Editor’s note: This is yet another in a long list of kick ass Sarcastic Gamer Survival Guides. If you want to check out the other ones in the series, click here for our list of guides for games like GTA IV, Call of Duty 4, Gears of War 2 and Far Cry 2, among others.
You can find the Beginner’s Survival Guide right here.
Well, well, well… You’re not dead, a slave or an irradiated Ghoul… You’ve made it this far. Congratulations.
Now what? After the jump, I’ll give you ten more tips to keep you alive, tell you the best perks and how to survive a bit longer in the Capitol Wasteland.
The mid game, in my estimation, is between the levels of around 8 and 12. It’s at this point in the game, where you should have a pretty good stock of weapons, have explored quite a bit of the wasteland and are probably a few quests in on the main questline. Here’s ten mid-game tips to further help your game.
1. You’ll gather quite a bit of irradiated food and come across water fountains and sinks, all of which can heal your body. If you don’t have the food purifier, put on a radiation suit when eating large quantities of irradiated food and water to halve the rad exposure.
2. When you get to Rivet city, without spoiling anything, be sure to complete the side quest with Harkness by convincing him to stay in Rivet City. If you do that, he’ll give you a unique weapon that is a godsend.
3. Don’t get the Bloody Mess perk. While it may “look cool” to blow your enemies to tiny pieces, searching and getting items from multiple enemies after a protracted fire fight will be exponentially more difficult if they’re in pieces everywhere.
4. Use different clothing options to your advantage. Use the Radiation suit for consuming irradiated food, the lab coat for science bonuses, etc. Don’t stick with one suit of armor for the entire game.
5. Spending more than 50 points in Big Guns, Small Guns or Energy weapons isn’t really necessary. While going above 50 does increase your damage and accuracy, you’ll really need the extra points for other categories like lock picking, medicine and science. If you stick with the tactic of aiming yourself at long range and using VATS at close range, you won’t need to increase your weapon stats above 50.
Six through ten on page 2.
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Ahh, I got Bloody Mess. I had no idea it was THAT messy. Jesus… But it does look pretty cool, so for me it’s almost a fair trade.
Good guide, Lono. That Perks list is a godsend.
I have the food purifier but don’t know how to operate it. I picked up the Pip-Boy’s intricacies with little trouble, so I’d like to think it’s not because I’m a moron.
However, I’d also like to think that I can move objects with my mind, so it’s not looking so good for me.
How do you use the damn thing?
Hey Lono, did you find many of those bubble head boys? I only found one at the very beginning… And damn Love the bloody mess perk, it never get’s old !
Thanks for the tips Lono. I also need tips on how to manage my time to play this along with Fable 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, and Dead Space. I need a clone and the upcoming GOW2 !! What a great season for gaming.
walkyourpath, the food purifier just needs to be in your inventory, and it should increase the health gained from irradiated foods.
Nexus, I’ve collected 6 so far. To be honest, I can’t remember half of them. But the most recent I’ve gotten is at Fort Constantine, which should be located around the mid to north west of the Area Map. You’ll find the Intelligence Bobble Head in a broken-open safe there.
Don’t know if anyone particularly cares, but there’s a handful of useful tips at Secondary-Fire.com
interesting … for some reason, I have Nexus’ name. Anyway, I’m mistaken, the Intelligence bobble head is at Rivet City, in the Sciency-Room. You’ll find it, I’m sure.
It’s Big Guns at Fort Constantine.
@ JonChan — thanks for letting me know that it’s a passive effect — that was driving me crazy. I hardly ever eat food though, anyway
@JonChan/Nexus — I found a strength bobble-head in Lucas Simms house in Megaton. I’m playing through as good this time, but the minor karma hit for breaking in was worth it for a permanent strength boost. I’ll give old Mickey out front some more purified water and it’s all good. Plenty of opportunities to make that karma back. That’s the only one I’ve found so far though.
@walkyourpath- You don’t need to break in to Simms’s house if you wait til he or his son are home. You can just walk right in during most times of the day, so no karma hit.
Also, perks like Mister Sandman and Robotics Expert are GREAT for characters who aren’t oriented around combat and prefer the sneakier way to do things. Also, the “well rested” XP gain only counts if you sleep in your OWN bed. Sleeping in random beds you find out in the wastes won’t net you the “well rested” status.
I actually found the bloody mess perk made things easier, as you can select any bit you blew off and still get the items. Especially useful if the enemy is on a balcony or something and a bit falls down. Everything else is good though!
I didn’t even know you could pick items up with the right stick
Great guide Lono. Really hlepful to me right now, about level 13.
Also, if anybody cares, I’ve found all of the bobbleheads.
Hey theres a mister sandman perk that if you use it on a sleeping kid you wont kill them so they wont freak out as well as the fact you get the xp. (and the karma hit, but if you’ve ever used that perk….you know that) in that place with the toy cars (i believe its south of megaton..not EXACTLY south but somewhere south) theres at least 1 sleeping kid – at the times when they are asleep.