Alternatives for first part of the game, anyone?

[TheUnwashed]

I m kinda bored with the repetition in the first part of the game, when going for a new game, it seems like one needs to go trough the same things over and over (also to get exp.) before getting some more freedom.

Anyone found an alternative route, or some alternative way to accumulate exp?

I tried getting past the Deathclaws at quarry junction, but not a real alternative.

 

[Lexx]

Sneak through the deathclaw area and head straight up to the strip. From there on you then can do whatever you want to. I didn't found it much harder than going the normal way from Goodsprings to Primm, etc. etc.

 

[Yamu]

Same way I did it. It's not too tough if you tag sneak and dump a level or two of skill points into it. Be careful and remember to save, and once you make it through the world's your oyster.

 

[milk ducks]

I tend to stick to the "default" route, because the sooner you get to Primm, the sooner you can pick up Lucky. It's a fantastic weapon, and it holds me over until I get to Novac and pick up That Gun.

But if I wanted to skip all of that content, and come back to it later in the game, I'd probably make a bee-line through Quarry Junction toward the Strip, like the others have said. If that's too difficult, I'd probably take the standard Primm -> Novac route, then take the Interstate straight up past REPCONN HQ toward the Strip.

Either one would be just fine, I think. Hitting the Strip early on like that is actually a pretty common strategy; if you look up any "Level 1 Implant" guides, you should be able to locate some pretty easy routes from Goodsprings up to Northern Mojave.

 

[Courier]

Isn't Lucky in a 'Hard' safe? By the time I get my lockpicking that high, I've usually forgotten about lucky.

 

[milk ducks]

Yeah, but I usually pick up Comprehension at level 4. With Mentats or something, you only have to hover just above 50 Lockpicking to access Lucky. I tend to Tag Lockpicking almost every time, personally, because I think it's really useful, so picking it up as soon as I get to Primm is rarely an issue. Your mileage may vary.

 

[ramessesjones]

I've found going to Vegas through Hidden Valley/Scorpion Gulch is very easy at the start if you find at least one on stealth boy in Goodsprings, just kill the Bark Scorpions, run past the first Giant Scorpion you see and then activate the stealth boy once you get near the area with lost laser pistol and you are on your way.

It drops you out near Helios and you can easily go to Vegas, any of the surrounding slums or Novac from there skipping Primm and Nipton. It is also near the 188, so you pick up Veronica very early on.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

I've found going to Vegas through Hidden Valley/Scorpion Gulch is very easy at the start if you find at least one on stealth boy in Goodsprings, just kill the Bark Scorpions, run past the first Giant Scorpion you see and then activate the stealth boy once you get near the area with lost laser pistol and you are on your way.

It drops you out near Helios and you can easily go to Vegas, any of the surrounding slums or Novac from there skipping Primm and Nipton. It is also near the 188, so you pick up Veronica very early on.

This. I do this everytime I restart the game, but to pass through the Scorpion Gulch you don't even need a Stealth Boy, running like hell is enough.

And once you reach Helios One you are near Boulder City and the 1000XP (enough to reach level 4) awarded for finding the Great Khans.

 

[outofthegamer]

And once you reach Helios One you are near Boulder City and the 1000XP (enough to reach level 4) awarded for finding the Great Khans.

The best part about that is just talking to Jessup in Boulder City gives you enough exp. to raise your speech to 45, thereby allowing you to pass the speech check to make them leave Boulder City peacefully.... which allows you to finish that quest easily, and getting another level up. So you go from level 2 to 5 in about one minute.

 

[The Enclave 86]

I've found going to Vegas through Hidden Valley/Scorpion Gulch is very easy at the start if you find at least one on stealth boy in Goodsprings, just kill the Bark Scorpions, run past the first Giant Scorpion you see and then activate the stealth boy once you get near the area with lost laser pistol and you are on your way.

It drops you out near Helios and you can easily go to Vegas, any of the surrounding slums or Novac from there skipping Primm and Nipton. It is also near the 188, so you pick up Veronica very early on.

I always go the Niel's shack and run along the rocks to the side of the road that leads to the top of he mountain; eventually there is a pass with a dead NCR soldier, some bear-traps and a falling rock but it takes you right to the REPCONN Headquarters.

 

[TheUnwashed]

seems like I was a little lazy and impatient , or just uninspired (?),
to find the alternative roads shown to me by your posts.

I tried the one via Scorpion Gulch to Helios one and then straight to the Khans (1000xp)in Boulder city, canceling the rad-scorpions by means of running....
I like to have this leap forward in character development for a fifth or sixth game....

Thanks for the suggestions,
the one with Neils shack also looks interesting.

 

[brfritos]

...And once you reach Helios One you are near Boulder City and the 1000XP (enough to reach level 4) awarded for finding the Great Khans.

Thank god I'm on a PC, 4 levels in a minute isn't a little too much?

Not a complain to you, BTW.

 

[Stanislao Moulinsky]

Thank god I'm on a PC, 4 levels in a minute isn't a little too much?

Well, no. This is an exploit, because you are supposed to search them the long way. It's like going immediately to Navarro in FO2, sort of.

 

[TheUnwashed]

...And once you reach Helios One you are near Boulder City and the 1000XP (enough to reach level 4) awarded for finding the Great Khans.

Thank god I'm on a PC, 4 levels in a minute isn't a little too much?

Not a complain to you, BTW.

Its different on a PC then, earning xp? Or are you running a mod?

Well generally I think the game is way to easy, leveling to fast (and of course having unrestricted access to inventory during combat,...)

I don't think its to much now, since Ive played the game trough for about 5 times... And now i feel like experimenting a bit... so going straight for the 1000 xp speeds things up a bit, to get faster to were a want to get. Like now, I never had Arcade for a companion, I needed the 75 skill points for the speech check amongst other things....

 

[brfritos]

...And once you reach Helios One you are near Boulder City and the 1000XP (enough to reach level 4) awarded for finding the Great Khans.

Thank god I'm on a PC, 4 levels in a minute isn't a little too much?

Not a complain to you, BTW.

Its different on a PC then, earning xp? Or are you running a mod?

I'm using a mod, this one specifically, the game behave equal on PC, XBox and PS3.
I consider THE mod for experience, because it allows you to tailor the amount gainned in quests and exploration.

Most experience mods only cover quests, but when you are exploring you gain some obscene amounts of XP for killing mole-rats, bloatflies or hacking a very easy computer.

Well generally I think the game is way to easy, leveling to fast (and of course having unrestricted access to inventory during combat,...)

I don't think its to much now, since Ive played the game trough for about 5 times... And now i feel like experimenting a bit... so going straight for the 1000 xp speeds things up a bit, to get faster to were a want to get. Like now, I never had Arcade for a companion, I needed the 75 skill points for the speech check amongst other things....

I don't wanna rant, but the game is easy...well, because it is build on top of FO3 way of playing.
I have to throw my hat to Obsidian, I didn't have too much trouble in FO3, but my firsts NV playthroughs were difficult.

I remember in FO3 a simple 10mm pistol annihilating a BoS Paladin on level 10.
The first time I encountered their bunker in NV I was too on level 10 and tried to play smart, like "oh, this jokers again?", and had my ass owned fast!

They did what they could to give an challenge to the player, but after some playthroughs you pick the behave and the game indeed become easy.
And yeah, the player being able to use the inventory in the middle of the battle is so much cheat as using VATS (Very Anal reTentive System).

 

[TheUnwashed]

I don't wanna rant, but the game is easy...well, because it is build on top of FO3 way of playing.
I have to throw my hat to Obsidian, I didn't have too much trouble in FO3, but my firsts NV playthroughs were difficult.

I remember in FO3 a simple 10mm pistol annihilating a BoS Paladin on level 10.
The first time I encountered their bunker in NV I was too on level 10 and tried to play smart, like "oh, this jokers again?", and had my ass owned fast!

They did what they could to give an challenge to the player, but after some play-troughs you pick the behave and the game indeed become easy.
And yeah, the player being able to use the inventory in the middle of the battle is so much cheat as using VATS (Very Anal reTentive System).

Yeah, can be that in that the actual game is more difficult compared to FO3, but the feeling I have during playing is of being almost invincible. It takes away the urgency from the supposed situation your in (also non combat situations), hence undermines the game as a whole, the setting and theme (post nuclear survival). Compared to F3, FNV feels more like a post disney-land excursion, where the challenge lies in dealing with a typical European theme park (like mini-europe or the Efteling), rather then something like disney-land. Only slightly different, but more interesting anyway.

 

[brfritos]

Oh, I'm not saying that NV is a masterpiece, far from it.

Like you said, since they can't change the gameplay substancially, they at least provided good quests and some very inspired dialogs.

For example, I was reading how the perks would be implemented in Van Buren and it seems that perks would be tied to player characteristics and skills, rather than player's level.
Now, what a friggin' good idea.

Say I'm a courier who likes to when possible resolve problems by talking and his build is constructed around explosives/melee.
I play on PC, so I don't neeed VATS, since my mouse is accurate enough for targeting. So i reach level 18. In FNV I have available Computer Whiz, Concentrated Fire, Infiltrator and Paralyzing Palm.
What possibly use my build have for this? Or even luck, since explosives don't have critical hit and melee have low critical damage, so better criticals is more or less useless to me.
Usually we ended picking some perk for earlier levels, but wouldn't be nice to have perks focused on my characteristics, rather than on my level?

Also, NV world gives too much for the player, you only suffer shortage of edibles, chems, stims and so on if you want or are in the first playthrough.
Things should be earned, not given.

 

[Walpknut]

You should download the Project Nevada MOD if you have the PC version, it rebalances the game a lot, there are some things it changes that aren't as appealing, but you can toggle all of them to your liking, it is a very good mod, I was imprressed.

 

[brfritos]

Hey, thanks for the tip Walpknut, I saw the overhaul displayed in the front page some times, but it never called my attention.

There are things very good, things that don't make an slightly sense and things that simply don't work (because people are still thinking in FO1/2 terms and skills and attributes in FO3/FNV behave different).

But overall the mod is simply great. Better yet, you can configure it inside the game and enable/disable what you don't liked, unlike a lot of mods out there.