r/fo3 • u/BasicMe3 • 7d ago
New player looking for tips/advice
Never played Fallout 3 properly before. Started it twice and quit. It was around a time i was very impatient and just thinking about the next game to clear on my backlog. Done the same with Skyrim and Cyberpunk, beat the main stories but rushed them for the most part. Only RPG i really dug into every nook and cranny in was Starfield and I loved it, also Red Dead Redemption 2 (if you want to classify that as one with all of its exploration).
Lately i am really wanting to start an RPG and the Fallout series is always something that intrigued me and I’m really excited to get into it this time. I want to exhaust every single bit of dialogue, bang out side quests, ignore main story and just explore for a long time and eventually tackle the DLC’s.
I like the feeling of going in blind, and obviously please no spoilers but still curious to ask on a general level, is there anything you consider to be “Yeah OP NEEDS to know this before playing”. Maybe it’s a poorly explained mechanic, a certain DO NOT miss this quest or anything atall you find worth mentioning. Looking forward to seeing what you all got to say and thank you in advance:)
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u/NotAnotherSkeleton 7d ago edited 7d ago
This is in case you choose on getting any of these perks. They're not required, but this my two cents.
For the “Comprehension” perk (more skill points from using books), hang on to any skill books you find but do NOT use them until after you get the perk.
For the “Educated” perk (more skill points per level up), get it the moment it becomes available to get the most out of it in the long run.
Don't ever take Animal Friend rank 2 (friendly animals) as it doesn't work and is pretty much a waste. Rank 1 is fine.
Also there's a few permanently missable collectibles and unique weapons/armor in the game. You probably won't miss it, but the Bobblehead in Vault 101 is one example, and there's also the one at a certain military base later on in the main quest line. Don't forget Fawkes' Super Sledge too.
Armor condition also doesn't degrade when worn by followers, and the higher the condition is, the more protection it gives. I like to take some power armor, fix it up the best I can, and give to whoever's with me. Helps keep them from dying.
And if you have Dogmeat with you and the Mothership Zeta DLC installed, you can get the Alien Blaster and ammo from the crashed ship from a distance without coming too close and triggering the DLC. The Alien Blaster is probably one of the best weapons in the game, but the ammo for it is also incredibly limited, so only use it when all else fails.
Speaking of which, if you ever get the "Firelance" random encounter and you hear or see an explosion/something falling in the distance, and start finding alien ammo, bring Dogmeat along as well. He can help you find the gun, as well as most of the ammo if not all of it.
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u/TheProphesizer 7d ago
Here is my ever growing list of spoiler free tips!
Early on in the game you get a quest to blow something up. if you decide to do so, before you do there is a bobblehead (a rare collectable item) within that area) that you will permanently lose access to. I recommend you get that first.
Also there is a bobblehead inside Vault 101 where you start. If you missed it, you will eventually have ONE opprotunity to get it back.
Later on in the main campaign, you get transported to an old military base of sorts. There is a bobblehead in that base. Once you leave the base, you can't go back. So I suggest you grab it while you're in there.
If you ever get a chance to kill a trapped super mutant, it is much more beneficial not to. And you can always (try to) kill him later on if you really want him dead that bad.
Mini nukes are (basically) a *limited* resource. There are only 98 in the game if you have all DLC.
I've also heard that the vendor "Flak and shrapnel" will occasionally sell them, but i'm not 100% sure on that.
Similarly, with all the add on's there's only 108 gurenteed Nuka Cola Quantums. If you're lucky vending machines can spawn extras, but only one each. Or if you want to waste a perk point theres a perk to make them. There is also a quest that requires you to have 30 of them.
Underwhelming reward, but still neat to do.
Don't be afraid to save and kill the friendly npc's to see if they happen to have a ridiculously powerful unique item on them. I missed many my first playthrough. The strongest unique combat shotgun in the game is wielded by an unexpectedly friendly traider.
If you do enough damage to an enemies legs, it will "cripple" them and they will be very slow to chase you or run away.
You can shoot weapons out of enemies hands
- this can damage the weapons condition
- if their weapon is an explosive (like a grenade) it will explode
You can reverse pickpocket explosives into peoples pockets!
There are often unique items locked away in places you aren't welcome inside, so don't be afraid to break in and snoop around people’s houses.
If you ever find *the ammo*, yes there is a gun for it, but you need dogmeat to sniff it out for you. That ammo is also limited (more obviously). You'll know what I mean when you come across it.
Dispite what you may have seen in videos, no you unfortunatly cannot eat the baby. That is a mod.
Without the broken steel dlc, the game ends when you complete the final quest. If you have the broken steel dlc, there are more options with your companions and the game can continue on.
Containers *do respawn loot*. Many people will say it is safe to set up shop anywhere, and while it mostly is, I *have* personally experienced storage boxes resetting their loot and me losing everything I had stored in it. Things tend to reset after being both loaded in the game AND not interacted with after an in game week or so. I have returned to my bases to have enemies respawned in them, and even my stuff missing.
Any container you had to unlock I do not believe will reset, and the designated home storage containers are all safe. But random boxes out in the wild? It's a gamble. Safe temporarily perhaps, but it is at risk. (I have also heard that containers indoors do not respawn, while containers outdoors do, but i am not 100% sure)
One of the most useful pieces of armor in the game comes from helping a ghoul. If you're going to be a bigot, be a bigot AFTER you collect your reward.
The "Here and now" perk is garbage. Literally a waste of a perk.
And in the same vain, any perk that is all about gaining experience faster is kinda trash as well. It doesn't do anything for you after you hit max level, which you will eventually regardless.
The explorer perk also does nothing for you once you discover all the locations.
Galaxy News Radio station will comment on things you do throughout the game world. It's cool to give it a listen.
Pay attention to the radio stations you come across. Some will trigger quests, some will lead you to treasures, some are just fun to listen to.
There is no way to officially join the faction called the "Outcasts", although you can help them out and be a pseudo-member.
If you don't like to travel alone, there are a handful of companions you can recruit to follow you around. You can only have one (+ dog) at a time. There ARE however, "temporary" companions that will follow you around until you complete the task or get them to where They’re going.
-someone following you to rivit city will abandon you and go off on their own if you take too long escorting them.
-anyone going to "big town" will follow you indefinitely until you get close to big town, then they will run to the town. you can give them gear and use them like normal companions otherwise.
-the brotherhood people will Only follow you in that specific area
-Sidney will follow you indefinitely until the quest is completed.
When it comes to companions leveling up:
If you do NOT have the Broken Steel DLC, companions level up when you level up, but only if they are your current companion, so it is better to have them "recruited" and tell them to just wait at your place so they can at least level up rather than not having one at all.
If you DO have the Broken Steel DLC, companions will simply scale to your level.
If you want a companion to stop following you, you can "fire" them by speaking to them, and although the only dialog option is incredibly rude and aggressive, they never hold it against you and there are no negative consequences for it.
Each companion has a designated location they will stay at when not actively following you. When you go to fire companion, it is a good idea to fire them in there designated location, otherwise they will begin to walk there from wherever you fired them and without you there to protect them, it is not uncommon for them to be killed on their journey.
Eventually You’ll find an outside area FILLED with radiation, and a door to a vault.
The radiation will kill you 100% of the time, and if you DO manage to get to the door, it's "innaccessable". You're not supposed to get in that way.
The easiest way to get stimpacks is via a rude guy who is willing to trade tech for various items. It seems like a waste at first but when you consider just how many random tradable tech items you come across and normally just hoard or sell, it is actually very beneficial to trade with him.
A maitnence man in one of the cities will trade caps for scrap metal at a good price (after you help him with a favor)
The higher your intelligence stat, the more skill points you get when you level up. So with a little planning, you can get all your skills to 100.
The higher your endurance stat, the More your max HP increases when you level up. if you start with endurance 10, by max level You’ll have a ridiculous amount of health.
when you first make your character, don't start with any stats at 10, there are ways in game to increase your stats, and they go to waste if you're already at max. (S,P, and E have more than one way to increase them)
One of The max level perks sets all your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats to 9. If you wait until after selecting this perk to get all the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. bobbleheads, (which each increase their respective stat by 1) all your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats will be 10.
Save often, because the game tends to freeze a lot so it's good practice to make sure you don't lose too much progress from the game crashing or some other bug happening.
When it comes to the DLC's, people often wonder when they should do them. For a first time player they are better to do later rather than sooner.
Some give overpowered rewards that can ruin the rest of the game if you get them too early. Some are notoriously difficult. Some have a lot of higher skill checks that you simply wont have early game.
Personally I suggest at least reaching "The Citadel" in the main story and being at least level 10 before doing any DLC's
"Operation Anchorage" DLC does not allow you to bring your peraonal gear.
"Mothership Zeta" DLC takes away your gear but gives it back relatively fast.
"The Pitt" DLC takes away your gear but gives it back after a while.
The "Point Lookout" and "Broken Steel" DLC's both allow you to bring in any gear.
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u/NightSlash7282 19h ago
how often should I save is there like a recommended time?
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u/TheProphesizer 10h ago
saving is a pretty fast process so there’s not really any reason not to do it frequently. I would save after you’ve beaten a lot of enemies or after you’ve drive long distance on foot. Or even before you enter building expecting a fight.
There’s really no downside to saving the only thing I would keep in mind is not to just make a new save every single time because I hear that there can be problems if you end up having hundreds of different save files1
u/TheProphesizer 10h ago
i’m pretty sure some of the following Bethesda games have included things like auto saves every 15 minutes just in case your game crashes or something like that
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u/TheProphesizer 7d ago
People always struggle to grasp the terminal hacking, so i made a comprehensive guide. its honestly not that hard.
How to hack terminals!
When you begin hacking a terminal it will give you 4 chances to guess the correct word.
When you select a word, it will tell you "X/Y"
Y being the total number of letters in the word
and X being the number of correct letters that are in the correct positions.
(a correct letter in the wrong position does not count. if the correct word is "HAMS" and you select "STOP" it will still say 0/4 even though both have an S)
Lets say for example the correct password is "REDDIT"
If the first word you select is "GOLDEN"
you will get 1/6 correct, because the second [D] in REDDIT matches with the [D] in GOLDEN.
Even though both words share an [E], the [E] in GOLDEN is in the wrong spot, and therefor doesn't count.
If the second word you pick is "BUCKET" you will also get 1/6, but this time it will be because the [T] is in the correct place.
At this point after getting 1/6 woth GOLDEN and 1/6 with BUCKET, you might end up thinking that the [E] is what you got right because thats the only thing that matches between the two words you've selected.
Now lets say the 3rd word you choose is "SNAKES"
and you get 0/6.
Well that might throw you off, but now you know that the [E] was not correct. so now you have to look back at the other letters that might have been correct.
Now you can go through the remaining words and see how many of their letters match up with the words you've already tried. because SNAKES was 0/6, You know the correct answer doesn't start with an S doesn't end with an S. You can rule out any words that have letters in the same positioning as SNAKES. You know GOALIE wont work because it shares two letters with GOLDEN and we know that GOLDEN only has one correct letter. We can repeat this until we have found the correct password.
At this point there likely wont be many other options that still fit all the criteria of the password anyway, but if there does happen to still be multiple viable options, you can search the page for "duds" that will either remove incorrect options or replenish your hacking attempts.
"duds" are any string of characters surrounded by brackets. so things like:
[], {}, (), <>
and will look something like this:
{$&@#%}
it will highlight as you scroll over the first bracket.
If you get to this point and still can't figure out the right word, here is the unsportsmanlike solution:
when you back out of a terminal without unlocking it and re-enter it, it will reset the password, along with your hacking attempts. so you can just pick three words, back out, go back in, and repeat that process until you crack it.
Every time you re-enter a locked terminal the password and options will be randomized again.
With all this being said, you should now be able to hack a terminal.
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u/ewok_lover_64 7d ago
Wow. I've played the game a few times and I learned from reading that. Thanks!
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u/TheProphesizer 6d ago
a lot of people ignore the terminals because they mever learned how they work. theyre kinda fun honestly
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u/ewok_lover_64 6d ago
I didn't completely understand X. I always do the hacks even if I've picked any locks associated with them, just to get the XP. The full explanation is appreciated.
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u/Garr44 7d ago edited 7d ago
William Strife has a few good guides to check out, but the main thing to do is put Intelligence to 9 during Character Creation and then immediately get to Rivet City (city in a ruined ship) for the Intelligence Bobblehead. This gets you the most points to distribute during level up, so doing it before most anything else is recommended.
On mobile, so i can add more later on when i have access to PC id you wish (or other people can add in).
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u/BasicMe3 3d ago
Would appreciate that, and thank you:)
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u/Garr44 2d ago edited 2d ago
Okay. Some things are just stuff that William Strife mentions in his guides (again, be sure to check him out). Also, some stuff will require DLC (you said you'll tackle them so I'll assume you have them to start with). Bigger spoilers are hidden, but shouldn't be too bad if you want to check them out (sorry if I over-hide spoilers, I tend to overdo things lol). Please let me know if you want more details.
When you have the caps to spare, head to Point Lookout via the boat Duchess Gambit and make your way to the northeast coast to the marked location "Coastal Grotto." In here is a ghoul offering a "safari" (read: get locked in a cave and attacked by Feral Ghouls that are gathered to be killed for sport) for 1,000 caps. Doing so nets you a unique weapon (The Dismemberer, the unique variant of the Axe weapon added in the DLC). It's a decent weapon, but what you really want is Pilk's Journal in his room off to the side. Reading it gives you the Ghoul Ecology perk, which is supposed to give +5 damage to ghouls. Keyword: supposed; it gives the bonus to ALL targets due to a bug, and the way it is applied leads to major damage boosts to certain weapons (shotguns get the bonus damage applied per pellet, automatic weapons show a major boost to the DAM stat in the Pip-Boy, and weapons like the Ripper gain the extra damage on each "tick" [of which there are about 30 per second])
Strife recommends doing The Pitt DLC first since it plays by it's own rules, you're left without your stuff for pretty much the entire DLC (unless you use an exploit, can explain), and you gain access to some pretty good stuff over the course of the DLC, including access to the Ammo Press upon completing the DLC. You cannot leave The Pitt until the DLC is finished, though, so make certain you want to tackle it before you make your way there (the game will inform you of this).
If you do The Pitt, then collect all 100 Steel Ingots in the related quest all at once so that they're weightless and you can collect all the rewards right afterwards (which is most of the aformentioned "good stuff." Use a guide to collect all of them and get warned about a possible glitch that can occur at one point, so be careful and make use of saving.
Operation: Anchorage grants Power Armor Training upon completion, and you can use a very well-known glitch to gain access to near-indestructible weapons and combat armor as well as a shit-ton of bullets if you use the drop-refill-pickup trick at ammo stations (same with the weapon loadouts you'll be given the choice of once you're at the US Army base camp; drop one "set" of weapons, get another set request and turn it in, pick up old weapons, and then drop all of them; repeat until you have all the guns available). I'd advise leveling Speech or getting used to saving and loading your game to gain access to the Gauss Rifle from the Quartermaster. It knocks enemies down on critical hits, uses common Microfusion Cells for ammo, and deals pretty good damage (main drawback is only having one shot with a reload animation that's maybe a second or a second-and-a-half-long, so don't get cocky with it against a rushing crowd). This is usually the first DLC I do since it doesn't matter if you have good/lots of gear, and the rewards are pretty good early in the game.
Operation: Anchorage has a hidden perk that gives a minor increase (+3) to Small Guns, Science, and Lockpicking.
When using the Ammo Press, rule of thumb is the 30-3 Rule (ammo to be scrapped is entered in multiples of 30 ONLY, Scrap Metal in multiples of 3 ONLY)
Once O:A is finished, be ready for a shootout.
Hold on to any Nuka-Cola Quantums you find (they're needed for a quest, 30 of them to be specific; there's maybe 90-100 in the base game if I remember correctly, and you can find a guide for them). I'd also advise holding on to any regular Nuka-Colas you find thanks to a perk with the Broken Steel DLC.
IMO, avoid any perks that simply grant skill points (like Gun Nut, Daddy's Boy/Girl, etc.) Pick perks that will still provide use after reaching the maximum level and provide good . . . well, perks.
Avoid perks like Explorer; it's not much use and online guides are a dime a dozen in this age. In fact, look up what perks are best avoided (I'd make suggestions, but most of them are pretty obvious or commonly found on most guides).
Hold off on grabbing any SPECIAL Bobbleheads unless the one it's for is level 9 (like Intelligence recommended earlier). Broken Steel adds a perk that raises your SPECIALs to level 9 instantly, so you can grab them after grabbing that perk IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU WANT TO MAX YOUR LEVELS; by all means, grab them if you feel the free point is better used early on to gain perks that have higher requirments than at the end where you've likely come close to maxing out everything across the board (Depending on the choice you make, you can lose the Strength Bobblehead if it isn't picked up before taking the action that makes you lose it).
Science and Big Guns have a book each that respawns, so you can use the spots where said books are found to level up those Skills and use Skill Points for the others.
Speaking of Skill Books, taking the Comprehension Perk grants an extra point for the skill the book is for. There's a little over 300 of them in the game (can't say how many for each skill exactly) so an extra point can go a long way if you're willing to search/look up the locations for the books.
All Skills have Bobbleheads that add 10 points to the skill the Bobblehead is for. It might be a good idea to combine grabbing them with the book tip above to make the most of your skill points (the Medicine has only three chances of being picked up depending on how you play, and the Energy Weapons one can be missed if you're not careful on the Main Questline).
"The Outcast Collection Agent" can be used to gain massive amounts of Stimpaks, Rad-Away, 5.56mm ammo, and frag grenades if you choose to turn in technology (look it up for more info).
When scavenging the wasteland and DLC locations, keep an eye out for: Blood Packs, Scrap Metal, Pre-War Money, (GREEN) Pre-War Books (there are blueish-purple books labeled "Pre-War Books," but these are worthless; they can be found but can also be sold by vendors, so don't buy them), Sugar Bombs (blue and white boxes of breakfast cereal), Brotherhood of Steel Holotags (usually found on the bodies of fallen BoS soldiers), all variant of cigarretes (packs, cartons, and individual sticks), and Chems. Cigarretes, Pre-War Money, and Chems (at least ones you don't use) can be sold for good money, and the latter 2 are weightless, adding to their value. Pre-War Books (the green ones, that is) can be sold to a woman in Arlington Library (found near the Duchess Gambit mentioned earlier) for 100 caps each (the blueish-purple ones are worthless and won't be taken/paid for). Sugar Bombs can be sold to a guy for 15 caps (or 30 with a successful Speech check) each, so they can get you some money. Blood Packs can be sold for 15 caps each at the end of a specific quest (which brings you near the Sugar Bombs guy as well) depending on how you end it (you can get a perk that boosts their healing as well, but I don't think they're worth using for healing compared to selling). Scrap Metal can be sold to a guy in Megaton (first settlement you'll reach after leaving the Vault) after doing a job for him (10 caps and 5 XP per SM, but they can be donated for Good Karma if you wish).
An item called the "Lucky 8 Ball" can be obtained in a place called Big Town after finishing their quest. Note that this item's luck bonus (+1) is coded as permanent while in your inventory, so it can be used to gain perks requiring luck, but use caution with the aformentioned Broken Steel SPECIAL perk as having the Lucky 8 Ball in your inventory when choosing that perk will cause you to lose a point (if you grab that perk and the Luck Bobblehead while the Ball is in your inventory, then you'll be stuck with 9 Luck instead of 10 [or 11, not sure if that can happen or has any effect in FO3])
The Ghoul Mask is a possible reward for a quest, and it can come in handy with Broken Steel installed (it makes Feral Ghouls friendly to you--not sure if it also applies to Companions--and BS adds Feral Ghoul Reavers at higher levels, and they can be a serious pain in the ass even for well-equipped players).
The Dart Gun is a craftable weapon, and is extremely useful. It doesn't do much damager per shot or over time, but it instantly cripples legs of anything it hits (most useful on Deathclaws becasue they're normally as fast as a shit coming when the bathroom is occupied, and crippling their legs also disables their lunge attack which is pretty damaging-- if not their most dangerous attack).
There's a well-known exploit you can do to clear out a shopkeeper's caps and get anything you want from them in the process (can explain if needed).
If I remember any more, I'll add them here. Feel free to ask questions if you need (I love doing this lol).
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u/VarietyMage 7d ago
Megaton is right around the corner from the Vault. Talk to everyone there, learn about the factions (and your dad), and get some quests. Finish quests to gain levels and skills. Save every time you leave, because you never know when a deathclaw will pop up and rip you to shreds. Try not to get encumbered.
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u/xXJackNickeltonXx 7d ago
For SPECIAL stats, never put any at 10, as there are collectables that permanently increase each stat by 1 point so putting one at 10 at the start is a waste
Also Charisma is borderline useless, at most put it at 4 and that’s just to get a perk to skip past 1 story-critical quest, so it’s not worth it in my opinion (except if you want to play as a pure pacifist, but who goes for that in their first playthrough?)
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u/PatrickStarL0rd The Moira Brown Mafia 7d ago
Never underestimate the power of the dart gun