i've tried to give Fallout 3 another chance but there's only one problem i have with the game right now, i have no idea how to progress.  
 
i'm trying to blow up this bomb in Megaton right now, but it says i need 25 explosive skill. i'm assuming i have to level up so i look around for things to kill and quests to do. this is what has happened:  
 

• i found a quest where i have to go to a super market to get food; the raiders wipe me out no matter what i do there, so i'm going to wait a bit until i do that quest. 
• i also found one where i have to go check for some kid's father. i search his home and when i go back to see the kid, there's fire ants that kill me (and my weapons seems to do barely anything against them) so i'm going to wait until i level up. 
• i also tried to progress on the "following in his footsteps.." quest but the raiders kill me as well. 
• after all of that, i've been looking around to kill guys and all i find are raiders that kill me instantly and that's it. i have found nothing else thus far. 
• for the bomb quest, it says that i should ask some guy for mentats (which i heard could be used to defuse the bomb?) but when i talk to him, no topic about them pops up so i'm stuck. 

How are you doing in combat? What I did was put all of my skill points into small guns and then sneak up close to the raiders or whatnot, turn on VATS and then aim for the fucking head. Works like a charm with most guns though if you've got that pistol it might take a bit longer.

Blowing up the domb is evil shame on you lol 
 
 
As for the raiders. Try to get some better armor. Kill the normal ants. Also make sure the difficulty is not really high. That might be your issue.  
 
 
As for the fire ants. Yes they are strong and you should wait to do that quest. And if the raiders kill you right away maybe your armor and weapons are damaged. Get them fixed. 

" How are you doing in combat? What I did was put all of my skill points into small guns and then sneak up close to the raiders or whatnot, turn on VATS and then aim for the fucking head. Works like a charm with most guns though if you've got that pistol it might take a bit longer. "

" Blowing up the domb is evil shame on you lol   As for the raiders. Try to get some better armor. Kill the normal ants. Also make sure the difficulty is not really high. That might be your issue.    As for the fire ants. Yes they are strong and you should wait to do that quest. And if the raiders kill you right away maybe your armor and weapons are damaged. Get them fixed.  "

" @eroticfishcake said:

" How are you doing in combat? What I did was put all of my skill points into small guns and then sneak up close to the raiders or whatnot, turn on VATS and then aim for the fucking head. Works like a charm with most guns though if you've got that pistol it might take a bit longer. "

i spend most of my points on other skills (hacking, sneaking, robbing) rather than combat. all i have is a pistol, magnum and baseball bat so i'm kind of short in terms of weapons.  
 
@The_Laughing_Man said:

" Blowing up the domb is evil shame on you lol   As for the raiders. Try to get some better armor. Kill the normal ants. Also make sure the difficulty is not really high. That might be your issue.    As for the fire ants. Yes they are strong and you should wait to do that quest. And if the raiders kill you right away maybe your armor and weapons are damaged. Get them fixed.  "

haha i can't help it. i need to blow that place up. i don't know where normal ants are.. all i have found were raiders and they're not very easy to kill at my state. i'll go see that lady to check out my armor.  "

" I just started playing Fallout 3 a few weeks ago to. Got it ages back but couldn't manage to make it far out of the vault before i didn't want to play anymore.  Go grab the quest from Lucy in Moriarty's. On your way there you should run into some easier to kill stuff. Also, take it slowly and save often. Raiders by themselves, dogs, bugs and stuff should be quite killable for you. Watch out for super mutants though.  I think there's also some good stuff in the school in Springvale or something. Bunch of raiders though, so watch out.  Still havn't finished the game, on my way to Rivet City right now. "

The normal ants are here and there. And since you do not have many points in combat that is why you are having issues. All the Games like this Oblivion and Morrowind have this issue. You need to at least have some points in combat or you will die. This is your biggest issue.  "

" @Shirogane said:

" I just started playing Fallout 3 a few weeks ago to. Got it ages back but couldn't manage to make it far out of the vault before i didn't want to play anymore.  Go grab the quest from Lucy in Moriarty's. On your way there you should run into some easier to kill stuff. Also, take it slowly and save often. Raiders by themselves, dogs, bugs and stuff should be quite killable for you. Watch out for super mutants though.  I think there's also some good stuff in the school in Springvale or something. Bunch of raiders though, so watch out.  Still havn't finished the game, on my way to Rivet City right now. "

enemies alone aren't too difficult. i have killed some dogs and bugs but the raiders i always run into, are in packs so i have to battle 3-4 raiders at once and i can't survive that. i'll go check out that quest.  
 
@The_Laughing_Man said: 

The normal ants are here and there. And since you do not have many points in combat that is why you are having issues. All the Games like this Oblivion and Morrowind have this issue. You need to at least have some points in combat or you will die. This is your biggest issue.  "

how am i going to level up then? all the quests seem to require lots of combat skill and if i can't complete the quests or kill many people then...  do you suggest i restart my game but put higher combat points?  "

You might have to. Sadly this is a issue all Beth's games like this carry. Baddies scale with you. Meaning if you do not get ready for combat. You are going no where. If you are using a PC you can change your stats. The game no matter what anyways says can not be done on stealth alone. ALL the DLC and other stuff is combat focused.  "

" Well, there's your problem. You're going to want to invest in at least one combat skill, especially later, it'll come in handy, trust me. Small guns or energy weapons are the way to go i'd say. "

You could just turn the difficulty down until you think you're confident enough to take on harder enemies. No one will know. 
 
Your explosives skill can be improved by disarming mines in one of the quests given by the survival book lady.

" @The_Laughing_Man said: 

You might have to. Sadly this is a issue all Beth's games like this carry. Baddies scale with you. Meaning if you do not get ready for combat. You are going no where. If you are using a PC you can change your stats. The game no matter what anyways says can not be done on stealth alone. ALL the DLC and other stuff is combat focused.  "

ugh, that's not a great impression on the game but i'm willing to play through Vault 101 for the 4th time.  
 
@Shirogane said:

" Well, there's your problem. You're going to want to invest in at least one combat skill, especially later, it'll come in handy, trust me. Small guns or energy weapons are the way to go i'd say. "

so i should work on small guns on my new save? i mean that's what i'm going to be working with for the beginning of the game from the looks of it.  "

Enemies scale according to what level you are when you enter an area. So when you enter a level at Level 2, enemies would be around the same, but if you come back later at a higher level, the enemies are still tied to level 2.
 
And yeah, small guns help a lot, you're going to run into those weapons a good few times so they're the most plentiful. The Combat Shotgun and the the Chinese Assault rifle are the best (to my knowledge) weapons for small guns. You'll find them quite easily later on. For now though, it's more likely that you'll be using something like the Hunting Rifle more. Also, aim for the head!

" @The_Laughing_Man: @eroticfishcake: thanks for the help both of you! i'm glad i made a save RIGHT before leaving Vault 101 so i don't have to go through all that shit.  ....right? i'm going to put most of my points on combat. thanks again ^^  "

Shit this is getting to complicated, if your having trouble just turn down the game difficulty.  
 
God I want to play Fallout 3 again Oblivion just isn't clicking with me like Fallout did.

" Shit this is getting to complicated, if your having trouble just turn down the game difficulty.   God I want to play Fallout 3 again Oblivion just isn't clicking with me like Fallout did. "

" @eroticfishcake: i spent my skill points on small guns, explosives, lock picking, energy weapon, science and melee weapons. i hope this will work out.  "

you could also follow the main quest, which you didn't mention. I believe you finish the first part just by talking to people.

What others have said, invest in some combat skills. and lower the difficulty. Then concentrate on Moira's quest line. She'll send you to the Super Duper Mart. After you beat that, she will send you to Minefield, which has -get this- MINES! 
 
Successfully gathering lives mines will increase your explosion level. How do you gather them? By walking on top of them and disarming them the second before they explode. Have fun.

" you could also follow the main quest, which you didn't mention. I believe you finish the first part just by talking to people. "

" you could also follow the main quest, which you didn't mention. I believe you finish the first part just by talking to people. "

" @AjayRaz: Dude, you don't need to restart... just lower the difficulty if you really have too much trouble.   I played through it a few times and I always fight raiders in the school near where you go out of the vault. You can get some decent starting loot from them.   Stealth can be one of the most powerful skills since you can get a sneak critical hit headshot as your first attack. Those hurt. I was playing on very hard with a sneak build and wasn't having much problems dispatching hordes of foes. "

It's not impossible to make the game easier. Somewhere in the Options you can notch the difficulty down. It makes things a lot less difficult. Also, the Supermarket is a decent spot to travel to. The Raiders pack some good gear, and you can kill them before stealing it. Personally, a weapon I could not live without was the Hunting Rifle. The HR and VATS makes for some great moments, and some nice Super Mutant OHK headshots. The 10mm is not bad either, if you can use it with VATS or something.
 
Don't try and play the game like a regular FPS. VATS might take a lot out of the combat, but it's a helpful tool and something every Fallout 3 player should use.

" @Swaboo said:

" @AjayRaz: Dude, you don't need to restart... just lower the difficulty if you really have too much trouble.   I played through it a few times and I always fight raiders in the school near where you go out of the vault. You can get some decent starting loot from them.   Stealth can be one of the most powerful skills since you can get a sneak critical hit headshot as your first attack. Those hurt. I was playing on very hard with a sneak build and wasn't having much problems dispatching hordes of foes. "

i don't mind restarting at all. i have a save right before leaving the vault and i didn't make much progress. plus i know what's ahead so i can prepare better.  "

thank you all for the help! i'm going to try everything i've been told and i'll report back :D 

when your starting out only invest in one type of combat skill not a whole bunch also with your attributes  have at least 6 points of intelligence more intelligence means more skill points when you level up. invest in one type of combat skill until you get it to at least 45 then you can start experimenting with other weapons check out this website 
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Portal:Fallout_3
 it should tell you to how distribute your skills perks and attributes according to what you want to do
 

uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O

Do you have any of the DLC? Does PS3 (assuming that's what you're playing it on) even have the DLC? If so, do Operation Anchorage. It's a very easy DLC what with all the health and ammo re-fillers and you get some armor and weapons at the end of it. That's what I did and it helped me get past quests I couldn't before.

Hey hey dude! You're like me :D 
 
 
I just restarted the game and changed the difficulty to very easy. I think it's better that way... 
 
 
Edit: LINK!  
 
It's so nice to know I wasn't the only one having trouble. That thread was just a rant, I restarted the game on very easy instead of just giving it up. The combat sucks, but RPG part is good. Very easy kind of lets me skip the challenging combat and give me a good game. Not that challenge is bad, not at all, but Fallout 3's challenge was because it was not made right. I think VATS is very stupid.

Well invest some points into Small Guns first off and from there combat is get as close as safely possibly , Vats on head, watch head fly off.  Also do Moira's quest's she sends you to some places full of good starting equipment. As for the Those! quest it was the first i completed but it could be extremely annoying without the right stuff. 
Increase your combat skills first is all i can say.

" Do you have any of the DLC? Does PS3 (assuming that's what you're playing it on) even have the DLC? If so, do Operation Anchorage. It's a very easy DLC what with all the health and ammo re-fillers and you get some armor and weapons at the end of it. That's what I did and it helped me get past quests I couldn't before. "

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

@AjayRaz said:

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

What system? "

" @The_Laughing_Man said: 

@AjayRaz said:

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

What system? "

360. I had to restart the game twice in the past hour because   1. it froze 2. this JUST happened. i was in VATS killing the last raider in the super market but i didn't have enough points to make a headshot so i tried to cancel but the B button did not register so i was stuck.. terribly buggy.  "

"
2. this JUST happened. i was in VATS killing the last raider in the super market but i didn't have enough points to make a headshot so i tried to cancel but the B button did not register so i was stuck.. terribly buggy.  "

Clear cache and all that fun stuff. Then retry. If you have a chose. Get it for PC.  "

" @The_Laughing_Man said:

Clear cache and all that fun stuff. Then retry. If you have a chose. Get it for PC.  "

PC isn't a choice at the moment. i'd kill to get it on PC.   i'm not sure what you mean by clear cache and stuff. i'm on 360 so i didn't even know we had that stuff o-o   also i installed it to the hard drive if it makes a difference in performance (less glitches and whatnot..seemingly more at this point)  "

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

" @AjayRaz said:

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

yeah. it's quite buggy. Also, you shouldn't have to turn down the difficulty...use med-x (increase damage resistance) and health restoration shit like food/stimpaks. The medkit in your room at the Vault should start you off with about 15. If your health is low just go to your pipboy and use some, or hotkey stimpaks to your d-pad. "

" @DystopiaX said:

" @AjayRaz said:

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

yeah. it's quite buggy. Also, you shouldn't have to turn down the difficulty...use med-x (increase damage resistance) and health restoration shit like food/stimpaks. The medkit in your room at the Vault should start you off with about 15. If your health is low just go to your pipboy and use some, or hotkey stimpaks to your d-pad. "

you can hotkey items?   i didn't even know that! thank you :D "

" @AjayRaz said:

" @DystopiaX said:

" @AjayRaz said:

" uhh.. is it normal for the game to freeze? o-O "

yeah. it's quite buggy. Also, you shouldn't have to turn down the difficulty...use med-x (increase damage resistance) and health restoration shit like food/stimpaks. The medkit in your room at the Vault should start you off with about 15. If your health is low just go to your pipboy and use some, or hotkey stimpaks to your d-pad. "

you can hotkey items?   i didn't even know that! thank you :D "

I never tried it on the 360 version, as I hotkeyed all of my weapons to them, but I've seen people do it on the PC so i'm assuming it's possible for the 360 as well. "

You know, you could just go ape shit on Mentats from the pumping station on the right next to the bomb, and since they boost your explosives for a period of time, that should be enough for you to arm the bomb.

" @AjayRaz:   Hey Ajay, word of advice, watch that stimpack use. Stimpacks in the game are prohibitively expensive to purchase from vendors, unless you're playing with a screwy build and dumping points into barter for whatever reason. Save those stimpacks as much as possible as for a situation where you really need them. As an example, I've started a new game, have gone through the first two chapters of the Wasteland Survival guide quest, just finished the THOSE! quest, disarmed Megaton's bomb, finished the Blood Ties quest and have now just initiated Three Dogs quest. I'm at level 9, and have about 60 stimpacks in my inventory, I've used maybe two stimpacks during my playthrough at this point.   You should pretty much be using food items exclusively for healing early on in the game, saving the stims for much later down the line when you really need them. Save your rad away for when you're really in a jam, making sure to regularly visit a doctor to clear up your radation levels for 100 caps (or, if you have your house at this point, invest in a medical station once you have the caps!) "

" @Lowbrow said:

" @AjayRaz:   Hey Ajay, word of advice, watch that stimpack use. Stimpacks in the game are prohibitively expensive to purchase from vendors, unless you're playing with a screwy build and dumping points into barter for whatever reason. Save those stimpacks as much as possible as for a situation where you really need them. As an example, I've started a new game, have gone through the first two chapters of the Wasteland Survival guide quest, just finished the THOSE! quest, disarmed Megaton's bomb, finished the Blood Ties quest and have now just initiated Three Dogs quest. I'm at level 9, and have about 60 stimpacks in my inventory, I've used maybe two stimpacks during my playthrough at this point.   You should pretty much be using food items exclusively for healing early on in the game, saving the stims for much later down the line when you really need them. Save your rad away for when you're really in a jam, making sure to regularly visit a doctor to clear up your radation levels for 100 caps (or, if you have your house at this point, invest in a medical station once you have the caps!) "

haha i'm kind of surprised that this is still getting replies.   ..yeah, i kind of abused my medical supplies / caps. i have 6 caps (from healing so much) and all my stimpaks are gone. all i have is a bunch of meat and food from the first chapter of the wasteland survival guide.   thanks for the advice anyway, i'll try to save the ones i pick up later on.  "