I simply made this thread to ask some questions about Fallout 3 once in a while when I get stumped on something or just have a general curiosity.

Q1) Are permanent companions' level fixed or is their level based on yours? I'm currently at level 14 and apparently Dogmeat is only at level one.

They will level up with you.

Post Broken Steel Dogmeat will be very powerful. Second only to Fawkes.

I try to avoid getting Dogmeat before I start the BS part of the timeline. He dies pretty instantly pre-BS, then I usually eat him. After BS, it will take a pile of about 10 bottlecap mines, 15 frag mines, a pile of grenades and a mini nuke to kill him. And you will need all three Demolition Expert Perks to do it. Someone told me that...no, really, I didn't try to kill him.

Since you're on PC, you can check this: when the game first came out, all the PC users said that when you give your follower gear that has enhancements: like +1 PER, +5 SNEAK.... etc, that they retain the bonus when switching the gear around, that you can effectively teach your follower some skills by equiping and re-equiping gear. This might explain why if followers are going to die, at least in my experience, they die pretty close to me hiring them. If they make it past a certain window, they become beasts.

That did happen with my last play through. I started a new one though with the Unofficial Patch installed and a couple of mods, so that glitch will be fixed this round. I find Dogmeat better suited to characters that just charge in guns blazing, but not so much for stealthy characters.

Try 2000+ rounds of 5mm ammo... oh, wait... um...
I did a "getlevel" console command on Dogmeat and just found it odd that it said that he was still at level 1 when my character's at 14. So for now I told him to go back to Vault 101, until after I'm done a few mission I plan on finishing using stealth. Then I'll go and get him again and see if his level has adjusted yet.

So if I pass around the Chinese Stealth Armor, they'll all essentially be sneak experts?

So I'm told. I've definitely sensed a change in Charon, he doesn't trigger enemies nearly as much as he used to. Now it's me do the initiating not him, which is a refreshing change. I had him in the CSA for a couple of levels before moving him to Hellfire Armor.

No he doesn't...
I'm only level 10 and when I came up against a Behemoth, Dogmeat took roughly 15 hits or more before he died. I took 2
I'd love to see what he's like after I do Broken Steel, but I think the stats he gets after it actually come before it - like Albino Scorpions and Reavers

Strange. I'm on the 360. In my experience, Dogmeat held his own fairly well, in fact, really well before Broken Steel ever came out. That made it all the more heartbreaking if he died, which made all the players freak out that their dog could die.....

And they Marched on Bethesda.
And Bethesda said, "Whoa! Back up. We'll make Dogmeat be near indestructible so we wont have to read page after page of posts about Dogmeat dying and you be cryin'.
And we'll even toss in a perk for you morons that can barely walk 50 yards without reloading, so that you can always have Puppies!"

But I digress...
now with BS loaded, Dogmeat is dogmeat until I cross the line into Broken Steel territory.... or until about level 20 or 21. I like him. For the plays that I want him around, I want him around for a long time. But I also hate how friggin powerful he is. Go figger.

At least he isn't Fawkes.

Q2) Is there nothing to repair the Gauss Rifle with other than paying a vendor?

Q3) More mod related, but is there anyway to get your companions to heal/ restore their limbs (Caring and Sharing Companions mod)?

that is one option, another is http://fallout3.nexusmods.com/mods/11444

I'm pretty sure you have to pay a vendor. Heres a glitch that might help:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM070YI2n-0youtube won't let me actually watch the video for some reason so i'm not sure how good the video is .f you need more help with that then search "fallout 3 merchant glitch" and "fallout 3 haley's hardware glitch".

This is the only way to get 100% on any unique that you cannot repair.

Did you mean that Sharing and Caring Companions has a way of healing companion's limbs. If so could you tell me how, I haven't figured it out yet and can't find any documentation on how to do it. I shall also look at Remote Control Companions.
Nevermind. I finally clued in.

Okay, thanks. I shall look into that, provided the Unofficial Patch hasn't fixed it.

Q4) In my current play through I found the information of Jame's location through other means than asking 3Dog. I wanted to do the mission where you mount the dish onto the Washington Monument and cleared out the GNR building area without the BoS's help, but find that I can't get into the GNR building now. Is there a way in still (without resorting to console commands) or am I locked out for good having to resort to console commands?

Q5) Also recently "completed" the Blood Ties, but wanted to do it without humoring Vance this time around and apparently my character is now an enemy of Arefu. I killed Vance's gang because they all attacked me after killing Vance to get the passcode after he wouldn't let me speak to Ian (I didn't feel like humoring him this time around). All my saves are after I have already failed that quest, except for my backup save which is quite a while back. I was just wondering if you are still able to complete the quest by killing only Vance and avoiding the rest of his gang while still talking to Ian?

I've never avoided 3 Dog. So, I dunno. Is the door now a 100 Lockpick door?

Dunno if spoiler or not:


edit: using spoiler tags from special codes adds all kinds of html crap to your post.....

Fawkes is invincible and has an incredibly powerful Gatling laser post-Broken Steel.

He's not a companion, he's a tank.

Actually I didn't really avoid him, just thought getting the info from Moriarty's computer was quicker for me since I was already housed in Megaton (I didn't feel like paying Moriarty 100 caps for the info). Unfortunately the door to GNR requires a key.
Spoilers should be okay now, I asked the moderators to move this to the spoilers section.

Did you kill the mutie behemoth outside the GNR building? I'm pretty sure the door remains locked until he's dead.

You do not need a key or lock pick to enter GNR. If you look around you will find the answer. You enter GNR using the same method as entering Tenpenny Tower.

Nope. I was talking about the one over at Evergreen Mills.

Yeah, I went back to check again the other day and did a Sometimes the most obvious things elude us.

What about Alien Epoxy?

You can repair them with Alien Epoxy, but supplies of that are limited.

Not necessarily, after completion of MZ you can go back to Sally every few days and get various supplies (Either Bio-Gel or Epoxy).

You can also go back through the Steamworks, kill the respawning aliens there, and sometimes loot epoxy from them. But even then, the amounts you get are so small that you'll quickly run out of the stuff if you use it for everyday repairs on all of your weapons.

Surprisingly I actually still have my stash of alien epoxy and haven't really used much. My character's repair is at 100, plus I modded in having Somah as a companion. So if I have the caps she fixes my gear for me.