'll find a locked\n\tdoor [Average] at the bottom of the staircase. Get inside and\n\tyou'll find this book on a bookshelf near the door.\n\nD.C. Journal of Internal Medicine (3)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tHELIOS One - HELIOS One Power Plant\n\tIn the upstairs bedroom, on the bed.\n\n[ ] \tMesquite Mountains Crater - Hell's Motel\n\tIn the first room, this book is on a counter along the northern\n\twall, behind a globe, harmonica, and an ashtray.\n\n[ ]\tNovac - Ranger Andy's Bungalow\n\tThis book is on the bed in Ranger Andy's house.\n\nDean's Electronics (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tAbandoned BoS Bunker - Brotherhood of Steel Bunker\n\tGo down the stairs and head down the tunnel to the west, taking\n\tthe first left (south). The book is in the room at the end of\n\tthe hall, in a niche.\n\n\t(Note: The Abandoned BoS Bunker is part of the Dead Money\n\texpansion. You must have this expansion installed to be able\n\tto get this book, although technically you can get the book\n\twithout really starting the Dead Money questline. Alternatively,\n\tif you have the unpatched version of the original Fallout: New\n\tVegas you can get this book, as the developers apparently forgot\n\tto lock the Abandoned BoS Bunker. If you do not have the Dead\n\tMoney expansion installed, and you are playing a patched version\n\tof the game, you cannot get this book.. legitimately, anyways.)\n\n[ ]\tNellis Air Force Base - Loyal's House\n\tYou can find this book on the table along the southern side of\n\tthe room, near a broken computer.\n\n[ ]\tSloan - Worker Barracks\n\tIn the Worker Barracks, on a shelf in the eastern corner. The\n\tbook is near a radio. There is also a Duck and Cover! in the\n\tsame room.\n\n[ ]\tSouthern Nevada Wind Farm - Wind Farm Maintenance Shack\n\tThis book is on the tables in the middle of the room.\n\nDuck and Cover! (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tMohave Outpost - Mohave Outpost Barracks\n\tYou'll find this guy behind the bar in the first room. It's in\n\ta cupboard built into the bar counter facing the door, near the\n\tfloor.\n\n[ ]\tNellis Air Force Base - Pearl's Barracks\n\tIn the room with two couches you'll find a bookshelf along the\n\twall to the south, south-east. The book is standing between a\n\tbunch of Pre-War Books. Note that this is also the shelf with\n\tsome 40mm Grenades and a Grenade Rifle on it.\n\n[ ]\tRanger Station Foxtrot\n\tThis book is in the tent, on the table next to the radio.\n\n[ ]\tSloan - Worker Barracks\n\tOn the metal locker to the left (the unlocked one), on a shelf\n\tnear some ruined Pre-War Books.\n\nGrognak the Barbarian (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tCannibal Johnson's Cave\n\tOn the corner of the mattress near the fire.\n\n[ ]\tCottonwood Cove - Office of Aurelius of Phoenix\n\tIn the south western corner of the room, on a bedside table.\n\n[ ]\tHidden Supply Cave\n\tOn top of a crate south of the first aid box.\n\n[ ]\tJacobstown - Jacobstown Bungalow\n\tIn front of the Jacobstown Lodge is a lake, to the east of which\n\tlie several bungalows. In the southern-most bungalow you'll find\n\tthis book. It's on the floor in front of the stove, \n\nGuns and Bullets (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tGomorrah Main Level\n\tIn Big Sal's office, on a bookshelf along the south-western\n\twall.\n\n[ ]\tNevada Highway Patrol Station\n\tInside the station, on top of the southwestern most desk in the\n\tfirst room.\n\n[ ]\tRaul's Home\n\tThis book is inside a wooden crate on the floor near the \n\tentrance.\n\n[ ]\tVault 34 - Armory\n\tIn the room with the couches and pool table in the north\n\teastern corner of the level. The book is on a metal object.\n\nLying, Congressional Style (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tBrooks Tumbleweed Ranch - Tumbleweed Ranch House\n\tOn the second floor on the shelf of a locker.\n\n[ ]\tCerulean Robotics\n\tIn Freeside you'll find the Cerulean Robotics building, inside\n\tof which you can nab this book. It's in the north-eastern room\n\t(the room with the rows of desks and the conveyor belt) on the\n\tfloor near a chair.\n\n[ ]\tLucky Jim Mine - Lucky Jim Mine House\n\tYou can find this book in the southern corner of the house, on\n\ta metal shelf near the floor.\n\n[ ]\tNCR Correctional Facility - NCRCF Administration\n\tOn the second level, in the room across from the Warden's Office\n\t(the room in the north eastern corner of the level.) The book is\n\ton a desk near a broken computer terminal.\n\nNikola Tesla and You (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tHidden Valley - Hidden Valley Bunker L1\n\tIn the Surgery room where Scribe Schuler spends most of her\n\ttime, in a plastic bin next to the desk.\n\n[ ]\tOld Nuclear Test Site - Nuclear Test Shack\n\tThis book is on a table along the south eastern wall of the \n\tshack, under another book near a Hunting Shotgun.\n\n[ ]\tREPCONN Headquarters - REPCONN Office 2nd Floor\n\tIn the north eastern corner of the level, on a desk next to a\n\tterminal [Very Easy] from which you can add your facial data to\n\tthe database for the 2nd floor.\n\n[ ]\tREPCONN Headquarters - REPCONN Office Main Floor\n\tIn the north western corner of the level, behind a locked door\n\t[Very Hard]. This book is on top of a safe, amidst numerous\n\tMicrofusion Cells. Note that it's possible to reach this room\n\tby going through a locked door [Hard] on the REPCONN Office 2nd\n\tFloor.\n\nPugilism Illustrated (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tFisherman's Pride Shack\n\tThis book is in the eastern corner of the shack, on a table near\n\tthe bed.\n\n[ ] \tNipton Road Reststop - Nipton Road General Store\n\tThis book is on a wooden shelf along the southern wall.\n\n[ ]\tThe Tops Casino - The Tops Presidential Suite\n\tIn the first room you enter after taking the elevator, on a\n\ttable in the north western corner of the room. You can get \n\taccess to this room by being a high-roller (win 7500 or so\n\tCaps at casino games) or by hearing Benny out.\n\n[ ]\tVault 11 - Vault 11 Living Quarters\n\tFrom the door leading to Vault 11, head down the stairs into\n\tthe first room. Head through a door to the south and go down\n\tsome more stairs. At the bottom turn west where you'll find four\n\trooms. The book is in the second room on the right, on the floor\n\tnear an overturned dresser.\n\nTales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tAllied Technologies Offices\n\tIn the south west corner of the level, on the floor just north\n\tof the Nuka-Cola Vending Machines.\n\n[ ]\tCap Counterfeiting Shack\n\tEnter the Cap Counterfeiting Shack and go through a cellar door\n\tto reach.. well, the cellar. Go down some stairs and search the\n\tsuitcases near the bed along the south eastern wall. This book\n\tis on top of one of the suitcases.\n\n[ ]\tPrimm - The Bison Steve Hotel\n\tIn the north eastern corner of the level you'll find the Gift\n\tShop. The book is behind the counter, on top of a lock safe \n\t[Hard].\n\n[ ]\tVault 22 - Pest Control\n\tTake the Elevator down from any level to Pest Control. From \n\twhere you arrive head east and take the first left, which will\n\ttake you up two flights of stairs and ultimately into a lab.\n\tThe book is inside the lab, on a counter near a chemistry set\n\talong the northern end of the room.\n\nTumblers Today (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tBitter Springs Recreation Area - Bitter Springs Recreation \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOffice\n\tIn the room to the south, on a desk near a paperweight and a\n\tbroken terminal. Note that Bitter Springs and Bonne Springs are\n\tnot the same area, and that Bitter Springs Recreation Area is\n\tnot a sub-area of Bitter Springs. It's got its own map marker\n\tand everything.\n\n[ ]\tSilver Peak Mine - Silver Peak Mine Shack\n\tAlong the northeastern wall of the shack you'll find some\n\tlockers. This book is inside one of the bottom lockers, near\n\tthe floor. Note that the Silver Peak Mine itself contains the\n\tRemnant Helmet, which is yours for the taking.. if you're up to\n\tfighting some Cazadors, that is.\n\n[ ]\tThe Prospector's Den\n\tInside the actual den, in the middle room. The book is on the\n\tfloor by the bed in the north eastern corner of the room.\n\n[ ]\tWolfhorn Ranch\n\tInside the ranch you you'll find this book, on the floor near \n\tthe fridge.\n\nWasteland Survival Guide (4)\no======================================================================o\n[ ]\tLone Wolf Radio\n\tThe books is on the floor near a metal box in the back of the\n\ttrailer, by the bed.\n\n[ ]\tMatthews Animal Husbandry Farm\n\tIn one of the barns, on the upper level. The book is on the \n\tground near some metal boxes and a crate.\n\n[ ]\tMosquite Mountain Camp Site\n\tYou'll find this book inside the southern most tent, on the\n\tground behind a Toolbox.\n\n[ ]\tScavenger Platform\n\tIn one of the shacks there is are some fallen metal shelves.\n\tThis book is on the floor in between some of the shelves.<\/pre>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Table of Contents:I. Introduction {INT001} 1. Hardcore Mode {INT002}II. S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Attributes {SPC001} 1. Implants {SPC002} 2. Why Get the Monocyte…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Fallout-New-Vegas.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,4,6,7,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games","category-guides-and-walkthroughs","category-highlights","category-pc","category-playstation","category-xbox"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":980,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/979\/revisions\/980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionarena.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}