Have to finish a dlc once started?

[fishhooks]

If I start a dlc, like Honest Hearts, do I have to finish it before I can return? Specifically, I want to go to Zion and find a Green Gecko hide so I can craft gecko-backed reinforced leather armor (just 'cuz I want to, even if it isn't the best armor around). So I'd like to return to Mojave as soon as I find it, w/o finishing up HH.

Thanks.

[EolSunder]

The only DLC you can enter and exit at will is Lonesome road. Honest Hearts, OWB, and Dead money all require you to finish it before you exit.

[Vassago Rain]

Honest hearts does have a killswitch in case you get bored with tribals. Simply attack any important NPC, and you trigger a quest that will end the DLC in like 10 minutes.

If you just want one item, use the console to spawn it.

[fishhooks]

Thanks. Kinda a bummer that you get the option to create some pretty decent early-game armor, but then can't get the items you need to craft it till later (unless you do HH early, I guess). Nuts...I've been putting a lot of skill points into Survival, amd actively looking for the hides, till I read the wiki and realized Green Gecko is only in Zion.

By the time I get to HH, I'll probably have better equipment anyway, so crafting the gecko-backed stuff will be pointless. Kinda feel like I could have spent those skill points on something more useful at this time. Oh well...live and learn...at least I get a lot more mileage out of my food items...lol.

[Vassago Rain]

Honest hearts should be played early. It's a very low level kind of exploration romp through the wilderness, not so much about shooting badguys, or having super high skills.

[fishhooks]

Cool...maybe I'll go ahead and do it. About how many level-ups will I gain if I'm at 18 now? I have Logans Loophole, so I need to complete OWB before I hit 30, and I want to do DM first, so I preserve SOME continuity in the storyline, since this is my first time thru.

[Vassago Rain]

Not a lot. 4, maybe, unless you spend all your time shooting stormdrummers.

[EolSunder]

well I think if you use light armor you won't find anything better until the crafted gecko armor. Leather armor I think is 8, reinforced leather is 10 and the crafted gecko light leather armor is 15 I believe, so if your only using light armor you'll still be fine. of course if you use other armor you'll be going for combat armor mark 2 and later power armor maybe.

You'll get other light armor in Honest hearts Jacobs outfit maybe that also is 15, but it doesn't have the extra benefits the crafted Gecko armor has. I use the Gecko armor on my light armor builds all the way through the game.

[rayrei81]

Honest Hearts is pretty short - you can finish it in just a couple of hours, really. Having to play through it isn't a chore.

[fishhooks]

Cool...thanks for all the great info, guys.

So lemme ask this...if I'm at Level 18 (about 1500xp from 19), and I do HH now, will I still be able to complete DM and OWB before hitting lvl 30? Or does DM and OWB provide 4-5 lvls each? (I kinda assume they do, since they each add 5 lvls).

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by fishhooks:

Cool...thanks for all the great info, guys.

So lemme ask this...if I'm at Level 18 (about 1500xp from 19), and I do HH now, will I still be able to complete DM and OWB before hitting lvl 30? Or does DM and OWB provide 4-5 lvls each? (I kinda assume they do, since they each add 5 lvls).

Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. Honest hearts also opens up access to a lot of mid level gear that's really useful, like the .45 weapons and new survival items.

You should NOT attempt lonesome road until you're like level 35 or higher, and you're also sitting on a gigantic supply of healing items, guns, and ammo, because lonesome road has very little of them in it.

Old world blues has the neat ability to sorta scale with your character, so regardless of your level, you'll get some kind of challenge, and find lots of items you'd not normally encounter.

I don't recommend dead money ever, honestly, but I'm biased. Just say you played it, and leave it at that.

[biochimera]

Personally not a fan of the gecko armor. Graham's armor, Ulysses' duster or assassin suit are better in my eyes. But yeah, honest hearts isn't that long, and if you're like me and like slaughtering all the white legs (some of their gear, especially at highish levels, is very tasty) as well as doing all the caves you'll probably see around 5 level ups. The .45 weapons aren't anything to crow about in my eyes, I usually just give Raul the named .45 pistol and that's it. Well, maybe also one for myself to sneak into the casinos, but then that's definitely it.

Lonesome Road kinda depends on your build, going to it at 35 seems a bit high unless you're a melee berserker-type character, playing as a sneak sniper 30 seems reasonable or even 25 if you're willing to live a bit dangerously, and as for ammo, well depends on what you like using, plus the marked men do seem to carry a pretty good variety of weaponry, and of course there are rockets galore if you want to start using that weapon. Doing the Courier's Mile at 30 or so though, yeah you're probably going to die ad nauseum, but that's really it. Old World Blues can be rather brutal with the named creatures or a nightstalker mob spawning nearby and swarming you, but keep away from them and it shouldn't be difficult, the securitron facility might give you grief if once again you're a melee berserker character. Old World Blue's respawning times seem very short though, or they reset when you go to the sink, and they will respawn when you are literally in the middle of them in at least one case (the lobotomites near the western wall of the sink), so it can either be a silly grindfest or a lootfest depending on your outlook.

And yes Dead Money gets a lot of hate, but as I've said in the other topic, it is easy to game if you know how.

[fishhooks]

Man, thanks so much for the great input and tips. I feel pretty good now, about what I need to do. I think I'll just go ahead and play them in their proper order...DM, HH, and OWB (save LR till I'm lvl'd up a little more).

I figure that, even if I hit 30 before I get to the end of OWB (to swap out Logans Loophole), then ok...if I lose some xp and lvls, I can make them up later in the mq or LR.

thanks

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

You should NOT attempt lonesome road until you're like level 35 or higher, and you're also sitting on a gigantic supply of healing items, guns, and ammo, because lonesome road has very little of them in it.

Dude. LR is basically a corridor full of enemies and loot. Strong enemies mind, but I walked out of there with like... 300 rockets.

[Vassago Rain]

Originally posted by hghwolf, avuncularily creepy:

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

You should NOT attempt lonesome road until you're like level 35 or higher, and you're also sitting on a gigantic supply of healing items, guns, and ammo, because lonesome road has very little of them in it.

Dude. LR is basically a corridor full of enemies and loot. Strong enemies mind, but I walked out of there with like... 300 rockets.

Red glare is awful, which is why everybody always has infinite ammo for it.

[hghwolf]

Originally posted by Vassago Rain:

Red glare is awful, which is why everybody always has infinite ammo for it.

It was just one of the myriad ammo types I had functionally unlimited numbers of. I picked the rockets because they sell decently.