fallout update 2

SYBEX Online Update

Fallout™ Tactics: Brotherhood ofSteel™

Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets™Michael Rymaszewski

Online Update Part II

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel: ©2001 Interplay Entertainment Corp. All rights reserved. Interplay, the Interplay logo, “ByGamers for Gamers,” 14-Degrees East, the 14-Degrees East logo, Fallout, and Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel are trademarksof Interplay Entertainment Corp. All rights reserved. Micro Forte and the Micro Forte logo are trademarks of Micro Forte Pty Ltd. Allother trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright © 2001 SYBEX Inc., 1151 Marina Village Parkway, Alameda, CA 94501. World rights reserved. No part of this publicationmay be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or reproduced in any way, including but not limited to photocopy, photograph,magnetic or other record, without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 0-7821-2888-2

SYBEX and the SYBEX logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SYBEX Inc. in the USA and other countries.

TRADEMARKS: Sybex has attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by followingthe capitalization style used by the manufacturer. Copyrights and trademarks of all products and services listed or described hereinare property of their respective owners and companies. All rules and laws pertaining to said copyrights and trademarks are inferred.

This document may contain images, text, trademarks, logos, and/or other material owned by third parties. All rights reserved. Suchmaterial may not be copied, distributed, transmitted, or stored without the express, prior, written consent of the owner.

The author and publisher have made their best efforts to prepare this book and any related online material, and the content is basedupon final release software whenever possible. Portions of the manuscript may be based upon pre-release versions supplied bysoftware manufacturers. The author and the publisher make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to thecompleteness or accuracy of the contents herein and accept no liability of any kind including but not limited to performance,merchantability, fitness for any particular purpose, or any losses or damages of any kind caused or alleged to be caused directly orindirectly from this book.

Fallout Tactics: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets Online Update: Part II © SYBEX, Inc.Page 1

FALLOUT TACTICS: SYBEX OFFICIALSTRATEGIES & SECRETS ONLINE UPDATE:PART II

This is the second of four parts of the online update to Fallout Tactics:Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets. Part one—a .PDF featuring images forvarious gear from the game—was posted recently. Parts three and four willbe posted on this site over the next few weeks. All four sections areintended to supplement the printed guide. A number of omissions havebeen corrected and changes introduced in version 1.25 of the game havebeen taken into account. A full list of all the differences made to FalloutTactics by the 1.25 patch may be read at the official website:www.interplay.com/falloutbos/.

Parts two through four of the update specifically address thefollowing:

• Part II (this part) discusses pre-game and gameplay issues(including exploration and the resulting encounters) in thecontext of the Alpha Bunker campaign. It focuses on long-termgoals related to player character development, squad progress,equipment acquisition, and mission timing. Part II also correctsor expands upon selected statements made in Chapters 1, 2, and 5of the printed guide, and provides information on changesbrought about by the version 1.25 patch.

• Part III will discuss the Beta, Gamma, and Delta Bunkercampaigns in the manner described above. It will further corrector expand on statements made in Chapters 6, 7, and 8 of theprinted guide.

• Part IV will deal with the Epsilon Bunker campaign, and corrector expand upon statements made in Chapters 3, 4, and 9 of theprinted guide. It will also offer a summary of special encountersfeatured in the game.

For the benefit of new Fallout players, each part of the update willalso discuss selected in-game tactics. As stated repeatedly in the printedguide, there are as many ways of playing Fallout Tactics as there areFallout Tactics players. However, this very flexibility may add to theconfusion often felt by newcomers to the ever-growing world of computergames.


Starting a New Game, Version 1.25The 1.25 Fallout Tactics patch introduces several changes that have asignificant bearing on the choices you make when starting a new campaign:

1. The game as a whole runs better. This means that you may be ableto run the game at 1024×768 resolution, even if you couldn’t doit earlier. This is practically a prerequisite if you choose to playin continuous turn based mode.

2. The Tough Guy option now rewards you with double theexperience points versus the Normal mode. Previously (version1.13), Tough Guy mode was supposed to increase experiencepoints by just 30%. This huge increase in the rewards of goingthrough the game as a Tough Guy makes it the recommendedmode for playing Fallout Tactics.

3. The recruitment pool is vastly improved in terms of both quantityand quality. Sadly, this makes many of the character recruitmentstatements made in the printed guide invalid. This is also onemore argument in favor of choosing the Tough Guy mode, sincedead squad members are easier to replace.

4. Improvements in the AI have resulted in making turn-based playmuch more of a challenge. Some AI improvement is alsonoticeable when playing in continuous turn based mode.

Some players may experience difficulties downloading the 1.25patch because of its significant size (12.8 MB). You should persist,however, because the new patch makes Fallout Tactics a better game. It’swell worth the trouble, no matter how slow your Internet connection maybe.

The Alpha BunkerThe three Alpha Bunker missions are meant to hone you and your squadinto an effective fighting machine. They stress the need to developeveryone’s Small Guns skill to at least 110%, and the Sneak skill to at least24% (60% or more for Sneak specialists). Your own character should reachlevel 5 by the end of this campaign phase, and level 6 or 7 if playing inTough Guy mode. It’s highly recommended that everyone in your squad is


at level 4 or better before tackling the Rock Falls mission that closes out theAlpha Bunker campaign.

Version 1.25 introduces a couple of meaningful changes to thisphase of your fight for the Brotherhood of Steel. You’ll receive lots ofStimpaks upon starting a new campaign, and more healing items willgenerally be found during all missions. This is yet another incentive totackle the game in the Tough Guy mode, even if that means moving down anotch in difficulty level. The game is a lot more fun when the speed atwhich you pick up experience points is increased by 100%. It also opens upinteresting Perk possibilities with which to further develop and enhanceyour character. You’ll certainly end up earning a couple of more Perks thisway than you would if you were playing in Normal mode.

You’ll also be able to choose from a bigger pool of recruits. Allrecruits will also have new tag skills and optional traits, where in theoriginal release, they had no optional traits at all.

Planning to FightWhile you’re dropped right into the first mission when the game begins,you can choose the timing of the remaining two missions. The optimummoment for staging a mission varies with both the difficulty level of thegame and whether you’ve chosen to play in the Tough Guy mode.However, it’s usually best to take on the mission to Freeport (the secondexpedition in the game) only after your character reaches level 3, and RockFalls when he or she reaches level 4 or even 5 (and likely 6 in Tough Guymode). This means that a little exploring should be in your itinerarybetween each mission (see below for more).

Remember to pick the right time to start each mission, asrecommended in the guide—it may make the difference between successand failure. Continue travelling back and forth over the green target areauntil the world map clock moves around to the time that you want.

! Always keep in mind that time flows quickly once you begina mission, and that missions take a long time in reality aswell as in the game. Trying to hurry through to the final goalis always a mistake, even when you’re playing at lowerdifficulty levels.


Exploration—v1.13 vs. v1.25In the original release (version 1.13) of the game, exploration is rich inrandom and special encounters. You may have as many as half-a-dozenencounters while travelling across a single world map tile—particularly ifyou have a fast computer. Version 1.25 changed this by eliminating a bugthat linked a computer’s frame rate to the frequency of random encounters.This makes such encounters much more rare. If you’re playing on anaverage computer (a PIII 600 or thereabouts), you can expect to haveroughly five times fewer encounters with version 1.25 than you did with theoriginal version of the game.

This change makes it possible to wander far from the Alpha Bunker.In the original 1.13 release, the frequent random encounters ate away yourammo supply and didn’t allow such long-distance travel. Going on lengthyexplorations is still not recommended, though, as the following sectionmakes clear.

Exploring from Alpha BunkerThe amount of exploration that can be safely done from Alpha Bunker isvery limited. This is largely due to your pedestrian status in the beginningof the game (which doesn’t last, thankfully; the later acquisition of vehiclesgreatly increases speed and safety for your team). The wise thing to do is toexplore only as much as is needed to gain the next experience level—ifthere are fewer than a thousand points separating you from that level.

When exploring from Alpha Bunker, limit yourself to four worldmap tiles east, three tiles south, five tiles west, and five tiles north. Go anyfurther, and you may run into enemies that your newbie squad won’t beable to handle. Remember that the number one rule of exploration is gainwithout pain. You shouldn’t lose any squad members, use up ammo to thepoint where you have to buy more for your next mission, or use any of yourhealing supplies (this isn’t always possible at higher difficulty levels).

! The unknown always beckons strongly, but wait for yourfirst vehicle before beginning to explore in earnest. Havingwheels makes a tremendous difference that has to beexperienced to be fully appreciated.


Types of Random EncountersAll random encounters fall into two categories:

• Friendly Encounters: Unfortunately, civilians and Tribals arethe only characters who fall into this category. These friendliesshow up as green circles on the tactical mini-map. You shouldn’tkill any if you want to maintain your Reputation (remember thatReputation greatly influences barter rates).

• Hostile Encounters: These encounters sometimes also includefriendlies, who will act as your allies during the upcomingbattles. For example, during your journeys you’re sure toencounter Tribals fighting Radscorpions.

You may come across multiple hostiles or hostile and friendlygroups in a single random encounter. These adversaries will always befighting each other (although they occasionally haven’t seen each other bythe time you arrive on the scene). You should quickly identify the moredangerous group of enemies and target it first. Any hostiles surviving willsubsequently turn on you and your squad.

Here is a list of foes you can expect to encounter when exploring therecommended area around Alpha Bunker:

1. Tribals: Don’t kill them yourself, but always search their corpsesif someone else has done the dirty work for you. While theprimitive melee weaponry that Tribals carry isn’t worth much, aVoodoo or two worth good coin can be found from time to time.

2. Civilians: The friendly civilians encountered randomlythroughout the game never have anything on them, whether youcome upon them alive or dead. One exception is civilians that arelabeled Citizens—you can get some pretty good equipment off ofthem.

3. Radscorpions: The most common hostiles, you’ll even seegroups of Radscorpions fighting each other. Radscorpions makedangerous adversaries because of their tough carapaces, whichact as armor and greatly reduce damage. They are also capable ofdangerous poison attacks. Keep in mind that 9mm ball ammo haslittle effect on these enemies, and that 7.62mm ammo isn’t muchbetter. Red 12 gauge shotgun shells are the best Radscorpionammo at this early point in the game, but there isn’t much of itavailable. Fortunately, since Radscorpions are slow, you canalways stand up and run away.


4. Dogs: These nasty canines are fast, but not very dangerous. 9mmammo works very well against them, even in single shot mode.

5. Wolves: Fido’s bigger brothers are more dangerous, but not bymuch. 9mm ball ammo works here, too.

6. Brahmin: Fallout Tactics’ take on cattle have more hit pointsthan dogs or a wolves, and move quite fast when running. Still,Brahmin are very vulnerable, particularly from weapons firing9mm ball ammo in burst mode.

7. Small Cockroaches: These bugs present negligible danger toyour squad and are vulnerable to all varieties of ammo.

8. Big Cockroaches: Quite dangerous even to the well-equippedBrotherhood squad, these giant bugs have many hit points and aranged poison attack. Use 7.62 ammo and hunting rifles againstthem and don’t get within spitting range!

9. Komodo Dragons: These creatures are moderately dangerous,due to both their poisonous short-range spit attacks as well astheir melee combat abilities. Use weapons that fire 7.62mmammunition to kill them at a comfortable range.

10. Raiders: As the only opponents to have any loot on them in theearly stage of your campaign, Raiders are worth engaging. Thesize of their groups varies greatly (from four to 10), and as a ruleof thumb, the farther you wander, the greater their number. Somegroups of Raiders are armed solely with melee weapons (brassknuckles, clubs, spears), and Beretta pistol/switchblade combosare common. Others may have hunting rifles or AK–47s—andyou may even run into a group of five Raiders all armed withassault rifles. Use hunting rifles to snipe at them from long rangeand switch to shotguns if they move in for close-quarters combat.9mm ball ammo isn’t very effective against them.

" Don’t count on finding meaningful quantities of ammunitionon dead Raiders. They frequently won’t have anything atall, and the most you’ll find is 50 rounds of 7.62mm ammo(and that’s only if the Raider in question has an AK–47 andhasn’t managed to fire a single shot).


Random Encounter TacticsEvery random encounter begins with your squad standing in a circle right inthe middle of the battlefield. Your first priority is to make everyone crouchwhile you determine what kind of encounter this is—friendly or hostile.

# Keep everyone on Defensive Sentry mode while travelling.This will ensure that nobody opens fire too early at thebeginning of a random encounter. Also, have everyonecarry a hunting rifle as the default (ready to use) weapon.Fill the other weapon slot with a powerful short-rangeweapon, such as a submachine gun, a shotgun, or a Colt.45. Save your valuable .44 magnum revolver ammo forlater!

If the encounter proves hostile, your next priority is to arrange yoursquad in a sound tactical formation. The best is an echelon or staggered line(see Figure 1). This formation minimizes the chances of being hit byfriendly fire while providing mutual covering fire. Ideally, the ends of theline should be under cover from barriers such as rock formations, but inpractice it’s very difficult to move everyone into an echelon formation andsimultaneously arrange it so that the staggered line runs exactly betweentwo barriers. When all squad members are in place, hit the AggressiveSentry key. Of course, you should hit it even earlier if you’ve been noticedand are under attack.

Every random encounter is time-sensitive. You have to hurry evenwhen your squad is safe, as when the encounter features two groups ofhostiles fighting each other. This is because you’ll only get experiencepoints for the enemies that your squad actually kills. If you wait until twogroups of Radscorpions batter each other to death and then gun down thesurvivor, you’ll get experience points for killing just a single Radscorpion.


Figure 1: Arranging soldiers in an echelon formation is asafe move when you’re on foot.

Try to avoid shifting the whole squad. It’s much better to have asingle soldier run out, take a couple of shots at a distant enemy, and enticethe hostiles into an ambush by leading them right in front of your waitingechelon line. If you do need to move your entire squad, move it information (toggle with the “F” key); otherwise, your soldiers will bunch upand hit each other when they open fire. Hit the Backspace key to instantlystop all movement.

" Don’t switch to weapons firing 9mm ball ammo unlessyou’re sure that it’s safe to do so. Rely on 7.62mmammunition throughout this stage of the campaign.

Avoid fighting at short range. Instead, order any soldier exposed to amelee attack to backpedal as soon as possible. After the firefight, wait a bitto see if any hidden enemies pop out. Consider reconnoitering thebattlefield with a single, running soldier before abandoning combatpositions. Search most of the human corpses for loot (as mentioned earlier,don’t bother with civilians). Reset your default weapons to hunting riflesand switch to Defensive Sentry mode before leaving the random encounterarea.


Equipment/Bartering StrategyYou should postpone making any deals until after the Freeport mission. Bythat time, the skill points gained will enable you to boost your Barter skillto at least 20%, and your improved Reputation (you should be seen as aDefender after Freeport) will help you get much better deals.

Remember to locate Shauri in Alpha Bunker and to obtain her Guns& Bullets magazine. You should begin saving BOS dollars for the upgradeto Leather Armor Mark II, and for ammo purchases that may be necessaryfor the Beta Bunker missions. You should also begin saving ring pulls fordrug purchases from Kerr in Beta Bunker; remember that you’ll basicallyneed every Psycho you can get, especially when playing at higher difficultylevels. These higher difficulty levels may also necessitate buying extrasupplies from the Medical Officer. Players who didn’t select the Doctor tagskill may be forced to choose between buying the horrendously expensiveDoctor’s Bag and exchanging crippled squad members for new recruits.

All surplus ammo should be “exchanged” for experience points wonduring random encounters, so don’t sell any. Avoid buying any ammo, too,but don’t get carried away and set off for Rock Falls with 20 7.62mmrounds. The printed guide’s advice on mission equipment still holds true.

You should complete this phase (Freeport) of your campaign withthe following minimum equipment:

1. Six hunting rifles.2. Six AK 47s.3. Six shotguns (Ithacas and Berettas).4. Two or three Colt .45 pistols.5. Two S&W revolvers and all .44 magnum ammo you’ve found.6. Two HSI Mausers. (Their long range makes them a fun means of

disposing of 9mm ball ammo when exploring in a vehicle. Goodshots can still inflict meaningful damage in the targeted mode.)

In addition, you should have a couple of First Aid kits, a fullDoctor’s Bag, and at least half-a-dozen Stimpaks per squad member (alongwith a dozen for yourself). Save any specialist ammo (9mm JHP and AP)for later, along with 100 rounds of 7.62mm per soldier.


Corrections and AdditionsThe sections below correct and expand upon the information in thepublished guide.

Chapter One: Getting Started with FalloutTactics

Page 5, “Is it Fallout 3?”: The statement reading, “Equipment items canbe acquired through both barter and looting,” is not completely accurate. Asnoted elsewhere on this page, they may also be acquired by stealing. Moreimportantly, late-breaking changes to the game made gambling a muchmore viable way of acquiring equipment. Gambling may now be relied onto fill all needs previously met by bartering, but only from Gamma Bunkeronwards.Page 6, “The New Face of Fallout”: Neither the game manual nor thestrategy guide mentions that the top of the inventory panel features a click-and-drop menu that allows you to choose the type of items on display.Also, it’s possible to customize the key shortcuts to your liking by editingthe “keys.cfg” file in the game’s “core” folder (use Notepad, Wordpad, orany other compatible text editor).Page 8, “Overwatch”: The example given to illustrate sequencing rules nolonger applies. Changes have been made to the way that computer-controlled characters operate in the Overwatch mode, and your high-Perception soldier may get clobbered by a low Perception enemy onOverwatch. Of course, all observations apply to turn-based play only.Page 10, Tip: The Options panel may be accessed by simply hitting the“O” key., “Sentry Modes” section, closing paragraph: Full oil drums inthe finished game are few and far between. The mission walkthroughs inthe printed guide identify drums that are full and will explode when hit.Apart from those, all oil drums are empty and can be safely used as cover.Page 12, “Selecting the Right Difficulty Level”: This section adviseseven green players to set their difficulty level at Normal when playing inturn-based mode. This is no longer advisable following the boost in AIgranted in the version 1.25 update. If you’re a new player, start off byplaying at Easy!


Chapter Two: Building CharacterPage 15, “Introduction”: The chapter introduction states that Tough Guymode provides a 30% boost in experience points; this has been adjusted to100% in version 1.25 of the game.Page 18, “Agility”: The advice concerning the Gain Agility Perk isunclear. Choosing this Perk for a character with an Agility of 7 will ofcourse result in an Agility of 8, and nine Action Points.Pages 20 and 21, “Strength”: This section states that a Strength of 7 isenough to handle every weapon in the game but the Browning M–2. This isnot true, as the Vindicator Mini Gun also has a Strength requirement of 8.Also, this section neglects to mention that Power Armor increases thewearer’s Strength by three, and that the Way of the Fruit Perk increasesStrength by one point for every fruit eaten, up to a maximum of 12 forhuman characters. It should be kept in mind that fruit is very hard toacquire in the later stages of the campaign, and that the Way of the FruitPerk only becomes available at level 6. Save any fruit you find for thefuture if you’re planning to acquire this Perk.Page 22, “Luck”: This section fails to mention that all Mechanics aregamblers, and that you encounter your first gambling Mechanic in BetaBunker.Page 23, Note: The note explaining that reading books improves a givenskill by 15% of the character’s existing skill is incorrect. This was changedin the finished game, making all books worth 15 skill points each. Theincrease in a character’s skill may be smaller. Increasing a skill level above100% is very costly, and 15 skill points may translate into lesser gains.Page 24, “Small Guns”: This section fails to mention that the minimumStrength requirement for almost all combat shotguns is 6 (only the rarePancor Jackhammer requires a Strength of 5). Combat shotguns arelifesavers for Small Guns experts beginning with the sixth mission. Keepthis in mind when considering recruits with a Strength below 6, and whencreating your own character.Pages 24 and 25, “Big Guns”: Only one vehicle-mounted weapon in thegame—the Tank Cannon, available from mission 15 on—requires this skill.Page 26, “Throwing”: Late in the game’s development, the Action Pointcost to throw the most deadly grenades was increased to 6. This greatlydecreases the attractiveness of this skill.Page 28, “Science”: As the recruitment pool changes introduced in version1.25 greatly decrease the availability of Science specialists, it’s highly


recommended that you make your own character skilled in this area. Inaddition, the 1.25 patch introduces a positive critical hit chance modifier forScience specialists fighting robots. In other words, the higher your Scienceskill, the better the chance of scoring a critical hit on a robot. This is veryimportant in the later stages of the game.Page 28, “Pilot”: This section states that you won’t get to drive a vehiclevery often. This is true only in a mission context. Efficient and relativelysafe exploration is impossible without a vehicle, and you’ll definitely dolots of driving while uncovering the map and earning experience pointsthrough random encounters. However, the Pilot skill can still be easilyupgraded to an acceptable level without being chosen as a tag skill.Page 29, “Outdoorsman”: The version 1.25 patch has changed manyrecruits into Outdoorsman experts (Farsight is one of them). The relativerarity of random encounters in the 1.25 version has also made travel-relatedPerks slightly more attractive.Page 30, “Selecting Perks”: Consider the Way of the Fruit Perk uponreaching Level 6.

Chapter 5: The Alpha Bunker MissionsThe final release (1.13) of the game contains slightly fewer enemies in eachmission than featured in the version used for the research of the print guide.This holds true for many of the mission walkthroughs in the book. Sinceyou’re not going to run into any distress because of this, the AWOL enemypersonnel aren’t discussed in this update. Cases where there are extraenemy soldiers are duly noted.

The most striking change introduced by version 1.25 is theavailability of healing items in the first mission (Brahmin Wood). Also,don’t bother to stockpile First Aid kits for later, as the 1.25 patch makes theField Medic Kit and Paramedic’s Bag more effective than the First Aid Kitand Doctor’s Bag.Page 95, chapter introduction: Much of the information in thisintroduction is inaccurate in light of the version 1.25 changes. The patchintroduces a much better pool of recruits and a 100% experience pointbonus for Tough Guy mode. Evaluate the new recruitment choices usingthe criteria set out in Chapters 2 and 3 of the printed guide.Page 98, “Freeing the Imprisoned Villagers”: The guard with themonkey wrench now also carries a First Aid Kit. Most Raiders in thismission now carry Stimpaks.


Page 102, “Mission Postmortem”: This section recommends using up9mm ball ammo in random encounters and saving 7.62mm rounds for later.In fact, you should do the opposite, as noted earlier in this update.However, do leave yourself with a healthy reserve of 7.62mm ammo.Page 103, “Suggested Squad and Equipment”: The recruitrecommendations in this section are no longer accurate because of theexpanded recruit roster in version 1.25 of the game.Page 105, “The Bridge Massacre”: Don’t use Buffout to enhance hand-to-hand combat abilities, as suggested. The new recruit pool has very fewhand-to-hand specialists, and it’s a waste otherwise. Use the Buffout laterto enable weak recruits with good eyes to handle heavy weaponry.Page 108, “Mission Postmortem”: For the reasons detailed above aboutthe 1.25 patch, recruitment suggestions contained in this section are nolonger accurate. Evaluate new recruitment choices using advice fromChapter 2.Page 110, “Suggested Squad and Equipment”: The squad suggestions inthis section are also no longer accurate. Again, refer to Chapter 2 forgeneral squad selection advice.Page 112, “Mission Postmortem”: The recruitment advice in this sectionis also no longer accurate.

fallout update 2

Documents

trademarks of sybex

sybex logo

allother trademarks

proprietary trademarks

registered trademarks

trademarks of micro

interplay logo

iifallout tactics