Fallout 4 Ironman aka permadeath (or Bronzeman option for the less foolhardy)

[henrywiddas]

Welcome to my guide to playing Fallout 4 in a way that will give you an experience similar to what surviving in a post-nuclear Boston would be really like.

Just follow these simple steps and you will become one with the Wasteland (can I still call it that if it's the Commonwealth?).

Step 1: Boost difficulty to Survival Mode - download beta now that it's available :)

Step 2: Do allow yourself the use of VATS and companions

Step 3: When it gets dark find somewhere to sleep for a few hours and don't stop looking until you find somewhere

Step 4: Eat and drink at least twice a day, don't allow yourself VATS if you can't do this

Step 5: Never use the map on the Pipboy (that means no fast travelling too)

Step 6: Turn off the aiming cursor IGNORE THIS STEP - see below. (That is unless you are an insanely good shooter)

Step 7 (OPTIONAL - I'VE STOPPED USING THIS MYSELF): Listen to the Classical Radio station when in Stealth Mode (also see Step 17 for a different option)

Step 8: If you die, then that's it, you have to restart the game from the beginning (see Step 13 for an adjustment to this step for Bronzeman that makes life a little easier)

Step 9: Only ever use your latest save file, no returning to earlier saves

Step 10: Pick a person you know (possibly yourself) to play as and when choosing their SPECIAL skills make them what you think they would actually be - no min/maxing

If you follow these simple rules I can guarantee you will feel the Fallout vibe more than most.

The only other thing to do is let me know how you get on in this discussion if using this method.

I'll be updating my own progress as well, so far I've just made it to Level 2 with my first character so I'm pretty sure this method is do-able...

UPDATE: By the way, an update to my method that I forgot to mention is....

Step 11: The player should go in blind, no looking at forums/youtube/walkthroughs etc for tips

UPDATE 2: Having died four times now in very early game, I've decided to alter my method to make it a little easier, do NOT turn of the aiming cursor, it makes aiming too hard lol

Also I'm going to add another Step I forgot to mention:

Step 12: Disable the floating flag that shows you where to go in the next quest in Display Options PLUS Do not pick the VANS perk that shows you where to go quest-wise in VATS. And finally, never have a quest "enabled" in the Data section on your Pipboy as that will tell you where to go on the compass I think.

UPDATE 3: Having just died stupidly, falling off a tree I'm thinking allowing myself a life for every time I level up may be a better way to work this ironman, by dumbing it down to 'bronzeman'.

Step 13: Award yourself a "life" for every time you level up but if you run out of these lives you have to consider that playthrough over and must restart. i.e if you die at level 1 that's it, if you make it to level 2 before dying then you can afford to die once before progressing to level 3. And so forth. ie. Get to level 4 without dying and you have 3 spare lives.

UPDATE 4: Having thought about it I'm going to stick with Ironman over Bronzeman as the adrenalin kicks from the former are greater :)

Step 14: Download the "No enemies or locations on compass" mod, it really adds to the immersion and the feeling of being completely lost near a massive motorway underpass in heavy rain at night with Boomers on your right and killer robots on your left can't be beaten.

Step 15: Download the "Darker nights" mod and use the darkest settings, having to use your pip boy light at night makes things so much more spooky than the vanilla game in which night barely gets any darker.

Step 16: Download the "True storms" mod for much heavier rain, beefed up storms and heavier fog. Really makes the world seem much more intimidating, as do the two mods above.

Step 17 (optional): Not law friendly this one, but another mod "Retro Radio for Classical Radio" - switches the classical radio for 80s-esque future synth tracks - Tihs should only ever be tuned in when ready to do battle with a melee weapon or when wearing the power armour.

Step 18: Since it's not enforced ironman mode it is acceptable to revert back to a recent autosave if the death was caused by a bug (i.e. grenade thrown by the player hitting an invisible wall that kills the player instantly), even if doing a permadeath run. otherwise a PC would likely get thrown at a wall in frustration.

Step 19 (optional): To add realism, consider using a self-imposed weapon encumberance:
#1) 1 Pistol for use as a side arm (as if in a holster)
#2) Up to 2 Primary weapons (as if you are carrying them via a rifle sling)
#3) 1 Melee weapon (as if you have it holstered on your person)
For scavenging I'm going to allow myself to carry other weapons but only use those 4 named above for a battle - of course the selected 4 can be changed back at a settlement base - maybe rename the wepons you are going to use for battle to avoid confusion about which can be used i.e. name them John, Paul, George and Ringo.
(This Step 19 is courtesy of an idea raised by SmokeMcCloud)

and finally...

well two things, my favourite new mod is: Fallout 4 Enhanced Color Correction - F4ECC - 1.2 (make sure it's version 1.2, the less dark option)

and then all you need to do to beat the game is simple...

1.) scan ahead for landmines (those lunchbox mines sting a little...) do this by going into VATS - it will flag up nearby explosives.

2.) plan every battle so you are CERTAIN you will win. that means SCOUTING if in unfamiliar territory. no thinking "i'm 90% ok, maybe this massive mosquito isn't legendary" or "i'm a tough guy, no need for power armour, walking through this abondoned town...hey...is that a nuke flying towards me?". getting caught by surprise or underestimating the enemy means death a lot of the time in my personal experience

[henrywiddas]

Who's up for playing this way? It seriously works!

I was wondering through the empty houses near my former home at the start of the game and nearly jumped out of my skin with fear when a bloatfly appeared out of nowhere.

The fear of death brought on by ironman makes everything so much more intense.

Of course, dying will be a pain in the neck but from reading the other forums it seems like not dying even on Survival mode shouldn't be too difficult if you tread carefully.

I also highly recommend the sneak mode/classical music radio station combo mentioned above, it really works

[DiscoMoose]

For the complete Tony Stark experience start the game with 10 INT, 10 CHA, 3 STR. Proceed to upgrade your Power Armor building skills and crafting and ALWAYS select the Sarcastic reply no matter what.

[henrywiddas]

lolz i like it, i've heard saracastic responses are the best. Stark would listen to the classical music radio too in his power armour while he squished death claws in his ironman suit.

i'm playing as myself at the moment though so have all my stats about 4 or 5 apart from strength (3) and endurance (2).

Even with those stats it's not been too bad so far. In the firefight before meeting the Minute Men I got hit quite a few times by bullets but didn't get that close to death.

From memory in fallout 3 on hardest settings i was getting killed with one or two hits so i guess the damage system has been altered...

[henrywiddas]

DEATH 1 HENRY LVL 2
Holy cr@p i've just had my first character killed. Death by Deathclaw. Two swipes of its arm and I was dead, even in the power armour. What a game!

[henrywiddas]

ok for full disclosure my second character lorraine just died but I'm not counting it as it was just at the start when you first have to get to the vault and i got killed by an atomic bomb while exploring

[Mansen]

VATS - Not once.

[henrywiddas]

no VATS scares me, i'm really bad at shooters. Having said that I did most of New Vegas without VATS so maybe I should give it a go on another run

[BloodDeacon]

"Step 8: If you die, then that's it, you have to restart the game from the beginning

Step 9: Only ever use your latest save file, no returning to earlier saves"

I'm up for a "bronzeman" version of this, where I restrict saves to specific events and entering specific locations for the first time. Not sure I could stomach a true Ironman experience though.

[Mansen]

Originally posted by henrywiddas:

no VATS scares me, i'm really bad at shooters. Having said that I did most of New Vegas without VATS so maybe I should give it a go on another run

In that case VATS might be for you - Me? I just can't do it. I can headshot a super mutant from half a mile away with a good rifle. VATS? VATS won't even acknowledge the target, much less give me a 1% or higher chance at hitting the target.

And even then, you get maybe two or three shots with an average rifle before your AP runs out (no sprinting for a while), maybe 10 with a small pistol built for VATS.

Originally posted by BloodDeacon:

Step 9: Only ever use your latest save file, no returning to earlier saves"

Ironman is a recipe for disaster in a Bethesda game - So many random bugs and glitches can end a great run in seconds. At least keep seperate savegames handy in case the game throws an unfair curveball. If you're playing by the rules, so must the game.

[Major Mulligan]

LMAO! I love it. Great post. :)

[henrywiddas]

@Mansen great points, thanks, I've set up all the autosaves to be active now for the reason of crashing, but i'll only ever use the most recent save file if i'm returning to the game later.

I've had two crashes already but i blame it on my PC which is far too highly strung

in regard to VATS i see what you mean, my VATS was useless against that first deathclaw from distance, i was getting 5% chance to hit

My next run will be all about going in the opposite direction from the main questline, will try and build up my character slowly and carefully until i think i'm ready for that deathclaw

Just hope there are no other deathclaws in the game i may come across... or anything else that can run faster than me

[Ghostpro71]

I'm good with everything except restarting if you die. Too many of the tougher bad guys lob grenades at you like they're hotcakes. One grenade ♥♥♥♥♥ you up if it's close.

[henrywiddas]

a previous person on here mentioned maybe do "bronzeman" mode rather than ironman, that may be better but it will dilute the intensity of it all.

there's nothing like losing 40 hours of gameplay when you inadvertently walk over a field of landmines (this actually happened to me in wasteland 2 lol)

[henrywiddas]

By the way, an update to my method that I forgot to mention is that the player should go in blind, no looking at forums/youtube/walkthroughs etc for tips

That way, you'll get to walk into more deathclaws and grenade storms

[henrywiddas]

hmm, starting to think i've bit off more than i can chew with this method...

DEATH 2 LORRAINE: Just stepped out of the vault and had a look around the river and got stung by a mosquito so I decided to run and it stung me again in the back and then i was dead

mental note to self: use stimpaks