Red Scorpions - War or Peace?

[Paladin: The Golden Fox]

I'm at the point just before you get to LA and I just made peace with the scorpion raiders, but then the farmer runs into their base and gets himself killed. I'm thinking that I could reload and just kill them all instead, which might get me a LOT more experience, not to mention all the possible loot. Of course I haven't checked out their base to see what quests they might have.

Another possibility is to just go back there and kill them anyway. Would Ranger HQ get mad over that? I mean Vargas is supposed to have a meeting with them about making peace, so they might be a little upset if they get there only to find total death and destruction.

I forgot to return to the Mad Monk's canyon after disarming the bomb. I knew beforehand that it would be total chaos there so I wiped out the DBM base, all raiders, and all monks (except for Dr. Kyle's room) before disarming the bomb. Is there any point in going back to the canyon? I had hoped that I could wipe out the DBM then disable the nuke computer AND send the monks the nuke (which they then couldn't actually set off due to their now hacked computer). It's unfortunate that Dr. Kyle's services go to waste no matter which solution you pick.

Also I'm a bit disappointed in the requisition items. Just turned in several items to her which unlocked some stuff, but none of it really seems appealing. I was really hoping the new armor would be light (I hate the speed debuffs on heavy armors). I have 6 requisitions now and she STILL has nothing that I want. :/

[Gillsing]

The Lariat can be useful at times. 40 seconds of -3.0 Combat Speed for the target that gets shot with it. Might come in handy at times. The heavy armor is mostly useful if you already have a dedicated tank Ranger.

I pretended to make peace with the RSM to get the skill book from the guy who takes care of their dogs, and then killed them all. I think it's best that way, but apparently they'll have a part to play in the very late game if you make peace with them, so it's your choice. Personally I'm sure I can live without them, if I ever get that far.

The Canyon of Titan is a different and smaller area after you've disabled the nuke (or sent it to either side I assume), so you missed out on a recruitable NPC if you just passed it on the world map. Better go back to get that precious, precious recruitment bonus!

[Paladin: The Golden Fox]

Guess I better go back to Titan and see if anyone's there. I'm mildly doubtful since I killed both sides AND disarmed the nuke, but maybe some loser will be there. Who knows? They might even be more useful than Takayuki. xD But I'm doubtful, as he makes a great mule with that 10 strength! He also comes in handy whenever there's any melee enemies, but he's not nearly as good as my White Tail (my melee girl that has been a HUGE help ever since I got her that hatchet from the traveling merchant).

I don't think I'll need any help in the end-game so I'll go knock off the RSM as well. There's nothing more useful than yummy experience and LOOT! :D Although I will probably regret getting all this extra experience when my characters reach maximum level (I hate maximum levels in RPGs. I wish they could all have endless levels like Planescape Torment, or at least have so many levels that reaching the maximum isn't possible unless you play through like 5 tiems).

The game's been a lot of fun so far. I can't help but compare it to Fallout Tactics. It's superior in the quest and choices department, but Fallout Tactics really felt a lot more... tactical. I miss being able to watch patrols and then set up land mines. I also hate how Wasteland 2 is so bad to allow NPCs to use dialogue to cheat, in that they will get the drop on you and go first just because you wanted to know what they have to say. It's a bit anticlimactic when you have to reload and then go ahead and shoot them first. xP (the AG boss was so difficult to beat without anyone getting killed but the rest of the game has been a breeze so far)

[SnapSlav]

Generally speaking, ANYBODY you go out of your way to "help" in Arizona has an opportunity to be there to help you in the final battle. But if you even accidentally conscripted the "services" of the Provost only to regret his company ever since, then imagine that... times 10! Luckily for you, you can CHOOSE which underpowered meat bags join you for the final fight! But you can only choose out of the list of options. Helping people adds them to the list. Not helping them removes them from the list. Simple as that.

[Paladin: The Golden Fox]

I wound up just leaving the Red Scorpion Militia alone. I decided it was too much trouble to go back there and kill them all. The only thing I mind about combat helpers is them getting themselves killed, but I won't really care when it's time for the final battle. If they get killed at that point then it's OK because they've served their purpose as meat shields. xD

Also I was going to keep the Provost around but I lost him at some point. Not sure where at but I didn't really care. Besides, I'm sure whatever loot I've been finding in the last leg of the game is much better than whatever could have been in the box that he unlocks (and I pretty much unlocked everything myself throughout the game anyway).

[SnapSlav]

Originally posted by PaladinHeart:

The only thing I mind about combat helpers is them getting themselves killed, but I won't really care when it's time for the final battle. If they get killed at that point then it's OK because they've served their purpose as meat shields. xD

Actually, the final battle is where their survival matters THE MOST! Because you won't be given faceless NPCs to join the fray, you'll be joined by the important characters. If you spent all the effort to help a faction, only to let their leader die in the end of the game, you lose all that progress. But you can help them, and when their representative asks to help you out in this decisive battle as a way to show their appreciation, you can just politely turn them down, and hope that you've got what it takes to survive on your own... XD

[Paladin: The Golden Fox]

Actually they were quite helpful in the last battle (those 4 robot sharpshooters are LETHAL!). A few of them died including Jan from Darwin, and the leader of RSM and his little dog too. That dog was epic! She dodged SO many robot attacks and some dummy killed it with friendly fire (not one of my troops). Sadly Rose was killed by all the helpers as well due to her robotic arm, but she still had a great ending/epilogue. Kekkabah offered to set off the nuke. Many died but the ending was still great and I was surprised that some lived that I thought had surely died. xD

The communities that I helped all still did very well in the epilogue despite losing their leaders (RSM, Darwin, and the rail town). The only bad ending epilogues were Titan's Canyon (because I wiped everyone out, and I've heard there's no good ending for that place anyway) and Highpool (couldn't be helped, obviously).

Started a new game with a new team and playing on Supreme Jerk difficulty. Also giving all characters 4 free characteristic points for my 2nd run as a reward to myself for completing the game once. :) Currently helping Highpool and having a lot of fun. Visited the rail town up North to pick up Ralphy first and get some bonus EXP. Sadly Scotchmo didn't like my abysmally low charisma scores. xD Supreme Jerk difficulty is pretty harsh so I've had to invest most of their points into weapon skills thus far. Hopefully the squad will improve enough pretty soon such that I can start to benefit more from random encounters. Melee weapons help a LOT due to ammo being scarce. My first playthrough was only difficult until after I had completed AG Center, so I'm hoping the same will be true of Highpool.