100% Character

Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:13 am

Hi,

I know there are many ways to create a perfect character in Fallout 3, but I want to make one with minimal perks given up/effort.
Some questions,

How many skill points does 10 INT get you per Level up?

I was thinking of setting INT to 9 then right out of the vault running to Rivet City to get the INT bobblehead without leveling up at all (Without killing, play on Very Easy)

I think I would then (After getting the INT bobblehead) start leveling up and doing side-quests (Can't get a Bobblehead in main storyline until LVL 30), then when I'm level 30 and have distributed my skill points as evenly as I can, I would get them to 90 or so with skill books, then finish them off with bobbleheads. I think I'd have to take Comprehension as it's (Literally) Impossible to get about 5-7 skill books depending on what path you take. Do you think this method would work?

EDIT: I would also take the Almost Perfect perk at level 30 and then get the bobbleheads for S.P.E.C.I.A.L.'s.
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Mariaa EM.
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 7:55 am

Friend, this "trick" is almost as old as the game itself. There are a million guides to do this, more than you could ever imagine.


IMO there is no point in maxing out your character. It kills the entire point of the skill system. 100% character is possible and easily done, but not inevitable.
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Mario Alcantar
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:46 am

If you want to do this, you only need set your starting Intelligence to 7. You'll need about 150 skillbooks with Comprehension (and Educated for the extra points). It's a pain keeping track of the books you have in order to distribute your points evenly but it's something to do when you're bored.
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Lindsay Dunn
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 2:07 pm

A few things...

With Comprehension, there's about 25 skill books for each skill and each will give 2 points. That's about 50 points per skill, roughly speaking. Then there's a bubblehead for each skill, which gives 10 points. That means 60 free points per skill, by and large.

Now, if you start with 9 int (and there's no pressing reason not to) then you'll get 19 skill points per level. Once you get to the Int bubblehead, it's 20 skill points per level. Whether you get that bubblehead at level 2 or at level 5 is really insignificant. It's just a matter of 3-4 skill points, which you won't miss in the greater picture. And no, you can't avoid getting to level 2. It happens when you leave the vault, regardless of difficulty.

Anyways, back to the skill point math. As mentioned above, you can by and large get 60 skill points for free, for each skill. If you get Almost Perfect and then add the SPECIAL bubbleheads afterwards, you'll have 10 in all attributes, which puts all your skills at 25. 20 from non-luck attributes and then +0.5 to each skill for each point of luck. Thus you really only have to get the 13 skills from 25 to 40 to max all your skills. That's 15 points to each skill, and keep in mind that you get to tag three skills at the beginning, giving each of them +15. So you need to add 15 points to ten skills, meaning 150 skill points. You'll manage that by level 9, leaving you 21 level-ups worth of skill points you don't really need.

What I'm trying to say is that maxing all skills, with Broken Steel installed, is fairly easy. Not quite inevitable but it's definitely not a big challenge either.

Let me try to make the skill math a bit easier.
Your target is all skills at 100. With 13 skills this means 1300 skill points.

Assumption 1 - You'll get all SPECIAL attributes to 10
Assumption 2 - You'll pick both Cyborg and Silent Running, which both give +10 to a skill.
Assumption 3 - You'll pick Comprehension.

Assumptions in place, let's do some counting.
29 level-ups for 20 skill points each: 580
322 books for 2 skill points each: 644
13 bubbleheads for 10 skill points each: 130
2 perks for 10 skill points each: 20
SPECIAL resulting in +25 to all skills: 325

Sum of all skill sources: 1699

What this means is that if you do all things the optimal way, you'll end up with almost 400 skill points you'll never get to use. That's no fun at all, so something less gamey is probably in order if you also want to have fun.

What I tend to do is pick some key skills that I don't care to be efficient about. I will max those skills ASAP with little regard to bubbleheads and books unless I happen to stumble over them. I'll perhaps "waste" as much as 40 skill points in such skills but I do so gladly, since 90 small guns or 100 lockpick does wonders to improve your character's abilities. Same with a high sneak or repair.

Wasting skills means I'll need to find relatively more books before maxing everything out at 100, but that's okay. It's as good a reason to explore places, it makes me traverse through the wasteland, and I do keep track of what books I've found and which books I haven't picked up yet. That's just me, though.

Now, regarding bubbleheads, the only bubbleheads you can't take until level 30 are the SPECIAL bubbleheads. The skill bubbleheads you should grap the first chance you get. There's never any reason not to, short of the consequences of stealing stuff when someone's looking at you. You also don't have to delay the main quest until level 30 because there's no SPECIAL bubblehead that will be made inaccessible by the MQ. The only one of those that even can become inaccessible is the Strength bubblehead, and it's pretty obvious what you shouldn't do if you know where that bubblehead is located.

It is correct that there are a few skillbooks that you can't get but the number is low. I'd personally take Comprehension just to max my book benefit sooner rather than later but it's not like the competition for a level 4 perk is all that tough anyway.

If you want to do this, you only need set your starting Intelligence to 7. You'll need about 150 skillbooks with Comprehension (and Educated for the extra points). It's a pain keeping track of the books you have in order to distribute your points evenly but it's something to do when you're bored.

Ghouls is more or less correct in this. You don't need more than Int 7, but why wouldn't you max it right away? And taking Educated, IMO, is a waste, even at level 4. It gives you, what, 75 skill points or so? What's the point? At level 30 you'll have every SPECIAL at 9 anyways, and all other skills than Int are retroactive, aren't they?

Regarding the pain it is to keep track of books you've found, I'd agree completely. Which is why I wrote every book into a spreadsheet which I'm keeping around on my laptop while playing. That way I know if I remembered to pick up this or that book. Took a few hours to type in all the darn books (or rather copy the locations from the Wiki) but those were hours well spent, catering to my borderline OCD. :D

Some people write fan-fics or make Enclave fanclubs, I tend to make spreadsheets to contain my notes.
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Campbell
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:02 am

Thanks! I probably won't max out every skill (Melee, Unarmed) but on my first playthrough (That I didn't rush) I ended up picking Intense Training 8 times, then getting Almost Perfect, so I feel obligated to re-do my charcater with (real) perks.
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CHangohh BOyy
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:18 pm

Planning ahead with your perks will help with that. And keep the SPECIAL requirements in mind when you make your character. 5 strength and endurance is good for strong back. 6 luck and perception is good for better crits. 6 agility is good for silent running. Beyond those stats? Nerves of Steel requires 7 agility but it's a bit bugged in the default game and really doesn't do much at all. I think it's something like +1 AP per 10 secs, due to a scripting error. 6 endurance would allow you to get life saver (+30 hp) but really, how much difference is that going to do?

Anyways, there's probably a metric ton of perk guides out there as well, so all I'm really wanting to say here, is that you should probably plan ahead a bit, since you're no longer playing your first character. No reason to reinvent the wheel by doing a lot of grinding with relatively "worse" perk picks that you'll regret. May as well get to know the game better and then decide to pick "worse" perks to add more personality to your character.
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CxvIII
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 12:17 pm

I'm not a noob to Fallout though, as I have been playing Fallout New Vegas avidley since it came out
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Michelle Serenity Boss
 
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Post » Mon Sep 05, 2011 11:08 am

Sorry. Didn't mean to imply you were. Just wanted to offer a bit of advice, is all. :-)
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Aaron Clark
 
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