LogFAQs > #967184728

Never thought I'd see a CE New Vegas topic go 6 pages without UR dropping textual brahmin patties all over the place. I...don't know what to do with myself here. But in the spirit of good-natured discussion, I'll at least refrain from ragging on FO3.

I really need to finish my low-INT playthrough one of these days. Started twice and usually make it at least a hundred hours in, but I have a hard time finishing games these days.

Fun fact about Lonesome Road for those of you not in the know: you can game the system and get all the best rewards at the end without lasting consequences by completing the DLC before visiting the Strip for the first time. Do side missions to get your level up (Great Khans, Boomers, and the MQ up through Novac are good options for early questing) and try to avoid getting any positive NCR rep before doing LR; if you do, make sure to wear an NCR disguise during any dialogue stops with Ulysses, which will temporarily negate your faction rep. You'll know it's working when Ulysses talks about you having no allegiance. The goal here is to obtain the Blackjack (Independent) Duster; it's one of only two or three pieces of equipment in the game that boosts LUCK (and the only armor), and it's nigh-impossible to obtain through normal endgame gameplay, since you will more than likely have obtained positive rep with one of the big three factions, which prioritizes a different Duster. For both story and aesthetic reasons, this approach is ideal for an Independent playthrough, but of course will work fine on any playthrough.

The second reason to do this is getting both new areas / rewards by choosing to nuke both the NCR and Legion at the end of LR. Normally the consequence of choosing this path is having your faction rep bottom out with both NCR and Legion, but if you complete LR before ever visiting the Strip, you'll get your faction rep reset on both counts after confronting Mr. House and Benny respectively. So now you've unlocked all the goodies with none of the consequences.