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| Fallout 4 created by Bethesda Game Studios. Images used for educational purposes only. |
Welcome to Fallout 4! Yes, it’s time for another fantastic tale of dying worlds, nuclear radiation, mutants, deserts, shootouts, and guys in big, cool, iconic suits of armour. Sweet. Before you can do that, though, you need to make yourself. How meta.
Character Creation - Appearance
Yaaaaay! Character creation is all the rage these days, and you can take it to the limit in Fallout 4. You can change your character’s facial features, hair style, hair colour, build, and various other accoutrements. You can also change their gender with another, obviously related person, so if you’re feeling up to it you can make two people instead of one. Will this have a long-term impact? Guess you’ll find out.
- Once you’re done creating your character’s appearance you can explore your humble abode. To the left of the bathroom you can find your child’s room, as well as your own bedroom; straight across is a small laundry room. There’s lots of stuff to interact with in these rooms, but nothing to pick up.
- To the right is the kitchen. Codsworth! What a champ. Wander around the kitchen as much as you like. Pretty soon there will be a doorbell, and you’ll have to go answer. (And no, as far as I can tell, the dude outside doesn’t really care if you stare at him through the window.) You can chat with him howsoever you like, but this ultimately leads to one conversation piece: the statistical half of character creation.
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| The initial stat spread screen in Fallout 4. Jump, Vault Boy, jump! |
Character Creation - Stats
Like pretty much every Bethesda game, Fallout 4 functions on a system of statistics, and this is the point where you allocate said points. How you do so will determine the nature of your character for the trials to come. Progression through the game can chance substantially based on how you sculpt your character, here and now. For example, if you have a high Strength, you’ll be more likely to fight your way through difficulties - but characters with high Charisma can, instead, charm their way out of sticky situations. You can beat the game either way.
Generally speaking, it’s best not to try and make a perfectly balanced character who is master of nothing. Pick a few important stats and focus on them. (That is, however, ultimately up to you.) The stats are as follows:
- Strength. The measure of your raw power. If you plan on using melee attacks, Strength is a staple. Gun wielders… not so much. Strength also allows you to carry more items than normal, which can be handy for dungeon exploration.
- Perception. The measure of your ‘environmental awareness’. It’s largely important for projectile weapon accuracy in V.A.T.S. mode (more on that later, though Fallout vets should know what it is by now), though it can also come into play in situations where environmental awareness is a factor.
- Endurance. The measure of your physical fitness. The higher your Endurance score, the higher your health, and, consequently, the more abuse you can take before you die. Important for anyone who prefers to fight on the front lines, and, uh, to be honest, it's probably just a good stat period. Endurance allows you to sprint for longer periods, as well.
- Charisma. The measure of your likability and charm. Charisma allows you to persuade other parties to your point of view in dialogues, presenting alternate methods of proceeding through the game. Charisma also allows you to barter higher prices when buying or selling items in stores.
- Intelligence. The measure of your mental acuity. The higher your Intelligence, the more experience you’ll earn whenever collecting said experience. Intelligence can also factor into some dialogues, and is often used during crafting.
- Agility. The measure of your finesse and reflexes. You’ll receive more V.A.T.S. action points. It will also make it easier to sneak around, allowing you to bypass combat situations - or get the drop on your enemies, allowing you to deliver powerful Sneak Attacks for extra damage.
- Luck. The measure of your fortune. The higher your Luck, the more often you’ll land critical hits.
Again, your stat spread should depend on the overall kind of character you want to create. Full-out brawlers will want to focus on Strength and Endurance, with a dash of Luck. Gunslingers may prefer Perception, Endurance, and Agility (the latter in particular if you want to create a sniper). Diplomats should lean towards Perception, Charisma, and Intelligence. The choice, of course, is up to you, and bear in mind that you will get more stat points above and beyond the starting 21 as you level up.
- Go to your son Shaun’s room after the dude leaves to calm him, then back to the living room for some rather bad news. Once you leave the house, head out of the house and take a left (you can go right to explore the neighbourhood more, but there’s not much to see) and follow the crowd. There’s a tank down the street; don’t go past the tank, or, uh, dead. Ow.
- Keep following your spouse as they run for Vault 111. Don’t stray off the beaten path too much. Again, dead in an instant. Get up onto the big, obvious platform the soldiers are waving you to and you’ll escape just in time. Lucky!
- Just keep following the obvious trail. You’ll get a Vault-Tec Uniform, you’ll get ushered to a ‘decontamination pod’, and the present day will go to hell. Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Man does it suck.