Hey all, not sure how many of you Fallout players are still playing 3 but I'm leaving Skyrim out of boredom, having done it all and then again, so I'm looking for a new challenge since I'd rather not wait around for the next TES and I'm not really amped about ESO. I didn't want to make the same mistake I made with Skyrim, meaning starting with the latest and greatest and then working back. Have no interest in Oblivion and I'd like to start this series right so I'm gonna roll with Fallout 3, no DLC's right away, and just take it nice and slow.

Anyway, I'm a board lurker so I figured I would introduce myself. Right now I'm just taking my time and milking Megaton for all it has to offer. Really, really enjoying it. Great game.

Any noob advice would be appreciated. I'm pretty positive that I'm already unhappy with some of my skill and perk choices so far (lv5), but it's all good, I totally expected that... these games are all about restarting for me anyway it seems.

Welcome!

FYI, I'd strongly suggest adding the DLC< especially Broken Steel, in order to have a level cap at 30 rather than 20 as well as a certain other change that may annoy you without it (avoiding spoilers here).

For Skills/SPECIAL, high Intelligence is very important (for skill points per level) as well as high Luck (for bonuses to everything as well as some of the most important Perks). Don't take anything higher than 9, though, as SPECIAL Bobbleheads give +1 to each associated SPECIAL.

Generally, I'd suggest tag skills with 1 combat, 1 assistance (Science is far more important than Lockpick due to the fact that various Perks rely on Science but no Perks rely on Lockpick), and the last one being what fits your playstyle and character concept.

For Perks, it's generally a bad idea to take any Perk that simply adds +5 to Skills because you won't need the points and the Perk is wasted once the Skill is maxed. Aside from that, choose Perks that support your character concept and playstyle, as well as preferred Skills.

As for exploration and development of character, I strongly advise avoiding going indoors/underground as much as possible until your character is mostly developed (i.e., mid-game). The same applies for doing quests (some of them take you on rather long routes). There's really no need to follow specific quests early anyway since you do not know the world and need to explore in order to gather information about various locations and understand how to survive outside of the protected Vault 101. One exception: Moira's Wasteland Survival Guide is a very long series of quests that will take you to a lot of places as well as give a few rewards, so you can start it and pursue it as you like. Don't expect to finish it until midgame, though.

Listen to the radio, especially the announcements about the world that Three Dog offers. This will tell you information about various factions as well as events and locations even if you have not actually gone to a specific place or met certain people. This also applies to some of the Enclave radio broadcasts since President Eden will sometimes offer information (e.g., rundown of various factions in the Capital Wasteland).

Welcome to the Fallout Universe

At some point when you feel you have done all you can do with Fallout 3 (which might not be for a long time but when it comes) try out Fallout New Vegas and from there you can go into Fallout, Fallout 2 and even Tactics.

Thanks for the info.

Moira's stuff is all I'm doing right now. Seems like a great place to start while I learn the UI and combat tactics... vastly different from Skyrim, but I like it. Right now my biggest hurdle is encumbrance, not sure what to keep for crafting but it's becoming clearer and clearer which things are commonplace and which aren't, so that will work itself out as usual. I'm in a remote place right now due to work, so internet connection, or lack thereof will prevent me from getting any DLC's for at least a couple months, just in time for a restart I would imagine, with the DLC's (or most likely the GOTY edition). I plan on getting them all, even the spaceship one that some people don't seem to like as much as the others.

Love the radio... enjoy the music and the info. Really cool concept.

Welcome TheLotusEater! The more the merrier! Modded FO3 is my favorite! Nothing better than being a noob in a game like FO3. Everything is new and exciting. I wouldn't worry about making "mistakes". Let your curiosity guide you.