» Tue Jun 08, 2010 6:25 pm
Do not boost any S.P.E.C.I.A.L stat to 10 at the beginning; you will be able to purchase implants which increase a given stat by 1 (but only once).
When planning your S.P.E.C.I.A.L, take per requirements into account. For example, if aiming for Better Criticals, a perk at level 16 which requires Perception of 6 and Luck of 6, you need to either set these values from the start, achieve them by taking Intense Training perk, or reach the implants-selling clinic before that level. Otherwise, have a plan for which perk you will take instead once you hit 16 (Meltdown? Weapons Handling? Something that became available from earlier levels?). You cannot "save" a perk slot to be filled later; once level 16 hits, you will have to choose one of the available perks from the list.
The game's most important skills are NOT the combat ones. Speech, Science and Lockpick are the skills I would advise you to bring up to 75 ASAP.
For each skill, there are 3-4 skill books that permanently increase that skill by 3 points (4 with Comprehension). That means you can save 12-16 skill points per skill by having some patience.
Sometimes, though, it may be worth spending some skill points you could save instead if it saves you real-life time and nerves. For example, I would recommend boosting Repair to 90 by level 14 regardless of whether or not you have found all copies of the skill book, so that you could take Jury Rigging and make (and save) some major caps. The economics of the game have been made much more challenging by the latest patch (ammunition and weapon mods have been made more expensive), and you can no longer raise enough caps just from prospecting, or even gambling to be comfortably rich all the time.
Some skills are only really used for skill checks, and can be left at 80 or less if you have the Comprehension perk, skill-boosting gear and an ample supply of skill magazines. 80 Lockpicks+ skill magazine will open a 100 difficulty lock, and 70 Speech + Naughty Nightwear + skill magazine will pass the 100 Speech check in dialogue. Skill magazines can be purchased in large quantities from a certain doctor once you have attained a high reputation with her faction by donating certain chems.
Try to buy and sell things in vendors where you have discounts. The difference may be as large as 40% of the price.
NCR dollars and Legion Denarii exchange rate is always the same, regardless of the vendor and of your barter level; therefore, so long as your Barter skill is low, it is best to exchange this currency for caps in vendors where you do NOT have discounts. This way you're depleting the caps supply of an unfavorable vendor where you wouldn't get a full price for other goods while saving the caps supply of a discount vendor where you can get a better price for items. Pre-war money, however, is a barter item, not a currency; its price varies depending on your Barter skill and on the vendor.
Buying weapons at full condition is very expensive; however, if you have Jury Rigging, you can buy an expensive weapon in a bad condition and a cheap weapon in full condition and repair the expensive weapon with the cheap one. For example, a single full-condition Varmint Rifle worth 75 caps can be used to repair an Anti-Materiel rifle worth 5600 caps from completely broken to perfect- a net gain of over 5500 caps.