Guide to making the perfect character for beginners

[Blackdeath]

Before I start, please do install the wonderfully made mod Killap Restoration Project (RP). It fixes a whole host of bugs in the Vanilla version of FO2, as well as including some cut quests and locations from the original FO2. You also need the mod to be able to maximise your stats.

We'll skip straight to the S.P.E.C.I.A.L system. For the description of what each stat does, I'll just utilise what is on the Falloutpedia.

Strength: Carry Weight and satisfying the minimum Strength requirements on weapons. Each point of it grants 25 lbs. of Carry Weight (with the Small Frame trait, it is 15 instead). Not meeting a weapon's minimum Strength requirement penalizes aim accuracy with that weapon by -20% for each missing point in Strength.

Perception: Sequence, ranged combat distance modifiers and the First Aid, Doctor, Lockpick, Traps and Pilot skills. A player character with higher Perception may notice things that allow them to open up new dialogue options on occasion. It also determines how far away they start from hostilities in random encounters.

Endurance: Hit Points, Poison & Radiation Resistance, Healing Rate, and the additional Hit Points per level.

Charisma: Summary basically every even number gives you the ability to hire a companion. So if you have 2 you can hire 1 companion, 4 charisma you can hire 2 etc etc. So your max party size is 5 companions.

Intelligence: the number of new skill points per level, dialogue options, and many skills.

Agility: Ups some of your skills related to agility but most importantly every 2 even numbered AG gives you 1 AP and also ups your AC (which increases your dodge)

Luck: Affects the chances with the virtual dice of the game: a high Luck increases the likelihood to succeed a roll, while the opposite is also true. Luck also affects the chance to score a critical hit on a target, with the standard being that the Critical Chance is equal to the subject's Luck (keep in mind, standard means without perks, traits, or aimed shots). It also determines the initial level of the Gambling skill.

Now if you skipped the S.P.E.C.I.A.L introduction let's get to the best possible character for beginners. This means i'm focusing on guns and not a melee build as combat in FO2 is really tough. If you just completed FO1 and are just playing FO2, I highly recommend this build.

We'll start with traits first:

Essential:
1) Gifted - +1 to all SPECIAL stats/-10% to all skills, 5 less skill points per level. This is the essential trait to have if you want to have a perfect build. Skill point penalty is like a drop in the ocean, you're basically drowning in skill points later on.

Recommended:
1) Small Frame - +1 Agility/Carry Weight = 25 + (15 x your Strength). Weight is hardly an issue as the first city you enter, you'll get a carry mule in Sulik. Every stat point counts for the perfect build.
2) Fast shot - All throwing and firearm attacks cost 1 less AP/Cannot aim attacks. This is the second recommended if you choose not to use small frame. You might not have a perfect build, but since every attack costs 1 less AP and coupled with another perk, utilising the Gauss Pistol means you're basically shooting 6 times in one round, which is insane.

AVOID:
1) Skilled: +5 skill points per level/-1 Perk rate. Nope. Perks are rare and having a perk at every fourth level rather than third is the ultimate kick in the teeth.
2) Finesse - +10% Critical chance/-30% total damage. No just no. Once you get the sniper perk, you will already have a high critical rate. Getting a -30% to total damage will gimp your character late game.
3) Chem Reliant- Faster recovery from chem addictions/Twice the chance to become addicted. Just load if you get addicted.
4) Chem Resistant - Half the chance to get addicted/Chems last half as long. Just load if you get addicted.
5) Fast Metabolism -+2 Healing Rate/ Poison Resistance & Radiation Resistance start at 0. You basically counteract this by sleeping more hours. Doesn't hurt.
6) Sex Appeal - Opposite sex characters react more favorably/Same sex characters are annoyed. No not for this build. This is more for a role-playing build.

The rest of the traits I shall not talk about because it depends on your play style and some are downright useful if you're playing a melee build.

Primary Statistics: (taken mainly from Barnaky's ultimate build guide but with changes)

Strength 4 (+4 Advanced Power Armor, +1 Chip - Vault 8, +1 Perk)
Perception 8 (+1 Chip - Mariposa Military Base, +1 Perk)
Endurance 7 ( +1 Perk)
Charisma 5 (+1 Chip - Navarro, +1 Perk, +1 Sunglasses - Mason from Salvatores/Grave in Golgotha)
Intelligence 9 (+1 Chip - Sierra Army Depot, +1 Perk)
Agility 8 (+1 Perk, +1 EPA (RP location), +1 New Reno - Going on a date with Miss Kitty
Luck 7 (+2 Zeta scan in Vault City, +1 Perk)

Now notice there are some stats that can go to above 10 which is mainly intelligence and agility. I'll talk about agility first. Unfortunately, the date with Miss Kitty only happens after the end of the game...so basically it becomes pointless by then.

Now for intelligence, I pushed it to 9 because of how i'm making the build with the perks and how I rush to get the chip to increase my intelligence, but if you don't mind a loss of 2 skill points per level drop it to 8 then push up either Charisma or Endurance. Charisma helps you avoid the need to wear the sunglasses to get the fourth companion. Personally, I'd rather just dump it to Endurance. A rounded number Endurance gives you an additional 1 HP per level as (Endurance/2) + 2 is the formula used to calculate your endurance. It also influences your starting HP since its formula is 15 + Strength + (2X Endurance). I do not know whether the HP bonuses are retroactive or not but if it is, then push that additional stat to Charisma instead. I need to test this on a play through. If anyone has any additional information, I'll be sure to update it in a proper guide with credits going to you.

You're probably wondering about which skills to tag on your first play through. Kind of daunting isn't it? You got so many to choose from sneaking, lockpicking, bartering, small guns, big guns etc etc. Fear not that's what I'm here for :). Note there are some skills that can be improved to 91% by skill books. They namely are Small Guns, First Aid, Repair, Science and Outdoorsman. SAVE YOUR SKILL POINTS by buying skill books to level those skills to 91% then utilise the skill points to bring them up higher above 91%.

*NOTE* *VERY IMPORTANT* Accumulated skill points have a cap at 99. Meaning if you have 80 accumulated skill points and are about to gain 20 skill points on the next level up. Use up at least 1 to bring it down to 79, because if you don't the cap which is at 99 would mean you'll lose 1 skill point FOREVER. Now we move on to which skills to choose.

For your beginner build these are the 3 skills that you tag at the start. You'll always NEED one combat skill tagged. Like I said Fallout 2 is unfortunately very difficult in terms of combat:
1) Small Guns or Energy Weapons (let me explain why below)
2) Lockpicking
3) Speech

For 1), I personally will choose Small Guns anytime. The Gauss Rifle which has the highest range means it'll be your go to weapon for sniping. Hence, if you want to be able to fully utilise its range and be able to target an opponent's eyes at high accuracy over a long distance, you'll want your small guns skill to be as high as possible (>150%). The tag skill makes it less costly to up it to a high percentage.

Now I did say why I'll explain Energy Weapons is a reasonable tag. Energy weapons while having a shorter range, deal the most damage to the eyes and if you follow my guide to rush getting the second best power armor + the intelligence chip, you'll also be getting the best energy weapon the YK42B Pulse Rifle at the early part of the game. In addition, ammo for the Pulse Rifle is much easier to obtain than for the Gauss Rifle. To offset the lower range, you'll probably have to pump your energy weapons skill to higher levels (>180%) to be used effectively. Even the Gauss Rifle can't deal 300+ damage in a critical shot to the eyes. That's just how insane it is. However, there is a drawback as enemies that are highly resistant to electricity such as floaters (unless its a critical hit that says your damage ignored the opponent's armor) can greatly reduce the damage. This makes the Gauss Rifle the better all-round weapon with zero weaknesses. Of course I personally utilise both the Gauss rifle and the Pulse Rifle. Pulse Rifle if its close combat or when non-electricity resistant melee enemies are approaching, and Gauss Rifle for far range sniping.

For 2), there are a lot of locked chests that contain yummylicious loot. The awesome Pulse Rifle is even stowed in a locked chest :) So you'll need it. never hesitate to pump it up.

For 3), Speech helps you very much in quests as well as getting additional rewards. Resolving quests peacefully also nets you much better XP.

Now let's talk about the perks for each perk level for this build. If you want more description of the other perks that I don't cover, you can use this one https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/63576-fallout-2/faqs/12666. I don't agree with the ratings he gives for some of the perks but if you have any questions about perks just ask. Anyway, let's continue

Perk Build:
Level 3: Awareness - Can examine anyone and see their equipped weapon and current
and maximum HP. As Sun Tzu said know thy enemy and you'll win every battle against the enemy.

Level 6: Toughness +10% normal damage resistance. This has 3 ranks which we want to maximise later on but the first level will do here. Like I said combat is tough especially with RP installed. Survivability is important on your first play through.

Level 9: Better Criticals +20% on the critical hit chart when a critical hit is rolled. +20% critical hit damage? Basically you up your chances of insta-killing someone even if you do ZERO damage. That's how awesome this is.

Level 12 & 15: Lifegiver +4 HP per level per rank. This has two ranks and unfortunately it doesn't work retroactively so you have to push them out on Level 12 and 15. However, if you choose to not learn the second rank of Lifegiver at level 15, choose Bonus Rate Of Fire -1 AP for each gun attack. Need I say more? -1 AP per attack means you can take 1-2 more shots instantaneously.

Now see what i meant by having 9 intelligence? At level 12 you unlock the gain stats perks meaning you can push any of the stat points by 1 and I would choose gain intelligence here if I was level 8 intelligence to max it 10, but you want lifegiver ASAP since its not retroactive. So having a 8 intelligence means I continue to be hurt by the 2 lesser skill points. Let me breakdown the calculation for you:

Skill point calculation: (Intelligence x 2) + 5. So basically each point of intelligence is worth 2 skill points. With gifted perk, the calculation becomes (intelligence x 2) +5 - 5. Max skill points is hence 20 per level when intelligence is 10. Now we proceed to calculate what happens if you take/avoid the gain intelligence perk at level 12 if you're only 8 intelligence vs a 9 intelligence build. Here i'm assuming your 8 intelligence build pushed that 1 extra stat point to Endurance. So we compare some of the builds below to the Level 9 Intelligence perk build.

Level 8 Intelligence Build with 8 Endurance and Endurance is non-retroactive:
Take Intelligence perk at level 12, Lifegiver Perk at 15 & 18
Level 1-30 -20 skill points/ -6 HP

Level 8 Intelligence Build with 8 Endurance and Endurance is Retroactive:
Take Intelligence perk at level 12, Lifegiver Perk at 15 & 18
Level 1-30 - -20 skill points/-24 HP

Level 8 Intelligence Build with 8 Endurance and Endurance is non-retroactive:
Take Lifegiver perk at 12 & 15, Take Intelligence Perk at Level 18:
Level 1-30: -32 skill points/+18 HP

Level 8 Intelligence Build with 8 Endurance and Endurance is retroactive:
Take Lifegiver perk at 12 & 15, Take Intelligence Perk at Level 18:
Level 1-30: -32 skill points/+ 0 HP

Now if we compare this to just the level 8 builds, the results are:

Level 1-30: +12 skill points/-24 HP vs -12 skill points /+24 HP.

It's clear that you'll want to choose the build where you take lifegiver first since you have an additional 24 HP at a loss of 12 skill points. Again as I said, skill points are numerous but HP is not. Now this brings me to the point that the 9 intelligence build is way more superior to the 8 one if endurance is retroactive. You get a whopping -20 skill point and -24 HP or a build that has a -32 skill point. No brainer here. 9 Intelligence build all the way if Endurance is retroactive

Level 18: Bonus Rate Of Fire/ Lifegiver Rank 2.

Level 21: Gain Agility. That way you get Agility up to 10 (including the EPA injection) and have 10 AP.

Level 24: Sniper critical hit with guns when you hit and a luck roll is successful. Greatly increases your chances of a critical hit.

Level 27 & 30: Action Boy/Girl +1 AP. With 2 ranks, you get 2 additional AP for a total AP of 12.

Levels 33 & Beyond: No further recommendations. Basically your hero with all the recommended perks is a demi-god. You should have zero issues with surviving the harsh combat in FO2.

Good luck to the beginners. Ask if you have any questions.

[neil]

Thanks Brilliant

[Blackdeath]

Originally posted by neil:

Thanks Brilliant

Glad you enjoy this :) I realised I forgot to add which of the 3 skills to tag I'll expand on that later..and maybe even the section on how to get the second best armor in the game at the start

[Zaphyra]

Make it a guide?

[Blackdeath]

Originally posted by zaphyra:

Make it a guide?

Yes :) I will after I expand this thread with the calculation of lost skill points and which 3 skills to tag.

The guide will also constitute how to speed rush the second best armor

[neil]

I was hoping this would evolve into a guide too
So ticks for Guide ...... Now 2 :-)

[Blackdeath]

Originally posted by neil:

I was hoping this would evolve into a guide too
So ticks for Guide ...... Now 2 :-)

Thanks I just updated my earlier post. I added some calculation formulas in so you guys can be more informed. To create a guide it'll probably take more time for me to do. So just make do with this for now.

Would love to help anyone who feels FO2 is too daunting for them as it's one of my top RPGS of all time. Wouldn't want people to miss playing out this awesome game.

[TonZa]

Choosing Finesse is not as bad as it seems actually, many players take it and use mutate perk to get rid of it and take fast shot at level 21, just in time for sniper perk. The way finesse works is 30 damage resistance modifier is added to all enemy you hit at, but when you score a critical hit it will often bypass armour and all damage resistance, with better critical perk you will always ignore armour on critical hits unless when aimed at arms or legs, it's really nice trait for early game.

[Robart F]

does power armour up your strength stat by any chance?

[TonZa]

Originally posted by Gavin F:

does power armour up your strength stat by any chance?

Power armour gives you +3 strength
Advanced power armour gives +4 strength
It won't go above 10 though.

[Robart F]

Thanks for the answer!

[Blackdeath]

Originally posted by TonZa:

Choosing Finesse is not as bad as it seems actually, many players take it and use mutate perk to get rid of it and take fast shot at level 21, just in time for sniper perk. The way finesse works is 30 damage resistance modifier is added to all enemy you hit at, but when you score a critical hit it will often bypass armour and all damage resistance, with better critical perk you will always ignore armour on critical hits unless when aimed at arms or legs, it's really nice trait for early game.

Nope it's bad. That means you waste a perk point just to fix the earlier mistake. Finesse sounds good on paper but in practicality it's not. In the early game you hardly meet any heavily armoured opponents. They're usually dressed in leather jackets/amor or metal armor. In addition 10% additional critical chance is hardly useful. Assuming you have 10 luck, you have 1 in 5 chance of scoring a critical hit. That means you have 4x0.7 non critical hit damage. Thats a truly terrible tradeoff. Early game opponents also dont have that high of a hp. So theres no need to score a critical instakill hit to survive. The .223 pistol with armor piercing bullets, basically circumvents any early game issues. High damage plus armor piercing = win. Anyone is free to build it the way they want to especially if you want to do some variations but this build is perfect for beginners.

[Blackdeath]

Originally posted by Gavin F:

does power armour up your strength stat by any chance?

If you have any other queries just ask I'll try to help

[TonZa]

Originally posted by Blackdeath:

Nope it's bad. That means you waste a perk point just to fix the earlier mistake. Finesse sounds good on paper but in practicality it's not. In the early game you hardly meet any heavily armoured opponents. They're usually dressed in leather jackets/amor or metal armor. In addition 10% additional critical chance is hardly useful. Assuming you have 10 luck, you have 1 in 5 chance of scoring a critical hit. That means you have 4x0.7 non critical hit damage. Thats a truly terrible tradeoff. Early game opponents also dont have that high of a hp. So theres no need to score a critical instakill hit to survive. The .223 pistol with armor piercing bullets, basically circumvents any early game issues. High damage plus armor piercing = win. Anyone is free to build it the way they want to especially if you want to do some variations but this build is perfect for beginners.

Terrible? I think it's decent trade-off and I still claim not bad at the early game, +10% crit will knock all aimed shots to the head at 50% plus whatever your luck is, yes I will have that sligtly better than 50/50 chance as it often knocks baddies right out, you're free to disagree of course.

[CJOLL4]

Originally posted by TonZa:

Originally posted by Blackdeath:

Nope it's bad. That means you waste a perk point just to fix the earlier mistake. Finesse sounds good on paper but in practicality it's not. In the early game you hardly meet any heavily armoured opponents. They're usually dressed in leather jackets/amor or metal armor. In addition 10% additional critical chance is hardly useful. Assuming you have 10 luck, you have 1 in 5 chance of scoring a critical hit. That means you have 4x0.7 non critical hit damage. Thats a truly terrible tradeoff. Early game opponents also dont have that high of a hp. So theres no need to score a critical instakill hit to survive. The .223 pistol with armor piercing bullets, basically circumvents any early game issues. High damage plus armor piercing = win. Anyone is free to build it the way they want to especially if you want to do some variations but this build is perfect for beginners.

Terrible? I think it's decent trade-off and I still claim not bad at the early game, +10% crit will knock all aimed shots to the head at 50% plus whatever your luck is, yes I will have that sligtly better than 50/50 chance as it often knocks baddies right out, you're free to disagree of course.

It all depends. With a sniper build where you're trying to maximize your late-game killing potential, finesse is certainly wasted. But you're right, in the early game it can be amazing. Critical hits to the head and eyes are so devastating that it's worth it. Besides, you can't even get Sniper until level 24; that's roughly 20 hours of gameplay during which you can benefit from Finesse more-than-doubling your critical hit rate.

As a side note, Finesse REALLY helps against The Masticator since you'll probably reach Reno before you get the Slayer perk (in an unarmed build).

[Nimiria Nova]

Wow nice guide, I will give it a try for sure :)