A Universal Character Guide (and Tips)

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Fallout 2 Walkthrough  → A Universal Character Guide (and Tips)

This build is comfortable to play at all stages of the game; it won't have any issues with quests and checks, as they primarily rely on perception and intelligence. When strength is needed, we'll use a buffout, and we'll boost charisma with sunglasses and Mentats. Intelligence will allow you to access all dialogue options and gain enough points to level up all necessary skills. It will also allow you to fight effectively from the early levels and become a true killing machine by the end of the game.

Note:

Before starting the game, I recommend installing  Killap's Unofficial Patch . It's designed to fix errors and bugs not addressed by the official patches. Installing it will reduce the risk of encountering problems during the gameplay. You can download it from the first link on Google; there's also a Russian language pack for the game, which is available for the Steam version. It's also a good idea to set the battle speed in the settings before starting the game to "very fast" and "influence player speed." This is to prevent battles from dragging out due to animations.

Character Creation:

Strength (ST) - 5  (+1 added by a module and +4 by power armor).

This value is sufficient for most weapons we'll be using. Setting it lower may cause weight issues, and setting it higher doesn't make sense since we'll have a module and armor.

Perception (PS) - 8  (+1 added by a module) -

An important stat for marksmen, it affects shooting accuracy and turn order in combat. Eight is the optimal value; we can increase it to nine with a module.

Endurance (ES) - 4 -Affects health and its growth, as well as resistance to radiation and poison. An even value is optimal, since the increase formula is "3 + the whole number of stamina divided by two." Setting it to six doesn't make sense, as it will give fewer health points by level 30 than the "Source of Life" perk taken at level 12, so four is recommended.

Attractiveness (AP) - 4  (+1 adds a module and +1 for wearing glasses).

Affects the reactions of others, the number of partners, and opens up dialogue options during conversations. I don't want to go any further because the game will feature several charm tests, which we can pass with the help of sunglasses and Mentats. Dialogues won't be a problem either, thanks to Intelligence and Eloquence, and four points will allow you to add two partners to your team at the start if you wish.

Intelligence (IN) - 8  (+1 adds a module).

Enough for a comfortable gameplay; all dialogue options will be available, and you'll have enough skill points to level up all the necessary skills. We'll have a module that will allow you to raise it by one point.

Dexterity (DX) - 10

Increases Action Points and Armor Class. This is the most important stat, allowing you to shoot more often and escape dangerous situations. This can only be increased with a perk, and we won't spend a perk on it, so we'll set it to the maximum value right away.

Luck (UD) - 8  (+2 adds Zeta Scan).

  • This is an important stat for a shooter, as it affects critical hit chance, and a critical burst means certain death for an enemy. So, we'll set it to 8 and, as the game progresses, we'll take a Zeta Scan, which will allow us to raise it to the maximum. 
  • Gifted Features: This is the best feature, thanks to which we can create this build; high intelligence and books compensate for any skill issues associated with Gifted. 
  • Rapid Shot: This feature will allow us to shoot more often, up to four bursts per turn. A machine gunner doesn't need an aimed shot; we'll fight effectively with bursts. 
  • Main Skills: Light Weapons: This skill will allow us to shoot effectively from the first levels and will be useful almost until the end of the game. 
  • Hacking: There are many locked doors, safes, and boxes in the game, and this skill is crucial for accessing useful loot. 
  • Speechcraft: This skill is useful in many quests, allowing you to earn more experience for peacefully resolving various problems and learning useful information. This set of core skills will make the game as enjoyable as possible; more detailed information on skills and specific recommendations will be provided later in each section. But first, let's look at choosing perks.


Perks (abilities) 


  • Level 3 - Quick Access: This is a useful perk; it allows you to reload weapons from your inventory and use medicine and drugs, as we're playing as a machine gunner, so we'll need to reload frequently. 
  • Levels 6 and 9 - Ranged Damage Bonus : We should take this perk twice in a row, as we'll be primarily firing in bursts, and the damage of each bullet is important to us. 
  • Level 12 - Source of Life: I mentioned this perk in the section about endurance, as it's quite low, so we'll rely on it to survive all the late-game battles. 
  • Level 15 - Rate of Fire Bonus: Thanks to this perk and quick access, we'll be able to fire two bursts per turn and reload or access our inventory. This means we won't lose the ability to fire when we need healing. 
  • Level 18 - Prize! Heavy Weapons: At this point in the game, we might be missing assault rifles and submachine guns, and we'll be able to get our hands on power armor, so it's time to level up our heavy weapons. 
  • Level 21 - Improved Critical: This perk will increase the damage of our critical hits, which is useful since we'll be picking a sniper next. 
  • Level 24 - Sniper. Since we can maximize our luck, after acquiring this perk, every shot we take is a critical hit, and almost no one survives a critical burst from a heavy weapon. At this level, we can easily complete the game, but there are two more perks that will make us even more of a killing machine.
  • Levels 27 and 30 - Zipper: Even more action points, even more damage. Equip a heavy weapon in each hand and fire three bursts. Even a group of well-equipped enemies, if they form a tight group, might not survive a single turn.

The build can be considered complete at level 24; it's possible to complete the game without much difficulty. But if we reach level 30, we'll become even more deadly.

The game can be divided into four parts, if played through the path it suggests. Let's move on to their analysis.


Part 1. Arroyo - Vault City.

  • Locations:  Arroyo, Klamath, The Hole, Modoc, Vault City, Gecko + quests.
  • Enemies:  Ants, scorpions, geckos, rats, poorly equipped humans.
  • Weapons:  The first thing we need to get is  a Magnum revolver . It can be purchased from merchants in The Hole and can also be upgraded. It's a great early-game pistol with low action point requirements. The second weapon for close-range bursts is  a 10mm submachine gun. You can steal it from the Gecko power plant or from the vault once you gain citizenship.
  • Companions:  The first person we meet is  Sulik ; he can be used to clear out rats and geckos. The second is  Vic , who has a fairly advanced repair skill, which will come in handy in this part. Upon arrival at the refuge town, swap Sulik for  Cassidy so he can start leveling up as soon as possible. He's a good marksman and has a well-developed barter system. If he's with us, his skill will be taken into account when trading. In any case, whether to take partners or not is up to you.

Skills:

All skill percentages are listed for the game on a hard difficulty. If you play on a different difficulty, your starting skill values ​​will be higher.

Light Weapons:

Don't invest points in light weapons right away.  First, try to raise them with magazines . Five of them are easy to get in this part; they'll raise your skill to 84% without any investment. Then level it up to 105%, and that'll be enough for now.

Lockpicking:

Level it up to 80%, which will allow you to pick almost any lock. The game contains many locked tables, drawers, and doors, behind which lie a lot of valuable loot, including quest loot. Before using, equip lockpicks.

Speechcraft:

In this section, leveling it up to 80% is sufficient. It's useful for quests, allows you to learn a lot of useful information, and earns more experience for peacefully resolving problems.

Doctor and First Aid:

I recommend  investing all your points from level one into Doctor  and starting to use it in Arroyo to gain valuable experience right away. After each battle, use these two skills to heal; three uses of them yield 225 experience. After tough fights, you can use them on yourself and your teammates; sometimes you get more experience from healing than from quests. Doctor is leveled up to 75%; it's useful for some quests, allows you to complete training in the Vault City, and learn about implants. First Aid doesn't require any points; it's leveled up only through magazines.

Unarmed:

This skill deserves special mention as it's linked to some interesting quests. After training in Arroyo, you'll reach 55%; don't level it up any further for now.  Don't complete the training with John Sullivan  in the Klamath bar; you'll need to do that later, as he increases your skill by 10% regardless of your level, unlike the other trainer.

Level up your other skills with books and magazines without spending points. This part of the game can be completed between levels 9 and 12, depending on how many quests and random encounters you've completed.

Tips:

Try to pickpocket anything that's not in good condition, checking all drawers, tables, and cabinets. You can also pickpocket NPCs; they might contain magazines, stimpacks, weapons, or ammo. Check the ground as well; highlight items with Shift.

If you're having trouble pickpocketing an NPC or stealing from a table next to them, you can simply get them drunk, lowering their perception. Beer is the best choice for this; it weighs nothing in your inventory. Drink a few drinks, activate stealth, and steal what you need. When pickpocketing, it's best to approach the NPC from behind.

If the NPC isn't initially hostile and you plan to kill them, try giving them alcohol and stealing stimulants and ammo from their inventory. This will make the fight easier; drunk enemies are less accurate and might lose sight of you. To do this, activate stealth, run behind a wall, and you can disengage. If the fight is indoors, you can use the lockpicking skill to close the doors and cut off some of the enemies. This would work, for example, if you decide to kill slave traders.

If you don't plan on constantly traveling with companions, you can hire them temporarily. Some give experience and allow you to loot items from their inventory. Until you get a vehicle, they help you carry loot and can also be useful with their skills. For example, you can hire Vik to repair the generator in the toxic caves and the autodoc in the shelter town. There, you can also reconcile him with your daughter and gain some experience.

Try not to read books and magazines immediately upon finding them. It's better to gather a few and, before reading, lower the stats that affect the skill the books raise, then read several in a row. This will increase the effect of the books. For example, take psycho before reading books on science and home improvement.

By level 10, you've read five Guns and Bullets magazines, completed the Vault City training, and leveled up everything you need.

Of all this, only the Magnum revolver was purchased.


Part 2. Redding - New Reno.

  • Locations:  Redding, Broken Hills, New Reno + quest items.
  • Enemies:  The new ones are Wanamingos and well-equipped humans.
  • Weapon:  The first will be  the Assault Rifle , with good range and burst fire. It can also be upgraded; we get it as a reward for the quest in Modoc. The second weapon for burst fire at close range will be  the H&K G11 . The main thing is to get ammo for it; it's quite rare, so we only use it against strong enemies, such as Wanamingos. We'll get it from Morton the Frog. If there is no ammo for the H&K G11, use a 10mm submachine gun.
  • Partners: In this part, Marcus  deserves a mention  ; he's a strong fighter, wielding heavy and energy weapons, but he moves slowly and can hurt the hero when firing bursts. He also doesn't wear armor, despite having a decent amount of health. If you decide to take him, it's best to take his minigun and give him a power fist or energy weapon. We swap Vik for him, as he's a much better marksman.


Skills:

Light Weapons: 

Level up to 125% to fire bursts more accurately. No need to go higher, as light weapons won't be our primary weapon later.

Speechcraft:

Level up to 100%, as our 80% may not be enough for some quests.

Unarmed:

Now that we have some points to spare, we'll raise the skill  to 84%, no more . We'll soon meet a trainer who will raise the skill in four 5% training sessions, but he won't teach if our skill is at 100%, so it's important to have 99% before the final training.

This part is quite long and includes many interesting quests. It's important to choose the right weapon for several challenging battles and prepare for the next part of the game. We complete it at level 15-18, depending on the number of quests and random encounters completed.

Tips:

Now that we've leveled up and have a decent weapon, try to participate in random encounters where one group fights another. Run off to the side, wait for the outcome of the fight, finish off the remaining ones, and collect a ton of loot. Also, if you encounter groups of scorpions or mole rats, participate; they give a lot of experience.

There's a merchant in the Redding casino who has plenty of cash. We need to stop by periodically and sell our loot; we'll need the money for the operation. Basically, we sell some of our loot for cash, exchange the rest for books and ammo, and buy rare 4.7mm rounds; we'll need them later in the game.

In Redding, we ask the bar owner about the location of San Francisco, which will come in handy later.

We're in no rush to fight in New Reno, as our unarmed skills are still low.

Be sure to complete the Wright family's first quest and receive the second one to infiltrate the Sierra military base. This will mark it on your map;  finding this location on your own is impossible . However, once you've secured the location, don't rush in; you need to prepare for it. More on that in the tips in the next section.

After finding the electronic master key, it's time to return to the toxic caves and descend to the lower level. There, we'll need to destroy the robot. To do this, hide behind the walls, lure it out, and shoot it. There, we'll find combat armor and, most importantly, Bozar.

By level 17 we have a lot of free points that we can spend on heavy weapons or science.

After the toxic caves, we got our first decent armor.


Part 3. Sierra Mariposa.

  • Locations:  Sierra, NCR, Vault 15, Vault 13, Mariposa Military Base.
  • Enemies:  New enemies include robots, super mutants, deathclaws, centaurs, and flyers.
  • Weapons:  In this part, the first weapon will be  the Bozar , which can be found either in the toxic caves or stolen from the dwarf Buster's guards in the NCR. It's a powerful machine gun at close to medium range, and one of its main advantages, besides damage, is that its ammo is very common. The second weapon will be the  H&K P90c , which can be purchased from the dwarf in the building across from the police station in the NCR, or picked up from one of the guards at Vault 15. This weapon is suitable for simpler battles and single-shot fire.
  • Teammates:  At the Sierra Military Base, we can recruit  Skynet , an artificial intelligence eager to escape the base and explore the world. For her to be effective in combat, it's crucial to install a cybernetic brain on her. This  requires 125% science , so after we level her up with books to 83%, we'll need to invest a significant amount of points. If we don't recruit a robot, we'll invest in heavy weapons sooner and start using Bozar sooner. 

Heavy Weapons Skills: 

Upon reaching level 18 and acquiring the "Prize" perk , invest all available points  in this skill until we reach 125%. 

Unarmed: 

Raise her from 84% to 104% with a trainer in San Francisco, then increase her further  with points to 115% , and you'll also receive 5% for the Nieu Reno champion title. At the Sierra Military Base, we'll receive another 10% after training on punching bags. Ultimately, we'll have a 130% skill, which is enough to unlock all attacks and complete the most difficult hand-to-hand combat in the game. 

Science:

We try not to invest points  until we've raised the skill to 83% with books ; to do this, we'll need ten books read under two doses of psycho. Then, if we want to take on Skynet, we'll raise it to 125%; this value will be enough for all quests. This part will feature a lot of battles, meaning a lot of experience. You can finish it at levels 21-24, depending on the number of quests and random encounters you've completed. 

Tips: 


  • After you've raised your skill to 115% without weapons, complete the battles in New Reno and become a champion. You need to aim for the head to knock your opponents unconscious.
  • With a repair skill above 60% and a super repair kit, we can disable force fields and robots, repair generators in Vault 15 and the Mariposa military base, which will give us additional experience.
  • After you've raised your science to 83%, you need to go to Myron and talk to him about the antidote for the jet, then go to Dr. Troy in the shelter city.
  • In the NCR, you can get a zeta scan from the Hobologist and increase your luck, it can increase by 1, by 2, or decrease by 1, so we save before doing this.
  • Before equipping the Bozar, it's a good idea to level up your Strength so you can fire without penalty. We can't install the Strength module yet, so we need Power Armor. To do this, we need to clear the second level of the Mariposa Military Base near San Francisco. Hide behind the walls, lure them out, and pick off enemies one by one with point-blank bursts. If your heavy weapons are already above 100%, you can equip the Bozar and clear the entire base.
  • If the merchants don't have the books or weapons you need, leave the location, go finish quests, or simply travel and gain experience through random encounters. Return in a week; the inventory should be updated.
  • If there are multiple tables or cabinets near a merchant, you should check them all rather than trading via dialogue; they have different stocks. For example, the merchants in San Francisco and the dwarves in the NCR.

At this stage, we decide whether to upgrade science and take Skynet, or invest in heavy weapons.

Since I was playing with Skynet, I went for power armor much later.


Part 4. San Francisco - Poseidon Energy.

  • Locations:  San Francisco, Navarro, Poseidon Energy.
  • Enemies:  New ones include Enclave soldiers and Frank Horrigan.
  • Weapons:  In this part, the first weapon will be  the Vindicator Minigun , which you need to buy in San Francisco. It's a minigun with the most powerful burst in the game. The second weapon, for random encounters, will be  the Bozar , so as not to waste rarer and more expensive ammo.


Skills:

  • Heavy Weapons : Put all your points into this skill; 150% will be enough for the final fight  , but it's better to level it up to 180% or higher. Don't spend points on other skills, as they're already at a sufficient level. In this part, we complete the main quest and prepare for the final battle. It can be completed at levels 27-30, depending on the number of completed quests and random encounters. Tips
  • Before sailing, we need to install modules in the Brotherhood of Steel bunker and armor implants in San Francisco. It wasn't for nothing that we collected modules and saved money for the operations.
  • If we want to kill Horrigan in one turn, we need to reach level 30 so we can fire three bursts per turn, raise our Heavy Weapon skill above 180%, and purchase the Vendicator minigun. None of this is required, but it will provide a challenge.
  • If we're traveling with partners and want to see their full effectiveness, we'll need to obtain two Gauss rifles. We can either steal them from the tanker or buy them from the San Francisco gun shop and give them to Skynet and Cassidy. For Marcus, we'll take a plasma rifle and bring it to Algernon in the basement of the New Reno gun shop, where he'll upgrade it into a turboplasma rifle.

Four memory modules were installed and armor implant surgeries were performed.

Before sailing to the Poseidon Energy oil rig.

Without further ado, our first move and the main villain is dead.


Book Locations and Conclusion:

If you follow the tips, checking all the drawers, tables, cabinets, and NPC pockets, you'll be able to find the books and magazines we need for leveling up: five "Guns and Bullets" magazines and ten "Big Science Books." But if you missed any, here's the list:


Guns and Bullets

  • Klamath, City Entrance. In a cabinet, in the building next to the passage to the hunting grounds.
  • The Hole, West Side. In a cabinet, in Lara's gang building.
  • Modoc,Main Street. On the floor of the outdoor toilet, behind Grisham's house.
  • Horror Farm, Cave. In the inventory of one of the wights.
  • Vault City, Suburb. In a cabinet, in Cassidy's bar.


Big Science Book

Vault City

  • Inner City. Given by the librarian if you say you prefer books.
  • Inner City, after receiving citizenship. In a locker, on the second level of the vault.
  • Inner City, after receiving citizenship. Buy from Randall. Also, try visiting him later; more books may become available.


Gecko

  • Settlement. In a closet, in the building where Harold is.
  • Power Plant. In a closet, in the warehouse.


New Reno Stables

  • Underground Lab. In a closet, in Myron's office.


NCR

  • Market. In a closet, in the building where the security captain is.


San Francisco

  • Chinatown. Buy from the store on Lo Pan's side, from Liao Chu.
  • Tanker. Buy from Jenna at the market.


There are many more magazines and books in the game, but  these are sufficient for leveling up  , and they're also the easiest to obtain.

Conclusion

This guide covers many aspects of the game. I've deliberately tried not to spoil anything unnecessarily or reveal secrets you might discover during your playthrough, as it's much more enjoyable to do so yourself. I also intentionally omitted quest tips other than those needed to unlock locations and obtain equipment. Because the quests and the variety of ways to complete them are what makes this game so unique.

My main goal was to provide a build and tips that will make your playthrough comfortable, allow you to see the maximum amount of content, and complete almost all quests. Thanks for reading. And enjoy!

Author: Bane