Understandable. Looking forward to when the mod author updates it though for balancing. He's on his playthrough with it so we'll see.

Regarding your question:

I'll second you on Pack Rat. People take for granted that nearly all of the food and misc. items can be effected by Pack Rat and take up over the majority of one's carry weight. Cutting that % in half or doubling the amount you can carry is vital, especially for scavenging runs. In hardcoe mode, almost all ammunition comes into play as well. The past few times I've taken Pack Rat I've looked at my carry weight before and after. The most recent time, I had saved 97 pounds. That's nearly double of Strong Back, which adds 50 pounds. Combining the two, of course, is the most efficient and effective method, something that I've come to like.

Personally, I think another is Living Anatomy. While the damage bonus is nice for humans, I like the Health and DT being shown the most. Reason being is that you can properly adjust what weapon / ammunition type you're using without wasting any due to DT being too high, using rare ammunition on enemies that don't need it, or just plain out using an over-damaging weapon on a low health enemy.

best perk:comfirmed bachelor I am not homosixual but it give you 10% damage against MALE and there are more males than females in this games especially if you are going to destroy the legion,all of them are men(even thought they wear a freaking skirt)
worst perk:mysterious stranger(should call him "mysterious bugger" in stead)commando and gunslinger

I always combine Pack rat and Strong Back, mostly due to my overhaul of the crafting system meaning that a lot more items have uses. That it helps a lot with ammo in hardcoe mode is a bonus.

Living Anatomy is one I don't use that often, but then I tend to take combat-related perks that cover all types of targets at once. I have used it before, though, and it's especially handy during the battle for the Dam. I tend not to worry too much about over-killing targets, although I'm not about to use an AMR or YCS/186 on a Bloatfly or Molerat, since I can always get more ammo and/or spare parts. That said, I do tend to swap weapons according to the target.

The only perks I think are a waste are retention but I only use the skill books to pass skill checks so time really isnt an issue, the perk that raises xp by 10% really theres more than enough to hit the cap withou xp farming, junk rounds its the worst you could pick, and terrifying presence very limited use and most of the time i use speech to avoid fights.

Time for another friendly squabbing.

Retention is just so good for jacking up all varieties of skill for crafting and quest options. Sure it isn't permanent, but it also free up some skill point to spent.

Tag! isn't quite on the short end of the stick anymore like FO3, however you do need to be "stupidly" low intelligence to make use of it as Education still triumphs.

I would've like Pack Rat if it doesn't require 70 Barter. Between Strongback, ED-E and playerhouse I really don't see the value of it.

Living Anatomy is only good if you are going for a anti-human playthough, as most enemy in NV have as much DT as they look like. 5% bonus is pretty minor IMO.

Seriously man.. oh well... look, when are you gonna realize that this will never work out between us? :pinch:

Retention - It's a matter of preference. Some people like permanent skills rather than temporary. I would prefer to already have the skill points than rely on the # of magazines I have to determine as they can run out in short order sooner than I realize. Sure, exploiting vendor literally trumps this aspect, but I end up forgetting anyways, and just go fight without skill mags. I see the use of Retention for low levels, for sure. But by the higher levels, you've already defined what your character is, so you shouldn't be taking advantage of Retention more than you were at the lower levels. Well, that is unless you're playing the super min-max character with every skill at 80... but then that ruins having multiple playthroughs imo.

Tag! - Tag! is 15 skill points. That's the equivalent of a level up with 10 intelligence or 8 with Educated. So in essence, if you're intelligence is any lower than 8, it has more skill points than the amount you get @ level up, regardless of Educated or not.

Pack Rat - Pack Rat's usefulness comes from what % of items you carry fall under its range. For me, it's usually 80%+ as scavenging for crafting parts, food for recipes, and ammunition stacks up quite quickly, especially with Energy Weapons and their weight on hardcoe. Personally, I've grown to not use companions as Pack Mules as they do have feelings too ya know. As for safehouses, Pack Rat and Strong Back each allow for the player to take longer travels in-between safehouse trips and for more resources to carry. Again, totally up to what you carry with ya. Also, what's wrong with 70 Barter? Barter isn't a useless skill in the slightest, can be used for skill checks even at the finale, and allows for splurging of purchases without hitting too much on your caps. Yeah yeah, I sound like one of those jerks who likes to hold onto every single cap, and that's probably the case. I blame how I was raised. :tongue:

Living Anatomy - I would disagree. Again, it's not about the damage bonus more so than the ability to see the HP and DT of everything and anything. While you can make assumptions based on the enemies you're facing, Living Anatomy plays a sure-fire tactic of approaching enemies with the right weapon and ammunition for each, and you can adjust how you can attack based on what you pick. Great, now I sound like some stalker but that's the key point for Living Anatomy. If I'm gonna be attacking Enemy Camp A with Enemies A, B, C, D, E, F, G each with varying armor and weapons, I want to make sure that I either hit the highest rated armor first so that he / she doesn't attack me and I spend take in more damage or I take out the person with the more damaging weapon so that the element of danger is lessen. I think what would really make Living Anatomy a good kicker is if it were to show the % of limbs in VATS but then that may just be plain cheating haha.

Honestly, opinions are opinions. You're not gonna change mine and I'm not gonna change yours.

I don't think friends are just the ones who agree everything you think. :wink_smile:


Actually, aside from having a character who don't like reading, I think it helps role play aspect as I can get more variations for my characters. I regularly build RPG characters with some skill at decent (60~80 in NV terms) level and only one or two skill at master level, as I feel this give my character more depth and breath.

Not to mention magazine hunting adds the reward for exploration.


True, but there are things only perks can do, and upping skill point isn't one of them.


Yes you do.

Being raise within the mountain of "Jurassic" RPGs means I don't really care much about game currency more that essential; that being said, I do save as much caps as I can. I think that also drive me away from playing the rich type of character because they usually translate to easy early game and boring late game.


Well, since the Pip-boy doesn't give a realistic number for your weapons damage, seeing the health and DT of enemies wouldn't help at all.

And really, a discussion isn't about changing one's mind, but to raise good point for all to consider.

I'm not saying it's useless, but I'd advise against using Meltdown if you're using Rex or Veronica. Since those two like to get up close and personal, then when you fry an enemy, you'll affect them as well. The one time I used it, I almost french-fried Rex. I finally had to leave him in a safe place when I headed for the Legate's camp. But if you're fighting alone, especially against multiple foes, it's a pretty decent force multiplier.

Best: Strong back, Hand loader, toughness, Cowboy(plan on using Lever action guns, Hatchets, and revolvers), and explorer.

Worst: Quick draw, Spray and pray, and here and now.

I just dislike talking more than I should. Although, posting on a public forum subjects me to that.




From what I can tell:

Roleplaying primarily means you have strengths and weaknesses. That's what roleplaying so interesting is that skills you normally would have up there are not available to be used. Roleplaying also refers to conforming to a certain playstyle, not an all-round approach to things like you somewhat described.

For me, that makes me enjoy a different approach to each character that I create, whether that be shooting my way through everything or finding the best alternative without any bloodshed. If I want a change of pace, all I have to do is boot up a different character and away I go. It makes me feel that my characters each have something special on their own that makes them unique from the others.

I had given up on having an all-round character long ago and decided to go for multiple characters with different approaches and setups. Like General Masters, I would prefer to have permanent skills rather than temporary. I don't like to rely on hunting / exploiting vendors for magazines because I feel as though I'm derailing myself away from the experience. If I find them, great, but I'm not gonna have a stockpile of mags I'm gonna used with me at all times. Hell, I probably stopped using them in general by level 20 aside from Salesman Weekly once in a while.



Doesn't that statement imply that Tag! isn't a perk at all? Also, from Fallout 3, there were several perks that up'd skill points as well. They are, in-game terms, perks. If you want to look at it from a different view, I consider them to be fill-in-the-blank perks, I.E. Perks you either work into your build or just take when there's nothing else to take.



Of course, but being rich doesn't mean that you have to spend it away. Course, that defeats the purpose of currency in the first place but the way I see it, if ya don't want to spend it, just store it away and start from scratch. I personally only buy things when a) It's something that I'm having difficulties maintaining a good supply, such as rarer ammunition and crafting supplies or b ) It's a unique / rarer item, such as That Gun or some weapon mod for a weapon that relates to what my character uses. Those things.




It is somewhat realistic. By that, I mean, it's a round-about # that gauges an approximation. That's kind of all you need for you to gauge whether or not what you're using is appropriate for the enemy. From what I can tell, the health and DT shown is actually accurate so long as the round-about damage # on your pip-boy is higher, barring any ammunition multipliers / dividers, then you're set.



I sometimes see it that way though I consider any PoV after I reply, even the ones I outright disagree or are simply trolls.

You don't have to reply...but I am glad to see you do.


What I am describing is quite the opposite. I like Retention because I can have character with less intelligence and don't have to hold back to level to solve quest the way I would prefer they do; I can steer their journey more accurate to my model of them. Of course, sometimes you just have to put yourself in their stinky shoes as it would uncover an angle that you couldn't expect.


It is still a Perk, just isn't as unique as the others. Since this thread is about "best and worst" perks, I just feel it doesn't belong to either.


From the point of role play, unless it is some sort of taboo or dangerous ability/skills, I don't see why one would be good at it if not use commonly. So if I do have a high Barter character, it would either be a private agent or some sort of merchant who regularly trades; prospector can work, but I yet to come up with a good background that could fit nicely with the Vegas War.



Maybe I just played too many games, as I never have trouble about target priority in NV.

Meltdown is an amazing perk for Energy Weapons, its downsides are drowned out by its pros. Solar Powered is a garbage perk IMO, Rad Child is so much better, at the measly cost of a few SPECIAL stats. For Solar Powered to work, you have to be outside combat. Rad Child, on the other hand, can be used during combat.

Best cannibal very fun to watch and helps when in a crisis or regular maintenance (raul perk) worst lead belly.

I use both Tag! and Educated, even with a high intelligence, because for me Tag! works as a way to 'turbo-charge', if you will, a skill that has been lagging up to that point, while spending that level's earned points elsewhere. I will grant that doing so means trading out a perk that offers something that leveling itself cannot, however I find it a worthwhile exchange as I tend to not build characters heavily specialized in a particular combat style and as such do not need certain combat-related perks. There's also the fact it opens at L16, by which point one probably already has (most of) the perks that represent what that character is and can probably spare a perk slot unless one uses VATS.

For a more specialized character you're quite right that only one of the two is needed, since you'll end up with more SP than you actually need anyway. In that case I would definitely take Educated over Tag!, since it will grant about twice the additional points.

I always run Barter up early, so Pack Rat's requirement doesn't bother me, but I could see it being an issue for those who concentrate on combat skill(s) first. I have a reworked crafting system, so I tend to be carrying tons of lightweight crap around between trips to base that most folks would never bother picking up in the first place, and it fits in well with the Scavenger play-style I usually use. I also don't use companions, so my character's carrying capacity is the total of what I can drag around.

I mostly agree on Living Anatomy, and as such seldom take it, but it does help in choosing weapons and ammo types when facing a mixed lot of targets. I usually reserve it for scientist-types, such as my current character, since they would naturally have such knowledge.

I reckon the best and worst perks are:

Best - Educated, Slayer, Hunter, Rad Absorption, Jury Rigging

Worst - Here and Now, Meltdown, Friend of the Night, Nerd Rage! (Nerd Rage! because you still take the same amount of damage that would get inflicted out of VATS in VATS, and the +15 DT doesn't help at all)