First off, I love this game and glad to be playing again. Had it on xBox but it RRoD on me about a year ago and out of warranty so instead of getting a new one (I was unlucky with 5 RRoDs in 3 year) I decided to get a PS3 slim when they came out. Got a 250gb and I actualy enjoy it just as much as I did the box (RIP).

Completed it so many times on the box but its been a while and cant remember much (which is a good thing) so got GOTY for PS3.


Quick question though. I never got intelligence to 9 then made the Rivet City so decided to do this first time (also never maxed a character). I plan on maxing this one however will I need the Educated Perk and the book one (for the name) if I plan to get Skill points to 100? I only had enough time last night to get outside the Vault but I plan on making the Rivet run for the Intelligence bobblehead straight away (via Megaton for the quest where you need to get Rad poisen) and just wanted to know if by the time I get level 30 if I would have 100 skill points in everything if I didn't take Educated and the other one or am I best to take 1 at least? Don't see the point in wasting a perk that can be used on something better if I don't need it

Thanks.

You should have no problem reaching 100 in all skills with only Comprehension as long as you find a fair amount of skill books (8-15 per skill should do). Educated is definitely not needed.

I'd say definately take 'educated' or 'comprehension', if not both. On my last play through I got both perks early and I found most bobbleheads, my char is lvl 30 and maxed out on all skills apart from melee which is 71 ( I think), unarmed is 40ish, and medicine is 92. So, I would say you need them both if you wanna max out your character the best you can.

If you had all SPECIAL stats at 5 your tag skills would be 30 and your other 10 skills would be 15. If you count in the bobblehead bonuses you get 40 and 25. You'd need 180 skill points to max out your tag skills and 750 more to max out your other skills. So together that's 930 skill points. You get 5 extra SPECIAL points which presumably will give 10 skill points so 920 left. You also get another 12 or 25 from stat bobbleheads (depending on whether your Luck before picking up the bobblehead was odd or even). That leaves 895. 10 skill books per skill would give you 260 skill points. So that leaves 635 skill points. 635 divided by 29 is about 22. So you would need 9 INT and the Educated perk to max out your skills.

If you find another 5 skill books per skill that's another 130 skill points though which leaves 505 skill points from leveling. So that's 17 skill points per level. 7 INT without the Educated perk would then be sufficent.

I'd just go for Educated. Even if it's not strictly necessary it will get your skills maxed faster and the only perk you'd be missing out on is Entomologist. And you only really need that one once you start running into Albino Radscorpions.

Don't see much point in maxing out every stat, anyway. I mean, maxing Unarmed OR Melee is fine, as is Small Guns OR Energy OR Big Guns.

But if you want to do it just to say you did it, I'd say get Comprehension and then root around for those skill books.

I only half-agree.
What if I'm playing a martial artist? Unarmed and Melee could make sense. Though, this is more for roleplaying, so I get your point.

However, a lot of my characters take a Small Guns with some Energy Weapons. Mostly because of utility. Later in the game when you're killing mass loads of Enclave (Specifically the Broken Steel addon), they don't wield conventional weapons. It's all Energy, all the time. And it's not an easy place to just travel back to refuel your ammunition and repair your guns. The Broken Steel finale is mostly "nut up or shut up", so having some moderate ability in Energy Weapons is EXTREMELY convenient for this stage of the game.

Thanks for the help Will just take them both to make it easier. I'm planning to have Small guns as my main and then energy as a backup.

Is there a maximum I should increase a skill too (for the books) or just get it to 100 as soon as possible (90 without the bobblehead).

Also apart from the perks is there any other way to increase SPECIAL and whats the max you can have?

Its been so long I have forgot alot more than I thought I had, the good news though is that I can't remember much of the storyline so I'm enjoying it like it is my first playthrough again

I'm not much of a bookhunter. I keep my skills at 90 for the Bobbleheads, but for everything else I just dump points into what I want.

Don't forget the almost perfect perk.