Wondering If I'm playing wrong. Character is very weak

[MurderousMarvin]

I played Fallout 3 years ago, I remember it being fairly challenging.

Right now in NV I'm level 11, 50 gun profficiency 45 energy weapon proff. If attacked by a giant rad-scorpion, I have to run for high ground or I'm dead. I spent about 20 minutes reloading a save trying to kill 3 Mirelurks. In a battle with a legion commander, I can stand there and fire an assault rifle directly into his face, and his health may lose a bar or two.
Is this normal or am I playing wrong? I would assume that I'm just trying to take on things that are too high a level for me, but it seems to be everything. It was managable until I made enemies of the Legion, now I'm getting murdered everywhere I go.

[Curious Incubus]

Well, yes and no. These enemies can be handled at nearly any level, so long as the player is able to plan their engagements. If you rush headfirst into a fight, even against some of the low-level enemies, you'll have a difficult time overcoming them.

Another thing is you're focusing on 2 different combat roles. It's better to put your focus on one combat skill rather than distributing amongst two. The more focus you put into specific skills, the better perks you'll earn for them.

Also, make sure your guns have the proper stopping power for facing enemies with high DT and DR. Using a small caliber bullet is not effective against large caliber enemies. Piercing ammo works great on radscorpions and other heavily armored opponents, and hollow-point munitions are very effective when dealing with poorly armored opponents.

You also shouldn't be making enemies with the Legion at such an early point in the game. Their assassins are some of the most well equipped warriors of the Legion, and they cannot be avoided. Try making your way to the New Vegas strip and confront Benny. There, you should receive an official pardon from Vulpes, or some nondescript Frumentarii, voiding your crimes against the Legion.

[MurderousMarvin]

Awesome. Thank you.

[red255]

yeah if you were guns I'd suggest AP ammo for those enemies (radscopions or legion) if you were energy I'd suggest Plasma and max charge rounds.

since you apparently are trying to do both, I'm not sure what to suggest. you probably would have been better off focusing on one or the other.

but a plasma pistol GRA with max charge rounds would probably cut thru radscorpions easily enough.

[MurderousMarvin]

I hadn't thought of them as serious game choices, I just figured it would be best to do well with both. I'll change my approach.

[Discreet_Pigeon]

Originally posted by red255:

yeah if you were guns I'd suggest AP ammo for those enemies (radscopions or legion) if you were energy I'd suggest Plasma and max charge rounds.

since you apparently are trying to do both, I'm not sure what to suggest. you probably would have been better off focusing on one or the other.

but a plasma pistol GRA with max charge rounds would probably cut thru radscorpions easily enough.

I personally would suggest using a gun and not energy weapon for in the beginning of the game energy type ammo is hard to come by unless you get the cheap bulk packs of ammo from a vendors which does less damage and degrades your gun faster I believe.

[Brandybuck]

Originally posted by The Adversary, Omaha!:

You also shouldn't be making enemies with the Legion at such an early point in the game. Their assassins are some of the most well equipped warriors of the Legion, and they cannot be avoided. Try making your way to the New Vegas strip and confront Benny. There, you should receive an official pardon from Vulpes, or some nondescript Frumentarii, voiding your crimes against the Legion.

Two comments on this:

First, it can be hard to avoid making enemies with them. This is a roleplaying game after all, some players have characters that like to help the downtrodden and oppressed. Rescuing a few people and killing their captors on the way to Novac WILL put you on Caesar's sh*tlist.

Second, the legion assassins are bugged. Their level lists are broken and the show up in top tier armor with top tier weapons. There are mods that fix this so that they are more level appropriate.

[Discreet_Pigeon]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

Originally posted by The Adversary, Omaha!:

You also shouldn't be making enemies with the Legion at such an early point in the game. Their assassins are some of the most well equipped warriors of the Legion, and they cannot be avoided. Try making your way to the New Vegas strip and confront Benny. There, you should receive an official pardon from Vulpes, or some nondescript Frumentarii, voiding your crimes against the Legion.

Two comments on this:

First, it can be hard to avoid making enemies with them. This is a roleplaying game after all, some some players have characters that like to help the downtrodden and oppressed. Rescuing a few people and killing their captors on the way to Novac WILL put you on Caesar's sh*tlist.

Second, the legion assassins are bugged. Their level lists are broken and the show up in top tier armor with top tier weapons. There are mods that fix this so that they are more level appropriate.

My very first time encountering the legion hit squad I did not expect them to come rolling in with top of the line gear to kill me. On the other hand when the NCR hit squad finally attacked (for those that do not know they don't attack you the first time you meet) they came at me with ♥♥♥♥♥♥ gear to kill me such as cowboy repeaters, .357 revolvers, and a combat knife I believe the only thing good that came out of them was that they had a whole lot of stimpaks on death 2-4 each.

[Vassago Rain]

It's a simple system.

All pieces of armor combined form your DT. Any damage taken is instantly subtracted by this amount, but a minimum of 15% always slips through. For instance, if you're wearing combat armor and nothing else, that's 15 DT. This is more than enough to stop trash weapons like 9mm pistols, varmint rifles, knives, switchblades, 9mm SMGs, 20 gauge shotguns using buckshot, laser pistols... It's also enough DT to practically nullify slightly better weapons, like service rifles, 10mm pistols and SMGs, and laser rifles. You go from taking 18 damage per service rifle bullet, to 3.

A legion 'commander,' aka a centurion, has 23 DT. Unless you're using .44 or armor piercing bullets of some kind, you're not gonna do any real damage to him.

This is VERY different to fallout 3, which uses a DR system. The thickest and best combat armor in fallout 3 gives 45% DR, which means raiders with bog standard 10mm pistols will always do at least 5 damage to you, but you'll also do 6 damage with that same 10mm versus a fully equipped and armored brotherhood of steel soldier. In NV, wearing regular combat armor and a combat helmet renders you practically immune to the same 10mm pistol, and power armor actually protects you.

I'm gonna assume that like so many others who only played fallout 3, you went up against real, armored enemies with a service rifle, the default vault suit, the weathered 10mm pistol, and tried to stimpak your way to a win through attrition. Doesn't work in this game.

Get real armor and real guns, or keep away from serious opponents until you're properly equipped. There's no level scaling protecting you, and stimpaks are far less common.

If assassins are ruining your day, wear a disguise. Or don't venture too far into the wasteland. They avoid hot spots and inhabited areas.

[Enderminion]

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

It's a simple system.

All pieces of armor combined form your DT. Any damage taken is instantly subtracted by this amount, but a minimum of 15% always slips through. For instance, if you're wearing combat armor and nothing else, that's 15 DT. This is more than enough to stop trash weapons like 9mm pistols, varmint rifles, knives, switchblades, 9mm SMGs, 20 gauge shotguns using buckshot, laser pistols... It's also enough DT to practically nullify slightly better weapons, like service rifles, 10mm pistols and SMGs, and laser rifles. You go from taking 18 damage per service rifle bullet, to 3.

A legion 'commander,' aka a centurion, has 23 DT. Unless you're using .44 or armor piercing bullets of some kind, you're not gonna do any real damage to him.

This is VERY different to fallout 3, which uses a DR system. The thickest and best combat armor in fallout 3 gives 45% DR, which means raiders with bog standard 10mm pistols will always do at least 5 damage to you, but you'll also do 6 damage with that same 10mm versus a fully equipped and armored brotherhood of steel soldier. In NV, wearing regular combat armor and a combat helmet renders you practically immune to the same 10mm pistol, and power armor actually protects you.

I'm gonna assume that like so many others who only played fallout 3, you went up against real, armored enemies with a service rifle, the default vault suit, the weathered 10mm pistol, and tried to stimpak your way to a win through attrition. Doesn't work in this game.

Get real armor and real guns, or keep away from serious opponents until you're properly equipped. There's no level scaling protecting you, and stimpaks are far less common.

If assassins are ruining your day, wear a disguise. Or don't venture too far into the wasteland. They avoid hot spots and inhabited areas.

power armour is a minium of like 20DT (T-45D) to 28(remnates)

[Arachnade]

Originally posted by MurderousMarvin:

I played Fallout 3 years ago, I remember it being fairly challenging.

Right now in NV I'm level 11, 50 gun profficiency 45 energy weapon proff. If attacked by a giant rad-scorpion, I have to run for high ground or I'm dead. I spent about 20 minutes reloading a save trying to kill 3 Mirelurks. In a battle with a legion commander, I can stand there and fire an assault rifle directly into his face, and his health may lose a bar or two.
Is this normal or am I playing wrong? I would assume that I'm just trying to take on things that are too high a level for me, but it seems to be everything. It was managable until I made enemies of the Legion, now I'm getting murdered everywhere I go.

Stock bullets are good for unarmored and light armored
Surplus are about the same as stock except they degrade the gun faster.
Hallow point are for unarmored targets.
Armor piercing are for armored-Heavy armored.
Useing the wrong type of ammo against enemies severly reduces chances to kill them.
Against very powerful enemies that you know will be there dont always rush in try to set up an ambush of some kind.

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by Enderminion:

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

It's a simple system.

All pieces of armor combined form your DT. Any damage taken is instantly subtracted by this amount, but a minimum of 15% always slips through. For instance, if you're wearing combat armor and nothing else, that's 15 DT. This is more than enough to stop trash weapons like 9mm pistols, varmint rifles, knives, switchblades, 9mm SMGs, 20 gauge shotguns using buckshot, laser pistols... It's also enough DT to practically nullify slightly better weapons, like service rifles, 10mm pistols and SMGs, and laser rifles. You go from taking 18 damage per service rifle bullet, to 3.

A legion 'commander,' aka a centurion, has 23 DT. Unless you're using .44 or armor piercing bullets of some kind, you're not gonna do any real damage to him.

This is VERY different to fallout 3, which uses a DR system. The thickest and best combat armor in fallout 3 gives 45% DR, which means raiders with bog standard 10mm pistols will always do at least 5 damage to you, but you'll also do 6 damage with that same 10mm versus a fully equipped and armored brotherhood of steel soldier. In NV, wearing regular combat armor and a combat helmet renders you practically immune to the same 10mm pistol, and power armor actually protects you.

I'm gonna assume that like so many others who only played fallout 3, you went up against real, armored enemies with a service rifle, the default vault suit, the weathered 10mm pistol, and tried to stimpak your way to a win through attrition. Doesn't work in this game.

Get real armor and real guns, or keep away from serious opponents until you're properly equipped. There's no level scaling protecting you, and stimpaks are far less common.

If assassins are ruining your day, wear a disguise. Or don't venture too far into the wasteland. They avoid hot spots and inhabited areas.

power armour is a minium of like 20DT (T-45D) to 28(remnates)

22 for T45+5 for the helmet. Total 27. T51 is 25+6. 31 total. Enclave armor is 28+8. 36 total.

[OPDemiGod]

It helps to shoot the legs. If you candt kill them, kite them and then kill them

[Brandybuck]

Have them chase you into a next of deathclaws. You don't have to be faster than the deathclaws, only faster than the assassins... :-)

[Discreet_Pigeon]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

Have them chase you into a next of deathclaws. You don't have to be faster than the deathclaws, only faster than the assassins... :-)

I've had a legion hit squad fight off 2 deathclaws and they still caught up to me by crippling my legs with a plasma grenade (at the time I did not have a doctors bag or other limb healing item also was playing in hardcore mode). The end result was me having my head caved in due to a super sledge blow to the cranium.

[Dosbilliam, Boring but Practical]

Originally posted by Brandybuck:

Rescuing a few people and killing their captors on the way to Novac WILL put you on Caesar's sh*tlist..

Unless you do it from stealth with a silenced weapon, in which case no one's the wiser.