Just reached lvl 12, got my guns up to 75 but am having a real problem in the game with the weapon strength. I have finished the main quest up to the point where i am to go to the strip. Did many side quests that you get in the areas up to this point..boulder city, come fly with me, helios, etc... I have not had a problem taking on any of the creatures/humans in most of the quests (except the Legion assassins when you are supposed to rescue the hostages) the guns i have to this point do the job pretty well. But my problem comes from almost any of the side creatures i may run into. None of my weapons seem to do anything. I run into a creature like a giant radscorpion and no matter what weapon I choose they are all below the DT (i get the red shield) and do almost no damage. (all are very well repaired as well) I have a cpl of unique weapons such as lucky, and that gun but they are below the DT as well. I have the strategy guide and checked to see if i missed some unique weapons that may be critical to moving on but no. I have all the unique weapons from the areas I've been. All the ones listed that i don;t have are in places i've yet to discover. I would have thought that by this time you would be able to wonder around a bit more without getting your butt kicked but for me that isn;t happening. At this point in the game am i still resigned to sticking strictly to quests or am i perhaps missing something?? I am a FO3 vet so I know all about the weapons but am i missing something new to new vegas that may be causing my problem. Can't believe i don't have a weapon that can do some damage to a giant radscorpion by now. Hell, they are right outside of goodsprings where you start right before the Kahns camp.

Advice would be greatly appreciated

You need a high DAM weapon. Slow firing rifles and the like. May also want to look into AP ammo.

What weapons are you using, anyway?

There is no level Scaling in this game and there are critters out there that are tough. There are areas that you may not want to go to until you are level 20 or more. Wait until you play with Deathclaws in this game, thoght they were tough in FO3? Sheesh. Unlike FO3 where any critter was tied to your level so you could beat the whole game at level 1, this game will hand your hat to you if you are not ready for it. Giant Radscorpions, that might be too much to take on at Level 12.

Anyway, you need some serious firepower to take down the upper end critters in this game. You need a weapon that has more Damage than the DT of the critter you are shooting at. You may need to use better ammo, or just get a bigger gun.

Tell us what weapons you're using. If you have the red sheild on an enemy you need to use the higher damage weapon you have. What I mean is use the weapon that does more per hit regardless of the DPS. Also, armor piercing weapons are amazing for those high DT targets. If you can't find any decent weapons try the Gunrunners to the East of the Vegas Strip.

At first I thought the .50 cal was the best weapon ever after upgrading from the .308 sniper rifle but I actually prefer the sniper rifle. I play on hardcoe so the ammo is a huge change in weight and the rifle itself is 17 pounds difference with the correct weapon mods.

I'm used to FO3 too. Deathclaws I knew would be deadlier in NV, but I definitely underestimated those radscorpions at first...

Heh yea...those damn giant rad scorps kicked my butt when i went exploring. Found a nice abandoned shack, ooo big bug, lets shoot it, oh [censored]! I did manage to kill one at lvl 10 at VERY long range. I mean so far away that i could ONLY see it through the scope of my silenced varmint rifle. It took a good 15 ap shots outside of vats but revenge was served.

Speaking of silenced weapons. They do wonders at saving faction rep. I did that mission were you rescue those powder gangers from the legion raid party. Stayed a fair distance away, hit the sneak button, and took em out one by one with my now trusty silenced/scoped varmint rifle. No faction points lost. I tested this by reloading and rushing in. Got a huge faction hit. Sooo yea XD

I'm using Lucky, Cowboy repeater, Sawed off shotgun, Regular shotgun, 10mm machine gun, That Gun. (the incenerator seems to be ok as far as damage over time if i can hit them, get them burning, and run away as the fire does its damage) . Try everything in my arsenal and all seem to fall below the DT.

The "get a bigger gun" suggestion is actually part of my question. Up to this point i think i have the most powerful ones i could have gotten. None of the merchants sell anything better than what i have and havent come across anything that i havent picked up. Where is the best places to get better guns early(ish) game. Like i said. Just before heading to the strip in the main quest. been as far north as Boulder City and Helios...not quite up to the REPCONN headquarters.

Or am i just trying to do too much too early? Not really venturing very far off road tho

Your guns are not up to the task. I only have a 10MM Pistol still as it helps with lightly armored personell/ghouls etc. All the other ones you have I have traded in long ago.

I think if you go and visit some of the many fine implement of mayhem vendors in the area near the strip (Freeside) you might find some better toys to play with. Even up the odds if you will with some of the more frolicsome beasties. The merchants you have been to just don't have what you need.

Goody Spoiler Poke around McCarren Airport and look for the Supply Seargent in one of the anterooms.

You should probably have at least a hunting rifle by the time you're tangling with giant radscorpions.

Giant scorpians are NASTY you should always run from them until you have higher tier weaponry.. and ev en then run some;/

Your supposed to stay near the road and make your way to new vegas.. those side quests are higher level then you are realy.. leave them for later.

I'm level 18 and I use a Carbine Rifle. I can't even touch the deathclaws. As for Red Scorpions, they're tough aswell. I even use holo points, or armor priecing. Haven't tried my Incendiary rifle on them yet, though. There's no kidding that the outside mutties are tough as hell.I'm really out of options for the deathclaws. I refuse to use engery weapons/fatman, but that's probably what only works.

Hollow points are literally the worst ammo you can use against armored foes.

This would help a lot. My first few encounters with giant radscorpions I was using the original 9mm and the caravan shotgun from the preorder bonush ( even though I didn't predorder it haha).

This is what I love about New Vegas. If you try to go outside of your boundaries they will put you back in your place. The first time I went to the strip at level 5 I found 3 giant radscorpions and I was mauled each time. So, I decided to go an alternate route and I ran into my first pack of Cazadors. I personally love the fact you can wander off and "bite off more than you can chew".

If you want guns quick, go find the Gun Runners... just be ready to pay LOTS of caps.

It's true you have to pay a lot for the guns you want

I have over 70k caps and I'm level 26. Don't be a miser and buy whatever looks cool to you.

yea, I guess i'm trying to wonder out too quick. Need to stick to the paths more till the story/quests take me to places where i can buy better guns. Can;t buy good guns so far where I've been so maybe it's off to the strip i go. Would anyone suggest the Mojavie outpost???

IIRC, in Boulder City there is a body by the locomotive to the North, it's got a hunting rifle on it that has better stats that the cowboy repeater. There's also a hunting revolver located in the Repconn Testing Facility, it's a great weapon and I use it when things get a little hairy. Are you traveling with companions? Boone is a crack shot with his rifle and he's helped a lot since I picked him up.

I have to say , that once i found the Gobi Campaign scout rifle i never used any other waepons. As the sniper slogan says : one shot , one kill.
If you get the hand loader perk you can even make custom .308 ammo that makes it even more deadlier.

I do have Boone and he is great but even he was overwhelmed on my last run in with Giant Radscorpians.


Can you tell me where in the Repconn test facility i can find the hunting revolver? I just did come fly with me and i was all over that place and didn;t find it.

Armor penetrating rounds. Makes a HUGE difference on a lot of the tougher enemies in the game (End game Legion troops included).

Since the guy with the highest repair skill (that I have found so far) is there, yes I would suggest you go there. However the weapons availible are somewhat mundane.

However you can find what you need at Freeside.

Thanks!!! I'll check that out!

Does anyone know where that hunting revolver is in the Repconn test facility?

Giant Radscorpions are easy with 20 Gauge Slugs. I took maybe 20 standard shells to kill a Giant Radscorpion but it only took six slugs to put it down

When dealing with Deathclaws I was AMAZED that C4 explosives barely scratched them, even though I had low explosive skills. My tactics with the claws after many of times in the quarry are to cripple their legs and "kite" them around while blasting holes into them. I use ThatMachine ( M1 Garand ) and hollowpoints which seem to do the job, but it takes forever though.... might be since my main skills are Survival, Speech, and science. Also the other thing which was helpful is if you have Rex, his attack can knock the DeathClaws down for a few sec's just enough time to cripple their legs.

I thought explosives would of worked nicely, like in FO3, but these bastards are on roids!

According to the wiki that I read, "A hunting revolver is tucked between a corpse and the wall, next to a safe, in one of the second floor locked (easy) storage rooms in the REPCONN Test Site."