When to take on the DLC

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Tue Sep 17, 2013 5:39 pm

When am I ready for the DLC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_3_ ... le_content

What level should I be?

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:58 am

A difficult question to answer, it's as much about skill levels as 'levels' if you see what I mean., but in general the answer is pretty high.

Not sure about Point Lookout, only played through that one once or twice, but the rest are pretty tough and you take a lot of damage. Mothership Beta is one of my favourite DLC of all time, and The Pit is right up there as well, but they are both tough to get through,

Broken Steel is a separate issue as it doesn't even start until the main game ends, so the question is mute.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:27 am

PS Be aware that Anchorage and Mothership Zeta are both 'Lock ins'; once you start you cannot exit without completing them.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:29 am

Another warning, some third party plugins screw up MSZ, especially those that introduce non original items. The script that runs after you get beamed up that removes all your equipment can't handle non vanilla items and crashes.

Darth Gavinius · Post by **Darth Gavinius** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 2:56 am

If you go wasteland exploring before really going into DC, then just stumbling into Mothership Zeta and the Pitt can be quite difficult - definately best to leave them until later. I stopped playing Fallout 3 during Point Lookout, I was about 28 hours into the game and just got really bored.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:29 am

What is your guess for normal difficulty, average playskill or lower, no unique weapons, fairly intelligent build design?

I am level 9 and on the robco, history, library section of Moira Brown's quest. Should I wait for 10? 14? etc??

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Wed Sep 18, 2013 3:26 pm

Personally I'd wait for 15th, depends a lot on what skills you're working on and where they are. If you're good at heavy weaponry then I'd start on The Pit; if you're good at energy weapons then maybe MSZ, if guns are your thing then Anchorage*. You will take a lot of damage, it's pretty much unavoidable, make sure you have plenty of meds and repair capability before you take them on.

Heavy weapons are useful on this too, as is stealth. The rewards reflect this too. When you complete Anchorage you'll have one of the best guns and stealth suit in the game. Complete MSZ and you'll have the best energy weapons, The Pit great heavy weapons. Remember that most of these weapons will be in the hands of opponents before you can get them.

Darth Gavinius · Post by **Darth Gavinius** » Thu Sep 19, 2013 6:29 am

Some of Anchorage can be done with a decent stealth based approach. If you are tech minded or melee, the Pitt will be tough - you really need good preparation. MSZ might be the best place to start. I tend to play a high sneak sniper type and The Pitt - was really tough for me on normal difficulty. MSZ was fun, but if you don't check your fire you pick up a lot of bad karma.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Thu Sep 19, 2013 9:50 am

What kind of tactics work on the pit? My tactic is to use a combat shotgun and grenades if they are close enough. Damn Talon Mercenaries keep almost killing me :/ Grenades in vats you are immune to the damage while doing the vats. I guess I can make a save before entering the content.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Thu Sep 19, 2013 7:06 pm

OK, I'm glowing extremely red with embarrassment at the moment, complete Brain #### on my part. For some inexplicable reason I was confusing the Pitt with Lonesome Road in Fallout: NV.

My only, very feeble, excuse for this mess up is I only started the PItt once, hated it with a passion and never went anywhere near it again. Never even got close to starting it properly as I didn't meekly submit like the game designers insisted, I killed every bogey in sight then found I couldn't continue for some idiotic reason. One of the worst DLC I've ever come across, with the possible exception of Dead Money.

So just ignore everything I've said about The Pitt.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 6:48 am

So it's a new day and I still can't believe I made such a huge blunder, sorry about that Claudius, I hope I didn't screw your plans up.

However I still think you need something a lot better than a combat shotgun, up close it's fine, but I'd much rather have a 10mm machine gun for that and a sniper rifle for anything other than close range.

Darth Gavinius · Post by **Darth Gavinius** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 7:36 am

That tactic might work well in the Pitt. I recall at the end being attacked by just about everything that moved and relying on VATS to save ammo - as I recall some enemes use grenades, rockets etc. so you do have to be very careful.

To be honest... I don't think that the DLC for Fallout 3 brings much to the overall experience - MSZ may bring the most because it is a unique experience. I never got onto Broken Steel so I can't comment about it.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 10:33 am

I activated broken steel just for the 30 level max... I think broken steel allows you to beat the main quest and still adventure so I'll just do the vanilla content and see if I am bored.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:10 am

Darth Gavinius wrote: To be honest... I don't think that the DLC for Fallout 3 brings much to the overall experience - MSZ may bring the most because it is a unique experience. I never got onto Broken Steel so I can't comment about it.

I agree with that, and I also didn't venture enough into Broken Steel to comment.

Anchorage can be tough, and a bit weird, but it does give some historic background to the world the game's placed in. It's mainly worth it for the rewards at the end, the stealth suit and gauss gun certainly give a stealth/small guns build an immense boost.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 11:12 am

PS I definitely think level 9 is far too low for Anchorage and MSZ. If you're on to the second phase of Moira's quest then you should have a sniper rifle, once you get the hang of it you'll find it's a superior weapon.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Fri Sep 20, 2013 12:52 pm

Is the sniper rifle better than the scoped 44 magnum?

Another queston: I use shotguns point blank sometimes. If I do that tactic to handle close range situations is there any need to put points in melee weapons or unarmed? I haven't used a weapon on anything so far other than a rad roach or a guard when I exited the vault. I have scrounger perk so I have over 100 hunting rifle ammo, over 300 assault rifle, and around 300 shotgun shells.

Lemmus · Post by **Lemmus** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 10:55 am

Just giving a slightly different opinion on the ones above. Operation Anchorage can be done any time you want to. On one occasion I made a beeline to the spawn point, cheat/stealthed past the Super Mutants, and started the DLC at level 3. I had no problem in the main part of the mod, and the levels that I gained help with the end bit.

Mothership Zeta I have likewise played with a low level character with no major issues. The first fight on the ship requires you to soak damage while unarmed, but if you position yourself near to the friendly NPC and dodge a lot you can survive the fight and get a weapon quickly enough.

Both of these DLC are, as said above, separate from the main game and you won't get back to the wasteland until done, and both will kit you with some pretty powerful equipment. Without giving away details, OA will give you something to help with stealth game play, and MZ will give energy weapons in pistol, rifle, and heavy ranges.

As for your guns questions, the answer to the first depends on your playstyle, and to the second on your level.

The Sniper Rifle, as you'd expect, is designed for long range kills. If you have a steady hand and decent skill, it is the best long range weapon in the game, allowing you to head-shot any human class and many monsters. With proper positioning, you can take out an entire bandit camp without taking a single hit. The scoped Magnum is better at long range than you might expect, but I'd suggest only using it if you don't have the patience for the rifle. If you want to see a full stat comparison, check out the wiki at http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Scoped_.44_magnum and http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Sniper_rifle_(Fallout_3) .

For your second question, most ranged weapons can be used at short range, so you can skip mêlée and unarmed if you wish. I'd suggest putting some points into mêlée later, especially if you do any stealth game play, as there are times when you don't want to be heard. Also, be aware that 300 AR bullets will reach zero very quickly the first time you run into a super mutant camp. If you like the run and gun approach, you should probably spend some time practising shooting while backing up, or running away and taking a couple of shots. There's stuff in the game that you really don't want in close range.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:12 pm

Thanks, Lemus.

galraen · Post by **galraen** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:54 pm

I found melee weapons very disappointing in this game, for me they weren't worth spending skill points on. I did try once, but gave up half way through the game. Never even bothered with unarmed, so maybe there's hidden advantages to it, but I couldn't see any evidence of it.

The big problem with MSZ is that once you've got your gear back you almost immediately run into a mob in a tight corridor which results in taking a lot of damage if you can;t take them out fairly quickly; I did find a missile launcher very useful for that encounter. Maybe if you take the little girl's advice you can circumvent that encounter.

There are also some very hard to take down opponents, even with good equipment and skill that you can run into in MSZ.

Claudius · Post by **Claudius** » Sat Sep 21, 2013 1:53 pm

Hmm playing on normal it is easy enough that I can tank an enemy (maybe not multiple) and just shoot assault rifle or combat shotgun. I did that against a supermutant master.

Thanks, galraen.