Fallout 3 Part #12 - Point Lookout, You're a Dick

Part 12: Point Lookout, You're a Dick

Point Lookout, You're a Dick

Finally, after god knows how much Metro-crawling, Raider-killing and survivalist research, I can take a well-deserved vacation.

Oh, and I guess I should keep an eye out for any daughters errant.

YOUR FINEST VACATION PLEASE.

Apparently there's some draconian weight limit in place such that I can't bring my dog and robot, but whatever. I'm sure they'll find their way to arbitrary locations I have no business knowing of.

Snoozeroo!

Whoa, okay.

So swampy. It's enough to make a guy nostalgic.

May as well see what the town has to offer.

Funnel cakes with a side of desolation, apparently.

"Wheel of Worlds", huh?

If I had to guess, I'd say this is some kinda interdimensional banishment prison device.

Ooh. Gift shop, it would seem.

Better ready than irradiated!

I say, that large building over yonder seems to be asmoke.

Perhaps I should investigate!

...well, this looks like a good place to get a splinter.

Sure, why not. How hard could it be?

Hi, Lizard Wizard here. No relation. I'm going to be slipping out-of-character for this portion of the update due to certain gameplay frustrations.

See these guys? They're Tribals, and they're the bane of my existence. And yes, the Dogbrows texture rears its awesome head here yet again.

For one thing, they hit very, very hard. I was dying a lot, so I decided to check the wiki on this. The results were appalling. Essentially, Tribals (along with Swampfolk, which we'll be seeing soon) deal 35 additional points of unresistable damage per hit with certain weapons, by which I mean every new common weapon introduced in the DLC. For reference, the lever-action rifle does 40 damage, so that's about doubled in their hands. Also, it's applied per pellet in the case of the double-barrel shotgun, which spells 400 damage if all nine projectiles manage to hit the player, and that's assuming no critical damage.

Furthermore, they have way too much HP. Like Super Mutant level HP. Here's one that's taken three lasers to the face.

Here's one taking a direct hit from a missile launcher.

And HERE'S one surviving a- okay, I got lucky that time. Gotta love how Frekibrows is casually flung aside by that explosion.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that bullet sponges that hit like a truck aren't very fun to fight.

My verbally abusive ghoul host complains to me about these tribals, tells me to infiltrate their ranks and figure out what the fuck, and I'm left to distribute my skill points. Since I've got way more regular guns than lasers at this point (including a double-barreled shotgun and lever-action rifle plucked from the corpses of tribals), I figure it'd be best to invest in some greater proficiency with those.

I also take Tag! in order to boost my ass-capping aptitude to a whopping 94. And now, back to your regularly scheduled commentary.

You know, a disguise would probably be prudent.

There we go. Not to head to their crazy-ass tribal cathedral to the northeast.

What is that?

Can't quite tell from here. It's got beefy arms, though, that's for sure.

Whup, Mirelurk spotted me.

Die, please.

Oh god it's beefyarms.

A few well-placed shots, though, and he goes down. No worries.

Upon closer inspection, their meat is strikingly similar to a Mirelurk's, but instead of bony armor, they've got downright edible shells! Quite filling.

Oh hey, a person.

...or, y'know, some kind of horrifying swamp mutant.
For reference, these "swamp mutants" are the Swampfolk, and they come in many flavors. I should note at this point that Point Lookout has a very different vibe from the base game, and if Bethesda was looking to put the player out of their comfort zone with the environment and enemy design, they did it well enough. But I digress. Trackers have a whopping 600 HP, which is obscene when you consider that's more than two Super Mutant Brutes put together. Fucking Bethesda.

Horrifying swamp mutants are going to be a "thing", aren't they.

Yup, they're a thing.

Getting close to their home base. Time to slip into something more...primitive.

And none will be the wiser.

...or they might be looking for new members. Hey, that works.

I gotta find some mystical goddess-fruit and bring back some seeds, apparently. Oh hey, that's right, punga fruits were on the brochure.

I'm sure they won't miss ONE.

Not bad at all! Wow, that's fresh. Doesn't even have the weird...sickly tangy aftertaste that everything else in this world seems to be riddled with. The little, browny ones aren't as good, but they're still a step up from mole rat. I'll have to keep an eye out.

Westward! I see ghouls are a constant.

Eventually, I come to this house just across a creek.

Sure am glad I bought that rad-suit.

Now who's this? She seems to be in a bad way.

That's very perceptive of you. What's your ailment, then?

Reckon it's the Orange Fever. I do feel light in my head...

With a capitalized name like that, it must be bad. Anything I can do to help?

Awful malady, I do swear. There's a tonic for it, but I reckon I'm not well enough to make it myself.

A tonic, you say?

Secret family technique, been so for generations. Help me brew some up by gatherin' ingredients. I'll share the batch to make it worth your while, and sweeten the deal with 300 caps.

...share the batch? Brew? This is sounding a lot like booze.

Indeed it be.

Well, what do we need, then?

There aren't too many ingredients, but I brew large batches, so we need a good bit of each. We'll need punga fruit, yeast, and some fission batteries - for that extra little kick.

Okay, can we be a bit more specific? Let's start with the fruit.

Punga fruit and lots of it. The stuff those loonies make at the church is best. Ten of those will do, but it might cost you. Wild fruit will do the trick, but you'll need twice as much of it.

You mentioned yeast?

You can find it about anywhere, but there's a big stash on the boardwalk. Three sacks is enough.

Sounds easy enough. And...I hesitate to ask, but fission batteries?

You best keep this one to yourself, sweetie. The family tonic gets real kick from our secret ingredient. We just need a lil' bit of battery acid.

Oh, don't look like that, now. You reckon I'd be around to tell you if it weren't safe enough? Bring me six fission batteries and I'll scrape 'em into the mix.

Well, you're the brewmistress.