What video game are you playing?

[wizards8507]

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[JughedJones]

This is what I'm on now. I'm a sim guy at heart and this is fertile territory for me.


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[gkIrish]

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I own the game but have not played it yet. Did they basically fix everything that needed to be fixed?

 

[wizards8507]

I own the game but have not played it yet. Did they basically fix everything that needed to be fixed?

I haven't played it since the update. The thing that's the most promising to me is that they claim to have fixed the fatigue. It was infuriating when you'd play online and the other guy is zipping around with the Lionel Messi and the sprint button held the entire game and he'd never get tired.

 

[gkIrish]

Has anyone played "Her Story" ?

It's a pretty unique game. I bought it last night and finished it in about 3 hours. It costs 6 bucks on steam. Basically you run keyword searches to try and reveal the entirety of 6 different interviews of a woman whose husband was murdered. I won't give away more but I highly recommend it.

 

[Veer option]

Downloaded Fallout 4 last Sunday. Holy cow this game has taken over my life. This is the first Fallout game I have played but it is pretty damn fun.

 

[ulukinatme]

Finally got around to beating Fallout 4, but I'm not finished with the game. I'm going to go back to a previous save and do the Railroad, Minutemen, and Institute quest lines. There won't be much to do there, because I waited until the last absolute second to side with the Brotherhood. If I didn't side with them I would have gone with the Minutemen. I just couldn't see the good in the Institute, and the Railroad reminded me of a bunch of hippie liberals. I didn't always agree with the Brotherhood, but they're the best equipped to save the Commonwealth imo, and I've got no problem wiping the synths, ghouls, and super mutants from the Commonwealth landscape.

I was going to try and spare the Railroad even though they annoy me. If you're siding with the Brotherhood you can actually bypass Tactical Thinking and spare the Railroad if you do Mass Fusion for the Institute and rat them out to the Brotherhood, but there's a certain order you have to do them in and I didn't feel like reloading to one of my old saves.

Other than seeing those other faction endings, I've still got a few small quests I can do here and there, but I've unlocked every POI and cleared most places at least once.

 

[ulukinatme]

I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the Sniper and Concentrated Fire perks are very nice. If you're using a scoped rifle quite a bit, the last perk point in Sniper will often drop a target to the ground when you hit them, which opens them up for lots of easy shots as they're getting back to their feet. They definitely go well with the Sneak perks too for those Sneak Attacks and extra damage. Commando is nice too if you don't feel like using single shot rifles or shotguns, or you can just add Commando for short-medium range assaults. Whatever weapons you prefer, make sure you pickup the associated perks that increase their damage I guess. I'm toying with picking up more of the Luck perks right now, I think they'll be overkill though. I've got 3 points in Mysterious Stranger now, but he doesn't seem to pop up as much as I would expect with that much of an investment. When he does he always seems to finish the target off though. Still feels like a waste of points though.

 

[GoldenToTheGrave]

Farcry 4 is everything that Farcry 3 was, minus the boredom after you completed something. 8.5/10 easily

 

[gkIrish]

Fallout 4 'addict' loses wife and job, sues Bethesda | GamesBeat | Games | by Dan Crawley

 

[nlroma1o]

Well, I desperately want a new Star Wars game now, after watching TFAW. How amazing would a massive open world Coruscant game be!? Sign me up!

 

[gkIrish]

Well, I desperately want a new Star Wars game now, after watching TFAW. How amazing would a massive open world Coruscant game be!? Sign me up!

There is no game I'd rather play than a huge open world Star Wars RPG. Modern day KOTOR would be pretty much the greatest thing ever. I would love a game that combined the magnitude of Fallout 4 with the combat style of Mass Effect. I think that would work really well for a Star Wars game.

 

[nlroma1o]

There is no game I'd rather play than a huge open world Star Wars RPG. Modern day KOTOR would be pretty much the greatest thing ever. I would love a game that combined the magnitude of Fallout 4 with the combat style of Mass Effect. I think that would work really well for a Star Wars game.

Supposedly, Disney took the Old Star Wars 1313 game assets off the shelf and are looking at developing "something" in the near future. Hopefully it will be that SW action RPG we all have been craving.

 

[ulukinatme]

For those of you playing Fallout 4 on PC, this is a nice little mod that sorts all your keys and keycards into a separate menu so it reduces the clutter in your Misc tab. Makes it much easier to find a holotape you need to listen to for a quest, or read a note you just picked up.

keyNuker and keyRing - Hidden keys at Fallout 4 Nexus - Mods and community

 

[JughedJones]

Thought this would be a good place to drop this:

I have a GTX 780 FTW Superclocked card and just upgraded.

It's an incredible card, I'll sell it to whoever wants it for 150.00, I'll even cover the shipping.

Of course I've used it, but it still rocks every game at high settings at 60 FPS. (Witcher 3 was the first game I had to turn down to 'high' from 'ultra')

Send me a PM if you want it.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

I've got a PS4 and a copy of FO4 incoming for Christmas, so I'd like to run my tentative SPECIAL/ perk build by those of you who have played it already.

Strength - 1. Melee weapons have always struck me as strictly inferior to guns in FO games, and now that the strength requirement to use certain guns has been removed, I see no reason to invest in it. Strong Back would be convenient, but it aint worth 6 SPECIAL points to access. The only perk I might miss is Armorer, but my playstyle is usually sneaky sniper, so I dont plan on needing much damage resistance.

Perception - 4, for Rifleman (5/5) and Locksmith (2/4). Are Master locks rare enough that I can avoid spending that 3rd point for a while? From what I've read, Sniper seems underwhelming; Rank 1 is unnecessary, Rank 2 can be detrimental to landing follow-up shots (just like the chance to Paralyze for Archery was in Skyrim), and Rank 3 is counter-intuitive, since VATS doesn't work well at range.

Endurance - 3. Sounds like Rank 3 of Lifegiver is very helpful, particularly on higher difficulty settings, and I'll likely use Toughness as a filler perk.

Charisma - 1. I plan to carry a set of +CHR gear for speech checks. I know Local Leader is important for settlement building, but I don't plan on doing much of that until later on. Lone Wanderer is the only one I might miss leveling up, as I don't usually use companions.

Intelligence - 4, but I'm the least confident about this one, so feedback would be much appreciated. In previous FO games, INT was by far the most important stat since it governed experience-gain and skill point generation. But Idiot Savant is apparently much more effective at increasing experience gain, so I don't see the need to invest beyond Gun Nut and Hacker. How much of an investment is needed there? Science seems important for those who rely on energy weapons and power armor, but that won't apply to me.

Agility - 7. Gunslinger, Sneak, Mr. Sandman, Action Boy and Ninja look very enticing. Would like to have Gun Fu as well, but it'll have to wait until late game.

Luck - 8, immediately increased to 9 by the "You're Special" book. Idiot Savant, Better Criticals, Critical Banker, Grim Reaper's Sprint and Four Leaf Clover are ridiculous. Easily the strongest perk tree in the game.

 

[wizards8507]

I've got a PS4 and a copy of FO4 incoming for Christmas, so I'd like to run my tentative SPECIAL/ perk build by those of you who have played it already.

Strength - 1. Melee weapons have always struck me as strictly inferior to guns in FO games, and now that the strength requirement to use certain guns has been removed, I see no reason to invest in it. Strong Back would be convenient, but far from a necessity. The only perk I might miss is Armorer, but my playstyle is usually sneaky sniper, so I don't plan on needing much damage resistance.

Perception - 4, for Rifleman (5/5) and Locksmith (2/4). Are Master locks rare enough that I can avoid spending that 3rd point for a while? From what I've read, Sniper seems underwhelming; Rank 1 is unnecessary, Rank 2 can be detrimental to landing follow-up shots (just like the chance to Paralyze for Archery was in Skyrim), and Rank 3 is counter-intuitive, since VATS doesn't work well at range.

Endurance - 3. Sounds like Rank 3 of Lifegiver is very helpful, particularly on higher difficulty settings, and I'll likely use Toughness as a filler perk.

Charisma - 1. I plan to carry a set of +CHR gear for speech checks. I know Local Leader is important for settlement building, but I don't plan on doing much of that until later on. Lone Wanderer is the only one I might miss leveling up, as I don't usually use companions.

Intelligence - 4, but I'm the least confident about this one, so feedback would be much appreciated. In previous FO games, INT was by far the most important stat since it governed experience-gain and skill point generation. But Idiot Savant is apparently much more effective at increasing experience gain, so I don't see the need to invest beyond Gun Nut and Hacker. How much of an investment is needed there? Science seems important for those who rely on energy weapons and power armor, but that won't apply to me.

Agility - 7. Gunslinger, Sneak, Mr. Sandman, Action Boy and Ninja look very enticing. Would like to have Gun Fu as well, but it'll have to wait until late game.

Luck - 8, immediately increased to 9 by the "You're Special" book. Idiot Savant, Better Criticals, Critical Banker, Grim Reaper's Sprint and Four Leaf Clover are ridiculous. Easily the strongest perk tree in the game.

My build is somewhat similar. I have less luck and less agility but more charisma to unlock dialog trees. One thing that I'm finding challenging is that I have a pretty hard time with VATS and low endurance. I use non-automatic rifles as my primary weapon. They're somewhat heavy and I can usually only get three shots off in VATS.

 

[nlroma1o]

I am almost done with AC Syndicate. Im prolly gonna finish the main story tonight. It is much better than Unity.

Next Im gonna pick up SW Battlefront now that its on sale everywhere.

I know most ppl on here are playing FO4. Is anyone playing anything else thats fun? I feel like if SW Battelfront doesnt hold my attention very long Im gonna need to either go back and Finisher Witcher 3 or find something else to get into.

 

[ulukinatme]

I've got a PS4 and a copy of FO4 incoming for Christmas, so I'd like to run my tentative SPECIAL/ perk build by those of you who have played it already.

Strength - 1. Melee weapons have always struck me as strictly inferior to guns in FO games, and now that the strength requirement to use certain guns has been removed, I see no reason to invest in it. Strong Back would be convenient, but not it seems unnecessary. The only perk I might miss is Armorer, but my playstyle is usually sneaky sniper, so I plan on needing much damage resistance.

I've always gone with either a ranged build only, or melee build only. Guns are definitely the weapon of choice in the Fallout universe, but melee is very, very powerful when done correctly. It helps when you can sneak attack your foes (You can boost the bonus sneak attack damage on melee ridiculously high with perks, killing anything in one shot) for the extra damage, but my PS4 character is built like a Hulk and just bum rushes enemies often times too. In the end, while I enjoy my Hulk-like character, and he decapitates foes with extreme prejudice, it isn't as much fun modding melee weapons since you can only change 1 aspect on them. Melee also isn't very practical when your target is above you and not easily accessible, like on a roof. I would take Armorer, even if you plan on being a Sniper. My PC character is a Sniper too, and you'll inevitably take some damage indoors when there's multiple enemies.

Perception - 4, for Rifleman (5/5) and Locksmith (2/4). Are Master locks rare enough that I can avoid spending that 3rd point for a while? From what I've read, Sniper seems underwhelming; Rank 1 is unnecessary, Rank 2 can be detrimental to landing follow-up shots (just like the chance to Paralyze for Archery was in Skyrim), and Rank 3 is counter-intuitive, since VATS doesn't work well at range.

Sniper is not underwhelming imo, it is very, very good in my experience. Rank 1 is kind of lame, but keep in mind that as you're holding your breath it's spending Action Points (Which may be helpful/needed if your first shot doesn't kill your target and they rush you). The Rank 2 ability that knocks down your target? It procs a lot for me, and while the target is on the ground it opens them up for easy pot shots as they get to their feet. I don't find it detrimental, unless my target is well above me like on top of a building. I also don't find it counter intuitive. In my opinion VATs works just fine at range in this game too, much better than the previous games. That doesn't mean I use it all the time for my Sniper though, I prefer to hold my breath and make the first shot myself, then use VATs if they're running towards me. Downside? At some points in the game your Sniper rifle may be so powerful that it one shots targets if you're getting head shots (Depending on your difficulty level). That won't always be the case though, Super Mutant Primuses and Masters have decent health pools, as do many Legendaries (And there's a lot of Legendaries on Survival difficulty). You can probably get by without taking the Master lock perk, most of the locks I run into seem to be Advanced/Expert, and obviously Novice. I've probably run into just 5-7 Master Locks, and the loot is always randomized aside from that Cryo gun in Vault 111.

Endurance - 3. Sounds like Rank 3 of Lifegiver is very helpful, particularly on higher difficulty settings, and I'll likely use Toughness as a filler perk.

Toughness is a bit helpful at early levels, but in my opinion it's not as good as previous games. 10 points of Ballistic/Physical defense is nothing at higher levels, especially if you're wearing all Heavy armor and a helmet with Level 5 Ballistic Weave. My character has well over 300 defense, so 10 points is a drop in the bucket at that point. It would have been much better if it was a % like the previous games. Rank 3 Lifegiver is decent though, I have it on my Hulk.

Charisma - 1. I plan to carry a set of +CHR gear for speech checks. I know Local Leader is important for settlement building, but I don't plan on doing much of that until later on. Lone Wanderer is the only one I might miss leveling up, as I don't usually use companions.

Nothing wrong with being a Lone Wanderer, but I'll say that the perks you get from companions can be very nice sometimes, and the best part is you no longer have to have the companion with you to receive the bonus. Once you unlock a companion's perk through the affinity system, you'll always have it. Some companions take quite a bit of work though. I would also suggest getting the Cap Collector perk, at least 2 levels in it. While everyday ammo and good are fairly cheap and easy to buy, some of the nicer unique armor pieces and weapons can cost $14k a pop which is a fairly hefty sum. Cap Collector greatly reduces the cost on those expensive purchases, and if you decide you want to put any Rank 3 Stores (Not necessary though) in your Settlements you need the 3rd level of Cap Collector. I honestly haven't taken any other Charisma perks besides those, so I can't comment on the others in the list.

Intelligence - 4, but I'm the least confident about this one, so feedback would be much appreciated. In previous FO games, INT was by far the most important stat since it governed experience-gain and skill point generation. But Idiot Savant is apparently much more effective at increasing experience gain, so I don't see the need to invest beyond Gun Nut and Hacker. How much of an investment is needed there? Science seems important for those who rely on energy weapons and power armor, but that won't apply to me.

Keep in mind that Idiot Savant still procs quite a bit with higher Intelligence, I wouldn't stay away from Int for that reason alone. Gun Nut is definitely a necessity, even for someone that plays melee only like me. My Hulk character has 1 Int, and because of that he can only built crappy turrets in Settlements, and it kind of sucks. Scrapper is very handy, but mostly for the copper! Copper can be hard to find if you get into Settlement building, anything electrical requires it. The Science perk is almost a necessity if you plan on modding Power Armor or any highly technical guns like Laser/Plasma rifles. As a Sniper you will want to mod a Laser Musket early on, because they can be "super charged" to do up to 6x the damage with each shot. I did try the Nuclear Physicist perks, and I found them to suck. Radiation guns only affect humans, which sucks when you're always fighting ghouls, super mutants, and synths. On top of that, there's enough Fusion Cores in the game that you don't need to increase their longevity...plus you can buy them.

Agility - 7. Gunslinger, Sneak, Mr. Sandman, Action Boy and Ninja look very enticing. Would like to have Gun Fu as well, but it'll have to wait until late game.

Sneak is very good, especially once you get to Rank 4...I haven't taken Rank 5 yet because I haven't even needed it. I don't like Gunslinger, mostly because I don't like most of the pistols they put in the game. You CAN get more shots off in VATs with a pistol, but if you're not using VATs much then it takes a lot more trigger pulls to bring down a target. I have taken Commando, and it's decent, but I only fall back to Automatics if I have a target in close proximity (And for close proximity you can use a Shotgun which gets bonuses from Rifleman). Rifleman is still the best bang for your buck imo, and it's most friendly on your ammo count early in the game when ammo is hard to come by. Action Boy is handy, I have it, but keep in mind that there are Power Armor mods and regular armor mods that can increase your Action Point regeneration! On Survival mode I constantly have Legendaries that drop armor pieces with AP regen of some kind. Haven't tried Gun Fu yet, but it would be more helpful for Gunslinger builds and not Rifle builds since you only get a few VATs shots typically with a Rifle. I wouldn't bother with Mr. Sandman imo, unless you're taking it for the Silenced weapon damage, and if you do wait until you can at least craft a Suppressor before you take it.

Luck - 8, immediately increased to 9 by the "You're Special" book. Idiot Savant, Better Criticals, Critical Banker, Grim Reaper's Sprint and Four Leaf Clover are ridiculous. Easily the strongest perk tree in the game.

I will admit, I've never been a big fan of Luck in the previous games. Always felt it was better to be good than to be lucky. They definitely gave Luck a boost in this game though. It's very nice being able to build up a Critical Hit and then use it when you absolutely need it (As oppose to having it proc by chance). That said, I used Critical Hits a lot in the early levels when I faced a Legendary on Survival mode. At level 40 and 50+ I often forget I have critical hits all together though, stuff is dying too quick. As a Sniper you're going to one shot a lot of stuff, and you can't use crits when you're not in VATs, but crits will be handy against Legendaries and any targets that may be higher than your level or have a skull next to their name. As far as Luck perks I've tried, I recommend at least 1 perk in Scrounger, I've found it helps in earlier levels but not necessary past that really if you can be conservative. I wasn't sold on Mysterious Stranger at first since he seemed to show up infrequently (Even at Rank 3), but I've been getting him to show up more often now...and he always seems to finish off the target. Idiot Savant is a no brainer, no pun intended. Better Criticals is nice, I only have one point in it so far though. Grim Reaper's Sprint is the next Perk I'm taking actually, I loved it's variations in the previous games. I haven't touched the rest yet, but I'm focusing on Luck perks in my PC game right now since I have most of what I really need out of the other trees at this point. I'm curious to see how often Four Leaf Clover procs, and you can't beat the Pipboy icon for that perk as an Irish fan

Comments in bold.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Comments in bold.

Thanks for the feedback. Further questions:

• Regarding Sniper, I still don't see how Rank 2 of Sniper is a positive most of the time. If your target gets knocked down behind cover, you can't follow-up. Simply by falling down, the target's profile has shrunk considerably, making follow-up shots much more difficult. The only time that it is definitely good is when you have the high ground and can line-up a 2nd headshot after your target goes prone. As I mentioned before, my experience with the Paralysis Archery perk in Skyrim was almost completely negative. Regardless, even if it's a modest net-positive, it's hard to justify sinking another 4 SPECIAL points in Perception since the 3 perks between Locksmith and Sniper suck.
• Regarding using VATS to snipe after enemies start charging, my practice in New Vegas was to always have three primary weapons-- a sniper rifle (Christine's CoS Rifle) for long range, a good hip-fire weapon for medium range (Survivalist's Rifle), and a silenced pistol (.45 Auto) for close range. In FO4, I'll probably end up using the best sniper rifle available that can be suppressed (which rules out the Laser Musket), the Overseer's Guardian for midrange, and the Deliverer for up close. Snipe via scope for as long as possible, switch to the Overseer's Guardian to take out whatever is closing in, and then clean up with the Deliverer in VATS. Or has VATS changed so significantly since New Vegas that this strategy won't work anymore?
• Regarding Lone Wanderer, the fact that I get to keep the perks even when the companion isn't accompanying me makes me even less to likely to rely on them (beyond unlocking the perk in the first place). Companions tend not to be very friendly to a sneaky playstyle.

Since Plan A (sniping) and Plan B (mid-range hip fire) for my character both preclude effective VATS use, I wonder if I'd be better off skipping Grim Reaper's Sprint and Four Leaf Clover until later, and picking up Lone Wanderer early.

 

[ulukinatme]

One thing I should add in relation to the Sniper perk: Rank 3 is helpful, because it affects head shots at any range (Not just from far back). However, if you have Macready's perk it MAY be a waste of a perk point. Macready's "Killshot" perk adds a 20% bonus to headshot percentages if you acquire it. As previously mentioned, you don't need to have a companion to stay with you for their perk to be in effect, it's always there once you earn it. On top of that, people are saying that Macready's Killshot perk is currently bugged. Instead of giving just a 20% bonus to headshots it gives a 2000% better chance for headshots. This may have been fixed in a recent patch, but I'm not sure because honestly at level 68 I seem to have a 95% chance to hit just about any body part unless I'm 300+ yards away.

As far as Idiot Savant, you may be right from a numbers perspective on sticking with 4 Int, Whiskey. There's a nice table here that breaks down the xp gains, and it seems like Idiot Savant does well when Int is either 4 and below, or 13 and above (Which would be very difficult without wearing certain clothes all the time and popping Mentats continuously): Idiot Savant - Fallout Wiki - Wikia. That said, I can't imagine doing a Sniper without a few points in Science at least, not to mention the Power Armor modding reasons and some other crafting, like Laser Turrets. Laser Muskets can be very powerful as Sniper weapons, and Plasma Rifles are very good too imo. I seriously would worry less about Idiot Savant and consider more what perks in Intelligence you might want. My Sniper has gotten to level 68 without Idiot Savant and just 7 Int, and at this point I'm simply toying with each new Perk point I get.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

As far as Idiot Savant, you may be right from a numbers perspective on sticking with 4 Int, Whiskey. There's a nice table here that breaks down the xp gains, and it seems like Idiot Savant does well when Int is either 4 and below, or 13 and above (Which would be very difficult without wearing certain clothes all the time and popping Mentats continuously): Idiot Savant - Fallout Wiki - Wikia. That said, I can't imagine doing a Sniper without a few points in Science at least, not to mention the Power Armor modding reasons and some other crafting, like Laser Turrets. Laser Muskets can be very powerful as Sniper weapons, and Plasma Rifles are very good too imo. I seriously would worry less about Idiot Savant and consider more what perks in Intelligence you might want. My Sniper has gotten to level 68 without Idiot Savant and just 7 Int, and at this point I'm simply toying with each new Perk point I get.

That's the primary reason for my initial post. There are so many strong Luck perks that I don't see any reason not to take 2/3 Idiot Savant; but I'm not short-changing Intelligence for that reason alone. Beyond Gun Nut and Hacker, I just don't see any perks worth getting:

• VANS is like Awareness in that it's good for new players who won't look stuff up online, but for someone looking to min/max his character, there's no reason to spend a precious resource (perk points) for information that can be found easily outside the game.
• Medic is a luxury.
• Scrapper is nice for building settlements, but as I mentioned, I don't plan on doing much of that initially.
• Science is great if you plan to use energy weapons, power armor and for upgrading settlement defenses; but none of that applies to my character.
• I don't like being reliant on chems and other consumables for combat effectiveness (to say nothing of addiction).
• Robotics Expert is too situational.
• Nuclear Physicist would be nice if I planned to rely on power armor, but I don't.
• And Nerd Rage is also too situational, since the only time your health should drop below 20% is when things have gone terribly wrong.

Am I missing something?

 

[ulukinatme]

Thanks for the feedback. Further questions:

• Regarding Sniper, I still don't see how Rank 2 of Sniper is a positive most of the time. If your target gets knocked down behind cover, you can't follow-up. Simply by falling down, the target's profile has shrunk considerably, making follow-up shots much more difficult. The only time that it is definitely good is when you have the high ground and can line-up a 2nd headshot after your target goes prone. As I mentioned before, my experience with the Paralysis Archery perk in Skyrim was almost completely negative. Regardless, even if it's a modest net-positive, it's hard to justify sinking another 4 SPECIAL points in Perception since the 3 perks between Locksmith and Sniper suck.
  
  I actually like a lot of the Perception perks, but Refractor does suck. Only the Institute uses energy weapons really, and 10 points of Energy defense is way too low to put a perk point in. I haven't taken Demolition Expert, but I agree that it probably isn't worth the points either, I can't get grenades to do decent damage on most targets. I'm not so sure that Night Person wouldn't be nice for a Sniper though. My Hulk character has Idiot Savant, but since my Sniper doesn't have IS I've been thinking about trying Night Person out. I've noticed that I can spot targets from farther away as my Perception has gone up. Targets that wouldn't even show in my scope before are now in view, and my VATs percentages seem to be higher. To top that off, anytime I fast travel to a location that I need to clear, it seems to be night time when I get there
  
  That said, I feel your pain regarding the Paralysis in Skyrim verses the knockdown in Fallout. Keep in mind though that arrows fire in an arc to an extent, while bullets travel in a straight line. You also don't have the benefit of a scope with arrows. 9/10 when I hit a target and the Sniper perk drops them to their feet, I can continue to wail on them while they're prone. It's rare that they fall behind cover and I can't hit them anymore. Maybe not every shot is a headshot, many are, but you're still hitting a defenseless target. It takes 4-5 seconds before they're on their feet again, and as soon as they get to their feet there's the chance they get knocked back down again. This is especially true when I'm using a Semi Auto .45 or 5.56 scoped rifle. I keep a .308 or .50 for Sniper attacks, but if the target is close enough for a Semi Auto .45 or 5.56 I immediately switch to one of those because the Sniper perk means they may never get up again.
  
• Regarding using VATS to snipe after enemies start charging, my practice in New Vegas was to always have three primary weapons-- a sniper rifle (Christine's CoS Rifle) for long range, a good hip-fire weapon for medium range (Survivalist's Rifle), and a silenced pistol (.45 Auto) for close range. In FO4, I'll probably end up using the best sniper rifle available that can be suppressed (which rules out the Laser Musket), the Overseer's Guardian for midrange, and the Deliverer for up close. Snipe via scope for as long as possible, switch to the Overseer's Guardian to take out whatever is closing in, and then clean up with the Deliverer in VATS. Or has VATS changed so significantly since New Vegas that this strategy won't work anymore?
  
  No, that's a pretty sound tactic. I know a lot of people like the Deliverer, but it wasn't my cup of tea. I prefer falling back to a Shotgun for close range, since it takes the bonuses from Rifleman. That way I didn't need to sink a bunch of points in Gunslinger, and nothing survives two headshots from my Double Barrel /w Bleed Damage. Plus, I've found most pistols to be pretty ineffective against tougher targets, even if I don't have Gunslinger.
  
  Overseer's Guardian is very nice, however you decide to use it. I started off using it as a Sniper, but then I altered it to make a fast, medium range hip fire rifle and it was very effective. I wouldn't rule out the Laser Musket as a Sniper. While you can't technically suppress it, there's been countless times I've hit a target from long range and my victim's buddies can't seem to find me and they give up, no suppressor needed. There's also plenty of times I've hit a target with a suppressed rifle and they still seem to be alerted, probably because they saw him die. Even a powerful .50 cal can take multiple head shots to bring down some Super Mutants at higher levels. Don't underestimate taking a Legendary out of a fight with a Laser Musket before a fight has begun. One of my favorite Sniper rifles is a Laser Musket I got off a Legendary. It has a special trait that does double damage if the target is at full health. Couple that with the 6x damage of a fully charged Laser Musket, and nothing survives an opening Sneak Attack from that thing.
  
• Regarding Lone Wanderer, the fact that I get to keep the perks even when the companion isn't accompanying me makes me even less to likely to rely on them (beyond unlocking the perk in the first place). Companions tend not to be very friendly to a sneaky playstyle.
  
  I agree, companions often suck for the Sneaky types, especially in some of the older games. I have less of an issue with it in Fallout 4 though, and some companions thrive in the shadows. Deacon is one that comes to mind, he has an incredibly high Sneak skill and rarely alerts anyone. He has a base 10 AGI and 10 PER, so he would work great with your Sniper.

Since Plan A (sniping) and Plan B (mid-range hip fire) for my character both preclude effective VATS use, I wonder if I'd be better off skipping Grim Reaper's Sprint and Four Leaf Clover until later, and picking up Lone Wanderer early.

As much as I liked Grim Reaper's Sprint in the previous games, I'm just now getting around to picking it up at level 68. I haven't felt the need to pick it up sooner, mostly due to the fact the Sniper build with Sneak attacks has been effective on Survival. I'm firmly in the camp that believes that the best defense is a good offense in Fallout 4. The sooner I can bring down a tough target, the less Stimpacks I need to use. To that end, I've maximized my damage whenever I can and I haven't needed to rely much on crits after the early levels. I do use VATs for short and medium range attacks, but mostly because I suck hitting smaller targets that are moving quickly. For those reasons, you probably would be better served taking Lone Wanderer early if you're not big on companions, especially if you're a packrat like me. If you have to choose between Four Leaf Clover or Grim Reaper's Sprint early on though, go with Grim Reaper. You're not going to need to rely on crits that much as a Sniper.

My 2 cents in bold.

 

[ulukinatme]

That's the primary reason for my initial post. There are so many strong Luck perks that I don't see any reason not to take 2/3 Idiot Savant; but I'm not short-changing Intelligence for that reason alone. Beyond Gun Nut and Hacker, I just don't see any perks worth getting:

• VANS is like Awareness in that it's good for new players who won't look stuff up online, but for someone looking to min/max his character, there's no reason to spend a precious resource (perk points) for information that can be found easily outside the game.
• Medic is a luxury.
• Scrapper is nice for building settlements, but as I mentioned, I don't plan on doing much of that initially.
• Science is great if you plan to use energy weapons, power armor and for upgrading settlement defenses; but none of that applies to my character.
• I don't like being reliant on chems and other consumables for combat effectiveness (to say nothing of addiction).
• Robotics Expert is too situational.
• Nuclear Physicist would be nice if I planned to rely on power armor, but I don't.
• And Nerd Rage is also too situational, since the only time your health should drop below 20% is when things have gone terribly wrong.

Am I missing something?

Yeah, VANs seems worthless in my opinion. My buddy has it and he says it's a waste.

I would consider putting at least 1 point in Medic. Maybe not right away if you're not planning on doing Settlements till later, but you'll want it so you can put down a Clinic in a Settlement. In the early part of the game you're going to get irradiated. Actually, I think I've gotten irradiated more in Fallout 4 than any of the previous games, they seem to put random barrels everywhere. The kicker in this game is Radiation doesn't mildly reduce some stats, it actually eats into your max health with every rad you pick up. Rad-Away is in very short supply early on too, which is why putting a Doctor/Clinic down in a Settlement can be helpful (It's only 40 caps to have them cure you). Medic is just about useless for Stimpack usage though, unless you're on Surivival difficulty. I'm seriously at 500+ Stimpacks, and I haven't bought any. However, I did max out Medic on my Sniper for one reason: on Survival mode Stimpacks work really, really slowly. The 5th perk in Medic really helps in tougher fights on Survival when you're almost dead. Outside of that, I would only put 1 point in it.

You can skip Scrapper certainly, if you're putting off Settlement building. You may consider saving modded Pipe rifles though, rather than selling them. Modded versions usually contain copper, and they're not worth much so why bother selling?

Sounds like you can skip Science, but you make me sad. There are many times I wish I had Science on my Hulk character, but I refuse to bump his Int for character purposes.

I agree on the Chems, I always avoid these kinds of perks as I rarely take chems, if ever.

I also agree on the Robotics Expert, although I haven't tested it myself so I can't say. I don't think the perk works on Synths, which might be handy, and 95% of the robots you find are Protectrons that you have to hack and activate from a terminal anyway. I've run into probably just 7 of the nasty Sentry robots.

Nuclear Physicist isn't even handy if you use Power Armor, I regret taking it! I have way too many Fusion Cores, and I can always buy more. Also, Radiation weapons suck for the reasons I listed above.

I want to try Nerd Rage, only because I think it could be a nice "Oh Shit" solution in tough fights. The health regen on kills would be nice, but not a necessity with the abundance of Stimpacks in the game. The time slowing feature would be a nice little perk, but there's armor pieces that give the same bonus. The 40 extra Damage Resistance would help a tiny bit, but I'd take it for the 40% extra damage to end the fight early. As far as your health only dropping below 20% when things go horribly wrong, things can often go horribly wrong. I've seen a Super Mutant launch some well placed grenades from a long distance, and Legendaries get a substantial bonus to damage once they "mutate." It doesn't really happen to me anymore, but in the early levels I would get one shot by Legendaries on Survival mode. They still hurt, but I have some pretty epic armor now.


In any case, you're probably right. If you don't have plans to mod Power Armor, use Laser/Plasma weapons, and aren't going to build Settlements, then you can probably skip Science. You can get by with just 4 INT to start under those conditions.

 

[ulukinatme]

I am almost done with AC Syndicate. Im prolly gonna finish the main story tonight. It is much better than Unity.

Next Im gonna pick up SW Battlefront now that its on sale everywhere.

I know most ppl on here are playing FO4. Is anyone playing anything else thats fun? I feel like if SW Battelfront doesnt hold my attention very long Im gonna need to either go back and Finisher Witcher 3 or find something else to get into.

I'm getting Battlefront for Christmas since it's on sale. I'm been playing Fallout 4 on my PS4 when we hang out for guy's night, but I think we're going to start playing Battlefront once I get it and I'll keep playing Fallout at home on my PC. I'm not sure how long Battlefront will hold my attention, but I'm most excited about the ship combat and not the FPS side.

 

[wizards8507]

I'm getting Battlefront for Christmas since it's on sale. I'm been playing Fallout 4 on my PS4 when we hang out for guy's night, but I think we're going to start playing Battlefront once I get it and I'll keep playing Fallout at home on my PC. I'm not sure how long Battlefront will hold my attention, but I'm most excited about the ship combat and not the FPS side.

Dont play Battlefront in first person. That puts you at a significant disadvantage in multiplayer against guys playing in third person who can look around walls.

 

[wizards8507]

I need Fallout help. I've had a fully charged critical meter for a long time but I'm not getting the option to "Execute Critical" like I had been earlier in the game. Thoughts?

Sent from my Galaxy Note4 using Tapatalk.

 

[greyhammer90]

Whiskey I'm going to answer some of this tomorrow when I get a sec. I think you're on the right track though with being luck focused. Charisma and intelligence are really the worst perk branches

 

[greyhammer90]

Also I'm currently buying Destiny with all the expansions because of the sale on PS Store right now ($38ish with ps plus). I'd like a friend to play with so if anyone feels like jumping in late with me let me know here or on PM.

 

[ulukinatme]

Charisma and intelligence are really the worst perk branches

I tend to agree with this, although I won't rule out Charisma until I've actually tested more of the perks. I think Endurance kind of missed the boat too, I haven't been too impressed with some of the perks I've picked up in it. The Strength tree is very strong for melee types imo, and there's a lot of necessities in it for all build types. Luck definitely got a boost compared to previous games. I think Perception has been a great tree, aside from 2-3 perks, and Agility was pretty well done too.