Skills to Tag! (and why)

The first thing you have to determine when it comes to skill point allocation are your Tag! skills.

Lockpick/Science : They both unlock goodies, and they both will get you experience for using them. Ultimately Lockpick is the better choice, since a lot of computers simply open locks, while no locks make computer redundant. Plus… you’ll just find alot more locked objects (doors, safes, lockers… more doors that lead to lockers) than hackable computers.

Small Guns/Repair/Sneak : Small Guns allows you to kill things easier, hence making your ammo go further. Repair allows you to kill things easier, hence making your ammo go further, and it allows you to combine gear, giving you more potent, compact versions, which just makes life easier. Sneak allows you to steal loot to sell or use, and can help you avoid tough encounters early on-or allow you to get the drop on enemies… allowing you to do more damage and make your ammo go further. These three skills make your killing easier, which will in their own ways maximize your experience earning and money making. Pick which one (or two) you prefer the most. Keep in mind that Sneak early on won’t allow you to Sneak past stronger foes, and it certainly won’t let you steal with impunity. Sneak is kind of an all-or-nothing skill, and even then, only if you have Silent Running and avoid line of sight. Still, Sneak is a key skill, and getting a 15-point boost to it just means you’ll be more competent, faster.

Barter/Speech (honorable mention): While both are good, you can do without at the beginning. If you don’t plan on doing quests right off the bat, ignore Speech . Even if you do you can tough it out and save/reload until it works. With Barter , you can get money from one of the above skills. These two skills are good, but there are better early game skills.

Skill Point Allocation

Generally, it’s a good idea to keep all your skills roughly equal as you level up… obviously paying favor to the more useful skills first. Getting Lockpick , Repair , Science , Small Guns , Sneak , and Unarmed up to the 50s early on is a good idea. Unarmed is good for lower levels, as you’ll be able to find and afford Spiked Knuckles earlier than you can get copious amounts of ammo. Once all your skills are 50 (60 if they have the Bobblehead) it’s time to make the next incremental improvement and get Lockpick and Science to 75, and generally work on getting all my skills into the 80s. Keep track of the Bobbleheads you’ve obtained, any planned perk bonuses ( Cyborg and Silent Running ), and the fact that when you get Almost Perfect your skill points will jump. For example, Speech and Barter will both get 16 Skill Points when this build obtains the Almost Perfect perk at level 30, so don’t boost them too much, to avoid wasting skill points.