Levels are a bit missrepresenting in FO but without spoiling: can an early, lvl 8 character with 50-50 in science-lockpicking handle DM or should I wait for lvl 15 and 100-100 ?

you will probably get killed by the collar and traps than by the enemies, but i recommended that you wait and level up and if you invest in energy weapons or melee it would make things a lot easier

Lvl. 1

I bet you can do it. Just avoid Ghost People, there are some situations where you can just run away from them and avert them that way, so yeah. Science and Lockpicking sounds ideal, too.

I'd wait until you had them at 75, especially Lockpick. There are a number of Hard locks and a few hard terminals.

there are enough magazines lying around, so if you have Comprehension I think it's doable with 55 Lockpick/Science (or 65 if you dont have Comprehension)

You can use the Holorifle at its full potential with an Energy Weapons skill of 50.

Over Lvl.25 with 75 science and lock pick skills.

Also some perks will help in Dead Money.

Rad Child, Light Step, Better Critical, Rad Resistance, Computer Whiz, and Infiltrator.

A few other Skills suggestions:
A decent Melee (helpful for dealing with a Skill Check in the end), Sneak and Explosives are helpful for those with gold greed.

That skill check was ******* bull****. I'm a master of science, explosives, repair, lockpick, guns, i have 10 luck and intelligence, 8 strength and i just stand there like a dumb*** because i punch like a girl.

I hear ya. First time through, I was pissed.

I think that it can at least be completed at any level really, if it get's hard, "try, try and try again", that is what I say. But OT I think that 50-50 Science and Lockpick are quite sufficient, you'll level up several times too I would imagine so you can pour points into them if there is a hardlock you just have to get past .

You do not need to be a melee/unarmed specialist to play Dead Money. I go in with Guns 75, I shoot those stupid ghost people right in the head, and if I don't get a nice satisfying bloody pop, then I whip out a knife and hack them up when they're down. Do you know how much Melee skill you need to kill a Ghost when it's down on the ground? ZERO. You just need a knife and the will to use it and your skill with it absolutely does not matter.

I'll say it again:

You. Do not need. To be. A melee/unarmed specialist. To play Dead Money.

As for skills and level... what do you want? Do you want to clean the DLC out and get everything there is to get? If yes, then you really want Science at 75. Do you want to save all the companions? If yes, then you really want Speech at 75. Combat-wise, you want a 75 in *something* related to kicking ass, whether it be Guns, Energy Weapons, Unarmed, or Melee. Now, I'll go ahead and reiterate again (yeah, it's redundant *twice* now): you do not need to specialize in Unarmed or Melee. Guns do the job just fine if you're good enough with them.

If you don't care about cleaning out everything or saving anybody, then you can go in at any level with any skill. Just be prepared to get your ass handed to you if you can't fight.

Tell that to the turret control box thingy in the vault.

Well, considering that all my level 30+ characters are melee/unarmed specialists, I'm stuck with it. It is a lot easier to do the DLC this way though.

Sure, if you're a Guns person and actually pick up the .308 holotape. Otherwise, you are ******. Trying to do the entire DLC with the Police Pistol = not fun.

Holorifle does wonders, and the various amount of explosives do their job well. It's just that you basically need to get that holotape for Guns-only playthroughs.

And no, don't ask how I missed it. All I'm gonna say is: There's too much stuff on the floor in Dead Money.

I'd say about level 20 but if you want to do it now go for it, could be a pretty cool challenge. Hell i might go try that now.

Thanks for the advices. I started and reach the following conclusions:
1. at least 75 in the problemssolving skills.
2. I'd say the same for your combat skill. Two seperate combatskills doesnt hurt, went with Guns and started learning a lil Melee.
I noticed people talking favoribly about Energy but I cant see how they survive on the few e-packs I found. Unless you have 1-shot-1-kill ability *shrug*
Explosives svcked as per usual in NV. Oh , FO3 how I miss you... What I ment was its hard to get any bombs to expode with.
3. hardcoe was actually harder then softcoe, given the scarcity of good food and clean water. Junkfood and toiletts can work for some.... I am actually stuck with an alcohol addiction I cant shake, so I am drunk a lot...
4. No suggestions about perks but I actually used Math Wrath in a conversation!

About the game as such... so far its gloomy, desperate and hard. Not sure I like it, or at least not in long sessions. Being on edge tires me.

I went in there at lvl 5 and did just fine but I'd recommend to be at least 20 to 30 upon entering it cause there are a couple of pretty high skill requirements that you might not meet at low levels.

The Police Pistol is exactly what I use. I really don't have any problems with a gun skill of 75.

Sometimes the head pops. Sometimes the head doesn't pop. If it doesn't, then I shoot 'em till they're down and hack at the limp body with a knife until I get a nice, satisfying, bloody SPLAT.

Actually, now that I'm thinking of just how satisfying that SPLAT is, I need to go kill me some ghost folk. Like, right now.

I went in the first time with a character at level 16, with very high Science and Lockpicking but lowish combat skills, and ended up wishing I had waited a couple of levels to increase my Medicine and survival skills a goodly bit as well.

Since I couldn't really one-shot them the Ghost People actually provided some risk in combat, but at the same time that meant I got hit a lot more than I usually do so I burned a lot of chips on stims that I could have used for more ammo or foodstuffs. Future trips will be done at a rather high level and with a better selection of perks (I was experimenting with some of the new level-earned perks, so my build was a mess) to eliminate some of the recurring nuisances going in at 16 presented.

You (the OP) may want to go in at a significantly higher level so that you have higher skills, however you could probably be alright although you will miss out on a fair amount of dialogue and loot that is gated by skill checks. Hit Points could be a problem though, since even with 2xToughness and the Sub-Dermal Implant you're not going to have all that much DT and the Ghost People hit fairly hard under those conditions. There's also the fact that if you play in hardcoe the environment itself is constantly attacking you, as well as the presence of Toxic Clouds that heavily damage your health, and a really low-level character is not going to have a sufficient HP buffer to counter either one.

Unfortunately, the head never popped for me. That or I'm just a crappy shot with my mouse or VATS just doesn't like me or a combination of the three. I do play the game at a below-average FPS due to my obsession with turning up graphics. Probably should tone it down but eh.

Edit: I did end up getting through it but I didn't have as much enjoyment as I thought I would.. Felt more like a pain.. Yeah, it's probably because I'm a cruddy shot.