if they can't see you, they can't hit you.

I've noticed the AI is a bit better about this, actually. If they can't see you (i.e. you're still in the [ CAUTION ] stage) they'll still start shooting at you... or rather, at where you were a few seconds ago before you started moving around so they wouldn't hit you when they started shooting wildly at something they couldn't see.

Defend the Settlers" can be awful for this:

Sheesh. Maybe I'm not high enough level, or maybe my difficulty is a lot lower (I'm on default), but I never have problems like this.

Raiders, gunners, ghouls, all of them end up vaporized in the first few seconds. Maybe it is because my settlements all have defense ratings of 100+ (and one has 254 right now), courtesy of a shitload of turrets. Whenever I teleport to a settlement to defend it, I hear a big noise as every bullet, laser, and missile turret in the place focuses right on the invaders, a few seconds of this, followed by a loud beep as every turret says "okay, I'm done Swiss-cheesing people now" and the all-clear message pops up.

Super Mutants are a little worse, because it always seems like they spawn inside the settlement instead of outside, and they also seem to surround the place rather than pull the ever-popular military tactic of straight up the middle like the Gunners (an ostensibly military-themed gang who seem to operate sans military tactics), so sometimes the battle lasts up to ten seconds, with the apparently immortal settlers getting involved.

So, this time the plan is to go to the opposite extreme.

Interesting... especially about explosives being survivable. I'll have to try that.

For now, I've abandoned my previous save and started a new game. I've fortified Sanctuary, and that's it for Preston. No more from him. I'm sure I'll have to do one or two other settlements (Mercer, and I'll probably end up going through the Minutemen all the way to "Old Guns"), but that's it. No more micromanaging.

I've decided I like this knife.

My favorite melee weapon so far is a combat knife (I think it has +1 damage compared to switchblade, but just as fast) with a serrated blade. I found one of those legendary ones that does more damage the more you hit them. Haven't killed a deathclaw with it, though...

I've decided I like this build

I've found that Fallout 4 requires a paradigm shift from previous games. It is more combat-focused, which took some getting used to but now I really enjoy it. The combat also requires a different playstyle. In Skyrim, for example, the sneaky assassin style was my preferred one. I'd silently drop enemies from a distance, wait for their friends to lose interest, and then drop another one. Same basically for Oblivion (but not Morrowind, where I usually played as a tank).

In Fo4, though, being a stealthy sniper requires more than just a knowledge of mechanic exploits. You can't shoot multiple enemies while undetected, because they get wise and start shooting back, even if they can't see you directly. You can wait for them to get bored and go back to what they were doing, but it isn't as easy, and takes longer. You can't just sit in one place, because they will search you out.

Playing through the ES and Fallout games (by Bethesda, not including Black Isle here), you can see the gradual progression of the AI and associated mechanics as their stealth stuff got better and better.

Adam DeCamp has an interesting series of articles on the Elder Scrolls series, started initially on his blog and then moved over to Twenty Sided), I highly recommend it too. Skyrim 1, 2, 3.

 

 if they can't see you, they can't hit you.

I've noticed the AI is a bit better about this, actually. If they can't see you (i.e. you're still in the [ CAUTION ] stage) they'll still start shooting at you... or rather, at where you were a few seconds ago before you started moving around so they wouldn't hit you when they started shooting wildly at something they couldn't see.

 

A bit like the way in Skyrim they always go to the place you sniped from to look for you. Makes sense I suppse. Same rule in both case - snipe and move.

Whenever I teleport to a settlement to defend it, I hear a big noise as every bullet, laser, and missile turret in the place focuses right on the invaders, a few seconds of this, followed by a loud beep as every turret says "okay, I'm done Swiss-cheesing people now" and the all-clear message pops up.

About level 60 when that happened. And I'd been a bit casual about defences up to that point. I mean I had two heavy machine gun turrets ideally placed. It's just that the guns weren't killing the mutants as fast as the mutants were killing me.

It's nothing that can't be fixed by thoughful settlement design, however. I'm thinking of a cabin on a high platform with a fast travel target. And maybe no stairs. Let them try spawning there!

Interesting... especially about explosives being survivable. I'll have to try that.

For now, I've abandoned my previous save and started a new game. I've fortified Sanctuary, and that's it for Preston. No more from him. I'm sure I'll have to do one or two other settlements (Mercer, and I'll probably end up going through the Minutemen all the way to "Old Guns"), but that's it. No more micromanaging.

I didn't try and work out defences or spawn points. I just dotted enough turrets around to keep the settlers happy and occasionally built a few more beds or a couple more water pumps. Seemed to work for the most part. Threw in a siren as I remembered once the synth attacks started. And started adding merchants if there were a lot of folks milling around aimlessly. I think it's easy to overthink settlements.

My favorite melee weapon so far is a combat knife (I think it has +1 damage compared to switchblade, but just as fast) with a serrated blade. I found one of those legendary ones that does more damage the more you hit them. Haven't killed a deathclaw with it, though...

Found one of them last night and upgrade to a stealth blade. Not sure why - can't sneak particularly well and it doesn't do any extra in normal combat. Still, it will be useful in time. Although I think I feel a trip to Dunwich Borers coming on. The radiation in that pool holds no terrors for me now. I may even invest in acquagirl. I'm determined to make use of all that Endurance.

In Fo4, though, being a stealthy sniper requires more than just a knowledge of mechanic exploits. You can't shoot multiple enemies while undetected, because they get wise and start shooting back, even if they can't see you directly. You can wait for them to get bored and go back to what they were doing, but it isn't as easy, and takes longer. You can't just sit in one place, because they will search you out.

It just gets a bit tedious when you're dealing with mute warlords that need five headshots to drop them, even with all the relevant perks and a steath bonus. Still, mustn't grumble.

Adam DeCamp has an interesting series of articles on the Elder Scrolls series, started initially on his blog and then moved over to Twenty Sided), I highly recommend it too. Skyrim 1, 2, 3.

Sounds interesting. I'll have to give them a look.

Had a fun session last night. A supermute called Hammer scored not one, but two direct hits on me with a missile launcher. I didn't realise what was happening at first. Normally I don't survive long enough to register what a missile looks like.

Once the penny dropped, I chugged a quantum, popped a jet and sliced him to bits. Then I took his super sledge and one-shotted the rest of his buddies.

Next stop was the Castle where Ronnie Shaw wanted me to unseal the old armoury. I ended up cutting a security droid with the knife. I'd have used the hammer, but it's too slow and the droid kept bashing me before I could land a blow. So I switched the knife and slashdanced.

Then I killed it and had to run like hell to get out of the blast radius.

 

 

the droid kept bashing me before I could land a blow

That happens to me a lot with melee attacks. I think I must be doing something wrong, like maybe I need to learn the proper way to block. In Skyrim (and Oblivion), blocking was just raise your shield/parry and hold it, but here it has to be timed correctly.

I can't wait to try it on a Behemoth - I'll hold up my little knife and his giant club will just rebound, putting him off balance. Nothing can possibly go wrong with this plan.

Heheheh. Sounds solid to me

I could do with getting some non VATS hand to hand time in with this game, I think. If I can slashdance, I can probably use some other Skyrim moves as well.

Strong says something about the trick to killing deathclaws being to keep circling around them. I've not been brave enough to try that. Not sure why - I had a suicider blindside me the other night. I ate a mirelurk queen steak, popped a stimpack to deal with the crippling and I was right as rain again. Admittedly, it's probably rain from a storm that's blown in from the Glowing Sea, but within those general parameters...

I think Strong is off his nut. You can't circle a Deathclaw, because it circles just as fast as you.

I dunno, deathclaws are different from things like Mirelurk Queens. I mean, besides the obvious. For me, the problem with deathclaws isn't that they're tough, or fast, or dangerous, or that they dodge my attacks... hmm... okay, that IS the problem. Some of the problems.

My main problem with deathclaws and yao guai (and some mirelurks) is that they have a staggering attack. Deathclaws in particular tend to pick me up and slam me against the ground. Even if it doesn't hurt that much, it completely stops whatever I was doing, be it attacking, running away, trying to sidestep, etc. Whenever I fight something, I have a subconscious plan (sometimes good, sometimes bad) formulated on the spot, which I imagine most players do - back up between these two trees, around that building, and then run up the ramp and snipe the bugger before he hits me. A stagger attack interrupts this plan and shreds it. Maybe it's because I always play in first-person mode, or maybe it's because of some weird psychological thing, but after a stagger (and especially a toss) I have to reorient myself with regard to the local obstacles, and re-form the plan. It only takes a second or two, but a second or two when in the middle of a fight with a big hungry beast can be a very long time.

I have no idea how many shotgun blasts have gone into the air or the ground because I've been firing wildly after a stagger.

Suiciders, exploding sentry bots, and assaultrons who are trying to mimic the metal guardian thing from Thor are one thing - you just have to sidestep the blast or sprint out of the way. Mirelurk Queens are big and tough, but slow enough to run backwards and just shoot them until they keel over, and their shotgun approach to ranged attacks is easy enough to avoid. Behemoths are mean and fast and have uncanny aim with thrown rocks, but their combat AI (or possibly pathing) makes them stop walking in the oddest places, allowing you to blast away with impunity. Deathclaws are tough, fast, dodge well, and have that annoying pick-up-and-slam attack, which really gets me, and their gait is such that it's hard to tell where they're running even when they're moving in a straight line. Yao Guai have a tendency to stagger me quite often, so also annoying.

Anyway, that's all I've encountered that are hard enemies - bloodbugs, raiders, synths, etc. are all pretty straightforward.

I thought that when he said it. It's Strong, you know. He's not the most reliable of narrators

My solution to deathclaws tends to be to blitz them from stealth before they know I'm there. Usually. I went to see Virgil the other day and there was a sleeping glowing, legendary DC that just would not accept a VATS lock. I had to do it the old fashioned way. It did the smash thing, but I didn't have a lot of problem with being stun-locked. Maybe 10 End is good for more than just hit points.

A good way to deal with mirelurk queens is to use Big Jim from Walden pond. 20% chance per hit to cripple the legs. Once the lurkqueen's legs give out she stops moving entirely. You can stand behind her and whack her on the carapace until she falls over. Just watch out for the egg grenades.

Suiciders are fine when you see them coming. I could hear him, and I was backing away from where I thought this one was, and I think there must have been a set of steps behind me, and that he came up from below my line of sight on another building. I can't see how he got that close otherwise.

It took me a while to get over the always-shoot-for-the-head mentality, but it helps. Especially with deathclaws, yao guai, and even things like raiders. Cripple a raider's legs, sometimes he'll sit on the ground, making him easy pickings from a distance if he's got a shotgun or pistol or something. And when Synths or Ghouls lose their legs, they tend to just sit there in one place, not moving, easy pickings.