Finally playing FO2/couple of questions

mgeorge on 29/10/2010 at 16:31

I picked this up 6 or 7 years ago, but just never got into it after playing for 1/2 hr or so. At that time I wasn't used to RPG's all that much, especially turn based. So after my GPU died recently, and I now have to use onboard graphics, decided to give it another shot.

I installed, then applied the Killap patch. The game is quite interesting and nowhere near as confusing as I initially had thought. Although it did take me 15 or 20 min. figuring out how to place the explosives at the door at the beginning. :confused:

I do have a couple of questions though. I'm not sure what perks, skills etc I should be using. I found a very good site about the game at Gamebanshee but the guy writing it seems to be more into fighting where I'd prefer to use stealth and diplomacy.

Is the sneak/diplomacy a viable option in the game or am I better off going for more of a combat orientated char? Also I'm finding the map kind of useless as none of the locations are named. Right now I'm supposed to find Vic the Trader, but have no idea where this "Den" is.

BTW; Just installed the high rez patch for the game as well, and it's amazing how much better the game looks.

Appreciate any replys.

Koki on 29/10/2010 at 17:05

What are you doing asking about FO2 in FO3 board you silly man you

[spoiler]I guess stealth and diplomacy would work, though they would be quite boring and the latter is hard first time around when you don't know what's possible. You will also have to skip many areas/quests which require you to fight, unless you have followers. But if you do have followers, you will have to tell them to "wait here" every time you want to sneak, and so on.

Anyway, you'll want Gifted no matter what road you're taking. Probably also Good Natured if you're planning to sneak by everyone, or even Jinxed. As for stats, IN for those juicy skill points and some dialogue options - CH is much less important but amount of followers you can have is CH/2. 10 AG is normally "required" but if you don't plan to fight, you'll only use it for armor class and skills it affects. I dunno what else, a character like that doesn't need much.

Tags, eh - Speech, Sneak and Lockpick probably. Steal if you want to sneak around and put armed explosives into people's pockets for fun and profit.

Get that silent running perk ASAP, you'll probably also want whatever gives you a Speech, Sneak or Lockpick bonus. If you go Steal route, read (http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Steal) this useful article first at The Vault.[/spoiler]

mgeorge on 29/10/2010 at 17:42

Quote Posted by Koki

What are you doing asking about FO2 in FO3 board you silly man you

Thanks for the link. Where else would I put this thread? It says Fallout Discussion. I understand FO2 isn't a Bethesda game, but couldn't find out where else to put this, and TBH,would prefer TTLG,ers advice to other forums.

june gloom on 29/10/2010 at 19:52

Ignore Koki, he's miserable.

(His advice regarding the actual game is sound, though.)

Also, if you're using Killap's official patch, I hope to god you're not using the AP ammo fix. That's just completely broken, as I found out the hard way.

PeeperStorm on 30/10/2010 at 02:17

There are a whole bunch of (http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/63576-fallout-2/faqs) guides and FAQs at GameFAQs. They'll give you more advice than you could ever want on playing the game.

One caveat: Don't believe the hate that some of them have for the Jinxed trait. It's an outstanding trait for a character with high Luck and no companions. Actually, you can make it work pretty well with companions too, but it takes a little extra management on your part.

Koki on 30/10/2010 at 08:26

The problem with these guides is that they're all written for the normal, patched Fallout 2. Killap's patch changes a lot, so some things can not play out as described.

Dresden on 30/10/2010 at 12:30

I'm not familiar with the fan mods, but if you want to play vanilla FO2 on easy mode, here's what I do:

Get Finesse trait. Go for at least 8 AGI, 6 STR. Tag Unarmed, Speech, and Science. Unarmed is actually quite good in FO2, as you get new moves with armor piercing and crit damage bonuses as your stats and skill goes up. Just walk up to things and punch or kick them in the eyes for massive damage. Speech and Science are good for the social character route and killing the last boss, who you can't skip.

Punch and kick your way to victory like a badass.

mgeorge on 30/10/2010 at 18:01

Quote Posted by Dresden

Haha. This is what's strange about the game. The perks and skills you went with are attributes that the few guides I've looked at said are pretty much useless. There are so many options in the game that everyone has different strategy's. I'll guess I'll have to just go with my gut reaction and hope for the best. I asked because sometimes in older games if you pick the wrong stats, you're in big trouble later in the game.

But mostly I wanted to ask about the stealth to see if I could play it at all in a Thief type way. It's obviously nothing like Thief in the gameplay dept, but if possible I always go the stealthy route in any game.

Koki on 31/10/2010 at 07:45

Quote Posted by mgeorge

Haha. This is what's strange about the game. The perks and skills you went with are attributes that the few guides I've looked at said are pretty much useless.

Well, they kind of are. 10LK Sniper build does the same but better in every way possible.

And you don't need Science to kill the last boss.

mgeorge on 1/11/2010 at 05:32

Is there any way to annotate the map? I'm at the Den and keep getting quests. Problem is I have no idea where to go to complete them and the Pip Boy is no help either, other than giving me very vague information. The in-game maps just have these little dots on them. My memory sucks, and it's hard for me to remember all the shit I have going on. If I could make notes on the map, it sure would make it easier.

I'm playing a pre-generated char, some chick, and I had sex with some guy to lower the payment on a quest to free some guy that's being held captive, but the game gives you no feedback on how much the discount would be. All it says in the Pip Boy is that I need to get cash to get him out. I don't want to be spoon fed every bit of info, but if the whole game is like this, I think I'll pass as it's to freakin confusing.

Maybe I'm missing something?