After 2 weeks of playing this game almost exclusively, (Undead Nightmere getting ready for The Walking Dead premiere), I have decided that the actual Wasteland itself is one of the greatest improvements in the game, as in it's actually dangerous. I'm now level 17, and still, I am afraid and constantly saving while walking from place to place.
Cazadores, Deathclaws, Giant Radscorpions, all of them own me. I specifically did a lot of Freeside and Strip quests to level up, trying to be able to kill the group of Cazadores in front of Vault 22, and still am getting massacred out in the wild. Now I've just re-taken Nelson and there is a group of Legion Assassin's who kill Cass, Rex and I in about 3 minutes tops (usually much much less). I literally can't even walk the outskirts of the wasteland without running into them, so it's back to civilized areas for me, and instead of being frustrated by my lack of progress, and inability to do quests I want, or even reach Jacobstown, I am so pumped and motivated to burn through these fetch and talk quests so I can hopefully manage to kill these bastards and get out there again.
Is this game ever not a challenge out in the wastes, or is ot like FO3 where eventually the only things that even give me trouble are overinflated bulletsponge monsters like the Super Mutant Overlord and Feral Ghoul Reaver? I hope it's the former, always on the look for and afraid of Deathclaws and Cazadores, especially in groups. I really can't even say how much I love the addition of the cazadore. It's flitting insect like motion before it spots you, combined with it's flight and size and tendency to run in groups make it a fearsome contender for the deadliest creature in the wasteland title, currently held by the deathclaw. I can't even decide which I fear more, at this point I think it's the cazadores, simply because in my experiance so far in the wasteland, i've only encountered one area on the map with deathclaws, which I avoid at all costs, whereas there are many areas I have seen cazadores pop up, usually much to my consternation as I limp back towards a town, looking for a doctor.
Thanks Obsidian, for not having Raiders be the most promient threat (and one easily oversome by level 5) out in the wasteland, it really changes the atmosphere of the game, making it feel as there is really a difference between civilization and the wasteland.

I tend to agree even though there are ways you can find out to deal with these threats pretty reliably. On the whole, the wasteland feels much more dangerous than in F3. Even at higher levels, where I could handle some critters quite well, I still pretty much crept around some of the more dangerous areas. Because if you get reckless and get swarmed, it's gonna hurt a *lot*.

Also, I love the fact that the wasteland seems to have more "territories" now for lack of a better word. No more standing on top of a mountain, looking around and seeing a protectron, single radscorpion and some other critter just sorta milling about in the same general areas. For the most part, animals (and humans) really have their own places that they haunt.

By level 17 you should be able to handle Radscorps in small groups (2 or even 3 if not giant). The stinking wasps are a little tougher in groups, but wing shots are VERY effective in preventing them from killing you.

Death Claws are still a problem at level 30 if in groups of more that 3 - singles usually not an issue IF you can see it coming in time

The deadliest monster should change somewhat by character, but for most I'm pretty sure it would be the cazador. I can theoretically see someone with a focus on explosives having an easier time with them than with deathclaws, but that's only a hypothesis. I'm pretty sure they're Bethesda's answer to the unstoppable sniper, and as a stealth sniper they are certainly effective in that role.

As for whether or not it stops being a challenge, I'm sure some highly skilled min-maxers can plow through everything with ease, but I personally kept having to watch myself. The AM rifle is fantastic for popping the first cazador, and once you're 30 young ones are pretty much cake, but a pack of big ones at a campsite I wanted to clear proved the only time I ever had to drug up to win a fight. The deathclaws in Quarry Junction can be picked off a bit at a time, or knocked out from extreme range on the top ledge if you can sneak through or come in from the back side (where the Khan Melissa is). I do agree that having to stick to civilized areas when you're still lower level is a very smart play by the dev team. It's not like you don't have challenges there (see: raider ambush at a random trailer).

I should note that because of my FO3 experience, I played most of the game without a companion, and never fought cazadors with one. I think Veronica at 30 (fixed via PC patch) could make them considerably easier, possibly Boone as well with an actual sniper rifle and plenty of .308 ammo. I did clear a deathclaw cave with Boone, and he was very useful at the end of it- most of the way I just sniped them from stealth, so he rarely got a shot off.

Radscorpions are no longer really an issue, although I haven't seen a large one in while. I thought I had cazadores managed with my flamethrower I acquired specifically for dealing with them, but just yesterday, I tried for about an hour to fast travel to the caravan wreakage north of Vault 22 so I could bring Rex to Jacobstown. Everytime I came out of the fast travel loading screen, Cass, Rex and I were immediately attacked by a group of about 5 or 6 cazadores, young and old alike. No matter how many times I tried, I could not kill them all without one or both of my companions dying. My biggest problem right now is that I just got Rex instead of ED-E, it's much harder to use dynamite, which was always my fallback for tough enemies, because now I end up killing Rex too.

Can't you fast travel to a relatively nearby location? Cazadors are much easier to handle if you get the drop on them.

As an Unarmed person (level 16) I fear Cazadors quite badly, walking up behind Goodsprings, down the hill, past Khan territory (red rock) and along the mountain ridges the otherside of the mountain of NCR Foxtrot made me cry so much

Where there is about 4 or so of them, they take you down in a blink of an eye, I'm not proficient in explosives, but I resorted to using some I coincidently had on me. They swarm you so fast and pack an unexpected punch.

Only seen 1/2 Deathclaws so far (young and normal) which were pretty easy, although it was scary seeing the big one charge at me.

I agree that the wasteland has been made much harder than in FO3. I also agree that it's a bit cooler, although there's a lot of places which are really hard to reach! I'd wish for some kind of killer-weapon that could just take the cazadores out, 'cause I really enjoyed the exploring in FO3, just going around and look at the post-apocalyptic environment where I was actually ABLE to kill an enemy if needed to! Anyway, I haven't been playing the game much, I guess I'm about lvl 17 now, I hope it'll get a bit better when I'm reaching the higher levels. It's not that I do not enjoy the challenge, it's more that when I die for the 5th time, trying to get to a certain place, I'm getting a bit.. Irritated.

Displacer Glove destroy Cazadors, but pre-caution is always better.

DeathClaws are deadly, really deadly. I now remember places hell a lot better thanks to them......

Whats the Displacer Glove?

If legion assasins are giving you trouble at level 17, you don't have the correct build/gear, period. I was attacked by legion assasins at like level 12 and I ripped them apart. Giant radscrops, Deathclws, and cazadors can be hard low- mid level if they get the drop on you only. If you see em far away, you snipe them, thats it. You can easily get This Machine any time you want, and that kills cazadors with ease. 2 shots to a wing, they are crippled, and you can walk backwards and kill them with a bb gun if you like. You should have guns and repair up high, even a fully repaired cowboy repeater with high guns skill will take down all the creatures your mentioned minus mature deathclaws in a few hits to the right areas.

I don't know what your build is or what weapons you are using... but once I got a sniper rifle for sniping and This Machine (again, very easy to acquire) game became easy. Once you have 100 gun skill, anti material rifle for sniping and light machine gun close, everythings a complete joke. Mature deathclaws go down in 1 headshot.

If you want, I can tell you how to get combat armor very early.. thats whats great a bout a sandbox game, you can go anywhere when you want to. This Machine quest can be googled and 50 sites will tell you how.

BTW, if your melee you can afford to put some points into guns and snipe cazadors etc. I have so many points with 6 int that by the 20's it just didnt matter anymore where I put them, guns, energy weapons, explosives speech scince medicine repair are all either capped or as high as you need them (speech caps at 70 for example, + 30 from magazine, beer, clothing etc.)

Per Wikia:

The Displacer creates a large white ring similar to the one made by the Gauss Rifle upon impact, both dealing a large amount of damage and pushing a player back.


* Held by Caesar

* Can be purchased from Knight Torres and carried by many of the scribes in the Hidden Valley Bunker

* Can be purchased from the Gun Runners

* Can be purchased in the office levels of the Hoover Dam

Or rush to Red Ruby Mine for Pushy

Having NPC freinds like Veronica with "Oh-Baby" and of course the immortal ED-E helps reduce the dangers of walking alone. I am particularly grateful that Obsidian did make the wasteland much more difficult as FO3 was a real joke.

I agree with you 100%. I thought F3 was rather scary at low levels, but I got to level 30 with ease and nothing could stop me.

Now new vegas I'm only level 10 so far, and the legion gives me the hardest time out of anything else, and I haven't even started fighting deathclaws yet (mainly upon the fact that I haven't found any) Those bug guys don't give me too much trouble. I once saved and ran into a camp of them and got completely destroyed so Now I'm safe when it comes to them, take them out one by one to avoid a swarm. Thats what I like about NV so much. I'm your typical halo player, running and gunning.. This changes everything as now I'm getting more tactical. I love it.