Deathclaws: How Can I Win Now? : Fallout: New Vegas

» Tue May 10, 2011 10:02 am

The Gauss or its special variant, the YCS(sp?) along with camping mostly out of sight and using headshot sneak criticals worked well for me (medium difficulty). I haven't tested it, but if you can lure out the mother without her getting to you, apparently killing her babies will send her into a rage where she'll attack everything (including other Deathclaws), so if she can do some of the damage for you, that might be helpful, but again I haven't tested this theory. Stay up high, keep sniping, use armor piercing where possible, and be ready with Stimpacks.

» Wed May 11, 2011 12:36 am

If you have decent explosive skill a mine or 2 should cripple their legs and from there its all down hill.

» Tue May 10, 2011 12:10 pm

Me and Boone both in T51b and both carrying AMR's w/ 200 Match rounds.
We walked through the quarry, got a dozen Deathclaw eggs, and I got some alone time with Red Lucy.

» Tue May 10, 2011 3:59 pm

I killed everything in there at level ten with the unique varmint rifle, sniped the hell out of everything from the Khan encampent untill the mom and alpha were gone then I charged in with Love and Hate. As to why it is so close to the begining is to give players a sense of reality. the game dosent hold your hand like FO3 and people warn you about that highway, whether or not you listen to their advice may get you killed.

» Tue May 10, 2011 8:56 pm

It's been said before....get into a place they either: a. Can't see you; or b. Can't get to you. Then snipe them in the head...preferably with either a sniper rifle or AMR or the energy weapon equivalent.

Teasing one to come to you so you can set up a mass attack with your npc's only works if there is only one deathclaw. If you attract a few, you better grow wings and learn to fly real fast....

» Tue May 10, 2011 8:15 pm

Lure them away with pineapple juice. Deathclaws LOVE pineapple juice.

Of course, why wouldn't they? But the problem is it's NEVADA. There are no pineapples in NEVADA.

» Tue May 10, 2011 3:31 pm

easiest solution to beat packs of deathclaws without help of companions and without using VATS at all:

Super Slam perk + Super Sledge + a few doses of Turbo

» Tue May 10, 2011 4:36 pm

Don’t sweat it though, and maybe lvl up a bit. With the right guns/ammo (AMT helps a lot) and the right build, you’ll be able to take all comers.

I can one shot’em with a sniper rifle now and if a few get close, it can be a fight, but no real problem.

Yup...that's about how it goes. It's all about gear, skill lvls/build and approach.

» Wed May 11, 2011 1:04 am

Gauss rifle: Apply directly to the forehead.

The sneakier the better. Massive base damage + Head damage mult + Sneak attack mult = Deathclaw brain pudding.

» Tue May 10, 2011 5:29 pm

Gauss rifle: Apply directly to the forehead.

The sneakier the better. Massive base damage + Head damage mult + Sneak attack mult = Deathclaw brain pudding.

Missles from the top of the rock crusher = dead beasties.

» Tue May 10, 2011 12:05 pm

Really? I've not paid much attention to the Survival menu. There are only so many skill points I can use and they go towards skills like Science, Speech, Lockpick and Guns.

But unless the poison can be applied to a thrown/fired weapon, it will not serve my needs against Deathclaws.

There are several poisons which can be crafted, each more powerful that previous and requiring skill accordingly. And they can be applied to thrown weapons.

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:46 pm

I did the quarry at level 6. Ratslayer and a metric ton of 5.56mm ammo and patience enough to watch a bucket of paint dry up

» Tue May 10, 2011 10:25 pm

About them being close to the start, did you notice all the signs between the Goodsprings Cemetery and Yangtze Memorial that said 'Deathclaws Ahead!' That was gentle hint not to go north at a low level.

» Tue May 10, 2011 4:16 pm

Gauss rifle with Max-charge rounds will blow the head off of any deathclaw if you get a sneak critical off (well minus the Legendary of course).
Just remember to keep weapon repair kits on you because max-charge rounds WRECK your gun.

Outside VATS, anyways. Inside VATS, the Gauss Rifle is as useful as a paperweight.

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:33 pm

To a thrown weapon apply either Bleak Venom (10 seconds of -15hp per second), or if you have to, Mother Darkness or Silver Sting. Tremble is of little use against them, though it works wonders on anything that uses weapons instead of claws.

If you feel really brave, put the Bleak Venom on a Shishkebab, and watch them wither from the fire and poison. Just hope you're really good at hit and run tactics.

» Tue May 10, 2011 10:30 pm

get the anti-material rifle, they become molerats

AND leave your companions at home so they don't do something stupid. You can kill ALL the deatclaws from the hillside with an AMR.

» Tue May 10, 2011 1:00 pm

Or, travel down I-15 and Nipton, the turn and go up to Novac, and don't face Deathclaws at all.

» Tue May 10, 2011 4:37 pm

Or, travel down I-15 and Nipton, the turn and go up to Novac, and don't face Deathclaws at all.

Where's the fun in that?

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:15 pm

Let's not ask "why'd they put it so close to Goodsprings?" let's say "thanks Obsidian for having the balls to put a really brutal, challenging area very close to where the PC starts out." God forbid game developers don't hold your widdle hand and let you call mommy if you die a lot.

Second of all, you don't need to ever go to this area. You don't need to kill a single Deathclaw ever. Just avoid it if it's too hard and move on.

Finally, this area is actually quite easy. As others have pointed out, there are numerous areas where you can perch yourself with a good gun like the Sniper or Anti-Materiel and just pick them off with impunity.

» Tue May 10, 2011 11:08 am

Let's not ask "why'd they put it so close to Goodsprings?" let's say "thanks Obsidian for having the balls to put a really brutal, challenging area very close to where the PC starts out."

It's also worth pointing out that if you actually talk to the NPCs in Goodsprings (cuz this is like, a roleplaying game and stuff) they will tell you that going north is a bad idea. And you'll be told again when you get to the worker's camp near the quarry. And even if you don't talk to anybody at all, there's still signs posted every fifty feet that say "Danger!".

So, I really have no sympathy for low-level players that ran into the deathclaws. The developers took reasonable precautions to protect you from your mistakes.

» Tue May 10, 2011 1:29 pm

I tried to run across the area towards Vegas. I got about half way before three Deathclaws mauled me to death

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:32 pm

So, I think I'll create a topic which will create less flame upon myself than my last one, and talk about actual gameplay.

Here's what my tactic was in the quarry. I had Lily and ED-E with me, and I'm not in hardcoe mode, so they won't die. I was at 100 in Energy Weapons and Guns. I would sneak from far away, and fire my Marksman Carbine with Armor piercing rounds, so as to attract one Deathclaw at a time. This worked for a while. I would shoot it as it ran down the ledge, Lilly would intercept and do what she could, then it would kill ED-E, and by this time I have my special Plasma Rifle (forget the name) and I'm unloading on the bastard. (And plasma, apparently, is no good against the super skin they have, either.)

Then I snuck deeper into the quarry. I saw the Alpha Male, so I did the sneaking lure trick. Suddenly every Deathclaw in the area comes down upon me at once, killing Lily within a single swing of her sword and ED-E got swatted down like a fly. And here I am with an army of the two alphas and two or three more Deathclaws besides hitting me over and over at high speeds, killing me almost instantly.

I even went back to Very Easy just to get trough this, to no avail. I used Med-X, Psycho, you name it. What am I doing wrong? Is there a trick? Or are the Deathclaws just plain broken now? And why can't armor piercing rounds beat the damage treshold of bare skin? Bullets go through alligators like butter, so I don't think Deathclaws should have super skin. Or if they should, how can they move like cheetahs on Jet!?

Sneak from far away and use anti-material gun or fully modded Sniper. I don't like to attack Deathclaws up close, love cherry picking quite and snipping mode. lol :gun:

» Tue May 10, 2011 11:11 am

I tried to run across the area towards Vegas. I got about half way before three Deathclaws mauled me to death

In Goodsprings, I usually come out of it with 2 stealth boys. Keeping to the right hand side of the road, and popping a stealth boy if things get too close for comfort, I successfully snuck to Vegas at level 2. Just don't try to fight anything,

» Tue May 10, 2011 6:00 pm

Sic a http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=35484 on 'em. Yeah it's pretty OP, but man is it fun. Plus the ammo (.45-70) is as common as chicken teeth, so it keeps it in check.

Also, there's a number of spots you can use to take them out where they cant get to you, although hopping into the beds of the dump trucks and trying to kill them is a bad plan--they cant climb in but they attack right through it. Most of the machinery is high enough that if you get on the top of it you can point blank them in the face with whatever.

Don't waste your time with the standard energy weapons, even the DT reduction ammo is just a waste. Also, I've found Hollow Point conventional ammo to be pretty worthless against them as well. Armor piercing .308, .50, .45-70 (the hand loads anyway, or even the standard, not HP).

Crippling the legs doesn't seem to slow them down anymore, so if you get caught in open ground just run like a mad bastard and look for something to get on top of. Their pathing is pretty bad, so you can usually get some space if there are even minor obstacles in the way.

» Tue May 10, 2011 11:52 pm

So, I think I'll create a topic which will create less flame upon myself than my last one, and talk about actual gameplay.

Here's what my tactic was in the quarry. I had Lily and ED-E with me, and I'm not in hardcoe mode, so they won't die. I was at 100 in Energy Weapons and Guns. I would sneak from far away, and fire my Marksman Carbine with Armor piercing rounds, so as to attract one Deathclaw at a time. This worked for a while. I would shoot it as it ran down the ledge, Lilly would intercept and do what she could, then it would kill ED-E, and by this time I have my special Plasma Rifle (forget the name) and I'm unloading on the bastard. (And plasma, apparently, is no good against the super skin they have, either.)

Then I snuck deeper into the quarry. I saw the Alpha Male, so I did the sneaking lure trick. Suddenly every Deathclaw in the area comes down upon me at once, killing Lily within a single swing of her sword and ED-E got swatted down like a fly. And here I am with an army of the two alphas and two or three more Deathclaws besides hitting me over and over at high speeds, killing me almost instantly.

I even went back to Very Easy just to get trough this, to no avail. I used Med-X, Psycho, you name it. What am I doing wrong? Is there a trick? Or are the Deathclaws just plain broken now? And why can't armor piercing rounds beat the damage treshold of bare skin? Bullets go through alligators like butter, so I don't think Deathclaws should have super skin. Or if they should, how can they move like cheetahs on Jet!?

Just stay up on the rocks where they can't get you and snipe.