Fallout 76 » Discussions


Character Building in Fallout:76

  • November 14, 2018

    Well, I haven't been able to spend any time playing since release, but I did ponder a few character builds based purely on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. distributions - an "Average Joe" distribution, a "Specialist" distribution, and a "Maximized" distribution.  The specific stats I used are purely examples, as the stat point distribution is the key.  I thought I'd share this information for anyone who might be interested.

    Average Joe (trying to be a jack-of-all-trades)

    S: 1 + 8 = 9

    P: 1 + 8 = 9

    E: 1 + 5 = 6

    C: 1 + 5 = 6

    I: 1 + 7 = 8

    A: 1 + 8 = 9

    L: 1 + 8 = 9

    This character spends his 49 S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points trying to distribute them as evenly as possible, aiming for factors of three in his stats.  I aimed for factors of three to help maximize the use of Perk cards that can often times be upgraded twice (for a total cost of 3).  I arbitrarily reduced E, C, and I in this example, though they could be any stats you choose.

     

    Specialist (trying to maximize three stats)

    S: 1 + 2 = 3

    P: 1 + 2 = 3

    E: 1 + 1 = 2

    C: 1 + 14 = 15

    I: 1 + 14 = 15

    A: 1 + 2 = 3

    L: 1 + 14 = 15

    This character is aiming to maximize three S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats while keeping the same "factors of three" method (see above) where possible.  Again, the specific stats that you focus on will be specific to your build concept.  I simply chose to use C, I, and L in this example.

     

    Maximized (trying to maximize four stats)

    S: 1 + 14 = 15

    P: 1 + 0 = 1

    E: 1 + 14 = 15

    C: 1 + 0 = 1

    I: 1 + 0 = 1

    A: 1 + 7 = 8

    L: 1 + 14 = 15

    This character aims at putting as many points into as few stats as possible, thus maximizing those stats.  The "factors of three" method is ignored completely.

     

    Bottom Line:  Unless you plan on using a "Maximized" build, your character can easily begin the game by distributing S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points fairly evenly across the stats - at least for the first 13 levels (the Specialist added only 1 point to a single stat).  That should allow players to get a feel for what is helpful, as they will acquire perk cards throughout all those levels (and perk card packs at 4, 6, 8, and 10).  You would also be level 14, which is just one level away from another perk card pack.  Just some food for thought!

  • November 14, 2018

    This character spends his 49 S.P.E.C.I.A.L. points trying to distribute them as evenly as possible, aiming for factors of three in his stats.  I aimed for factors of three to help maximize the use of Perk cards that can often times be upgraded twice (for a total cost of 3).  I arbitrarily reduced E, C, and I in this example, though they could be any stats you choose.

    Just to note, some Perk Cards actually take up more than a single point at Rank 1. I just took Lone Wanderer and it's taken up two slots for me, so...it's entirely possible that there are some broken ass cards later on that are worth 5 points a rank meaning you need to maximise to use them to their fullest advantage. Not sure on that obviously, but thought I'd briefly mention that Perk Cards may cost more than 1 point per Rank.

  • November 14, 2018

    I'll be posting a full topic with my initial thoughts in the group soon, but for now I have a few quick tips that I think are worth sharing.

    Tip 1: Builds using more than 2 weapons, are going to be a lot harder to manage than builds with two weapons. I don't know if it's just me, but I find the favourites menu to be slightly too much of a pain to bother with, but the game does have a really handy option (by pressing left on the D-Pad for PS4) to swap between your last two weapons. It's a lot easier, can be done on the fly and I would highly recommend people use it if they're starting out with a Ranged and Melee Weapon. 

    I think it's optimal to carry two main weapons, maybe a few specific back-ups if you find an interesting Legendary (Assassin's, Ghoul Slayer...whatever the Robot Damaging one was in Fallout 4 for example) but for the most part it's a bit harder to swap between 3-5 weapons compared to Fallout 4.

    Tip 2: Don't grab weapon perks early on. Honestly, while Concentrated Fire and...Gladiator? Eh I'll double check that soon are great perks, your going to want to start off gathering a few searching/health/carrying/Endurance based Perk Cards in the early game, especially on your first playthrough. I think it takes a bit of time to figure out what you want to run with (because the game is rather different from Fallout 4. Guns are a lot more powerful, and I've been using a Hunting Rifle for most of the game so far and just kicking ass).

    That and you can get most early-game perk cards for free with Card Packs, so personally I'd recommend any of the looting options early on to capitalize off getting more loot.

  • November 15, 2018

    Just to note, some Perk Cards actually take up more than a single point at Rank 1. I just took Lone Wanderer and it's taken up two slots for me, so...it's entirely possible that there are some broken ass cards later on that are worth 5 points a rank meaning you need to maximise to use them to their fullest advantage. Not sure on that obviously, but thought I'd briefly mention that Perk Cards may cost more than 1 point per Rank.

    Bumping this to say that LW Rank 2 costs 3 Points, so it isn't exactly (at the moment) crazy or anything to get multiple ranks. I think this makes it a bit more unlikely that we'll have those 5 points a rank cards that I was talking about (theorizing about) but it's something important to keep in mind when planning builds.

  • November 15, 2018

    From what I could find thus far, here are the perks that have a starting requirement of 2 or more points in the given attribute:

    S

    P
    Awareness (2)
    Night Eyes (2)

    E
    Professional Drinker (3)
    Lifegiver (2-4)

    C
    Lone Wanderer (2-4)
    Field Surgeon (2)
    Party Boy/Girl (2-3)

    I

    A

    L

    The ranges in () denote the requirement costs for the various levels, thus Lone Wanderer rank 1 costs 2 Charisma points, while rank 3 costs 4.  Also, it appears that every perk card has a minimum player level associated with it.  I thought that only some did, but it appears that they all do.  It wasn't something I noticed very often during B.E.T.A., but that is probably due to the way they randomize the perk cards you get.

  • November 15, 2018

    So I've more or less caved into using Shotguns, Throwing Knives and Lone Wanderer for this playthrough as my core pieces and it's been really fun. It creates a surprisingly deadly build once you start getting Shotgun Perks, and honestly Throwing Knives provide an insane amount of damage early on that it makes most fights a breeze. It's left me with a heavier leaning towards Strength, Endurance and Intelligence at the moment, with a few Agility/Perception (one of the two) and obviously Charisma so it's going to be a bit of a wild build with no real structure in when to choose SPECIAL points, but it works. 

  • November 16, 2018

    Dragonborn2021 said:

    So I've more or less caved into using Shotguns, Throwing Knives and Lone Wanderer for this playthrough as my core pieces and it's been really fun. It creates a surprisingly deadly build once you start getting Shotgun Perks, and honestly Throwing Knives provide an insane amount of damage early on that it makes most fights a breeze. It's left me with a heavier leaning towards Strength, Endurance and Intelligence at the moment, with a few Agility/Perception (one of the two) and obviously Charisma so it's going to be a bit of a wild build with no real structure in when to choose SPECIAL points, but it works. 

    I took my first spin in the non-B.E.T.A., post-apocalyptic world last night for a couple of hours.  They have done some major adjusting to drop rates, enemy damage, and enemy spawn sizes (all of them make life harder), which is great!  I actually need to use stimpacks now, and can't simply plow through anything and everything.  I deleted my B.E.T.A character to start afresh, and I will do the same when I can get on today.  I believe I am going explosives and energy weapons, though I need to see if the energy weapon corpse bug (you are sometimes unable to loot vaporized bodies) is fixed or not before I get too far along.  I need to ponder exactly where to put my S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats before I reroll, but I will post a '"hypothetical" build when I'm done.

  • November 16, 2018

    I took my first spin in the non-B.E.T.A., post-apocalyptic world last night for a couple of hours.  They have done some major adjusting to drop rates, enemy damage, and enemy spawn sizes (all of them make life harder), which is great!  I actually need to use stimpacks now, and can't simply plow through anything and everything.  I deleted my B.E.T.A character to start afresh, and I will do the same when I can get on today.  I believe I am going explosives and energy weapons, though I need to see if the energy weapon corpse bug (you are sometimes unable to loot vaporized bodies) is fixed or not before I get too far along.  I need to ponder exactly where to put my S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats before I reroll, but I will post a '"hypothetical" build when I'm done.

    I haven't had any major issues with ath corpse bug your talking about, had a 100% success rate when looting 'Ash Piles', but on the other hand I've only found 3 Laser Weapons so far (by Level 14) and barely used them...Not sure, maybe it's just a case of needing to find the right locations or they're all focused on one part of the map but I lucked into a Gatling Laser (Level 25) during a quest so... yeah but either way, they just don't seem to spawn that often.