So is Dead Money really hard? So far started a new game, at level 10 right now, (yes I know I should be around level 20) before I start. So far, I haven't died (mainly because of the companions I have) but like the idea I haven't died yet.

So my question is, is it easy to die in DM? Any tips without spoiling the game how to survive DM so I don't die. Got this from the Dead is Dead thread. I know if I die, I will just keep playing from last saved game, but love the idea of not dieing so far.

Basically what I am asking is how to survive trying to play without dieing making the game so much more intense. I guess I am relying (is that spelt correctly?) on Boone and ED-E to much right now.

Please no spoilers

if your relying on boone and ede too much then id say to avoid dm for the time being and just level up to say 20-25 and then try it
If your playing DID and youve never done dm yet id gaurentee youd probably die in there

Thanks Drakestarkiller. That is what I am afraid of. I forgot to mention, I am levelling up my Barter so I can get the Pack Rat skill and levelling up the Speech skill for a different game play.

So should I be upping my Gun skill and Medical skill as well? I made a or tried to make a balanced character where I have no 9's or 1's in my specials. Lowest skill I have this time is 4 in Perception.

might be better off upgrading medical and lockpick before you go

My lockpicking is almost 75, then I use the books if anything needed of 100.

Another question, is Dead Money enemies, bullet sponges? I loved Point Lookout, but I hated the enemies were bullet sponges. It just made the game not fun at all. Some times I had to lower the difficulty level because of it. I hated the idea that the Hillbillies were harder to kill than Mutants in Fallout 3. I didn't have a problem with the enemies in Honest Hearts. It's the only DLC I have done so far. I have all 3 of them but only did that one. So is DM bulletsponges? If so I will lower the difficulty level then.

That really depends on your level, the enemies aren't bullet sponges at lower levels but they level with your character and become bullet sponges after a certain point. It's all a fine balancing act between increasing skills like lockpick and science and staying at a level low enough that the enemies are still fun.

No, they aren't bullet sponges (er, well they can be. I won't spoil it, just aim for the limbs.) But in terms of HP they're pretty average.

Watch out for speakers. Never try to run through them, there are locations where you just can't, and some locations where you have to.

Avoid pockets of Cloud, Ghost People like to hang out there. You become really disoriented and lose health fast.

Pick up all the coins you can, buy Stimpaks. Forget ammo and weapons, you'll find enough of them lying around if you look hard enough.

Explore. The more you explore, the more loot you get. You may get lucky and find a holotape or two, to add to the Vending Machines.

Save, save, save. Before you enter a room, safe just outside the door. Before you enter a loading page, save just outside of it. There are lots of ways to mess up the game, use saves to go back.

Activate Holograms and security as you go. It saves a lot of time for quests.

Do NOT go looking for the Snowglobe until after you finish the final quest. You can only get it after you finish Heist of the Centuries, but before you leave to the Mojave.

It's difficult to give solid tips to DM without spoiling it a bit for you so here's the best spoiler free tips I can give you:

Food, healing items and ammo are going to be scarce at first, so for the first part of the DLC, while you are gathering your "companions" just pick up everything you can and stash the stuff you don't need immediately by the central fountain Eventually there's going to be a way to trade unneeded junk for Pre War Money and later Pre War Money for Sierra Madre Chips.

Towards the middle supplies are less of a problem and discovering how to survive the environment becomes the challenge.

You probably want to save often and keep multiple saves just in case because there's going to be a lot of trial and error on your first playthrough of DM.

Skills
Lockpick - 100
Science - 100
Med - 75
Speech - 85

I wouldn't rely on mags too much. There are some, but not many.

Perks
THEM'S GOOD EATIN'

If you have 1 select perk for DM, and have OWB installed, this is it my friend.

Medicine skill and survival skill come very handy FYI. I'd say atleast 35-50 survival if not more. Repair is always nice for well... Repairing and ammo.

Been away for a bit, forgot about this thread. I want to say thankyou all for all the tips. I started Honest Hearts because I was level 17, so as soon as HH is done, I will start DM because I should be over level 20 then. Thank you all. I just got one more question. When you start DM, do they take everything away from you like in The Pitt and Mothership Zeta but get your loot back later?

I will take the Them's Good Eating perk. That is the perk that lets alchol and other stuff give you health now?

Protip- Dead Money STRONGLY rewards being curious and careful scavenging of your surroundings. And will slap you on the nose for just running through the DLC

Protip 2- Gamble in the Sierra Madre Casino, I won't give away the reward, but if you get to comp tier 3, you'll get an epicly amazing reward for the whole game.

If you're a pretty good shot some ghost people will have a bomb that can take out them and a few others, or if you have an decent sneak skill you can avoid some of them altogether.

You can also peek around the cloud sometimes and make a path to get through quickly and not take anymore damage than you have to.

get the health regen implant before you go. that really helped me

For some reason I've never been able to make the Gas Bombs work...this also goes for Land Mines... I've been playing FO for a while now, including FO3. I still haven't figured it out...

Having lockpick and repair at 100 was very useful.

Also be on the look out for items to make Mass Purified Water and Caravan Lunch.

Are you equipping them as a weapon and then hitting the fire button / trigger to arm / place them? Or, are you just dropping them out if your inventory? The latter will not set them to explode.

No, it's the perk that increases the chance of an enemy to drop Blood Sausage and Thin Red Paste. Very powerful healing items, indeed. It makes a very little need for stimpacks.

EDIT : Yes you are stripped of everything you had.

It's a perk from OWB that makes things quite easy.

To be honest, Dead Money wasn't that hard anyway so long as you didn't try stepping into clouds until you had a certain companion.