Character creation (Fallout 3)



A character build is any one of thousands of possible Fallout 3 maxed level (20) characters. Strategic planning on the part of the player to develop a set of traits to their fullest potential, creates a "type" of build. Its hard to quantify a character build as they all have their own merits and sacrifices. In this list the only judgments are playstyles: Diplomat, Sniper, Brawler, Thief, etc.

Commentary
The attributes you select are arguably more relevant to your playstyle than your character. If you enjoy using V.A.T.S., for instance, you'll want a high Agility, since Agility provides action points for V.A.T.S. If you like melee, you'll want high Strength to increase your melee damage. If you want to play a stealthy character, you'll probably want a high perception. Also your SPECIAL stats determine which Perks you can choose, so if you want Mysterious Stranger then you must have a high Luck.

It may seem unintuitive based on conventions established in prior Fallout games and other RPGs, but the primary function of attributes (aside from determining perk eligibility) is controlling specific aspects of the game that are not really related to your character, such as the user-interface (V.A.T.S. and compass detection, for instance). To approach the issue from another angle, to improve one's ability to persuade NPCs or avoid detection, one will be much better off improving the relevant skill directly (Speech and Sneak respectively), rather than an the associated attribute.

Considering this, you may find these attributes appropriate (or not) for varying styles of play:

First-Person Shooter Playstyle
If you're a seasoned FPS gamer and you don't use V.A.T.S., you obviously won't want many points in Agility, though you should note that Light Step and Silent Running (which you may find useful for running and gunning) require six Agility. Luck will be the most useful attribute in combat, as it raises your critical effect chance with all weapons. You may want extra points in Strength so you can worry less about inventory management, and more points in Intelligence to raise your skills. Lazier players may want to pick up Fortune Finder and Scrounger, as shooting without V.A.T.S. is less effective.

Sniper Playstyle
The traditional Fallout sniper will want to make extensive use of V.A.T.S., and should have an appropriately high Agility attribute. However, with the sniper rifles, the percentage to hit is oddly low, so most will make use of manual-aiming coupled with sneak attacks until Concentrated Fire becomes available. Since concentrated fire adds 5% chance to hit with each VATS attack queued on the same body part, players will want to move away from using a traditional sniper rifle and employ a weapon with low AP and moderate damage. The combination of concentrated fire and using a low AP weapon such as a Laser Rifle or the Wazer Wifle allows the PC to increase their chance to hit by upwards of 40% as opposed to the 10% to 15% gained by using a sniper rifle. With the focus on V.A.T.S., you'll want to plan for the following perks: Concentrated Fire, Action Boy/Girl, Mysterious Stranger, Sniper, Commando and/or Gunslinger, and Grim Reaper's Sprint. Also, quest awarded perks such as Wired Reflexes and Ant Sight will help boost a player's efficiency using V.A.T.S. Players should also consider obtaining gear with AP bonuses such as Ranger Battle Armor and Ledoux's Hockey Mask. This will further increase the number of attacks a player can queue in VATS and, coupled with concentrated fire, further increase the chance to hit the targeted part. Make sure to pick up repair to take care of your weapon (see the special notes about V.A.T.S. regarding condition loss).

Stealth / Thief Playstyle
A stealthy character build will allow the player to move through the environment undetected and bypass security measures such as locks and traps. Players employing a sneaky style will take advantage of Sneak Attack Criticals and reverse-pickpocketing to gain the upper hand in combat. Also, they will likely make extensive use of the explosives skill to disarm and set mines. Due to the nature of the weapons and strategies being used, the player will probably use V.A.T.S. less than more combat-centric builds. In order to maximize the effectiveness of this playstyle, this build should have strong agility and perception stats and focus on the following skills: Sneak for moving undetected and pickpocketing, lockpick for obvious reasons, explosives for disarming mines and maximizing their damage, and repair for disarming traps. Science is important mainly for disabling turrets, so it's not necessary to increase past 75. It would be a good idea to select a weapon class such as small guns or melee weapons to fall back on if things get hairy, but keep in mind that it can be very satisfying to deal with a group of enemies without using a single bullet. Useful perks to use with a stealthy class are Demolition Expert, Thief, Silent Running, Better Criticals, Light Step and Robotics Expert (because it is safer and easier to disable a sentry bot rather than fight it). It is worth noting that Finesse, which increases the chance to crit, is not that important to this build since the majority of attacks will be sneak attacks which automatically crit. Also, better criticals requires a luck of 6. Look to use gear which is lightweight and gives bonuses to relevant stats and skills. If you have Operation Anchorage, then the Chinese Stealth Armor is easily the best armor to use with this build.

Brawler Playstyle
The brawler will want high strength and endurance to prevail in melee combat. Tasty perks include Ninja, Iron Fist, and Toughness, to name a few. In addition to high Unarmed and Melee Weapons skills, you'll want a high Medicine skill to get the most benefit from various chems (particularly stimpaks). Really, anything that increases your healing or smashing abilities will be useful.You may also find the Paralyzing Palm perk useful.

Diplomat Playstyle
A diplomatic character will want high Intelligence to give him/her access to extra special dialogue options. You'll want at least 6 points in Charisma to make sure you get access to the Animal Friend and Master Trader perks. And of course you'll want to dump lots of skill points into Speech to make sure your attempts at diplomacy are mostly successful. Be sure to grab Child at Heart and Lady Killer (for the gents) or Black Widow (for the gals) as soon as you can. You can also use Impartial Mediation to raise your speech by 30 if your karma is neutral, which, if you are a diplomat, it should be. Right?

Mix-and-Match Playstyle
Of course, you can combine any of the elements above to create your own unique style of play. You might want to explore some of the more esoteric perks like Cyborg or Cannibal for inspiration. A well-rounded style of play will probably want to focus more on skills, but a highly-specialized style of play (such as a Ninja) will probably want to focus on perk synergies that grant extra abilities. Feel free to explore!

Character Build Format

 * List your character from lvl 1-20 and give as much detail per level as to which perks and skills to select
 * Please also list your initial, and end-game SPECIAL stats.
 * Users can take advantage of the specialized character template: Template:FO3 user generated character build.

Opinions

 * Note that the character builds listed here are various people's opinions of what makes a good character.
 * Please don't edit them, just add your own.

Character Build: Bloodwars' Non-VATS General-use
Melee/Ranged General-use Notes: This is a purely non-VATS build that works well with mods like Mart's Mutant Mod,
 * In case there are questions about my builds having low intelligence, I've done some research into why 3 Intelligence is a good idea©.
 * Important information on skill point increases
 * Note: the 10 Agility in this build is for alternative AP use mods like Sprint Mod and Bullet Time. Agility also affects Sprint Mod run speed.
 * and alternative AP use mods like Sprint Mod and Bullet Time.

Character Build: Bloodwars' Ninja
Ninja/Unarmed
 * In case there are questions about my builds having low intelligence, I've done some research into why 3 Intelligence is a good idea©.
 * Important information on skill point increases


 * You lose out on Child at Heart, Robotics Expert, and Adamantium Skeleton for Rank 3 Iron Fist...
 * Paralyzing Palm Works best with Plunkett's Valid Points due to the VERY low AP, Unfortunately a
 * perk has to be thrown away to obtain them, but at least you get some caps for your trouble.

Character Build: Bloodwars' Tank
Tank/Demolitions
 * In case there are questions about my builds having low intelligence, I've done some research into why 3 Intelligence is a good idea©.
 * Important information on skill point increases

Character Build: Bloodwars' Sniper
Stealth/Sniper
 * In case there are questions about my builds having low intelligence, I've done some research into why 3 Intelligence is a good idea©.
 * Important information on skill point increases

Notes: You can switch Commando with Gunslinger and use Blackhawk, Dart Gun or unique energy pistols -
 * or stay with commando and use Lincoln's Repeater, The Terrible Shotgun , or a Scoped Gauss Rifle.

Character Build: Max Madden
Resourceful Wastelander & Loner
 * 1) --start--
 * 2) Intense Training(2):+1ST
 * 3) Intense Training(2):+1AG
 * 4) Comprehension(4), IN 4
 * 5) Intense Training(2):+1PE
 * 6) Gunslinger(6)
 * 7) Toughness(6), EN 5
 * 8) Commando(8)
 * 9) Demolition Expert-I(6), Explosives 50
 * 10) Demolition Expert-II(6), Explosives 50
 * 11) Demolition Expert-III(6), Explosives 50
 * 12) Silent Running(12), AG 6, Sneak 50
 * 13) Sniper(12), AG 6, PE 6
 * 14) Cyborg(14), Medicine 60, Science 60
 * 15) Finesse(10)
 * 16) Action Boy(16), AG 6
 * 17) Better Criticals(16), PE 6, LK 6
 * 18) Concentrated Fire(18), Small Guns 60%, Energy Weapons 60%
 * 19) Intense Training(2):+1LK
 * 20) Grim Reaper's Sprint(20)
 * Beginning Stats: 6,3,7,1,9,8,6 -- 81AP, 6% crit
 * Final Stats: 8,6,8,2,10,10,10 -- 140AP, 18% crit, +50% crit-dmg, +60% frag-dmg, +31DR
 * bobbleheads:+1ST,+1PE,+1EN,+1CH,+1IN,+1AG,+1LK
 * intense training: +1ST, +1PE, +1AG, +1LK
 * ant sight:+1PE
 * Ranger Battle Armor:+1LK
 * Lucky 8 Ball:+1LK
 * Ledoux's Hockey Mask:+25AP
 * Survival Guru:+3% crit / +6DR
 * Barkskin:+5DR

Character Build: AshRandom's Rambo
Grenadier, Sniper, & Bruiser


 * 1) --start--
 * 2) Intense Training(2):+1ST
 * 3) Intense Training(2):+1AG
 * 4) Comprehension(4), IN 4
 * 5) Intense Training(2):+1PE
 * 6) Gunslinger(6)
 * 7) Toughness(6), EN 5
 * 8) Commando(8)
 * 9) Demolition Expert-I(6), Explosives 50
 * 10) Demolition Expert-II(6), Explosives 50
 * 11) Demolition Expert-III(6), Explosives 50
 * 12) Silent Running(12), AG 6, Sneak 50
 * 13) Sniper(12), AG 6, PE 6
 * 14) Cyborg(14), Medicine 60, Science 60
 * 15) Finesse(10)
 * 16) Action Boy(16), AG 6
 * 17) Better Criticals(16), PE 6, LK 6
 * 18) Concentrated Fire(18), Small Guns 60%, Energy Weapons 60%
 * 19) Intense Training(2):+1LK
 * 20) Grim Reaper's Sprint(20)
 * Beginning Stats: 6,3,7,1,9,8,6 -- 81AP, 6% crit
 * Final Stats: 8,6,8,2,10,10,10 -- 140AP, 18% crit, +50% crit-dmg, +60% frag-dmg, +31DR
 * bobbleheads:+1ST,+1PE,+1EN,+1CH,+1IN,+1AG,+1LK
 * intense training: +1ST, +1PE, +1AG, +1LK
 * ant sight:+1PE
 * Ranger Battle Armor:+1LK
 * Lucky 8 Ball:+1LK
 * Ledoux's Hockey Mask:+25AP
 * Survival Guru:+3% crit / +6DR
 * Barkskin:+5DR

Character Build: AshRandom's Kenshiro
Ninja Warrior


 * 1) --start--
 * 2) Intense Training(2):+1PE
 * 3) Intense Training(2):+1AG
 * 4) Comprehension(4), IN 4
 * 5) Iron Fist-I(4)
 * 6) Iron Fist-II(4)
 * 7) Iron Fist-III(4)
 * 8) Gunslinger(6)
 * 9) Commando(8)
 * 10) Finesse(10)
 * 11) Toughness(6), EN 5
 * 12) Silent Running(12), AG 6, Sneak 50
 * 13) Sniper(12), AG 6, PE 6
 * 14) Cyborg(14), Medicine 60, Science 60
 * 15) Intense Training(2):+1ST
 * 16) Action Boy(16), AG 6
 * 17) Better Criticals(16), PE 6, LK 6
 * 18) Paralyzing Palm(18), Unarmed 70
 * 19) Intense Training(2):+1LK
 * 20) Ninja(20), Melee Weapons 80, Sneak 80
 * Beginning Stats: 6,3,7,1,9,8,6 -- 81AP, 6% crit
 * Final Stats: 8,6,8,2,10,10,10 -- 140AP, 18% crit, (33% hth-crit), +50% crit-dmg, +15 hth-dmg, +31DR
 * bobbleheads:+1ST,+1PE,+1EN,+1CH,+1IN,+1AG,+1LK
 * intense training: +1ST, +1PE, +1AG, +1LK
 * ant sight:+1PE
 * Ranger Battle Armor:+1LK
 * Lucky 8 Ball:+1LK
 * Ledoux's Hockey Mask:+25AP
 * Survival Guru:+3% crit / +6DR
 * Barkskin:+5DR

Character Build: Riff Raff's Sniper Bitch

 * Gender: Female
 * Karma: Evil - Very Evil
 * SPECIAL | Start | Final
 * Strength | 8 | 10
 * Perception | 7 | 10
 * Endurance | 5 | 6
 * Charisma | 1 | 2 --> She's a bitch, remember.
 * Intelligence | 8 | 9
 * Agility | 6 | 8
 * Luck | 5 | 9

Level. Perk
 * NA
 * 1) Intense Training (+1 ST)
 * 2) Black Widow
 * 3) Educated
 * 4) Comprehension
 * 5) Toughness
 * 6) Intense Training (+1 AG)
 * 7) Strong Back
 * 8) Commando
 * 9) Finesse
 * 10) Intense Training (+1 LK)
 * 11) Silent Running
 * 12) Sniper
 * 13) Bloody Mess
 * 14) Cyborg
 * 15) Action Girl
 * 16) Better Criticals
 * 17) Demolition Expert
 * 18) Pyromaniac
 * 19) Grim Reaper's Sprint
 * Bobbleheads:+1ST,+1PE,+1EN,+1CH,+1IN,+1AG,+1LK
 * Intense Training: +1ST, +1AG, +1LK
 * Ant Sight:+1PE
 * Ranger Battle Armor:+1LK
 * Lucky 8 Ball:+1LK
 * Various Head Gear:+1PE
 * Survival Guru:+3% crit / +6DR OR Dream Crusher if you want to keep in character
 * Barkskin:+5DR

Character Build: Nux's Maximum Build
Maximum SPECIAL/Skills


 * This is my attempt to build a Fallout 3 Character that has maxed out Skills and nearly maxed out SPECIAL based on the research done in Talk:Fallout 3 SPECIAL
 * Once your skills are maxed out, you can play this character in nearly every play style, but the equipment and perks lend itself to rifles or Big Guns. Any "two handed Weapon" used in vats will be phenomenally successful.
 * The crucial thing to remember with this build is that it relies of collecting all the skill books in the game, and read them all after getting the Comprehension perk at level 4
 * If you collect every book and bobblehead in the game, you only need to allocate 40 points to each of your skills.
 * After reading User:Bloodwars I've reduced the builds Intelligence to 4, which is the bare minimum, in favor of some more Endurance
 * I've been debating switching out Scrounger for Bloody Mess. Having extra ammo is always useful, especially if you're playing on a higher difficulty level. Also, the wording behind Bloody Mess is a bit unclear. If it is simply a base 5% damage modifer, then it's worth having, but if it is actually a +5 to all weapon skills (Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Explosives, Melee Weapons, Small Guns and Unarmed), it's not worth taking.
 * In future Fallout 3 downloadable content, the level cap may be raised. In that case, this build will become even more powerful, allowing for more perks, and possible maximization of SPECIAL
 * This build is a work in progress. Any help improving it would be much appreciated.

Here's the boring math behind the build

Skill point Calcucation:

Points Need: 250

Excess Points: 60

Goal Reached by level 14

Character Build: Ashran's Gun Guy
Gun Guy Notes: This build uses higher intelligence to allow for more skill point early on, and makes it so finding ALL the books is unnecessary (Let's be honest, you'd rather be doing something else). You don't need to carry a lot of weapons because you're good at everything (Both rifles and pistols, energy and small guns). By level 14 you are incredibly powerful.

Character Build: Some Sort's Swashbuckler
Swords, stealth, and pistols


 * I love overpowering characters, but despise the tedium of min/maxing and book hunting- this build is designed to achieve the former without resorting the latter. Divide your skills into primary, secondary, and tertiary categories. Your primary skills are your bread and butter- either Small Guns, Energy Weapons, or Melee (pick one of the three), Sneak, Lockpick, and Speech. Your secondary skills are nice skills you use a lot, but not quite as frequently as your primaries- whichever two damage skills you didn't choose for your primary, Big Guns, repair, medicine, explosives. Tertiary skills are the skills you couldn't possibly care less about- Barter, Science, and Unarmed.
 * The goal is to get all of your primary skills to 70 without bobbleheads or books and all of your tertiary skills to 40. This will enable you to max out your primaries with very little effort (1 bobblehead and 10 books), while still allowing you to max out your tertiaries if you decide it's suddenly important to you (1 bobblehead and 25 books).
 * For your secondary skills, season to taste. The more you use it, the closer to 70 you should develop it. The less you use it, the closer to 40 you should leave it.
 * There is a lot of flexibility in perks at levels 2, 3, 8, 9, 18, and 19. There simply aren't any standout perks at those levels that are a must for the class. I posted what my personal preferences are, but there's nothing wrong with getting perks like Ladykiller/Black Widow, Child at Heart, Bloody Mess, Demolition Expert 1-3, Animal Friend, Mr. Sandman, or really anything else that floats your boat.
 * If you're really the impatient type, take Swift Learner at levels 2 and 3 and take Here and Now at level 19.
 * The level 20 perk is also up for discussion. If you're having more fun with the Shishkebab than your guns, go with Ninja. If you prefer your guns, go with Grim Reaper's Sprint.
 * Just because I never take Commando doesn't mean I never use 2-handed guns. I just never use them in VATS. The flamethrower/Burnmaster and Eugene provide awesome crowd control, Xuanlang's Assault Rifle chews through enemies, and The Reservist/Victory Rifle give a crushing advantage on the open plains of the wasteland. And best of all, they all shine outside of VATS as much or more than they shine in VATS.

Final Stats: ST 10 PE 6 EN 10 CH 2 IN 10 AG 6 LK 9 520 HP, 107 AP, 77% DR

Character Build: Dcruze's Pacifist
The point of this character is to get through the game without killing anything except the one Radroach you have to kill at age 10. The only important parts are to get Barter and Science up to 50% and to pick the Child at Heart perk, the rest is arbitrary. On my user page I have a walkthrough on what I did, which I didn't post here due to extensive spoilers.

Character Build: Panzer89's Jack of all Trades
Why be limited to just one play style? I like every aspect of Fallout 3. It's not fair to you, the player, to need to stick to one play style. This build allows you to switch between big guns, small guns, energy weapons, explosives, and even even melee or unarmed if you want. You also gain the benefit of having a high repair, science, lockpick, speech, medicine, and sneak. The only thing that suffers is barter, but come on, you didn't play this game to be a master trader.


 * The Bobbleheads are placed one on each level for a reason; obtain that one at that level.
 * Yes it is possible to get to Rivet City to obtain the IN Bobblehead at level 2.
 * You will need to find some books, but you won't need to go hunting for them.
 * Even though I'm not a huge fan of unarmed or melee weapons (as shown by the perks I've choose) it is possible to change that around.
 * The perks listed for 18, 19, and 20 are really your choice, but those are I ones I have.
 * The reason behind the high IN, educated, comprehension, and getting the IN bobblehead as early as possible is to get the max amount of skill points at each level.

Character Build: KarmaDog214's Alternative Versatile Wanderer
Note: Balance every skill to 60 and increase Speech skill to 50 as you reach the level 20 cap (in a month or so the cap should be raised to level 30). Then gather 15 skill books for each skill and 20 for Speech. Collect all 13 skill bobbleheads and your skills should be at 100.

Character Build: KarmaDog214's Versatile Wanderer
Note: Balance every skill to 60 and increase Speech skill to 50 as you reach the level 20 cap (in a month or so the cap should be raised to level 30). Then gather 15 skill books for each skill and 20 for Speech. Collect all 13 skill bobbleheads and your skills should be at 100.

Character Build: KripTiC's SPECIAL Spaz
Note: While wearing the above equipment, every stat will be raised to 10, excluding Intelligence. With this, you will be a SPECIAL Spaz and will be good all around. Collect all the Bobbleheads whenever and collect all the skill books whenever. Remember that the science and Big Guns book respawn every 72/73 hours, so you don't need to waste skill points on those two. Luck will be shown as 9 in the SPECIAL menu due to the lucky 8 ball not showing the + symbol, but you WILL have 10 luck. Also, do not forget to have at least 50 sneak by the time you reach the Silent runner Perk.

Character Build: Modifer Hog
Also note that The Pitt expansion allows you to have an extra 3% DR, which I have not included
 * This build is designed to max out all the important stats and get as many modifiers (from Perks) as possible. It also aims to max out the most important SPECIAL stats. The bonuses that come with Intelligence, Charisma and Perception are not that powerful, so I have not tried to maximize these.
 * I have not attempted to increase Charisma as the advantages it brings are not substantial enough to justify it (Increased disposition is not worth it with 100 speech)
 * This build is aimed towards those who use VATS, if you never use VATS then some perks can be swapped out (Gunslinger and Commando etc) for other perks such as Scrounger (you will need more ammo if you don't ever use VATS) or you could invest more points into SPECIAL (though I believe it is not worth it)
 * If you go for a melee character you could get the Ninja and Paralyzing Palm Perks

(*) This is only advantageous with Female Characters