Fallout 3: Enemies
From Play It Hardcore
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Animals
In general, animal and bug enemies are pretty straight forward. Their AI intelligence isn't incredibly high, so mines are a good tactic in most situations. Taking them out at range is generally preferred as their combat damage is usually quite high.
Radroach
They're giant cockroaches. They're more likely to leave you alone or run away from you. Tap the quick-swap button of the weapon you've currently got equipped and simply punch them for an easy kill. There's absolutely no reason whatsoever to waste ammo against them.
Molerats
Slightly more dangerous than radroaches. They often move in small packs. You can deal with them by shooting them in the head before they get to you. Two swings from a decent melee weapon will usually kill them off, or you can whack them with the Repellant Stick from the Wilderness Survival Guide quest and wait 5 seconds to watch their heads explode! Science is fun!
Bloatfly
A giant fly that spits stuff at you. Shoot them with whatever you have lots of ammo for. You can probably stab it with a knife and not take more than 10hp of damage.
Dogs
Dogs are one of the more dangerous animal enemies you encounter early on. They're fast, they're mean, and they're always hostile to you. Use a hunting rifle from long range and a shotgun at close range. If you've got enough AP for two swings of a melee weapon in VATS, you might want to give that a try as that should take a dog down no problem. As they are so quick, however, it's easier to stick with guns.
Giant Ants
They have some tough armor, but a hunting rifle round or 2 can deal with them. You can probably melee them with a decent weapon if you wanted to.
Giant Soldier Ant
Tougher than the Giant Ant, but weaker than the Rad Scorpion and with more weak points.
Fire Ants
For all Fire Ants, you should take the precaution of staying far away from them. They have a fairly potent fire attack that has quite the range. You'll be surprised at how far they will spray it. They aren't the best when it comes to aiming, so if they do launch fire at you, duck to the side and back away. They aren't terribly fast, and if you cripple a leg they will crawl, so there's no excuse for getting killed by these guys. They are divided into four types. They can drop Fire Ant Nectar, which gives you a temporary 25% resistance to fire.
Fire Ant Workers
These guys are fairly weak. Two headshots with a hunting rifle will dispatch them, or a few 10mm headshots.
Fire Ant Soldiers
Tougher than the Workers, they are larger and take quite a bit more to drop. You will want to start firing on them first. It's rare you encounter them in groups so Frenzying them doesn't do much. Just aim for the head, and if they get too close switch to taking out a limb and backing off.
Fire Ant Warriors
Signficantly tougher than the Soldiers in terms of defense, these guys will take a lot of fire power to kill. You can count on needing numerous blasts from an Assault Rifle or Combat Shotgun. Don't bother taking these guys on with the Hunting Rifle or the 10mm unless you can cripple a leg and then kite them to death by staying out of fire range.
Fire Ant Nest Guardians
More or less the same as Soldiers, but marginally tougher. Don't even think of using a 10mm or Hunting Rifle on them. The Combat Shotgun is effect, as is the Assault Rifle if you get in a lot of criticals. There's only five of these in the game, and the environment lends itself to using mines on them, so don't be afraid of doing such.
Radscorpion
These are a pain in the ass, really. They don't have a targetable weak point, and they move faster than you expect them to. They also have the ability to poison you for a bit of damage over the next few seconds. VATS is next to worthless against them simply because it's extremely difficult to hit their legs while they are charging you head on and crippling any of their other body parts doesn't help you at all. Simply keep backpeddling and shooting away with whatever is on hand until they drop.
Giant Radscorpion
A beefier, faster version of the Radscorpion. They take a lot of firepower to exterminate and don't have any real weak points. In the early stages of the game, do your best to avoid these. The same strategy applies as regular radscorpions: backpeddle and fire away. If you notice them before they notice you, lay down a small minefield to cripple their legs else they will be much, much faster than you.
Mirelurk
When you see them the first time, you'll probably think they're the FO3 equivalent of mudcrabs from Oblivion, since they have the same coloration and markings, but stand on two legs. Short form of the story: They aren't. These guys rape you. Only their face is vulnerable to any kind of damage, so VATS or really awesome aim is crucial. They like to move in such a way that if you're above them or even on level ground, you can't target their face until they are very close. They're extremely territorial and run so fast you need a light load on your back to get away. Also, don't think that closing a door between you and them will protect you, as they know how to open doors. They also know how to move between zones if they are hostile to you.
Never ever, ever use a melee weapon on them (unless you've got something strong enough to take them down in very few hits. You can kill one with relative ease using a Shiskebab, saving you both the effort of scrambling around like a retard and a few thousand rounds of ammo). If you see one, never let it out of your sight until you've killed it, or run way far away from it. They drop Mirelurk Meat, which is probably the single best food you can get in terms of HP/rads ratio, outside of pure water.
Basic Strategy: Hit them in the face with a hunting or sniper rifle as soon as you have a decent chance of hitting their face. At close range use a combat shotgun. If you can get a sneak attack on them, go for the legs rather than the face, as crippling a leg will reduce their speed dramatically. Don't bother crippling their arms.
Real-time Combat: If you run backwards while aiming at them, the shotgun is not too difficult to hit them in the face with. If you're only facing 1-3, you can probably shotgun them all in the face to death while running backwards before they can catch up to you. Just be cautious of where you are running. Mines can also tear up a Mirelurk's legs very rapidly, making it easier for you to get away or kite them to death.
Most effective weapon: Mines! The fun thing about Mirelurks is that they are stupid. Even if they watch you lay down the mine, they still end up tripping it.
Mirelurk Hunters
They are to regular Mirelurks what Fire Ant Soldiers are to regular Fire Ant Workers. They take much longer to bring down and are quite a bit faster. The same strategies apply, though.
Mirelurk King
I haven't personally encountered one of these. They only show up once you get to high levels, and are quite dangerous. They have significant amounts of HP and inflict about 50 HP per strike, plus they have a ranged attack. As you will be a high level by the time you actually encounter them, you should be well-enough equipped to handle them.
Nukalurk
A variant of the Mirelurk that you will discover in the Nuka-Cola Factory. There are two varities. The smaller of the two is nothing, and dies just as easy as a Mirelurk can. A few Shotgun Shells to the face will dispatch them without trouble. The other kind is much larger and much more powerful than it's smaller brother and the standard Mirelurk. It'll withstand a lot more punishment, taking three times as much to put it down. Luckily, there aren't very many of these.
Yao Guai
For low and mid-level characters, this guy can be very deadly. They are one of the fastest creatures in the game, capable of closing a gap like you wouldn't believe. They also do tremendous melee damage, rivaling the Deathclaw for melee ferocity. Because they move so fast it can often be hard to hit their legs before they reach you. The only real upside is that these guys don't have a lot of hitpoints, and their head is quite vulnerable. If you see one moving towards you, don't even think, just pull out your Combat Shotgun and start pumping rounds right at its face. These things can do tremendous damage, even with very high DR.
- If you catch one unaware, you may want to cripple a leg if you have a clean shot. With a crippled leg they move very slow, and it only takes 1-3 Hunting Rifle rounds to do it.
Back to Fallout 3.
