Fallout 4 [PC, PS4, XBone] - 10th of November 2015!

[Sly Boots]

I've not played the mode, but from what I've read Wrathbone, it only saves when you sleep.

[Jez]

Yes only on sleep. Bed quality makes a huge difference also but any bed object can be used to save.

I have a killer build now but I'm a glass cannon it's stealth orientated but if you get spotted and shot at by anything halfway powerful I'm dead. Very good though if you want I'll post it otherwise I'll keep quiet.

[Wrathbone]

Go for it, would be interesting to see what sort of scrapes can be survived!

I'm going to spend a fair chunk of this weekend on it unless it becomes too punishing to be fun. I've got through XCOM 2 in one piece, though, and loved every minute of it so my gaming challenge tolerance is higher than it usually is.

[Jez]

Although I started my build before I read this guide I tailored my points to match it somewhat after I got to about level 10. It would be easier to just follow this one from the get go. It's a stealth based glass cannon that becomes really powerful. It also relies on you doing the freedom road campaign which you can pick up if you listen to the conversations in diamond city in the alley near Valentines detective agency.

The main thing here is having a high agility point build after that it's kinda up to you. One thing I would say is don't forget explosive damage in the perception tree. Grenades are seriously powerful in this mode both against you and for you. Think you need perception 4 for the main perk with that. After that it's up to you where you point points in general.

Heres the build that describes it in full
https://www.vg247.com/2016/01/20/fallou ... ilitrator/

[Wrathbone]

Ha, that's almost exactly the opposite of what my new character's stats are. I went for medium strength, high endurance, medium intelligence (for the xp) and low everything else. I suspect I may perish quickly. I've never been a big fan of stealth in Bethesda games, so my approach was going to be a mixture of cautious exploration, not shying away from violence if necessary but running away really fast if things go bad. I want to try and iron man it... that may be too ambitious, though. Not sure I can stomach the whole intro section again so soon.

[Jez]

Just a few lines on survival aspects

Sleep - as mentioned the beds are needed for saving but a crappy sleeping bag will not do for a good rest which will clear the nasty effects of being tired...and they are nasty if you let them build up. A bed with a frame and mattress will allow you to kip for as long as you want and will clear all the effects as well as adding a positive effect for a time. I build settlements everywhere I can and it's great because this mode makes a reason for those things to exist in mind.

Water - this is a big one. You get dehydrated pretty quickly. Running, sprinting, using stimpaks and other things dehydrate you also. Clean water is hard to find unless you build pumps at settlements. The pumps can also be used to fill up any empty bottles you pick up with purified water. On a usual run I pick up maybe 8 empty bottles and refill them when I can back at the settlements. When filled and used the bottle is used also and you need to find more empty bottles which is annoying a little. Stuff like nuka cola doesn't hydrate you. You can drink dirty water but you'll take rads onboard which eat into your HP. Using RadAway will clear rads but will make you hungry and tired so I only clear rads when I'm back in base and about to get my head down for a sleep.

Eating - this one isn't too bad. The effects are nasty if they build up but there's usually plenty to eat from scavenging just watch how much rads you are taking onboard. Use the cooking stations to cook up meals from shit you kill and that stuff is rad free as well as giving some benefits depending on what you cook.

[Wrathbone]

Yeah, with the cooking I hadn't even realised that there were cooking stations in the game until last night where I stumbled across one and realised I could eat rad-free food. I've taken my first perk as the one which reduces rads from contaminated food which should make that a bit easier. Like you say, the fact that bottles are consumed when you drink is a bit odd but it's not a huge issue since there are bottles everywhere. A patch is out today which tweaks a few things, and with a few more changes this could be an excellent alternative way to play the game. Looking forward to attempting not to die tonight.

[Jez]

To my mind I think this mode is so compulsive that it's the ONLY way to play really. It's really transformed the game for me and added a level of difficulty that fits well with the universe. A tinker and tweak to a few basic things might be welcome though.

[Wrathbone]

It's different enough that I'll play both modes. A lot of what I like about regular Fallout is being able to flit around the map, exploring and doing quests with my mind almost on autopilot. Survival mode is intense, and autopilot will obviously result in disaster. I hope they find a way to easily incorporate mods into both modes simultaneously.

[Jez]

Yeah I really hope modding is put back in on survival mode. There's loads 9f really great weather mods and UI stuff out there already.

[Wrathbone]

One thing is for certain with survival mode: it's exhausting. My nerves are in tatters! I spent an hour or so collecting resources from around Sanctuary and Red Rocket, making sure I had water supplies, beds and food provisions available at both. I also levelled up again and upgraded a 10mm pistol. I then decided to go help the Minutemen and see how tricky combat is.

In general it's... more or less fair. It is of course far more dangerous, but that works both ways and a couple of well placed shots from cover can take down a raider. I managed to get upstairs to Preston and co without too much trouble, although I took the best part of half an hour over it. At that point I thought, right, I'll go back across town to a bed before I even consider jumping in the power armour and taking on Mr D, so I went downstairs and stepped outside.

"There's someone there boss!"

Ohhhh fuck. I didn't realise the raiders were already out there - I thought their arrival was triggered by getting in the power armour, but alas no. I retreated back inside and went back to suit up and grab the minigun. Now to be fair the armour does give you a good amount of protection even in survival mode, but when our big beasty friend turned up I suddenly became very aware of not having saved in nearly 40 minutes and was starting to clench.

The worst thing about the deathclaw is not that he's big or that he's fast or that he can kill you with a couple of swipes. It's that to get his attention and bring him in range you have to venture out in the open. When I finally got his attention and he sprinted towards me I opened fire, hurtling backwards towards the church doorway and made an involuntary noise not befitting a 31 year old man. Now I remember from my first playthrough that the deathclaw can't fit through the church door, as I very much used that to my advantage. This has apparently changed. As he followed me through I almost literally followed through in a far worse sense. Somehow I managed to empty enough bullets into him to stop the charge, but even after the XP message popped up I thought he was still somehow coming towards me and kept firing just to be sure. I then went straight to bed.

That was more intense than the first time I played System Shock 2. Survival mode is terrifying.

[Jez]

Haha great stuff ain't it?!!

I've been playing it every night since the mode came online. When I log off I've got the next nights activity to look forward to. Tomorrow I'm going to make a run through a few of the derelict industrial facilities near my current settlement in hang man's alley. If I was playing normal mode I wouldn't bat an eyelid at doing that and few other missions on top. But playing it as if your the character with a lot to lose is how this game was meant to be played. It a real rpg with this mode.

[Eny]

I am still on my first playthrough (204 hours)...I'm finding the game astonishingly massive, and love it. Survival mode would literally take me years!

[Subway Diet]

No words on mod support yet? Last I heard is that it's meant to be out before the second DLC?

[Jez]

I'd imagine it will roll out with wasteland workshop myself but I have seen them say before that also. Who knows