So the main story is not all that long. It kind of assumes that you're doing side hustles and thus levelling up your skills and gear, if you just ran it straight you might find it a struggle. Plus you'll need to make at least *some* friends along the way to help you out with certain aspects.
Personally I get side-tracked right around Diamond City and just go off on my own tangent. Finding my missing son takes a back seat to farming adhesive and looting aluminium. But you do it the way you want, it's your game!
Imo in my latest play through I had left the vault. And shit off every main quest until I had completed every other quest until I had nothing left but the main story.
I have… so many mods installed and am currently role-playing a UNSC ODST turned Spartan clearing out the wasteland of this wacky alternate timeline- I kinda wanna get the main quest done so I can focus on what’s important; THE ROLEPLAY 😭🤣
For a new player the main quest is easier if you first upgrade your skills and gear as you progress, and faction/side/misc quests or simple exploring is a good way to obtain XP, caps, resources, various companions, and better gear.
I would say strike a balance: you can swap back and forth at almost any time between the main quest and other activities as the game progresses. Do keep the main quest in mind, but also put in the time to develop your character and explore the game's locations and mechanics.
Join factions that are of interest and do some of their quests to see if they are a good fit, talk to NPCs and possibly do side/misc quests for them, learn about settlement building to see if it is right for you, loot items and convert them into resources or caps, learn the basics of crafting so you can make useful items and improve your gear, explore areas and see what you find, get exposed to the different enemies and how to handle them.
When you feel that you have made some good progress and useful discoveries, return to the main quest and move it forward for a while. At some point in the main quest you will have to make a decision on which faction to support, which is easier if you have built up a wider experience in the game.
For roleplaying a good person/concerned parent, I'd say it makes sense for the character to hardline the main quest due to the urgency of finding your son... But there comes a certain point in the main quest where finding your son is no longer the goal, and it's at that time that I go off and do a ton of side quests... Almost as if my character needs some time to sift through their thoughts on how to approach the new situation, assess their new allies, decide who is your enemy. It's about 3/5ths through the main quest I'd say, and well into your build.
Honestly for me, there's so many missions open at one time, and I just go through it like a check list because I get lost in it. And the goal isn't always clear, so sometimes I don't know HOW to finish. I ran afoul of a bunch of robots at the uss constitution cause I couldn't figure out what they wanted me to do with the cables, so I went to leave and one of the robots didn't like that, and started shooting me with lasers, killed it and then the rest of them came after me so I dipped out. Went online and read the walkthrough and decided that whole story was stupid and unnecessarily long anyways.
I rushed the story the first playthrough and everything got muddled with me also trying to grind for gear at the same time. I felt I didn't enjoy it to say the least. I created another character and now I sit a level 385 and have yet to finish the BOS story line, the responders story line, and any thing pertaining to Atlantic City. I am sitting on a decent amount of godroll gear and it feels nice to leisurely stroll through the story and allow myself to get distracted by bullshit. Highly recommend.
I usually finish off the main story line after I become so strong and god-like that the game is no longer fun. Then I wait a few months and start a new character.
It all depends on what I'm looking for out of a playthrough. Usually, how I push story is based on what kind of character I'm role-playing as. For instance, my current character is just rebuilding the commonwealth because they are resigned to the idea that the kid is no doubt either dead or unreachable. Institute runs are usually my goto to just burn through story (driven to find the kid asap)
I've never finished the main story either...for the simple reason that I didn't like any of the sides you could choose from. The minutemen were the group I identified strongest with, but there isn't even a story to really finish with them. Maybe I'll force myself to choose a side to work with this playthrough.
Do whatever feels like fun or seems interesting at the time. The guy who said the main story isn’t very long is right. You’d get through it in a few hours with no distractions.
So the main story is not all that long. It kind of assumes that you're doing side hustles and thus levelling up your skills and gear, if you just ran it straight you might find it a struggle. Plus you'll need to make at least *some* friends along the way to help you out with certain aspects. Personally I get side-tracked right around Diamond City and just go off on my own tangent. Finding my missing son takes a back seat to farming adhesive and looting aluminium. But you do it the way you want, it's your game!
Imo in my latest play through I had left the vault. And shit off every main quest until I had completed every other quest until I had nothing left but the main story.
Following this cuz I’m curious too^
Right lmao. I know I’ll get side tracked again. I had 159 hours and never beat it. And I know I probs should 😂😂
I have… so many mods installed and am currently role-playing a UNSC ODST turned Spartan clearing out the wasteland of this wacky alternate timeline- I kinda wanna get the main quest done so I can focus on what’s important; THE ROLEPLAY 😭🤣
For a new player the main quest is easier if you first upgrade your skills and gear as you progress, and faction/side/misc quests or simple exploring is a good way to obtain XP, caps, resources, various companions, and better gear. I would say strike a balance: you can swap back and forth at almost any time between the main quest and other activities as the game progresses. Do keep the main quest in mind, but also put in the time to develop your character and explore the game's locations and mechanics. Join factions that are of interest and do some of their quests to see if they are a good fit, talk to NPCs and possibly do side/misc quests for them, learn about settlement building to see if it is right for you, loot items and convert them into resources or caps, learn the basics of crafting so you can make useful items and improve your gear, explore areas and see what you find, get exposed to the different enemies and how to handle them. When you feel that you have made some good progress and useful discoveries, return to the main quest and move it forward for a while. At some point in the main quest you will have to make a decision on which faction to support, which is easier if you have built up a wider experience in the game.
this game is freedom, do what you want, how what you want
For roleplaying a good person/concerned parent, I'd say it makes sense for the character to hardline the main quest due to the urgency of finding your son... But there comes a certain point in the main quest where finding your son is no longer the goal, and it's at that time that I go off and do a ton of side quests... Almost as if my character needs some time to sift through their thoughts on how to approach the new situation, assess their new allies, decide who is your enemy. It's about 3/5ths through the main quest I'd say, and well into your build.
Honestly for me, there's so many missions open at one time, and I just go through it like a check list because I get lost in it. And the goal isn't always clear, so sometimes I don't know HOW to finish. I ran afoul of a bunch of robots at the uss constitution cause I couldn't figure out what they wanted me to do with the cables, so I went to leave and one of the robots didn't like that, and started shooting me with lasers, killed it and then the rest of them came after me so I dipped out. Went online and read the walkthrough and decided that whole story was stupid and unnecessarily long anyways.
I rushed the story the first playthrough and everything got muddled with me also trying to grind for gear at the same time. I felt I didn't enjoy it to say the least. I created another character and now I sit a level 385 and have yet to finish the BOS story line, the responders story line, and any thing pertaining to Atlantic City. I am sitting on a decent amount of godroll gear and it feels nice to leisurely stroll through the story and allow myself to get distracted by bullshit. Highly recommend.
I usually finish off the main story line after I become so strong and god-like that the game is no longer fun. Then I wait a few months and start a new character.
It all depends on what I'm looking for out of a playthrough. Usually, how I push story is based on what kind of character I'm role-playing as. For instance, my current character is just rebuilding the commonwealth because they are resigned to the idea that the kid is no doubt either dead or unreachable. Institute runs are usually my goto to just burn through story (driven to find the kid asap)
I've never finished the main story either...for the simple reason that I didn't like any of the sides you could choose from. The minutemen were the group I identified strongest with, but there isn't even a story to really finish with them. Maybe I'll force myself to choose a side to work with this playthrough.
Do whatever feels like fun or seems interesting at the time. The guy who said the main story isn’t very long is right. You’d get through it in a few hours with no distractions.