I'm level 9, and got a single shotgun, cowboy repeater (favorite), variant rifle(mispelled), service rifle - reinforced leather armor, trooper helmet, DT only 12, getting [censored] handed to me on the critters - ok against most of the humans I find - can't seem to find any worthwhile armor, stimpaks too expensive - 109 compared to 38 in Fallowut 3 - repairs cost to much, doing lot of exploring - completed several quests, wander into Sloan and Deathclaws ate me alive with 2 hits. No Med X, Jet, Bufford(mispelled) or aid that can boost my armor to found.. Armor piercing bullets few and hard to find, do the save thing, and trying different techniques on some of these tough critters - failed - dynamite stick WTF? Useless since everything runs pass them by the time they explode (although never thought about using VAT) - All the armor I'm getting from legions, convicts, power ganger no more than 6 DT - have a metal armor that I can't repair 100%, but way to heavy....just a few of my problems with this new vegas fallout

I know you guys are hardcoe and complete the game in a week, but I'm OG (old gamer), and not in a rush - fallout 3 took me almost a year to complete because I was just enjoying running around completing ever side quest, and exploring everything (just have mad fun) I usually just dive into the game without looking at hints other than in manual, or in the game, I play the game like real life, just play the hand they give me..sure my initial setup is all wrong, but it's cool, I'll make it work.

I'm failing terribly. Getting frustrated at my progress because I don't feel like I'm making any. Read about implants, mods etc.. when i hit LB on any weapon, I see no mods.. Haven't figure out what the loading bench is about, know a little about the workbench - chemical other than the roots I got when messing with Sunny, I'm not sure what mixes with what...but it's ok. I'll learn. Now before you say it, I'm slow, Yes I am. It's a wise man that knows his limits. This is just how I play - to each his own. I usually learn from failing, but I'm starting to feel hopeless. I also know it's time to reach out for some help - because I'm not one to give up. So after all that, is there's a beginners section in this forum that will answer all these issues? Or do I have to breakdown, and download the walkthrough to get anywhere - or am just know strong enough right now, and it will get better as I level up... Thanks for listening to me ramble, but I'm just venting frustrations. Did I mention that Deathclaws are crazy tough - can't outrun them, when I run into one, I just lay down and die...and can't remember those wild dog/wolves name, but they also are tough - I just have to use all my aids to beat a pack of those too....

Mr Courier (that's you!) was no fool
I'm sure that everyone agrees with me that you aren't a fool
What he is getting at is that you were sure no fool
Boy The wisdom of you, man can be denied by none
For you're the one that said

Before you go to Sloan to Vegas or Jacobstown
To Red Rock Canyon or Hoover Dam
Go south! Young man

If you go to that Mojave Outpost, sonny
You will have a lot of money
If you bring the money with you when you come
To the New Vegas, yippi-yi, yippi-yi
Yippi-yi-yi-yi!
Yippi-yi, yippi-yi, yippi-yi

Before you read a travel ad
And scamper off to the Deathclaw land
Too often in New York and that ol' Hoover Dam
Go south! Young man
In the East they live on doughnuts
In the West the natives grow up
And I guarantee you go nuts if you come
To the Lone, lone Sloan, yippi-yay, yippi-yay
Yippi-yay-yay-yay!
Yippi-yi, yippi-yi, yippi-yi

That good ol' Boone (found southeast) is a real true pal
He will stick to him right or wrong
Right or wrong
He don't say nothing
And he don't do nothing
And he don't know nothing
And he don't want nothing but a horse
And a cowboy, for he's just keeps rolling along

Go south! Young man
Not where the airport's tearing the chest, young man
You can ride a bucking bronco or a pony
You can cut a calf in half and make baloney
Go south! Young man
Go right up there and give 'em the very best you can
Don't go east, don't go west, don't go north, have a care
Don't go up, don't go down, don't go here, don't go there
If it's true what they say about Dixon
Go South! Young man

Go out and till the soil there
Hunt for eggs and you'll find hides there
Where the crow flies, where the snow flies, go, there's no "no"!
If you are fond of hunting there's no place that can compare
You may not bag a Deatchlaw or a Nightstalker or a Cazador
But if you want a Gecko there are plenty of them there
Go South! Young Man

The judges there are very fair, they always are of course!
A cowboy and his Mr went to court for a divorce
The cowboy got the children and the Mr got the horse
All Go South! Young man
Yi-hi!

Huh...Ok...Is there any drug testing on this forum...thanks - I think you said stay out of Sloan and go south...will do...lol

LOL at the poem/song. That was great.

And yes, go South, the start of the game kind of tries to push you in that direction. You can bypass it, but for a new player better to stick to the main quest direction for at least a little while. Enemies aren't leveled ala Morrowind or (from what I hear) FO3...tho at certain clvl's some enemies do upgrade a little & a few new ones will appear in spots.

Few other things:

--weapon mods can only be bought from merchants, some are clvl dependent in terms of when they'll appear, and what ones will show up are very random.
--Stimpak prices were raised in the last patch, they used to be a lot cheaper.
--If you click on a campfire (or workbench) you'll get the list of all the available things you can currently make. Even if you don't have the skill to make it, you can still click on it to see what ingredients you need to collect.
--6-12DT armor isn't actually terrible in NV for more common enemies. I never have more than 18DT for myself. But deathclaws completely bypass DT so...there's that.

You should really listen to people when they warn you not to go somewhere. Go through Nipton to Novac and the game gets alot easier. There are less enemies on the roads and you can buy some decent equipment and supplies.

spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers spoilers

Thank you Sir. BTW: Gre-nades yes great poem, and actually thrilled that you took the time to write it..seriously.

Your right, I'm listening.

Don't eat the yellow snow!

Also try not to anger any of the factions early. Bad things happen if you aren't prepared.

Lol - a little late for that - Power Ganger always attack which I think they would anyway, and Legionnaires have attempted to assasin me...Thanks tho... Play the hand I'm given...

I did the same.

You do think you will side with anyway?

Hey, keep the Cowboy Repeater and Reinforced Leather Armour. I'm level 26 and still using it They're really great.

Also, go South. Didn't you get warned in Sloan that the road ahead is crawling with Deathclaws? And Deathclaws are nothing you play with in any Fallout game, except they're a bit easier in Fallout 3. So, it's recommended that you follow the main story in the beginning. After you've discovered Vegas, you can go on and do whatever you want, find all side quests, find all locations, all unique weapons, factions, followers... you maybe shouldn't anger any faction too much either, since many are involved in the main quest. Though after you do a certain quest in Vegas, you'll be approached by one from Legion and one from NCR forgiving any crimes commited against their faction for the sake of being able to start choosing side from there, which of the 4 factions you want to support.

I'm leaning towards NCR, haven't met anybody else yet..I killed all the dudes that were in their correctional facility - or whatever that place with the guard towers is called..think I'm good with them though - even though I took opened some of the boxes that were in red because I was running low on ammo - got the lost karma message -

Was looking for an answer on this one. Thanks people. How much karma do I get to lose before it hurts me?

That's what threw me - in Fallout 3, they were a little tougher than most critters, but I was handling them easily - although I did walk around a lot more before running into them. Plus in F3, I had mucho med-x, simpaks, etc.. - i was a drug-addicted maniac killing machine...lol

I'm glad you got the message!



thanks!

I have NCR, Legion, Powder Gangers and the folks at Sloan hating me. Vilified by all.

word of advice, deathclaws arn't "critters" there "demons"

in no possible way are you meant to kill the demons of that stupid dry hole in the ground at level 9.

this isn't a spoiler forum sooo.... im restricted on how i can help you.

Lol but why should he head there first cough* linear *cough* *cough

no, he tried going the other way but didn't have the experience to do it, player or character. So what do you purpose him taking the "easy" or planned route or continuously getting killed against enemies he can't handle?

If you haven't done so already, go back to Doc Micheals house and loot everything that isn't nailed down. You should find stimpacks there, plus whatever you can't use,... sell for caps. Also check the abandoned houses in Goodsprings, lots of usefull stuff in them.
As for Karma loss for taking red items... don't worry about it. You'll gain more than enough karma from killing ghoul and other things like raider types.

Because it's the easiest way. You can always go north, but it's hard and you might skip through alot of the storyline.

I am going to be helpful and directly address the OP's problems.


Deathclaws are truly deserving of their name in Fallout: New Vegas, they arent pushovers like they were in Fallout 3, You need some choice gear if you want to get past them, and early game weapons wont save you.

I actually only changed some lyrics from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TAYFNpQoxk

First time through, follow the path the game lays out for you until you get to the strip. So, about the first 15% of the game is best done this way. However once you are familiar with the game and how things work, and how to deal with what you have to deal with, then blaze your own trail.

Which for me, is to follow the path of the MQ until I get to the strip as I do for every start up.