Usually I have to attack something if I see it in the distance. It's like instinct is driving me to kill them and take their stuff, but have you ever actually ran away from a fight? I remember one time I saw, no lie - like 8 Cazadors circling this one area, luckily I saved it like 10 seconds beforehand. I had a Stealth-Boy equipped, and as I was walking away, this SAME Cazador kept flying in my direction and noticing me. I had to literally reload the game like 10 times until he eventually flew in the opposite direction. I had like 50HP left out of like 300 and I had absoloutely no healing items on me. I've also noticed LakeLurks in the distance but decided not to engage with them as they are absoloutely annoying to kill without having that stupid blue force-field thing they throw at you eating like half your health every time one successfully hits you. Currently I've found this cave with like 6 LakeLurks in one place, I imagine there's probably some badass loot inside, unfortunately I can't kill 3 of them let alone the 20 that are probably inside.

One, tried to run away from a dozen gian radscorpions.
It did not go well.
Don't run away from anything now.
Either I kill it or it kills me and I reload and go another way.
Things are too fast to run from.

Yes. the nuclear test site with ghouls. Two reavers and a glowing one and I had half health and a melee user. Ended up dropping mines to cripple their legs then shoot them down enough with a 10mm pistol to finish them off in melee without getting hit.

Thanks for the reply guys. I've successfully ran away from LakeLurks before, I usually just climb up rock edges that they find difficult to scale, hoping they will take a longer way to get to me. It usually works, except Cazadors are bastards to run from and usually resorts me in collapsing to my death, over & over xD.

Twice so far. One was when I first left Goodsprings and 2 giant radscorpions attacked me. I ran for around a mile before they stopped chasing me. Second time was when I was searchng for Hidden Valley and was jumped by a bunch of BoS.

I ran away from a single Giant Radscorpion (after fighting 1 advlt and 3 baby Night Stalkers). I ran backwards, while firing... it closed the distance... I kept firing... I kept backing up and firing... it closed and stabbed me... I fired some more... it killed me. :yuck:

Honestly, I don't think that I done nearly as much running in FA3 that I have in NV. Actually, I've dodged more fights in the wasteland than I engaged in. The enemies are really rigorous in this game, but I appreciate it. In FA3 nothing was too difficult to kill after level 10.

I'm not ashamed to admit that in this game I choose my battles. Fallout 3 was to easy as you could wade into any battle start shooting and stimpack if you got in trouble. With hardcoe mode I battle much more conservatively and actively use alternate ammunition in battle.

I'm a bit like the OP, If i see it and its enemy i must kill it. However after a few fights with Cazadors and Deathclaws... i have indeed ran like a coward from them.

Also, I attacked Black Mountain at level 12 on hardcoe/Hard and ended up retreating as i could not deal with the 5-6 mutants/Nightkin that were charging me all at once near the top.

As much as i am ashamed to admit this, I also had to retreat from the cave where all the Giant Rats are... when 6-7 attack you at once they are impossible to deal with and i was forced to pull-back and resupply.

10 Deathclaws at the Quarry.......

.....somebody was making a killin' out there......

I run depending on the situation, low ammo, low health, out numbered 10 to 1, I don't go looking for fights unless I know I stand a good chance of winning.

Some things are, but others not, if you holster your weapon and equip light or no armor you run a lot faster.

Turbo also helps, had an epic encounter with a certain Female (?) Super Mutant in a certain place, where you had to install a certain device, ran in, 10 hp, saw her, used Turbo, dodged the massive mace attack thing, installed said device, ran out, over the fence and I was free!

Cazadors and deathclaws must be jacked up on Turbo because they are impossible to run away from.
(Unless one uses rocks to jump up on but that's totally unfair towards the deathclaw.)

Aim for the legs! nothing more hilarious then a group of 3 Deathclaws limping after you as you circle around them.

Couple of times. Most recent was in Camp Searchlight which was irradiated with ghouls. I was smacking them and taking trooper armours for repairs while managing radiation levels with RadAway and Radx when all of a sudden I reached 800 plus and had to scramble away trying to save my 30 minutes of unsaved progress.

I have ran away from a fight. A few times I died when they out ran me. I am not as strong as I thought I was, so I run away a bit now.

I was in The Thorn. It was 2 deathclaws versus 3 giant radscorpions. Gates opened they go charging for each other. Then they just stop and stare.

Almost 5 minutes of no movement, just staring went by. I just said eff the 20 caps and ran away from the fight.

why run....when you can quickload...

I am playing through on very hard + hardcoe mode with no mods except the caravan pack cause it doesn't negate achievements. Picking and choosing battles is just part of life in the desert. I use the scope on my varmit rifle and before I got that I used my binoculars to scout every location before I approached it, its saved me a quick death more times then I can count. gas stations infested by radscorpions.. thats a pass untill I got enough .223 or AP rounds to be able to take them out from extreme range, There is usually a way to beat tough enemies or difficult quests if you come prepared. Room full of tough lurkers, if its a small room i'd suggest stealth boy and plant c-4 in the room then retreat and take them all out quick.
Any fight with an armed enemy I vats aim for the arm they are using to hold the weapon and disarm them first, if its a big weapon like a minigun, just aim for the weapon itself, wont be able to sell it later unless you got another to repair it with but atleast you wont be dead, and if you can cripple a leg, the running backwards tactic usally works, criting them in the face at close range can also give you a moment to reload and get some distance.
and if they are really set on chasing you down, I always resort to my problem solver, caravan shotgun + 20 gauge magnum rounds. Run inside a building, back into a corner next to the door and crouch down. Then shoot them in the side of the face when they zone in, if they aren't dead Fire again. then run out of the building.

There is no rules of engagment in the wasteland. I think atleast 25% of the people i've killed so far, I have shot in the back because the disarm and cripple technique makes them run away, if you are fast enough to grab thier weapon off the ground before they do, all thats left is shooting them in the back as they try to limp away. "I never signed on to be the good guy, I'm just trying to survive"

Not all of us like to abuse the quickload, i see people reloading after they step on a mine rather than use a doctors bag, i've seen people reload when they break a bobbypin or when they get caught stealing.

That is fine its up to them how they play... for me i do not play this way at all. I live with the consequences and only reload if a major bug forces me too or death.

There are Giant Radscorpions near the path to Nipton. One of the crappy Jackals started picking a fight with one, when I went to check on the gunfire, the GR started coming for me. And those buggers run faster than you do, try to have a lead.

Yeah, I got lost trying to take a shortcut and ran into a bunch of giant radscorpions, in my blind running I ran straight into Black Mountain. That was a fun day.
I had to blow a stealth boy to lose all the heat on me!

Ten or so giant rad-scorpions. Right next Primm and Nipton. That was when I realised just how different the approach Obsidian was taking to populating the Wasteland is.
The group of Cazadores ambushing me outside of Vegas though, I could not escape from. Well, I could have, but my trusty dog-brain-in-a-jar fell to them. Reload. :meh:

I've tried to run away from a fight. I accidentally walked into a blind Deathclaw. Stood still for a while before realising the damn thing could probably smell my fear (of which there was a lot). So I tried VATS with my stupid Vermin rifle. Fail. Turned around to run and got about 5 yards away before a swipe took off my head.

Yeah. I ran away from Legionnaire Assassins who came at me right after I used up all my ammo and stims clearing out Nelson. It worked. I also routinely run away from giant radscorpions and packs of nightstalkers. I always try to run from deathclaws. It worked once because I jumped off a cliff to get away, but usually it doesn't work.