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Other => FOnline:2238 Forum => Archives => Survival Guides / Game Help => Topic started by: Visari on January 20, 2013, 11:18:34 pm

Title: question about the merchants
Post by: Visari on January 20, 2013, 11:18:34 pm
Ok. I am still rather new here so if this is in the wrong place, or has been asked before and I missed it, I'm sorry.
But, what I wanted to ask is this:
When I go to any merchant to sell my bundles of junk and other crap I've picked up wandering around the wasteland, there's no monetary value for things like noodles, beer etc.
Now that I understand. But I am not even getting a barter value for things like scavenged armour.
Do the traders only deal in caps? the NPC traders, anyway. Say, if I have a leather jacket, and I want to sell it for caps, does that have to be done via player trading?

again, sorry if there's a section with these questions already answered. I've been looking for a while, and I can't ask in game because I always get shot in the balls.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: DocAN. on January 20, 2013, 11:38:50 pm
Barter system is fucked up, better shovel shit if You want to earn caps. But be carefull, coz thx to JB the cows goes crazy when You clean their pen.

You can always sell Geckos skins in Klamath or Spears in Junk Town.


And remember that this game is not friendly for newcomers, thats why it has so low number of players.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Visari on January 20, 2013, 11:53:32 pm
Does gecko skinning require a perk or special item? I ran into a vault city patrol killing geckos and looted the corpses. No skins at all.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: LostSoul on January 20, 2013, 11:57:39 pm
I'll give you a more clear answer... It's hard to get shit answered around here...

First off, welcome to FOnline, may your travels be as harsh as they are adventurous.

Secondly, while the "BARTER" skill and system is a bit wonky at the moment, the key to making caps through merchants is to find out what that special item is that they will pay dearly for. 

After you find out what merchants take what, then it's just a matter of a waiting game... waiting for that merchant to have caps to give you in exchange.


For example:

The merchant in the GUNS shop in the Market section of the Hub pays a pretty penny for broc flower, xander root, and fruits. Collect a few of these, and you will be able to make a nice amount of money just by wandering around and picking up the resources on the ground.

Another good source of income is selling scavenged FN FALs.. They go for 500-2000 caps to the right merchant.

I hope this helps, and if you ever need any assistance in anything, be it levelling, escorts, advice, or anything else, feel free to PM.


Does gecko skinning require a perk or special item? I ran into a vault city patrol killing geckos and looted the corpses. No skins at all.

You need to get the Gecko Skinning perk from the trappers in the Trapper Camp in Klamath.


better shovel shit if You want to earn caps.

DO NOT DO THIS...
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Boon Lived on January 21, 2013, 12:03:08 am
Traders only take certain things. The two bars in NCR for example accept Melee/Throwing weapons, Some guns and misc junk.
Such traders like balls of steel (BBs). You just go around and see what works, as LostSoul has said.

Quote
The merchant in the GUNS shop in the Market section of the Hub pays a pretty penny for broc flower

A real pr0 makes them into weak powder first.

Quote
better shovel shit if You want to earn caps.

Brahmins don't shit enough for this. YOU HEAR THAT?! WE WANT MORE SHIT!!?
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: LostSoul on January 21, 2013, 12:15:10 am

A real pr0 makes them into weak powder first.


Yeah I figured I'd leave some mystery to the craft of mercantilism. =]
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Visari on January 21, 2013, 12:29:40 am
awesome. thanks for the info, guys.
And thanks for not giving me a link that tells me everything. I prefer finding things out for myself. If I knew it all from the word go it'd be dull. (no sarcasm there, seriously)
It's good to know that it's not all useless unless you trade with other players. I'll be sure to hang on to items I think will sell, and items I figure out that traders actually trade for once I discover them.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: LostSoul on January 21, 2013, 12:33:27 am
Discovery is 75% of the fun in my honest opinion. this game has so much potential for those who love being immersed in another world.

If you ever get bored wandering alone, I'd love to make a companion character to travel with you.  =D

Be safe out there.  And if you feel like quitting, come see me !
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Visari on January 21, 2013, 12:39:15 am
I actually love the harsh-ness of this game.
In my opinion this is how a post apocalyptic MMO should be.
I hate games that are all "you must survive in this environment, use your wits, use your skills, but ONLY FIGHT IN THE DESIGNATED AREAS YOU ARSE-HATS."

as my signature says, first encounter I had, I got shot in the balls for 120 damage, died, and thought "i love this game".
glad there are a few safe zones, you need a breather every now and then, but still, they way you can get shot at any time, betrayed by group members, ambushed etc. It's awesome.
Yes I've died 7 times already, and my only weapon is a mauser with 6 rounds left, but damn it, this is FUN.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Enzotainment on January 21, 2013, 02:07:37 am
Yes I've died 7 times already, and my only weapon is a mauser with 6 rounds left, but damn it, this is FUN.

I'm looking forward to meeting you ingame. You have the right attitude :-D
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Wind_Drift on January 21, 2013, 05:41:03 am
When a trader has 50 rounds of 9mm, 30 rounds of .44, and 2,395 rounds of 10mm... that trader buys 10mm.

Whatever it is they have more of, is what they generally will buy.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Giftless on January 21, 2013, 07:54:14 am
I run a substantial barter operation from a cult compound in the desert if you want to pm me your in-game nick.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: LostSoul on January 21, 2013, 11:05:39 am
I run a substantial barter operation from a cult compound in the desert if you want to pm me your in-game nick.

(http://www.wallchan.com/images/sandbox/80668-its-a-trap.png)
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: racoon on January 21, 2013, 03:22:33 pm
the system is not fucked up, and stop complaining about it. Just go in real life and sell used cellphone to saloon with used cars. it wont work. same is in fonline. you need to figure which trader is buying which items.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Cyber Jesus on January 21, 2013, 03:25:30 pm
the system is not fucked up, and stop complaining about it. Just go in real life and sell used cellphone to saloon with used cars. it wont work. same is in fonline. you need to figure which trader is buying which items.
And I'm guessing that if there really was an apocalypse the economics would be much different than it is today.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: racoon on January 21, 2013, 04:17:53 pm
And I'm guessing that if there really was an apocalypse the economics would be much different than it is today.

you can never guess what would happen IF. there's no such thing like IF. because im guessing i wouldnt be boy if i were born as a girl. guessing like that is nonsense.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Redivivus on January 21, 2013, 04:22:00 pm
you can never guess what would happen IF. there's no such thing like IF. because im guessing i wouldnt be boy if i were born as a girl. guessing like that is nonsense.
There is no if. But we can always assume. That's what the story is given. Behavioral responses of people and the consequences in most cases almost identical. So there is nothing complicated about the possibility to draw conclusions that will happen 'if'.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Trokanis on January 21, 2013, 04:26:08 pm
The merchant system is right now a mix between the old system that worked, and something new they tried.  The problem is they're smashed together to make an almost completely broken system.  You can do trial and error to find who takes what.  Darkwaters in Junktown takes 9mm pistols so that's something.  So far I haven't found anyone that takes leather jackets you're better off just using science on them, may not get anything but xp but it's more than nothing.  I would suggest spears or brahmin clean up but spears is extremely tedious and brahmin shit shoveling is sorta sad now.  However the last 2 are about the only way you can get actual caps, because there are a few diehards who still play with their barter alts and clear out every vender of caps every time they restock so it's basically less than lottery chances to get caps from a vender.  Sorry wish I could offer more help but most of the stuff that was good for beginners has either been removed or changed in such a way to make it near pointless.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: joopndufus on January 21, 2013, 06:20:55 pm
So far I haven't found anyone that takes leather jackets you're better off just using science on them, may not get anything but xp but it's more than nothing.

I play a pure merchant character and I used to think this as well.  This is not true!  There is someone who will buy leather armor and leather jackets.  I don't want to give away all of the fun, but try to think logically about who would would deal in leather armors.

Also, to reiterate what everyone in this post is saying.  In order to make caps selling stuff to merchants, you have to figure out what each merchant wants.  A good general tactic is broc flowers, xander roots, healing powders and molotovs to general stores.  Another way to get the merchants talking is to bring shotgun shells to Buster in Shady Sands or Mitch in the Hub.  Shotgun shells have the best price and low weight out of all of the basic ammo (without any small guns profession) you can make from mining.  So in summary, if you're having trouble getting loot/resources to start out, a great way is to set up a tent near a mine and smash some rocks.  Convert the resources into gunpowder and iron ores (you can do this at a crafting bench in the Hub) and then sell these to the merchants I mentioned.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Trokanis on January 22, 2013, 07:42:01 am
I never said no one took leather jackets, I just said I hadn't found any.  And I frequent most the safe places.  In either case joop is right in that shells are fair bet.  Just don't expect a lot of material to come outta Junktown mine, unless you're of course the one emptying it hourly  ;).  Since I can't get more than one swing.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: ronillon on January 22, 2013, 08:54:36 am
I actually love the harsh-ness of this game.
In my opinion this is how a post apocalyptic MMO should be.
I hate games that are all "you must survive in this environment, use your wits, use your skills, but ONLY FIGHT IN THE DESIGNATED AREAS YOU ARSE-HATS."

as my signature says, first encounter I had, I got shot in the balls for 120 damage, died, and thought "i love this game".
glad there are a few safe zones, you need a breather every now and then, but still, they way you can get shot at any time, betrayed by group members, ambushed etc. It's awesome.
Yes I've died 7 times already, and my only weapon is a mauser with 6 rounds left, but damn it, this is FUN.
Precisely, this is how i felt at the beginning too. I was scared of every pile of rocks.

And yes, its all about discovering. So i strongly suggest YOU DO NOT GO to http://fo2238.fodev.net/wiki/ since this is where i put everything i discover ;)
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: joopndufus on January 22, 2013, 03:47:58 pm
I never said no one took leather jackets, I just said I hadn't found any.  And I frequent most the safe places.  In either case joop is right in that shells are fair bet.  Just don't expect a lot of material to come outta Junktown mine, unless you're of course the one emptying it hourly  ;).  Since I can't get more than one swing.

My friends and I are definitely guilty of clearing out the JT mine pretty frequently as of late.  If you're looking for iron ore, head to San Fran.  I regularly pull 500+ iron ore out of there at once.  That mine isn't very good for minerals, though.  It seems like JT and NCR mines usually have more minerals than iron ore.  I can't be sure if that's because of material respawn rate or because of what people are mining.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: falloutdude on January 22, 2013, 03:58:00 pm
Here is a nice tip for making some cash at low levels.
Make a nice melee build does not really make what kind it is (crit build with a knife is best though but experiment)
get 10 brahmin hides and make a tent around kalamath, kill stuff until you get a lvl up and then put the skill points into outdoorsman until you have 50 then go into kalamath and talk to any trapper and get the gecko skinning perk. Now search around kalamath and find geckos and take their pelts. when you get full with pelts bring them back to your tent and repeat. when you have alot of pelts sell them by dialoge to the trader in the bar in kalamath. you get 200 caps for every 4 golden hides and 100 caps for every 4 sliver hides. I have made a couple hundred grand doing this when lvling a large variety of experimental builds.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: joopndufus on January 22, 2013, 08:38:48 pm
Here is a nice tip for making some cash at low levels.
Make a nice melee build does not really make what kind it is (crit build with a knife is best though but experiment)
get 10 brahmin hides and make a tent around kalamath, kill stuff until you get a lvl up and then put the skill points into outdoorsman until you have 50 then go into kalamath and talk to any trapper and get the gecko skinning perk. Now search around kalamath and find geckos and take their pelts. when you get full with pelts bring them back to your tent and repeat. when you have alot of pelts sell them by dialoge to the trader in the bar in kalamath. you get 200 caps for every 4 golden hides and 100 caps for every 4 sliver hides. I have made a couple hundred grand doing this when lvling a large variety of experimental builds.

That's a good tip man, I'm sure some people will appreciate how to get guaranteed caps when the merchants aren't holding.  Slaving, spears and gecko pelts are guaranteed money, even if it's fairly slow.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Visari on January 22, 2013, 08:42:48 pm
Precisely, this is how i felt at the beginning too. I was scared of every pile of rocks.

And yes, its all about discovering. So i strongly suggest YOU DO NOT GO to http://fo2238.fodev.net/wiki/ since this is where i put everything i discover ;)
I've only just gotten the courage to shoot at rats, lol.
Also being even more cautious than usual. a guy ran up to me in NCR and machine gunned me then and there. of course the guards killed him but everyone else took my stuff. Death isn't too much of a pain now, though, as I got help and built a tent. still not sure how to gather minerals though.. I know I need a hammer or something but got no idea where to find one.
BUT I haven't spoken to anyone in or been to the mine yet so that'd probably be a good thing to do.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Enzotainment on January 22, 2013, 09:33:07 pm
Mining is done with either a sledgehammer or a primitive tool.

Primitive tools are made from flint.
Sledge is made from wood + metal parts.
(check your fixboy)

You can either use one of these mining tools from your inventory, or equip them and cycle through their options until you hit "use".

Check this for more mining info (not sure how useful and/or up to date it is) http://fodev.net/forum/index.php/topic,4308.0.html (http://fodev.net/forum/index.php/topic,4308.0.html)
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Roachor on January 22, 2013, 09:37:52 pm
Best thing you can do to make the game easier for yourself is make a high outdoor high carry weight and high skillpoint build, you'll want some charisma too for trading. You can get to lvl 9 questing so you don't need combat skills tagged, by 9 you should have 200 outdoor, 196 carry weight and enough skill points to get every profession. This will make getting resources to make gear take way less time and allow you to actually start playing the game, plus you can use this alt to restock your char in the field when you run out of ammo grinding.

http://www.nitue.net/#fcp/direct!id=7798
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Balthasar on January 22, 2013, 11:24:24 pm
@Visari

If you got a bit more familiar with the game mechanics itself it won't hurt to make a slaver build to earn caps.

This (http://fodev.net/forum/index.php/topic,24483.msg205054.html#msg205054) topic may be of interest for the build itself. In general it's about the slave runs you can obtain from Metzger. It's not about selling slaves (though its an extra income and you need at least 2-3 slaves each time to get the needed reputation back).

Some words about the build:

You don't actually need that high speech for this char. Just be sure you have enough party points to carry 3-4 mercs. You need the speech only for the mercs who then make you able to enslave one slave per merc (+1 you have free). Meaning if you buy some cheap ghoul mercs in Gecko you'll be fine with like 150 speech (5CH, 100% speech skill + Magnetic Personality (http://www.fo2238.fodev.net/wiki/Magnetic_Personality) perk). This way you can concentrate more on fighting skills.

To start it right do the Mordino Quest (http://www.fo2238.fodev.net/wiki/Bring_Little_Jesus_Mordino%27s_briefcase_to_Metzger) first. This will give you a solid reputation with the slaver guild in Den, if you complete it right.

Ask Metzger for slaver tattoo and a vacation and there you go.

Important:

A slave run (quest) isn't about getting slaves. Its about fighting everyone who attacks. So, stick to this and you'll be fine. Also, don't mess it up! Get in some friend if needed and better start slave runs once you're sure you have enough experience and the needed combat skills to face the enemy. Slave runs are random. They can be pretty easy, fighting some junkies, but also kind of hard for one char even with support of Metzgers Guards. The harder they are the more money you get out.

Hope this helped a bit...i'm out...
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Giftless on January 23, 2013, 06:59:30 am
Best thing you can do to make the game easier for yourself is make a high outdoor high carry weight and high skillpoint build, you'll want some charisma too for trading. You can get to lvl 9 questing so you don't need combat skills tagged, by 9 you should have 200 outdoor, 196 carry weight and enough skill points to get every profession. This will make getting resources to make gear take way less time and allow you to actually start playing the game, plus you can use this alt to restock your char in the field when you run out of ammo grinding.

http://www.nitue.net/#fcp/direct!id=7798

Okay, your insanity there has me curious. Is CH 6 somehow better than CH 3 + barter skill?
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: gauvaran on January 23, 2013, 07:31:43 am
Okay, your insanity there has me curious. Is CH 6 somehow better than CH 3 + barter skill?
CH 6 for 1 follower, I reckon
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Trokanis on January 23, 2013, 09:59:28 am
6 Cha might be to help with barter, or follower but you don't need it for the follower.  It might also be to make sure you can get all the quests because some have high Cha requirements.
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Giftless on January 23, 2013, 07:31:43 pm
CH 6 for 1 follower, I reckon

You can get 2 followers with CH 3 and 100% speech though. With all the IN on Roachor's character why not pick up small guns, speech, barter etc.? I'd rather have SG to make it easier to level than the diminishing returns of that high repair skill...
Title: Re: question about the merchants
Post by: Roachor on January 24, 2013, 05:46:53 am
The 6 cha was for the balthasar cattle quest, I stopped lvling him at 9 6 cha just meant an easy 1000 xp every time i logged in. High outdoor makes it really fast. Afaik high charisma doesn't get you better prices, rep has way more to do with it. It's just a max cw taxi universal crafter (minus doc but who cares). Barter skill does nothing but set how long you can keep the trade window open.