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Availability[]
Is this not available from the beginning? Mine doesn't seem to give me the option. --DangerDan23 04:47, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
-- It becomes available during character creation. When you go to leave the Doc's building, it will ask if you want to enable Hardcore Mode. --Eldritch2k4 13:17, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
Perhaps we should edit that into the main page for Hardcore mode because it's not entirely clear. --DangerDan23 23:06, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
How fast is the healing approximately? Jauh0 13:51, October 21, 2010 (UTC)
-- Healing differs depending on what you are using. Stimpacks heal at 7 hp per second, while nuka-cola heals as 2 hp per second. How long the healing lasts also varies. It could be as long as 30 second, or as low as 5 seconds.
^^Take note, stimpaks heal more hp/sec with a higher medicine and food restores more hp/sec with greater survival. ie, the person before me said stimpaks heal at 7/s, but with higher medicine they restore faster, and likewise with food.
healing in hardcore mode with lots of items[]
if i drink 4 nuka-colas at once what happens? do I heal 4times as fast? does my healing duration last 4times as long? or are 3nuka-colas wasted resulting in me doing nothing?
You would heal for 4x as long. however, if you use a nuka-cola, a stimpak, a sunset sarsaprilla, etc, you heal using each individually, so that would be much more rapid.
I just killed a deathclaw on level 2 in hardcore mode. I is a beast! Person you are a strait up lier. most people don't even attempt a deathclaw until they are level 17+. so either you killed it by a glitch or a mod, which is not beast. so that makes you in turn a wuss and a cheater.
actually you can kill a deathclaw as early as level 1 if you have the mercenaries grenade rifle and lots of dynimite. -guest
I believe this person. I managed to kill Ledgendary Deathclaw at 4 only by using scaling cliffs up to new vegas, getting combat armor from dead van graff and getting the alien blaster, It's not impossible.--166.137.89.157 14:44, December 14, 2013 (UTC)
I would like to mention here, in regards to the Deathclaw incident, that in Fallout 3 at least changing your luck level at the SPECIAL selection point can make different random encounters happen. For instance, at a higher luck, I went to the Super Duper Mart and found a Deathclaw fighting raiders outside. After it killed them it had 2 notches of health left. Still took every bullet from my pistol, and a lot of backpedaling, but I managed to kill it. No idea if this sort of thing could happen in New Vegas--Guest
healing fast in hardcore mode[]
every item except the super stimpack in hardcore mode heals very slowly, however they all stack... so... if you use six types of food 3sodas some water and a stimpack all at once you can heal almost as fast as a super stimpack, although your inventory will be a clutter all the time!
completed game with HM on?[]
Has anyone completed the game with hardmode? I've heard talk of a reward or item (aside for the torphy/achieve is this true?
Doubt it, you don't continue when you beat the gameDeadxinsanity 02:10, October 24, 2010 (UTC)
Just finished the game on Hardcore mode.. You do not get anything else for completing the game on Hardcore mode obmckenzie
Confirmed that there is nothing for beating Hardcore besides some points, prompt at the start lies.
There are alternate endings for the fight at hoover dam with hardcore mode enabled and never disabled.
I've Heard...[]
I've heard that when you play hardcore mode that you are limited on save files moreso than regular mode. Is this true? 
Frank-West 18:48, October 24, 2010 (UTC)
I have not heard nor experienced this, and with the bugs on the 360 I've been saving every half hour. Obmckenzie
- not true Namad 00:24, October 29, 2010 (UTC)
Not true at all. I'm at 400 plus saves at the moment. - Freakshow
Those effin liars![]
No reward? That's lame! They lied! FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- XD Kinda funny though. Frank-West 01:59, October 28, 2010 (UTC)
Well if you are playing non steam PC yes, they are lying when they say you get a reward for beating hardcore mode. But if you are an achievement whore on steam or the consoles congrats you get another achievement.
It should be noted you get the steam achievement even if you don't care about achievements, as the game has no method of checking if you are or are not an achievement whore.
Sleep[]
Anyone else think it's stupid to be able to die from sleep deprivation?
No, in fact, it's pretty accurate to the real-life affects of extreme sleep deprivation.
IRL total abscence of sleep will eventualy lead to 'Micro Naps' where you brain enters a dream state while you are awake, causing at worst sevre hallucinations. Micro Naps can at any time (and it's almost a sure thing if they continue) cause brain damage and death. So yes, sleep deprivation bad, sleep good lol. Although I haven't had chance to jump on Hardcore mode yet so I can't say if the amount of sleep deprivation that kills you is stupid or not. More random info and taking throw away remarks to the extreme via --Lyco499 07:15, December 12, 2010 (UTC) :P
- Lack of sleep also significantly decreases the capacity of your immune system. Your body goes into a sort of 'maintenance' mode when you sleep which assists in keeping you healthy. Sleep deprivation can be pretty detrimental.
Trizzip 21:35, December 22, 2010 (UTC)
- I thought it would make more sense if it was 4 per hour, and when you hit 1000 you all your stats would drop to 1, you can't run or fast travel, and you were dizzy, giving a similar effect as a crippled head but more extreme. You can't die from sleep deprivation, but if you have somehow managed to not sleep or pass out for over 10 days, you would have to have some serious medical problem that would be the cause of death. Although I don't think anyone has been able to stay awake for 20 days by just sheer willpower because they were too busy running around in the desert killing things and robbing people so who knows.
Sleep deprivation can indeed kill you, but only chemicals or serious outside interference can keep you awake for that long. Unless you have some sort of brain disorder, it's impossible to simply will yourself to stay awake long enough to die from sleep deprivation alone as you would eventually just lose consciousness or die from other exhaustion complications (heart failure is the most common one.)
New Game[]
God dammit, I just learned this the hard way, but if you play hardcore mode DO NOT start a new game on a different difficulty, because when you switch over to your older game, that difficulty will carry over and DESTROY your hardcoreness. Thank you for that, because it just cost me 17 hours of gameplay
-I'm playing hardcore on VH and it seems pretty easy... I'm actually disappointed with how easy it is. I think guns, ammo, and armor should be far more difficult to come by 200 years after manufacturing of those items stopped... Hell the best 1911's first off the line no longer exist and we are just now rounding 100 years.
Ah but you forget that the gun runners were able to snag pre war specs of the guns they make, so there is that. and who isn't to say that the Van Graffs or any of the vendors don't have the specs to make the things you need, of at least know someone who does
Poisoned by Animals[]
The article says in casual you can't be poisoned by animals but, playing casual (on normal difficulty), I have frequently been poisoned by Radscorpions and Cazador. Am I misinterpreting what the article means?
Perhaps in casual mode, being poisoned can take you down to 1hp but not kill you, or just wear off over time instead? In hardcore, poison seems to last long enough to kill you regardless of health, unless you use an antidote. Although, I've never had poison prove to be any sort of problem with Lily, who can take on several poisonous mobs at a time with seemingly barely a scratch. Maskedmustelid 08:21, November 2, 2010 (UTC)
Well my companion, Cass, has died several times after the fight has finished due to poison. Though in casual I do think poison wears off, but regardless, the article says "You can't get animal poisoned." which is kind of misleading.
Radscorpion's poison is not that dangerous but Cazadores will kill you and your companion. In Very Hard, you need to pay attention to them and administer stims regularly so that HP rise will equal poisons.Laclongquan (talk) 10:08, May 1, 2013 (UTC)
Difficulty of hardcore[]
My friend has beaten it twice on normal difficulty. It seems its not as hardcore as it should have been unless you play on very hard. He usually used nuka cola to power past sleep, the only hard part he usually struggled with was poisen. And the vault canteen seems like a low blow to players who didnt get the classic pack. --Mycatisorange 11:20, November 13, 2010 (UTC)
Easiest story?[]
What would be the easiest main questline in Hardcore mode? Gheart 22:57, November 15, 2010 (UTC)
Did it... Yes man took me about 2-3 hours, but I ignored all the tribes Gheart 03:33, November 19, 2010 (UTC)
Hardcore Mode Guide[]
I think that it'd be worth it to create a hardcore mode guide for Fallout: New Vegas. People come to the Fallout wiki looking for help, and a guide would do just that. BrenMan 94 16:23, November 19, 2010 (UTC)
There isn't anything guide worthy to write about. It is all just obvious stuff, don't carry ammo you don't need, carry more food and water... it doesn't really make the game as hard as you'd think. --Pongsifu 19:02, November 19, 2010 (UTC)
I agree with Pongsifu. HCM doesn't need a real guide dedicated to it, as it is simply changing a few settings. There is little challenge to Hardcore. Here is a list of the HCM settings, and a simple guide for it:
-Ammo: Don't carry stuff you don't ever use. If your going to use firearms, don't use all classes at the same time (e.g. Energy Weapons, Guns, and Explosives). This way, you don't need to carry rifle ammo, energy cells, grenades, and missiles all at the same time.
-Water: You don't need to carry lots of water if your hanging around cities and towns, as drinking from any water source, will drop your Water counter down to zero. Only carry a lot of water when you are not going to be anywhere near civilization or water sources. Remember, if you see a water source nearby, just go over and drink from it if you haven't had water for a little bit.
-Food: Is less of an issue as water. Food is everywhere, it grows in the wasteland, its in cities, and it can be created. If your trying to get the "Desert Survivalist" achievement/trophy, you will be eating a lot of food to restore Hit Points. Thus, food should never be an issue.
-Sleep: Sleep is almost non-existent, but you should carry a couple Atomic Cocktails simply to be used when you need to drop sleep, as beds are fewer in number then water sources. Beds don't exist through out much of the wilderness. When you see a bed and haven't dropped your sleep in awhile, lay down for an hour or two.
-Crippled Limbs: This is the only potentially difficult part of HCM, especially while at low levels. Initially, you will get crippled fairly often, and sometimes this can be problematic if you are not capable of fast traveling and low on Doctor Bags and Hydra. If you are going someplace where you either can't or don't want to fast travel to a doctor, make sure you have plenty of Doctor Bags and Hydra. At low levels, I usually kept 8 Doctor Bags (as they aren't particularly effective) and a few Hydra (which will completely heal limbs within 15 seconds or so). As you progress to higher levels, you have more Hit Points, stronger armor, and better weapons. Allowing you to suffer less limb damage. I would also advise taking Admantium Skeleton, as this will greatly cut down on limb damage.
While crippled limbs is the most problematic part of HCM, it still eventually becomes a non-issue over time. My first play through (50 hours or so) I was only crippled 22 times.32.97.110.55 00:26, November 20, 2010 (UTC)Pulsar
- Even with the Small Frame trait, which increases limb damage by 25% I tend to only get crippled when hit with explosives or stepping on traps.
Anyway, I would like to think that the kind of people who opt for hardcore mode would be the kind of people that could figure this stuff out pretty easily... --Pongsifu 01:37, November 20, 2010 (UTC)
Not leveleing up in Hardcore?[]
I'm not leveling up in Hardcore (XB, unpatched). My XP is ~1200 and I'm still at Level 1. I don't see any notes or tips either on the talk page or the front page about leveling. Am I being stupid, or is this a problem someone else has seen?De stijl 00:29, November 23, 2010 (UTC)
- Started a new hardcore game and this time I leveled up at 200 XP to Lvl 2. So far, so good.De stijl 18:19, November 23, 2010 (UTC)
- I have the same problem, only I've tried starting a new hardcore game over and over (4 times) and I've never been able to level up. Help?76.120.100.231 22:45, November 26, 2010 (UTC)
I have the same problem. I have over 5000 xp points and i am still level 1. i have looked for info about this, but cant find a solution. I tried starting again but after 200 xp there was still no leveling up. I'm starting to think hardcore mode is a farce. Coco
Are all the notes accurate?[]
- I've not found ALL merchants to carry the items listed in the notes. They usually carry Stimpacks (not always) but I don't think I've ever seen a merchant with Coyote tobacco chew... They do usually carry some form of food but not always steaks.
- Sleeping in beds does NOT heal in HCM does it? Never has for me... Just decreases SLP to 0 and gives well rested bonus.
- Buffout doesn't actually give you health, it just adds 60 points to your max HP doesn't it?
--The--dud 12:29, November 26, 2010 (UTC)
I think sleeping in a bed only heals when you own the bed. Could be wrong however. --Lyco499 07:20, December 12, 2010 (UTC)
Timescale differences[]
Starvation and Dehydration counters are updated according to the real-time clock. However, when you decrease timescale variable, the quantity of starvation and dehydration you receive when sleeping will increase proportionally. For example, when using set timescale to 2, 10-hour sleep will be enough to dehydrate your character from 0 to death. DJ Riff 20:26, December 5, 2010 (UTC)
Hardcore Mode patch changes[]
What does the patch change in the hardcore mode since there is no full changelog nobody knows
meters[]
shouldn't their be meters that that tell you your FOD H2O and SlP levels? 'cause I got nothing, do they only appear when you get close to death or something? on another note, my thought is to max out endurance, tag survival, take cannibal and ghastly scavenger, and use unarmed to avoid the weight of ammo --Katikar 09:57, December 29, 2010 (UTC)
there are meters in you pip-boy. its on the same section as you effects/rad/limb page, just adds 3 more options to scroll down through.
Trophy Not Granted[]
I beat the game on Hardcore mode and it didn't grant me my gold trophy. I beat it on Normal difficulty and joined the NCR in the final battle.
You must beat the game ENTIRELY in Hardcore mode. If you start out on normal and up the difficulty it doesn't count. If you turn down the difficulty at any time in the game you will be disqualified for the achievement. I also found this out the hard way... TheWalternate 23:41, January 14, 2011 (UTC)
- Hardcore mode and difficulty are two different things. You should still be able to change the difficulty level while leaving Hardcore mode on. If you turn Hardcore mode off, even just once, it invalidates any chance of getting the trophy/achievement.
I also had this problem and I also joined with ncr so maybe is doesn't work right with ncr (ps I'm not an idiot I went through the entire game on hardcore like it says to on the achievement)
I'm having this problem too and I also joined the NCR... I'm not sure but siding with the NCR might have some affect on this achievement/trophy....
I don't think it has to do with helping NCR. I helped Yes Man and I still didn't get the achievement!
You will not receive any trophy if you have used some console commands. Especially if you have changed Stats or S.P.E.C.I.A.L numbers or added high numbers of ammo and weapons as well as unique items. --Kilroy1975 18:05, July 22, 2011 (UTC)
- How can there be an "especially"? Does it only apply to certain types of commands (ie. player.additem, player.modav, player.addperk, etc) What about "tfc" or other types of commands that don't affect your progress or development? Besides... I thought using console commands only disabled acchievements/trophies for the current SESSION. Saving, then exiting the game and reloading is supposed to re-enable trophies and achievements. Dekker420 Dec 23, 2011
Healing companions in HCM[]
How can you heal your companions via not using stimpaks?
Tried the doctor, food in inventory, sleeping and waiting and fast traveling. None of those will heal them or is it just a bug since sometimes they just get full hp out of nowhere...
The only thing that works is stimpacks.DarthOrc 08:16, July 4, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc
Dead Money in Hardcore Mode[]
I'll start by getting straight to the point: Is Dead Money completely screwed up if the companion characters get killed early on (say, by ghost trappers or a random grenade bouquet)? Seeing as the quests that follow seem to REQUIRE them, I'd imagine so. I've had to reload an earlier save every time it happened so far... Heck, I'm only doing this stupid DLC again at all because of the awesome Agility exploit. I'm almost considering NOT souping up my next character this way, as it really isn't worth the time it takes. ~ SotiCoto 18:50, April 14, 2011 (UTC)
Hardcore mode gauges freezing[]
01 May 2011 - 0500 hrs - Demon971
Anyone else have this problem? Just recently ALL of the gauges (H20/FOD/SLP) stopped working. I've reloaded a prior save several times and it works for a little bit then they all freeze again. The only pattern I can see so far is when I get to the same hours and minutes of game time put in, each attempt has froze after approximately that much playing time. Is it possible to turn Hardcore mode off than immediately back on to reset them and mebbe fix them, but without ruining the chance to get the trophy?
Eating doesn't seem to make them work. Only reduces their value until reduced to zero and they still remain frozen. When I rest, it raises the gauges (depending on how long I rest) but they still remain frozen in real time. When I sleep, same idea except it'll reduce the SLP meter to 2 (like normal) but then it stays frozen there until I use the rest function.
I dunno what to do. Perhaps eventually it'll "snap out of it" if I keep playing on? Any tips or help would be greatly appreciated.
- Demon971
Mine is only doing this on SLP and seems to have begun when I started Dead Money (at least that's when I noticed, but I figured it was just a dead money thing). Finished Dead Money and the gauge was still at zero (actually didn't even have a value). Wandered around the mojave some more and it did not change, went and slept for only a few hours in a generic bed and now the gauge seems to be working again, at least for me. Just have to hope it stays working I guess... no other explanation...
- Same problem here, seems to be since installing OWB. The food/H2O/sleep meters won't increase in real time, only through resting. I thought reloading a save seemed to fix it at first, but now it doesn't seem to. -72.201.99.88 07:21, July 29, 2011 (UTC)
No achievement[]
Okay. I just finished the game on Hardcore mode. It's the first time I did it. I turned on the mode as soon as I could. I never turned it off. And I didn't get the achievement. I am really pissed off. There's only one thing I could imagine that would have anything to do with this at all. Does playing Dead Money affect this achievement? If it doesn't then I have no clue why I didn't get this achievement. Any help?
Now I did it a second time. I went back to before I did the Dead Money DLC and it STILL didn't work. I thought it might have had something to do with me helping the NCR at Hoover Dam. But this time I helped Yes Man. It didn't work. I don't know why this isn't working... I'm thinking about just starting a new game on Hardcore to try and get it... I don't know...
The only thing I can think of is if you made another character and declined the Harcore Mode option at the beginning. If you then went back on your Harcore character, Harcore mode would be turned off, thus preventing you from gaining the Achievemet/Trophy when you completed the game. --Wiseman of the Wastes 11:40, May 21, 2011 (UTC)
Switiching back and forth[]
I was playing hardcore for the majority of the game but i turned it off so i can wait 3 days for the vendors to re spawn and not die of dehydration ect. After i finished i turned it back on and died straight away from dehydration starvation and sleep deprivation. is that supposed to happen? put this up here becuase i had no idea where to put it on the page or if it was even needed XD
beginners[]
eh. I disagree that beginners shouldn't try hardcore mode. It's not hard at all, more annoying than anything. Food is plentiful, and water is less common if you rely only on purified water, but their seems to be enough rad-away lying around that dirty water does just fine. I did this on my first playthrough and am glad I did. sure foreknowledge helps, but foreknowledge always helps. just make sure to save often and on different saves - so that if something gets bugged (which happens a lot...) you can fix it. Sleep is hardly noticeable. The healing won't matter to be honest, because you won't know what your missing lol. Companions are the hardest part... poison in particular. Boone can kill deathclaws if he likes but he finds a small little scorpion, and if he gets hit once, it's all over. ED-E seems to be immune to it. So that said, bring boone, cass, raul or arcade as a companion. Everyone else tends to melee and melee is terrible for your companions in hardcore. It's also bad if you use explosives or energy weapons with something like splash damage/meltdown. In casual mode, I wouldn't worry about it of course. 76.198.70.129 22:57, July 3, 2011 (UTC)
The key to both food and hydration is the Gecko Kabob. It provides more hydration than a purified water and more food than a gecko steak all while weighing just 0.25 pounds. They require gecko meat, banana yucca and jalapeno peppers and a survival skill of 60, (40 plus a Lad's Life, with Comprehension) at a campfire. a dozen only weigh 3 pounds and will last a long time.
- I wouldn't waste any skill points in the survival skill tbh. Medicine imo works much better for healing purposes (as well as having other uses.) and as I said, food and water is plentiful - definitely not worth wasting skill points for. 76.198.70.129 23:57, July 5, 2011 (UTC)
The survival skill is very important in Hardcore. The effectiveness of food and water depends on it as do the recipes that can be used. Gecko backed armor requires a survival skill of 90 to craft at a campfire, for instance.DarthOrc 02:32, July 6, 2011 (UTC)DarthOrc
- Important to you I guess, I completed the game on my first playthrough on hardcore with no points spent on survival. plenty of fridges/animals and in rare... very rare situations I would buy what I needed. which was cheap during those rare times. The perks that require survival, I will admit are nice. So you could make an argument for that, and I would concede there. Campfires aren't everywhere either. 76.198.70.129 02:49, July 8, 2011 (UTC)
If you go the survival route, you tend to FEEL more like a survivalist, you can become extremely self-sufficient with the right skills. It depends on how immersive you want to feel. Personally drinking dirty irradiated water from shit-stained toilets ruins the rp experience for my chars. Maybe I'll roll a fiend-like junkie or something... that might work ok.
Switching Characters[]
What if i have a hardcore character, i'm halfway through the game and i decide to play one of my Casual players for a bit. When i come back to my hardcore character, will my chances for the trophy/achievement be gone?
No. And remember to sign with four tidels. (~~~~) JASPER//"Do you like hurting other people?"
12:46, August 16, 2011 (UTC)
Toggling on and off[]
Quote "Hardcore mode can be toggled off at any time through the options menu. Once turned off, it can't be turned back on." Is this really accurate? I'm having no problem what so ever to toggle it off and on again. Using Steam PC version btw.Wayw4rd 00:36, November 12, 2011 (UTC)
Quickrun[]
If anyone's interested, I have a quickrun that'll get you this cheevo in a little over 2 hours. :)
PM me if you'd like to see it...
- JackFrost23 19:19, May 18, 2012 (UTC)
My Strategy[]
Hardcore more doesn't seem to make the game any harder, really. Aside from eating and drinking a bit more than usual, you just need to take into account that you can't effectively heal in the middle of a firefight. Other than that, I kept it simple:
1: Set difficulty to Very Easy. Doesn't seem to affect getting Achievements and if you just want to get this out of the way, there's no shame in avoiding some of the hassle.
2: Bump your Luck up to 10. Take Skilled and Good Natured as your base Traits, then when you hit the last-chance option outside Goodsprings, rebuild your character from scratch to double up on those bonuses. (Alternatively, you could take Skilled and Logan's Loophole, as double chem duration and no addiction is handy at low levels.) Your Tag skills should be Speech, Sneak, and Energy Weapons.
3: Round up junk in Goodsprings so you have enough caps to buy Chet's Recharger Rifle. Infinite ammo and surprisingly accurate at sniping; you won't really need any other weapon. Snag the Stealth Boy out of the Schoolhouse safe. I also recommend sticking around long enough to do ALL the local quests; yes, including the tutorial. Play your cards right and you can squeeze out three levels in just a hour, even with the 10% EXP reduction from the Skilled trait. These points can make-or-break a game at such low levels.
4: As far as leveling goes, I suggest putting half the points into Speech and splitting the rest between Sneak and Energy Weapons. For Perks, you'll want Educated as soon as it's available. Otherwise, take ranks in Intense Training and put every available point into Intelligence, to increase your leveling gain. If you make it to level 12 and put some points into Science, Robotics Expert is a good investment for two upcoming events.
4: When you're ready, head North for Sloan. Stick to the rocks lining the East side of the road and use your Stealth Boy to get past the Deathclaws as soon as they appear. Follow the rocks around East. When you see REPCONN HQ, it's smooth sailing North to Freeside.
5: If you want to grind a couple more levels, Freeside has tons of simple quests that mostly involving chatting people up, so your boosted Speech will come in handy. Yay or nay, make sure to hit Atomic Wrangler for the Blackjack table. I personally enjoy playing Blackjack, but I also find it less complicated than Roulette, less reliant on chance than Slots, and thus easier to win. Hit the limit and you'll have more than enough to pass the Strip credit check.
Optional: I made my run without companions, but if you want backup, Arcade only needs a little sweet talking to recruit and his Plasma Defender is beastly this early in the game. Just be prepared to talk him out of mutiny when you get to The Fort.
6: Go talk to House first if you must, but your priority on the Strip should once again be Blackjack. With your elevated Luck, it will be a simple matter to clean out all three of the casinos and get some loot to sell. When you feel like making a detour, hit the East Vegas Medical Clinic to buy the Sub-Dermal Armor and Monocyte Breeder implants. You can buy as many more as your END allows, or save the rest of your caps for an investment down the road (literally).
7: Go kill Benny, then follow the Yes Man quest line. All it requires is a little travel time to meet the various factions and then you can tell Yes Man that you want to ignore them all, thus skipping hours of questing. (Or you could take the time to gather allies, your choice.) For now, follow US-95 South to The Fort.
Optional: Passing through Novac has two benefits. You can recruit Boone rather easily; he's a damn good companion and his Spotter perk is always handy. But do NOT take him into Legion territory (duh). If you were smart with your money, you can also buy the MF Hyperbreeder Alpha from the gift shop. Faster and stronger than the Recharger Rifle, it cuts through light armor like a hot knife through butter. Don't ditch the rifle, though, because it's still more accurate at long range and a sneak crit headshot does enough to KO many targets.
8: Enter the Fort's bunker and upgrade your Securitrons. If you took Robotics Expert, it can come in handy here. You can hack terminals to shut down the alarms, deactivate all the (now friendly) robots, THEN kill and loot them; all easy EXP. Likewise for House's Securitrons when the time comes to kill him. (There will still be two active ones behind the sliding wall, but are easy to deal with alone.)
9: From here on, it's pretty self-explanatory. Only do the quests that you feel like doing. (When it's time to visit Red Rock Canyon, leave Vegas from the North, follow the map's upper limit to the West, then sneak along the ridge line South to avoid both Fiends and Cazadores with ease.) Tell Yes Man to ignore all the factions, then skip trying to protect Kimball. Go to the El Dorado Substation as directed and take a Stealth Boy to avoid drawing unnecessary aggro from NCR.
10. Before embarking on the endgame, I suggest that you bring several more Stealth Boys and be able to boost your Speech up to 100. The Stealth Boys and a decent Sneak will let you avoid every firefight on the Dam. The Speech is necessary to talk down Legate Lanius from a fight and put General Oliver in his place. Enjoy your Achievement/Trophy. =D
--Son Goharotto 09:20, June 28, 2012 (UTC)
Savegame bug[]
As the page describes, there is a bug when loading save games with HCM where the levels will sometimes be higher (even MUCH higher, sometimes resulting in immediate death) than they were when the save was created. However the solution listed doesn't seem to work. Reloading the save does not seem to lower the levels at all. I've done a bit of testing and hopefully someone else can try this out to see if I'm right and maybe find a solution. First of all, I'm on PC.
If you have any mod that alters the fHCDehydrationRate, fHCSleepDeprivationRate, and/or fHCStarvationRate game settings, you will be guaranteed to encounter this bug on every single load of any save game. If you have also altered the timescale and done any fast travels it seems to exacerbate the problem. I've even had cases where my character had minimal levels (<200) for all values but when loading the save he immediately dies from dehydration. Needs further testing. Perhaps there is another setting that needs to be modified in you are modifying hardcore rates.
Update: I take it back. Editing those values appears to make the problem more pronounced but even at defaults the bug appears in a vanilla game with near-100% frequency; it just isn't as noticeable when it raises dehydration from 10 to 12 as it is when it goes from 10 to 200. And reloading a save (as mentioned on the page) does not fix it. -- DeJuanNOnley (talk) 08:45, April 5, 2013 (UTC)
Calculations[]
If my numbers are right...
Without the canteen you will enter the first stage of dehydration in 1000 minutes (16.7 hours) of in-game time. You will reach the first stage of starvation 2500 minutes (61.7 hours) in game, and You will reach the first stage of sleep dep. in 5000 minutes (83.3 hours) or 3.47 days.
If you have the canteen you could possibly last as long as 5850 minutes (97.5 hours) or 4.06 days; but this number may be off depending on when exactly you drink with the calculation being on the 'safe' edge of this range and not the 'as far as you can take it' edge.
I'm noting this as I think it should be on the page, but am not exactly sure where to put it, and, for my own self reference in the future. ~Teddy 75.119.253.72 02:07, April 6, 2015 (UTC)
Cause for stuck meters and other bugs.[]
The meters for hardcore needs increase based on the GameDaysPassed variable. The hardcore needs meters aren't what is bugged, it is the GameDaysPassed variable. As this variable increases in value, it accumulates at a slower rate. I observed it accumulating at 1.5x the game time at the starting value of 5. By the time it is at 60, it is only accumulating at about 8 seconds per game minute. Once the variable reaches ~64, it stops updating in real-time. This means that the hardcore needs accumulate slower the longer the game goes on, until they freeze after ~64 days. The game still keeps track of this variable past 64, but it only updates it after waiting, sleeping, or fast traveling. It is also saved with the game, so when you load a game, it updates the variable, which is why your needs are higher after loading a save than they were when you saved it. --jimnms (talk) 00:13, July 8, 2017 (UTC)