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About this mod
Small gameplay changes to emphasize skill effect on gameplay and other balance changes.
- Permissions and credits
Introduction
I find FO3 a very well done and balanced in general. I am adding few changes here and there making already existing features more usable and interesting. This mod main point is to make skills and skill effect more important for character development.
First Draft
Playing with it for some time. Seems to be stable and working properly. However, still in testing mode. Please report any issues. Thank you for understanding.
Dependency and load order
1.
DALCO Inventory Sorter
(optional)
If not using this mod then you'll see some item having prefixes and some not. Not too critical but may be annoying.
2.
Fugacity - Vanilla-Plus Balance and Difficulty Overhaul
(optional)
3.
This mod
Changes
Skills
SPECIAL stats do not contribute to initial skill values. All skills start from zero.
They are already govern quite important derived stats. Fiddling with them just to add few measly skill points is quite meaningless activity not adding much to gameplay. Stats and skills should be two independent ways to shape the character.
Tagging skill add hefty 25 points to it.
This is how player can shape their character initial profile.
Derived Skills
Experience per level increase by about 30%.
Base Skill Points per level decreased to 7 (from vanilla 10).
Health is halved compared to vanilla.
Action points = 50 + 10 * AG
This is the only AG governed derived skill. Increased effect makes it matter.
Carry weight = 150 + 10 * ST
Reverting to vanilla default overriding any changes from Fugacity or other mods.
People claim it should restrict player carrying multiple weapons/ammo/drugs around. In practice, I never experienced lower carry weight impacting my combat effectiveness. Combat is too fast to use more than 2-3 different weapon types anyway. It creates more of an annoyance of extra traveling to carry loot to merchants.
Melee damage = 1 * ST [1-10 additional damage based on ST]
1) Increased melee damage to make it more viable and rewarding in more dangerous close range combat.
2) I don't like fractions and unused ST points.
Unarmed damage = 5 + 0.2 * Unarmed [5-25 additional damage based on Unarmed]
1) Increased unarmed damage to make it more viable and rewarding in more dangerous close range combat.
2) Every 5 Unarmed skill points now produce +1 damage. Very visible and rewarding to invest points there.
Barter sell = 0.1 + 0.8 * Barter [sell at 10%-90%]
Barter buy = 4.0 - 3.9 * Barter [buy at 400%-110%]
Making Barter more important for combat equipment and getting rich.
Weapon damage = 25% + 1.25 * (skill / 100) [25% - 125%]
Vanilla weapon damage progression is so flat that player does not even need to invest in it. Finding a better weapon is much better option.
With this formula raising skill to 100% quintuples weapon damage instead of just doubling in vanilla.
Repair starts at 0%.
Zero repair skill = zero repair.
Others
Water wading radiation raised to 3.
Water swimming radiation raised to 10.
Weapon damage is 50% at zero condition instead of 66% in vanilla.
Standardized with similar Melee/Unarmed scale.
Iron sight gun spread bonus = -40%
Crouching gun spread bonus = -20%
Both these precision improving methods are very easy to use. They should not be much better than pumping the corresponding skill.
All VATS bonuses are removed.
VATS is the target assistance system for those having difficulties with real time aiming and it should stay this way. It is already quite nice QoL feature. No need for extra hit chance or turning player to a demi-god by slowing down time and reducing received damage 10 times.
Now player is free to use it for convenience without abusing it.
Ingestibles
Ingestibles those were supposed to affect skills indirectly through stats now affect them directly.
Ingestibles keep their original effect as well. All below features are in addition to what they are normally doing.
Mentats add +25 to Lockpick, Science, Repair, Medicine.
Very easy to raise the lockpick and hacking exactly by 1 level. No more fiddling with super precise skill adjustment.
Buffout adds +25 to Melee, Unarmed.
It is supposed to.
Blood pack adds +25 to all ranged weapon skills.
I could not find a better use for it without Hematophage perk. Now they can be consumed with some meaning and do not stockpile in the inventory.
Alcohol adds +10 to Barter, Speech.
Only alcohol use I found is to add extra 10 pounds of carry weight when I need it. I have ended up stockpiling it and selling to merchants. Now I take it every time I sell something or speak to new NPC. It gets consumed quite fast.
With harsher barter formula it doubles selling prices at barter zero.
Ant Queen Pheromones add +25 to Barter, Speech.
Same idea as with alcohol. They just more rare and more potent.
Stimpack effect is reduced to 10 (from 30 in vanilla).
I find them stockpiling in my inventory even at early game. Their primary and unique purpose should be to heal crippled limbs as no other ingestible can do it. General health restoration can be done with abundant food and water sources.
Gameplay experience
Playing it for a week now. Feeling quite satisfied.
I find FO3 a very well done and balanced in general. I am adding few changes here and there making already existing features more usable and interesting. This mod main point is to make skills and skill effect more important for character development.
First Draft
Playing with it for some time. Seems to be stable and working properly. However, still in testing mode. Please report any issues. Thank you for understanding.
Dependency and load order
1.
DALCO Inventory Sorter
(optional)
If not using this mod then you'll see some item having prefixes and some not. Not too critical but may be annoying.
2.
Fugacity - Vanilla-Plus Balance and Difficulty Overhaul
(optional)
3.
This mod
Changes
Skills
SPECIAL stats do not contribute to initial skill values. All skills start from zero.
They are already govern quite important derived stats. Fiddling with them just to add few measly skill points is quite meaningless activity not adding much to gameplay. Stats and skills should be two independent ways to shape the character.
Tagging skill add hefty 25 points to it.
This is how player can shape their character initial profile.
Derived Skills
Experience per level increase by about 30%.
Base Skill Points per level decreased to 7 (from vanilla 10).
Health is halved compared to vanilla.
Action points = 50 + 10 * AG
This is the only AG governed derived skill. Increased effect makes it matter.
Carry weight = 150 + 10 * ST
Reverting to vanilla default overriding any changes from Fugacity or other mods.
People claim it should restrict player carrying multiple weapons/ammo/drugs around. In practice, I never experienced lower carry weight impacting my combat effectiveness. Combat is too fast to use more than 2-3 different weapon types anyway. It creates more of an annoyance of extra traveling to carry loot to merchants.
Melee damage = 1 * ST [1-10 additional damage based on ST]
1) Increased melee damage to make it more viable and rewarding in more dangerous close range combat.
2) I don't like fractions and unused ST points.
Unarmed damage = 5 + 0.2 * Unarmed [5-25 additional damage based on Unarmed]
1) Increased unarmed damage to make it more viable and rewarding in more dangerous close range combat.
2) Every 5 Unarmed skill points now produce +1 damage. Very visible and rewarding to invest points there.
Barter sell = 0.1 + 0.8 * Barter [sell at 10%-90%]
Barter buy = 4.0 - 3.9 * Barter [buy at 400%-110%]
Making Barter more important for combat equipment and getting rich.
Weapon damage = 25% + 1.25 * (skill / 100) [25% - 125%]
Vanilla weapon damage progression is so flat that player does not even need to invest in it. Finding a better weapon is much better option.
With this formula raising skill to 100% quintuples weapon damage instead of just doubling in vanilla.
Repair starts at 0%.
Zero repair skill = zero repair.
Others
Water wading radiation raised to 3.
Water swimming radiation raised to 10.
Weapon damage is 50% at zero condition instead of 66% in vanilla.
Standardized with similar Melee/Unarmed scale.
Iron sight gun spread bonus = -40%
Crouching gun spread bonus = -20%
Both these precision improving methods are very easy to use. They should not be much better than pumping the corresponding skill.
All VATS bonuses are removed.
VATS is the target assistance system for those having difficulties with real time aiming and it should stay this way. It is already quite nice QoL feature. No need for extra hit chance or turning player to a demi-god by slowing down time and reducing received damage 10 times.
Now player is free to use it for convenience without abusing it.
Ingestibles
Ingestibles those were supposed to affect skills indirectly through stats now affect them directly.
Ingestibles keep their original effect as well. All below features are in addition to what they are normally doing.
Mentats add +25 to Lockpick, Science, Repair, Medicine.
Very easy to raise the lockpick and hacking exactly by 1 level. No more fiddling with super precise skill adjustment.
Buffout adds +25 to Melee, Unarmed.
It is supposed to.
Blood pack adds +25 to all ranged weapon skills.
I could not find a better use for it without Hematophage perk. Now they can be consumed with some meaning and do not stockpile in the inventory.
Alcohol adds +10 to Barter, Speech.
Only alcohol use I found is to add extra 10 pounds of carry weight when I need it. I have ended up stockpiling it and selling to merchants. Now I take it every time I sell something or speak to new NPC. It gets consumed quite fast.
With harsher barter formula it doubles selling prices at barter zero.
Ant Queen Pheromones add +25 to Barter, Speech.
Same idea as with alcohol. They just more rare and more potent.
Stimpack effect is reduced to 10 (from 30 in vanilla).
I find them stockpiling in my inventory even at early game. Their primary and unique purpose should be to heal crippled limbs as no other ingestible can do it. General health restoration can be done with abundant food and water sources.
Gameplay experience
Playing it for a week now. Feeling quite satisfied.
- All consumables get consumed quite fast and do not stockpile.
- Alcohol finds it niche. Now I keep spending it as much as I collect it.
- Same for Mentats.
- Same for bloodpacks.
- Stimpacks, food, doctors, radiation, drinking from water sources - all seem to be balanced now and finds its use. I use stimpacks to heal limb conditions and food to restore general health. Additionally, drinking from water sources and use Rad-X to reduce radiation consumption. Occasionally, visiting doctors to have a whole healing when badly damaged.
- Close range combat is much more effective now comparing to shooting. Yet, more deadlier, of course. Nice balance between saving bullets and saving food.
- Repairing is more challenging now. I either should use Mentats to raise Repair skill or spend a lot of parts or buy repairmen services.
- Barter is reasonable. Now I do not clean all Megaton merchants off their money immediately after my first scavenge hunt.
- Buying stimpacks is a strategical choice. They cost and I need to keep them in backpack to heal damaged limbs.