| Tricks |
There are several ways of taking advantage of the game, and these can be used to your advantge. However, if you are having ethical qualms, note that the game can be won without using any of these.
Infinite cash: You can gain as much cash as you want through gambling. If your gambling skill isn't very high, you will have to save and reload a lot. I do not recommend this. It is worth your time to spend some skill points to get your gambling skill up to about 100%. Then as anyone who has had severe trouble with his mouse can tell you, you can select dialogue options using the keyboard, e.g. 1 for the first choice, 2 for the second, etc... This is very useful in the casinos of Redding and New Reno, as with skill about 100%, you will experience a net gain in cash when betting $25 (oddly enough, the probability of winning has an inverse relationship with the amount you bet). Since this is the third option, you can enter dialogue with one of the casino girls, place a heavy object on the 3 key, thereby rapidly repeating your bets of $25, and let it sit there for several minutes, while going off and doing something productive with your time. Once you have about a quarter million dollars, you should have no trouble with any monetary concerns. If you do not gamble, it will be extremely difficult to scrape together enough cash to get secondary combat implants.
Infinite experience: Usually when you get caught stealing, there will be a negative reaction, and after a repeated failure, combat will start. However, there are some characters who will not object very strongly to being victims of theft. Boss Salvatore of New Reno is probably the best example of such a character: he never fights, so once his cronies are taken out, you're all set. Stealing is most efficient in terms of experience if you take or plant multiple items, with the maximum number of points for each job being 300-skill. Since Boss Salvatore isn't particularly perceptive, you can keep your skill level at its original level (say, less than 20%) while still having a decent chance of success. Then, if you steal or plant 7 items at once, you get 280 experience points each time. As long as you don't take his oxygen tank for too long, you can continue doing this as long as you wish, and a rate of 1000 points per minute is not hard to sustain. There is no reason why you cannot bring yourself to level 99 in four straight days of clicking :)
Infinite stimpaks (and other supplies): This is somewhat less efficient than the aforementioned techniques. Percy in Gecko will _always_ barter in your favor, and he gets restocked about every day. If you feel you don't have enough of a certain type of item he carries, simply wander around the wastes for a day, return to Gecko, and clean him out again. If you have a car, it is especially good to grab his ammo, because the car trunk can fit as much ammo as you'll ever need. If you're not concerned about time (in or out of the game), this works fine, especially for the .223 FMJ ammunition, which can be useful through the end of the game.
Infinite 3-step plasma transformers: This is the least efficient technique I know other than save-reload gambling, which is counter to the aims of this site. If you visit Skeeter in Gecko, he will ask for a 3-step plasma transformer, and if you get one for him, he will upgrade one of your conventional weapons for free. Using a part requisition form (from looking through Harold's house or bartering with Feargus), you can get a transformer from the parts guy. However, this form will disappear once you have exited the conversation if it is still in your possession. You can prevent this by selling the form to him during the conversation (hit the barter button after the conversation engine checks for the form). Then you can talk to him again, buy the form back, get another transformer, and sell it to him again. This way, you can get as many of them as you want. You can expect barter to be at a disadvantage, but that is not a problem, as the transformers themselves are worth $200, so you can periodically sell one to him to recoup your losses. Unfortunately, this technique has limited usefulness: the transformers weigh one pound each, so you cannot carry very many of them. Also, repitition of this buy-sell transaction is much more tedious than the repeated gambling. Finally, you cannot dump your transformers on Skeeter at once; you must bring a weapon for him to upgrade before you can bring him another transformer. While you get 350 experience points each time Skeeter gets a transformer, there are more efficient ways of getting upgrades, cash, and experience (and conveniently, all of them can be done in New Reno).