So, I'm on my first play-through. I'm about half way through level 6, stopped the fire ants at Grayditch and resolved the Family/Arefu thing, just to give you an idea of how far along I am. I'm not sure I'm really taking on the quests in the right order, or something, because I feel like it's taking everything I have just to survive, so I never get to build up a supply of caps for upgrades.

Anyway, here's the deal. I have picked up several different guns, and they all need serious repair. Most are barely functional, actually. I've got some points in the repair skill and I use it when I can, which is basically only on small guns at this point. but Moira is asking for lots of caps to repair them further. Caps I can't afford.

I don't see any way that I can keep up with the upkeep on my weapons - there's just not enough money. And the worse condition they're in, the less damage they do, so it's taking more ammo to kill stuff, so that costs more. I mean, in this one area where I'm encountering Radscorpions, I'm having to use a frag mine just to dent them and slow them down, and then it's taking 6-8 more bullets after that, and they still catch up to me and hurt me.

I also seem to be taking damage fairly constantly, and having to use stims liberally. I switch to VATS as much as I can, but whenever I run out of AP, I'm just getting nailed while I wait for enough AP to fire again.

I promise, I'm not a bad player, but I'm just not getting the swing of things with the combat system. Without watching me play, are there any tips or tricks that anyone can recommend that might help me out?

I'm on normal difficulty, btw.

Thanks!

Hi,
I remember [censored] like that, just scrounging around, scrapin' at the bottom of the barrel. It goes on for a while at the beginning but then things start to pick up. In the beginning, do not neglect to look out for scrap metal, cartons of cigarettes, etc. and taking some risks fighting the more lethal hostiles for their armor and weapons. You will not need their stuff in the long run, so sell it for money. However, I did find my first Chinese assault rifle outside the entrance of a grocery store north of Megaton, and I still carry the same one.

The main thing, is to horde all resources (no matter how low in value) and keep fast-traveling back to Megaton. Stash these valuables in a safe place. When the time comes, I stongly recommend an upgrade with the perk that allows you to shoulder more weight (I think it's called 'Strong Back').

As for the order of quests... well, that seems important in the beginning, but eventually, you will have so many unfinished objectives that order of approach just feels rather irrelevant. That's part of what makes this game unique. non-linear BIGNESS.

In other words, the only thing that really determines what the "quest order" is, is personal preference.

Based on your complaint about repair affordabilty vs. broken equipment, I suggest you not neglect upgrading your repair skill level, and also seek out one of the many repair skill books hidden in the Wasteland. Otherwise, you will regret toting around ramshackle equipment in your bag that you can repair, but not to a full 100% whilst out on the road.

P.S. If money is tight, you can always bust into innocent people's homes and steal stuff.. then repair your bad karma later on.

Regarding quest order, my concern was that I was doing something that I should wait a few levels for, but I'm assuming that if I found the quest, they meant for me to find it at my current level.

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I've been stashing stuff in my home in Megaton, so if it becomes useful later, I'll have it.

Thanks!

I miss that feeling. Miss it so much that I play with self-imposed rules so that I DO scrounge around for the rest of the game.
Sounds like you are not enjoying the beatdown... lol.
Take cover during battle. Rushing in everywhere will just get you killed. You can free-hand fire weapons, and free-hand throw a grenade farther without using VATS. Shocking, I know.
There is no quest order, except the MQ that is... If a quest feels too hard, you can come back at another level (for most of the quests, you can leave mid-quest.)
Look at what you are carrying. Look at the weight to value ratio. I never pick up baseball bats. They weigh too much for being worth a couple of caps.
A conductor weighs five pounds. Brutal in the early levels, yet a conductor will get me between 20 - 40 caps. A fission battery weighs ten friggin pounds!! But I can get about 75 caps for it. A steam gauge assembly weighs ten pounds, but I can only get about 15 caps for it. So I never pick these up, unless I am collecting them for... well.... you know.
Sounds like you are doing a good job. By about level 15, you should be a walking god, that is, if that's what you are going for.

Quest order is pretty irrelevant. Doing Moira's wasteland guide is a good idea as that is designed to help you.

Cleaning out Super Duper Mart and Springvale School are a good way to earn caps at the start of the game. Take anything and everything of value. You might have to make a few trips.

Choose two or three weapons that you really like and use those, then sell the ammo you find for any other weapon. Don't hang on to it "just in case". Ammo is basically money. When taking stuff, bear in mind the value/weight ratio.

Probably the best advice I can give: you don't have to fight everything! Sometimes it's better to just run away and save your ammo. Try to assess the cost/benefit ratio of any fight!

It's already getting more manageable. I got to level 8 so I got the Strong Back perk. I've made a couple scrounging runs just for caps, and that seems to have helped. Now I just wish that the supply store girl would carry more ammo. I might have to go visit the Family guy and buy him out of some stuff.

I do carry several guns. Chinese AR for mainstream use, 10mm Pistol for when an AR is wasteful. And I just found a Scoped 44 Magnum that is awesome, but so few bullets, that I have be careful what I shoot at. Plus the Sniper rifle for long range stuff. I did finally stick a couple of the really big weapons in my locker. I just never need them.

Now that I see that random items are often used in schematics, I've become a hoarder of anything that seems like it might be useful.

I think the best place to get caps and do quest is rivet city it's easy to get to just go down the river all the way en till you see a boat it's safe and it's kinder the main city there a market there as well to repair your stuff and easy caps to earn.

You will find loads of crap out there in the wastes. Loads. As in, my OCD character went off and hoarded and hoarded so much misc crap, that that character never needed to go hunting for any item.... she had about 100 of each. Except lunchboxes. Those are special.

Also about ammo: there is more than just Moira. To the south you have Rivet City.... follow the river south. The west bank is dramatically less painful than the east bank. Course you can always swim. Bring two radaway. There are a ton of traders. And many who sell .44 ammo in copious amounts. There are also traders who will sell a ton of .44 ammo after you have done some things for them, or have escorted them safely to their final destination, Im really just thinking of one person on the latter.

And don't forget the traveling caravans. You can arm them, through something called reverse pick-pocketing, though you will get bad karma for it. You can arm and armor them, they die pretty easily, but if they have stayed alive for awhile, and you invest in the caravans, you will get a crap ton of ammo (and other goodies) that way as well.

I think that these games are always tough on the first playthrough. You'll end up scrounging a lot, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier, even at low levels.

I always take the scrounger perks as early as I can, and when schlupping through the Capital Wasteland, I pick up everything...literally, and sell it for caps.