Hey everyone!

So, I am a bit late with Fallout:NV.
Months ago, I bought the base game plus the first DLC(Dead Money?) on a Steam sale, but for various reasons I never got around to play it. Now that it's on sale again I couldn't resist and I got the remaining DLC, so currently I am sitting with the complete pack and a bit of time to finally try it out. My dilemma is: which data files should I load for my very first playthrough? Can I safely load everything or will I miss out on things that were different in the base version?

I would especially *loathe* to find quests in the Pip-boy from the start, or NPC, that spoil the original story before I go through it, so I guess the "Story" DLC should be out for now. But what about the rest? I honestly have no idea what the 4 packs(Caravan, Classic, Mercenary, Tribal) and the GunRunnersArsenal do...is it just new items?

Since I know nothing and I imagine people in the forum to know a lot about this, I accept suggestions

I would actually advise not loading any of them first playthrough. And if you're on PC, go into the Data folder and delete the "example.NAM" files, because those force the DLC to load whether you check them or not.

The DLC don't spoil the main story of the game. They have their own story that is told in this order: Dead Money > Honest Hearts > Old World Blues > Lonesome Road.

The DLC don't change much or anything within the game world, they just create portals to outside locations and add some perks while increasing the level cap.

The "Courier's Stash" stuff just makes the early game much easier. Use at your discretion.

GRA adds a lot of new weapons to purchase, and adds unique versions to weapons that didn't have them before. A lot of these weapons are specialty weapons & very powerful with specific builds. Advise completing a playthrough first.

Just my 2 cents.

-Nukeknockout

I didn't know the DLC were a completely separate storyline, they actually sound very unobtrusive from your description. Might they be worth it for the additional perks? Or do they change the gameplay much?
Definitely staying clear of the item packs though...don't really like easy modes.

So from what I understand, it's not enough to keep the datafiles unchecked in the launcher but I also need to delete the relative *.NAM files? Are they recreated when I actually wish to enable the DLC later?

Thanks for your time!

The .NAM files don't matter if you have the master file checked. They would load like a mod.

But I would advise loading all of them except Courier's Stash. With Gun Runner's arsenal, everything in it is balanced and only shows up in stores. For that one though, you should use a mod like http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=44170 so as not to confuse you. That addon adds versions of vanilla weapons whose only difference is that they can use the new weapon mods added by the pack, and that basically just removes that unnecessary complication. Still 100% balanced.

With the story DLCs, while they will reference events in the main game they do not spoil them, and will make some sort of sense whichever stage you play them. With every DLC, the game will tell you that it is installed and the radio signals that start the quests become available from the very beginning. It's really annoying. I suggest using http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=42033 to make it so they all start more naturally.

Those 2 mods should let you start the game without getting bombarded by quests from the very beginning and will make everything more natural.

1: The DLC-added perks & Traits make it easier to be a character who specializes in crafting, survival, and weapon skills like Melee/Unarmed & Energy Weapons. In short, they even the playing field between Guns and other ways of playing. So yeah, they do change gameplay a bit, but mostly in ways that mesh incredibly well with the game. On the level cap increases provided by the "Story" DLC...the developers made sure to scale several important encounters all the way up to 50(the new maximum) so they don't make the endgame of the main storyline easy. GRA isn't so much an item pack as it is a vendor expansion, and a lot of those new items cost loads of money. But Courier's Stash...yeah, that's pretty much an easy mode.

2: You understand correctly. The *"TribalPack.nam" files and such are not necessary to use the content at all. The only thing they do is force the content to load even if it isn't checked. If you aren't entirely comfortable, you can do what I did and cut/paste the ".nam" files to somewhere else for storage and restore them if things go horribly wrong.

*turns out ".nam" isn't capitalized.

I would actually recommend not using any mods until you've played the game through once or twice. DLCs are different.

You are so welcome!

-Nukeknockout

Ah, I see, the *.nam just makes the DLC recognized by the game as "special" mods.

Ok, I think I've made the decision.
Courier's stash is out, no doubts there. The "Story" DLC will be in, as I'm all for balance(and I'd like to give Melee a go since I completely ignored it in the original Fallout 3), but GRA will be out for now...just so I have some new toys to look forward to in later playthroughs.
The "Delay DLC" mod looks safe enough, and fixes the thing I found most annoying in Fallout 3 with DLC, so I'll be using it too.

Thank you both for the tips again, I'll be off playing a bit now

The Couriers Stash released te 'Pre-Order exclusive' DLC to the public, it's just a junk DLC that throws a myriad of items on you from the get go, GRA is a weapons pack DLC basically.

The 4 story DLC are on their own story arch, and spoil nothing of the base game, however if you play through the base game, some of your actions and skill point placement can shape some of the DLC's dialogue and skill checks. It's perfectly okay to buy the story dlc, if you can only get one then it comes down to which you might like.

Thanks, but I already own all DLC...was just trying to decide what to enable

It's done now, I've been running around Goodsprings for a while last night, killing geckos and failing at side-quests