FO: NV (Spoilers)

[Tigranes]

That reminds me, my vote for worst FNV quest: the emo Khan. Not. Funny.

[Cantousent]

Actually, coopting someone who has been killing off your people isn't just feasible in a crpg, it's not competely uncommon in real life. Sure, the rank and file will probably still hate your ass, but the boss knows the best way to turn around the badass gun that's killing your folks is to get him to kill other folks.

[LadyCrimson]

Yeah, I thought that the stand-off in Boulder was poorly done. In a supposedly tense situation, you can simply saunter over from NCR lines to the Khans' side of town without any confrontation at all. I get that they wanted to make it a quest solvable via multiple paths, but the Charisma Boy option is "just walk over there and pass a dialogue check," which doesn't feel plausible at all. They could've worked in something with radio communications or a backdoor entryway or surrendering your weapons casino-style to preserve the verisimilitude of stand-off.

I don't see why it's not at least somewhat plausible to peacefully arrange a one-time solution to a hostage negotiation. It's not like you're making the NCR & Khans make overall peace. True, they could've made the dialogue go on for a few more screens to make it trickier or something.

[mkreku]

I restarted the game last night (again) after completing it in a hurry with my melee weapons girl. This time I'm going with a heavy handed fistfighter, with extra cheese. I went straight to Novac (at level 1), picked up Boone, made my way north past Vegas and entered the Red something cave where I know exactly where the Pushy is. So at level 3 or so I have one of (if not the) best melee weapons in the game, with 50-60 unarmed and 9 strength. So naturally I enter Vegas, gamble until I have some money and go to the doctor and buy myself 10 strength and better damage threshold.

 

I AM INVINCIBLE

 

This is the first time I've picked up Boone and I must say I have a hard time understanding LadyCrimson's schoolgirl crush on him. He doesn't actually say anything other than "He got away" (or something to that effect) over and over and he keeps killing my enemies before I can even run up to them and slug them with my fists. It's annoying.

 

I was thinking of joining up with the Legion this time, but maybe Boone isn't the best choice for that faction..

[mkreku]

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I found a new unique weapon last night (well, new to me, who doesn't abuse the GECK to find every weapon in the game): some sort of named lead pipe that I found in a locked part of the sewers. Strangely enough I had never actually spent any time exploring the sewers in my two previous playthroughs. Are there no quests that require you to enter the sewers at some point? They do seem heavily underused.

[Humanoid]

I didn't even know there were any sewers....

[LadyCrimson]

@mkreku - you probably won't remember, but I was initially very unimpressed with Boone (and companions as a whole) for various reasons, until I'd used him a lot more/bumped diff. up to Very Hard where he seemed for some reason a lot less fragile than in Normal. Maybe I just got used to the change in tactics required for a companion tho. Anyway, I like his whole story, which you have to get his rep pts. and do his quest for. Also, I like the fact he's quiet or at least terse and to the point. If I have to listen to things over and over (and ALL companions do that), I prefer the lines to be short. Arcade, for instance, is a dear but his constant lengthy reminder that he sucks at sneaking makes me want to slap him. And Lily's repeated lines...argh.

 

But no, you can't use him and go Legion. Or Arcade Gannon either. Well, you can to a point, but he won't join if your rep is high w/Legion.

Edited November 23, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[Guest Slinky]

Are there no quests that require you to enter the sewers at some point? They do seem heavily underused.

You get one from New Vegas North Square, if I recall correctly, and it's quick and easy. Then there's the Thorn. Haven't found else.

[Enoch]

Yeah, I thought that the stand-off in Boulder was poorly done. In a supposedly tense situation, you can simply saunter over from NCR lines to the Khans' side of town without any confrontation at all. I get that they wanted to make it a quest solvable via multiple paths, but the Charisma Boy option is "just walk over there and pass a dialogue check," which doesn't feel plausible at all. They could've worked in something with radio communications or a backdoor entryway or surrendering your weapons casino-style to preserve the verisimilitude of stand-off.

I don't see why it's not at least somewhat plausible to peacefully arrange a one-time solution to a hostage negotiation. It's not like you're making the NCR & Khans make overall peace. True, they could've made the dialogue go on for a few more screens to make it trickier or something.

Resolving it peacefully is fine, and appropriate. It's the doing so by simply walking straight across the 'no man's land' between the factions, in direct view of the Khans' marksmen, fully armed, coming from a position where they had to know that the NCR sent you, with no prior communication explaining that you were there to talk.

[Tigranes]

I only found the New vegas square and the sewers in my current (2nd) playthrough - and as has been said there's a tiny quest that sort of uses them. To be honest, once I found how massive and mazy they were, I got terrible nightmares of FO3 sewers and thought screw it. First bit of content in FNV that I won't bother with.

 

Re: Boulder, it's not just there. I remember at least 3 or 4 times in my first through when I used my speech skill, and felt like it was a Jedi mind trick. The dialogues are too abrupt - it's "GRARGH KILL YOU!" "[speech 90] You don't want to do that, my friend." "That's true, maybe I'll ask you out on a date instead. You have dreamy eyes." From Obsidian that's quite poor.. but then when I think about it, a more padded out and complex dialogue tree wouldn't be that much of a challenge because it's still a speech check where you can see a clear numerical threshold (which is stupid, btw, for these kinds of reasons). Much better to have several blind choices and then your skill influencing success behind the scenes, rather than pass number = Jedi trick.

[HoonDing]

Arcade is better than Boone. At the times he decided to use the laser rifle I gave him, he vaporized Fiends from further away than Boone... and now he's using the Gauss rifle I picked up from Brewer Beer's bootlegging, and one-shotting cazadors with it.

 

He's an interesting character as well, not the autistic version of Carth Onasi that Boone (currently) is.

[LadyCrimson]

I picked Raul up a bit ago, and if you like npc's that have interesting/amusing things to say on a regular basis, Raul is the one. Seems like half the time when I click on him he has some comment before the dialogue options actually pop up. Very random things, long sentences. I'm not sure how many of these bits there are or if they'll stop or just keep repeating eventually, but Raul's definitely a cool cat. Too bad his quest is so utterly broken. I mean, is anyone going to go to Black Mt. before Novac? Probably not. He's also a pistol or rifle guns dude and good with 'em.

 

I dunno...I think all the companions can do those things, virumor. I've seen Boone, Arcade and now Raul one shot stuff from great distances. Seems about equal to me, just depends on land configuration/their position, the weapon, stuff like that. I took Arcade & Boone to the quarry last night and they dropped all the deathclaws including the Mother like flies with no help from me. I think they were competing for headcount. :D

 

(edit) I'm not sure the multiple companion mods don't create some conflicts in minor ways...nothing terrible but they do get confused sometimes. Also, in Vault 19, with those keyed doors that close behind you after you step through them, either Boone or Arcade kept getting 'trapped' behind doors because they tend to follow single-file and for some reason I can't get far enough away from the door to make the 2nd one follow, before the door shuts. I know when I had Boone/ED-E this wasn't a problem, so I guess the mod I'm using spaces them too far apart? Not sure. It annoyed me enough I left the Vault. lol

Edited November 23, 2010 by LadyCrimson

[Guest Slinky]

Re: Boulder, it's not just there. I remember at least 3 or 4 times in my first through when I used my speech skill, and felt like it was a Jedi mind trick. The dialogues are too abrupt - it's "GRARGH KILL YOU!" "[speech 90] You don't want to do that, my friend." "That's true, maybe I'll ask you out on a date instead. You have dreamy eyes." From Obsidian that's quite poor.. but then when I think about it, a more padded out and complex dialogue tree wouldn't be that much of a challenge because it's still a speech check where you can see a clear numerical threshold (which is stupid, btw, for these kinds of reasons). Much better to have several blind choices and then your skill influencing success behind the scenes, rather than pass number = Jedi trick.

Heh, this reminded me about the conversation with the couple who stole the machine gun from vicky and vance casino. It's so badly written that for a second I thought I was playing a Bethesda game. Fortunately that's the only time I got that feeling

 

So, I reached the max level and theres still stuff to do, places to visit. Should I wait for a DLC that raises the level cap or just keep going? Hmmm.

[Syraxis]

Diverged a save file into two separate games before I completed Render Unto Caesar:

 

- One save will have a more neutral-good character siding w/ Mr. House.

 

- Other will be a Caesar's Legion follower and thus, more evil.

[Pop]

I don't know if anybody has posted this yet, but here's a neat little development: Someone made a mod allowing you to ally with the BoS when working for House the way you can when working with the NCR. Allegedly the modder found a bunch of disabled-but-still-present content within NV's files and reactivated it the way the KOTOR2 Restored modders did.

[LadyCrimson]

All right....if you want a gun/ranged companion but want to be Legion, get Raul. He's as good as Boone with guns and his Perk that slows down equipment decay is nice. He also acts as Repair merchant (still costs caps) but that part is a little buggy at the moment. If you know where he is/what to expect & prepare for it, you can probably get him around lvl 8-10 with no problem. Just do not speak to Ranger Andy before you get Raul, if you care about doing his side quest. Do not.

 

Mostly, he's the Legion version of Boone/Arcade, because Raul is neutral in that regard. He has no faction loyalty like Veronica, either, far as I can tell. Good option for those reasons. Hard for me to develop a 'schoolgirl' crush on him tho, what with all his "Yes boss" servant attitude and rotting skin. But he is funny.

[Pop]

If you run along the invisible wall in the mountains to the west and north of Helios One, you'll hit the perimeter of the Black Mountain navpoint, which will allow you to fast travel to the area where Raul is being held without having to fight your way up the mountain. You'll still have to fight a few mutants (and Tabitha, if you release Raul before you do anything else) but it beats the long walk up from Goodsprings through God knows what lies on the highway.

[LadyCrimson]

I think I'd probably prefer sneaking past the deathclaws via Slovic to Neil's Shack and then doing the blk mt. quest as intended, but that's very good to know for when I want to mess around, thanks.

[mkreku]

I thought the combat leading up the Black Mountain was the most fun combat in the game. I have no clue as to why you'd want to avoid that.

 

It even had a run-from-a-huge-rolling-boulder-like-Indiana-Jones moment.

[Raithe]

I ended up in Black Mountain that first time by climbing the mountain from Helios One side.. so I never had that quest kick in..by the time I'd climbed down the mountain I'd dealt with Tabitha and freed Raul... then I stumble on that shack with Neil on the way out and it was "oh..crap.. was I meant to discover this place first??"

[Guest Slinky]

I ended up in Black Mountain that first time by climbing the mountain from Helios One side.. so I never had that quest kick in..by the time I'd climbed down the mountain I'd dealt with Tabitha and freed Raul... then I stumble on that shack with Neil on the way out and it was "oh..crap.. was I meant to discover this place first??"

You didn't exactly miss anything extraordinary.

 

Wasn't there some talk in interviews that one way to do the Black Mountain is getting the second gen mutants revolt? Did that get the axe or couldn't I just figure out how to do that?

[LadyCrimson]

So I ran into a strange glitch. I entered the tunnel to the Boomers (already did their stuff, but never been in the tunnel so was curious) and upon entering, Arcade immediately fell to the ground as if he'd dropped from a great height and was unconscious. When he woke up, his health bar was almost at 0, so I checked his Wheel:

 

 

This has made him effectively invulnerable!

 

I've reloaded the game, I've quit/restarted/reloaded, I've fired him and rehired, I've fired the other two companions first then removed the companion mod, fired & rehired again etc. in case that screwed anything up....but he's totally stuck this way. Much as having a SuperArcade is amusing, guess I'll have to reload before entering there and hope it doesn't happen this time.

[HoonDing]

I was a bit surprised that I didn't receive good karma for wiping out the Boomers. Those people are maniacs.

[LadyCrimson]

They're a bit nutters, yup.

 

So I loaded save game, re-entered tunnel, and Arcade didn't bug out this time. This was with the mod still on/active, so I don't think it was the mod. Just a weird glitch. Strange. heh

[Tale]

I was a bit surprised that I didn't receive good karma for wiping out the Boomers. Those people are maniacs.

They're just defending their sovereign borders, you primative.