========== Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition Version 1.7.0.3. ========== Contents: [01] - Introduction [02] - Basics [03] - Statistics Overlay [04] - Perk Overlay [05] - Gameplay [06] - Legal and Contact ========== [01] - Introduction This guide contains information to assist you in creating a character that can pretty much dominate the wasteland. It covers the areas that are going to be maxed, what you absolutely must do in order to obtain them, and outlines your require progression through the game. ========== [02] - Basics There are several factors to note at the very start. The first, playing on the Game of the Year Edition, is that you need all the DLC up and running at the beginning of the game. Also being taken into account are the S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats, the 13 skill stats, damage resistance, radiation resistance, poison resistance and fire resistance. These will also be accentuated with perks that assist you in the best way possible. The game will also be played on Normal difficulty. It doesn't really matter what you decide to play it on, but you'll have 29 levels to obtain and the harder the enemies the more experience you earn from killing them. Shifting it up and down depending on the situation can work out quite well. It is also worth noting that you'll have to do a lot of specific things at the very start of your game simply to give yourself a better boost and also to set yourself up for specific perks or quests. Normally low stats early on prohibits you somewhat but it can be managed, just don't go trigger happy. ========== [03] - Statistics Overlay The main concern is not to waste skill points during a level up and to be in the right position for perks. There are many variables that effect skill points, so to get 100 on each, some preparation is needed in determining where you put your points earned. - S.P.E.C.I.A.L When available, place your points like so: Strength 6 Perception 6 Endurance 6 Charisma 1 Intelligence 9 Agility 7 Luck 5 This will give you the highest amount of skill points per level, maximising what you have to distribute. There is no sense wasting them. Having a low Charisma will affect your Speech skill very early on, however, you have the ability to use quicksave and quickload, so it is not much of a loss at all. For level 30, choosing the perk Almost Perfect automatically makes all of your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats hit 9. Intelligence, at 10, will stay there. By waiting until you have this perk to collect the related Bobbleheads, you can bring all attributes to 10. This takes all S.P.E.C.I.A.L attributes to 10. - Skills There are 13 skills that can be taken up to a maximum of 100. To work out the best placement for your skill points on level, some reverse-engineering is needed using skill point gains not received from levelling. With S.P.E.C.I.A.L maxed at 10 in each attribute, your skills gain: Barter 100 - 25 = 75 Big Guns 100 - 25 = 75 Energy Weapons 100 - 25 = 75 Explosives 100 - 25 = 75 Lockpick 100 - 25 = 75 Medicine 100 - 25 = 75 Melee Weapons 100 - 25 = 75 Repair 100 - 25 = 75 Science 100 - 25 = 75 Small Guns 100 - 25 = 75 Sneak 100 - 25 = 75 Speech 100 - 25 = 75 Unarmed 100 - 25 = 75 Total Left 975 / 1300 Each skill also has a unique Bobblehead that grants +10: Barter 75 - 10 = 65 Big Guns 75 - 10 = 65 Energy Weapons 75 - 10 = 65 Explosives 75 - 10 = 65 Lockpick 75 - 10 = 65 Medicine 75 - 10 = 65 Melee Weapons 75 - 10 = 65 Repair 75 - 10 = 65 Science 75 - 10 = 65 Small Guns 75 - 10 = 65 Sneak 75 - 10 = 65 Speech 75 - 10 = 65 Unarmed 75 - 10 = 65 Total Left 845 / 1300 There are also stats from the G.O.A.T, perks and items to include: Barter 65 65 Big Guns 65 65 Energy Weapons 65 - 10 = 55 - Cyborg Explosives 65 - 15 = 50 - G.O.A.T Lockpick 65 - 18 = 47 - G.O.A.T/Covert Ops Medicine 65 - 5 = 60 - Daddy's Girl Melee Weapons 65 65 Repair 65 65 Science 65 - 23 = 42 - G.O.A.T/Daddy's Girl/Covert Ops Small Guns 65 - 3 = 62 - Covert Ops Sneak 65 - 10 = 55 - Silent Running Speech 65 - 10 = 55 - Yew's Bear Charm Unarmed 65 65 Total Left 751 / 1300 Finally, there are the skill books littered around the world: Barter 65 - 23 = 42 Big Guns 65 - 25 = 40 Energy Weapons 55 - 25 = 30 Explosives 50 - 25 = 25 Lockpick 47 - 25 = 22 Medicine 60 - 25 = 35 Melee Weapons 65 - 25 = 40 Repair 65 - 25 = 40 Science 42 - 25 = 17 Small Guns 62 - 25 = 37 Sneak 55 - 25 = 30 Speech 55 - 25 = 30 Unarmed 65 - 25 = 40 Total Left 428 / 1300 The only way beyond what you're given is to add skill points you earn from levelling. Intelligence plays a big part in this. There are 29 levels and escaping Vault 101 gives you one of these already. By running right to Rivet City and collecting the Intelligence Bobblehead, you are given the maximum amount of points. (1*19)+(28*20) = 579 Removing the necessary skill points needed to take all skills to 100 leaves us with 151 skill points gained by levelling that are free to use after reaching level 21 or 22. In this instance, they simply replace the need for hunting down the skill books you would have otherwise had to find. The amount you must place in each skill is listed below, and must be followed. What you put points in must also align with perks that have certain requirements, too, so do not waste them by working from top to bottom as you level. Barter 42 Big Guns 40 Energy Weapons 30 Explosives 25 Lockpick 22 Medicine 35 Melee Weapons 40 Repair 40 Science 17 Small Guns 37 Sneak 30 Speech 30 Unarmed 40 This takes all Skills to 100. - Damage Resistance Damage resistance has an in-game cap of 85% that cannot be passed. To get to the cap is actually rather straightforward: Perks: Given Total Cyborg +10% 10% Toughness +10% 20% Survival Guru +6% 26% Barkskin +5% 31% Pitt Fighter +3% 34% Armour: T-51b Armour +45% 79% T-51b Helmet +10% 89% This takes Damage Resistance to the 85% cap. - Radiation Resistance As before, there is a cap of 85% with Radiation Resistance unable to be passed. Thankfully, reaching it is not an issue. Stats: Given Total Endurance at 10 (10-1)*2 = 18% Perks: Cyborg +10% 28% Survival Guru +6% 34% Booster Shot +10% 44% Pitt Fighter +3% 47% Armour T-51b Armour 25% 72% T-51b Helmet 8% 80% Rather than sacrifice a perk or other armour to reach the cap of 85%, it is best to simply take Rad-X to boost the last 5% you need. Regardless, if you cannot survive at 80% Resist, you will not survive at 85%. This takes Radiation Resistance to the 85% cap. - Poison Resistance Despite this being a rather irrelevant defensive attribute because of the lack of usage by enemies, there are still several perks that cater to it. Stats: Given Total Endurance at 10 (10-1)*5 = 45% Perks: Cyborg +10% 55% Survival Guru +6% 61% This takes Poison Resistance to the 61% limit. - Fire Resistance Not really used much beyond fire ants and Enclave Hellion soldiers. The majority of resistance comes from a perk and items. There is Enclave armour that has resistance, but the T-51b outshines it in much, much better ways, making it redundant. Perks: Given Total Ant Might/Sight +25% 25% Items: Fire ant nectar +25% 50% This takes Fire Resistance to a 50% limit. - Other stats It should be noted that there are other welcome increases to other stats also. These include: - Carry Weight Stats: Given Total Strength at 10 (10*10)+150 = 250lbs Perks: Strong Back +50lbs 300lbs Giving you a 300lb carry limit. - Health Stats: Given Total Endurance at 10 (10*20)+(30*10)+90 = 590HP Perks: Life Giver +30HP 620HP Items: Buffout +60HP 680HP This can offer you 620 assured Hit Points, while boosting with Buffout for even more should the need arise. Though, at maximum level with everything so far, it really adds to how hard you are to actually kill. ========== [04] - Perk Overlay At each level you'll gain the ability to choose a perk to augment your char. At several points through the game during side-quests and DLC you'll also gain others with little to no effort. For the most part, there are a lot to choose from and so it becomes no small task to narrow down what to get, when to get it and to be prepared to get it. There are 72 perks available to you via levelling. Without bothering to list them all, there are 47 perks that become useless or redundant. These include ones that give skill points, radiation resistance or otherwise unecessary effects and can be discarded for more personally improving perks. This gives us 29 opportunities for perks and 25 to choose from via levelling. Since you unlock a new range of perks every other level, the beginning often doesn't give you much in the way of choice. When it does, you have to be ready to obtain them otherwise you risk losing out more. The ideal path of perks is: Level 2 - Black Widow Level 3 - Daddy's Little Girl [4 INT] Level 4 - Entomologist [40 Science 4 INT] Level 5 - Iron Fist 1 [4 STR] Level 6 - Bloody Mess Level 7 - Toughness [5 END] Level 8 - Strong Back [5 STR 5 END] Level 9 - Commando Level 10 - Finesse Level 11 - Gunslinger Level 12 - Silent Running [50 Sneak 6 AGI] Level 13 - Sniper [6 AGI 6 PER] Level 14 - Cyborg [60 Science 60 Medicine] Level 15 - Robotics Expert 1 [50 Science] Level 16 - Action Girl [6 AGI] Level 17 - Better Criticals [6 PER 6 LCK] Level 18 - Life Giver [6 END] Level 19 - Demolition Expert [50 Explosives] Level 20 - Grim Reaper's Sprint Level 21 - Demolition Expert 2 [50 Explosives] *** Level 22 - Demolition Expert 3 [50 Explosives] *** Level 23 - Iron Fist 2 [4 STR] *** level 24 - Iron Fist 3 [4 STR] *** Level 25 - Quantum Chemist [70 Science] *** Level 26 - Nerves of Steel [7 AGI] Level 27 - Paralyzing Palm [70 Unarmed] *** Level 28 - Ninja [80 Sneak 80 Melee] *** Level 29 - Pyromaniac [60 Explosives] *** Level 30 - Almost Perfect The perks marked with *** can be obtained in any order to suit you, as the only perk you should really aim to get as soon as possible is Nerves of Steel at Level 26. With the starting S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats the only attribute you need to worry about increasing is Luck before level 17 so you can obtain Better Criticals. As you can see though, a lot of the skill requirements are quite high early on. That said, they can be made with ease as long as the skill points gained by levelling are distributed properly and your exploration for skill books is neat enough. Though you start off slightly weaker and at a disadvantage because of this, by the time your level reaches the mid-point, you should be more powerful as a result. There are a handful of other perks that also provide you with beneficial results when obtained through quest completion or dialogue options. These include: Hematophage Blood Packs heal 20 instead of 1. Ant Might +1 STR, 25% Fire Resist Wired Reflexes +10% Accuracy in VATS Power Armour Lets you equip Power Armour Barkskin +5% Damage Resistance Rad Regeneration Extreme radiation poisoning heals crippled limbs Survival Guru +6% Poison, Damage and Radiation resistance And extras from DLC include: Covert Ops +3 Science, Small Guns, Lockpick Booster Shot +10% Radiation Resistance Pitt Fighter +3% Radiation and Damage Resistance Auto Expert +25% Damage with Auto-Axes Xenotech Expert +25% Damage with Alien weapons Punga Power Reduced radiation from Punga fruit Superior Defender +5 Damage and +10 Damage Resistance when stationary Ghoul Ecology +5 Damage Leaving you with a total of 44 obtained perks by the end of levelling, talking and questing through both the story and DLCs available. Combined with all the other improvements you'll gain from levelling, these really help to push you into an untouchable state of existance. ========== [05] - Gameplay The beginning of the game is going to be the trickiest to navigate. You're under-powered, short on funds and low on everything else. There are a handful of things you have to accomplish. These range from simply giving you a better chance of success to being a necessary action to help you on your way. - Growing up Make sure your S.P.E.C.I.A.L stats are 6, 6, 6, 1, 9, 7, 5 and your G.O.A.T bonuses are placed in Explosives, Lockpick and Science. It is also preferrable to be a female character instead of male, since the Black Widow perk helps out a lot more in giving you an edge. - Escape Vault 101 without killing anyone You'll exit the vault with enough experience to hit Level 2. With your skill points you should make sure Repair is at least 30 to allow you to fix up the leaking pipes in Megaton later. Getting Science to 40 is also preferred as you won't have to worry about perk requirements until level 12. - Get the Intelligence Bobblehead from Rivet City You have to do this before you hit level 3. Pushing Intelligence to 10 will give you 20 skill points per level from this moment on instead of 19. And do not speak to Doctor Li either. As you should know, you'll jump about a third of the storyline by doing so. - Create a steady income of caps Since you start off broke, building up some cash becomes a necessity. You can sell the junk you find, but it is much more effecient to search for Pre-War Books for Arlington Library and keeping all your scrap metal for Walter. As you shouldn't need to spend a lot of money at the start of the game, it should soon add up. Make sure to use quicksave and quickload for those hard speech checks too, since the difference between 100 caps and 500 caps from Lucas Simms is well worth a little time. - Stay ahead of perk requirements This means during the early game you'll have to put enough points in skills per level to make sure you'll have the requirements for perks like Silent Running and Cyborg. That said, you should also follow the points per skill limit given above. Because of this you'll need to find relevant skill books to give you a tiny nudge over the threshold. - Focus on exploring over questing There are a lot of locations over the world map. While it may seem tedious and boring, simply questing to grind experience isn't going to help you much, especially when the majority of locations not covered by quests contain skill books and other items to help you along. I prefer to save quests for that last boost of experience to the next level, especially if I am completely prepared for the level up perks and skills. - Operation Anchorage DLC I recommend doing this whenever you are comfortable. The reason for it is that the armour you recieve at the end, the Winterized T-51b Power Armour, is the best in the game and you'll be using it for your entire journey. Not only does it boost your Damage and Poison Resistance, but due to a mix-up, it has 10 million HP. You'll also automatically get the Power Armour Training perk to wear it. - Use the wiki The fallout wiki has an obscene amount of information for you as well as a section for notable loot on many if not all of the locations you're going to explore. Not only does this help you isolate skill books, but it saves you time in backtracking and allows you to plan ahead with quests that may need a bit more effort to complete. For example, getting the Damage Resistance from the Survival Guru perk from Moira requires you to have high Strength and Endurance to give the 'Tough' replies. Contracting advanaced radiation poisoning lowers your endurance by 3 which can be counteracted using +1 Endurance outfits and Buffout. - Make use of clothing and items As the game continues you are given access to items of clothing that increase skills such as speech. Keeping these on you and switching to them for a check will increase your chances of success, which again saves time. There are also things that will increase stats, such as Timebomb's Lucky 8 Ball, which you will need before level 17 for a perk prerequisite. Just remember to remove it after, since you do not need it on you all the time and it can mess with the Almost Perfect perk at your end game. ========== [06] - Legal and Contact - Those in whole or part creation to Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition ===== This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Copyright 2012 - James Sharp ===== Contact: FrozenCascade@gmail.com ==========