FALLOUT TACTICS: BROTHERHOOD OF STEEL ------------ Character Creation GUIDE Version 1.0 written by: Kent Francis kentf@singnet.com.sg ============== = GUIDE INFO = ============== This is a character creation guide for the Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. Here, I will guide you on how to create a character that suits your style of play and personality. The guide written by Sarin is also worth taking a look and his is more verbose than mine but Fallout has so much choice that opinions fly. There is alot I disagree with but it doesn't mean it's a bad guide. Take a look at both and you decide. Play a few games with various characters and see what you like best. As they say, different situtations call for different solutions. ================ = INTRODUCTION = ================ Fallout. One of the best games I've ever played. True that this new one came as a real shocker to many fans but this game should be given a chance. FalloutTactics breaks away from the traditional turn based RPG system and in it's place, comes a real time tactical action game. Now before you winch, it's more than just an action game. You don't play this Quake-style. It's alot like SWAT or X-Com. You've got to plan carefully, set traps, lay ambushes and the best thing is, you can do it in so many ways! That's one of the reasons why I have written this guide. The type of character you want will reflect how you want the battles to be carried out. That's why making sure your character is flawless is so important. Just imagine if you like fragging but you end up putting all the unecessary skills like first aid or doctor when you could be adding combat-based skills! ================ = INNATE STATS = ================ Innate stats are your physical and mental capabilities. It affects many things such as your carrying weight, accuracy, the types of perks you get and so on. This is one of the most important sections and I highly recommend you to read this before going on. ST [STRENGTH] Strength is important if you want to build a tough character. This stat affects the amount of items you can carry, how heavy a gun you can lift and how hard you swing a punch. It also affects your ability to take a knock. PE [PERCEPTION] Mainly, your accuracy is based on perception. Having a high perception rate also makes various skills like first aid and repair alot better. In short, any thing that requires a sharp sense of sight or hearing to detect even the slightest change, requires perception. EN [ENDURANCE] This affects your natural resistance to all kinds of damage. If you like it dangerous and love taking your battles up close having a high endurance rate is important. CH [CHARISMA] When there is a need for diplomacy, charisma is needed. Charisma affects the way you interact with people. One is the prices you obtain from the Quartermaster but most importantly, charisma affects how many new members are available at the Personnel department. While charisma may seem like an important stat, don't bother increasing it to ridiculous levels. It won't do you any good. You can always find a member who can handle all your charisma needs later in the game. IN [INTELLIGENCE] It's importance depends on what kind of character you wish to create. Medics require a high amount of intelligence to get the medical equipment in proper order. Another important thing is that it affects the number of skill points you earn each time you level up. Those meddling with scientific equipment like energy weapons also need a high intelligence rate. AG [AGILITY] Agility can be considered the base of all physical abilities. Having a high strength or guns skill won't mean much if you don't have the physical capability to handle them. LK [LUCK] In my opinion, luck is only needed for snipers and light gunners. Luck's most significant modifier is the critical chance rate which determines how well and how often you can score a lethal blow to the enemy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Now with that covered, I shall go on to the other list of innate stats. Take note that they are affected by the stats I mentioned above. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ARMOR CLASS Modified by: Armor / Agility Affects: The amount of damage taken MELEE DMG Modified by: Strength Affects: The amount of damage caused from a melee attack. BONUS DMG Modified by: Weapons / Perks Affects: Added damage caused by any kind of attack DAMAGE RES. Modified by: Armor / Endurance Affects: The amount of damage absorbed POISON RES. Modified by: Endurance Affects: Your chances of getting poisoned and how much you absorb after being infected RAD. RES. Modified by: Endurance Affects: Your chances of getting radiated and how much you absorb after being infected ACTION PTS. Modifed by: Agility Affects: The total number of actions carried out in a battle CARRY WT. Modifed by: Strength Affects: The total number of items you can carry HEAL RATE Modifed by: Endurance Affects: How fast you heal over a period of days CRIT. CHANCE Modifed by: Luck Affects: The chances of getting a lethal shot on an enemy SKILL RATE Modifed by: Intelligence Affects: The amount of skill points you get each time you level up PERK RATE Modified by: Creature class Affects: Adds various bonuses to your character =================== = OPTIONAL TRAITS = =================== Here comes the interesting bit. What's a human without his good and bad points? Traits allow you to add special bonuses to your character but at a price. Not everyone feels the same way about traits. Some say it's a waste of time while others say it's useful but I shall not drag you on my opinions. Read on and decide. Remember that thes are OPTIONAL and is not required by the game at all. FAST METABOLISM Good: Increased healing rate Bad: Lower poison/radiation resistance -Healing can be a pain since medical supplies can cost a bomb but don't forget that wheneve you enter a Brotherhood bunker, you are fully healed for FREE. This "self-healing" only works as days pass and the days don't pass by as you go through a mission. Only when you travel on the world map. It works too slow to be useful and as mentioned earlier, you can be healed for FREE at any Brotherhood bunker. There are alot of missions with high amounts of poison and radiation so you wouldn't want to sacrifce your resistance for this. BRUISER Good: Increased strength Bad: Lower action points -Bruiser can be used for two types of squad members. The melee specialist or the heavy gunner. Bruiser significantly increases strength but leaves them vulnerable for counter attacks since thier total action points don't leave them much to do after the initial attack but like a sniper, a character of this sort should be placed behind unless you intend to make him a close-quarters combatant. SMALL FRAME Good: Increased agility Bad: Lower carrying weight -The perfect front-liner! Small frame significantly increases agility making him a great soldier! Remember that agility affects all your physical skills. The only downfall is that his/her carrying weight will be reduced 1/3 of the usual and don't be surprised to be struggling with his equipment, especially in the later parts of the game. ONE HANDER Good: Increased skill with one handed weapons Bad: Decreased skill with two handed weapons (applies to small guns as well) -It's really hard to give a solid opinion on this since it works so well but sucks at the same time. Especially in the earlier missions, there are many one handed weapons and this is a very good bonus. You will find no problem using guns but in the later stages, one handed weapons become rare and you will struggle to keep pace with the rest. FINESSE Good: Increased critical chance Bad: Decreased damage given -Unless you're a sniper, don't even bother. Finesse reduces the damage you give to an enemy by ALOT and only increases your critical chance SLIGHTLY. I suggest waiting for the sniper perk or crank up your luck. This trait ain't worth the trouble KAMIKAZE Good: Increased damage Bad: Decreased armor class -Useful yet hazardous. The bonus to your damage given is great but the penalty is heavy as your armor class is reduced to what you're wearing and nothing else. I don't recommend it to beginners but if you're experienced, this trait would serve you well. HEAVY HANDED Good: Increased melee damage Bad: Decreased critical chance -This is my personal favorite since I like to play stealth and stealth means getting up close to an enemy that needs to be taken out. This trait increases your melee damge by ALOT. I usually have other squad members to take care of the sniping business so critical chance is of no importance to me. Anyway, the only type of unit that would benefit from this trait is similar to that of a bruiser. FAST SHOT Good: Increased action points Bad: Decreased accuracy -Similar to Kamikaze only less dangerous. If sharpshooting is no issue, then use this! Another higly recommended one for all those who love going in with guns blazing. The decreased accuracy isn't going to be a problem since the increased action points make up for it. Good stuff. BLOODY MESS Good: Increased violence Bad: ??? -Weirdest trait so far. I haven't really seen anything bad about it and the only difference I see is that enemies you see getting killed die worse. Fun to see but I don't use it since I prefer my game to be as realistic as possible. JINXED Good: Enemies suffer from various mishaps Bad: You and your squad members suffer from various mishaps as well -You're either looking for trouble or looking for a real challange to be using this trait. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE, including yourself will suffer from various mishaps like dropping your ammo, shooting yourselves and worse. Use at your own risk. GOOD NATURED Good: Increased diplomatic skills Bad: Decreased combat skills -Having a diplomatic squad member can prove useful in certain missions and especially in the bunkers where you need to get the cheapest price for new equipment. Usually medics are the ones with this trait since it also increases first aid. CHEMICAL RELIANT Good: Withdrawal symptons of drugs pass faster Bad: Easier to become adddicted to drugs -Throughout the game, you will find various drugs that will help improve your skills... as long as you consume a constant supply each time your body hungers for it. With this trait, you will have a problem with addiction and but when you finally decide to quit, the bad effects of not taking the constant supply diminishes faster. CHEMICAL RESIST. Good: Harder to be addicted to drugs Bad: Harder to get through withdrawal symptons -Taking drugs is one thing. Making sure you aren't addicted is another. This trait is useful but unpredictable and is often dangerous. Once you're hooked, it's going to be harder to kick than a normal man. Still, it's worth the risk since drugs can enhance a member greatly. NIGHT PERSON Good: Increased perception in the night Bad: Decreased perception in the day -Really nothing much to say. In my opinion, it's best left alone since mission times are "random". SKILLED Good: Extra skill points upon leveling up Bad: One extra level needed to gain perk -This is really a matter of opinion. Gaing extra skill points is a plus. Gaining perks is also a plus. I can't really compare them both. This is one trait where you need to decide if you want your skills to improve faster or if you feel that perks do more. You decide. GIFTED Good: +1 to all innate stats Bad: -10% to all skills -Like the skilled trait, this is really up to you. There is nothing wrong with both since they have an equal number of risks and benefits but if I were you, I'd avoid it since the default points given for the innate stats are sufficient. ========== = SKILLS = ========== Before we move on to the actual character creation, we have to go through another important part of the creation process. The skills. You will need to pick three skills to be your "speciality". You need to choose with the utmost care since your starting equipment is based on this. If you were to pick all diplomatic skills and later on decide you want to be a gunner, then you might as well replay. Like I said, this is important so choose carefully as each choice you make ultimately determines your role in the Brotherhood. SMALL GUNS -Do you like fast guns? Then this is the skill for you. Small guns range from all sorts of weaponry such as handguns, SMGs, double-barreled shotguns, M16s and so on. Highly recommended BIG GUNS -If rocket launchers, M60 machine guns and anti-tank weaponry are your favorites, then choose this. ENERGY WEAPONS -Are you a sci-fi nut? Like handling laser guns? Choose this! UNARMED -For those who like it raw and without the use of weapons. As the old saying goes: "Only a fool trusts his life with a weapon". If you belive in that, then I see no reason not to choose it. MELEE WEAPONS -Crowbars, hammers, steel pipes. If swining metal and steel is your pleasure then click away. THROWING -Grenades and molotov cocktails. If you love blowing things up, step right in. FIRST AID -In the game, there are two types of injuries. Minor and major. The equipment for these are different. You wouldn't want to be wasting an important surgical chemical for a minor wound and vice versa. First aid is highly recommended, if not VITAL to any field medic. It would also be nice if several other non-medic members get a hold of this skill just in case the main one dies or is seriously injured in the middle of a mission. DOCTOR -Like first aid, the doctor skill restores more health than first aid but it also heals major wounds such as blindness or crippled limbs. SNEAK -If you like it stealthy like me then a high sneak skill is required. The higher the sneak, the easier it is to remain undetected. LOCKPICK -Many doors, safes, cupboards etc will be locked and most of the time, there's something useful behind it. No key? No problem. Use this. There are several items in the game that would improve this skill though. I also wouldn't using up one of your tags for this. Go recruit someone with this skill. It's more worht it. STEAL -If you can't buy your way through life, what do you do? But like lockpick, just wait for someone to pop by the personnel department and recruit one with this skill. TRAPS -Laying traps and setting up explosives with care so they don't kill you as you attemp to plant them. SCIENCE -The knowledge of energy weapons and the handling of the various electronics depend on this. REPAIR -In the game, you get to work with two kinds of machines. Transport and robotic squad members. The only way to "heal" them is to repair. PILOT -How well you control the various vehicles you can find. Personally, I found nothing useful about this. BARTER -Bring the house down with words! It's all about haggling. The higher your barter skill, the cheaper things are and the more you get for selling. Good stuff! GAMBLING -Occasionally, you may come across people who would gamble with you. The sweet thing about gambling is that you can win thousands of dollars worth of equipment with a single click, problem is, you can lose them too! Gambling is rare and isn't worth choosing. Wait for someone to appear with this skill. OUTDOORSMAN -You will be on the road for a long time travelling from mission to mission, bunker to bunker. A high outdoorsman skill would mean less surprise attacks from random encounters, plus you might even gain special encounters. =========================== = CREATING YOUR CHARACTER = =========================== Now we reach the fun part. The actual creation of your character. First up, think for a few minutes. What can of character do you think would benefit a squad? But most importantly, think about what you like. You don't have to restrict yourself. For example, there is always a medic or sniper for recruitment, leaving your room to do what you want. There's hundreds of different combinations so experiment until you find one you like! I've compiled a list of possible characters and the stats and skills it should have. This compilation contains only the basic structure of creation. If you're a beginner, I recommend using one of these but after you've gotten you're paws wet, experiment as much as you can to find out what suits you. [NOTE: During creation, you will need to tag three skills. I will only tell you which tag is required for that particular class. Consult my skills faq when choosing the other skills.] First up, here is my character. It should give you an idea of what I mean when I say certain things are entirely up to you. ---------------------------------------- ST: 7 PE: 6 EN: 7 CH: 5 IN: 7 AG: 7 LK: 1 TRAITS: Heavy Handed TAGS: Small Guns / Melee Weapons / Sneak ---------------------------------------- LIGHT GUNNER -Light gunners make up the main assault group. You will task yourself to leading the team into battle. Useful since you are the squad leader anyway. ST: 6 PE: 7 EN: 7 CH: 4 IN: 5 AG: 7 LK: 4 TRAITS: Fast Shot TAGS: Small Guns SNIPER -The backbone of squads. As a sniper, you have a great deal of responsibility in taking out threats even before they get to you. It will not only save you a great deal of ammo but a great deal of medical supplies as well! ST: 5 PE: 8 EN: 5 CH: 3 IN: 5 AG: 7 LK: 7 TRAITS: Kamikaze TAGS: Small Guns / Sneak MEDIC -A squad without a medic is good as dead. Even though, free healing can be obtained at the Brotherhood bunkers, always ALWAYS bring along one medic. Stimpacks are to be used only in emergencies. Make use of the various medical supplies given to you. ST: 6 PE: 7 EN: 6 CH: 4 IN: 8 AG: 6 LK: 3 TRAITS: Good Natured [Optional] TAGS: First Aid / Doctor INFILTRATOR / THIEF -Undetection is the name of the game here. I personally use this kind. It saves ammo and you don't have to spend a bomb on new equipment since your melee weapons are the key. ST: 7 PE: 6 EN: 7 CH: 5 IN: 6 AG: 7 LK: 2 TRAITS: Heavy Handed or Fast Shot / Bruiser TAGS: Melee Weapons / Unarmed / Sneak HEAVY GUNNER -Like the sniper, heavy gunners support the main assault squad. ST: 8 PE: 6 EN: 6 CH: 4 IN: 6 AG: 9 LK: 1 TRAITS: Fast Shot TAGS: Big Guns / Energy Weapons That's about it. These are all, I feel are the basic creations. As mentioned earlier, it's no fun if you read up a guide and do whatever it says! Read through my guide carefully and see what really interests you. Fallout Tactics allows so much freedom so don't restrict yourself. Just go out there and have some fun! =============== = LEGAL STUFF = =============== This FAQ is free and should not be distributed for any amount or used on any other site other than www.gamefaqs.com / www.ign.com without my permission. (c)NXMT