I didn't like Boone... So i ditched him lol.

I've been using Boone ever since I nabbed him going through Novac the first time, so I've pretty much been using him since the earlier game. At first he died a bit easily (I play on hardcoe), especially to the more powerful beasties (Cazadores). Later on though when he started becoming volumes more powerful, instead of having him follow me to every bit of the way and sniping things. I usually position Boone to wait in a nice spot outside some outdoor ruins or some such that I wish to explore, and make my way in. That way, he provides some nice cover fire, but I do most of the work, which creates a very nice team feel.

After completing his companion quest, I dropped boone for a bit to try and explore the other companions. Cass died within the Silver-something place because I wished to spare her, I was saddened by the death, but hey, I got a very nice loudout of energy weapons in the process. ED-E unfortunately was dismantled near Camp Golf to Cazadores during some exploration while I still was with Boone. I'm currently wandering about with Veronica, but I doubt she'll last.

Myron was at least "ok" with a needler pistol, assuming no one attacked him. On the other hand, your hubby or wife..they were better off in the Den imo.

I did the quest at Nelson, then I went and erased the Legion from Cottonwood Cove (not sure if that helped advance his rapport with you, but he seemed to like me doing it ) and then he was willing to talk about it with me.

If you're more the silent but deadly sniper type, and don't really care for conversations with your traveling buddies, then you can't beat ED-E and Boone. You can hit enemies from afar, but also have a pretty good team when the fight gets much more up close.

The Followers upgraded ED-E's weapons and I gave Boone the sniper rifle and replaced his machete with Dead Sea's Liberator sword/machete.

Boone is a BEAST, you'd be insane not to take him, or not give him a .308 DKS-501 either.

Boone is great in wide open spaces. Arcade is a lot better in tight quarters with his default weapon. I have a mod that makes companions essential. Boone got knocked unconscious about four times on me, Arcade not once.

Boone wasn't a cardboard cutout, his taciturn nature was part of his personality. I loved when I asked him about Manny Vargas and all he had to say was "He was a good spotter."

If you actually took him as a companion and explored all his dialogue and did his companion quest, you learned a lot more about his personality and how traumatized he was. Just because someone doesn't waltz out the door spewing libraries worth of dialogue doesn't mean they don't have any characterization.

Since I haven't had Arcade as a companion yet, I haven't seen this, but Boone does get knocked unconscious from time to time. But usually with overwhelming numbers of Cazadores or Giant Radscorpions. Never against human enemies, and only once in Vault 34 (I left him and ED-E to fight the ghoul security while I attacked the Overseer).

EDIT:

Also, this...



I went with the guy to Bitter Springs, and he opens up a bit more after that. I tried to be the good guy and work with him through the trauma he suffered, but not sure how that went just yet (I think you find out at the end of the game). And of course, I shared in his hatred for the Legion. First with the attack on Nelson, where I told him that I too was ready to take out Legionnaires and the second with their raid against Bitter Springs.

Arcade Gannon needs to replace his crappy Plasma Pistol with a Gauss Rifle and wear his old Enclave Power Armor Mk.II for real. At least he's not annoying flaming g@y, he's a normal alternative lifestyle liver.

I actually had him for about 20 hours.
I had to do certain things to get "history points" with him.
That got tedious and boring.
So about 4 hours ago I just looked at his seriously serious face and was like "you know what? [censored] YOU YOU BORING PIECE OF SERIOUS [censored]!!" and then discarded him as a follower.
I don't care about the trauma or his personal history if he's going to be this boring until I aquire all history points (which I'm sure I would never do if I didn't look 'em up on the wikia) then I'm not going to bother with him.
It's like getting to ride a roller-coaster only that you have to listen to some guy giving a really boring speech for like 3 hours and actually listening to what he has to say since there'll be a quiz at the end.
Is it worth it?
Not to me.
If it was easier to unlock his backstory like Rauls then he might have been a good follower.
So, to me he is a card-board cut-out.

Actually, Boone was one of the most interesting companions in the game. Both his recruit and personal quest are fairly well written (In fact his recruitment quest is easily the best of ALL companions in terms of impact if you think about it for a second). Also he has personality. Tons of it if you pay attention.

He's clicheed. Yes. Sadly, he is the same charachter typ as Carth or Kaiden. Though he is way more interesting than both.

(Of course I can see some Gamer types hating him for very obvious and very biased reasons)

Are you playing for the NCR/helping the NCR? Cuz it's really easy to get his quests and stuff if you're doing the NCR missions (as he loves killing the Legion).

Anyway, after the Battle at Nelson, he opened up a bit, and I talked to him about going back to Bitter Springs. At first he didn't seem keen on it, so whatever. But we were staking out the flight control tower at Camp McCarran, when suddenly, out of nowhere, he talks to me about going back to Bitter Springs. I say sure, we'll do it, and we continue our stake out of the control tower. After that was done, we headed off to Bitter Springs, where ED-E, Boone and I finished the various quests for the refugee camp, as well as Boone's side-quest.

Since then he hasn't said anything new to me, but I figure there'll be more as the story progresses. Personally, I don't care much so I don't even bother talking to him right now. I concern myself more with the many other stories going on in the Wasteland, along with exploring.

Playing for NCR this time around, and I got him fairly early and took out Cottonwood and Nelson but he still won't speak more than one word to me.

Well I took Boone as I told you guys and he does have a personality you just have to find it. And we came up against some cazadores and he took them out so he is doing decent so far. And Arcade Gannon went down on me many times and I was left to fight the enemies myself which wasnt all that bad but still.

I"m getting them all.. I finally completed Boones quest.. I've got Ed-e all ready for his quest but need to finish up Veronica so I can do all the Brotherhood stuff at the same time. (no reason running back and forth.) I just need to find one more trigger for her.. but felt I needed to find and get the actual quest that took me to her trigger. Makes it feel more like a linear story by doing so instead of finding a companion and then just jumping around to do their quests. Arcade will be pretty hard for me as it looks like I've accidentally done a lot of his quest triggers already.
I find it strange that so many companions have a trigger in Nipton when you obviously get to Nipton before you get to those companions if your trying to follow the directions of the quests up until you meet most of your companions.. Obviously you don't have to go that way but I did. And running a companion back to a previously visited area doesn't seem to trigger their responses.

Give Arcade a crapload of cells and the unique Gauss rifle. He's like a nerdy version of Boone when this happens, and he talks a little more. Plus, gaining ALOT of trust with him will activate a quest with the best reward you could possibly have. Hes not to bad to have around, and I don't even think he has died on me yet (not what I can say for Cass).

YCS/186 + Lots of cells and some decent armor and Gannon and both of your survival chances are higher.

Fixed.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I like how Arcade keeps telling you how boring he is, even if he isn't really that lame to have.
"If you want to me to die a quick and painful death, this is best tactical choice" - when choosing to use melee
Keep him long enough and you get yourself the best armor available.

My thoughts exactly regarding Boone. And to be honest, this was one of the main reasons I liked him. It was an enjoyable challenge unlocking his past, and a rewarding feeling to think that I'd managed to earn the trust of someone that had shut out those closest to him. A sad story though, as he's clearly a good guy but feels he's being punished for something beyond his control. He's also a beast in a fight, picks enemies off way before I've even seen them. His perk is also very useful. Good if you're going for a sniper type character IMO.

Ed-E fix:

...just a thought.

Honest Arcade-related question: to get his latin-named quest, should I side with the NCR or Yes Man? Both seem to be 'the good guys' to me. If I pick the latter, will I still be fighting with the NCR at Hoover?

Forget Boone the Emo and Arcade the Gay its all about Raul the Mex mechanic, if you go and complete the quest where you expose Chief Hanlon and when he kills himself take his Ranger Sequoia and give it to Raul give him like 50 ammo or so and in my opinion he kills more Cazs then Boone and is more fun to be around than arcade with his arthritis and creeky knees.

I like Veronica myself. I had Boone for a bit. He's good at killing stuff, but he's a bit boring. I find that Veronica is extremely well-equipped to dish out melee damage. If you get the mod that allows her to level up (It has to be a bug that she doesn't level up without it) and give her some power armor (which she can wear without any effort on your part), then she becomes a beast. I don't worry about fighting anything other than deathclaws. Everything else I snipe, until it runs up on me. That's when Veronica runs in and punches its face off. If there are multiply enemies, they rush her and I pick them off from range. I enjoy her company as well. She does complain a lot about taking my rifle away from me everytime I use it, though. I had Cassidy for one playthrough. She is entertaining as well. I never gave her a proper weapon though, so she was weak, by comparison.

I find that entertainment quality is more important than overall combat ability. Since my character is usually combat-oriented, it becomes overkill to have someone like Boone. Plus, Boone is boring to me. The cliché doesn't bother me. I just want the guy to say more than one word. He's supposed to be a companion, not a stranger. Either warm up or [censored] off. I don't have time to tour the wasteland looking for your past life.