Ok. Strong is by far the hardest companion of make/keep happy. Everyone without enough endurance(or personal preference) to become a Cannibal is pretty much stuck doing Minutemen quests to earn his approval. And Why the Hell did you choose Lock picking to be his pet peeve? There are several quests and such that cannot be completed without at least picking a novice lock. Not to mention all the Magizines and various other loot stashed behind them.

I have a few simple fixes for Strong:

1. Strong will say "Stop Fiddling, Smash!" when you pick a lock. This gave me an idea. Give Strong the ability to smash open Novice and Mission Mandated locks. It gets around a design flaw, while at the same time enhancing his character concept. "STRONG SMASH!!!!"


2. Have Strong like it when you Kill certain Named individuals, Such a the Wordy Two-timing Bobbi or Named Raders or Raider leaders. Killing leaders of "Successful" human groups should earn Strong's Respect.


3. Find something else for Strong to Dislike other than lock picking if you do not do #1. You made it far too commonly used for Strong to be practical for all non-cannibal Characters.

I found Strong to be quite easy to get the approval even if you do some lock picking. I guess you do not do a lot of crafting or settlement building.

Honestly it only took me like a few hours of traveling with Strong and doing radiant quests to clear out raiders to get his affinity maxed. I just ate all of the raiders and kept helping settlers, avoided picking locks and looting, and I was done.

I do a F*#K Ton of both. Yet to see a Weapon Mod or Settlement Item that Gained Strong's Approval. (I am an X1 player, are you running any mods?)

Ok, what about those of use who do not qualify for or want to take the Cannibal perk? Not everyone is into People Eating Ya-Know!!!!

And I do know about helping settlers. It has been my primary means of gaining approval.

Kill your settlers. Strong really likes it when you do that.

I found that Strong and I can get along splendidly


I'll help you out guy (even though you're obviously insane since you don't take advantage of the Commonwealth's greatest food source) just take Strong for a nice stroll through the Commonwealth. That's it. Just take a walk.

Killing every living thing you come across. You receive no like message from him but Strong love's it when you kill everything everywhere. My first game wasn't even a cannibal and I maxed his affinity by taking a few hours out of my day to kill half the world.


Hope this helps and I hope you one day see the Light of Cannibalism.

I play on PC with no mods as well on Xbox 1.

I only played it for a bit in the past few weeks since I am a bit burnt out on Bethesda's games at the moment. But I am starting to get that itch again, I just do not know if it will be FO4 or a different Bethesda game or more than one.

I actually thought Strong was the easiest to get full approval, his likes are pretty simple no matter what character you play imo

Then I guess you're out of luck and it's going to take you a whole lot longer...lol It's a role playing game. There are things you could do that would make Strong like you faster, but you don't want to do those things, so it's going to take longer. Honestly I wish it was a little harder to max out affinity on some of the companions. Piper and Cait can both be won over solely due to their love of lockpicking, even if you play in styles that are completely opposite to what they would prefer.

1. I am a loot Hoarder. I hate the Idea of leaving a simple lock intact in order to get a perk


2. Come on Guys, You cannot tell me that having Strong Smash open locks would not be Cool.


3. I have earned his perk before. I just hate having to leave all that sweet loot behind.


4. Having to loose approval in order to complete a quest(especially on in which you gained approval for accepting) is just wrong. I should not have to undo some of my progress with any companion just because of a Novice lock.

And he also has a HUGE array or dislikes compared to everyone else. And as mentioned above, many quests mandate earning dislikes. His Dislike of lockpicking is by far the most handicapping of all companions. That Kidnapped guy you are trying to rescue behind a novice lock? Prepare for a Stern Nagging from Strong about not Smashing the lock, even thought neither you or him have the option to smash it open. You see a Grognac Comic on the other side of a counter? Locked door in the way? You Are SOL as far as Strong is concerned, Cuz he hates lockpicking, and is to much of a Weakling to smash open a rotted away door, even with the help of an upgraded Super Sledge.

All I can do that I have not done to earn Strong's favor faster is Eat People. It would take quite a few levels for me to get my Endurance high enough for me to take Cannibal perk. And IMO taking ranks in a perk with a S.P.E.C.I.A.L. pre-req of 7 is a bit much compared to others. There are several other perks (like Pain Train and Rooted) that are far ahead in line before Cannibalism in my build.

Most of the radiant Minutemen quests can be completed without having to pick any locks or hack any terminals. I guess it can largely depend on when you're trying to max out Strong's affinity though. I was doing it at like level 80 with my first character, so I wasn't going to any new places, and thus wasn't prevented from getting any good loot (because I'd already gotten it). I'm at level 101 with my second character currently and haven't traveled with him a single time yet. I took him on as a companion and immediately dismissed him to Red Rocket.

Plus I suppose the 15 bodies I was eating during the quest basically offset the lock or two I might have to pick.

Minutemen quests are my primary source of likes, as I have stated earlier as part of my "helping settlers" statement. And have you ever considered someone might make a build that does not Include the Cannibal perk at levels below 100? My current character is below 50. my 1st character is in the 80's and never even qualified for it (He was a Stealth Sniper).

Any ways, Does anyone have any arguments about giving Strong the ability to Smash open some locks?

He should stop saying ctap every three seconds...

Kill

Loot

Return

It's easy.

Ah, but much looting requires lockpicking.

So he is good for minutemen and mapping expeditions. Getting full loot out of through exploration? Quest with Objective behind a Novice lock? No Cannibal perk? You are Heavily restricted in what you do when you have Strong as a companion.

Is he simple to gain favor? yes. but so are many other companions. He is however Disproportionately easy to displease. And I have said it before that displeasing him is often mandatory in order to get things done.

I HAVE GOTTEN THE PERK ALREADY!! I KNOW HOW TO DO IT!! I AM SIMPLY EXPRESSING HOW LOPSIDED HIS LIKES/DISLIKES ARE COMPARED TO OTHER COMPANIONS!! I HAVE ALSO MADE A SUGGESTION THAT FITS STRONG'S FLAVOR PERFECTLY, WHICH HAS BEEN COMPLETELY IGNORED BY CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE A BONER FOR CANNIBALISM!!!!

The vast majority of things locked behind locks is crap. I only like safes because I collect prewar money. IGNORE THEM.


Wait. The perk you got, you mean Strongs perk? Well [censored]. I'm keeping what I typed.


As for your Strong smash lock idea, yeah seems neat. Maybe someone will make a console mod for that one day that I would happily download. I was just focusing more on solutions for your problem of getting the perk.


And I don't care how drunk you are [censored] your food is wrong. You need help.


Edit: This is a happy post by the way. It looks some what aggressive on reread and I swear it's not.

No no. Not "crap". "Antiques and collectibles." You've got to put a positive spin on this stuff. How else are you going to convince someone to live in a metal shack you built entirely out of old Pork n' Bean cans and sleep on a mattress made out of old newspapers and cigar boxes?

Easy.

"Obey be or I'll let molerats eat you next attack."