i must be out of my mind. I've bitched so much about Fallout Tactics (with the Redux 1.3 mod)... yet I restarted it all over from the start two days ago, while I was only a couple of missions away from the end.
It is just that now as I've become familiar with the game, it started bugging me more and more "why didn't I make my character like this, why didn't I choose this and that perk at that level?" etc.
So now I made my character again, and made a clear roadmap (or a shopping list if you will) what perk to take for each team member at what point. Actually it is more about the perks than what kind of character I had. My main character is almost the same as before (I think I lowered Charisma 8 => 7 and increased Perception 8 => 9, and that's it, even the traits are the same). My main character is now this:
Traits: Small Frame + Gifted
Tagged skills: Small Guns, Energy Weapons, Sneak
ST 5 (I will bump it up to 6 with a perk later, just in time when the MX14 sniper rifle becomes available, requiring ST 6)
PE 9
EN 7
CH 7 (I willl bump it up to 8 with a perk at level 12, in order to get the Divine Favor perk at level 14)
IN 6 (in order to get the Sharpshooter perk)
AG 9
LK 5
Things I know now better about the perks, and intend to do:
1. You don't have to pick a perk when the game allows it. You can postpone picking them at later levels when more important perks become available, just keep hitting that Cancel button in the perk selection screen. This is very important as I kept choosing less important perks early on because nothing better was available, and then later hoping I could choose many more perks. Now I can do that, I went all the way up to level 9 before choosing any perk (used one Mutate-perk for three of my characters, see below).
I think it will be at level 12 when many more interesting perks become available, especially the "Gain" perks for all your abilities.
2. I didn't realize the importance of the Mutate-perk before. For your main character it shouldn't be needed because certainly you have selected the good traits for him/her at the start, meaning of course "Gifted" (+1 to all abilities) and "Small Frame" (+1 to Agility). But for your recruits, I definitely used it to get a Gifted trait for all those who didn't have it before. They just lost some useless traits like "Chem Reliant"... with one I decided to get rid of "Fast Shot" in exchange of Gifted, I just prefer being able to do targeted shots if needed.
3. I will pick "Gain Endurance" and "Gain Intelligence" (+1 to both) for all my team members as soon as they become available at level 12, as those also decide how much extra health points and skill points you get per level up, so of course you want to bump up those values higher as soon as possible. That's also why I wanted the "Gifted" trait to all party members (see the previous point #2) as that also gives +1 to those two abilities (as well as all others).
"Gain Agility/Strength/Perception/Luck" can wait for later, as they don't cause any extra cumulative effects on level ups, i think. Their extra benefit is instant and will not change.
4. I also intend to get 2x "Lifegiver" perks as soon as possible if I have any free perks to use, as they give an extra HP on every level up as well. They would be meaningless later in the game when you don't level up as often anymore.
5. Last but not least, the "Divine Favor"-perk, OMG... I missed this one before simply because its description is so vague telling nothing about its importance. Being able to pick a new perk every two level-ups (instead of three) is definitely something I want as soon as possible! It also gives a +1 to your highest ability which is nice I guess, but the lower perk rate is really what matters.
Only those characters who have Charisma 8 (or over) can have this perk, so this was pretty much the only reason I wanted high Charisma. Otherwise it could have been CHA 1 for all I care, I guess (who cares how good veteran recruits you can get later on with high CHA, as I stick to my early recruits anyway, developing them as I choose).
So, I gave my main character CHA 7 which I will bump up to CHA 8 with the Gain Charisma perk, and also for my recruits I tried to select one's that had CHA 7, or CHA 6 in case they didn't have the Gifted trait (because then I could bump them to 8 anyway: first from CHA 6 => 7 with the Mutate-perk (selecting the Gifted-trait), and then from CHA 7 => 8 with the Gain-perk).
Now, if only I knew how to find the Gas Station special encounter, as apparently one can buy or steal an Elixir of Life drink from there, giving an extra +1 Endurance to one person as well...
Post edited July 25, 2017 by timppu