NMLevesque
Commie Ghost
Joshua Graham, Legate Lanius, and Ulysses are all in the running obviously. Game mechanics are one thing, though that's certainly part of what I want to discuss, but as I've learned they are fickle af. So arguments that somewhat disregard the results of literally staging NPC battles between them is more what I'm hoping for. In practice I've found the following to be true.
Somehow Lanius is the fastest character in the game despite wearing one of the heaviest sets of armor. Which also makes him an absolute beast in terms of strength, though in-game it's represented by agility I think. There are also of course bullet-resistant metal plates, so it's not inconceivable that it might actually stop a bullet. However, I sort of doubt the Legion knows how to do that. Also, against a melee weapon, unless he has a fairly thick cushion layer underneath it, the armor would not be particularly effective. There's a reason that the heaviest real world armors were worn with a gambeson or buff coat underneath.
Ulysses doesn't seem to wear any armor, which is probably better than wearing something useless. He's faster than most characters, has maxed out SPECIALs, and survived both the Divide and Big MT. I would imagine being a scout and frumenwhatever would be more advantageous in a 1v1 than being a general, but I suppose that depends on circumstance. Spawning NPCs does nothing to indicate the benefit of resourcefulness and stealth. Though I doubt JG still adheres to Legion battle doctrine. So really only Lanius would have to force himself to fight a certain way, which is a substantial weakness if the situation can be manipulated, or the environment used to one's advantage. And Ulysses *is* the only one that carries strong weapons that excel individually at close, medium, and long range. Considering that he also uses stealthboys I wouldn't put sniping them with his AMR out of the question. His insanity on the other hand could be a significant hurdle...
- Ulysses hates using anything other than the 12.7mm which he kind of sucks at using, despite having 10 strength and a guns skill of 100. Apparently if he uses Old Glory, he comes out on top. (https://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/959557-fallout-new-vegas/60670366).
- Ulysses likes to spawn with 3 DT despite the fact that he should have 18.
- Ulysses likes to stand around getting pummeled while he fumbles around with a stealth boy, followed by thinking the enemy can't find him despite eating a faceful of bumper sword or bullets. Consequently, due to the above he kept coming out on the bottom. His AI is rubbish at fighting NPCs. Though he did manage to fool Joshua Graham repeatedly, he just stopped attacking. So I had to get him to attack me again in order to get them fighting, and it ended up having no benefit to Ulysses other than maybe time to heal.
- Sometimes Joshua Graham has 35 DT, other times he has 50. Also, why tf does he have so much DT?!?!? The dude is covered in old burns that he still has to bandage every day. He was thrown down the Grand Canyon. His armors don't add anywhere near that much. Either way, this allowed him to best an unfixed Ulysses consistently, and to sometimes beat Lanius.
- Lanius will take the 12.7mm off of Ulysses' corpses and use it over his bumper sword. If this happens he gets his ass pounded.
- Lanius does an excellent job of corning NPCs, and it seems to guarantee victory most of the time.
- I completely forgot that Lanius is essential and was very confused when a bunch of random Lanius' kept coming at me when I wasn't expecting him.
- The knockback from Lanius' special bumper sword is probably his greatest weakness, aside from the fact that he doesn't seem to be able to attack while moving. You also can't reverse pickpocket weapons onto Legate Lanius, but if either of those things could change--then he would be unstoppable.
- I'm not sure how to check a character's level, so Lanius might have only been level 30 given the vanilla game level cap. Which would make him the clear winner...
- It's super annoying trying to get NPCs that are all hostile to you to battle each other.
Somehow Lanius is the fastest character in the game despite wearing one of the heaviest sets of armor. Which also makes him an absolute beast in terms of strength, though in-game it's represented by agility I think. There are also of course bullet-resistant metal plates, so it's not inconceivable that it might actually stop a bullet. However, I sort of doubt the Legion knows how to do that. Also, against a melee weapon, unless he has a fairly thick cushion layer underneath it, the armor would not be particularly effective. There's a reason that the heaviest real world armors were worn with a gambeson or buff coat underneath.
Ulysses doesn't seem to wear any armor, which is probably better than wearing something useless. He's faster than most characters, has maxed out SPECIALs, and survived both the Divide and Big MT. I would imagine being a scout and frumenwhatever would be more advantageous in a 1v1 than being a general, but I suppose that depends on circumstance. Spawning NPCs does nothing to indicate the benefit of resourcefulness and stealth. Though I doubt JG still adheres to Legion battle doctrine. So really only Lanius would have to force himself to fight a certain way, which is a substantial weakness if the situation can be manipulated, or the environment used to one's advantage. And Ulysses *is* the only one that carries strong weapons that excel individually at close, medium, and long range. Considering that he also uses stealthboys I wouldn't put sniping them with his AMR out of the question. His insanity on the other hand could be a significant hurdle...