A Weapon FAQ for the Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel for the XBox Console
This is an ASCII art-less walkthrough by David Riley
(Dave [at] frontbeat.com).
**********
DISCLAIMER
**********
Fallout: Brotherhood of steel is an "Action RPG" in the style of Baldur's Gate
: Dark Alliance for the PS2 and Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes for the Xbox.
Staunch Fallout fan that I am, I do not endorse this game in any way shape or
form. If there ever was a game that bastardized the name of a good franchise,
it would be this. FO:BOS is chocked to the brim with so much profanity and
sophomoric "humor" that I'm fully convinced the script writing duties were
handed over to a group of threeteen year olds. You know how many pee jokes
"Team Chuck" needs to consider a game worth publishing? It's like THREE. You
know how many you'll find in a *good* game? Well, I think you can guess. Not
only this, but it shows a complete disregard for the Fallout universe,
including rather blatantly killing off a character that appears in Fallout 2,
which follows this pile of trash in the timeline.
This walkthrough is merely being written because there isn't one out there yet
and, well, I want to help the poor people who are struggling with this game.
Nobody should have to play it for as long as my roommate and I did!
This FAQ is for the XBox version of this game. There is no reason why it
shouldn't work for the PS2 version as well.
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Legal things I know nothing of
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Don't steal this. If you steal it, or plagarise anything from it, that'd
probably make me cry right here and now.. I'm a big guy and as my friends will
attest
I spend most of my time being angry.
This document is not allowed to be included in any for-profit material in any
way, shape, or form, even as a free bonus. If you're sniping the new releases
on GameFAQs, go away. This FAQ is made for posting only on GameFAQS and our
personal website, www.fan-service.com. If you see it anywhere else we'd be most
grateful for the heads up.
*****
MELEE
*****
Melee weapons are kind of a sad state of affairs. They just build on each other
without any real (significant) difference in attack speed or anything.
Basically, whenever you find a new weapon, you use it. Characters have skills
that improve either blunt or edged weapons, so that may impact on your choices,
but I'd say the best choice is not to waste skill points on those ones at all.
Iron Gloves
Type: Glove
Speed: Fast
Value: 55 Caps
Damage: 4-10
As good as you're gonna get, for the first 20 minutes or so. Some of the Gloves
are nice because they're fast, but these ones are worthless.
Spiked Baseball Bat
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 150 Caps
Damage: 13-19
A good weapon that'll serve you for a fairly long time. Hold onto this one
until you find a knife. It's a keeper!
A decent weapon. Swap out the Bat for it when you get the Knife, as it's much
faster with only a slight decrease in damage. You'll have this one for a while
yet, still.
Torch
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 475 Caps
Damage: 21-25 + fire
Finally, something worth holding onto. The torch you'll keep a hand on for the
entirety of the Crater portion of the game. Not only does it do VERY reasonable
damage and not have the issues with hitting rodents that the knife does, but it
lights 'em on fire too. Keep it around. It looks good on ya.
A weapon you could almost be proud of if something new didn't come along a
scant few areas later. The burning gloves are faster and stronger than the
torch and still light guys on fire. What more could you want?
It don't light people on fire like the torch does, but it's a better all around
weapon. So try it on for size. It'll serve you for as long as any other melee
weapon has to this point.
Sledgehammer
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 1,000 Caps
Damage: 35-38
The sledgehammer is a staple of Fallout games. Here, it's just another stupid
melee prop. Same as any other one, slightly more damage than the Cleaver.
There's no reason not to use it, but the damage is barely higher and so the
reasons aren't too compelling either. You know what I mean?
Ripper
Type: Knife
Speed: Fast
Value: 2,000
Damage: 35-42
Funny, looks more like a rusty knife. Not exactly the Ripper we've come to
appreciate in Fallout's gone past. Still, it does a hefty bit of damage and
it's faster than the Sledgehammer. Honestly, you've been holding onto that
thing for like, six areas. Aren't you tired of it already?
Spiked Sledgehammer
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 2,100
Damage: 41-52
I know what you're saying. It's "Eeeeh" and I am too. But the fact is that it's
better than what you've got. Just take it.
Power Fist
Type: Gloves
Speed: Fast
Value: 4,000
Damage: 50-65
Super Sledge
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 5,800 Caps
Damage: 80-100
It would be a GREAT weapon, but you probably already have the Slugger. If you
decide to play this game legitimately, though, the Super Sledge will hold you
over for quite some time. I don't know why you would, though, as playing it the
legit way only increases the excruciating pain you'll suffer while doing it.
If you didn't get the Slugger from the Ghoul or the Super Sledge from Giese
this thing would be a good addition. However, you probably got at least one or
the other. Because of this, it's just another useless melee weapon.
Not bad, for a pair of gloves. If you're playing two player this might be the
best your second player gets for awhile. If not, you might as well jsut sell
them straight off. You've got better, in fact, there's better in the room prior
to the one you find these in.
If you've been using the Slugger since chapter 2, dump it now. The cleaver has
3 less on the high end, but practically THIRTY more on the low end. It's a
pretty good trade.
Mega Power Fists
Type: Gloves
Speed: Fast
Value: 11,000 Caps
Damage: 140-200
The second best hand to hand weapon in the game, no reason not to use it.
When you find the Plasma saw, you might be excited. You've been using that
Slugger for so long, with only a short break on the Tesla Coil and here's this
weapon that actually does a ton of damage! Too bad that you find it in the same
room as the (better) Mega Power Fists. So, good for two player... not much else.
Turbo Super sledge
Type: Bat
Speed: Slow
Value: 15,000 Caps
Damage: 160-200
Best in the game. No reason to NOT use this. Even if you're Cain (why?) with
maxed out Butcher (WHY?!).
******
RANGED
******
Showing more variety than the Melee weapons, the Ranged weapons are just as
annoying at times, it's just nice that there's a weapon to use more than one of
them at a time. Too bad it's not MUCH of a reason.
It's not useless. More damage than the Beretta for the same ammo, but painfully
slow. Fortunatelly you can dodge around to speed it up a little. Might as well
use it, because you get it for free... but don't blame me when you start to
hate it. It simply doesn't do enough damage for how fast (i.e.: how slow) it fires.
Kind of a waste of a gun. Faster than the Home-Made Rifle, sure, but its
bullets are the heavy ones, and it just doesn't feel right using those.
Potentially you can break it out if you can't use the Dual Berettas (Cyrus) and
haven't gotten anything better yet (During the third portion of Chapter 1)
Better than just one beretta, but uses twice the ammo. Anyway, it's a heck of a
lot faster than using the Home-Made Rifle and it's not like ammo is exactly in
short supply. If you're able to use them, might as well. If you're Cyrus, well,
I'm sorry. You're a stereotype.
A pretty handy weapon if you can get up close, but painfully slow. Worth
keeping around until you get the Combat Shotgun (a very long time) as there's
nothing else to use those shells on.
Home-Made Machine Gun
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: Fast
Value: 950 Caps
Ammo: Small Bullet
Damage: 10-15
A useless weapon if I ever saw one (Even in the hands of the Vault Dweller and
his 100% critical with Home-Made weapons), but at least it fires quicker than
the Home-Made Rifle. By now you've probably got plenty of bullets to pour into
the thing so it's your choice. Just realize that you won't have plenty of
bullets for LONG if you use it.
Sub-Machine Gun
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: Very Fast
Value: 1,100 Caps
Ammo: Small Bullet
Damage: 10-15
Nothing to shout about, but superior to the Home-Made Machine Gun. It does the
same damage and fires way faster. If you're using the former, it's time to
upgrade. Really. It'll hold you over until the end of Chapter 1, but by Chapter
2 it's quickly made obsolete. Simply doesn't do enough damage for the amount of
ammo it consumes. Then again, I'm basing a lot of this on my plays through
Apocalyptic mode. You might find the Sub-Machine Gun has more life in it than
I'd suggest.
Dual Desert Eagles
Type: Pistol
Speed: Fast
Value: 1,050 Caps
Ammo: Heavy Bullet
Damage: 16-21 (x2)
Same principle as the Dual Berettas. Not a bad weapon, fast and damaging. But
by the time you get it you probably won't even care. Use it if you want, sell
it if you don't.
A much improved version of the Double Barreled Shotgun. No reason to not use
this instead of the former, when you have the option.
Home-Made Laser Pistol
Type: Laser
Speed: Moderate
Value: 1,975 Caps
Ammo: Small Energy
Damage: 38-45
More efficient than the generic pistols and rifles, the laser pistol doesn't do
bad damage and it does it at a relatively fast rate. Lasers have the added
benefit of shooting right through their targets too. Score!
Home-Made Laser Rifle
Type: Laser
Speed: Slow
Value: 2,750 Caps
Ammo: Small Energy
Damage: 45-56
Slightly more damage efficient than the pistol, but exceedingly slower. It's
your call.
Heavy Machine Gun
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: Fast
Value: 4,500 Caps
Ammo: Heavy Bullet
Damage: 18-25
Pretty good, but not great. You've probably got a huge stash of Heavy Bullets
by now, but the fact of the matter is it just doesn't use the ammo as smartly
as it could. Terribly inefficient. But by the next time you'll need Heavy
Bullets you'll have more money than you could ever know what to do with.
Dual Sub-Machine Guns
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: Very VERY Fast
Value: 2,500 Caps
Ammo: Small Bullet
Damage: 10-15 (x2)
As if the Sub-Machine Gun didn't waste bullets fast enough, you'll have no
problem going through multiple THOUSANDS of them with this baby. The damage
adds up, sure, but you're basically spending 100+ Caps for every enemy you kill.
Assault Rifle
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: Fast
Value: 6,250 Caps
Ammo: Small Bullets
Damage: 20-31
A reasonable thing to use those small bullets on, it does pretty good damage
and you've been hoarding the things anyway. So break it out if you feel
pressured, but it's probably not worth it to just throw them away on anything
that comes your way. Good for the earlier bosses of Stage 3.
Shredder
Type: Shotgun(?)
Speed: Very Slow
Value: 10,200 Caps
Ammo: Large Bullets
Damage: 480-606
In the end of the game, the Shredder quickly becomes your main man in regards
to damage dealing on the last few bosses. Next time you can, buy as much Big
Bullet ammo as possible. At 10 per shot, you're gonna need it.
Minigun
Type: Machine Gun
Speed: VERY, VERY, VERY Fast
Value: 9,245 Caps
Ammo: Small Bullets
Damage: 30-50
Too little too late. The Minigun does an impressive amount of damage per
bullet, but the fact of the matter is you get it at a point in the game where
the only reason to use it is if you've got a TON of small bullets lying around.
It wastes ammo in droves. The result is pretty good (and satisfying to watch
the damage rank up), but very costly.
Dual Laser Pistols
Type: Pistol
Speed: Fast
Value: 8,020 Caps
Ammo: Small Energy
Damage: 70-85 (x2)
Not bad at all! The Dual Pistols fire fast, to VERY reasonable damage and make
you feel like an Outer Space version of Chow Yun Fat. Enjoy them with my
compliments. These and the Shredder should last you until the end of the game.
Continuous Fire Laser
Type: Laser
Speed: Continuous
Value: 8,000 Caps
Ammo: Heavy Laser
Damage: 16-26
q.v. Rocket Launcher. Way too expensive to use. It eats ammo like crazy and
does a pitiful 16-26 per shot. You've got maybe 400 heavy ammo at the end of
the game, and this is no way to waste it.
Not the worst choice you could make, but not the best one either. It uses 5 a
shot, which isn't too bad, but the damage is surprisingly not too much more
than the Plasma Rifle. Probably best to avoid.
Plasma Rifle
Type: Laser
Speed: Fast
Value: 9,120 Caps
Ammo: Heavy Laser
Damage: 130-151
Actually a pretty good endgame weapon and a reasonable use of all that heavy
energy ammo you've been picking up. The Plasma Rifle does good damage per shot
and fires pretty fast. Unfortunately, the only way I know to get this gun is
via one of the two high level Shop-Tecs at the end of the game. If you have the
cash to pick it up (you probably do) you won't find a more efficient way to use
your heavy energy ammo.
Turbo Plasma Rifle
Type: Laser
Speed: Very, VERY Fast
Value: 11,500 Caps
Ammo: Heavy Laser
Damage: 70-84
Found in the second level of the Vault Labs near the Adolescent Deathclaw boss.
The damage is impressive, with the low end being 70 per shot, so it's the
quickest way to deal big damage in the game, but it's also the most expensive
by far.
All grenades are a joke and the Incendiary Mortar and Rocket Launchers aren't
much better. The damage listed is never even close to what you actually end up
doing. Consider them money at the shop when you find them, but keep grenades
around to help you get the secret boss of level 2. From then on you're better
off selling them.
Well, it does reasonable damage and it fires fast enough. That's good. Too bad
it uses the ungodly amount of flamethrower fuel that it does. Each motar costs
you a whopping TWENTY SHOTS. I mean, it's pretty good and you might as well use
it, because you're not getting flamethrower stuff like, ever again... but
still. What a waste.
One of only two weapons that uses Rockets, this is definitely the less useful
of the two. If you're playing as the Vault Dweller, who gets a HUGE bonus to
Home-Made weapon damage, fine, but otherwise... Rockets are expensive enough as
it is. You can't be throwing them away with this thing.
If you've been studiously collecting Rockets by the time you get this you'll
have about 28 of them. 28? That's NOTHING. The rocket launcher is too slow, has
too big a blast radius and doesn't do nearly as much damage as the shredder. To
top it off every SHOT costs you 450 caps. No thanks.
This gun is RIDICULOUS. First off, it's the only explosive weapon that's
actually worth its salt (mostly due to infinite ammo) and it does a
ridiculously good amount of damage, even up until the end game. You'll kill
basically any normal enemy in one hit until you reach the Vault on Apocalyptic.
It's gained on the East Bridge level in Chapter 2, it does crazy damage to
everyone WITH splash. Like the Incendiary Motor, but good!
The end all-be all of melee weapons until practically the end of the game. The
Slugger does all the damage you could ever need and launches guys across the
screen to boot. A real keeper, though sort of a pain to get.
*******
ENEMIES
*******
CHAPTER 1
Rats
----
Big or small, these guys all have one thing in common. They're useless. Don't
break a sweat as, even in the beginning, it won't take more than a hit or two
to waste these guys. Tend to pop out of "generators" a la Gauntlet, but the
stream doesn't last long.
Radscorpions
------------
The red ones are just as pointless as rats, the white ones are a little more
of a pain, as they tend to be radiated and some of the bigger ones will
actually SHOOT radiation at you. Still not a huge deal, just keep your finger
on the stimpack button. Be aware that the white/black ones explode in a burst
of radiation when they die. It'd be prudent to stay away from that.
Beetles
-------
WhatEVER. Similar to the Rats/Radscorpions, only way more annoying. Beetles
have a habit of scurrying all over the place instead of staying still and
letting you hit them. When they're attacking en masse it's easy to swing your
knife/club and get four of 'em at a time, but by themselves it might be best to
take out your pistol and try to get 'em that way. The funny thing about beetles
is that way they don't gain more hit points. Beetles are beetles whether
they're in Chapter 1 or Chapter 3. Which is funny, because at the end of the
game one hit tends to make them explode, more than anything.
Raiders
-------
Raiders come with a variety of weapons. Most drop caps, some drop ammo, which
is good. The Hand-To-Hand raiders are a joke, with the ranged ones being only
slightly less so. The Flamethrower raiders are JUST a bit more scary, but only
because they explode when they die (for pitiful damage). Smart players take
them out at a range. But then again, Smart players don't play Fallout:
Brotherhood of Steel.
Female Raiders
--------------
A similar get-up to Tina Turner in Beyond Thunderdome, one of the few bits of
post-apocalyptic effluvia that this game is more entertaining than (but not by
much). "Tinas" are found firing at you with guns akimbo or, more frequently,
machineguns and aren't really any harder than their male counterparts.
Dogs
----
Compared to the Raiders, barely worth mentioning. They'll take maybe three
hits from you and barely dole out any damage. Kill them when nobody stronger is
around.
CHAPTER 2
Ghouls
------
Basically just a reskin of a Raider. Ghouls tend to carry Desert Eagles and
Knives and are pretty tough customers HP-wise, compared to the weaker Raiders.
Otherwise they're exactly the same though. The same tactics will work. You
know, the "run straight at them and shoot/swing" tactic that this game instills.
Poison Rats
-----------
A poison rat is just a rat. They're not particularly tougher or anything, but
it does look like they have bandages around them! Poor rat. Did you get a boo-
boo?
Rad Ghouls
----------
A little sturidier than your average ghoul, these glowing, white
monstrositious hurl poison at you from afar. Hm, that's weird. That kind of
reminds me of ANTOHER enemy that hurled poison at you from far away. Another
enemy in CHAPTER ONE.
Explodey Ghouls
---------------
Suicide bombers you won't see very long (but don't worry, they're recycled in
robot form just one chapter later!). They're pretty pathetic, and the damage
they do when they explode is even less scary. Don't worry about them, run into
them if you want, even. It doesn't matter.
Giant Beetles
-------------
You'll start seeing these guys near the end of Chapter 2. They're much harder
than the small beetles (which they're often seen in the company of), but for
the most part, nothing to worry about.
Mutants
-------
Mutants come in as many varieties as the Raiders and Ghouls did. The most scary
tend to be the ones with miniguns (lots of damage) and the heavily armored ones
with rocket launchers (take forever to kill). Otherwise they're pretty run of
the mill. Does that really come as any sort of surprise? I don't think it
should.
Robots
------
Robots aren't particularly scary, but they are pretty common in the latter part
of the game. They have lasers or machine guns, mostly and they do pathetic
damage (some with the Continuous Laser can put the hurt on you, but Tesla Armor
tends to put the kibosh on that). Robots often drop Computer Parts, which you
should always grab. Eventually you'll be able to turn them in for mucho XP.
