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adambstingus · 6 years

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12 more things in Fallout 4 they don’t tell you, but advanced players need to know

More tips on how to survive in the radioactive wasteland, including how to fight Legendary enemies, hide goodies and carry more stuff

Fallout 4s rich and varied landscape is built for lackadaisical roaming the player characters nicknamed the Wanderer for a reason. The experience isnt about just racing through the main questline or finding the best gear, but assembling your own story from all of Bethesdas tiny interlocking parts.

The Commonwealth is a harsh mistress, however, so we could all use some help and none other than our grizzled survivor Corbyn has heeded your call. Weve already covered the 12 key tips for beginners, so now its time for some more advanced instruction. Lets really get those Super Mutants quaking in their boots.

1. VATS tricks

Fallout 4s Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (VATS) mechanic slows time down to a crawl, and allows you to target specific body parts of enemies and displaying the chance of hitting them in a percentage. This is all many players use it for but there are several kinks to the way VATS operates that can make all the difference in a tight spot.

Our Fallout 4 character Corbyn is probably overdoing it by Crit-ing a bloodbug. Photograph: Bethesda

The obvious ones first: use VATS when your guns empty and, for the AP cost of that shot, youll get both the shot and a free reload. Critical hits build up over time in VATS and can then be stored until you want to use them yes these do great damage, but much more importantly theyre guaranteed to hit even if your normal shot only has a 1% chance. This is useful but in fights against enemies with specific weak points, such as the fusion core on power armour, save that Crit and zoom into VATS the second their model turns sideways 1% chance is all you need for the shot that ends the fight.

Crits are also useful for taking out the combat inhibitors on the back of mechanical enemies.

But it doesnt end there! One of the most useful functions of VATS is that your aim will be centred on any enemy you shot at after youve exited VATS. Think of this as at least one free shot and, thanks to the shonky enemy AI, usually many more if theyre still alive after using VATS, just spam that trigger.

2. Fraggle Rock!

Messed up that grenade toss? Always throwing it just a second too late as the Raiders scarper? Worry ye not my wasteland friend, for there are two magnificent tricks to frags that will turn your throwing arm into the envy of Shane Warne.

First one is obvious when you think about it: a well-placed bullet will prematurely detonate your grenade. Hit the VATS button as soon as you throw and youll find you can target the grenade, though depending on its location your shot chance will be different (this is another great opportunity for using the guarantee of a Crit.) And boom no more legs for your luckless foes.

As you can see, no enemies have yet noticed my explosive presence. Timing grenades is especially useful against crowds of weaker enemies.

The second trick, however, is even sneakier. A glitch in Fallout 4s way of slowing down game time during VATS means that, if your grenade has landed and you then target and shoot an enemy using VATS, the grenade will explode during the VATS shots. That is, you dont need to target the grenade at all if its in the right place, just target the enemy in VATS and it will explode near-instantaneously.

3. Getting legless

This one can be a lifesaver for when youre just out on a relaxing stroll and run into a randomly generated tough-as-nails Legendary enemy. Many of these enemies, after taking roughly half damage, will mutate into a tougher form and regain their lost health. What a joke.

This is how I like my Legendary enemies legless and toothless. Now cough up that loot! Photograph: Bethesda

The one thing that doesnt regenerate, however, is limb damage. When fighting Fallout 4s normal enemies you dont really need to target limbs so much so its easy to forget about this tactic, but it is absolutely the core part of my strategy against Legendaries. If its a Legendary Super Mutant, where were worried about their weapon, focus on the arms if they mutate, youve crippled the arm by that point and their accuracys dived. If its a Legendary Ghoul, blow off the legs, and then the mutated second stage can only look up in abject apology as you line up the combat shotgun.

4. Radical Stags

The greatest enemy in Fallout 4, the bane of every player, the most despicable sentence in the Commonwealth: Youre carrying too much and cant run!

God I hate it. There are several common workarounds: load up your companion, use the Solo Wanderer/Dogmeat glitch and so on. But when youre stuck in a lovely loot zone and just need that bit extra to get outdoors and fast-travel home, you want Grilled Radstag.

OK it doesnt LOOK very appetising, but when your other options are mole rats or Spam …

You see Radstags everywhere, usually in groups of two or three. Make a rule of slaughtering these defenceless creatures, and grilling them up at a cooking station because it adds +25 carry weight. Eat that and youll feel the benefit for an hour, but why not wash it down with a bottle of alcohol (+10 carry weight) and have an extra 35 on your weight limit. Because no trinket should be left behind.

5. Sleep well

What do you mean you never sleep? True, you dont really need to but occasionally a nice rest is just whats needed to heal up and see the sun again. One aspect of sleeping that is possible to overlook, however, is where the bed is.

If you really want to maximise XP gain, do this before handing in quests youve already completed. Photograph: Bethesda

Sleep in a bed that you own (in a settlement for example), or rent a room for the night and your character not only heals but gains a Well Rested bonus that gives 10% extra XP for eight in-game hours.

6. Sticky business

You could write a whole article about Fallout 4s crafting system, but one thing everyone needs more of is adhesive. Luckily theres a simple solution waiting in the cookery pot: have your settlements farm corn, mutfruit and tatos for subsistence. Perfectly respectable foods, but you can use these stores to pick the bottom option at a cooking stove and make Vegetable Starch each one worth a whopping five adhesive.

Vegetable starch goes into your junk inventory, so always remember to transfer it to storage before taking off.

7. Pick up named junk

This ones simple to the point of obvious: youll sometimes come across otherwise standard loot that has a modifier in the name, for example Rich Stantons beer. This means it is an exceptional beer for an exceptional man or, in other words, a key item for a quest you havent yet picked up. So pick it up and, down the road, youll be able to hand in that quest immediately.

The jazzy Hubris Comics office has plenty of interesting stuff, and make sure you take a close look at the props.

You may not actually make it through youor birthday if you eat this revolting morsel. However, it has a special name which means it could well be part of a later quest. Grab that sucker.

8. Hazmat and Hat

Two items of clothing I keep on me permanently are a Hazmat suit and a hat that grants +3 Charisma. The utility of the first is obvious: everywhere in Fallout 4 is more or less radioactive, and youll find some nasty spots. Its not convenient to fetch Power Armour for every little cubbyhole, so a Hazmat suit just always makes life easier.

Among the games weather effects are radiation storms which, if they catch you in the open, can be trouble but not with the humble Hazmat. Photograph: Bethesda

Hazmats are around theres one on sale in Diamond City but this is where I stumbled across mine relatively early on. Photograph: Bethesda

The hat I combine with some Grape Mentats (make at any cooking station) for when I need to sell a lot of gear or buy something big. Why not get your moneys worth?

9. Use it, dont lose it

Advice from bitter experience: dont just jump into the water willy nilly while wearing power armour. It sinks and, while most bodies of water in the game have a way out, some of them dont and youll have to abandon it there. Also, dont ever get rid of a companion wearing power armour by sending them back to a settlement my snazzy Flames set is still out there somewhere.

You can repair damaged power armour with steel but even without it the basic frame provides some protection and the suits usual abilities.

Finally, dont get out of it in a non-settlement area without removing the fusion core. Even if you cant see any enemies. Theres nothing so humiliating as getting out to stretch your legs, waking up a nest of raiders, and watching open-mouthed as they hijack your beautiful suit.

10. Mystery Meat

OK, I said I wouldnt be too specific but this is too good to pass up. On the far east of the Commonwealth (shown in the image) you can find Longneck Lukowskis cannery. On entering youll see a short exchange between two characters and can then offer to help with a pest problem in the building.

Looks delicious though, as ever in Bethesdas post-apocalyptic worlds, no-ones cleaned up for 200 years.

This kicks off a short-but-sweet mission, but the reason its great to visit here is that theres an office at the top of the building containing both the Barter bobblehead which permanently decreases buying prices by 5% and an issue of Tales of A Junktown Jerky Vendor, which applies its own discount depending on how many copies you have. Basically youre walking out of there after a 10-minute mission with everything in the Commonwealth 10% cheaper.

This is where youll find Longneck Lukowskis cannery, an essential visit for the savvy scavenger.

Bonus points: in the final confrontation, you can make your opponent surrender if you get them low enough, and make a very … interesting choice. Oh, and do apply the earlier tips about Legendaries and frags when youre exploring. Wouldnt want to end up in a can now, would we?

11. Give them a Minute, man

The Minutemen are rather worthy and dull sorts, all about helping out ones neighbour and looking out for each other. Blah blah blah, point me to the bad guys right?

Some people like Preston, but he constantly moans when youre hoovering up junk so I think hes a circle button. Photograph: Bethesda

The Castles replaced Sanctuary as my main settlement, because a half-destroyed castle looks cooler than half-destroyed bungalows.

Me too. But its worth zooming through the early Minutemen quests, which are all very easy, just to reach the point where you re-take a location called the Castle. First of all, when youre doing the quests beforehand, take Preston as your companion because completing each one depends on reporting back to him.

Take the Castle, go off and do something else, and soon enough someone will turn up looking for you. Go to see her and within 10 minutes youll bag a Fat Man portable nuke launcher, an absolute ton of ammo and a great armour set, and unlock artillery positions for every settlement.

12. And … smile

Though Ive loved much of my time with Fallout 4, it is a game filled with bugs and glitches that can on occasion really ruin your day. Ive lost hours of progress through annoying problems with the save system, seen my companions fly into the sky and disappear, even failed a mission because of an NPC that decided to walk to the bottom of a lake.

But its worth remembering that, for all the frustrations it brings, the janky side of Bethesda games can have real charm too. Use Corbyns tips wisely, comrades, and enjoy these dancing Mirelurks.

12 things in Fallout 4 they dont tell you but you really need to know

Fallout 4 review spectacular, messy and familiar

Fallout 4: the first 10 things to do in the apocalyptic wasteland

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/12/07/12-more-things-in-fallout-4-they-dont-tell-you-but-advanced-players-need-to-know/ from All of Beer https://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/168302810207

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samanthasroberts · 6 years