More Advice for New Players

More Advice for New Players
Advice from veterans
Season	Revised for S3
Status	Under scrutiny...
Completion	85%
Authors	Henry
This Chapter	Title Page
More Chapters	(this page only)
Notes	Being reviewed for Season 3 compliance

Get Informed and Stay Informed

• Once in-game, get a Radio so you can ask other players for help - this a free game so there is minimal GM presence, but some players will help you. Get a Radio!
• Read the forum first when you have questions.
• This game is always changing. Enhancements are being implemented. Be informed! Read what's changed.
• Review our list of Known Bugs.
• Still have a question? Reloaded now has its own Discord chat channel. Ask someone live.

Plan a Proper Character

• Expect to be attacked by other players, even if you don't plan to do PvP. You need to defend yourself, so do not just wing it when you choose a character build. There are players here who spend 2 hours or more using a planner tool to carefully design each optimal character build. They might use a planner that has a built-in calculator to verify results, and they weigh their options when choosing Perks and Traits. If you just wing it, you'll be weak in comparison and you'll be too easily killed by most of the player population. You play to win, right? Good, so use a strong build. Try this guide.
• Plan to use the in-game Drugs and other combat advantages. Your enemies do!
• Though rare, try to get Implants. Your enemies do, and they reap the benefits every time they fight you.
• Are you just starting, and want to explore the PvE content first? Consider this build.

Be Wise

• Avoid all encounters around Hub and do not hunt near there. PKs hunt weak new players all around Hub, from Junktown to Boneyard. If you go out to find Broc Flowers or to hunt easy critters for early XP, great but hunt farther out. Once you're in an encounter, don't stay there long. Other players can find your encounters and choose to go in and murder you.

Switch to Real-Time

• You love Fallout 2, and you love the strategy of Turn-Based combat with the hex floor, but you have to get this into your head: This is not "Fallout 2 Online". It just isn't. There is still a lot of room for TB fights in this game, and you will meet some TB specialists who plan character builds especially for TB fights, but this game's primary features are all about RT combat, including PvP:
  • PvP in New Reno and all Town Control is always in RT.
  • All combat in public locations like Warehouse, the Mines, Dayglow, Sierra, and Ares Rocket Silo are all in RT.
  • Leveling goes much faster in RT.
  • Most Quests are too painfully slow to enjoy in TB, and some are even bugged.
  • Some players opt out of helping you if your quest is in TB. They've adapted to RT.

So play in TB all you want while you get started if you must, but look forward to stepping up to Real-Time.

• If you think TB mode makes leveling easier, okay but it's slower. Some guys can hit level 24 in 3-6 hours and they do not do this in TB mode. Once you switch over to RT and let the speed shock wear off (because everything is moving faster in RT), you get used to it and you start reacting faster with more confidence.
• New players often die a lot during lower Levels. Switch to RT to change that! You may think this is backwards, but the fact is you can run to the Exit Grid very quickly in RT and keep moving. You might have to practice this to master quick exits, and you likely get wounded on the way, but you stay alive. Compare that with getting stuck in a hostile encounter where you know you need to flee but you're stuck since it's TB. You move your distance and they shoot you. You move again and they shoot you again. But in RT mode, the encounter loads and (assuming you have a decent fast connection) you get the jump on the Exit Grid. You can usually get out without even taking a single hit, but only if you stay ready to move quickly in RT mode. Combine RT with a proper build and some practice and you don't have to run nearly as much. You can take on groups of enemies solo and devastate them.
• Did you get a car? Great! Congrats. Only drive it in RT mode. You'll get into forced encounters sometimes and being in RT allows you to exit quickly. If you drive in TB mode, you'll likely lose a car (and everything in the trunk).

Set Up Hot Keys

• Use FO2238Config.exe in your game directory (or manually edit FOnline2238.cfg) and bind certain actions to certain keys. Then get into the habit of using those keys. You should have one for Super Stimpaks, and one to reload your weapons. The experienced players here use these, so if you want to be competitive, you have to keep up with the best practices.

Attitude

• It's a game. Don't get too mad. You can always get more gear. For whatever reason, this game has seemed to attract an inordinate proportion of players with a Player Killer play style. They say "wasteland is harsh" as an excuse. Truth is, the overly hostile environment is not for everyone. If you are prone to angry fits (or have a weak heart condition) you might want to play something else. This game is for serious hard-core Fallout/Fallout 2 fans first, and anyone else who appreciates an overly toxic and unusually hostile game world. So now you know. So when someone kills you, don't get mad. Instead, get fresh gear, hunt them down, and bring justice to them if you can.
• Too many games are too easy. This game is hard. Most of us like it that way. Get into it and adapt, or switch games, but try not to rage, especially in the forum. It looks bad and guys will just laugh at you.

Understand Hit Chance

• Read that page and know it inside and out.
• Also read about and consider the Weapon Perks.

Use Hinkley

• If you're new to something, then you need to climb a learning curve. Hinkley helps. Find people, and get them to go there with you. Don't being any gear at all. Get free practice gear inside and get some PvP experience fighting with other players.
• When climbing the combat learning curve, one of your first PvE goals should be to solo the mutant cave quest from Gunrunners.
• Visit Ares Rocket Silo too. See the challenge there? Let it sink in that some players solo the surface and are successful. That needs to be you sometime soon, in order to be competitive in PvP fights.
• Visit Warehouse in the Boneyard too. It's an even tougher place! With the right team, you can dominate the place, but only with a proper fighter, and only with some practice.

Build a Private Safe House Network

• You can share tent locations and access to bases with friends, but have some non-shared locations that are private too. That's where you keep your best stuff and park your Vehicles. That way when you are missing something, you know it's your own fault. It really sucks to accuse a friend of stealing from you, even if they did. Don't tempt your friends and risk losing relationships. You need those to build a competitive team. Keep your stuff separated and you will always have peace-of-mind, and security will never be an issue (except for sneaks who follow you). Keep things simple and the game's fringe logistics stay manageable.
• A Safe House at each town is an obvious important goal, but plan to set up a private base too. Keep your Tent Maps in piles of 10 at the base. This way, every time you register a new additional character, you can quickly add his name to the base as a Friend, and that new character will see the base. He can go straight there, read all the maps and have immediate access to your whole private network. This makes starting a new character much smoother.

Don't Forget the Buddy System

The Wasteland may be harsh, and there are players who want to hurt other players, but not everyone is hostile. Some are even willing to help you by letting you tag along for a while. You simply have to hold down the mouse button over the player you want to follow, select the button with the arrow pointing at three people, and let go of the button. This is known as tagging someone.

If you want to learn more about the mechanics and forming parties with other players, then read this article: Player Groups. Whether you read it or not, there are still some tips to keep in mind:

• Don't think you're invincible just because you have a couple of strong players on your side. People will often target the one they think is the weakest player.
• If you're in negative HP and not dead, then people can revive you. However, don't be surprised if even your own teammates don't immediately come to your aid. It costs Action Points to do this.
• Stick close, but not too close. Go too far, and allies may not be able to see the threat that's hitting you. Moreover, they may not even be able to hear you. Go too close, and area-of-effect attacks like rockets and grenades will hurt the whole group with each hit.
• Shouting, Whispering, and using the Radio are important for communication. Be sure to brush up on your commands. More importantly, your best bet is to use programs like Teamspeak or Discord to stay in constant voice contact with your buddies if you plan to be together for a while.
• Be mindful of attack types like Burst and Spread. These, and Throwing a grenade, are attacks that do not discriminate between friend and foe. In fact, even single-shot attacks can hurt allies if they are in the path of the bullet. Keep tabs of how close your allies are to the enemy to avoid friendly fire.

Check the Guides

• Season 2, Build Advice
• Season 2, Combat Difficulty Staircase
• Season 2, Guide 101: Step-by-Step White Knight Start-Up Guide by Henry
• Season 2, Getting Ready for Town Control
• Newbie guide from DocAN
• Guide with screens - How to do basic things ? from DocAN