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Hi. I have a few questions about ammunition. Since English is not my mother tongue, but even if it were I doubt that I would automatically know answers to the following questions, here are the queries: what exactly are JHP (jacketed hollow points) and FMJ (full metal jacket)? Not sure, but I think that JHP does more damage, blow your head off, like in the movie Taxi Driver with DeNiro, when he altered the bullets for Magnum with the knife, and then blew the whole hand of some guy. I guess this is it, as for JHP considered. And what about FMJ? What does that mean? I also need an advice when it comes to armor piercing bullets, in that since most of targets have armor, is it prudent to always shoot with AP ammunition when I am not aiming at his head? At the end of the game, or at least in some places, dudes are heavily armored, so I suppose I should shoot at them exclusively with AP bullets? And if I do not have AP bullets, which bullets are better for shooting at armored dudes, JHP or FMJ? Thanks.

First off, welcome to gamebanshee Blenton.

As for JHP and FMJ, i think that FMJ does more damage generally, or something, but i am not sure. I cant seem to access my usual Items database, but i know that you cant put FMJ into any weapon. Just as you cant put JHP into just any weapon. My experience with JHP is that it generally does very little damage, even with AP and if you use it in a real weapon (NOT 14mm). As for AP, my shot is that it does smaller damage, but has better chance of piercing trough armor and thus doing critical hit. But i think that armor checks are ignored by ANY type of ammo if you aim for the eyes.

You can actually check it yourself. Just take JPH in you inventory, and examine it. It will say how many percent chance it gives for doing critical (or piercing armor, not sure) and how much extra damage it does. Compare with different kinds of ammo to find solution.

Mostly i don't give it much thought really. If you are thinking about what ammo to use against your opponents, just go with the ammo for the best weapon you have, and then use that. Ammo can give an edge in a battle, but it is very rarely crucial. That's my experience at least.

Again, remember that not all ammo types goes into all weapons. .44 magnum doesn't go into the minigun for example.

As for your english, its just fine .

oops..

'But i think that armor checks are ignored by ANY type of ammo if you aim for the eyes.'
This is a really good tip, man. I mean, if it proves to be successful. I sure as hell am going to try it out. Heh, I usually aim at the head because my Perception is high (9) and Critical Chance is 15%, but if dudes have helmets, this is a brand new course of action for me. I have not tried it yet, but I suppose that if I successfully hit the eyes, the target is probably blinded, which gravely enhances my chances to blow him away, as he fires in all directions. But having in mind that the game is not entirely realistic, in that, in good old times, you took a revolver, fired one bullet, and your opponent was dead for sure. In this game, but it sure is more challenging, and fun, you empty entire clips, but he is still standing, even though he has no armor, or I am aiming at his head, and he is bareheaded. Anyway, I was trying to say that helmets in the real world do not mean almost anything when it comes to head protection, but this game is acquired taste and it sure works for me, so I suppose that helmets in this post nuclear scenario are not that easy to pierce through. As for the Critical Chance, do I have more chance to get it if I aim at the part of the body that makes most damage, or it is pretty much the same if I shoot in simple mode, without aiming at particular part of the body at all? And what about the burst mode, I mean, I suppose it is impossible to get critical hit then, but then again, who needs critical hits when having fun with burst mode!? Anyway, I am going to try this out myself and gather info I need, but I wont say no to good tips or shorter trip to getting where I want to be by players who share the same passion. I had a bit of pause in the game, but tomorrow I am back in business, playing the most addictive RPG I have came across too, in comparison to bows and magic in Tolkien based usual AD&D domain.


'You can actually check it yourself. Just take JPH in you inventory, and examine it. It will say how many percent chance it gives for doing critical (or piercing armor, not sure) and how much extra damage it does. Compare with different kinds of ammo to find solution.'
I am going to try this too for sure. I think that somehow I missed this information, but now I am going to pay closer attention.


'As for your english, its just fine'
Well, I have red entire concise English dictionary, Webster Collegiate Thesaurus and Duden. Al right, you caught me lying, for I have not, so now you will probably fire rocket launcher at me. But if my Charisma and Speech skill were high, you would probably believe me, right?



You know, I forgot to ask about your experience regarding the Sneaking skill. I made it pretty high, but most dudes always detect that I am sneaking, and then make threats because of this. I thought that Sneaking helps improve Stealing performance, which is my favorite skill, but now I am thinking that it is pretty much useless, because if your Stealing is high, then I suppose that you do not have to sneak in order to have better results regarding stealing. I might be wrong though. And for what else I could use sneaking if we disregard stealing, if anything?? Perhaps to come unnoticed behind opponents head, and shot him from close range in the back of his head? Heh, this little details could be real fun if achievable, but a thought is creeping in my head that I should have distributed skill points not for sneaking, rather for energy based weapons, and it is eating me inside, because I am pretty much the guy who barges in the room, and likes to choose from variety of weapons and shoot my opponents right in the head, without sneaking that I am sometimes using pretty much for stealing. Do you share the same sentiment with me?

Well, i dont like sneak skill myself, since you can find a stealth boy in TheGlow that makes you entirely invisible, so sneak is pretty obsolete. As for head gear and such, it doesnt really matter. Just cos you see a person wearing a helmet in the game, doesnt give any bonus to armor checks if you aim for the head. The helmet is just there for fun actually.

You CAN blind the enemies, and they will hit like crap when they are blinded, and hit allies and critical miss and all kinds of funny stuff, but its not very often they get blinded.

As for burst mode, you CAN get critical hit with it. But i think critical hit is calculated from the whole spray, and not bullet by bullet. YES the game IS a bit unrealistic, but thats just life, and if everything had to be realistic, you would not stand a chance. Unrealism rocks!

Question about Charisma.. A high Charisma is important for characters that want to influence people with words. Charisma modifies NPC reactions. I am about to start a new game, and I know exactly how will I generate my character, except for Charisma. I do not want high charisma for better NPC reactions, but I do want small measure of courtesy from their part, in that I would like to have the usual dialog with them, instead of no dialog at all. My question is, what is the minimal Charisma so that I can finish the game with usual dialogs, and is it possible if my Charisma is just 1 that most will not talk to me (so I will not be able to finish the game!??) or join me, or if they do they will leave pretty soon because of the lowest Charisma? What you think, what is the minimal Charisma required for my above style of interacting with dudes, and could I lower it bellow 4 (this was my usual Charisma) so that I can distribute character points elsewhere but still have the usual NPC reactions, and not catastrophic dialogs..

..actually, I forgot to ask about the Strength too.. My Strength is 5, but is that enough for all small guns and energy based weapons..

Charisma only really influences bartering prices. Having only 1 point will work well.
Later in the game you can raise your Strength by 4, so 5 or 6 is enough.

Well. My characters usually have something along the lines of 7 or 8 charisma. I take points away from strength, because you can still use weapons without havíng the required amount of pts in it. You can compensate with nice weapons skill.

But if i were you, take 5 or 6 charisma. People wont love you, but they will welcome you.

[QUOTE=Blenton]Question about Charisma.. A high Charisma is important for characters that want to influence people with words. Charisma modifies NPC reactions. I am about to start a new game, and I know exactly how will I generate my character, except for Charisma. I do not want high charisma for better NPC reactions, but I do want small measure of courtesy from their part, in that I would like to have the usual dialog with them, instead of no dialog at all. My question is, what is the minimal Charisma so that I can finish the game with usual dialogs, and is it possible if my Charisma is just 1 that most will not talk to me (so I will not be able to finish the game!??) or join me, or if they do they will leave pretty soon because of the lowest Charisma? What you think, what is the minimal Charisma required for my above style of interacting with dudes, and could I lower it bellow 4 (this was my usual Charisma) so that I can distribute character points elsewhere but still have the usual NPC reactions, and not catastrophic dialogs.. [/QUOTE]
If I recall correctly the dialogies also depends on your INT. So, to get normal dialogies, you should have moderate INT (sorry, can't remember any limits). THis shouldn't be a problem, since good INT is very good to have anyway. And as Malta Soron said, Cha moslty affects your bartering prices and the number of followers you can have, so low Cha should be fine. I think I have played with characters which have had Cha around 2 or 3, and didn't have any problems with dialogies...

For normal dialogues INT has to be 4 or higher.

Well, it depends very much on what kind of character you are playing. My characters have NO tagged weapon skills, so i need to be able to avoid combat very much. Thats when charisma comes in handy.

Blenton wrote:..actually, I forgot to ask about the Strength too.. My Strength is 5, but is that enough for all small guns and energy based weapons..

Didn't notice that anyone answered this question, so I'll hop in.

Every weapon in Fallout has a minimum strength requirement (MSR later on) which you have to be aware of if you want to be efficient in combat. You CAN wield a weapon which MSR is larger than your current ST, but your combat efficiency will not be very good and it will get worse as the difference between your ST and the weapon's MSR increases. There are ways to increase your strength, though. This can be achieved in several ways. First, there's the Power Armor which boosts your ST by 3, then there's the operation which can raise your ST by 1, and, AFAIK, some drugs (like Buffout) can temporarily increase your ST.

So, to make things short p), yes, you should be able to wield most small guns (and small energy weapons) effectively.

BTW, the MSR got totally screwed in Fallout Tactics because if your ST is lower than the weapon's MSR, you won't be able to wield that weapon at all.

Mr. Pastorius wrote: BTW, the MSR got totally screwed in Fallout Tactics because if your ST is lower than the weapon's MSR, you won't be able to wield that weapon at all.

Which IMO is more realistic since you can't carry weapon which is too heavy for you, you WON'T be able shoot with it neither...

Kipi wrote:Which IMO is more realistic since you can't carry weapon which is too heavy for you, you WON'T be able shoot with it neither...

Well, if bringing a realistic side into such a discussion, then you can infact wield and use firearms which you'd be able to wield and use better by being stronger.
Supposed somebody firering a fully automatic machinegun. If he's "weak" he might be able to hold it and pull the trigger, however the recoil will make it difficult to aim it properly. If stronger he'll be able to control the recoil and aim it in the general direction. That is real.
Thus MSR should not be a direct cutoff, but instead carry a interval where you can use it but not effective .... to be realistic.
However, this is a game so realisme is not the number one priority