Current Events > Fallout New Vegas playthrough (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

You gotta feel bad for the Nightstalkers.
The game tries to be nice and pair them up with Cazadors like they're the two top predators of the Mojave.

But the most memorable thing about Nightstalkers is the flips and cartwheels they do when you melee kill them.
Meanwhile Cazadors are like the Sonic drowning theme in giant insect form.

Brain says there will be some things it'll miss about being ambulatory. Reminisces about seeing Jason Bright and friends fly away in a rocket.

...Except that didn't happen? Unless the brain is talking about Super Slam and ragdoll physics? I'm not sure I want this faulty brain back.

Tragedy. Oliver Swanick has been killed.
I returned to the desert to tell him about how I defeated the Legendary Bloatfly using a Blade of the West, Rushing Water and Slasher.

But the radcorpions had respawned. I tried to close the gap as soon as I saw, but they were too far away for a melee user, even with stop-hopping. The cowardly, respawn-abusing radscorpions killed him.
I killed the radscorpions right after, but that doesn't change a lot.

Now my character has nobody to share his stories of beating mutants up with.
This really was a 1 luck playthrough.

Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever tested Oliver Swanick to see if he was 'settlement' able (i.e. has no fixed schedule or sandboxing, so you can attack him and get him to follow you somewhere else, where he'll remain indefinitely).

NV has a surprising amount of NPCs that fit this criteria, and Swanick potentially fits the bill since he's effectively useless gameplay-wise after his introduction; it all depends on whether or not his script to run headlong into Radscorpion country ends when he arrives at his destination.

masterpug53 posted...

Now that I think about it, I don't think I ever tested Oliver Swanick to see if he was 'settlement' able (i.e. has no fixed schedule or sandboxing, so you can attack him and get him to follow you somewhere else, where he'll remain indefinitely).

NV has a surprising amount of NPCs that fit this criteria, and Swanick potentially fits the bill since he's effectively useless gameplay-wise after his introduction; it all depends on whether or not his script to run headlong into Radscorpion country ends when he arrives at his destination.

I've been wondering if I could use the reverse-pickpocket ability to set him up with a bunch of stimpaks and armor.
I don't know if power armor training applies to NPCs, pretty sure you can put power armor on compansions at least. Maybe it was possible to put Royez's hp regen power armor on him and give him a Thermic Lance or something.

If you can lead him away though, that's great because he's in the early-game and a safe spot should be easy to find.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

I've been wondering if I could use the reverse-pickpocket ability to set him up with a bunch of stimpaks and armor.
I don't know if power armor training applies to NPCs, pretty sure you can put power armor on compansions at least. Maybe it was possible to put Royez's hp regen power armor on him and give him a Thermic Lance or something.

If you can lead him away though, that's great because he's in the early-game and a safe spot should be easy to find.

If you've got a save to reload from before he died, just try pushing him a good distance away from where he's standing (I'd say push him as far as the highway / Nipton Pit Stop just to be safe). Then fast-travel away to a far-off destination (Strip Gate is a good choice), save, reload, then fast-travel back. If at any point Oliver walks back to where you originally found him, then it's probably no-go; but if he's still standing where you pushed him to, then you're good to proceed.

At this point, the goal is to aggro him and get him to chase you across the Mojave to wherever you want him to stay from now on. I've personally populated Goodsprings and Novac with extra NPCs (interiors at such locations work too); certain NPCs will even chase you all the way into the Lucky 38 lobby.

Once you've picked a location, you'll need a Stealth Boy and a BB gun w/ a fair amount of ammo (you need a ranged weapon that does the least amount of damage possible - unfortunately shotgun bean bags don't work very well in my experience). It would also behoove you to map out your route between your chosen destination and where Oliver's at, and clear the road of enemies beforehand. Reverse-pickpocket a couple Stimpaks into Oliver's inventory (and pickpocket any ammo he has), and then shoot him with the BB gun to get him to start chasing you. If at any point he runs away scared, stay a fair distance away from him, wait for him to crouch down in fear, then shoot him again, which should get him to start chasing again.

The most frustrating part of this process is that, due to some weird enemy AI present in both FO3 and NV, every few hundreds yards an enemy chasing you will turn around and run in the opposite direction. As soon as they turn back the other way, you need to shoot them again with the BB gun, which will interrupt this and get them to chase you again.

Once you finally get them to their destination and want them to stop chasing you, pop the Stealth Boy (while standing) and crouch, which should immediately end hostilities. Then you can nudge Oliver to wherever you want him standing permanently.

I don't have a save, I stopped rotating New Vegas saves a while ago.
That is a job for another day, in a happier timeline.

Goodsprings definitely sound like the place. Imagine the lore. Thousands and thousands of couriers shot him in the head. Doc Mitchell still managed to save him.
Is there a reason it needs to be a weak ranged weapon though? Couldn't I use the boxing gloves with an extremely low unarmed stat?

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Is there a reason it needs to be a weak ranged weapon though? Couldn't I use the boxing gloves with an extremely low unarmed stat?

I don't think that works, even though I can't exactly explain why. Honestly it's just one of those cases where I spent hours upon hours trial-and-error'ing my way into a reliably workable exploit, and that was over a decade ago and I didn't reserve the brain space for anything but the essential info, lol. IIRC it's simply the fact that you have a narrow window to interrupt that weird 'turn around' thing that happens every few hundred yards, and you need a ranged weapon to properly do it.

Like, the window is so narrow that you'll want to backpedal pretty much the entire way just so you don't miss it when it happens - if you're not paying attention then the NPC chasing you will be over the hills and far away by the time you notice. The good news is that it's not a total loss if the NPC doesn't get successfully interrupted - you can just chase them back down, get them to resume chasing you, and try again (then they'll do the 'turn around' thing again at roughly the same spot and you can have another go at interrupting them).

It's one of those things that'll make a lot more sense once you try it, and start getting the rhythm of it. I can't remember the full list of NPCs who work for this, but some examples include Doc Mitchell, Sammy and Pauline Wins, the four Vault 34 survivors at Aerotech (should you choose to rescue them), Lupe and Fitz at the Grub n' Gulp, Lacey and Ranger Ghost from the Mojave Outpost, and Keene and some of the generic Super Mutants at Jacobstown (after the 'Guess Who I Saw Today' quest concludes peacefully).

This seems like a lot of effort when you could just accomplish the same thing with console commands

UnholyMudcrab posted...

This seems like a lot of effort when you could just accomplish the same thing with console commands

These exploits were all done on the Xbox. I don't know what system TC's playing on, but I assume he wouldn't be talking about going through the rigmarole of reverse-pickpocketing armor and stimpaks onto Oliver if he could simply console-command him back to life.

UnholyMudcrab posted...

This seems like a lot of effort when you could just accomplish the same thing with console commands

Is that even the true Oliver Swanick?
Where is the prestige in being a digital replica of a man who won the lottery?

I'm not having this argument with you again, Barclay. The people who go into the transporter are the same people who come out the other side, regardless of any rearrangement of atoms.

And when the very same console is used to create a second, duplicate Oliver Swanick next to the first one?
We're supposed to shrug and go along with that too?

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Goodsprings definitely sound like the place. Imagine the lore.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/be92b957.jpg

Shotgunnova posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/be92b957.jpg

Rofl.

I'd like to see Pete try and pretend like an ex Powder Ganger won't know how to use his dynamite.
Oliver Swanick solos Difficult Pete, Ultra V-Rated Pete, Dante Must Die Pete, you name it.

And I got some run ideas. All compatible with high luck.

1- I watched a playthrough of Life is Strange. Not my kind of gameplay at all but the weird characters and dialogue made it a fun time. Maybe there's a way to incorporate save scumming into a New Vegas character
2- OWB makes me think of Xenoblade. I should make a Mechon. Proton Axe has the blue Monado glow.
3- Keep accepting quests then failing them. Cannot kill quest giver.
4- Finally get round to trying the Bozar or the Brush Gun. These exist and I keep saying I'll test them some time.

Ran straight to the Divide. High luck, high energy weapons.
The Arc Wielder wasn't doing anything with 50-something energy weapons. Blade of the best still has no problem propkilling them with minimal melee weapons skill.
Hmm.

I like that feeling of going into an Big MT building at night, doing all its quests and exiting to find it's now dawn. And then immediately going straight to the next quest.

I'm still trying to mechify my player character. Controversial pick possibly, but I've taken the Swift Learner perk 3 times. Because that's like how machines assimilate and optimise. I did the Skilled/Good Natured glitch. Predictably, I have the Protonic Inversal Axe and Elijah's LAER.
I wish the Holorifle was easier to get hold of. It's my favorite energy weapon by far.

I have 100 energy weapons. Elijah's Advancer LAER still needs a few shots to take out a Deathclaw, even with a sneak attack crit.
I don't play energy weapons much and can't remember what I'm doing wrong.

Oh NVM I found out why it wasn't hitting that hard. I had the difficulty up this whole time. Set it to normal.

Shotgunnova posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/be92b957.jpg

Lmao

All this time I thought the SPRTLWOOD9700 was an 8/9 STR weapon. It's only 6.
And they got these recipes. Conversion, MFC to ECP (3) and SEC to ECP (2)

So now I've got a big green laser death ray on a character with middling strength and over 9000 shots. Oh, and the Enclave armor. Did the Brotherhood quest to get the training.

I'm not even sure what all this is for. I haven't even met Benny yet. Both Deathclaw locations are cleared out. Honest Hearts can't fight back against this, Loansome Road wouldn't have much better luck. Dead Money would totally nullify it.
I think my Mechon is complete.

I wish you could play as the ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT CORPORATE ESPIONAGE guy.

Fists only run day 2
It's not going well but it's not a total disaster yet either, there's still a lot to try. My character has the word CRUSH in his name but the only thing being sufficiently ground into dust are the weakest bug enemies.

If I can find some Protectrons and weak Nightstalkers, I should be able to eventually earn damage bonuses against machines and abominations.

Got one of the lv3 damage bonuses. It doesn't add a lot.
Barehanded is losing me. I was hoping the Super Slam + 4x damage VATS stomp would be a game changer. Piercing Strike is nice too but all together it's not doing much. It's probably fun on the lower difficulties at least.

Maybe I should go in the opposite direction, frail character with 10 CHR, well armed companions and companion perks.
Or get the Superheated Saturnite Power Fist and go full God Hand on the rest of the game.

I can rarely if ever justify having a high base Charisma in NV when it's so easy to boost with consumables compared to other attributes. I love RP'ing backstory-wise, but apart from that one time I did a 1 Intelligence run, stat-wise I almost always build my characters more or less the same (especially when it comes to high Agility and Luck).

I just wish Better Criticals didn't require me to dump 5 into Perception right out of the gate, because that is by far NV's most useless attribute otherwise.

Maybe I could tape it to an Explosives run.
45 repair/45 Explosives for Mad Bomber, start turning MF Cells into MF Grenades, give all the other guns and ammo to whichever companion. Sneak attack crit on a group + 2 bulky companions running in could be a lot of easy EXP.

This current run has low Barter and that's been pretty rough. There'd be more incentive to level it fast in an Explosives run because of Pack Rat though.
I was actually on the level up screen, skimming the perks while writing this and wow you get some good Explosives perks way earlier than I remember, I'm going for it.

MF Grenades are doing great.
Gotta say though, early in the run I got kind of attached to the image of my guy running around intently holding a stick of Dynamite. Made him look more like a crazy person.

Considering this run is just running around with two minions and grenade in hand at all times, I should really save up for Terrifying Presence.

I should align with a faction. All of these runs have just been playing around with weapons/builds/DLC.
Haven't played Dead Money yet though. And my favorite Energy Weapon in the game is in there to boot.
Sounds like a Brotherhood run waiting to happen.

I didn't know the BoS shop sold Thermic Lances. A rare chance of it happening? Felt weird being a level 5 with a Thermic Lance. Not complaining though.
This was meant to be an Energy Weapons run but this thing is so strong that it's now half laser weapons and half lance. Visually matches the armor too.

The armor they give you for joining doesn't actually mark you as a member of the BoS so aside from the +2 STR bonus there's not much point wearing it. Had to repair together a bunch of T51Bs.

i'm actually about to start a pyromaniac playthrough, should be fun

also you'd think the thermic lance would do fire damage...

How does that run work?
You run straight to Black Mountain from Goodsprings and take out the first Super Mutant you see holding a Heavy Incinerator? Then build for crits?

i think the viper leader at the patrol station on the way to that NCR checkpoint always has a flamer, albeit in shitty condition

Oh right. Now that I think about it, there's a pretty consistent fire weapon spawn in that big Primm building near where they have Beagle too.
Could run up the left side of the map and take Cook-Cook's weapon as well.

I like how overly early-game-NPC Sgt McGee feels compared to the rest of the NCR.
The others talk to you like you're just some guy, they have quests and opinions. Sgt McGee though, his whole personality is he announces who he is to you.
If he dies, the game gives you a message. It makes sense to highlight when some characters die, but he sticks out so much.

What is/was the point of Searchlight Airport?
A measure to prevent new players from running straight to Cottonwood Cove?
Could have been a bit more interesting. All this space and just a few Radscorpions. Meanwhile next door in Camp Searchlight, they've got the only Radscorpion Queen in the game that I can think of in a small room.

I don't really take pictures of games. I stopped a while ago.
People I know still take lots of screenshots and I wonder if they actually go back and look at them.

I really thought running around as a Brotherhood of Steel member would result in mostly negative karma.
The game really pushes you toward positive karma with all the Feral Ghouls and Fiends.
I wonder if playthrough wearing a Great Khan/Legion outfit would end up the same way.

That being said, these are hardly playthroughs. I've played 5 characters so far and none of them have bothered to even meet Benny.

Can't you like... Gaslight the ghouls and then blow them to kingdom come?

ViewtifulJoe posted...

45 repair/45 Explosives for Mad Bomber, start turning MF Cells into MF Grenades

MFC clusters are waayyy better and so much more fun. I take MFC clusters to the Deathclaw Promontory and they don't even stand a chance. If you're planning to take Mad Bomber in a run, hoard all the duct tape and scrap electronics.

Legion run.
-I got the costume and put it on as soon as possible, there's an ash pile with a Legion recruit outfit by the caravan in Nipton.
-Early game's rougher than usual. NCR's in Primm, NCR's in Sloan, you can't go to the NCR outpost for easy quests and a free level, there's guys posted on the McCarran that take pot shots at you.
-Apart from the NCR and their main associates like the Crimson Caravan, nobody cares if you wear a Legion costume. I don't know if it's fear or apathy. Vulpes puts on a disguise, I thought the idea was that if you run around in a Legion outfit, everyone piles you.
-Manny Vargas and especially Boone not immediately turning hostile is a weird one. When I spoke to Boone I was vilified by NCR but I didn't have that much Legion rep yet.
-I've found a way to make the Legion run more fun. You make a robot master and pretend Caesar is Dr Wily. Since they're all wearing red and have chainsaws, I'm playing as Metal Man.
-When I left the Lucky 38 after Metal Blading Mr House, there was a fight outside and all the NPCs prioritised running away. I just rested in the desert in the south left of the map and Emily Ortal has tracked my guy all the way over here to ask if he was the guy who was in the Lucky 38. I've never seen this. I assumed the Followers would automatically be hostile. Maybe it's because the Legion outfit's been broken for a while now. Hard to get more when you're not allowed to take out Legionaries.
-They really should have let you fast travel to Caesar's tent. As is, the walk is still a big deterrent to picking that side. It's all hills too so even stop-hopping isn't that efficient.

synth_real posted...

MFC clusters are waayyy better and so much more fun. I take MFC clusters to the Deathclaw Promontory and they don't even stand a chance. If you're planning to take Mad Bomber in a run, hoard all the duct tape and scrap electronics.

I could give this a try but the bit about having to hoard random stuff you find in boxes and lockers sounds kinda rough.
Maybe it'd have to be a dedicated explosives run. The one I was doing was an anomaly because it had points in charisma. Idea was I'd stand in the back throwing MF Grenades while bulky companions take aggro.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

I could give this a try but the bit about having to hoard random stuff you find in boxes and lockers sounds kinda rough.
Maybe it'd have to be a dedicated explosives run. The one I was doing was an anomaly because it had points in charisma. Idea was I'd stand in the back throwing MF Grenades while bulky companions take aggro.

There's vendors who sell the parts, and also upgrades for The Sink in OWB that provide more. You can recycle clipboards into duct tape, and Muggy can be upgraded to provide 5 scrap electronics per day. I feel like the hoarding behaviour makes sense for a Mad Bomber kind of character, you spend the early game scavenging all the stuff you need as you craft your arsenal, you end up getting excited to find caches of stuff you used to see as junk. While easily ignorable, the crafting systems of NV are worth getting into, some of the chems you can craft are pretty powerful too.

synth_real posted...

There's vendors who sell the parts, and also upgrades for The Sink in OWB that provide more. You can recycle clipboards into duct tape, and Muggy can be upgraded to provide 5 scrap electronics per day. I feel like the hoarding behaviour makes sense for a Mad Bomber kind of character, you spend the early game scavenging all the stuff you need as you craft your arsenal, you end up getting excited to find caches of stuff you used to see as junk. While easily ignorable, the crafting systems of NV are worth getting into, some of the chems you can craft are pretty powerful too.

The most I really went into it are the Vigilant Recycler recipes for Energy Weapons and some of the busted campfire recipes you get for Survival.
I always assumed the stuff like turning tin cans into bullets sounded better on paper and were impractical in game. Turning junk into OP weapons sounds like it's worth at least one try though.

The idea of chem crafting reminds me I always wanted to try that Turbo/Implant GRX + Chemist strat where you basically get Slow VFX too.

Ulysses lied and told me I didn't support the Legion even though I've got idolised status and the outfit.
And also he's immune to being obliterated with a chainsaw even after you've beaten him. And if you take the Duster from him, he's inexplicably still wearing it.

Oh and it gave me the 21 Courier Duster. That's weird. Thought being idolised was enough to pass as a faction member.

ViewtifulJoe posted...

Ulysses lied and told me I didn't support the Legion even though I've got idolised status and the outfit.
And also he's immune to being obliterated with a chainsaw even after you've beaten him. And if you take the Duster from him, he's inexplicably still wearing it.

Oh and it gave me the 21 Courier Duster. That's weird. Thought being idolised was enough to pass as a faction member.

The 21 Courier Duster is the Yes Man one. You get it if Strip, NCR and Legion rep are all equal or negative.

Bat178 posted...

The 21 Courier Duster is the Yes Man one. You get it if Strip, NCR and Legion rep are all equal or negative.

I just looked it over.
It dropped my Legion rep to neutral at some point. I still have vilified on NCR and Strip.
I thought they only messed with your rep when Vulpes and Crocker summon you. What's caused that?

Idea.
-New character, extremely flimsy with high perception, intelligence and luck.
-Must dress like a stereotypical nerd, no armor. Small Frame and Four Eyes traits.
-No self-respecting companions allowed.
-Must use the crafting system and be overconfident about it.
-Benny is from the chess club, he wears that suit because he wants to look more like a chessboard. This guy is the leader of the after school homework club. Benny shot him because he is jealous of his coolness.
-Never allowed to level speech. Something to limit how fast Barter can level too. Must always choose a failed speech check if it's an option, otherwise pick the most standoffish or evil response. This most likely means siding with Mr House and constantly trying to one-up him in conversation.