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Fallout 3 Hints
Exactly how does the difficulty setting affect gameplay?
1 of 10: It only affects the damage multipliers used during combat, and the XP you get for combat kills.
2 of 10: The "normal" difficulty setting is the baseline, meaning that on that setting, you do 1x (normal) damage to enemies, and they do 1x damage to you. For combat XP, you get normal 1x amounts.
3 of 10: On the "very easy" setting, you do 2x (double) damage to enemies, and they only do 1/2x (half damage) to you. Nice, but you only get half the normal XP for each kill.
4 of 10: On the "very hard" setting, it's pretty much the opposite. Enemies do double damage to you, and you only do half damage to them.
5 of 10: However, combat XP on the "very hard" setting isn't double the "normal" setting's amount -- it's only 1.5 times as much. So if you kill something that would give you 50 XP on the "normal" setting, you'll get 50 X 1.5 = 75 XP on the "very hard" setting. Kind of a rip-off, huh?
6 of 10: As for the other two settings, they have damage and XP multipliers that are exactly halfway between the two settings that they're between. For instance, if you're on the "hard" setting and kill something that would give 50 XP on the "normal" setting, you'd get (50 + 75) / 2 = 62 XP. Another way to figure it would be to use 1.25 as a multiplier: 50 X 1.25 = 62. (Yeah, it's really 62.5 either way, but the game rounds it down. Another rip-off!)
7 of 10: You can change the difficulty setting at any time by bringing up the main menu and choosing "Settings" and "Gameplay." However, gameplay will be very uneven if you keep changing the difficulty setting, so try to pick one early on and stick with it.
8 of 10: NOTE: Those of you who've played Oblivion on its highest difficulty setting may think the 2x multipliers used with this game's difficulty settings are pretty wimpy (they're 6x in Oblivion), but don't forget that most of the best ways to cope with Oblivion's increased combat difficulty involve magic spells and other things that don't exist in Fallout 3.
9 of 10: If you want to try playing on either the "hard" or "very hard" setting, you'll need to be much more fastidious in your application of all the basic gameplay tips, especially the ones about quicksaving often and always going into hostile areas with plenty of ammo and healing supplies.
10 of 10: Also, consider having followers with you most or all of the time, despite the fact that you'll get less combat XP that way. Dogmeat and Charon can be gotten early in the game, and make a great team. (See the Followers List for more details.)
