I'm making a triumphant return to the wasteland and I want it to be as fresh as possible. Nearly all my characters were stealthy in Oblivion however I have never had a stealth character in Fallout 3. I would like to know

Whether it works well in the game?
Which Karma is more suitable if any?
What weapons/armour I should use?
Starting special and perks?

Bear in mind that I am on the PS3 and have the GOTY edition.

Many thanks. =)

Sure it works well with the game, but not as well as Stealth did in Oblivion. Not even close. Back there, you could go through an entire dungeon without detection if you're good. Not the same here.

Karma really doesn't have anything to do with it, it could be either Good, Neutral, or Evil.

Weapons of choice would be Sniper Rifles, and a Silenced 10mm. Also, Trench Knife, or any Melee Weapon of Choice. You could use fists too.

Armor would have to be light. Probably Recon Armor, then move on to the Chinese Stealth Suit (best) and have headwear like Shady Hat and Poplars Hood for stat. increase.

Tag: Sneak, Lockpick, Small Guns or Unarmed or Melee.

SPECIAL: Concentrate on Perception, Agility and Luck. Mostly Agility.

Perks: Whatever makes sense.

Enjoy!

Most of my characters are stealthy and I recommend you tag melee weapons. They won't cost you ammo and you'll stay hidden after you kill someone. Because of that I have tons and tons of ammo. Like over 4000 microfusion cells...

As far as weapons and apparel go, I would definitely suggest the Perforator (silenced AR) and Chinese Stealth Suit (makes you pretty much invisible).

The Perforator is obtained by collecting 90 steel ingots in the Pitt.

The Chinese Stealth Suit is found in the Outcast armoury thing after completing Operation: Anchorage.

Cheers guys (or girls?). I didn't think stealth worked aswell as Oblivion hence why I have never bothered. I asked about Karma because of certain perks such as Sandman etc. I'm not a noob to the game I have just never tried a stealth build, I just think it would make for more realistic roleplaying as would you want to face up to a supermutant? I thought not. Small guns I love so I was intending on getting good old silenced 10mm from Mr Burke.

Cool I will make this build when I start my new game sometime this week (Member of family died so funeral etc).

Thanks =)

The dart gun is an excellent weapon for a stealth character!

Can you kill people in settlements stealthily without other settlers becoming hostile or does it do the whole 'we saw you do it coz someone died'. For example I kill someone and it still says I'm [Hidden] but the person dies in front of someone do they automatically know it was your doing?

Yes, I forgot about the Perforator. It is a unique Infiltrator. Pretty easy to get once you've done The Pitt.

CSA is without a doubt best Stealth Armor.

I'm not too sure, as I don't murder much. But from my limited experience, even if you are [HIDDEN], people still seem to notice you.

However, there's a perk you can get at level 12 or so called Mister Sandman -- this allows you to slit people's throat in their sleep for XP. No one will know of your evil deeds. If you aim to be a stealthy assassin, this perk is vital.

To be fair, it doesn't really make sense not to be noticed if you shoot someone in the street, even if you are hidden. Guns make a pretty loud noise, after all... unless it's silenced, but I never use those weapons, anyway.

I'm not complaining about it I'm just tugging on my stealth experience from Oblivion, i.e. Two people talking, I kill one mid conversation and the other just walks off. I was just wondering if I could use that tactic. Sandman Perk will be handy for gettting Charon.

Oh, I know you weren't. Sorry if it seemed like I was accusing you of doing so.

And you don't really need the perk for that -- Greta takes a cigarette break sometime during the day outside of Underworld. Kill her then.

Yea, that Oblivion style freedom won't be there. Sandman is essential. It's easier to kill Greta by waiting for her to go take cigarette break. There's no one in the Museum Lobby. (Unless you've finished the game or gotten Fawkes).

Shame. Oh well, It will be more tactical I suppose. Sneak attack the biggest threat then small gun the rest.

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm looking forward to my new character.

OK, I'm missing something. What's the purpose of killing Greta?

If you kill her you won't need to pay for Charon's contract. Azhrukal asks you to do it as he does not like the competition she brings.

You can kill Greta to . . .

My evil character killed everyone in Megaton with the Mr Sandman perk without being discovered once. He did it just before nuking the place. He was the devil incarnate after that.

I play the whole game in stealth mode and I'm almost never detected anymore since I've reached the higher levels and took the Silent Running Perk which is an absolute must to play a stealth character, also highly recommend the Dart Gun and it's always fun to stuff a frag in a Mutie's pocket......oh and I NEVER use Stealth Boys or the Chinese Stealth Armor....seems like too much of a cheat to me......

Maybe it has been that long since I played but I want to remember my stealth character being undetectable even when I am shooting a bad guy in the face. I don't remember there being a place I couldn't go and be seen at all unless it was a triggered event. Time for me to revisit the capital wastes.

Once you get past Stealth 50-70 or so, armor weight doesn't matter very much. Silent Running, OTOH, helps immensely because it's a pain to slow-walk. Lighter armor is still better, and I never bother with stealth boys or the CSA (I don't like being invisible).

My tactics are generally, snipe from a distance with something heavy like the .44 magnum or sniper rifle. For closer in work, the Perforator is basically a scoped assault rifle. Not much kick, but you can send lots of rounds downrange with accuracy. At close range, I fall back to the 10mm SMG, Chinese AR or a combat shotgun. Creating a kill area with mines laid down that you can retreat past can help with softening up the harder enemies. Plan the fight, have alternatives, then execute it.

The dart-gun is a must-have, with lightweight armor you can't take a beating. So you're going to need to have the option to kite some of the bigger and nastier mobs.

Explosives perk comes in handy as well. Taking out 3-4 super mutants with a single bang beats trying to snipe them all and then play hide and seek all the time. Or at least it will soften them up enough that a single VATS round will finish them off.

I ONLY play stealth characters. I think I have about....200 hours of total fallout 3 play time with all my characters. Evey minute of those 200 hours I've been playing stealth.

It works AWESOME. Granted, it takes a while before it's really really op (and if you go about it the right way it gets absurdly over powered) but it's worth it. Stealth characters are the only characters that choose their battles, I don't like being forced into a fight.

As for Karma, it doesn't really matter. Karma just affects how people feel about you, it doesn't have any bearing on stealth.

Personally I think the Chinese Stealth Armor is the best armor in the game, for stealth at least. It has +15 to sneak, and while in sneak mode +5 stealth field (the same effect a stealth boy gives, albeit a lesser effect) but with a high sneak skill this doesn't matter as enemies will still not see you even if they're standing right on top of you. You should also check out the Shady Hat (+5 sneak +1 Perception), obtained from Moira Brown after completing the mirelurk mission without killing any mirelurks. If you don't want to bother with that then Poplar's Hood (+10 sneak +1 agility) is also a great choice and is obtained from the oasis quest. For my weapon, my any and everything simply has just got to [censored]in die, of choice is the Alien Disintegrator. 100-module battery size, and the fastest reload of any re-loadable weapon in the game. Seriously takes like half a second and it is the highest damage output riffle. Next to the Gauss Riffle (which is also kick ass, but only has 1 shot per round), and the Destabalizer which is like the Disentegrator but fully automatic and less accurate. It also does less base damage per hit, but you fire more rounds per second.

I won't tell you how to pick your starting special or skills, but there is a must have perk for any stealth based character. The silent running perk gives you +10 sneak, also movement speed and clothing weight no longer affect your chances of successfully sneaking. I'd also recommend getting the Sniper (increasing your % for head shots in V.A.T.S) and the Commando (increases your overall chance to hit in V.A.T.S with two standard two handed weapons) perk. If you are going to take my advice, it would be good to tag both sneak and energy weapons though.

To maximize your potential in a new game I would suggest doing the Operation Anchorage quests first for the Chinese Stealth Armor (and the Gauss riffle, best sniper riffle in game), then hitting up Mothership Zeta for your weapon of choice (don't forget to test the weapons for the xenotech perk which gives you +20% damage with alien weaponry.) The reason I say do OA first is because it supples you with weapons and armor so you don't have to worry about getting any to actually be able to get through the missions. You do still have to make it to the location though. I did this just running without looking back, wildlife chase me if you want but I'm gone.

This may have already been brought up, but if you're a Stealth specialist and you want a follower, go with Charon. He has a tagged Sneak stat.

I haven't seen a good silenced weapon, so my stealth expert went with the dart gun and Lincoln's repeater.

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I believe the Alien weapons (excluding the Drone Cannons) count as "silenced" weapons. I know I can shoot enemies that are beside each other, or relatively close, and the other won't be alerted unless it sees me fire my weapon. But it doesn't seem like they are alerted by the sound of gunfire.

I forgot perhaps the MOST important tactic to be successful in stealth.....ASYE always seperate your enemies.....I NEVER NEVER NEVER face more than 1 or 2 at a time......dont just go wandering blindly into a bad situation....plan and anticipate your entrances....also someone else mentioned about mines...yes these are certainly important to cover your escape routes....plan, anticipate and seperate