Fallout 3 Hints

Level 6 Perks

• * Bloody Mess: This perk often causes enemies to splattify in a very graphic and amusing way when killed, and also adds 5% to the damage you deal with any type of weapon. The damage increase isn't really that much, especially once you have high weapon skills and high-quality weapons. Choose Intense Training instead if you ever find this perk to be the best of the available lot -- provided you still have an attribute you'd like to increase -- and perhaps come back to this later, once you've exhausted your Intense Training. (Or if you really like making things go splat.)
  
  * Demolition Expert: This perk requires an Explosives skill of 50, so it's obviously only for characters who are emphasizing that skill so they can use mines and grenades to greater effect. They should take this perk at least twice eventually, and others shouldn't bother with it. (Note that it does *not* increase the damage done by missile launchers or nuka-grenades, even though they're explosive-related.)
  
  * Fortune Finder: All this perk does is increase the amount of bottle caps you find in random item containers. You can always make plenty of caps in other ways (such as thoroughly looting areas and enslaving misc. characters).
  
  * Gunslinger: This perk increases your percentage chance to hit your target in V.A.T.S. mode by 25% as long as you're using a one-handed ranged weapon, such as a pistol. It's only useful for characters who are very V.A.T.S.-focused, and who usually fight with pistols. If you instead prefer two-handed rifle-type weapons, wait and get the Commando perk at level 8.
  
  * Lead Belly: Even though this perk halves the rads you take when you drink from an irradiated water source, which is often the best choice for healing after tough combats, it's not useful enough to take. You can always use radaway items if your rads get dangerously high, which they never should if you frequently return to your home and use the "my first infirmary" item to remove your rads for free. (This is assuming you've completed the misc. quest "The Power of the Atom" and bought the "my first infirmary" item, which should be an early-game goal for any character.)
  
  * Toughness: This perk should be taken immediately by any character, since it increases your natural damage resistance by 10. This is especially useful for thorough looters, who won't like to head out on looting expeditions with any type of armor, since that weighs them down and allows them to pick up less loot on each trip.
  
  
  I recommend taking the Toughness perk at level 6 to get the increased damage resistance. As for level 7, you should take Demolition Expert if you can (since you're obviously focused on using explosives), and the Intense Training perk otherwise. Gunslinger is a good choice for V.A.T.S.-focused pistol fighters, but is probably best put off for a couple of levels even for them.

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