Stuck early game with no idea how to progress

[Gert Ravn]

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

[jynx]

For merchants and locations, type in FO4 merchants list on the FO4 wiki.
To get better prices, start collecting the trader mags, pick the trading price perk (3 levels), and wear CHA boosting gear when you trade. There's also perks for finding more ammo and caps.
Don't stick to one gun. With the right gun nut levels, you can carry different caliber barrels for the same guns with you and switch as needed.
Traps sell well if you have the raw materials, water, jet, raider armor (with mods), etc. are trade staples. There's several POI's that have large quantities of Pre War $ that refill too.

You have to up your science to fix and upgrade your power armor. You can buy pieces at the atom cats garage. Otherwise you have to search out abandoned armor, or get the 2nd level of armor piercing perk and snipe (recurring) power armor equipped raiders. Hit the fusion core and give them time to eject from suit, or sneak up and drop a grenade in their inventory if your stealth is spectacular. Raider PA is pretty limited for modding, but it's better than nothing.

[socialmediaaddress3]

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

what is your location?
Keep in mind you get XP for building anything.

You can recycle tons of wood and steel in Sanctuary (build move button 'V" and parse your cursor over cars, lights, tree branches etc) and then use it to build things gaining XP every time.
if you have the materials for a powered water pupmp and to build a generator to power it , then it will even put purified water into your workbench that you can sell.
On an unmodded game this ability opens up only after you rescued the settlers from the Museum (where codsworth send u to concord Everly game) and then met prestongin Sanctuary.

You rescued the Quincy survivors from the museum right?

Then you can get codsworth as a companion, in early game he is a great companion, he has a lot of hitpointss and works great against various beasts. And if he "dies" he goes into self repair more and powers back up.
Plus he periodically makes purified water as well, when you dialogue with him.

Best Early game perks worthy of a point
1 for whichever gun you have thats is best (Commando for auto guns, rifleman for , well rifles, etc)
1 towards Cap collector (so ammo isnt so prohibitively expensive when you trade in your loot at a trader)
1 towards sneak ( so u can exfil form fights you can't win)
1 towards lifegiver (so u dont die so easy)
1 or 2 towards agility for more shooting and running ability.

[PeaceMaker]

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

sigh... Games are so dumbed down these days and yet we still get people who act like they're having to apply to mensa to play this.

Ok,
1. relax.
2. Get into the actual world you are in. this is a post apocalyptic world, it got blown to bits, right? You know that. So what happens in a destroyed world?

Everything is rare or hard to get. Bullets aren't made in modern factories any more, so you will always be low. You need to swap and change weapons until you collect more, but it'll almost never be enough.

3. Barter at stores or picks stuff off bodies for more bits and sell them.

4. You can't just demand a great power armor at the start. that's not how getting better and achieving works. You start low and improve. eventually you'll get better power armor and even fix it to better than it was yourself.

5. Have a goal. if you can't think of one, use the one the game gives you.

I know you won't care, you just want what you want and want someone to take you straight there now, but if you want to truly enjoy fallout you must play it in the way it's designed to be played, not just cry, "WAH!!! WHERE IS WHAT I WANT!?? GIMME NOW!"

[GodestLust]

Originally posted by PeaceMaker:

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

sigh... Games are so dumbed down these days and yet we still get people who act like they're having to apply to mensa to play this.

Ok,
1. relax.
2. Get into the actual world you are in. this is a post apocalyptic world, it got blown to bits, right? You know that. So what happens in a destroyed world?

Everything is rare or hard to get. Bullets aren't made in modern factories any more, so you will always be low. You need to swap and change weapons until you collect more, but it'll almost never be enough.

3. Barter at stores or picks stuff off bodies for more bits and sell them.

4. You can't just demand a great power armor at the start. that's not how getting better and achieving works. You start low and improve. eventually you'll get better power armor and even fix it to better than it was yourself.

5. Have a goal. if you can't think of one, use the one the game gives you.

I know you won't care, you just want what you want and want someone to take you straight there now, but if you want to truly enjoy fallout you must play it in the way it's designed to be played, not just cry, "WAH!!! WHERE IS WHAT I WANT!?? GIMME NOW!"

this had made laugh. lol WAH!!! WHERE IS WHAT I WANT!?? GIMME lmao so true.. lmao

[Aigle1705]

how much of the story did you do yet?
visisted red rocket for the dog? visited the museum for the settlers?

sounds like more of a skill or build issue.

as a new player i would advice going for
high perseption (at least 6 ) and high agility at least 3 better 7).
both statz are used for ranged combat, and both provide output increasing perks.
perception 2: rifleman - non automatic rifle dmg
perception 6: sniper - less shaking while aiming and more accuracy in VATS
agility 1: gunslinger - non auto pistols dmg+
agility 2: commando - auomated guns dmg+ (choose 1 maybe 2 not all weapon perks)
agility 3: sneak - more stealthy, only when going sniper/ninja
agility 7: ninja - higher critdmg while stealth
btw intelligence at least 2 for medic.
if you rly waste so much ammo, maybe luck 2 for scrounger
( dont set anything to 10, there are bubbleheads hidden in game that increase all statz by 1, but not above 10. you can also use lvlups for more statz. )

once you left the vault n return to sanctuary, you can basicly gather free levelups as long as you want without leaving town.
by just using that red work bench n building a settlement, every piece placed provides exp.
and sanctuary has so much resources you can easily become lv10 without ever leaving.

this however is not a great idea since the world scales based on playerlevel.
once you climb lv20+ you will run into supermutans, mutated enemies n powerarmor basicly everywhere.

use your companions. the dog from redrocket gasstation
or cogsworth once the settlers reached sanctuary.

ammo wise, cant say too much i usually swim in ammo. without ever going melee.
you can basicly trade with every npc, espec settlers for ammo.
theres tons of ammo in containers, even without the luck perk.
dont waste ammo on improvided weapons. the 10mm pistol is basicly your best call until you get a sniperrifle or a combatrifle.

keep your radiation in check, lowers max hp.

[duanevp]

What difficulty are you playing on? What's your character's current level and what perks have you chosen? How much HAVE you explored? What quests have you completed? What weapon or weaponS does your character use?

Or...

Read some guides. Watch a few youtube videos. USE VATS. Git gud.

[Serpoman]

Do your first Playthrough on Easy. and increase Diff gradually. This game is a ♥♥♥♥♥ until you get used to the Mechanics and Crafting! You don't have to fight everything you run into, run away sometimes! I love to Play a Melee game but you still need guns and Armour, so learn how to use the Benches really good! Make sure you Tag item you need to build with! A lot of different clothing will give you Perks. Here is an Example of how I start a New Game.

S P E C I A L
2 6 3 1 6 5 5
Luck 6 (Special Book), Better Criticals 1, Perception 7 (BH), Strength 3, Armorer 1, Gun Nut 1, Endurance 4, Scrounger 1, Endurance 5, Aquaboy 1, Locksmith Adv.,L10, Strength 4, Big Leagues 1, Science 1, Action Boy 1, Blacksmith 1, Gun Nut 2, Medic 1, Intelligents 7(BH), Armorer 2, Science 2, Chemist 1,L20, Action Boy 2, Strength 5, Big Leagues 2, Demolition Expert 1, Hacker Adv., Blacksmith 2, Medic 2, Chemist 2, Strength 6(BH), Locksmith Expert, Agility 6,L30, Perception 8, Better Criticals 2, Gun Nut 3, Armor 3, Science 3, Blacksmith 3, Intelligents 8, Robotics Expert 1, Armor 4, Gun Nut 4,L40, Science 4, Strength 7, Big Leagues 3, Big Leagues 4 Hacker Expert, Hacker Master, Big Leagues 5, Locksmith Master, Agility 8, Perception 9,L50, Better Criticals 3, Action Boy 3, Endurance 6(BH) Rooted 1, Rooted 2 Endurance 7, Adamantium 1, Adamantium 2, Gun Slinger 1, Rifleman 1, Demolition Expert 2, L60, Perception 10, Moving Target 1, Demolition Expert 3, Rifleman 2, Gun Slinger 2, Gun Slinger 3, Rifleman 3, Rooted 3, Moving Target 2, Adamantium 3,L70, Demolition Expert 4, Strength 8, Agility 8, Robotics Expert 2, Gun Slinger 4, Gun Slinger 5, Endurance 8, Robotics Expert 3, Endurance 9, Luck 8,L80, Rifleman 4, Luck 9, Luck 10, Agility 9, Commando 1, Commando 2, Commando 3, Rifleman 5, Gun Fu 1,L89,

L10 = Level 10 etc...
(BH) = Bobble Head

Take your time and do all the side jobs!

[Zes]

Originally posted by PeaceMaker:

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

sigh... Games are so dumbed down these days and yet we still get people who act like they're having to apply to mensa to play this.

Ok,
1. relax.
2. Get into the actual world you are in. this is a post apocalyptic world, it got blown to bits, right? You know that. So what happens in a destroyed world?

Everything is rare or hard to get. Bullets aren't made in modern factories any more, so you will always be low. You need to swap and change weapons until you collect more, but it'll almost never be enough.

3. Barter at stores or picks stuff off bodies for more bits and sell them.

4. You can't just demand a great power armor at the start. that's not how getting better and achieving works. You start low and improve. eventually you'll get better power armor and even fix it to better than it was yourself.

5. Have a goal. if you can't think of one, use the one the game gives you.

I know you won't care, you just want what you want and want someone to take you straight there now, but if you want to truly enjoy fallout you must play it in the way it's designed to be played, not just cry, "WAH!!! WHERE IS WHAT I WANT!?? GIMME NOW!"

ah i remember my first times, sheltered in a godforsaken basement, counting my bullets sharpening my machete.. eating molerats..

but i had a dream, i had passion.. for life, to survive.. to make it big.. against everything.

now these guys are too soft eh @PeaceMaker ? maybe we were a handful of choosen spirits, were destined to fight and survive.. we had what it takes, even if it was meant to rip off our enemies' head with our teeth..

heh *spits

[MonkeyspankO]

tldr no spoiler advice, start at the lowest difficulty level and just follow the games "hints" as to where to go next and what do. Go slow, don't steamroll quests and just explore. The game gets harder the further south and east you go. Good luck

[Cor.]

Thats the beauty of the game.

You can just wander and find whatever adventure you come across.

Make sure before you go on walkabout, at least have Dogmeat with you.

Loot EVERYTHING. If it looks like it might be a container, hover over it. There are so many 10mm pistols just laying around its silly. the 10mm isnt a bad gun in the slightest. Sure its not as powerful as a tricked out assault rifle, but if you get good with head shots, or leg shots, it doesnt have to be powerful. Dogmeat will help you in that regard.

[Ollicron]

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

You have to learn how to become rich. It's pretty simple you kill weak enemies, take their weapons/armor and sell it, rinse and repeat. Get the Bartering perks and use them to get more caps.

[NecroMaster]

All around the wilderness surrounding concord there should be hints pointing you to where you need to go next.

Leaving the vault you should’ve met codsworth who will point you towards concord.

After allying with the minutemen Preston should give you a quest that sends toy within range of a certain radio frequency putting you in touch with the brotherhood.

Now if you’ve been sticking to the roads at some point you should’ve met trash can Carla who can send you towards diamond city which is your next destination.

[Moo]

Originally posted by Grihim:

i know that i should be walking around doing quests and all that but the problem is that wandering around is super hard because when i stumble across something it either doesnt have barely any good loot or theres a bunch of hard enemies. and i feel im stuck as i cant kill any enemies because i constantly run out of ammo and food/stimpacks. now the real kicker is the ammo and such, because right now i dont have a singe gun with over 40 ammo in it so fighting is impossible. i dont know how or where to buy ammo and i also have no idea how to get better guns and achieve a power armor thats worth someting compared to the broken one i get in the start.

You should look into VATS, it doesn't use up as much ammo.

[Etny2k]

Start over. You failed.

[Zes]

Originally posted by Cor.:

Thats the beauty of the game.

You can just wander and find whatever adventure you come across.

Make sure before you go on walkabout, at least have Dogmeat with you.

Loot EVERYTHING. If it looks like it might be a container, hover over it. There are so many 10mm pistols just laying around its silly. the 10mm isnt a bad gun in the slightest. Sure its not as powerful as a tricked out assault rifle, but if you get good with head shots, or leg shots, it doesnt have to be powerful. Dogmeat will help you in that regard.

10mm might be the best weapon in the game, with right perks and mods and style of course.