Check out my other site, RPGreats, for honest RPG reviews!

2/09/2014

Let's Play Fallout 2 "Captain Kirk", Part 0

An exponential improvement over the first Fallout, expanding its world tenfold and making some significant improvements to its design and overall balance.  I still maintain that it is the single best CRPG ever released, and I aim to show why in this playthrough.



Two mods were used in this playthrough.

Fallout 2 High Resolution patch - So I can run it windowed and without the colors getting corrupted.

Unofficial Fallout 2 patch - A fan patch. Patches the game to version 1.02.30 and removes over 800 bugs left from 1.2.  A complete list of changes can be found here (spoilertastic).

(I was also planning on using the Fallout 2 Restoration patch, which attempts to restore several features that were cut from the final release for time constraints or other issues.   However, it seems to make the program react badly to both FRAPS and Bandicam, resulting in frequent crashes, so I wouldn't be able to record the game...)



As for my character's stats:

5 Strength -  As with the first game, you're best off keeping this at average.  There's no need to start it higher than 5 even with a melee character, since you can boost it by a whopping 6 points in-game...
6 Perception - Again, it helps you get turn advantage in combat, but there's no real need to start with more than 6.  Also handy for a couple quests.
4 Endurance - Still the dump stat - two points equals one extra HP per level, so putting a lot of points into it doesn't make a big difference even in the long run.  4 is usually good enough to start (and enough to get the Lifegiver perk later if you're wanting for more HP).
8 Charisma - Unlike the last game, Charisma is actually quite useful in Fallout 2.  Not only does it come into play in several quests, but it affects the number of NPCs you can recruit at a time (one for every two points).  We're going to be partying with friends in this playthrough.
8 Intelligence - Still an extremely important stat as it governs how many of the all-important skill points you get each level.  We're putting it relatively high to offset the disadvantage of the Gifted trait.  You can boost it by up to three points in-game too.
9 Agility - 9 Agility is ideal to start with, since it's one of two stats that can only be boosted by a single point in-game (the other being Endurance).  More agility means more AP, which means more actions in combat!
7 Luck - Should help us get some of the special encounters, including the two Star Trek references.  Some more critical hits are no bad thing either!

Melee Weapons - Not much point in tagging Unarmed this time around, since it already starts relatively high and there are plenty of opportunities to boost it without spending skill points.  Melee weapons are more useful and much more damaging for most of the game...
Lockpick - Extremely useful.  Not just for crimes, but for legitimate quests too.
Speech - Still as handy as ever.  Plus Kirk is very charismatic.

Sex Appeal - Of course.
Gifted - He's Captain Kirk.  He does it all.