Talk:Dehydration

Dehydrating Drinks
So... why does almost every drink except water dehydrate you instead of hyrdate you? They're drinks. It makes no sense. It defies all reason and logic. There doesn't seem to be any realistic explanation for it.

The only possible reason I can think of is that the developers accidentally made them decrease hydration instead of properly increasing it.

Anyone willing to explain to me what in the world Obsidian was thinking?


 * those things actually do dehydrate you lol. look it up.

--Cyberweasel89 22:31, January 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * Soda is full of sodium. Sodium dehydrates you. Nitty Tok. 22:34, January 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * Not to mention sugar. The amount of people who don't have rudimentary knowledge about what they drink makes me sad. Here's a fun fact: water below 500mg/l mineralisation sucks at rehydrating you. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!) 23:08, January 20, 2011 (UTC)

That doesn't explain how COFFEE dehydrates you.118.93.242.62 10:56, May 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * It's a gameplay issue. Plus, who knows how strong that coffee is. http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/fallout/images/0/08/Personal_Sig_Image.gif Tagaziel (call!) 11:37, May 20, 2011 (UTC)
 * Caffiene also dehydrates you, and coffee is rather high in the stuff. And yes, it is also a gameplay issue, for balance reasons you can't have a common drink that both awakens and hydrates you. (I know, this comment is late) -- 21:29, July 10, 2011 (UTC)
 * Ha, you think YOU'RE late? ;)  But both caffeine and alcohol will have a diuretic effect when imbibed.  That said, the jsawyer mod seems to indicate it was either an error, or a disputed effect among the devs.

It takes some really dangerously strong coffee to dehydrate you so much that the water in the coffee is wasted, so strong the dehydration is less of a worry compared to what else you'll be feeling. As for sodas, same lines. Unless its full on saltwater, its less hydrating than pure water but still works. Electrolytes are important too, but seperate and unneccesarry if you're eating well or aren't engaging in constant strenuous physical exertion, considering how much gear you nonchalantly haul accross the wastes and the armour you do it in, I would agree that's a valid concern. 90.204.188.81 00:23, 26 May 2015 (UTC)

Notes: easiest way to combat thirst
In the notes it says: Carrying prickly pear fruit gives you more hydration by weight than purified water. A prickly pear fruit has a weight of 0.07 and has a base value of -15 dehydration. Purified water weighs 1 and has a base value of -50 dehydration. Carrying 13 prickly pear fruit will weigh 0.91 and give you 195 worth of hydration. --jimnms 19:52, July 10, 2011 (UTC)
 * Carrying water—whether it be purified or not—is the easiest way to combat thirst.


 * Prickly Pear Fruit is indeed the lightest way to combat thirst, but you'll find that it's nowhere near as common as water, making water the easiest way. But definitely carry all the prickly pears you can find. -- 21:27, July 10, 2011 (UTC)


 * Prickly pear fruit grows all over the Mojave Wasteland, and there is an unlimited supply since it regrows. --jimnms 03:29, July 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * I'll admit it does seem like a good advantage, I mean 1wg. =-210Dh where water is 1wg. = -50. But thats 14 Pears, where would you get them?
 * And you have to have 3 pears to = one water, not to mention eating 3 times vs one with water
 * You just can't beat water, I mean every 3 days you can buy 50-100 Purified waters.
 * Xa3  talk  Contributions  MysteriousStranger.png:33, July 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Where do you get them? You see them everywhere in the Mojave, and each plant gives you 2 fruit.  I don't even bother carrying water anymore.  I currently have over 30 in my inventory and more at my safe houses and other places I store loot. --jimnms 05:54, July 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * Gecko kabobs are the best overall. With a Survival skill of 90, one pound has -560 H2O, - 886 FOD and heals 320 HP.  The only down side is a measly 1 rad/sec, (just eat 1 cave fungus per 10 kabobs).DarthOrc 04:01, July 12, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc


 * The only problem is that requires a survival skill of 60 to make, but anyone can pick a prickly pear fruit. I never let myself get that dehydrated.  When I get the first dehydration sickness warning, I down enough prickly pears to get near 0, check my food meter and eat if needed, and go about my business. --jimnms 05:54, July 12, 2011 (UTC)


 * You only need a Survival skill of 40, the Comprehension perk, and a Lad's Life. Make a huge batch and level up your Survival skill at your own pace.DarthOrc 06:23, July 12, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc


 * The note says "The easiest way to combat thirst..." I don't think relying on a perk, skill magazine and crafting batches of items is easier than water or picking fruit.  A gecko kabob looks like it might be the easiest way to recover from major dehydration other drinking from a clean water source such as Lake Mead. --jimnms 20:23, July 13, 2011 (UTC)


 * Taking the Comprehension perk is a no-brainer, one would do it at the first opportunity, playing hardcore or not. Lad's Life is one of the most common mags, several can be gotten in Goodsprings at the start of the game.  Once you have made a batch, (and make it a habit to drink any rad free water you find), you can forget getting supplies for hydration and get on with playing the game, plus you have food and healing taken care of as well.DarthOrc 04:29, July 14, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc


 * I don't think you're understanding the easiest part. Making gecko kebab's requires a survival sill of 60 (or 40 with a perk and a skill magazine), finding 3 ingredients (4 if you need the magazine), and still restores less hydration per wg than prickly pear fruit.  Look at the math:
 * A gecko kebab weighs 0.25 and has a base of -50 dehydration, so 1wg of gecko kebabs (4 x 0.25 = 1wg) will restore 200 points of dehydration (4 x 50 = 200)
 * A prickly pear weighs 0.07 and has a base of -15 dehydration, so 1wg of prickly pears (14 x 0.07 = 0.98) will restore 210 points of dehydration (14 x 15 = 210)


 * Prickly pear fruit and water can be used from the start of the game, where gecko kebabs will not. The earliest you make them is level 2 if you create your character with 10 endurance, tag survival and take the comprehension perk first. Comprehension is not a "no-brainer perk," it's your preference.  Personally I never take it. --jimnms 06:03, July 27, 2011 (UTC)


 * Not taking the Comprehension perk means you lose out on 1 skill point per skill book read. It also cuts in half the effect from mags.  There are 51 skill books in the basic game.  That means you give up 51 skill points, 4 average levels of skill points.  Not taking it is just plain stupid. Yes, it IS a "no brainer".
 * As for "easiest", it depends upon what part of the game one is in. What is easiest, (or the only way, at low levels), is not the easiest later on.  Finding 14 prickly pear fruits is not easier than making a batch of kabobs, especially if one makes a dozen or so at a time, which equals finding several dozen prickly pear plants with fruit. Believe me, being the lazy guys that we are, we would have used prickly pear fruit if it were easier.DarthOrc 06:26, July 27, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc


 * What perks you like are your personal opinion and have nothing to do with the topic. I know what comprehension does, and I don't take it because it means losing out on another perk that will grant me a lasting ability since comprehension becomes useless after a while. In my opinion the educated perk is the no-brainer. If you take it at level 4, it gives you an additional 52 skill points to assign however you like (with a no DLC level cap of 30), and then I don't have to go out of my way to hunt down skill books. I also play with realism mods, which reduce the effect of skill books and other ways to max every skill and become a "god character" because I like a challenge.


 * Anyway, getting back on the topic of easily combating dehydration. While you were hunting geckos, finding the other two ingredients for a gecko kebab and making your way to a camp fire, you probably walked by half a dozen or more prickly pear cacti. Each prickly pear cactus gives you 2 fruit, and they are more common than both the banana yucca and jalapeno plants. Look them up in the GECK if you don't believe me, the prickly pear cactus is about 2x more abundant as the jalapeno plant, and 1.5x more than the banana yucca plant. --jimnms 12:45, July 27, 2011 (UTC)


 * Well, we agree on something, of course we take the Educated perk ASAP. We play on a XBox360 and don't use PC "cheats"which includes using the GECK or "realism mods", whatever they are.  We have determined that, with Comprehension, Educated and skill books, we will have maxed out all our skills by level 50, with a few points left over.
 * The plant abundance is not really valid as it only takes 1 jalapeno and 1 banana yucca fruit to make 2 kabobs which are more than equal to the fruit from 2 prickly pear plants. (The geckos are right there at Goodsprings Source, along with several camp fires.)  We never said we didn't take advantage of the other plants in the Mojave, we use them all.  Gecko kabobs are our mainstay, however, as we have said before, it takes less time, which is, for us, easier.DarthOrc 05:49, July 28, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc


 * If it's easier for you, by all means go ahead. I find it easier to just "live off the land" so to speak by eating and drinking what I find in the wild rather than hunt for multiple ingredients to make things.  I will craft food items if I do have the ingredients, I just don't go hunting for them.
 * After I discovered the low weight and abundance of the prickly pear fruit and it's weight to hydration comparison to water, I quit carrying water as my main source (though I do have 10 in ED-E as a backup). Whenever I come across one, I pick it and go.  Whenever I come to a place with a clean (or low rad) water source, I quench my thirst before moving on since they reduce your H20 by 200 per sip.  Between the static water sources and prickly pear fruit, I haven't been in trouble yet and my stock of prickly pear fruit keeps climbing.  I'll eventually quit picking them if they keep piling up.  Even at 0.07wg, they will add up after a while.
 * I used pickup gecko meat, brahmin meat, dog meat, etc. when I killed or came across them. I cooked a few and packed them just in case the land doesn't provide enough, which so far it has.  I think I have enough stocked at my safe houses to last me the rest of the game, so I quit taking them.  I don't bother taking my survival skill above 40, which is the minimum needed to craft doctors bags.
 * The mods I use are not cheats. They make the game tougher and more challenging.  I found it ridiculous in FO3 that there were too many items (skill books, bobbleheads, etc.) to boost skills and SPECIALs that you would end up a "god character" with all SPECIAL stats at 9 and skills at 100 (Broken Steel only made it worse).  With vanilla NV it is still possible to max out all skills, but not as easy.  The DLC is making it worse by raising the level cap by 5 for each one.  I don't have any of the DLC yet, so my level cap is still 30.  I'll pick them up once they're all out and sold as a bundle and go on sale.
 * The mods I use prevent "god characters" by among other things, reducing skill books to only give 1 skill point (2 with comprehension), skill mags are halved to 5 (10 with comprehension). With my current character, I figured that I will be able to max my 3 initial tag skills and two others.
 * They also make all items have weight, and food and drinks no longer heal you. The only way to heal are stimpaks and doctors bags.  Stimpaks have weight now too and aren't as easily found, so carrying several skill mags isn't a priority when I need space for more important things.
 * Now that I think about it, prickly pear fruit almost make things too easy. They look so big to weigh so little, so I might change that.
 * --jimnms 23:46, July 28, 2011 (UTC)


 * Whatever floats your boat, (or, in this case, wets your whistle). We also have accumulated an over abundance of food/hydration items.  A side effect was that our overall "scrounging" skills got better, and we got rich!
 * The main thing is that we all seem to be enjoying ourselves, which is the object of it all.
 * Between you and us, we should have given plenty of hints/advice to the original questioner, so, while we enjoyed the discussion, we are going to stop.DarthOrc 04:12, July 29, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc

huh, weird, dying of thrust(literally 5 units below death) and it won't touch my int stat...did a patch change its effects for some reason?

I find it interesting that despite the background of T-51b and later Enclave armours that were supposed to filter urine to allow extended periods wthout water suppley, but there seems to be no such feature in gameplay.