Overview
This is my first guide, so please don’t kill me.This is a guide that just covers any aspect of the game I just happen to put in it.From the best ways to deal with mutants, to the best way to blast your enemies’ faces away, this guide will cover ANYTHING!(I might not update this guide a lot, so be forgiving of my lack of responcibility)
Skill Allocation
There’s are tons of skills in Fallout: New Vegas! Your skills affect how your game experience will go, so choose wisely. Every skill can open up new dialogue choices or help you in certain enviroments, but I will only point out the ones that are the most common with those moments.
When it comes to skills I’ve found that training the following skills benefits you the most:
-Speech, this skill makes sure that you can get out of tough spots with ease or helps to make someone agree to help you. This skill is definitely a MUST HAVE when it comes to the amount of help is has given me.
-Unarmed, this will make you pack a punch but NEVER use just your bare fists, a power fist always helps for a bit of a BANG!
-Guns, this one should be obvious, you got to make sure you can properly fill someone head full of lead and only use one bullet to do so.
Those were my preferences, now it’s time to talk about the other skills.
-Melee, this one’s obvious, this skill affects your melee weapon proficency. Melee weapons can usually be used to conserve ammunition and often times can change the tide of a battle.
-Science, this skill is used to hack terminals, also opens up dialogue and scenarios you wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.
-Repair, can be used to repair weapons and opens up new dialogue options and other features otherwise impossible in certain scenarios (such as being able to repair damaged robots).
-Medicine, affects how effective healing items are and like with science and repair opens up new dialogue and scenarios.
-Survival, this skill is useful for the mountain men of New Vegas, as it increases effects of items that you craft over a firepit and more.
-Explosives, this one’s for the players that like chucking hand grenades everywhere, it just improves explosive weapon damage (grenades, grenade launcher, rocket launcher, etc.).
Weapons! I can’t think of what else to put here!
A good arsenal is a versatile one as my pa used to say! When making an arsenal you should make sure that you have a primary, your secondary (what you use to kill petty enemies so that you conserve ammo with your primary weapon), a backup (used to get out sticky situations, preferably an explosive weapon), and a melee weapon (something to use up close and personal with an enemy). Also, make sure that you can cover long range and short range engagements as it definitely comes in handy to have such capabilities! Having weapons specialized in DPS and Damage helps to make sure that your weapons are the most effective against what you’re fighting.
When fighting enemies if they have a shield next to their names it means that they are armored, this is when you want to pull out your weapon that specializes in damage. When the shield looks like it’s broken that means their armor is broken and you can do more damage to them. If an enemy doesn’t have a shield next to their name and they look generally unarmored then you can switch to your weapon specialized in DPS to quickly cut their health down. Fighting robots however you should always use your weapon specialized in damage because robots aren’t made of flesh and are completely armored, you should aim for what looks like their head to maximize damage.
Companionship, never go alone!
Companions are good at filling the gap that you leave. Missing some DPS? Give one of your companions a minigun and they’ll take care of it for you! Need some more things to be carried but are too weak to manage to hold all of it? Give some of the stuff to your companions!
The way I see it, your companions should compensate for your inabilities. Do this and you should be able to reign over the Mojave! I usually have Boone and Rex by my sides when I go adventuring.
Locations of where you can find companions:
Boone – Novac, in the big dinosaur
Rex – Freeside, in the Kings School of Impersonation right next to “The King”
Veronica – 188 Trading Post
Raul – Black Mountain, Prison Building through a locked door
Arcade – Freeside, Old Mormon Fort
Lily – Jacobstown
Cass – Mojave Outpost
ED-E – Primm, Mojave Express
Techniques from a “master”
I am proud of my techniques and tips I’ve learned in Fallout: New Vegas, so just read and learn how to be cool like me! (These are just assorted tips and tricks I’ve learnt over my time of playing)
– When fighting Legion soldiers, if you’re low level use a Sawed-Off Shotgun and get right up close, open VATS, and then aim for the head and you know the rest.
– Always carry around antivenom, it’s VERY useful when you get bushwacked by some cazadors when roaming through the wastes.
– The cazador procedure, although I’ve never tried this, when faced with cazador(s) you are suppose to drop your weapon, stand still, and wait for the cazadors to buzz off somewhere else, then pick up your weapon and proceed with life (UNCONFIRMED, I guess I could try it but I hate Cazadors too much to surrender to them).
– Try to stay friends with the Brotherhood of Steel, at least until they teach you how to use power armor. Power armor has proven invaluable for me in the past and still holds up today.
– TRAIN UP YOUR UNARMED SKILL, this skill is invaluable to me and I hold it dearly close to my heart. VERY useful when you need to fight your way out of casinos, or maybe you have to deal some revenge to a certain “someone” in their very own casino!
– Bored? Get a faction like the NCR or Legion to hate you and they’ll start sending teams of assassains to ambush you on your journeys. This also helps to let you sell their weapons at Gun Runners for some $$$.
– Speaking of Gun Runners, Gun Runners would have to be my favorite place to shop. Just located outside of Freeside, they supply you with whatever you need to pulverise your enemy with bullets.
– Energy weapons are there… I guess. They’re effective against robots and you can recharge ammo for them, but it’s not like you’ll have ammo issues with normal guns…
Factions for Dummies
In Fallout: New Vegas it is no secret that their is a major war going on between the NCR (New California Republic) and Caesar’s Legion. It’s the classic fight between two sides that want something the other wants. In other words – a whole lotta babies fighting over a toy – when push comes to shove they pull out the guns and fill each other with lead. This part of the guide will inform you on factions of all kinds!
New California Republic (NCR) – The NCR aims to reestablish democracy, but their execution is sloppy. The NCR constantly tries to act like they have authority over something and usually does have a bit of authority installed in places like Freeside. I’ve got nothing against the NCR and would glady take them over the Legion anytime! But a lot people despise the NCR for a lot of people are ignored by the NCR in their time of need just because they aren’t NCR citizens.
Caesar’s Legion – Some may call them savage, some may call them control freaks, but they call themselves the future of the Mojave. The Legion is savage and brutal when it comes to their disciplinary methods of treating crime. From crucificying criminals to making them slaves, the Legion plan to install a sense of fear to keep people in line. And they have Legate Lanius, who is easily the hardest enemy in the game in my book.
Now time for the minor factions:
Great Khans – A tribe of barbarians, the Great Khans value their traditions over anything else. They also have existing issues with the NCR and have agreed to fight for the Legion at the upcoming battle of Hoover Dam, but let’s see if your expert persuasion can’t change that.
The Boomers – A group of survivors that isolate themselves at Nellis Airfield. They’re called the Boomers because they used to fly a flying-fortress bomber plane around America, that is until it blew up… They also are a valuable ally for the battle of Hoover Dam. You can “borrow” some combat armor early on from them.
Followers of the Apocalypse – An organization of do-gooders that seek to aid anyone in need of medical assistance around the Mojave. Low on supplies most of the time and usually looking for help, they’re a good way of mercenary work for when you get bored.
Powder Gangers – A lot of escaped convicts from the NCR Correctional Facility, they possess a large amount of dynamite because of the mining operation from the prison they escaped. They’re mostly a bunch of pushovers, wearing no armor and totally vulnerable to attack, just avoid any mines at their camps. They’re good for ealry grinding.
Brotherhood of Steel – Their presence in the Mojave is VERY thin because of the NCR pushing them back into a Hidden Valley littered with Pre-War Bunkers. They have a strong opinion on how technology should be used. The source of Power Armor training if you need it. You DO NOT want to go up against them due to their regular soldier having a thick sheet of power armor protecting them.