New-b Vegas - obtaining skills in goodsprings?

[lunalara]

Hi all! This is my first real Fallout experience and I neglected to upgrade my barter and explosive skills appropriately (smfh...)

Is there a way to gain/gather the skills around town so I can save Ringo?

Thanks for the time!

L

[Curious Incubus]

There are magazines which temporarily boost specific skills by 10 points. Some can be found in mailboxes.

Also, those skill checks are optional, only providing benefits to characters who plan to optimize those specific skills. Choose a build and go with it. That's how RPGs work.

[Ladez]

You can find barter skill magazines a few places in Goodsprings. Check the schoolhouse for one of them. For explosives you'll need to check the mailboxes.

But you don't need either skill to save Ringo and the town. The objectives that require you to use them are optional ways to make the fight slightly easier by gaining access to extra gear.

[fit4nothing]

Chet at the Goodsprings store can sometimes sell skill mags too.

Also as you leave Goodsprings, you will be asked if you wish to rebuild your character stats.
You can use this opportunity to adjust your barter skills, and then go back to Goodsprings to finish the local missions.
But as the two posters above have stated, it's not really necessary.

[lunalara]

Thanks a ton, guys! I really appreciate the help! I get too hung up with following each detail.

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by lunalara:

Thanks a ton, guys! I really appreciate the help! I get too hung up with following each detail.

You really don't want to do that with this game. Constantly focusing on *min-maxing* your character's stats will greatly reduce your enjoyment of the game.

*Play* the character you've made, accept that you'll be good in some things and suck in others and accept the consequences of that - make your choices on *what* to do based on what you *can* do instead of worrying that putting points here will close something off later down the road. It will, and it'll open up other things. Plus you won't need to spend as much time pouring through wikis to find the 'best ending'. Because there isn't one.

[Carl!!!!]

Speech, Lockpick and Repair are 3 of the main skills you should upgrade, after the skills vital to your build.

If you're melee, also level unarmed, because a couple of the perks for melee require unarmed as well and vice versa. If you plan on using shishkebab or gehenna (flaming swords), level explosives to 60 iirc to get the pyromaniac perk, same for energy weapons if you plan on using flamer/incinerator.

Energy weapon users who use vats a lot should also level guns to get the perk that gives you an accuracy increase for firing at the same body part.

Depending on the gun, gun users can also benefit from the pyromaniac perk, as some guns have incendiary rounds.

Medicine will boost healing ammount from items like stimpacks, and radaway, etc. Survival lets you craft things at a fireplace out of a lot of junk and local plants. It's mostly for people playing hardcore mode, or roleplayers.

Science will be useful for energy weapons users, and if you want to find a lot more background and story int he world on terminals. Most doors that terminals unlock have keys for said terminal, or locks on the doors that can be picked.

Sneak is useful in the right builds such as sniper, melee, or unarmed.

[Incunabulum]

Originally posted by Dresden:

Speech, Lockpick and Repair are 3 of the main skills you should upgrade, after the skills vital to your build.

If you're melee, also level unarmed, because a couple of the perks for melee require unarmed as well and vice versa. If you plan on using shishkebab or gehenna (flaming swords), level explosives to 60 iirc to get the pyromaniac perk, same for energy weapons if you plan on using flamer/incinerator.

Energy weapon users who use vats a lot should also level guns to get the perk that gives you an accuracy increase for firing at the same body part.

Depending on the gun, gun users can also benefit from the pyromaniac perk, as some guns have incendiary rounds.

Medicine will boost healing ammount from items like stimpacks, and radaway, etc. Survival lets you craft things at a fireplace out of a lot of junk and local plants. It's mostly for people playing hardcore mode, or roleplayers.

Science will be useful for energy weapons users, and if you want to find a lot more background and story int he world on terminals. Most doors that terminals unlock have keys for said terminal, or locks on the doors that can be picked.

Sneak is useful in the right builds such as sniper, melee, or unarmed.

That . . . that has nothing to do with the OP's question at all.

[lunalara]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

Originally posted by lunalara:

Thanks a ton, guys! I really appreciate the help! I get too hung up with following each detail.

"You really don't want to do that with this game. Constantly focusing on *min-maxing* your character's stats will greatly reduce your enjoyment of the game."

That makes sense! thank you. I'll work on wandering and enjoying. :)

[lunalara]

Incanubulum, thank you it's good to know what the skills are useful for in total.

[Carl!!!!]

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

Originally posted by Dresden:

Speech, Lockpick and Repair are 3 of the main skills you should upgrade, after the skills vital to your build.

If you're melee, also level unarmed, because a couple of the perks for melee require unarmed as well and vice versa. If you plan on using shishkebab or gehenna (flaming swords), level explosives to 60 iirc to get the pyromaniac perk, same for energy weapons if you plan on using flamer/incinerator.

Energy weapon users who use vats a lot should also level guns to get the perk that gives you an accuracy increase for firing at the same body part.

Depending on the gun, gun users can also benefit from the pyromaniac perk, as some guns have incendiary rounds.

Medicine will boost healing ammount from items like stimpacks, and radaway, etc. Survival lets you craft things at a fireplace out of a lot of junk and local plants. It's mostly for people playing hardcore mode, or roleplayers.

Science will be useful for energy weapons users, and if you want to find a lot more background and story int he world on terminals. Most doors that terminals unlock have keys for said terminal, or locks on the doors that can be picked.

Sneak is useful in the right builds such as sniper, melee, or unarmed.

That . . . that has nothing to do with the OP's question at all.

But it can still help him in the future.

[Dusty]

Originally posted by Dresden:

Originally posted by Incunabulum:

That . . . that has nothing to do with the OP's question at all.

But it can still help him in the future.

Yes, and keep in mind you can't do everything in 1 playthrough. FNV has tons of replay value. So many factions, so many places, so many quests. Just enjoy it and learn, then try doing everything differently the next time around