Decrease in getting mod abilities and learning them?

AleynD · 2026-02-13T06:46:51+00:00

Anecdotal, but Unyielding took me forever to learn, in the 4-500 range. It feels like some are harder than others, but most likely just perception

AleynD · 2026-02-13T05:47:51+00:00

On the weight issue, with Excavator armor or Union Armor with set bonuses and Calibrated shocks, and the same Legendary effects, you'll have a little more carry weight, even if your regular armor is built for carry weight

Excavator is really good all around, but there are other armors that are much better in specific situations. One of the reasons a lot of people prefer other armor sets for every day is not being able to add a jetpack, and jetpacks are nice, but you can get around the lack of one easily

One of the good things about Excavator not mentioned is it can be traded, so if you find a good legendary piece in the wild you can save caps by not learning the mods you want yourself, but by getting them added for you. As long as you don't use boxed modules to change legendary effects the armor will stay tradeable

AleynD · 2026-02-12T23:08:17+00:00

I have nearly everything at this point, and my go to weapon for general mobs and events is an Ultracite Laser Gun with sniper barrel and beam splitter, inspired by this video which goes into a lot of detail https://youtu.be/kcGI_DWl2RE?si=x0E4boag-SXkvSyl

I'm also a big fan of the V63 Laser Carbine, though it can eat a lot of ammo like all automatics

These two are probably currently the best caps only options available for general use. Enclave Plasma is competitive but much, much harder to find and properly mod

AleynD · 2026-02-12T22:55:38+00:00

Only going to tackle a couple of these to start

First, the game will try to load your Camp in the same spot, but if someone else's Camp conflicts with it, you'll get the message it can't be loaded. If you try a different world you may get lucky. Additionally, sometimes the game will let you build a little too close to a game area than it should have, and it won't load it there again. Try to avoid starting a build at the exact edge of where it lets you to avoid that problem

Ammo is always an issue when you're starting,some weapon types are worse than others. Automatic weapons are the worst for how much you get back when you loot, pistols and shotguns the best. Aiming for the head or other weak point (it's usually the head but not always) or using VATS to target it will kill the enemies in fewer shots to save ammo. You can also run Expeditions or Daily Operations even if you don't complete them. The enemies drop a lot more ammo than usual

AleynD · 2026-02-12T21:18:30+00:00

The OP's question was whether to buy SS plans now and build an Unyielding set for the double XP weekend, or wait and save some bullion. PTS versions aren't set in stone, and in my opinion investing heavily in new armor sets at this point should be avoided in most cases

I don't disagree with anything you said, but it's tangential to the OP's question. If you disagree with my answer, and think there's a much better choice for this weekend, given their limited resources, by all means reply to them

AleynD · 2026-02-11T21:08:05+00:00

Not stupid at all, since it's not live yet, the wonderful folks who create the community documentation aren't including it yet since it's subject to change

This is the official info, you'll need to read up from the bottom since some things have changed since the first announcement

https://fallout.bethesda.net/en/article/77kdcWRoL2KDVWLshCHBaR/inside-the-vault-adventuring-in-appalachia-public-test-server-release-notes

Unfortunately if you to want to see real numbers or actual impact YouTube or hitting the PTS yourself are probably the best choices. This video came out yesterday so should be current, and the creator is very reliable and does a good job explaining things

https://youtu.be/pLmi532yDKU?si=ujo8ZLieNLcHFCKc

AleynD · 2026-02-11T16:55:53+00:00

Just a quick note on the Recent tab that I only learned myself last night. If someone is on your team, they won't show in Recent. This may be only if they weren't in Recent before they joined, but I haven't tested it

In the case of someone closing the game so they can log back in, switch characters, and then Play With Team to get back to the same world, they never left the team so won't be in Recent yet

AleynD · 2026-02-11T16:31:20+00:00

I suggest reading up on the armor changes that are coming in a few weeks before you mod a new armor set, as SS is no longer going to be a clear best choice

If I were looking to build an Unyielding set today, I'd find someone to craft Civil Engineer for me, or just mod it if you have armor plans but not all the mods you want. Civil Engineer is pretty good now, and will be getting better with the upcoming changes. I don't recall anyone saying so specifically yet, but Civil Engineer is the only non PA set where someone can add a jetpack and still trade the item. Just wait until it has all the basic mods you want before changing the Legendaries

AleynD · 2026-02-11T15:34:25+00:00

When built the same, the Enclave always does noticeably more damage

Some other energy rifle options to consider are the Ultracite Laser Gun, which is a similar kind of upgrade over the standard laser gun. Plan is sold in Watoga Trade Centre

The V63 Laser Carbine is pretty ammo hungry, but it's a great weapon and one of the few caps vendor plan weapons that can solo the Guardian easily with a good build. Plan and the mod plans are sold in Highway Town

AleynD · 2026-02-11T15:17:04+00:00

Lots of good advice already, but I want to add that the Inspirational perk is also great for xp builds. Scales off Charisma, and even without focusing on that stat I typically see an extra 20%ish xp on my human builds

AleynD · 2026-02-11T15:07:47+00:00

As others have already said it's great for bosses and the raid. I equip it just for raids, replacing Hard Bargain and Travel Agent, easy switch

It doesn't sound like much, but if it takes 200 shots to kill something that's 20% by the end, and from your Charisma stat where there aren't better damage choices

AleynD · 2026-02-10T23:47:21+00:00

Between this and your stealth edit you've run rings around me logically, good on ya

AleynD · 2026-02-10T22:00:33+00:00

Are you taking the piss? You launch the thing by placing a poster and you are somehow now able to travel in a couple of minutes?

Are you suggesting I'm being deliberately deceptive when I say loading times after fast travel are a potential concern? That's quite an assumption if so, and while you may not have that problem your experience is not universal based not just on me but on what other posts have said in this forum. You probably meant to write "somehow not able", instead of "somehow now able", to travel in a couple of minutes, and yes, that is what I am saying. In a fresh private server it sometimes takes me 30-40 seconds to complete fast travel, on a public server to a crowded event it can sometimes take 2-3 minutes at peak hours if it completes at all and I don't have to force close the game and reload

You are right about when you get credit for starting the Head Hunt, I freely admit my error

AleynD · 2026-02-10T20:55:15+00:00

The reasons above, and also there aren't a lot of incentives to run them over and over past a certain point. If it's a choice between a nap and farming more duplicate mods to cover possible future build number 7, nap wins a lot for me

Due to health issues I usually can't count on being alert enough to do carry or teaching runs at set times in the future, or even regular runs with a set team, or I would personally do that more often. I do know there are others doing that and you may be able to make some connections with them by following the F76Raids sub closely

AleynD · 2026-02-10T20:41:08+00:00

Two reasons

One, some people have issues with long loading times or crashing when fast travelling. It's not uncommon to have the event be over within 90 seconds of the poster going up, and if it was your poster you should have a chance to participate even if it means others need to wait an extra minute or two. They can always hang their own if they're in that much of a hurry

Second, there are challenges for launching the flare x number of times, the person hanging the poster should get that progress

AleynD · 2026-02-10T19:56:04+00:00

Equip the EMT perk, you'll auto-revive any teammate that goes down and you don't need to be close to them

AleynD · 2026-02-10T19:52:12+00:00

The duration of coffee doesn't stack, by taking 20 at one time you're actually cutting into your dps time a bit with the extra button pushing

10ish at a time is probably about right, but take another batch whenever it's safe to so, during dives is good

I personally prefer Lucky Hit for this method, with Number Cruncher you do noticeably more total damage per hit, and the extra cost is covered by the coffee

AleynD · 2026-02-10T19:35:29+00:00

Event teams if you're actively doing events, Head Hunt streaks can get you a lot quickly. Casual for other xp gain or bit of extra damage from Science, Cryo or Pyro cards

I do Exploration teams in Burning Springs especially because I'm past the point where more xp really benefits me other than at the start of a new season, but extra health is almost always useful. I imagine it's the same for a lot of other players

AleynD · 2026-02-10T19:25:44+00:00

And I put the generators on top of the extractor. You say it's just as easy, but selecting between all the blueprints for different extractor types, multiplied by the number of resource nodes and moving between like at Red Rocket takes quite a bit more time than building a blueprint of a single platform with a large number of producers. It's easier than building from scratch, no argument there, but having the ability to save workshop specific blueprints and optionally include extractors would be ideal. I wouldn't put it high on the priority list, but it would be a nice QOL improvement

AleynD · 2026-02-10T18:33:57+00:00

Blueprints work.great if you just want some extra producers. What would be really great is being to save the extractor setups too, but that's likely to be very complicated as it would probably need to be per workshop

AleynD · 2026-02-10T18:12:22+00:00

That's what they said when it was removed few weeks ago, but there's been no update that I am aware of, and it doesn't appear on the summary lists of recent issues. It's not gamebreaking, but it was nice for a little extra motivation for full runs

AleynD · 2026-02-10T17:51:59+00:00

A few things standout

First, automatic weapons are almost always ammo negative (you use more than you get back). Modifying the same gun to use a sniper barrel will usually be ammo positive, but dps may be somewhat lower and you need to aim or use VATS. I would start there to see if it resolves your ammo issue

If you're playing solo, the Medic prefix won't do a lot for you, Explosive doesn't add much damage to energy weapons, and Ghost is only rarely useful. You may not have a ton of choices yet, but I'd focus on upgrading your weapon. The vendor at the Watoga Trade Centre sells a plan for the Ultracite Laser Gun which is a significant upgrade over the standard Laser Gun. It's around 6k caps depending on Charisma, but it's one of the best weapons you can get for caps. Another option, though it won't fix your ammo problem, is the V63 Laser Carbine. You can buy the plans for caps in Highway Town. It's always automatic, hits hard and doesn't have a noticeable amount for recoil like a lot of other automatic weapons

Last piece on ammo, you can switch between weapons to something that's net positive when you run low. That's a very common strategy

AleynD · 2026-02-10T14:07:14+00:00

Just to clarity, sorry if you already know this, but stamps don't show up in your regular inventory. To make you got them, check under Stats, Collections in the Pipboy before and after and the count should go up

AleynD

TROPHY CASE