Part 43: Mechanics 4: Semi-Final Followers, Final Perks

Mechanics 4: Semi-Final Followers, Final Perks

At this point we're seen just about all of the followers in the game and we've got access to all of the feats, so it's a good time to knock them out. We'll start out with someone we recently spoke to, Myron:



Myron starts off as dead weight, and even the developers don't have much regard for him. In The Fallout Bible they even say the best use for him is to rip his brain out and use it for the RoboBrain. His skills in weapons are pretty even across the board, but that's not a good thing. Eventually he gets a higher Energy Weapons skill than anything else, but he comes with the Needler pistol which is a Small Gun. If you want to give him an Energy Weapon it's going to have to be a pistol type. The real value of Myron is that he can make you antidotes, stimpacks, and super stimpacks if you bring him the right ingredients. Stimpacks use the same ingredients as healing powder, while super stims require a regular stimpack, a piece of fruit, and a nuka cola. Don't ask.

You can level up Myron four times:

Level 2
ST: 4
PE: 6
EN: 4
CH: 4
IN: 8
AG: 4
LK: 6

HP: 77
Top 3 Skills: Science 95%, Energy Weapons 65%, Small Guns/Unarmed/Melee Weapons/First Aid 55%
Carry Weight: 125
AP: 7
Crit Chance: 6%

Level 3
ST: 4
PE: 6
EN: 4
CH: 4
IN: 8
AG: 5
LK: 7

HP: 92
Top 3 Skills: Science 115%, Energy Weapons 75%, Small Guns/First Aid 60%
Carry Weight: 125
AP: 7
Crit Chance: 7%

Level 4
ST: 4
PE: 7
EN: 4
CH: 4
IN: 9
AG: 5
LK: 7

HP: 107
Top 3 Skills: Science 130%, Energy Weapons 85%, Small Guns/First Aid 65%
Carry Weight: 125
AP: 7
Crit Chance: 7%

Level 5
ST: 4
PE: 7
EN: 4
CH: 4
IN: 9
AG: 6
LK: 7

HP: 122
Top 3 Skills: Science 145%, Energy Weapons 95%, Small Guns/First Aid 70%
Carry Weight: 125
AP: 8
Crit Chance: 7%

Next up, we'll talk about our little robot friend Skynet, who you might remember as a failed experiment because Luke couldn't get the right brain.



If you've got the required Science (121%) to get the top brain, Skynet goes from being fairly useless to one of the best companions in the game. He's a deadly shot with pistols and other small guns (to include sniper and gauss rifles), can repair himself instantly, and is stronger than just about any other character. His Science isn't bad either, and he can level up 5 times. His skills look terrible, but his performance is far better than you'd think.

Level 2
ST: 8
PE: 7
EN: 6
CH: 1
IN: 10
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 143
Top 3 Skills: Small Guns 77%, Science 70%, Big Guns 66%
Carry Weight: 225
AP: 10
Crit Chance: 15%

Level 3
ST: 8
PE: 7
EN: 6
CH: 1
IN: 10
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 155
Top 3 Skills: Small Guns 87%, Science 80%, Big Guns 66%
Carry Weight: 225
AP: 10
Crit Chance: 20%

Level 4
ST: 8
PE: 7
EN: 6
CH: 1
IN: 10
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 179
Top 3 Skills: Small Guns 97%, Science 90%, Big Guns 66%
Carry Weight: 225
AP: 10
Crit Chance: 23%

Level 5
ST: 8
PE: 7
EN: 6
CH: 1
IN: 10
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 197
Top 3 Skills: Small Guns 112%, Science 105%, Big Guns 66%
Carry Weight: 225
AP: 10
Crit Chance: 25%

Level 6
ST: 8
PE: 7
EN: 6
CH: 1
IN: 10
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 210
Top 3 Skills: Small Guns 122%, Science 115%, Big Guns 66%
Carry Weight: 225
AP: 10
Crit Chance: 25%

Next on the list, K-9 the Wonder-Dog:



You have to kill a mad scientist and do some repair work, but K-9 is definitely one of the best animal companions you can pick up and is far superior to the other cyberdog option in the game. One thing I found out is that rather than being a robotic dog these are actually enhanced cyborgs, to include having their brain stored in a container that is mounted on the dog's head. K-9 is far more intelligent than the average cyberdog, however, and actually has both a sense of humor and a moral code. In some ways you could say that he's like an enhanced version of Dogmeat, but the comparison doesn't really hold out since Dogmeat can gain more levels. One thing to note is that K-9 has excellent Damage Absorption and Resistance, shrugging off the first 10 points in normal, fire, and explosive damage and the first 20 in laser and plasma.

Level 2
ST: 6
PE: 9
EN: 8
CH: 3
IN: 6
AG: 8
LK: 7

HP: 129
Unarmed: 52%
Melee Damage: 17
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 15
Crit Chance: 34%

Level 3
ST: 6
PE: 9
EN: 8
CH: 3
IN: 6
AG: 8
LK: 7

HP: 131
Unarmed: 62%
Melee Damage: 18
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 16
Crit Chance: 36%

Level 4
ST: 6
PE: 9
EN: 8
CH: 3
IN: 6
AG: 8
LK: 7

HP: 133
Unarmed: 72%
Melee Damage: 19
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 17
Crit Chance: 38%

Level 5
ST: 6
PE: 10
EN: 8
CH: 3
IN: 8
AG: 9
LK: 8

HP: 137
Unarmed: 92%
Melee Damage: 21
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 19
Crit Chance: 43%

Now, our special secret companion, Dogmeat:



Somehow miraculously preserved across 80 years, Dogmeat can only be gotten in a special random encounter in the Cafe of Broken Dreams. His initial stats were good… in Fallout. Things have moved on since then, and characters are stronger on average in Fallout 2 so he lags a bit behind. To make up for this, Dogmeat can level up 6 times and become the best dog in the game bar none.

Level 2
ST: 6
PE: 6
EN: 6
CH: 3
IN: 2
AG: 6
LK: 3

HP: 108
Unarmed: 46%
Melee Damage: 14
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 15
Crit Chance: 28%

Level 3
ST: 6
PE: 6
EN: 6
CH: 3
IN: 2
AG: 6
LK: 4

HP: 118
Unarmed: 71%
Melee Damage: 15
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 15
Crit Chance: 29%

Level 4
ST: 6
PE: 6
EN: 6
CH: 3
IN: 2
AG: 7
LK: 5

HP: 128
Unarmed: 79%
Melee Damage: 16
Carry Weight: 175
AP: 15
Crit Chance: 31%

Level 5
ST: 7
PE: 7
EN: 7
CH: 3
IN: 2
AG: 8
LK: 6

HP: 141
Unarmed: 85%
Melee Damage: 18
Carry Weight: 200
AP: 16
Crit Chance: 35%

Level 6
ST: 7
PE: 7
EN: 7
CH: 2
IN: 3
AG: 9
LK: 7

HP: 151
Unarmed: 93%
Melee Damage: 19
Carry Weight: 200
AP: 16
Crit Chance: 39%

Level 7
ST: 7
PE: 7
EN: 7
CH: 2
IN: 3
AG: 10
LK: 8

HP: 161
Unarmed: 101%
Melee Damage: 20
Carry Weight: 200
AP: 17
Crit Chance: 43%

That's it for now, but we've still got a couple of characters to cover, but I'll hold those off for a post game reference. For now, we've got three tiers of perks to cover. Luckily there aren't that many in each level as we move up.

Level 15 Perks

Bonus HtH Attacks
Requires: 6 AG
Repeatable: No
Effect: -1 AP use for melee weapon and unarmed attacks
Thoughts: A must have if you're doing this type of character. Depending on your AP count this can let you squeeze in an entire additional attack or just upgrade some of your non-called shots into called shots. Either way, it'll definitely increase your damage output.

Bonus Rate of Fire
Requires: 7 AG, 6 IN, 6 PE
Repeatable: No
Effect: -1 AP use for all ranged attacks
Thoughts: See the above reasoning. The requirements are stiffer for this one, but it affects all gun types and in some ways has a much greater impact. This can be the difference between one and two shots per turn for bigger guns and one or two aimed shots for smaller guns. I'd call this the third best perk in the game, but only because the level 24 perks are so amazing.

Pickpocket
Requires: 8 AG, 80% Steal Skill
Repeatable: No
Effect: Removes negative modifiers for object size and target facing
Thoughts: If you're pickpocketing your way through the game this is great, since it means you can pretty much steal two-handed weapons right off of enemies and have a much, much lower chance of getting caught. I tend to be more direct and just shoot them in the face if they have something I want.

Level 18 Perks

Silent Death
Requires: 10 AG, 80% Sneak, 80% Unarmed
Repeatable: No
Effect: Double damage if you hit an opponent in the back with a hand to hand attack while sneaking
Thoughts: Given the high requirements and the fact that you have to be sneaking around to use this it's kind of extremely situational. This is the kind of perk you have to build your entire character around and to be honest it's not that good for the money.

Level 24 Perks

Slayer
Requires: 8 ST, 8 AG, 80% Unarmed
Repeatable: No
Effect: All your hand to hand attacks become critical hits
Thoughts: Seriously. All of them. Every punch, every kick, every sledgehammer attack becomes a critical. The requirements are a bit high, but your extra strength from Power Armor counts. 2 or 3 critical head shots will put almost any enemy in the game on the ground.

Sniper
Requires: 8 PE, 8 AG, 80% Small Guns
Repeatable: No
Effect: Ranged attacks become critical with a successful luck roll.
Thoughts: This one isn't quite as consistent as Slayer, but it essentially multiplies your crit percent chance with firearms by a factor of 10. The bonus applies to Big Guns and Energy Weapons as well, even though the skill required is Small Guns, so this is a universal perk.

Next, I'll close the main story up.