Talk:Hoff

Adding a note about the obvious referance to doctor hoffman, creator of LSD.

Removing the following: " ALTERNATIVE VIEW: Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman was not Dr.Albert Hoffman; Dr.Hoffman was not publicly known or refered to as "Abbie". Abbie Hoffman was an american political activist, Dr. Albert Hoffman was a Swiss chemist.

The reference in Fallout 3 more likely alludes to Dr.Ebbe Curtis Hoff (born August 12, 1906, died February 17, 1985), chairman of the Department of Neurological Science at the Medical College of Virginia, founding Dean, School of Graduate Studies and founding director of the Virginia Division of Substance Abuse. Alternatively, it may refer to Dutch physical and organic chemist and the winner of the inaugural Nobel Prize in chemistry, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852 – 1911), one of the primary founders of modern chemistry. "

This is too far-fetched. Doc Hoff looks like Albert Hoffman and both are involved with drugs. Why the hell Doc Hoff would be a reference to "Dr.Ebbe Curtis Hoff (born August 12, 1906, died February 17, 1985), chairman of the Department of Neurological Science at the Medical College of Virginia"? Dr. Hoffman is much more obvious and "accurate".

Best non-unique weapon to give Doc Hoff?
Since he has no tags in ranged weapons, I am wondering if he should simply be given something with raw power like the Gatling Laser, Plasma Rifle, or Flamer.


 * A 10mm SMG. When Hoff is given a large weapon (e.g. Gatling Laser) the weapon can easily be shot out of his hand.  He will then switch to his fists and rush towards the enemy resulting in death. Secondly, giving him heavier weapons makes him move slower. The only way Doc Hoff survives even after the Enclave invasion is by not attracting attention and running away from combat; generally while the Enclave are busy fighting hostile creatures or group of Raiders.  His ability or lack thereof to not kill anything is what helps him survive. He'd be chased by a group of poorly armed Raiders.  Hoff runs towards Enclave checkpoint; Enclaves engage in combat with the Raiders while Hoff and the Caravan + guard flees. The important thing is to ensure that his weapon cannot be shot out of his hand, and he is able to kill creatures that would not give up the chase while alerting more enemies.  e.g. Raider Guard dogs.  He tends to miss his shots but the spread of the weapon coupled with its high ROF in my opinion makes it an ideal weapon for Doc Hoff.  Plasma Rifle attracts unwanted attention, Flamer's short/limited effective range would end up getting him killed. PS3demon 07:17, October 12, 2009 (UTC)

Possible bug with setessential
Eversince I made Doc Hoff essential so he won't die he is always in front of Megaton and doesn't travel anymore. If anyone can confirm this it could be added as a bug (PC, patch 1.7)

Possible Bug/Maybe just missed something
This happened in my game on the 360 version of Fallout 3.

I was on my way back to Bigtown from the Germantown Police HQ with Red and Shorty when on the road between Germantown and the Meresti Train Yard, I came across Doc Hoff's Brahmin. It was walking along on its own, slightly injured. I was confused and carried on down the road in order to investigate. There I found Doc Hoff's decapitated body. I had to reload to the autosave on exiting Germantown Police HQ a number of times due to the Bigtown quest and I came across the same strange scene every time. I could never find Hoff's head or the body of the Caravan Guard. I definitely didn't hear any fighting before I came across the Brahmin, or earlier on my way to Germantown; besides which I had walked up the same road earlier and would have noticed something!

Any explanation for this? Is it a bug, or did I just happen to miss a fight in which Doc Hoff was tragically killed, abandoned by his guard?

The guard is scripted to disappear if the merchant is "presumed dead". The merchant can be killed in many ways, because he will follow his package even out of the player's presence. Theorically, you could kill a merchant remotely yourself but he can only actually be killed by a creature if the player is in the same cell, due to the creature's own AI. It doesn't look like a bug. Here I suppose he was killed previously while your character was in this cell, but out of your sight and you didn't notice the fight. It can be very quick and silent if he met a yao Guai or a scorpion. As soon as you left the cell the guard is disabled, even if he survived the fight and killed the creature but the brahmin should stay near the body and is never disabled as long as it stays alive.Croquignol 15:02, June 2, 2010 (UTC)

Inventory?
It seem he does not have an inventory section on his main page. I would creat one, but I am not sure what his weapon is, and what type of clothing he is wearing eaxactly, only that he has a nuka-grenade schematic.GodsHand 15:05, March 26, 2010 (UTC)


 * Updated* but does not have direct links to to the weapons/clothing etc.GodsHand 15:56, March 29, 2010 (UTC)

just me or has this happend to you?
i found docter hoffs brahmin just standing outside of paradise falls and nevers leaves i never se hoff or his guard tho but i can find hoffs body so is this a glitch or what

Possible bug on 360
Just like the guy before me, i found the Hoff's Brahmin just outside Paradise Falls and Dr Hoff nowhere to be found, i look around paradise but no sing of him of his caravan guard, i wait in intervals of 3-5 hours to see if Hoff appear but i found everyone but Hoff and the brahmin never leaves, i try fast travel too, and the same thing happens.

Edit: Checking past saves and talking to Uncle Leo, i think i know now what happen, apparently Doc Hoff was kill by something and i just miss the figth, what i still dont know, is why his brahmin stays forever outside Paradise Falls, at least in my game it has been there for like 2 months in game, maybe more, and it appears to be totally undamage


 * I have the same problem on my 360 version, but it occurs EVERY time I start a new game. Doc Hoff's Brahmin will appear outside Paradise Falls with Doc nowhere to be seen. Uncle Roe reports "the good doctor hasn't reported in," so either Hoff starts the game dead on my game or there's a glitch that hits him outside of Paradise Falls. Nymphonomicon 05:08, September 15, 2010 (UTC)
 * I just found Hoff's body outside Kaelyn's Bed & Breakfast, it has literally been months since I started this latest game and I just found Hoff's body tonight. Nymphonomicon 05:01, September 18, 2010 (UTC)

Related to Jacob Hoff (New Vegas) ?
Jacob Hoff in New Vegas is a brilliant chemist down on his luck and addicted to drugs. Considering the time that has passed since Fallout 3 (4-5 years) could they be related or the same person ?

Could easily be the same guy. Jacob looks more than 4 years older than Doc Hoff, but that is easily explained by rampant drug use; a meth head in their 20s can easily pass for 50-60. It could be that Hoff was drawn to Vegas because he heard about how much business he could get there, but upon witnessing the squalor firsthand could no longer convince himself that he was helping people by giving them addictive chems, and instead began to develop detox methods. Perhaps he got addicted himself thanks to the guilt over what he had wrought. -- Shoggoth1890 12:31, January 6, 2011 (UTC)

Doc Hoff's inventory key
I saw him get killed in a fight with two Sentry Bot's and in his inventory he had "Doc Hoff's inventory key" (not sure if it was "inventory" I'll check), does it open anything and should it be mentioned in the article? Bwilderbeast 11:07, March 19, 2011 (UTC)

Death and karma
It's obvious from the talk page that he frequently gets killed in his travels leading to his Brahmin turning up in places alone. This should be mentioned in the article and I'll add it if there are no objections.

Also, I looted his corpse and Brahmin and got a karma loss message after the latter, I think this should be mentioned too. Bwilderbeast 11:11, March 19, 2011 (UTC)