Forum:Going Tribal

Has anyone "gone tribal" in the sence that they have forgone the storyline, not participated in the factions, and just tried to be a tribal living off the land. Using primitive weapons, wearing low DT clothing, and just roaming the mojave? That being said, if anyone has, what was it like? Who did you end up fighting the most, where did you get food? Where did you camp? Did you have a follower? Did you have a high survival skill? What Weapon did you use the most? Did you end up with good or evil karma? If no one has tried this I am going to and maybe keep this updated. Hemms 16:52, February 16, 2011 (UTC)

Hi Hemms...I DO currently have a file for doing that, but I'm not very far into the story. I forwent it, in favor of checking out a few RP ideas I had, and I wasn't very happy with my low (1) int. Honestly, I haven't noticed much of a difference with low INT characters, except a select FEW speech changes, which dissapointed the HELL out of me.

So far, it's not too bad though. Because both INT AND Charisma are both at 1, I had a lot of SPECIAL points to put into Endurance, Strength, and Agility. It's pretty fun, in a "beat anything to death that moves" kind of way. I currently fight anything that uses technology, which included BoS, NCR, and even the Legion, I do not use guns, only throwing spears, machetes, and non-technological melee weapons. This means i do NOT let myself use the super sledge, a power fist, or anything remotely technological. It's pretty fun, combat can be a pain in the ass though if you run into Cazadores. I've yet to try facing a deathclaw, because like I said, I didn't get too far into the story yet. By all means, try it out and keep this updated, I'd LOVE to see it! SergeantDornan21:51, February 16, 2011 (UTC)

Thanks Sgt! *salutes* I want to primarily use throwing spears in my file. Where is a good place to find an abundance of them? I'll use guns. Mine won't have any bias against technology, but I wont be bothering much with science and anergy weapon skills. It will be more about scavenging, hunting, and killing whoever I need to avoid starvation and dehydration, and maybe have a good time inbetween. I figure whoever I end up pissing off I'll piss off. I expect to make quick enemies of the Powder Gangers though, since you fight them in the beginning of the game. Gonna find a nice quiet corner of the Mojave and stay out of history's way. I might take Veronica as a follower since her storyline is pretty hard to activate when not following the storyline, and she is predisposed to melee weapons. Plus the BOS is pretty close to a tribal menality. That allways bugged me. The Khans didn't look or feel like a Tribe, more like bikers without the bikes. Hemms 00:43, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

LMAO!!! I love the salute, haha! Good thing you didn't call me Sir though :) (If you've played FO2, you will get the joke, if not...well, then it won't be that funny to you ha)! I've never actually seen a vendor that sells throwing spears. Your best bet to find them is to find legion patrols and kill them. Legion patrols almost always have one or two legionaries who are carying at least 5 throwing spears--just kill them before they use them all against you. Also, go raid the legion encampent you have to go to to get to Ceaser (I can't think of the name of it right now...brain fart, because I KNOW what the place is called, dammit)! But there are throwing spears there too, if you want to kill the legion for them. Other then that, I don't think you will find them for sell at a vendor. Now at the Dinky the Dino giftshop in Novac, you can find throwing knives--and Mick and Ralph's in freeside sells a couple of throwing axes too. If you want a suggestion, I think a very hunter type weapon is the hunting rifle and hunting shotgun. Both feel tribal, if that makes sense, and ammunition is abundant. --SergeantDornan 02:32, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

Those are very good suggestions. Though the hunting shotgun is a bit hard to find. I only ever found one that wasn't from a vendor and that was in bonnie springs, which I'm sure I will get to at some. You are thinking of cottonwood cove by the way. I have no trouble killing the legion, as they will kill me, and by story, would want to enslave me and assimilate me into their forces. They will be a pricipal enemy of mine. Throwing knives and Throwing Axes sound good. I've never used them and didn't even know they were available. I wish that spears could be picked up again and reused. It would make more sense that way. One of my favorite weapons, which can also be found easily on Legion troops is the cowboy repeater. It looks beatup and like something a tribal would easily find and could figure out how to use. I will use pleanty of guns, but only small guns. it would be rediculous to use a minigun. I want to befriend all the tribes in the area, and maybe do some chem trading with them as a source of money, since I will get very little. I am going to set up my first home at the Animal Husbandry farm. Why? Because I'll have to constantly fight off Vipers and Jackals, aswell as the occasional ghoul. It's got a bed, and pleanty of animals to feed off of while I get my stuff together. I just hope they don't all attack me! Hemms 02:54, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

I haven't personally used a throwing axe yet, so I cannot vouch for it's effectiveness--but I can say it is VERY rare. I've only seen one or two at a time for sell at Mick and Ralphs, so if you want any great number, you will be waiting a long time. Throwing knives, on the other hand, are possibly my favorite throwing weapon. I loved em in FO2, and I love em even more in FO3. I first used them during my "john locke" playthrough, where I modeled my character after John Locke from lost. Throwing knives aren't the most effective weapon...but they are VERY fun to use. Again though, they are relatively hard to find--check Novac and Mick and Ralphs, they will eventually have more in stock then the initial 10 or 15 you can buy. I do agree about being able to re-use thrown weapons. It was allowed in FO2, and I was very excited to see them return in FONV, but was scratching my head when I couldn't pick my spear up off the ground once I flung it! I hope they change this in either FO4, or a future DLC for NV. On another note altogether, thanks for the great RP ideas...I'm gonna make a tribal myself. Finally, to deal with your animal problem, consider taking Animal Friend as a perk if you have a high enough Charisma. It's sor tof hard to have a decent tribal (high ST and END) AND Charisma, but it IS doable. Then those animals won't attack you at all. Could be a good trait for a tribal, particularly one that is "one with nature." Of course, that also takes the fun out of hunting...--SergeantDornan 03:13, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

I like Animal Friend when I am doing the storyline so I don't have to worry about bumping into a bighorner's ass. But for the tribal purposes what is the fun in not being able to fight for your life with a bighorner to try and take it down with throwing spears. I find that FONV is too civilized for a Fallout game, even though that is the whole premise. I want to make it as primitive as I can, and still be playable. Hardcore mode will be a must. Hemms 03:22, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

Oh, I completely agree--both on the bighorner note and the civilized note. Even FO2 didn't feel as civilized as NV, and it took place on the west coast, when the NCR was at its prime, ran by President Tandi! I wanted MORE settlements in FO3, but I think they overdid it in NV. Anyway, I love this tribal idea, and I need to get back to my own tribal playthrough...but I'll make a new one, I don't like him being so damned stupid. And maybe a female tribal. IDK, I prefer playing female characters in FO, because they just have more of an advantage--not to mention their characters aren't as freaking ugly as the males...WTF is THAT about? What are you SPECIAL attributes and TAG skills, just out of curiousety? --SergeantDornan 03:30, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

I haven't actually started yet. I've been at my college all day and I have two hours to go before my friend and my ride home gets out of class. I cant wait to start. They are going to be Survival, Guns, and Lockpick, and I plan to have high Agility. And I feel the same way about the charecters except the opposite. I think the girls are ugly. There are no good hairstyles, and they all have the same shape and figure as far a body mass and muscle structure. The guys look pretty good except its hard to get that double chin to go away. Hemms 04:27, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

I've played a Cowboy build once, so I only used level-action firearms without scope, machetes, fire axes, knifes and dinamyte. With Heavy Ho! perk and the three demolition expert ranks the long fuse dinamyte is more effective than grenades when throwing at long ranges. For clothing I only used light armor made with leather and cowboy type hats (no Boone's Beret, power armor helmets, etc). My inteligence was not high, it was at 5 since I played on hardcore and needed the Pack Rat perk, but otherwise "I was one with the land". For this reason I stayed at Goodspring in Victor's shack. My survival was pretty high, so food and medicine herbs wasn't a problem and I used the various types of poisons in the game very effective against enemies. Throwing knives and axes are simply a must to be used, you can poison your enemies at long ranges and throwing axes are better against deathclaws for poising them, since they can be throwed far away than knifes. My science skill on the other hand was at rock bottom - I'm a cowboy god damnit, not a scientist! - so Doc. Mitchell become a very close friend, selling lots of Doctor's Bag. :D

Against heavy armored enemies the problem is not much causing damage, cowboys can use the Brush Gun and Tribals can use Spears cotted with poison or Fire-Axe/Knock-Knock. The real problem is taking damage from high-end weapons and closing the range without being killed, that's why I hot-keyd Desert Salad. LOL

Hey, SergeantDornan about NV being much more civilized than FO2 or FO3, I think the move was rigth. I mean, common, it was more than 200 years since the bombs fell! No society will organize themselves again and stayed stopped in terms of development. LOL The biggest thing I have against FO3 is this, 200 years after the bombs and people still eat old food, do not have farms and do not rebuild some cities? That's why I think Rivet City is one of the best locations in FO3, a society will behave more or less like that after a cataclysm. Brfritos 12:30, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

Oh, don't missunderstand Brfritos--I did want more settlements in FO3. I found it boring to revisit the same 3 every time: Megaton, Rivet City, Canterburry Commons. (Or, for my evil char, Tenpenny Tower, Rivet City, and CC). I think they did the right thing too in adding more--but I do like to be able to walk for more than 2 minutes before coming across a settlement, such as a Ranger outpost. Fallout 2 I think, exemplifies what I would have liked to see: major booming cities, a few smaller scattered settlements, and lengthy areas where there is absolutely nothing, so you can explore and scavenge. I'm not knocking NV for being civilized, so much as I am for not having enough "wild" area to roam in before you hit a town or trading post. --SergeantDornan 21:40, February 17, 2011 (UTC)

Game Update: So I started my treck. Left goodsprings and fought my way to the animal husbandry farm thing. No campfire or bed there so I wandered a bit, fought a few Vipers and Jackals, but the most exciting thing was my fight with a Radscorpion. I was trying to discover that Nightstalker cave by the Mojave Outpost and layed mines, and fought the nighstalkers with the grenades I got from the Nipton Road Rest Stop ambush site. I had to retreat as my mines had all exploded, crippling me, and I was out of grenades. Stupid me, I backed RIGHT INTO A GIANT RADSCORPION! I had to go to my inventory and switch to my 10MM, but pressed X instead of A and dropped it! so I fought with a machete untill my health was low (playing on hardcore) and we called it a stalemate. (this was by the crashed plane in the sand) I relaized once I got back to camp that I forgot to pick up my pistol, so to get it back I had to fight the same radscorpion the next day, after aquiring a cowboy repeater. I succesfully slayed the radscorpion and got my pistol. Unfortunatly I ate all my meat in the prossess so now I have to go hunting again. Damn scorps don't give meat! -Hemms2

Well i haven't ever gone completely native. I did play as a Legionary with a broad machete, getting javelins, throwing axes and knives was almost impossible without killing other legionaries so i ended up adding small amounts with console commands. I didn't use any drugs or meds so not even rad away which i got around by using cave fungus. Bitter drink, healing powder and good food will heal you well but getting them will take time and slow you down. Obviously you will be playing on hardcore mode which is a bugger when your in the legion because since you cant use rad-x you cant purify your own water so you have to loot all your purified water. Over all though it wasnt tough to survive with the right build and i eventually finished the game as a legionary.

84.50.59.124 16:51, March 2, 2011 (UTC)

I had just started my tribal build myself, when my PS3 died. So now, I'm stuck without my damned PS3....I'm getting an xbox next, F*** PS3. But for now, I am having to play FO2 for my FO fix. It was going well too, my tribal build. I enjoyed it. No guns, just melee--and non-technological melee at that :D --SergeantDornan 22:31, March 2, 2011 (UTC)