Fallout New Vegas Quick Reference

This is an appropriately lucky build that is ready for the wacky world of New Vegas. You have enough endurance to get all the implants, and by level 50 the game offers plenty of time to fill out your perks and max your skills despite the lower intelligence. There's lots of flexibility available here, and this build supports a wide variety of playstyles. The stats are carefully chosen to reach specific gameplay requirements, but can be adjusted as needed. Changing the difficulty can emphasize different gameplay elements, such as the need for healing and survival abilities. This also affects the relative value of the various stats and perks.

These stats are chosen to ensure widespread access to game mechanics and perks. The Strength provides good carrying capacity and meets the requirements for most weapons (take Weapon Handling for heavy weapons). The Perception allows access to good perks like Better Criticals. The Endurance makes you resilient and able to take all the implants. The minimum Charisma is acceptable since it isn't used much (particularly in the DLCs), and can be easily boosted temporarily. The Intelligence is sufficient to maximize your skills over the course of the game - there are at least six copies of each skill book at 3+1 points each (wait until getting Comprehension before reading any books), so just make sure to bring each skill up to 76 in addition to those books. The maxed Agility provides a wide array of benefits including perk access, reload speed, and action points. And the high Luck ensures success at the casinos and critical hits in combat, particularly when wearing the Lucky Shades.

STR 5 (+1 implant, +2 Old World Blues)
PER 5 (+1 implant)
END 8 (+1 implant, +1 Lonesome Road)
CHA 1 (+1 implant)
INT 4 (+1 implant)
AGI 9 (+1 implant)
LCK 8 (+1 implant)

The excellent "Skilled" trait grants lots of skill points in exchange for slower experience gain. The "Wild Wasteland" trait adds a variety of bizarre encounters, but can easily be forgone in favor of an alternative. The traits "Good Natured" or "Built to Destroy" would be good options. The "Logan's Loophole" trait deserves special mention because it halts character / monster progression at Level 30, while doubling the duration of temporary buffs such as food, chems, and skill magazines - essentially it puts power into accumulated items rather than leveling. Traits can be reset when leaving the starting town of Goodsprings and when completing the DLC Old World Blues.

Tags: Guns, Speech, Medicine
Traits: Skilled, Wild Wasteland

Starting in Goodsprings, there are a wide variety of options in front of you. Feel free to explore the environment, secure in the knowledge that your character will have ample opportunity to improve. That being said, be wary of tangling with unknown factions - a Vilified reputation can close off entire quest chains before you even know who they are. Try to check out their major settlements before pulling out your weapons.

Primm and then Novac can be good destinations, as they introduce you to the local factions and make for useful home bases. When you’re ready, head to New Vegas, enter the casinos and use your luck to quickly become rich by playing Blackjack (double down whenever you have a hand of 10 or 11). Increase your odds by picking up the Naughty Nightwear (+1 LCK) from Mick & Ralph's in Freeside, as well as investing in the Luck Implant (+1 LCK) at the New Vegas Medical Clinic (east of the Crimson Caravan Company).

The DLC Courier's Stash starts you off with a variety of good gear like the Lightweight Leather Armor and the Weathered 10mm Pistol. These items can be supplemented along the way with other items as you find them:

• 1st Recon Beret (+1 PER, +5% Crit) - This hat is a great addition to your firepower, and the easiest way of getting it is simply grabbing the beret from Boone in Novac once he's your companion. If you feel bad about his complaints, another option is to reverse pickpocket a set from his former friend Manny Vargas. Give Manny an armored hat like the Trooper Helmet, do some traveling to pass some time, and soon enough he'll be wearing it and you can steal the beret for yourself.
  
  
• Lucky Shades (+1 LCK) - This eyewear can be acquired from Caesar’s Legion once they like you - there’s several ways of going about that including simply delivering pickpocketed NCR dogtags to Severus in exchange for food (5 tags for 12 fame). You need about 25 but there's no NCR infamy as long as you aren't detected by the drunken troopers on the Vegas Strip.
  
  
• Combat Armor, Reinforced (17 DT) - This medium armor offers more protection than the leather varieties, and it can be picked up quite easily once you get to the Vegas Strip. All you need to do is win 6,750+ credits from the Gomorrah Casino and they will award you with a set.
  
  
• That Gun (2.5x Crit) - This pistol provides a lot of damage in a small package, and it can be easily picked up in Novac at the Dino Bite Gift Shop. You can either purchase it or steal it, and then live out your Blade Runner gunslinger dreams afterwards.

A perk is available every two levels. I suggest prioritizing the following perks, and avoiding unnecessary perks such as Intense Training or Educated (your starting stats will be more than sufficient). Remember, another 10 perks are available by the time you max your level at 50.

Level 2: Rapid Reload (Guns 30)
Level 4: Comprehension
Level 6: Toughness
Level 8: Toughness
Level 10: Finesse
Level 12: Hand Loader (Repair 70)
Level 14: Sniper
Level 16: Better Criticals
Level 18: Silent Running (Sneak 50)
Level 20: Them’s Good Eatin (Survival 55)
Level 22: Chemist (Medicine 60)
Level 24: Pack Rat (Barter 70)
Level 26: Nerves of Steel
Level 28: Jury Rigging (Repair 90)
Level 30: Implant GRX
Level 32-50: …

The additional missions offered in the DLC are all connected, and you can play them any time before completing the main quest of FNV. That being said, they are introduced to you all at once at the beginning of the game and it’s difficult to know when to actually play them. Some advise layering the side quests with specific moments in the central plot, in order to take advantage of various mechanics, but the branching network of main quests makes that problematic without extensive foreknowledge. In general, the consensus recommendation is to explore the game’s side quests, rather than focusing on the central narrative, and to check out the DLCs after your character reaches the following levels (specific narrative suggestions are spoilered):

Level 10 - Honest Hearts [Happy Trails Expedition] (Raise the funds needed to enter New Vegas)
Level 15 - Old World Blues [Midnight Science-Fiction Feature!] (Clear your head once you've dealt with Benny)
Level 20 - Dead Money [Sierra Madre Grand Opening!] (Investigate a mystery after meeting the Brotherhood
Level 25 - Lonesome Road [The Reunion] (Do one last job after President Kimball's speech)