Official Fallout 3 Spoilers/Hints/Strategy Thread™

[Elesirdur]

BE YE FAIRLY WARNED: This thread is all about tips, tactics, strategies, hints, and generally anything that would otherwise be spoiler tagged in the other Fallout 3 threads.

This is an experiment I want to try, not only to consolidate some of the Fallout 3 gameplay information, but to help the existing Fallout 3 threads not get bogged down in post after post of discussions that are in spoilers.

So, feel free to say anything you like in this thread about quests, where to find items and NPCs, and anything in general. Anything goes here and there should be no need to spoiler tag anything since by coming here you accept that you will see information that you may not have known about.

I'll kick this off with a few things I've gleaned from my own playtime and from the other two threads:

General Quests and Information:

• Getting the sheriff of Megaton to attempt to arrest Mr. Burke will result in Mr. Burk killing the Sheriff. You can engage him as soon as, or seemingly even before, he draws his gun to save the Sheriff. Either way, disarming the bomb will give you access to "My Megaton Home" that features a Bobblehead stand and a hilarious joke-telling robot butler
• Dogmeat can be found in a scrapyard (location would be great if someone can add)
• Ian West, of the Blood Lines quest, can be found in the subway tunnel to the northeast of Arefu near the ghouls who will accept Sugar Bombs as part of a quest to make chems
• Arkansas, the 'defender' of minefield - sick fuck that he is - has a scoped sniper rifle that is chambered for .308 ammo (or is it .306, I forget). Looting his corpse will also give you a key that lets you go into the homes in Minefield, which contain some nice loot including skill books and a Chinese Assault Rifle
• If you choose to not harm the ant queen in the quest "Those", the scientist will reward you with a choice of genetic modifiers. Ant Strength gives you a permanent Strength+1 and +25% fire resistance, while Ant Perception gives a permanent Perception+1 and the same +25% fire resistance. Well worth it. There's also a terminal by the queen that requires a Science skill of 50 to hack, but I screwed up the hack and am not sure what it contains or does. Maybe you have to hack the terminal if you end up killing the Scientist or the Queen or otherwise circumvent the quest.

Pip Boy Bobblehead Locations

• There is a PipBoy Bobblehead in Vault 101 in your father's quarters that gives a boost to your Science skill
• Another Bobblehead in 101 is located in behind the framed passage from the bible (your mother's favourite passage)
• There is another Bobblehead that gives you Strength+1 in Lucas Simms' house; it is located on the upper floor in his office on top of his desk

[Zosi]

So... I guess I'll start this by asking what kind of stat builds people have been using so far, and how well that's worked out for them. I made my current character with pretty spread-out points (I think 6 in all but S/L), but I'm wondering if I'd be better off restarting before I got too far if that's something I'll regret later.

[Krandor]

The scrapyard is about 1 minute SE of Minefield, you can see the buildings from there. It seems to vary but sometimes if you go there there will be raiders that you have to kill before he'll buddy up with you. Dogmeat acts as sort of a "meatshield" for you in that enemies will oftentimes attack him instead of you. Enemies with guns seem to have trouble hitting him, but melee attackers will shred him to pieces.

Other bobbleheads
- Evan King's House in Arefu (have to pick the lock, so -karma getting in) +10 Repair
- Rivet City Science Lab, on one of the desks +1 INT

Great place to make money is the Arlington Library (it's part of Moira's chain for the Wasteland Survival Guide), there is a Brotherhood Scryer in there who will buy any Pre-War Books you find for 100 caps a pop. There's 6 or 7 in the library itself, and I've found 1 outside the library so far.

This isn't really a spoiler, but it's annoying as shit until you figure out. If you're trying to get to Rivet City, there's an intercom on the platform outside (it's to the right of the man begging for water). Once you use the intercom, the bridge will stay up.

[Null]

Some good cheats

Infinite XP

When your speech skill is high enough (30 is recommended), go to "Big Town", which is located north of Vault 101. Speak to the girl named Bittercup, and she should tell you about her dating exploits. After speaking with her, go into the house marked "Common House", and speak to a man named Pappy. There should be a speech skill dialogue option that says "You came here with Bittercup, right?" You will get XP every time you click it. Repeat this as many times as desired.

^
With that and decent speech you can cap off within a few hours.

Bobblehead locations

The hidden Vault-Tec Bobbleheads can be found at the following locations. Collect a Bobblehead to gain +10 to a skill or +1 to a stat.

Stats

Agility: Greener Pastures Disposal, in the small office covered in radiation.
Charisma: Vault 108, in the Cloning Lab.
Endurance: Deathclaw Sanctuary, at the entrance on a table next to a rotting Brahmin corpse.
Intelligence: Rivet City, on Dr. Li's table in the Science Lab.
Luck: Arlington Cemetery North, in the basement on a shelf directly below the stairs inside the house to the north.
Perception: Republic Of Dave, on a bookshelf on the right in the Museum of Dave.
Strength: Megaton, in Sherriff Lucas Simm's house.

Skills

Barter: Evergreen Mills, in back of the Market Bazaar on a shelf in the upper-right side behind the Raider Trader that does not attack.
Big Guns: Fort Constantine, in the basement of the CO Quarters inside a safe in the wall.
Energy Weapons: Ravenhold
Explosives: WKML Broadcast Station, turn on your local map. Go through the doorway to the sealed cistern to find it.
Lockpick: Bethesda Ruins, in Bethesda Offices East, on the top floor near the door to the bridge.
Medicine: Vault 101, on your dad's desk when leaving.
Melee Weapons: Dunwich Building, just before you leave the Virulent Underchambers, on the floor next to the door.
Repair: Aerefu, in Evan King's house.
Science: Vault 106, on a table in middle of the living quarters second level main room.
Small Guns: National Guard Depot, go through the training room and offices to exit from a door to the main room. Use the power switch on the wall to your left, and enter the Armory door, then search the shelves.
Sneak: Yao Guai Tunnels, on top of a metal box in the Den, on the right of the map near some water.
Speech: Paradise Falls, on a table inside Euology's pad (Slave Master's house).
Unarmed: Rockopolis, go directly west from Casey Smith's garage. Look for tattered banners that are strung up. Use your local map to find it.

[Null]

So... I guess I'll start this by asking what kind of stat builds people have been using so far, and how well that's worked out for them. I made my current character with pretty spread-out points (I think 6 in all but S/L), but I'm wondering if I'd be better off restarting before I got too far if that's something I'll regret later.

Int is very great. It raises how many more points you get per level. I think that is the best to use so you can have better stats by the time you max out.


SPECIAL

- Intelligence affects how many skillpoints you get per level up and those highly effect how fast you can raise how many skills. Unless you\'re trying to roleplay it\'s highly suggested to put a lot of points in here.
- Strength affects your carrying capacity. From my personal experience - I have never ever enough strength to carry all the goods I want to. The again, I\'m using a char build with 3 strength...
- Agility affects your Action Points (AP) and those are essential for VATS. The more, the better.


Skills

- Science - computer terminals in the game come with requirements on science: 25, 50, 75, 100. If you don\'t meet the requirements, you don\'t get to hack the terminal.
- Repair - pretty much essential skill for the game. Helps you get your gear in shape. Better gear does more damage or keeps you alive longer. And better gear can be sold for more caps.
- Lockpicking - again, requirements come in 25, 50, 75, 100. If you don\'t meet the requirement, you won\'t get a chance to pick the lock.
- Barter - always for want of some caps to buy new tools? Invest a couple points here to get better prices.

Perks

- Comprehension - instead of getting 1 point per book you get 2 points. Which doesn\'t sound like much, but consider how many books there are - 35 points compared to 70 is indeed a nice little bonus. I suggest taking it.
- Educated - gives you a bonus of 3 skillpoints per level up. Take it early and it pays out nicely. If you have low int consider it a must have.

Hacking

When hacking a terminal always search for pairs of brackets first - <> () {} []. For each pair you delete one dud answer (or possibly regain the full amount of tries).

Mines

Approach the mine with the target reticule centered on it. \"Use\" the mine ASAP to disarm and click again to pick it up.

Unique Weapons

- Powerfist \"Fisto!\" - MDPL-13 Powerstation, upper level, desk
- A3-21\'s [Energy Weapon] - [quest begins in Rivet City via Dr. Zimmer in the Science Lab] Complete Dr. Zimmer's android quest and talk to the android BEFORE talking to Zimmer (if at all)
- Reilly's Ranger's Combat Armor - [quest begins in The Mall near the National Archives via a radio distress call] Complete the Ranger rescue quest chain to the end.

[Elesirdur]

Originally Posted by Zosi

So... I guess I'll start this by asking what kind of stat builds people have been using so far, and how well that's worked out for them. I made my current character with pretty spread-out points (I think 6 in all but S/L), but I'm wondering if I'd be better off restarting before I got too far if that's something I'll regret later.

For my base starting stats I took one point out of endurence and put two in Inteligence, one in Agility, and one in Charisma (I think)

I find the carry limitations tough so I've gone up to like 9 STR through a bobblehead, the Ant Strength mutagen, and two of those perks that allow you to modify a SPECIAL attribute.

[Null]

Originally Posted by Elesirdur

For my base starting stats I took one point out of endurence and put two in Inteligence, one in Agility, and one in Charisma (I think)

I find the carry limitations tough so I've gone up to like 9 STR through a bobblehead, the Ant Strength mutagen, and two of those perks that allow you to modify a SPECIAL attribute.

I'm mad at myself for putting so much into str from the start. One of the best perks is to automatically raise your str to 10 plus a great resistance to dmg.

It is rough to go around without much space, which is why the first quest I did was for the house. That way I could store my items there.

Then I did that speech "cheat" to level everything else up. Best to stop at 15 though so the rest of the game isn't such a dull.

[killerx]

Doing the quest at for independence trading in old parts its just great keep all the scap metal, old power items, energy weapons, power suits. trade them in there he gives u stem packs, grenades, rid-x. Verry helpful for stocking up You can find a shit ton of stuff at the robco faclity

[Koyuki]

Just got the game, a bit curious as to how far I should be traveling and which quests I should pick up first? I remember hearing in a video that alot of the enemies would literally rape me if I stumbled upon them at a low level.

[Krandor]

Don't go anywhere near DC (E/SE portion of the map) until you have a strong weapon, there's alot of Super Mutants around there and they can take alot of punishment before they go down.

[killerx]

Yeah i really hate going to the Dc area far too many of those super mutants. If you dont blow up the town lots of great quests to really get the game started

[Zosi]

Oh wow, I totally spaced out and forgot you could lower stats. Definitely will be starting fresh tonight and thinking hard about what stats to boost. Thanks for the input, that's exactly what I was looking for.

[Kyo]

Ive restarted a couple times because I missed a bobblehead in the valut, and now I guess I need to restart again, dont wanna miss any bobleheads.

[killerx]

yeah i missed them too idk if i wana restart or just play through again. And yeah.... had dog meat not even a few mins went into paradise falls to wreak havoc and hes dead lol

[Kyo]

I find dogmeat kinda annoying when im trying to loot homes and stuff, he hampers movement, so I stuck him in my house and moved on.

[killerx]

i was tempted to send him to vault 101 didn't know how safe that would be though

by the way i LOVE collecting fingers idk why

[Kyo]

You can collect fingers lol? Havent noticed.

[killerx]

perk lawbringer any evil char you kill will have a finger on the corps the finger can be sold to a certon person for caps and positive karma go go killer raiders

[Kyo]

Holy shit that sounds like fun, yeah I'd be down with collecting some fingers. I hadnt chosen that perk yet so havent taken the time to read it.

[killerx]

If mentats raise per+5 and int+5 eat it before u level up and gain the stat bonus when picking ur skills?

[Elesirdur]

Originally Posted by killerx

If mentats raise per+5 and int+5 eat it before u level up and gain the stat bonus when picking ur skills?

I don't think so; I believe that your skill points allocation is based on your base stats and not on modified stats. When I hit lvl 6 I had some mentats on but I didn't notice any additional points aside from what I get from that perk. Worth trying out though.

[killerx]

damn just remembered something i was thinking about has any one tried the regeneration perk thing i gess you could call it. From doing the quest in megaton. When you have advanced radiation poisoning you regenerate limbs so like you get health back or you just aren't crippled?

[Kyo]

I havent really tested that yet.