[blockquote][b][url=/profile/MottySkills]Mottyskills[/url] said:[/b] lol I did get nervous watching Goldie play smode. Nice start Liss![/blockquote]

Yeah, it's a start, Motty, and thanks. I was going to go back to my original save, but nah, I think I'll stick around with Survival mode today, so you all may get another update tomorrow. The true test will be the Deathclaw at Concord, though really anything can put you down if you're not careful. I've been watching Many a True Nerd's Survival Mode playthrough and besides being very entertained by his commentary, I am learning. I like how he avoids conflict. 

Haha, so I got back into this sooner than I thought and lol, even my fiance is now starting his own Survival Playthrough. It was fun comparing notes with him on how we're going to approach the game. He's going a more Charisma route and I'm going more damage output solitary wanderer route, but we are both using sneak more, though he less so. He is way better at fps than I am. Lol, he easily killed those bloatflies and yes, he laughed at me running to Codsworth.

Today's session accomplished much. After I ate and drank water, I decided to explore the stream that surrounds Sanctuary Hills. We both have a similar strategy, explore local areas first and then radiate outwards from Sanctuary Hills, establishing new bases and noting bed locations as we go. 

Haha, this took a couple of tries. 

Ah, damn Bloatflies, damn them to Oblivion. They surprised me and killed me the first time. Second time, I had them chase me to Codsworth! YAY Codsworth. Once they were dispatched, I took a little nap, :D, and made my way around the stream, harvesting and looting. I passed the following locations.

West of Sanctuary Hills on one of a group of small islands. Guarded by one Bloodbug hatchling. An abandoned military vehicle. Yes, rads, but not too bad and worth it for the 10 Damage resist Army helmet and some other minor loot. I make a mental note to perk Aquaboy at the next level up. Yes, I'm going Argonian for this playthrough.

Continued northeast along the riverbank and I ran into a suitcase with armor pieces. 

I pass the raiders in the little shack and then three mongrel dogs while I harvest Hubflowers, carrot flowers, blood leaf, and gourd blossoms. I see a cluster of trees along the coast and the glow of glowing mushrooms. When I near, I see mirelurk eggs and I wants them. 

Oh boy, that was not the best decision to make as two mirelurks and their hatchlings emerge. I am equipped with a pipe pistol that I modified to make into a rudimentary sniper rifle and a hardened 10 mm pistol. In retrospect I was also only level three waiting to get to level 4. Engaging two mirelurks was not the best decision. I mean, I managed to kill one of them and the hatchlings and do damage to the other, but the problem was the waste of stimpaks on Dogmeat. With Survival, you now need to revive your companion with Stimpaks when they go down. I'd go off and sneak, wait to be hidden, heal Dogmeat, and repeat the process. It was not cost effective, both in that I'd die and be reverted back to my save, and that I was wasting valuable early game stimpaks for two mirelurk meat and a few eggs. So after dying three times, I gave up. I'm going to wait until I pick up something else. 

In my fourth trip along the river bank, I decide to take on the raider with the attack dog in the shack and the three monrel dogs. I also kill a Radstag doe and make it to the Robot dumping ground, scoring me a Fat man and a mini-nuke. YAY! I decide to call it a night, with good reason, and get some sleep. Still boggles the mind how much food I need to eat in order to be full. On the flip side, I am now level 4 and take the Aquaboy perk. Go Black Marsh!

The consumption of food bothers me, too much is needed to keep full and I was tired of eating radiated food, which costs more and therefore has sellible value. In my other playthrough, I remembered seeing a magazine in Sunshine Trading Coop that allowed you to harvest more meat from animals. Yes, I need this. It's a location that isn't too bad to clear, some ghouls and rad roaches with no citizens until Preston talks to you. It's a walk from Sanctuary Hills, guarded by Raiders, so this time I take a different approach.

I swam there. YES, I am very happy I took this perk. Not sure if I'll go all the ranks with Aquaboy, but boy, was that perk very useful. There is a lot of water in Fallout 4 and swimming across the lake took WAY less time than walking. I took some damage from the ghouls when Dogmeat didn't get out of my way in time, but I managed to Clear Sunshine Trading. Scrapped the area and created a nice rest stop with water and a bed out of one of the houses. I was even able to snipe the Raiders that guarded the bridge on the road. This, and the journey back to Sanctuary Hills got me one more level up and I took Sneak's first rank. 

I found these two guides in Steam that show unmarked and notable locations in both the vicinty of Sanctuary Hills and Concord.  Something in the Concord guide got my attention and I'll be following it for this playthrough. I think I'm going to try nabbing the power armor in the Museum of Freedom Roof without actually talking to Preston or taking his quest. There is also the Power Armor near a crash site, but you can access the roof through the Church.  I found a Fusion Core in my prior travels, so I can take the armor home. There is something very appealing about establish settlements without the pressure of Preston Garvey and the Minutemen. Not that I won't side with them, I just think this Survival playthrough should have some interesting elements and that is one of them. I'm also not set on my allegiances yet. I still have my "Minutemen are Awesome" playthrough, but with Survival Mode, I feel like being less altruistic, you know what I mean?  You can also nab the bobblehead without talking to them either and that'll give me access to Demolitions Expert and that's a huge yes from me. Thinking of only going with Rifleman for now and making my close range weapon a shotgun. Leave the pistols behind, or only put a bit in the gunslinger perks and then go bombs and grenades instead. I sound a bit like Uncle Jimbo from Southpark.

In today's session, I shall implement my plans for Concord. Loot, loot, loot!  And no commitments! At least for now... 

Thanks for looking. 

You're a brave one, if you plan on using explosives in survival. Most of the time they just get me killed, to the point where I stay away from them unless they are mines and I'm far away when they are going to go off. Which is saying something since I've been playing fairly recklessly on my last couple of survival playthroughs, what with no sneak, some relatively short range guns and sleeping infrequently.

If you're dead set on using them then stay away from molotovs since they are more likely to clip something in front of you instantly killing, at least with the grenades if they hit something and bounce back you have the chance to run.

Speaking of sleeping infrequently, I just had a an adrenaline damage bonus of 50% from killing judge Zeller and clearing the warehouses in Goodneighbour without sleeping throughout it.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Bonelord]Bonelord[/url] said:[/b]

Hello Lis, Check out Ponty's Survival Mode Build, and Log over at FO4 Group he has loads of tips and tricks you could possibly use for yourself, very best of luck playing through Survival Mode and have great fun Mrs.

[/blockquote]

Yes, I checked it out and he and I have made a lot of the same decisions, which is cool. I've also seen a few videos on how to get good gear early, but some of them really spoil the game and it doesnt't make sense for my character to venture that far yet. I found the army hat, but that was done easily by patrolling the waters around Sanctuary Hills. I'll talk about this in my latest update.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/GoldenFool]Golden Fool[/url] said:[/b]

You're a brave one, if you plan on using explosives in survival. Most of the time they just get me killed, to the point where I stay away from them unless they are mines and I'm far away when they are going to go off. Which is saying something since I've been playing fairly recklessly on my last couple of survival playthroughs, what with no sneak, some relatively short range guns and sleeping infrequently.

If you're dead set on using them then stay away from molotovs since they are more likely to clip something in front of you instantly killing, at least with the grenades if they hit something and bounce back you have the chance to run.

[/blockquote]

Yeah, I think I'm gonna be brave that way. A couple new things I'm gonna explore in this playthrough that I didn't touch before. And a few crutches I'm going to lose.

Alright, Teineeva really wants me to chronicle something in this particular session, so Imma gonna do it. I'm adjusting pretty well so far. Yes, people and creatures take me down in one hit, but if I'm in the right place in the right time and careful, I take them down pretty fast. 

I've secured Red Rocket, but I wanted to explore the cave, because I know that there is a fusion core in there and lots of other goodies and glowing mushrooms and brainy fungi and things. But there are molerats who can hurt me and things. I go with caution, Dogmeat by my side. 

With VATS, the molerats go down pretty fast. I bypass the radiation by taking a radx and donning my assault mask to access the fusion core. That taken care of, I notice that my sneak brackets are moving and I venture into another corridor within the cave. 

Glowing molerat! That thing takes quite a few more bullets than the other molerats, but I manage to bring him down with my double barrel shotgun. No thanks to Dogmeat though, which I dunno, something in Survival has changed the AI a bit with Dogmeat. I mean, he got in the way in my regular playthrough, don't get me wrong, but for some reason, I guess, it just makes a bigger differencce when he gets in the way in Survival Mode. His carry weight is also drastically reduced. 

I decide after clearing the cave to arrange Red Rocket to be a more suitable rest stop as I travel. I add a bed, water pump, drinking fountain and rearange the furniture. Then, I continue to Concord. I take advantage of this fun glitch in the first house and lol, by the end of my current session, I now I have 7 Nuka quantums. HAHA! House kept repawning. I also head over to the Speakeasy, the Workhouse, and the underground access at Concord, where I get another fusion core. I also hear something sleeping there. It is the deathclaw. In sealed room with a dead mirelurk. I do kill the other mirelurk and the mole rats and again, I am really favoring the shotgun. 

I deposit my loot from Concord at both Red Rocket and Sanctuary hills, but with all the trips, I am starting to get annoyed with the location of my house at Sanctuary Hills. Too far into the settlement. There is a empty housing plot near the big bridge that I start eyeing. And when I start eyeing shit, I know a move is immenent. Lol, I had just build the other shack and a large shack for my future settlers, so I am going to have to dismantle that, but honestly, the benefits gained from being closer is better, IMO. 

I also spend the day after the molerat and Concord cleansing, exploring the area surrounding Sanctuary Hills, focusing on the Southwest. I stumble upon the Ranger Cabin where I get a melee damage resist magazine Wasteland Survival, I think. Then I arrive at Abernathy farm and do some harvesting, but I don't take the quest. I decide when I get back to Sanctuary Hills to plan the new resisdence. This will take, I think, I full day of construction, so I put it off for another day. The next day will be instead devoted to acquiring the Drive in theater, as it is more central. I also want to get access to some vendors and the Diner is on the way to the Theater. 

Finding a vendor become even more pressing when I wake up with an infection. I take antibiotics, which I managed to find five, but the thirst requirements and the fact that I'm susceptable to disease for a while afterwards make me leery to leave the location for the day. So instead, I spend the day crafting food, upgrading my weapons and armor, and designing my house.  I come up with the following structure, which I'm very happy with. It's a three level structure and I used the wooden shack bridges to create the illusion that the third level is being supported by beams. 

With the infection cleared and me no longer susceptable to becoming ill, I decide to head to the movie theater and secure the vendor from the Diner. I do the Theater first, which is pretty easy, only molerats. I do die from bombs, but I had saved after clearing the molerats, so I didn't lose much. Loot the third fusion core. Not quite sure what I'm going to do with these fusion cores as I don't plan on using power armor, but I'm collecting them anyway. I need to head to work now, so I'll cut the session here for now and write more when I get home. I have some thoughts on how I want to approach the game and I don't have the time to expand on them now. 

Alright, I'm home from work and time to continue Norine's saga. Yep, Norine. Unfortunately, I think Codsworth calls her mum. As you can see, the title image for this session is the Starlight Drivin in. I managed to get that last night in my gameplay. Like I said, molerats were easy, bombs, however, suck. Found those as you climbed the steps up the theater screen. When it reverted to the save though, the bombs weren't there.

It's funny, my fiance, in his Survival playthrough, barely scrapped anything. I scrap everything, because I think this will be one of my stronger settlements, but you'll read more about that in the gameplay notes. For now, I merely, scrap, remove the radioactive elements, and redo one of the small rooms in the back to have easy access to a bed, water, and some storage. It has enough wood, steel, and concrete though to make a small, but solid farming community down the road. 

I spend a quiet night at Starlight and decide to implement my plan from Session three, procure early game traders. My charisma is only four so time to put on my best red dress and my Elvis Pompadour and pray. This, and a beer, boost my charisma just in time (to 8) to meet up with Trudy and Wolfgang having an argument just outside of Drumlin Diner. 

 First attempt fails, resulting in Wolfgang dying. 

 Second attempt fails, resulting in me dying.

 Third attempt is successful with Trudy, but then I accidently  steal a tin can. You can't take tin cans from Trudy. She gets  SUPER mad. I die. 

 Each time I die, by the way, I wake up back at the Starlight  theater, because I was smart enough to save before hand. 

 Fourth time, I'm successful with Wolfgang and then Trashcan  Carla shows up, raider attack, and another trader and then a  Rad Scorpion. You know how this ends. :D

Fifth time, I'm pretty scared about the Rad Scorpion, so I go to the nearby billboard first, loot it and sleep, just so I don't have to walk ALL the way from Starlight Drive in again. I am swimming with beer, in my pompadour, red dress and YES! I resolve the conflict peacefully, resulting in both Wolfgang and Trudy being vendors in one location. I go back to Starlight Drive In and enjoy a well-earned nap before I make the journey back to Sanctuary Hills to enjoy my new house.

I want to talk about gameplay plans and strategies now. She's a solidly squishy Level 8 now and I've taken perks in the following places.

Locksmith: 2/4

Aquagirl: 1/2

Scrapper: 1/3

Sneak: 1/5

Lone Wanderer: 1/4

Rifleman: 1/5

Notice I've not taken Attack dog and I think, I'm not going to. As I said in session three, I am struggling with Dogmeat's AI in this playthrough. Normally, I'm all too happy to take attack dog, but I may actually not use him in this playthrough. Or, if I do, it'll be later in the game, where I can take his messups better. I love doggies, you know I do, but he's a stimpak guzzler, runs off ahead, and constantly gets in my way. And for some reason, it is more irritating this time around. I guess, because in prior modes, I could afford a messup here and there. In survival you really can't, so Dogmeat will be sent to Sanctuary Hills to keep Codsworth company.

To replace Attack Dog, I may actually go for Armorer this time around. I think being able to mod armor will be smart, especially pocketed armor in the early game. I have already offset not having Dogmeat by modifying my armor to be pocketed. I'm sitting at 180 carry weight right now, which for Survival Mode is quite good without Power Armor. The second rank of Lone Wanderer will bolster that by an additional margin and ranks of Armorer will open up deep pocketed armor.

I also want to see if I can eventually abandon Gunslinger perks and only focus on Rifleman. It'll further trim the fat from this character and frankly, most of my weapons in my prior playthrough were rifles of various types. It'll also trim my ammo varieties. Combat rifles and shotguns will be early to mid-game priorities and then the assault rifle later in the game. Right now, I've got a modded double barrel, A pipe sniper rifle that already came with .308 mods. I have a 10mm pistol for backup, but I won't perk Gunslinger.  

I am experimenting with only carrying a set number of ammo per mission and the rest is stored in my built house in Sanctuary Hills for now. I've not done the quest for Preston yet and I really don't feel like it at this time. I think I can handle the Deathclaw with Power Armor now, if I use the terrain and go where he can't. One of the buildings lets you go in with Power Armor, and he can't follow, but I don't want to deal with the settlement stuff that Preston Requires right away. I'd like to focus and build a few of my own settlements in relative peace from raiders before I start the main quest and faction quests properly. Yep, I am denying myself some good gear that I can access in the beginning (Righteous fury, General's armor, Silver shroud), but I want to see how far this character's own resourcefulness can take her.

Surprised I've not taken any resistance perks yet. So far, the majority of my perks has been to make me access better materials and to do more damage without being discovered.  I don't regret having such high endurance though, Aquagirl was a super smart investment. I also want Fortune Finder and Scrounger as I won't be investing in settlements enough to craft ammunition and Survival Mode makes all things more scarce.

In my last playthrough, I had too many settlements to keep track of and if I got sick and tired of fast-traveling to save them, imagine me having to walk to them. I'm using settlements more as a stopping point to sleep, drink, and eat before continuing on my journeys, so only a few of them will be getting much work done beyond that. A strong candidate for the central large settlement is Starlight Drive In.  Greygarden is also very good as I have a nice little group of robot workers at my disposal. I'd also like to utilize Hangman's Alley for the location, and possibly others, but focusing extended settlement development on those that are more centrally located on the commonwealth map. 

As always, thanks for looking. I'm going to have an early night tonight and play more tomorrow.