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    Fallout: New Vegas

    Game » consists of 25 releases. Released Oct 19, 2010

    The post-apocalyptic Fallout universe expands into Nevada in this new title in the franchise. As a courier once left for dead by a mysterious man in a striped suit, the player must now set out to find their assailant and uncover the secrets of the enigmatic ruler of New Vegas.

    When and in what order should I play the DLC?

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    Zereta

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    So the announcement of Fallout 4 has gotten me back on the Fallout hype mode. Having never played New Vegas much (way too buggy at lunch on my 360), I bought the Ultimate Edition on Steam. Right now, I'm in Primm looking for some new leadership for the town and just wondering if there are any points in the game where playing the DLC content makes sense or if they can really be played at any point. Heard some good stuff about the DLC so I'm pretty psyched to try them out.

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    Zeik

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    #2  Edited By Zeik

    Old World Blue is the only one I've actually played, and as I recall it was intended to be played mid to late game. I do know that Lonesome Road is meant to be done end game. You can't continue after the credits, so you'll have to do it before then, or load up a save.

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    Ryuku_Ryosake

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    Dead Money is much harder than anything in the base game and it strips you of all your items in it. Its more of a hard survival challenge. I would save it towards the end but you can try it earlier if you want a challenge.

    Honest Hearts just feels like an expansion of the base game areas in terms of difficulty. To access it you need to be in the New Vegas area and you will probably be able to do it by the time you reach that area.

    Old World Blues is also harder than anything in the base game but not as much of a challenge as Dead Money since you get to take your stuff. The problem is much of your stuff will be pretty useless on the enemies in Old World Blues at least it seemed that way to me. The weapons you find Old World Blues are the most effective. So you better invest a bit in energy weapons and possibly unarmed or melee before going in.

    Lonesome Road is meant to be done as close to the end of the game as possible. Complete all the other DLC and be on the last mission in the endgame before you start it.

    Honest Hearts does not have an official recommended level. Dead Money is recommended for 20+, Old World Blues 15+, and Lonesome Roads 25+. My assessments up there were based on my experiences entering the DLC as the came out starting at original level cap of 30. The DLC raise the cap to 50. I would recommend only starting DM, OWB, and LR after hitting 30.

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    Zeik

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    @ryuku_ryosake: I did Old World Blues pretty close to level 15, mainly because I had to create a new character to do it, since the game starts to run like shit on the PS3 if you do too much in one game.

    I don't remember having too much trouble, on the normal difficulty. I can't remember if I was playing on hardcore too. I usually do, but I might not have that time.

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    KillEm_Dafoe

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    I would recommend saving them all until the end or near the end of the main story, and then playing them in order of release. Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues, and Lonesome Road, in that order. At the very least, save Lonesome Road for last, as the other three and the main game have cool little bits of exposition that provide a neat build-up to its story.

    In terms of difficulty, they're all pretty challenging, but Dead Money is far and away the hardest, just because of how it's designed. It's easiest when you have a stealth-focused character and a huge pain the in ass when you don't. And for the love of God, make sure you have the perk that allows you to walk over floor traps without setting them off. For as tough as the enemies in that thing are, the mines and bear traps will be your worst nightmare.

    Old World Blues is also really difficult. From what I remember there are a lot of dudes that will shoot you from far away. That, and the armored scorpions are the worst.

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    Punched

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    Dead Money was an awful piece of DLC and actually made me stop playing the game entirely.

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    ZolRoyce

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    I agree with @onekillwonder_playing them in release order is best, unlike Fallout 3's dlc there are connecting story points, not huge or anything, playing them out of order wouldn't ruin anything, but the 'aha' moments might be lessened.
    Some of them can be pretty hard, so having a higher level character to go into them can help ease the burden, and with minimal spoilers there are parts of one that are best experienced once you have an understanding of the story/factions/characters of the main game.

    I'm pretty sure the main game warns you of when it's point of no return is approaching so that might be a good time to hit them. They can be hard at times though so it might be worth doing one and then doing a main world mission or two then doing another so it doesn't become tedious. But that is just how I approach it at this point. I think they are all great despite some glaring faults.

    Also they lock you out of leaving each one until completed so make sure you have some room for the sweet loot you'll be bringing back from some of them, and companions don't follow you in either.

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    Svenzon

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    Old World Blues is also really difficult. From what I remember there are a lot of dudes that will shoot you from far away. That, and the armored scorpions are the worst.

    And it's still rather buggy, at least for me. The main game and the other expansions ran fine, but Old World Blues kept crashing on my computer. It's a shame, since it's easily some of the best written content in the game.

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    Baal_Sagoth

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    Lonely Hearts can be pretty much done whenever since it's pretty self-contained but gets trivially easy if you're high-level, especially with the extended DLC cap. It's most notable for the survivalist's story hidden in the optional stuff and and a set of unique .45 caliber Browning guns that tie into the main narrative (in LH that is) in amusing ways - at least for a John Moses Browning fanboy like myself. M1911 owns everything, bitches! Not that I actually ever tried the real version.

    Lonesome Road should definitely be tackled as the last piece of DLC and generally during the game's endgame. It's a nice finale for the DLC episodes with fun gameplay touches and interersting loot but not my favorite.

    Old World Blues and Dead Money are way too hard for new characters and should become doable during midgame but might over-level you for the vanilla campaign quickly. Also, seriously heed that stealth advice others mentioned! OWB is the biggest piece of DLC and has a huge map of its own with a wonderfully silly and nerdy Trash SciFi theme. Almost a small game in itself.
    DM is a glorious but weird experiment and kind of falls apart a little because it has to work inside the Gamebryo engine. It's my favorite as far as narrative goes, rivalling even the stuff in the main game. Just be prepared to do a lot of stealth, not have your items accessible and play a survival horror game inside of F:NV for a while.

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    Oldirtybearon

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    If you give a damn for the story, play them in order of release. The DLC add ons were meant to be played in a specific order because they all tie into one overarching narrative that pays off in Lonesome Road. You really need the context of the one before to appreciate the one you're playing.

    The correct order is:

    Dead Money
    Honest Hearts
    Old World Blues
    Lonesome Road

    Also, each add on has a specific recommended level. I think Dead Money is 15 or so, but I only started the add ons as a "post ending" deal, so I was at the level cap of 30 already. Dead Money is by far the hardest, but it's meant to be more of a survival horror entry than the other ones. Each has its own theme both narratively and from a gameplay perspective. I won't spoil too much except to say that they're all exceptionally well crafted and tell a complete story by the ending of Lonesome Road.

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    Capum15

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    #11  Edited By Capum15

    In my most recent run, I went Honest Hears > Dead Money > Old World Blues (they have bits that kinda tie into each other) > Lonesome Road (which DM/OWB pretty much lead into). I believe I started HH around level 15, and then just kept going into the next DLCs after finishing one, though that was with already knowing what they included and like 20 mods.

    Honest Hearts felt like it really could just fit into the main game. It's a cool story, with some cool weapons. The ending was pretty satisfying. A Light Shining In Darkness is permanently equipped for me.

    I have to say, my first time playing Dead Money exhausted me (until I got into the casino and turned stuff on, anyway). The whole setup is pretty interesting. That first run, not knowing where things were (fuck radios and speakers), having those really strong mobs around, just the whole survival horror thing overall, was a neat experience. I would not want to do it over again without my mods though, it's too taxing for me.

    Old World Blues is just fantastic. I loved everything about it, especially Dr. Venture. The weapons, enemies, The Sink, the story, all of it was absolutely fantastic to me.

    Lonesome Road was pretty cool. I wasn't as into it as OWB but thinking back on it, it's probably my second favorite of the four. I wasn't too into the whole, 'This thing is your fault for reasons before the game started' thing (suppose that's the result of not being tossed out of a vault to start the game for once) but eh, nothing you can do. It wrapped up the DLC story really nicely though.

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    TwoLines

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    They are all connected, but I'd recommend doing the Honest Hearts first, it's the easiest one. Then Old World Blues as it starts the Brotherhood traitor story. Then go with Dead Money as it ends the Brotherhood traitor story, and then Lonesome Road, cause it's the last stop before the end of the game.

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