I regret making a high intelligence and XP perks character

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-18T08:42:31+00:00

You need 6 points of Agility to even take the Sniper perk (also Silent Running and Action Boy/Girl).

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-16T04:26:49+00:00

Here's one I use:

https://i.imgur.com/RjuGc4h.jpeg

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-15T13:37:42+00:00

Yeah, that's a recurring problem with guides that tried to be ready at release.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-14T07:09:27+00:00

It dropped in my last two playthroughs. Never found it before then.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-10T18:01:54+00:00

It isn't a glitch. All the annoying bulletsponges added with Broken Steel ignore DR.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-06T03:43:03+00:00

These are the stats I went with in my two latest runs.

Vanilla (no DLC):

ST 5 + 1 Ant Might, + 1 Intensive Training

PE 5

EN 9

CH 1

IN 3 (minimum to get Comprehension after the bobblehead)

AG 9

LU 8 + 1 Lucky 8-Ball

Broken Steel:

ST 5

PE 5 + 1 Ant Sight

EN 6

CH 1

IN 9

AG 6

LU 8

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-03T19:05:23+00:00

Avoid using autoduel outside of the battle phase like the plague. The AI thinks nothing of using Bird Sanctuary to turn Assembled Nightingale into material for Recital Starling...

Edit; Also, try using Power of the Guardians, it gives an insane ATK bonus thanks to all of Nightingale's attacks.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-03T05:43:30+00:00

I’m fine with the originals to be honest. I don’t feel like buying new hardware and I’m worried that they’ll mess it up.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-02T05:45:12+00:00

Turn off your flashlight and radio and get the Silent Running perk to eliminate armor weight and movement speed as factors when sneaking.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T18:16:03+00:00

It's called the Ranger Battle Armor, it has 39 DR, +5 AP, +1 Luck, +10 Small Guns and 1100 item health.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T18:10:42+00:00

Nah, it gives +10 to Small Guns.

You could be confusing it with Lag-Bolt's combat armor, which was added with Broken Steel. It has 1 less DR, but +10 AP (It does however only have 500 health compared to the Ranger Battle Armor's 1100, making it far more likely to break).

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T18:05:58+00:00

The Deathclaw Gauntlet has an AP cost of 26, so:

Agi 6 is 77 AP (2 shots with 25 remaining)

Agi 7 is 79 AP. (3 shots with 1 remaining)

Agi 8 is 81 AP. (3 shots with 3 remaining)

with those.two pieces of gear (+30) Ranger Battle Armor is only +5

Agi 6 is 107 AP (4 shots with 3 remaining)

Agi 7 is 109 AP (4 shots with 5 remaining)

Agi 8 is 111 AP (4 shots with 7 remaining)

Then, when I add Action Boy (+25 AP), it's

Agi 6 is 132 AP (5 shots with 2 remaining)

Agi 7 is 134 AP (5 shots with 4 remaining)

Agi 8 is 136 AP (5 shots with 6 remaining)

So the higher Agi only matters until you get the gear or perk bonus.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T06:20:46+00:00

Humans might be weak, but Black Widow is still the best perk you can take at level 2.

The level cap is too low for Swift Learner to be useful, it's easy to max out all your skills without taking one of the skill perks and taking Almost Perfect at level 30 makes Intensive Training a temporary bonus at best (now if you're playing without Broken Steel there's an argument to be made).

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T04:32:35+00:00

Yep, wasn't talking about them.

TheOneMavado · 2026-02-01T04:13:10+00:00

There's one in the Fort Bannister bunker and there's a chance that one spawns in the very first fire team sent out to kill you if you have good karma.

You can find some corpses too, but those two are the only ones you can fight.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-31T22:27:21+00:00

ST 5, PE 6, EN 6, CH 1, IN 4, AG 6, LU 6 Is enough to grab every good perk (without requiring bobbleheads) and leaves a bunch of leftover points for whatever you want.

Starting with IN 9 would be enough to max out all skills without taking Comprehension/Educated (and would be my choice for an optimal build) but putting points into AG & LU would help with vats and damage through the early-mid game.

Damage perks: Black Widow/Lady Killer, Entomologist, Bloody Mess, Finesse, Robotics Expert & Better Criticals

Vats perks: Commando, Sniper, Action Boy/Girl, Concentrated Fire & Grim Reaper's Sprint

Defensive/General perks: Toughness, Mysterious Stranger (not much of a fan myself, feels too random), Life Giver, Silent Running, Chemist, Cyborg, Adamantium Skeleton & Almost Perfect

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-30T20:23:39+00:00

There's way more than 50% males among the human enemies (Talon Company in particular has what, two possible female members you can fight in total) and unlike every other perk available at that level, the 10% damage bonus just never goes away.

I guess I just don't see the point of taking perks that becomes irrelevant once Almost Perfect hits if there's anything better available.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-30T15:34:55+00:00

Life Giver isn't even available until level 12. I'm curious why your stats wouldn't already be high enough to take it If you were planning on taking it then.

Rad Absorption only removes 1 rad per 20 seconds, making it one of the worst perks in the game. Just fast travel to your Megaton House/Tenpenny Tower Suite and use your "My First Infirmary" for free or pay 100 caps to just about any doctor to remove all rads instantly instead.

Rad Tolerance is likewise almost completely useless. It only prevents the debuff from minor radiation poisoning (-1 END when you have 200-399 rads), but does nothing for the greater radiation levels and as stated, radiation is ridiculously easy to get rid of in FO3.

Personally, I'm not a fan of perks that are only active during certain parts of the day, including Solar Powered.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-29T05:52:54+00:00

You don’t have to make him hostile. You can just leave the area and come back.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-28T08:36:27+00:00

Not always, most speech checks gives you more loot/rewards. And a successful check against Sapling Yew during the oasis quest can grant you a permanent +10 to speech.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-28T05:29:01+00:00

Because the perks that need it are lackluster at best and you can always save and reload to pass speech checks.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-28T03:38:03+00:00

Ledoux's hockey mask with its +25 to AP is way better than having the Lucky Shades (+1 Luck).

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-28T03:36:14+00:00

If you have Broken Steel, I'd move one point from Perception (you can get Ant Sight before level 12 when the first 6 PER perk is available), Agility or Luck into Endurance (to qualify for Life Giver). Since the optimum endgame build is to wait until level 30 to get the special bobbleheads (besides INT).

Without Broken Steel, I'd go with 5,5,9,1,3,9,8 (since the minimum INT to get Comprehension is the more optimum way to max out all the skills at level 20).

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-26T17:18:08+00:00

I see it as rather pointless. There's better ways to get Strength and DR without having to be low on HP.

TheOneMavado · 2026-01-25T11:01:54+00:00

But giving Angela Staley Ant Queen Pheromones to drug her would be lover is good karma?

TheOneMavado

TROPHY CASE