Forum:Skills over and above 100%

I've played with Fallout 3 and New Vegas, and there is a skill cap of 100. I've read on the wiki that in Fallout 2 you can have even 300% at a skill. Do I gain any benefits if I have 150% at a skill, not only 80% ? Is it used to calculate succes rates, or hit rates? Please answer me, I want to know a little more about Fallout 2 before I start to play with it. Thanks in advance!


 * Skills are used in many calculations, combat rolls, and dialogue options, almost exactly as they are used in FO3 / F: NV. But let's answer your questions in order, shall we?


 * 1) Some skills won't affect gameplay that much by being raised to an obscenely high level. To put things in perspective, I'll use the lockpick skill as an example. In FO3 / F: NV, there are five levels of lockpicking, and each requires a hardcoded amount of lockpick skill points to attempt to pick. It is almost guaranteed you will pick that lock if you meet the skill requirement, because from there, it is up to your ability to place the bobby pin in the right place. It's not really up to the player in the original Fallouts.


 * In Fallout 1 / 2, there is no fancy interface that shows a bobby pin + screw driver picking a lock. A good portion of the game is text-based for effects. So, if you want to open a locked door, you select the Lockpick skill, and then the door / container you want to apply it to. From there, the game does a "dice roll" calculation involving 2 things:


 * your lockpick skill
 * the door's lockpick skill check


 * Basically, your lockpick skill is checked against the number coded to guarantee you open the door. If the door's number to check is higher than your skill, you won't be out of the fight, but the chances you will pick the lock are reduced into a fraction / percentage. (Your skill = 80, lockpick check = 100, chance to pick = 80 / 100 = 80%, which is done by a dice roll in the game engine)


 * Now, for combat skills, having a higher skill will continue to increase your damage with each type of weapon (energy, big guns, small guns, melee, unarmed). However, the chance to hit an enemy is capped at 95%, no matter what your skill, so there is always a chance to miss.


 * And for speech / barter, speech is either you get the option, or you don't. Think New Vegas where you can't win a speech check unless you have the specified amount of points in that skill category. Barter just affects the base price and value of items that you buy or sell in the game.


 * 2) Combat skills are used to calculate hit rates. Pretty much every other skill is used to calculate a success percentage for some skill check down the road (besides speech, Karma, Reputation, SPECIAL checks, and any other checks which happen in dialogue. Remember, you either have it, or you don't with these).

Whew, that's enough typing. I hope I explained this well to you; if not, let me know. :) -- Ghouly89 (Talk) 10:20, December 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Well yeah, i wonder that myself sometimes, i do know that there are "soft caps" for some skills in FO1/FO2 though, means if you reach for example 100% in skill X, you'll be able to further spend points, but it won't benefit you for this matter. Unfortunately i cannot really recall which skills fall under this category.


 * Would be nice to have some sort of list for these soft "skill caps" and some general guideline on how much to spend for certain skills, to pass most/all (end)content without much trouble.


 * For example, I've played through FO1 a few days ago and decided to get the master to commit suicide. I've hoarded some skill points and played around the dialog options with him. Turns out I've failed some speech checks occasionally, even with the speech skill way above 100%.

Ryzawy 00:25, January 28, 2011 (UTC)


 * As a rough guide (and I'm sure someone will disagree:


 * Definately worth increases over 100%:
 * All weapon Skills
 * Steal


 * Maybe worth increasing a little over 100% if you've points to spare
 * Lockpick
 * Outdoor
 * Stealth
 * Speech


 * Do not require more than 80-90 to be at their most effective
 * Doctor (You've docs bags, and you're only limited by your successes, 70% or so will get you VC Training and the dermal armour in FO2... Fo1? Maybe 40% or so so you dont retry forever, or just sleep your non crippled injuries off)
 * First aid (see Doctor sans the injury part)
 * Repair (I'd argue 60-70 or less is fine, you got tools and unlimited retries.)


 * Science is one skill thats worth mentioning seperately.  If you do not plan to align with the wrights in FO2, then skip this skill.  A base science of about 90 or so with some mentants IIRC is enough to get you the Cyberbrain for Skynet.  Fo1? Skip it.

Agent c 22:31, April 8, 2011 (UTC)