This guide is free to use and share, as long as you give credit to the author (me). You may not sell it or modify it and take credit for the original parts authored by me.

If you need to get in contact with me about this guide (not the game, mind you) you can reach me at
info@hannasoderstrom.com.

My big thanks to Brian Fargo for putting out another great game. I’ve been waiting since Fallout 2 for
this one. You sir, are a genius.

My name is Hanna Söderström, I’m a web developer by profession (or Internet Sorceress in laymen’s
terms) and long-time RPG gamer. I live in the land of Vikings and Trolls – Sweden, where I spend any time I can afford playing strategy games like the Total War-series and reminisce the old times of
great role playing games like Fallout 1, Fallout 2, Plancescape Torment and Baldur’s Gate - now
replaced with first-person perversions, a soul-raping experience of our memories of the greatness
that once was.

I wrote this guide because I couldn’t find any when I used my elite googling skills. Since this game (to
me and any true believers out there, apostates be damned) is the only true successor to Fallout 1 and 2 (not the later one that shall not be mentioned) I felt it deserved a well-written guide to character
creation.

This guide was last updated Wednesday, 01 October 2014 at 1:22 PM (or as you say in the army and
we say in the land of Vikings and Trolls - 13:22).

You may now enjoy this guide.

/Hanna Söderström

The characters you create are not the only ones you will have during the game, but they are what
you start off with and you should design them carefully. You have four to begin with but your party
can contain a total of six, as you progress through the game.

Focus each character for specific tasks. That way you have a higher chance of succeeding in whatever task you are confronted with. Attributes and Skills cooperate to raise the chance of succeeding in different tasks, so combine them accordingly. Don’t use a melee fighter who can’t take any damage.

Don’t use a sniper who can’t see what he’s aiming at.

If you want a game that doesn’t take any brains to play, you’re in the wrong place. Go play something
on Facebook.

These are the fundamental strengths and weaknesses of your character. You start with 3 points in each attribute and you have 7 more to spend during creation. You can lower them even more to get additional points to spend, but you might not want to be lowering them too much or you’ll likely find yourself at a disadvantage later on.

You might (will) run into a few attribute upgrades during the game, but the attributes you decide on now will largely remain the same during the game.

Coordination (COR)
++ Number of action points
++ Bonus to ranged hits

Luck (LUC)
++ Critical hit chance
+ Chance to evade
+ Chance to get additional CON per level
+ Chance for bonus action points per turn

Awareness (AWE)
+++ Initiative in combat
++ Chance to evade

Strength (STR)
++ Max constitution per level
+ Base melee damage
++ Max carrying weight
++ Initial constitution
+ Number of action points

Speed (SPD)
+++ Movement per action point in combat
++ Initiative in combat
+ Number of action points

Intelligence (INT)
++ Skill points per level
++ Ability to read high level books
+ Number of action points

Charisma (CHA)
People react more favourably to you

Skills improve with experience and you need more Skill Points to improve a skill, the higher it gets.
Focus on being great at a few skills per character, rather than average in many. You start off with 12 points to distribute. Depending on your attributes you will gain 1 or more skill points for each level gained.

Cost increase per level
Level 1 – 2pt
Level 2 – 4pt
Level 3 – 6pt
Level 4 – 10pt
Level 5 – 14pt
Level 6 – 18pt
Level 7 – 24pt
Level 8 – 30pt
Level 9 – 36pt
Level 10 (max) – 44pt

These skills are used throughout the game, some more useful than others.

Animal Whisperer
Calm hostile animals and make animals join your party.

Barter
Reduce cost by 1% per level.

Brute Force
Used to force-open doors, gates and stuff like that.

Hard A*s
Used to gain an upper hand in conversations (threats).

Kiss A*s
Used to gain an upper hand in conversations (sweet talk).

Leadership
Increases area of effect and chance to hit for companions near you. Also reduces risk of losing control of members in your team during combat.

Outdoorsman
Used to avoid random encounters and find water reservoirs during map travel.

Perception
Used to spot hidden things (traps. Automatically highlights objects of interests and displays circle to show your visual range while active.

Smart A*s
Used to gain an upper hand in conversations (manipulate).

Weaponsmithing
Used to modify weapons to increase their stats or to strip them apart to get modifications.

These skills are used in combat to make you more likely to hit the target and to do more damage
when you do. Pick one and stay with it.

Assault Rifles
+ Good damage - Expensive ammo
+ Medium/High armour penetration
+ Long range
+ Multiple fire modes
- Low/Moderate damage per AP
- Reduced chance to hit at close range


Bladed Weapons
+ Very High critical hit rate
+ No ammo necessary
- Low armour penetration
- Low non-critical damage


Blunt Weapons
+ Very High critical damage multiplier
+ No ammo necessary
+ Good against armoured enemies
- Low/Moderate critical hit rate


Brawling
+ Very High critical hit rate
+ No ammo necessary
+ Low AP cost
- Get mistaken for a cage fighter
- Low damage


Energy Weapons
+ Very good armour penetration
+ Cannot jam
- Cannot inflict critical hits
- Very low damage against unarmoured enemies


Handguns
+ Highest critical rate of any firearm
+ Cheap ammo
+ Low AP cost
- Short range
- Low armour penetration


Heavy Weapons
+ High damage per AP
+ Good armour penetration
- Bonus to melee critical chance against you
- High AP cost
- Can slow movement speed due to weight


Shotguns
+ Can hit multiple enemies
+ Medium AP cost
- Short/Medium range
- Low armour penetration
- Loses damage over distance


Sniper Rifles
+ Very long range
+ High armour penetration
+ High damage per shot
- High AP cost
- Expensive ammo
- Reduced chance to hit at close range


Submachine Guns
+ Multiple rounds per shot
+ Bonus change to hit at close range
+ Cheap ammo - Short range
- Low armour penetration
- Low critical hit rate
- Short range



Alarm Disarming
Used on objects to deactivate alarms that alert guards and security systems.

Computer Science
Used to unlock electronic locks, to hack computers and turn robots to fight for you.

Demolitions
Used to disarm any kind of booby traps.

Field Medic
Used to restore hit points and remove effects with consumable items. Can be used during combat.

Lockpicking
Used to open locked doors and chests.

Mechanical Repair
Used to repair …stuff.

Safecracking
Used to open things that contain especially valuable items.

Surgeon
Used to revive party members in and out of combat and to remove status effects gained by njuries.
Can be used during combat.

Toaster Repair
You will run across more toasters than you’d expect in the wasteland. And they will contain surprisingly useful stuff, but you need this skill to get stuff out of toasters.

Setting up the right combination of characters is fundamental to succeeding in Wasteland 2. You need a diverge team with each character specialized for specific tasks. Here are a list of typical “professions”.

The Sniper
A sniper has a high awareness to see targets from a great distance. Since the sniper shouldn’t be in close distance to the enemy, he/she doesn’t need high constitution and just enough speed to put off a couple of rounds each turn.

• Sniper rifles
  
• Perception
  
• Animal Whisperer
  
• Outdoorsman

Pack Mule
The pack mule is pretty much the opposite of a sniper. A character made to take a lot of punch and
dealing out heavy punches with hands or blunt weapons, or possibly heavy weapons. The pack mule, as the name implies, is also a movable storage unit.

• Blunt Weapons / Heavy Weapons
  
• Hard Ass
  
• Brute Force

The Doctor
Unless you got a healer in your team, going unconscious and bleeding is going to lead you to a certain death. The doctor patches your characters up in between and sometimes during fights, so your team lasts another day.

• Field Medic
  
• Surgeon
  
• Smart Ass
  
• Computer Science

Smooth Talker
If you want to make sure you get every opportunity to get any kind of special treatment, you need a
smooth talker in your group. High charisma, a born leader and making sure you get the special price, only for you, my friend.

• Barter
  
• Kiss Ass
  
• Leadership
  
• Submachine Guns

The Looter
Some would call this a thief, a kleptomaniac or just generally a shady character, but we call this for
what it really is – a looter. You need stuff. Stuff are usually locked up, hidden behind traps or alarms. This character is there to solve this problem.

• Alarms
  
• Demolitions
  
• Lockpicking
  
• Safecracking

During the game you will make choices and run across new characters and these characters will
already have skills designated. Depending on how you play the game, some characters will or will not
be available to you.

If you don’t want any spoilers, please don’t read this chapter.

This is the first additional character you can recruit. You’ll find her near the exit of where you begin,
to the left from the exit zone. She uses Assault Rifles as primary weapon and Blunt Weapons as
secondary. You are very likely to use her for a long time, so consider her skills when you make your
own characters.


If you choose to rescue Highpool before Ag Center, this character is available there to recruit, after
you rescue her from a cage, where she has been locked up.


If you pick Ag Center over Highpool you can instead recruit Rose, from her office inside the main
building. She is a Surgeon but has no Field Medic skill to begin with, so that might be worthy to
consider if you take this route.


This guy can be recruited at the Leve L’Upe Mine after you’ve helped the miners escape the mine.

This smelly drunkard can be recruited at Rail Nomads Camp. He’s not very trustworthy (30% chance of going rouge in combat) but he has some useful skills for lockpicking and safecracking.

I haven’t actually finished the game yet and this a work in progress.

I will add additional characters as I find them and there might be changes in future patches to the
game that aren’t reflected in this version of this guide.

Visit my website to get the latest version (pdf).
http://hannasoderstrom.com/wasteland2/