I am about to reach level 20, and do not know if I should take the explorer perk. It looks cool, and would make finding stuff like bobble-heads easier, but it might take the fun out of exploring.


Did you guys take the explorer perk?

Absolutely not. Never, in any character have I taken this perk. You answered it yourself, it will kill the joy of exploration.

I used to but not anymore.

It's a big waste of a perk.. have no idea why Bethesda ever included it. I've never taken it - ever, - and never will.

I can admit to being tempted, but I have not taken this perk. There are so many unmarked little areas that one might as well just trawl the Wasteland on foot to find all one can find!

Explorer in itself doesn't cover unmarked locations like the Plunger Room of Death or the skeleton with a switchblade and by the time I get to level 20, I've visited nearly every map location anyway so it's not very useful to me.

That being said, I get it at the first of every game along with about 100 extra map markers from a mod

I enjoyed taking that perk, not on the first play-through but I did later to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Turns out I missed a few spots that playthrough so I found it useful.

Exploring the hard way is the best way though.

I've taken it on all 3 characters.

I already have so many places the extra 10 or so don't really bother me.

This is my first play-through and I chose it(I didn't have the stats for Solar Powered and VATS didn't need to be any easier by choosing Grim Reaper's Sprint...which seems to have gotten nerfed in New Vegas...) so I can visit all the major areas(and not-so-major areas) before I continue with the Main Quest.

Ninja is pretty much useless to me as I don't like using the Unarmed/Melee template, so that pretty much left Explorer as the Level 20 perk of choice.

I have not yet started Tranquility Lane. I enjoy finishing all side quests and exploring before continuing with the Main Quests. I did the same thing with Oblivion(I still haven't visited the Cathdral! LOL!).

no i take Grim Reaper's Sprint, useless perk IMO :shrug:

i often use it. it doesn't ruin exploring because you don't what is at the other end. sometimes quest givers will give locations. and there are several unmapped locations. if you don't like it don't use it.

Explorer has always been useless. It's been useless in Fallout, it's been useless in Fallout 2, and it's just as useless in Fallout 3. Exploration and finding things yourself is the only thing this game can boast over the originals, why ruin it with a trash perk? (Well then again, most perks in Fallout 3 are trash due to the fact that you get a perk every level.)

To me, the entirety of what Fallout 3 is, is exploration. The story is rather mundane, not well explained and full of holes. So for me, exploring makes me feel like i'm IN D.C. Coming across new places, new NPCs and new Fallout-esq areas is what makes this game absolutely amazing to me.

I think I almost went nuts when I first discovered DogMeat and the Scrap yard.

I took it on my very first character and then made sure I kept a save from that character for future reference.

i took it with my 2nd character, i just gave it a try, after that no more.