Starting at Level 20 or 2?

[xLostTrophies]

Was thinking about starting this game. Was wondering if there was any gameplay or trophy related problems using the start at level 20 option? Also if theres any reason I should start at level 2 over level 20.

[Waspfarmer]

11 minutes ago, xLostTrophies said:

Was thinking about starting this game. Was wondering if there was any gameplay or trophy related problems using the start at level 20 option? Also if theres any reason I should start at level 2 over level 20.

no reason atall , go for 2 or 20, i know alot more opens at level 20 , npc quests etc, level 2 might be the prologue but i cant think of anything else, been awhile since playing as a new charc

[xLostTrophies]

6 hours ago, Waspfarmer said:

no reason atall , go for 2 or 20, i know alot more opens at level 20 , npc quests etc, level 2 might be the prologue but i cant think of anything else, been awhile since playing as a new charc

Presumably I would have to do those prologue quests anyway due to trophies being tied to them? Which is why I wonder if theres any point of picking 20.

[Waspfarmer]

On 1/29/2024 at 8:13 PM, xLostTrophies said:

Presumably I would have to do those prologue quests anyway due to trophies being tied to them? Which is why I wonder if theres any point of picking 20.

without looking it up , to start the story mode with some npc's level 20 is needed but its good to start at 2 anyway to get your trophys ofc and to get a feel for the game, hope u enjoy it as much as i did

[HuntingFever]

If you're a brand new player, start at level 2 so you get the full experience and are able to learn as you go but if you're a returning player, start at Lv 20.

[cobaltTangerine]

I started at level 20, have put in about 3 or 4 hours, and the only issue I've had so far is running into a group of 3 supermutants. All of the mechanics are rather overwhelming initially, even being a Fallout Vet, but that would have been the case regardless of level. I think the level thing is to get the game moving sooner than later.

[Shiinjitsu]

Always recommend starting as a fresh low level player. It makes sense. Since you load into the world with barely anything. Makes the game feel more real. 

It just feel weird to start at lv 20, with armor, weapons, and certain build already built. It feels cheap and not earned. Especially if it's your first play playthrough.

 

 

If your planning to use a second character, then it makes sense to create a level 20 player to skip most the grinding. 

[Vault-TecPhantom]

I’m going for the 100% on xbox and only have the Crater campaign achievement left. As this requires a second character, I decided to start with the level 20 boost this time so I can speed through the Wastelanders quest line as quickly as possible.

 

If you’re a new player you should definitely start at level 2. Folks upthread have already mentioned that you miss out on the full experience and discovery of what works for you (and what doesn't) if you use the boost, but there is another element to this: Even as a veteran, Level 20 boost feels awkward because it gives you a predetermined loadout and half of it are quality-of-life perks - like weight management and resource gathering - stuff I personally consider to be a waste around this level.

 

You need all max damage outputs and resistances possible at your current level to compete with the ever scaling enemies since they're building their own resistance too. Once you get to level 30ish, every card not directly related to power, health and swiftness puts you at a disadvantage and you want to start prepping for that accordingly.  Before hard enemy scaling, you could get away with forgoing damage output for QOL cards because your level was doing the heavy lifting. Not anymore. The loadout even gave me a maxed out lone wanderer which is not helpful since I always join public teams for the XP boost, even though I am soloing. Then there's the fact that you don’t have the armour sets that you would acquire naturally by exploring and questing, and the default armour it gives you feels more appropriate for a level 1 character. The SPECIAL distribution is very good (at least for two-handed; didn’t look at the others) but they really should have allowed the player to choose their own perk cards.

 

 

And getting a chainsaw is a nightmare. I don’t know if this is related to using the boost or if I am just incredibly unlucky this time round. I’ve always been able to find a chainsaw at my level, but on this character I went to all the chainsaw spawn locations and, in the rare instance I could get one, they were too high level for me to equip. I can't work out if it's because the game likes to spawn good weapons that are out of reach, level wise, to give you something to work for (I believe I got the level 20 chainsaw when I was below level 20 on my first xbox character), or if it's because other high level players had already been in the area (and weapons scale to the first person who is near it). The modded baseball bat and golf club is getting me by since the loadout came with cards that increase the speed of two-handed weapons, but I need that chainsaw to deal with tougher enemies like Super Mutants more swiftly. I don’t know why Bethesda can’t just make it craftable.

Edited 16 hours ago by Vault-TecPhantom

[HuntingFever]

13 minutes ago, Vault-TecPhantom said:

I’m going for the 100% on xbox and only have the Crater campaign achievement left. As this requires a second character, I decided to start with the level 20 boost this time so I can speed through the Wastelanders quest line as quickly as possible.

 

If you’re a new player you should definitely start at level 2. Folks upthread have already mentioned that you miss out on the full experience and discovery of what works for you (and what doesn't) if you use the boost, but there is another element to this: Even as a veteran, Level 20 boost feels awkward because it gives you a predetermined loadout and half of it are quality-of-life perks - like weight management and resource gathering - stuff I personally consider to be a waste around this level.

 

You need all max damage outputs and resistances possible at your current level to compete with the ever scaling enemies since they're building their own resistance too. Once you get to level 30ish, every card not directly related to power, health and swiftness puts you at a disadvantage and you want to start prepping for that accordingly.  Before hard enemy scaling, you could get away with forgoing damage output for QOL cards because your level was doing the heavy lifting. Not anymore. The loadout even gave me a maxed out lone wanderer which is not helpful since I always join public teams for the XP boost, even though I am soloing. Then there's the fact that you don’t have the armour sets that you would acquire naturally by exploring and questing, and the default armour it gives you feels more appropriate for a level 1 character. The SPECIAL distribution is very good (at least for two-handed; didn’t look at the others) but they really should have allowed the player to choose their own perk cards.

 

 

And getting a chainsaw is a nightmare. I don’t know if this is related to using the boost or if I am just incredibly unlucky this time round. I’ve always been able to find a chainsaw at my level, but on this character I went to all the chainsaw spawn locations and, in the rare instance I could get one, they were too high level for me to equip. I can't work out if it's because the game likes to spawn good weapons that are out of reach, level wise, to give you something to work for (I believe I got the level 20 chainsaw when I was below level 20 on my first xbox character), or if it's because other high level players had already been in the area (and weapons scale to the first person who is near it). The modded baseball bat and golf club is getting me by since the loadout came with cards that increase the speed of two-handed weapons, but I need that chainsaw to deal with tougher enemies like Super Mutants more swiftly. I don’t know why Bethesda can’t just make it craftable.

If you have the Atoms, buy the Auto-Axe plans from the Atomic Shop .

Edited 16 hours ago by HuntingFever
Update.

[Buff_Cupcake]

On 2/3/2024 at 2:41 PM, HuntingFever said:

If you're a brand new player, start at level 2 so you get the full experience and are able to learn as you go but if you're a returning player, start at Lv 20.

 +1 to this, I started at level 2 and I definitely feel like I was eased into the game and it's mechanics more smoothly.

[Vault-TecPhantom]

2 hours ago, HuntingFever said:

If you have the Atoms, buy the Auto-Axe plans from the Atomic Shop .

I don't have enough atoms otherwise that would have been the first thing I did.

 

EDIT: Just remembered that the auto axe is shared across all characters so was able to craft a level 25 auto axe, cheers HuntingFever.

Still, it's not as good as the flaming chainsaw with the dual bar at this stage.  🫤

Edited 13 hours ago by Vault-TecPhantom

[kkulifay]

A lot of great feedback here.  After reading this thread, I started at level 2 and have been loving the slow play so far. It feels extremely rewarding earning your way up rather than skipping nearly 20 levels. 
 

Confession- I did have a $20 PS gift card, so I loaded up on atoms and purchased both the ‘cold shoulder’ and ‘auto axe’ plans right off the gate. I don’t typically support micro transactions but the GC was a random gift and I purchased them to save me a ton of time in preparation for the notorious Pitt DLC trophy. Come to find out that I can craft these two super powerful weapons until level 15 and 20, but that still doesn't make me regret my decision to start at level 2. 
 

In a matter of casually playing for a couple days, I’m already at a lvl 12 and it’s been a BLAST so far! Mostly following the campion and joining as many public events while being on casual teams generates a lot of XP. The community has been so damn good to me too when they see my low level character.  I can’t wait to pay it forward when I reach the top to new players down the road. 

Edited 13 hours ago by kkulifay