Hey guys. I love Fo3 and modding it so much, and cant wait for NV. Since NV takes place on the west coast, and ties more into Fo1 and Fo2, I figure I should try playing some of the previous Fo games. I managed to get my hands on a copy of Fo2, and got it all set up. However, I get stuck, or killed like every 2 seconds. I ran out of health bags in the dang temple of trials or whatever, like 9 times before finally completing it, and now I am stuck in the town of... kra... something looking for the merchant with 'the old tec' or something.

Can any of you give me some help here? Tips on how to create my character, and gameplay wise, cause aparantly the game is super good, but I am just really horrible at it. Also where do I find the traveling merchant? I have look through what I think is the entire town, and have not found him. I also managed to accidently spend all my money -_- The game doesnt really have atutorial so I have just been kinda 'figuring it out'. I avoid all fights if I can, but I still get ownd by little things like the ants and radscorpians. Thanks for any help.

Gunmaster95

My friend you have come to the right place!

First off Character Creation, what is the theme of your character? Melee-Tank? Diplo-Sniper? Big-Dumb-and Good Looking? There are no wrong builds, but there are definatley easier and harder builds to play. Rather than listing all the benefits and drawbacks of min-maxing each stat I'd advise taking a look at all the perks that are available (They are in the manual which is a PDF file on the disk, in fact you may want to sit and read the whole manual while you've got it open) and then setting your SPECIAL to meet the prerequisite levels for the perks you want.

The Temple of Trials is a tutorial of sorts, most of the types of things you do in the game will be similar to the things you can do in the temple, picking locks, disarming traps, combat, speech checks... Pay ver close attention to everything it says in that box down in the corner of your screen, you will live or die by the information given there. In combat the most important attribute is Agility because it governs your AP. You have probably noticed how you use up your AP in combat. Well your not alone, all those people and creatures trying to kill you use up thier AP each round as well. For ranged combat this means you can use 1 AP to step out and get a clear shot, fire once (maybe twice) and then use 1 AP to step back behind cover, your targets will then use all of thier AP running up towards your position so that they can get a clear shot; depending on the location this can take 2-3 rounds of combat. For Melee combat many of the lower level creatures have very low AP, if you throw a punch and run away they will have to use thier precious AP to get close enough for an attack, depending on how far away you were they may not have enough AP to actually attack you; as long as you have room to run you can go many rounds of Punch-Run, Punch-Run, Punch-Run.

When entering a new place be sure to talk to EVERYONE you see, look at EVERYTHING you see and go EVERYWHERE you can. In a few toens ther is a notice board near the entrance that will give you all sorts of information about whats happening in town. If you see a desk, locker, trunk or bookshelf in the game then odds are pretty good that theres stuff in it. Also look around the edges of the town, if you see a large brown regular shaped area, thats the exit grid that takes you to the worldmap, if its green then it takes you to another part of town. Finding Vic is just a matter of talking to the right peoplend following the clues. However be for you even leave your tribal village be sure to talk to everyone and look at everything, there are quite a few quest right there. You can get your first Level Up before even leaving the Temple!

Fallout 1 and 2 are more about making you read and think than about holding your hand so that you get told the story "the right way"

There's an advise that give to anyone that asks for help for the old games which I think is the 'bestest advice in like, ever!!' ---------------
------------> manual... read it!
Also... if there's any chance to leave FO2 aside and start with the first one then do it - it's, in some ways, more 'friendly'.

In any case keep in mind that this is a weird backwards game that starts with sadistic difficulty and gets increasingly easier as you go. By the time you reach the end you will be the ultimate unstoppable killing machine. which effectively means that if you survived the temple of trials you have already gotten through the biggest challenge of the game.

As for the merchant...well he's not in Klamath, you may move on. Don't worry, the story will catch up with you even if you ignore it (in a way you can play it like a Bethesda game: you may ignore the main questline and start doing your own thing - you will reach your goal eventually). By the time you leave the Den you will be a lot more comfortable, it's a promise.

A side note about APs':

It is possible to get more than 10 (IIRC Dogmeat can get around 17); Some AP's are dedicated movement AP's, which means that these AP's are spent first while you have them, when moving into position. If you get any, try to use them wisely ~To position the PC so that burst weapons hit more than one enemy (in the firing cone/spray of the weapon). Also you can use them to cross long distances during your turn (something you might want to do if thinking a few turns ahead).

Stim packs can be given to NPC's, but not Dogmeat ~The way to heal him DURING COMBAT is to equip a Stim-pack in hand, and [essentially] attack him with it while standing next to him.

Oh my game did not come with a manual. So that might have helped. -_- I ordered it off amazon for like 99 cents, and all I got was a CD. I might go buy the 'official' tri pack that has Fo1, Fo2, and tactics so I get manuals and all. Thanks for all the advice! I will try again and see if I can make something that works. >.>

I know, but http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/dload.php?action=file&file_id=65 (<--click)

If its a re-release, then the manual is likely a PDF file in the disc.

If its an original release... That's too bad... The spiral bound paper manual was one of the best game manuals I've ever owned for any game; but the PDF version is on the CD in the "manual" folder.

Easiest way to get into the game, and not build a ineffective character: Use one of the pre-mades. I know, boring... but Narg is a baddass combat specialist, and if you really hate the name and such, use the customize option and tweak a few things.
If all else fails, there are trainers that you can download without much effort... and although cheaters never prosper, this can be a good way to work through what can be a very challenging game. The temple of trials is a real b*tch, but save lots and you won't havta start from character creation again.
Hope you enjoy.

Probably not too much more to add that hasn't already been said, here:

Yeah, the Temple of Trials essentially is the in-game tutorial. It's good for testing out your character before you get into the actual meat of the game - if you're having too much trouble getting through that, then you're going to have a lot of the same problems through the rest of the game. And of course, reading through all of the manual is a big help, especially these days. We're talking about a game that's somewhere around ten years old now, so what might have been rather intuitive at the time might not be so much now.

Really, the top advice is to go in knowing what sort of character you'll be wanting to play, before-hand. The 3 pre-made characters, even if you don't decide to go with them, can be a nice jumping-off point, as well. Figure out what sort of character you're going to want to be playing, how you're going to approach your objectives in the game, and then tailor your character for those tasks. (ie, you're going to have a lot of trouble getting through the game if you made someone that's very good at talking and sneaking, and then try to get through by blowing everyone away...)

All that said, it's still a rather unforgiving game. Like all the Fallout games, you're going to reach a point eventually where it's pretty much a cake-walk; but until then (and especially for the first handful of levels) it's going to be a very dangerous game-world no matter what you do. Make lots of saves, and use more than one. Get used to the quick-save button, and saving before leaving town, upon entering town, after completing every quest, etc. Because you will die.