Long time Elder Scrolls player here, picked New Vegas up during Steam sale but not getting anywhere. Turns out I can't shoot to save my life. I tried dropping the difficulty, but still takes 5 to 6 headshots with the varmint rifle to stop a single gecko from ripping me apart. Two or more geckos mean certin death because my weapon condition drops so quickly. Thinking about giving Realistic Weapon damage a try, but not sure if that is noob friendly. Do you have any mod suggestions that may help this drugstore cowboy get out of Goodsprings?

Thanks

that's because that rifle is a p.o.s.

if i might suggest my http://modsreloaded.com/moles-well mod, gives you a tiny player home for starting characters in a well, containing a nice set of decent weapons and equipment (no cheat items) to keep you going for a long time, and an optional midget mole rat pet.

edit: ...being at it, should you want the little fellow "cleaned" to his white version, you can do so at http://modsreloaded.com/chengs-eastside-laundry, and if you want to get there quicker, you can get a run (in stlye) speed bonus from my http://modsreloaded.com/mojave-express-courier-cap... ,-)

This is nothing to do with mods, but you might want to try a high-luck build which increases your chance to get critical hits. This will make things pretty easy. I don't mean to be rude, but I find Gheckos easy on very hard, so I'm not sure what your problem is other than you're not using the right weaponry for your characters skills perhaps.

are you useing the VATS ??

this isn't CoD and VATS will be needed

What Difficulty setting did you set it at. Vermint Rifle is not the best weapon out since it is more geared for the early section but quite often I do use it well into the 20's. I play at the default difficulty. VATS can help out. Most often for me it is only 1 or 2 shots to the head to kill a gecko in the tutorial section at normal difficulty. Are you crouching since that does help with shooting more accurately. If you have Couriers Stash you can use the Machete and just use melee if you want.

What traits did you choose and what is your gun skill at.

You do not need VATS to succeed but it does help.