I'm using the 10mm pistol, and It takes 15 fugging shots to kill a dog! It kills me in 3 hits. My special is normal, and it takes 20 hits with a base ball bat (NO EXAGERATION)

Get a better gun. Also this is and RPG FPS not an FPS

I have a lvl 28 profile, I know how to play the game. But ever since this latest update, it take about 15 shots to kill anything weak. I think it glitched and they are higher levels or osmething

Yep, damage in vanilla is sort of stupid, especially given the pseudo-turnbased nature of the game. If you're on the PC, there are mods such as Fallout: Wanderer's Edition that can make it more to your liking.

"Latest Update"?

There hasn't been an update since September 2009, on the PS3. Sounds to me like you made a bad character build.

Or he's got the difficulty set too high.

Or this.

I just think that OP would know if he had set it high.

What is your Character's skill with small guns? (and what difficulty level are you playing?)

When folks say its an RPG, what some of them mean is that the PC is shooting the weapon at what you point at, but the PC is not always going to hit it well unless they are an expert. Some of those shots should be considered minor nicks, and (most importantly), the displayed gun doesn't accurately depict where the PC shoots. This means that you can miss even with the muzzle pressed against your opponent. Chalk it up to the awkwardness of transferring a character based RPG into a first person player experience.

**You can also chalk this up as just my opinion :shrug:

You might also want to look at the condition of the weapons you are using. If they are at very low health, they are not going to do much, and every time you use a weapon it degrades. Remember what Three Dog said about periodic weapon maintenance, never skimp on it.

Check everything that's been said before...

? Your weapon's condition (low CND = less damage)
? Your level in the corresponding skill (Small Guns I assume)
? Your difficulty setting (higher difficulty = you die in fewer hits, and you have to fire more shots to kill the enemy)
? If you have any active effects that impact your weapon damage or accuracy (e.g. AGL, PER, etc.)
? Whether you're actually hitting the target (best way to test this is to get close and enter VATS; if the chance to hit is around 95% then you're probably good, but if it's like 30% then it will naturally take more bullets to kill the opponent)

If you're playing on PS3, these are the only things I can think of that would have any effect on your combat difficulty.

Use VATS.

At level 2, you are better off running away in many cases.

I was seriously shocked first time I played fallout to, bullets was spraying everywhere, start wondering that was wrong with the gun. Has made self-made crossbows and stuff who are far more actuate. Was a serious contrast with Oblivion where you could hit enemies with bow and arrows beyond visible range.
However a pistol is very inaccurate in real life to. 10-20 meters effective range, a hunter rifle work well for medium range even at low level.
I actually think the inaccuracy is far better than simply change the damage, a headshot do extreme damage no matter the skill of the shooter unless you have very good armour.
I was seriously shocked first time I played fallout to, bullets was spraying everywhere, start wondering that was wrong with the gun. Has made self-made crossbows and stuff who are far more actuate. Was a serious contrast with Oblivion where you could hit enemies with bow and arrows beyond visible range.
However a pistol is very inaccurate in real life to. 10-20 meters effective range, a hunter rifle work well for medium range even at low level.
I actually think the inaccuracy is far better than simply change the damage, a headshot do extreme damage no matter the skill of the shooter unless you have very good armour.
Last small enemies as dogs or radcouches are hard to hit especially outside VAT Compared to lager enemies

Find a hunting rifle... no joke. Once you get a hunting rifle you can actually start defending yourself. Ambush a small group of raiders, hit the win button and profit.

Exactly! The Hunting Rifle is your very best bet, until you get your hands on the likes of Ol' Painless and Lincoln's Repeater. Maybe A3-21's Plasma Rifle or the Xuanlong Assault Rifle too. They're all great guns.

Totally agree with that. The cruddy hunting rifle is the weapon of choice in the early stages.

I basically go for that until the LR.

A lot of this game is tactics though, which means knowing how and when to fight. I was being quite serious when I suggested that running away is always a combat option in the early stages.

A lot of people think that they can fight it out...not the case. This game isn't a shooter...there's more to it. Survival is the name of the game.

I will give a hint though - find Dogmeat, and find how to use him. He's the best asset you can get in the early days.

The 10mm should be fine against dogs, how many of the 15 shots actually hit the dog?

Baseball bat seems a bit weird tho, I'm level 22 in my playthrough and I'm using fists to deal with the low level criters (unarmed around 48, endurance still at 5) and dogs, molerates, scorpions (circle strafe & punching often works for the giant ones too) they go down pretty quick without me taking too much damage. Anything bigger and I usually draw a weopon (and aim for head).

Some good suggestions already such as check difficulty setting, keeping items in good condition, use VATS, try sneak mode kills and perhaps get dog meat and let him deal with these critters while you watch the show and pump a few rounds into the fight to help the dog out if you think he needs it?

I don't think the game is easy per say, but it sounds like your having a bit of a tough time

That's what you get for using an ancient throwing-stuff-at-enemies-really-fast based weapons. I can kill them with one shot from a laser pistol

Seriously, you are either missing (low skill, low weapon condition, crippled arms) or using Very Hard difficulty. I [censored] hate how "difficulty" (hyper massive sarcasm quotes) is implemented in this game :stare:

im pretty sure that either your difficulty is set too high, you miss 10 out of those 15 shots, your level 30, your 10mm pistol is broken, your small guns is low, or the dog your shooting at is named "dogmeat".

so it takes 15 shots to kill a dog. it takes about 2 minu nukes to finish off an albino radscorpian. get used to excessivley shooting.

Turn the [censored] difficulty down.