So, while this was one of my longer play sessions It was really dull.

I start by heading into Vegas to talk with the King, and by extension of this begin the side quest to fix Rex. Wandering about Vegas allows me to wrap up a character challenge - get barred from all of the casinos... Which thanks to some sexy nightwear, and my already high 'Luck' characteristic was easy enough to do.

After this I get to the task of fixing a broken dog, which involves a lot of walking, followed by even more fast travel as I first go to discover and then spend time zipping back and forth between Jacobstown and various quest locations. I kill a few fiends and while in Jacobstown pick up some quick quests, obliterating a few night stalkers and grabbing a little experience.

In due course, Rex is all fixed up and I turn my attention elsewhere...



Having concluded this rather dull series of travels, I then repeat the process, this time with the Great Khans for their odd little integral quest that links to NCR at Hoover Dam... All this travelling is really dull, and being that I've been through this game a good few times the 'immersive' NPC speeches are now superfluous to my interest and are there simply for me to test how quickly I can click through the speech options.

The Khans are nice enough to teach me an unarmed attack move (which I may never actually make use of) for my troubles.

Yawn

It's not quite a complete waste of my time however, during my travels I have to fight off three lots of Legion assassins, the first lot attack me while I had Rex, and I was surprised when he one-hit killed them... but I figure Rex is 'unarmed' of sorts so felt nothing bad as I watched him tear up a few legion boys.

With Rex at my side even Deathclaws have absolutely no chance, and oddly they apparently have no chance against the physics engine either, I managed to snap a screenshot of one Deathclaw as it stretched into infinity after being hit in VATS.


Keep in mind, I've already applied several user patches that fix many bugs... but apparently not this one!

Looting Overload

With Legion now pretty much handing me guns and armour to sell, along with general wasteland looting, I've got more caps than the English cricket team (also- holy crap where did that analogy come from?)

I now have so many caps I simply hoard meds from any vendor I meet, this has lead to me having a very large stash of food and meds stacked in the refrigerator in Novac, I had to go and top up a few times thanks to 12.5mm sub-machine guns which make my poor face hurt while I run toward them.

So, it is after many hours of walking, fast travelling and speech rapid-fire-mouse clicking that I close what has to be one of the dullest sessions I've had.

To the Future!

I hope my efforts have sufficiently advanced my NCR quest lines such that I can wrap up. I feel that there really is little that can now stop me.

A point of note, during this session I advanced a level and took the GRX implant allowing me non-addictive 'Turbo' drugs. Although I've not mentioned turbo much it has been one of my most treasured and often used meds. The brief section of 'slowed time' allows me to wail on an opponent and anything short of a Deathclaw sands no chance while I have Turbo active.

The sheer number of attacks means I land more critical hits , and that tends to mean that even robots go down before they can even start firing at me


I end the session having gained a level and hopefully advanced the main story for NCR quite a way.

Character Detail:

• Level 34
• Unarmed Skill: 100
• Combat Armour Mk2
• Boones Beret
• Atomic-valence tri-radii-oscillator
• Rebreather

I have to say this play through had gone on far longer than perhaps it should have done, the past few sessions... possibly everything post my return from Big MT have felt more like I'm just fleecing the game rather than deliberately making progress to the story.

With this in mid, I had to make a choice, how to play the end game. I've decided that I'll side with NCR. For some time, I wanted to play this one on the Legion side, but the logistics of things have swung favour to the NCR.

If any of you have played the Legion story, you'll know how much walking is involved going through that damn camp at The Fort to report to Ceasar after several of the quests. I'm lazy and so, that option was dismissed. The reason I'm not playing a 'Mr House' or 'Yes Man' ending is that I'd only recently played through the game previously and just wanted a change.

So, what happens now?

Well, I have to become buddies to the NCR, so I zip back to Camp Searchlight, to pick up a quest to kill off the Legion at Cottonwood Cove. I actually really enjoyed this part, I fast travelled to the cove, and being that my reputation is neutral toward the Legion, I'm able to freely move about. I get closer and then start moving about hidden.

I follow each legion troop until they are separate from the rest, then with one sneak attack critical from behind... one single punch... I kill them all in turn! Only after I'd done this do I think to myself, "that would have made a brilliant video!"

Unfortunately I didn't have FRAPS running and so the tale will have to go down as a story rather than something to watch. I've learned from this that I'll put FRAPS on for some of the next fights, there are some epic parts to come...

Nice Camp, Really.

I zip up the map to Camp Forlorn Hope and in very quick time see to the various fetch, carry, fix sub quests. I then ransack Nelson and kill the Legion troop that remain there.

All this questing earns me a positive relationship with the NCR and now the legion seem rather annoyed. So it's off to Vegas to speak with the NCR Ambassador and to propel my career as an NCR Mercenary about to 'free' the wastelands.

What could possibly go wrong?

I decided to finish my session by accounting for some loot that needs selling, and doing a light inventory sorting, which involves taking stock of my health meds and food supplies.

One of my personal 'choice locations' which features a camp-fire on which I can cook foods is Harpers Shack. It has easy access storage for offloading excess bits and the camp fire is easy to reach from the fast travel point.

I occasionally use the location to raid the Jackal Gangers nearby, but less so in recent sessions as I have no desperate need for income as I once did.

This all sounds very quaint, possibly boring... but those with a keen memory or perhaps an ingrained knowledge of the Mojave will recall that only a short distance from the shack... there is a Deathclaw nest. It goes by the name Dead Wind Cavern. I'd previously seen it from afar, and I ran very fast in the opposite direction.

This time however, I'm feeling cocky. the paralysing palm perk has given me enough bravado that
now, three Deathclaws sounds like a fun challenge rather than a way to experience what it's like to become much smaller and be in several locations at once.

Let's do this!

Filled with stupid bravado (and lots of performance enhancing meds) I begin my attack, sure enough three Deathclaws is an issue, they do an amazing amount of damage causing me to constantly use my pip-boy for healing. Even with paralysing palm. There is one thing I'd overlooked.

Deathclaws are tough, So even knocked out they still take a hammering. I manage to knock them out in some rough sequence, but my meds are low after only a very short while. I manage to kill on e of the smaller one's but only to see a larger, much more angry and definitely not unconscious Deathclaw jumping toward me.

As my body cartwheels backward in slow motion I begin to wonder If I should just save game and then go back to my NCR tasks.

No, don't be silly! I've opted to argue with menstruating velociraptors and I'm going to see it through!

I reload the game, and head back in. I'm sure If I can just get another paralysing knockout that I can do this. I am of course, very wrong... but this time I run. The next problem, can I outrun a Deathclaw?

Before I can answer this, and I'm already presuming the answer would be .. no... I find myself in a rather bad place. a large Jackal Gang encampment ... next to a Molerat nest.

Queue Benny Hill music

I have absolutely no idea how but through sheer luck perhaps I avoid the Deathclaws long enough that some of the gangers attack them and draw their attention, I punch out a miscreant molerat that is hassling me, take cover form the gunfire the gangers are now putting in my direction and knockout the sole Deathclaw that is still on my tail.

So...

Jackal Gangers are being torn to shreds by remaining Deathclaws
Mole Rats, what remain are attacking Jackal Gangers
Deathclaws shredding everything in sight.

... except me.

A lucky break, I use the multitude of meat sheilds to attack a 2nd Deathclaw, and thanks to the gangers gunfire, it's already low on health so is quickly dispatched after a knockout and repeated punching in its silly Deathclaw face.

Two down...

I punch a molerat so hard it backflips and throw myself into the third Deathclaw, ignoring a couple of remaining Jackal gangers, I land a lucky critical in my first VATS to knock out the walking lawnmower and then pummel it into obliteration. After seeing a girl beat two Deathclaws to death with her fists you'd thing the Jackal gangers would be having second thoughts.... but no, they are still shooting at me.

It doesn't last long. I'm now stood among the bodies of a dozen gangers, a brood of molerats and three dead Deathclaws...

Back in the Mojave, and my first order of business is to wrap up loose ends, first stop New Vegas, and I pick up a Pimpboy 3billion from Mick & Ralph for my efforts.

At this time I was actually zipping back and forth between Big MT and the various vendors of the Mojave to shift the almighty amount of loot I'd gathered, Old Lady Gibson, The Gunrunners and the Mojave Outpost all became outlets for my trash collection.

The net gain allowed me to repair my armour which had almost constantly been in a state of disrepair during my time in Big MT. I pick up some medication where possible and add a few additional implants from New Vegas Medical Clinic.

I stock up my Novac room with enough dog steaks and other foods to last through another nuclear winter and then set my sights on a task that's been too long on my pip-boy list.

We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."
 - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Those lovable metal-wearing tech-hoarding fellows need my love, and I'm gonna give it to them! Mynew heightened skills allow me to very quickly finish the first collection quest line at Repconn HQ. For my troubles they send me to go chat up some guys that are scattered about the wastes and then fetch them more stuff. Admittedly this was my choice within the quest options but what the heck, in for a penny...

Other than the amount fo walking around inside of vaults, and walking to several locations I'd not yet discovered this all went very quickly.

Vault 22 was surprising, even with an elevated difficulty level I found I was able to go through it almost entirely unhindered, a combination of sneak and critical hits meant most of the Spore Carriers went down in one hit!

Lost Data

Silly me, I'd all but forgotten one of the single most defining moments of my game thus far...

This post was added on 13th April, but the content dated from around the 5th so ahs been put in blog order at that point.

Time for a rewind;

Upon having returned from Big MT (see a few posts previous...) I decided that I had the capability to take on Quarry Junction... Sloan... Deathclaws!

Yup, that's right, a quarry full of deathclaws, me and my fists. Lucky for you good folk, I made the effort to record the event with FRAPS and so, without further ado, let the show begin!

Death comes to those who claw

A few posts previous, I posted a poll, asking you good folks your views on if my 'use' of armed NCR troops to which I lead some ghouls to be slaughtered had failed my challenge.

I'll admit the event did put my morale at a low point, I felt as though I'd cheated myself.

The Results

It's only been a short while, and there's not a huge amount of results collected, but it seems that you chaps out there mostly think I was justified in getting the Ghouls killed by the NCR troops.

Overwhelmingly however, the results all currently reply that I haven't failed my challenge, for which I can only say 'Thank you!'

That's quite a little boost to the old morale, and now that I'm close to the endgame I feel that my fists will be punching with extra vigour.

Not a part of my "sessions" count It took me best part of a week or so, playing on or off to complete the Big MT "Old World Blues" DLC, and to my surprise I gained far more levels than I expected. However this progression comes at a price... 

Humility

I'd been abusing and deliberately meta-thinking my way through the Mojave and so, when I came into the Big MT I was taken by surprise a little by how much thing hurt! The entirety of my first few sessions were played essentially in sneak mode. Any sign of opposition had me running the other way.

It comes down to the fact that Saturnite Gloves, Proton Axes (and even more so the Protonic inversal axe) and of course Roboscorpions hurt like hell, my armour was in shreds on my arrival and was offering only a half of its protection, One hit from any of these things put me dangerously close to death such that any engagement beyond one hit was impossible!

I died a good few times with a bull headed "I can do this" approach. In the end, my pride had to sit aside as I lowered the difficulty so that I could make any form or progress possible.

Difficulty: Easy

Accepting my fate, I began trawling my way through the various missions and side-quests that weren't too far out of my way on my travels, the map here is tiny so I was able to quickly soak up lots of experience as I ticked off quests and beat the inhabitants into submission. Even on Easy difficulty the lobotomites take a good few punches before they go away, and Roboscorpions are really hard. Their armour reduces my attacks to nothing more than tickles, only when I land a critical hit does it visibly reduce their hit point bar.

A catch up

I'm going to post in sequence all of my level advancements so you can appreciate just how much I advanced while romping about the Big MT.


I know I missed a few levels, but I'm pretty sure this gives a good examination of how I'm progressed my skills, as you can see I've ended up reaching an Unarmed skill of 92 and I claimed the 'Slayer' perk, more importantly however... early in my adventures in this location I took Paralyzing Palm, which all but mooted any difficulty of any combat against living beings.


There were other perks I've gained, but not worth special mention.

Finely attired

I had to adapt quite a lot, limited by how I can repair things, and unable to source new armour I found myself swapping armour quite a lot, gathering loot to sell to repair armour and then swapping again. For the most part I completed the area using the Atomic-valence tri-radii-oscillator and Stealth suit Mk II which has remarkably high damage protection for it's weight.

Holiday's over. Get Back Twerk

All in all, my journey away from the Mojave was worthwhile. Experience, perks, additional equipment. I'm pretty certain that I'm going to complete the game in no time now, paralysing palm is entirely overpowered...

New Level, New Perk!

Looks Like a case of the old World Blues