4, but 2 of those were practically speed runs just doing things abit differently with builds and seeing some other options. The only DLC I've done was Honest Hearts and Dead Money.

Wow that's cool. Four runs. I guess this is my second run, having picked it up after 8 years, but I didn't finish my first one I don't think. I have none of the achievements for completing it.

I started Honest Hearts. Actually I went to play Dead Money and backed off on the warning, and decided to play Honest Hearts first. It's OK I guess, I like having fresh rad-free water and food everywhere. The Indian vibe is a neat shift. Just having new lands to explore and new quests to undertake is nice. Joshua Graham is an interesting character.

Finished Honest Hearts. a few things were left untouched or undone perhaps, but I mostly cleared the map. About 6 hours I reckon. Went from level 20 to 26 I think. Gotta slow my roll, because that is the shortest DLC I believe and if I could get that much XP out of it I can only imagine what the others are like. Don't want to max out too far before the end.

I had fun with Honest Hearts. In the end I called for the Sorrows to make their stand and to spare the chief. Seems the best way to go about it. Nothing here to blow my socks off, but mixing things up is good. Got some decent kit out of it, but no uniques aside from Joshua's armor and a lightweight .45. He was a good character, nice voice acting, and an interesting tale. For now I've swapped from my Duster to this armor. Nearly a 2:1 DT to weight ratio, so that will do. The Duster is too, but only 6 DT versus the 15 on Joshua's. I trade +1 CHR and +5 Guns for +3 Critical Chance with this swap.

Not sure which direction I will go from here, another DLC or more of the main game. Maybe Vault 22, which I seem to recall was challenging. There's a good rifle in there if I recall correctly.

Edit: No the weapon I'm thinking of is in Vault 34.

And I dutifully did the dive in to Vault 34 in order to get the All American rifle. That place is rather creepy, dark and irradiated. And ghouls spawn out of thin air to keep you on your toes. Having been there before, it was fine, i knew where to go, and how, to get what I wanted, but it's the sort of place that can do your head in on the first visit. Also picked up a riot shotgun in the same armory. Good loot.

Hit level 29 already and still have three DLC untouched. Still not sure which end path I'll take, but looking like it will be House or Yes Man. Lots to still do if I choose. I'm having a great time with New Vegas, I really like the RPG vibe. And the bane of Fallout -- loading screens! -- is not a problem as they are nearly instant in a game this old. I cannot say the same for Fallout 4, where you spend a lot of time in loading screens.

I'll hit level 30 next (duh) and that's as far as I could have gotten previously. With the DLC installed it jumps to 50, and if I get that far it means just about every skill can be maxed out. And for sure the ones I actually care about can. Perks are more precious, with these only available every other level. That's 25 perks at most, whereas in FO4 you can take a lot more with no level cap and perks every level.

My build is well-rounded, no attribute lower than 5, with high Agility and Intelligence. A crit-build really, with Finesse, Better Criticals and + crit chance on a couple pieces of my gear. I could stand to have higher Luck than 6, but those decisions were made eight years ago haha. Criticals happen naturally in FNV, rather than the 'commanded criticals' of FO4. But both games grant an automatic crit on sneak attack. I read that Lonesome Road grants two more SPECIAL points and if I do it I could always drop those in to Luck.

I'm rolling with ED-E and Boone.

My original saves are long gone, but I believe I was rocking a hunting shotgun, a Ranger Sequoia, an inverse Proton Axe and Medicine Stick towards the end.

I put a lot of points early towards "logistical" abilities, repair, jury rig, handloader etc. otherwise its difficult to support using the good stuff.

I loved the ammunition reloading aspect of New Vegas as much as Panzer loved the Nuka Cola crafting in Fallout 4, there's a lot to it and I wish it had been carried over.

Yeah man, same here. I was going to comment on exactly that but thought it would make my comments even less interesting

Last perk I took at 28 was Pack Rat, which is amazing for any sort of run, but especially so in Hardcore. It cut my carried load in half instantly. Better than Strong Back.

I also took Handloader a couple perks before that, and I agree completely with your assessment. This is a cool mechanic, and I'm fully in with match hand load 5.56 for All-American

I have 100 Repair, and took Jury Rigging, one perk after Handloader. I like FO4's weapons modding mechanics more, but the ammo crafting is a nice addition in FNV. Crafting ammo for additional effectiveness is fun and useful. Reduced spread, additional damage, better armor piercing. This stuff is right up my alley.



As for loadout I'm rolling with this

Joshua Graham's armor ( light, +3 crit chance )
First Recon Beret ( +1 PER and +5 crit chance )

All-American. 5.56 scoped assault rifle
A Light in Shining Darkness. Lightweight .45 (.6 with pack rat)
Riot Shotgun. Strong, but hard to repair. Does not use shotguns for this. Need assault rifles, marksman rifle, sniper rifles, oddly
Sniper Rifle. .308 standard sniper rifle. I had been carrying Ratslayer, but finally stored it.

I just got two of those last night, but they instantly bumped other weapons (assault rifle, hunting shotgun) and were well worth the descent in to Vault 34

I prefer the hunting shotgun to the riot shotgun largely because it has close to 3x the effective range with the choke installed. The riot shotgun rules indoors though.

Shotguns with the right perks are far more useful in New Vegas than they are in Fallout 4.

Heck, most of New Vegas' weapons are just more soundly conceived and distinctive, period.

I've dropped the riot shotgun already. Didn't see the strength requirement at first, which I don't meet. I can still equip it, and kill stuff with it, but I must be penalized in some way, and that won't do haha.

I swapped it out for Sleepytyme, which wrecks. Figured I may as well use some of the Gun Runners gear having paid for it and all.

Both the riot shotgun and the AMR need 7 strength, and I'm 5. Maybe I'll take that perk which drops this by 2 levels and equip those later.

What's your take on Medicine Stick? Clearly you liked it since you were carrying it. Many players list it as their favorite rifle. It's a bit steep at the mo, but I might give it a go down the line. That gun, and the Survivalists Rifle get a lot of love. It's a lever action .45-70? Like the Brush gun?

Money's a lot easier to come by for me in New Vegas than Fallout 4. Jury Rigging is a rain maker.

It's a big bruiser, providing similar damage per shot as the 12 gauge shotguns but without the DT and range limitations. Despite the expensive and somewhat rare ammo, it's actually fairly economical to use as a little goes a long way. It's best used at mid range IMO.

The Medicine Stick only has marginally better stats IIRC than a regular brush gun but the rear sight is FAR less obstructive and is worth getting for that reason alone.

See what I mean with the standard brush gun:

Thanks Crane. I went with semi-auto in FO4, but I seem to prefer automatic weapons in New Vegas. I may check out the Medicine Stick at some point. It's very expensive, which is not a big deal in New Vegas. But I also read up on Old World Blues and saw the prices of the auto-doc mods. I plan to try that DLC some time soon, and I'll want to grab some of these. And to do that I'll need a mountain of cash, so I need to start building that up and not spend it lavishly on whatever shiny trinket catches my eye.

I'm torn about my faction choice. I'm at the point where House wants me to kill the BoS, which I don't really care to do. I don't feel any affinity for them, but conversely I don't wish them gone.

My level 32 perk choice was Light Touch, which I'd never taken before. It's another +5% crit chance, which synergizes well with my build, but it also grants -25% crit chance for enemies. I assume that many, most or even all of the NPC enemies have a crit chance of 25% or lower. If that's true, it would seem this perk may virtually eliminate getting struck by any crits. If so that seems incredibly strong from a defensive point of view. The Courier must be clad in light armor for this perk to work, which of course I am. It may not work exactly as I assume it does. It could instead mean their crit chance, whatever it is, is reduced by 25%. For example, if they have a crit chance of 10%, with this perk it become 7.5%, which is not much of an advantage. I should have figured this out before taking the perk

So I belatedly did just that. Or, according to the wiki, it works the 'stronger' way

"The same applies to the enemy critical chance penalty. An enemy with 15% base critical chance wielding a weapon with 2x critical multiplier will have an overall critical chance of 30%. After subtracting 25% for Light Touch, the enemy still has 5% chance to score a critical on the target. "

So yeah, this seems very strong. I have no idea where the average NPC crit chance falls, but regardless this perk can mitigate much potential incoming damage.

And the reason I never took this before (or even noticed it) is it comes from the Dead Money DLC.

There are certain areas of the game where you encounter a lot of well armored enemies, and it gets pretty resource intensive to hose them down with an automatic weapon.

In fact, I try to use melee weapons as much as possible in order to save ammo. Melee damage is doubled in VATS in New Vegas, so its got that going for it as well.

Good points all, Crane, and I didn't know about the double melee damage.

But yeah, I love automatic weapons in New Vegas, and especially in VATS. Of course I'm also carrying a .45 and a sniper rifle, so I've got both. I swapped back from the .308 sniper rifle to Ratslayer. Ratslayer does a paltry 28 damage with my build, but it has a 5x crit % multiplier. So that means every shot is a crit, and that makes it quite a bit more effective than it might appear at first glance. The .308 is good too (2x crit multiplier and hits harder) but weighs nearly twice as much. Plus Ratslayer has the only night scope I've come across, which isn't vital, but nice. It also streamlines ammunition carry, since Ratslayer uses the same 5,56 as All-American, so I can drop the .308 rounds from the loadout.

Handloader has encouraged me to craft ammunition, and I've done so and have quite a bit of it. Hollow points I ignore, but the types that negate armor, reduce spread and reduce wear are great. AP, +P and Match are the ones I make mostly. I even made some Dragon's Breath and Flechette rounds for the shotgun, which I'm not actually carrying at the mo.

I really like entering VATS and firing a weapon like Sleepytyme in super slo-mo watching from a quartering perspective, as that bolt slides back and forth spitting death.

I'm kinda running out of things to do in the main game. About to hit level 34. I'm struggling with my faction choice. I was thinking House, but then he wants me to destroy BoS, which I'm not keen to do. I see a way to hit self destruct in their bunker, so it can be done without battle (I could stealth boy my way out I suppose).

But now BoS is ticking me off, sending me around the map to do their light work, Fetch this, fetch that. I'm the Mojave Messiah dammit, and you will recognize! So they are tap dancing on my last nerve. They don't realize their fate hangs in the balance, and each stupid demand moves them closer to demolition and demise.

So I've been keeping Yes Man apprised of my accomplishments, and I'm leaning toward this. Sure, House might be able to colonize planets 100 years from now, and that's great for humanity and all. But I won't be around to see it, so why not rule the Strip for the rest of my days? Everyone save Powder Gangers and the Legion love me, and I think I could do a fine job of it. The Lucky 38 makes a fine base of operations, and with House out of the way there's nothing to stop me.

I want to tackle another DLC. Dead Money sounds tedious and annoying. It may not be, but from what I've read that is the impression I have formed. Old World Blues sounds more suitable for me, but I searched "how to prepare for OWB" and everyone says energy and melee weapons, which of course are the two skills (along with unarmed) that I've ignored all the way through. Once in you cannot turn back until you've seen it through. I'll just make a hard save and dive in and see I suppose.

I kicked around starting OWB and instead launched Lonesome Road. I'm to do this one last it seems but who cares.

I'm liking it so far, more than Honest Hearts if I'm honest. They say energy weapons are the way to go in OWB, so I thought I'd play this, level up a few times, all the while dropping points in to energy weapons so that those will be viable when and if I get there. Get the duster at the end, with its 4.33:1 DT to weight ratio. Its bonuses are to be determined based on my rep with various factions. Hoping for the "old world" House version with it +1 Agility and rad resistance. But I'd guess my NCR rep is higher. That's +1 Endurance and +25 carry weight. Meh, whatever,

These DLC throw XP at the player, don't they? Completing quests is worth a lot and the levels go by more quickly. So I've gone from 20 energy weapons to 55, just like that, and if I decide to follow through with OWB maybe I'll be better prepared as a result. I've mostly ignored these weapons throughout the run, so might as well mix it up and use them.

Lonesome Road is meant to be the end of the road for a reason, you might have to leave and come back and finish OWB first.

Why is that? Spoilers OK.

Potentially the toughest boss battle in Fallout.

I see, thanks, but I believe I won't need to fight him. I can opt to, but won't need to. Maybe I'll try both just to see how tough he is.

I completed Lonesome Road. I liked it. It was linear, no freedom to proceed how you might wish, but that's fine. Metro Last Light was like this all the way through and I love that game. It's not a bad thing in of itself. Ulysses is a good character, a bizzarro Courier if you will. Intelligent, mad, tortured, driven by revenge. It's an interesting attempt to fill in a backstory, giving the Courier a history before Benny's bullet.

I completed it, but can't say I finished it, leaving the Courier's Mile untouched, and I failed to complete the collections, ED-Es upgrades, the posters, the warheads. I might go back to find the upgrades I missed, and maybe run the Mile gauntlet. Maybe not, too. Got two nice Dusters out of it. The faction one is NCR, because the game sees me with the highest rep with them. It's true I reckon, and completing Boone's quest line seemed to boost my standing considerably. I wanted the independent duster, but the NCR one grants +25 carry weight and +1 Endurance, which isn't bad. Got another one with crit chance and +1 Perception I think. Carrying them both. Swapped out Joshua Graham's armor, which is a little more DT, but also triple the weight, nearly. You're also given Ulysses' mask for +50 rad resistance, which might be good in Dead Money, should I do that. Good rewards that I'll find use for.

In the end I did indeed talk Ulysses down, impressing him with truth and strength in my words. The revenge melted away and together we stood side by side to repel the Marked Man assault, and left, not friends perhaps, but Couriers, bound by our shared experience and circumstance. We have both walked the East. And the West. The Divide. Footsteps, following, a history born of common fates.

The missile detonated over Dry Wells, the Legion paying the price for their assassination squads. Malice has consequence.

I started Lonesome Road at level 31 and left at 39, and dropped my free SPECIAL in to Luck. At level 38 I took Robotics Expert, since I've read Old World Blues has a lot of them, and I reckon the damage boost against will come in handy. So I plan to do that next. During Lonesome Road I raised Energy Weapons skill from 20 to 85, and now I'm pumping Melee. Doing the DLC out of order seems a good choice in this case, and I'll enter OWB with a build more suitable.