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Understanding Your Blood Test
In this article, you will find:
Cholesterol tests
Understanding Your Blood Test
We hear lots of numbers being tossed around when it comes to cardiovascular health, and without a clear understanding of what they mean, this information can be downright overwhelming. Key players include total cholesterol, LDL and HDL cholesterol, cholesterol ratio, triglycerides, homocysteine, C-reactive protein, and blood pressure.
Food for Thought
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that healthy people limit their dietary cholesterol to less than 300 mg per day, and that people with heart disease shoot for less than 200 mg per day. The AHA also recommends that no more than 30 percent of your day's calories come from fat, and that your saturated plus trans fat intake not exceed 10 percent of total calories. (If you have heart disease, keep that number to less than 7 percent.)
Total Cholesterol
Total cholesterol is the most common measurement of blood cholesterol, and is usually expressed in milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). Knowing your total blood cholesterol level is an important first step in determining your risk for heart disease. You should make a point of having your cholesterol measured every five years, and more often if you are a man over 45 or a woman over 55.
If your total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL, good news!—your heart attack risk is relatively low (unless you have other risk factors). But even if you're not at high risk, it's still smart to eat quality foods and to get plenty of physical activity.
If your total cholesterol is 200-239 mg/dL it is considered borderline-high, and if it gets to 240 mg/dL or more, then it is flat-out high. In both cases, you should take steps to lower it.
LDL Cholesterol
LDL cholesterol is another vital part of the picture, and the lower it is, the better. If you are a healthy individual, your LDL should be around 130 mg/dL or lower. If you are at high risk for heart disease, your goal is an LDL below 100 mg/dL, and if you are at very high-risk, experts now say you should aim for a level below 70 mg/dL.
Food for Thought
If your LDL cholesterol is too high, your doctor may advice you to reduce your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and dietary cholesterol, while increasing foods rich in soluble fiber. It's also important that you exercise regularly and lose weight if you're overweight. If you still can't lower your LDL, medications are available.
You are considered to be at high risk if you have …
- Coronary heart disease (CHD) or the risk equivalent—which includes diseases of the blood vessels to the brain or extremities and diabetes.
Two or more other risk factors.
You are at very high risk if you have …
- CHD or the risk equivalent
Multiple risk factors or severe and poorly controlled risk factors.
Risk factors include …
- Age (45 years or older for men; 55 years or older for women, or premature menopause)
- High blood pressure
- Low HDL cholesterol
- Smoking
- A family history of cardiovascular disease
HDL Cholesterol
HDL cholesterol is the "good" type—in fact, it's the only good kind of cholesterol. Some folks are genetically blessed with high HDL readings, a lucky inherited gene which significantly reduces their risk for heart disease. Other folks have to work at increasing their numbers. Desirable HDL cholesterol levels are 40 mg/dL or higher.
If you learn that you have low HDL cholesterol, you can help raise it by not smoking, losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight, choosing monounsaturated fats (olive oil, almonds, avocadoes), and by being physically active for at least 30–60 minutes a day.
Cholesterol Ratio
The American Heart Association recommends using the absolute numbers for total blood cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels. To the physician, they're more useful than the cholesterol ratio when choosing an appropriate treatment protocol.
However, it's still a good idea to understand the ratio because some physicians and health professionals use the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol in place of total blood cholesterol. The ratio is obtained by dividing HDL cholesterol into the total cholesterol. For example, if a person has a total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL and an HDL cholesterol of 50 mg/dL, the ratio would be stated as 4:1. The goal is to keep the ratio below 5:1.
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Official language: Norwegian
Time zone: UTC+2
Currency: Norwegian krone (NOK)
Inhabitants of Stavanger since the 19th century have been fishing and manufacturing sardines. There are exhibitions in the Museum of Tins that tell this story. Visiting this place seems like a good idea for a rainy day.
The beauty of 42-kilometres long Lysefjord is best to be admired from a ship. Book one day, go to the port, get onboard of a ferry and witness with your own eyes the magnificence of nature – you won't regret it.
For those who fancy lazy days on the beach, we have some good news. Solastraden near Stavanger was named the sixth best and most picturesque beach in the world.
That founded in 1125 city was famous once for fishing of sardines, fishing and petroleum manufacturing. Nowadays it is attracting tourists with its beautiful, low-key old town and possibility of tasting typical, Norwegian, based on fishes cuisine. Why it is worth to go there?
It is best to sightsee that harbour city during a walk via streets of Gamle Stavanger, which means Old Stavanger. It is there, where along cosy, narrow streets are standing 170 wooden houses dated back to 18th and 19th century. In this part of the city there is also located the Museum of Tins (Norsk Hermetikkmuseum) and precious monuments such as: the Roman Cathedral of St. Swithun (Stavanger domkirke), the Court Ledaal from the 18th century and the Bishops' Palace. The district is situated on a hill, from which there is a lovely view for the city. Worth visiting is also a port and its neighbourhood, where there are the best restaurants serving fish dishes.
Stavanger is also popular starting base for those interested in trekking and walking trips. The most visited places are Preikestolen (a ledge hanging 604 metres above the fiord) and Kjeragbolten (stone of rounded shape that is clinched in cliff at the altitude of around 1000 metres above the water level). Both this spots are very characteristic and appear in almost every coverage on Facebook and Instagram from trips to that part of Norway. The city's surroundings is also a centre for winter sports, whereas in summer it tempts to spend actively time on one of its splendid beaches.
Stavanger used to be considered as the capital of sardines, but now halibut is reigning in that region. This fish is served by local restaurants in many, sophisticated ways. It tastes especially good grilled or smoked, served with spinach or potatoes, or in form of meat loafs (fiskeboller). It is worth to try also other local specialties like smoked cod (sztokfisz), fish pasties (mediste kake), octopus served with mashed turnip, as well as caught just a few hours earlier shrimps or mussels. After dinner make sure to order coffee, as it is a Scandinavian habit. Where to eat? We recommend Fisketorget, Spiseriet or Bolgen & Moi.

subset: commoncrawl


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What is Cronenberg's involvement? I've heard there are no rehearsals.
SG: No, we don't do rehearsals. But David does a very thorough blocking of the scene before going to camera. It's like a mini rehearsal where we work out the movement of the scene. But I feel less rehearsal added to the project. There's so much secrecy, security and mythology surrounding Rob as a person that when you arrive on set and do your scene with this actor and never spend any significant time with them, it feels bizarre. That's what our characters are like: Two people who don't know anything about each other. They never seem to find each other and when they're together and it's like they're speaking two different languages. And then they both disappear into the city.
So what commentary does the film make? The book is pretty condemning—
SG: Yeah! This is for the one percent descending from their yacht at Cannes to watch a film that points to a gap in society. I think the movie lends itself to a meta-critique of the film industry. Take casting someone like Rob at the centre of this film. He is the symbol of pop cinema, the symbol of capitalism. The film is about the breakdown of that.
And his character's so hubristic. He tries to tap into this technological system that's supposed to order the world around him, the dollars and cents of his life, the free market. And we watch it all fall—really hard.
SG: When I read critiques of the film, I think people miss what you're saying. They ask, "Why is Robert Pattinson in this movie?" Even for David to cast somebody like me who is blonde, blue-eyed and twenty-five and normally reads scripts where I am hyper sexualized or solve everyone's problem with my smile. He cast me as a character who will not allow her romantic lead to project anything onto her that she will absorb, it's kind of unheard of. And there is a difference between [Elise] in the book and the Elise that David wrote. In that the last scene between Eric and Elise, in the book, Eric projects onto an accepting Elise. For me, the best part about ending their narrative in the restaurant, in the movie, is that she ends it and she's out and that's it.
You can read her full interview at the source


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Open Windows
Sara Teasdale
Out of the window a sea of green trees
Lift their soft boughs like the arms of a dancer,
They beckon and call me, "Come out in the sun!"
But I cannot answer.
I am alone with Weakness and Pain,
Sick abed and June is going,
I cannot keep her, she hurries by
With the silver-green of her garments blowing.
Men and women pass in the street
Glad of the shining sapphire weather,
But we know more of it than they,
Pain and I together.
They are the runners in the sun,
Breathless and blinded by the race,
But we are watchers in the shade
Who speak with Wonder face to face.
Flame and Shadow


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It was a full studio of artists for this romantic shoot! From our tintype specialist Giles Clement to the excellent hairstyling of Joseph DiMaggio and our beautiful redheaded makeup artist Morgan Gates, with her kit full of Butter London, it was clear that beauty was going to be made. Here we offer you a sneak peek at some behind the scenes images, plus the how-to on our muse's soft & dewy look and naturally nude nails…
Butter London is a company with something for everyone, their motto is no rules – inspired by Great Britain's rock and rollers (check out the British slang names and cheeky definitions of each product!) they're all about having fun with your look! Their fall collection launched with bold, bright colors, while their spring collection is more toned down and neutral.
One thing I love is how many of Butter London's products are multi-use: blushes can also be used as lipsticks, cream eyeshadows can be highlighters – because they know the Butter London girl is on the go…and aren't we all?
Soft and dreamy makeup…
Morgan suggests prepping the skin with Burt's Bees Rosewater Toner, as a way to freshen and wake up your skin.
Moisturize the skin all over with Embryolisse Lait Creme Concentre – it used to only be available overseas, but it's now sold in the US! Morgan says it's among her top products because it hydrates so well and makeup wears really nicely on top of it. Gently smooth on Lucas's Papaw Ointment on any dry spots around the nose or on the lips. Finally, use Butter London Hydrating Balm to get extra moisture.
Smooth Makeup For Ever HD Foundation all over the face to perfect and smooth the skin. Anywhere you need extra coverage – under eyes, to cover any redness or dark spots – use Tarte's Maracuja Creaseless Concealer. This creates a really smooth, natural feel instead of one color all over!
Blend a little bit of Naughty Biscuit Cheeky Cream Blush to define the cheekbones without getting excessively colorful.
On the lid, use Twigged Wink Eye Pencil, drawing close to the lash line and then using a small smudging brush to blend quickly (be careful, it dries fast!) blending quickly up to the lid. This creates a gradient up into the crease – and Morgan recommends Twigged because it brings out wonderful tones in everyone's eyes!


text: Our Location Easy directions and map to your luxury accommodation in the Hunter Valley Located just 2.5 hours drive from Sydney CBD, The Convent is conveniently located at Pokolbin Hunter Valley - the epicentre of vineyards and rich produce, ideal for those wanting to explore the delights of Hunter's food trails. . The Convent Hunter Valley is a highly-sought after destination for weddings, conferences and holidays for couples, families and groups. Set in the beautiful Vineyard Country and overlooking the estate, the hotel is an enviable location. Our Address The Convent Hunter Valley88 Halls Road Pokolbin, NSW 2320Australia


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Tim Tebow breaks Herschel Walker's record with long touchdown run
JACKSONVILLE -- So long, Herschel Walker.
Florida quarterback Tim Tebow entered Saturday's game against Georgia at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium tied with Walker for the SEC all-time career rushing touchdowns record. Tebow broke the record with 1:32 left in the first half with a beautiful 23-yard touchdown run to give UF a 24-10 halftime lead.
Florida had 244 yards of offense in the first half. Tebow has rushed for 63 yards on eight carries and a touchdown and completed 14 of 18 attempts for 153 yards and two touchdowns. He's probably not very "frustrated" right now.


text: Fallout 3 - Ultimate Stealth Character Guide xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx FAQ TITLE: The Fallout 3 Ultimate Stealth Character Guide COPYRIGHT INFO: This FAQ is copyright 2010 by Stanley E. Dunigan (firstname.lastname@example.com). This FAQ may be posted and used anywhere by anyone as long as it's unaltered, but always check one of the official host websites listed below for the latest version. GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com) SuperCheats (www.supercheats.com) Neoseeker (www.neoseeker.com) Check the Universal Hint System (www.uhs-hints.com) for my complete Fallout 3 hint file. It's not a FAQ-style walkthru, but instead organizes the hints into a hypertext-like Q&A document, making it easier to find the hints you need without accidentally seeing other hints you don't want yet. FAQ DESCRIPTION: This FAQ was originally written for Playhaven, but they've apparently trashed all of their PC, Xbox, etc. guides to become a dedicated mobile gaming site (the traitors!), so I decided to re-release this FAQ on GameFAQs and some of my other favorite gaming sites. The FAQ contains detailed information on building and playing a powerful stealth character that should work very well even on the highest difficulty setting with no cheats. In fact, it's the only character build I would recommend for that type of playthru. Remember that on "very hard" difficulty, you'll be doing half damage, and enemies will be doing you double damage. That's nothing compared to Oblivion's 6x multipliers, but it's still a real pain. (At least you'll get more combat XP than on lower difficulty settings.) Everything in this FAQ is based on playthrus of the Fallout 3 Game of the Year (GOTY) edition on the PC with all five add-on games installed. Any differences you experience will probably be due to playing with a different set of add-ons or on a different gaming platform. If you have tips for improving my stealth build or the V.A.T.S. reference section, or have a different stealth build that you want to share, send me an email at the address given in the copyright section. VERSION 1.65 (6/12/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS: * Mentioned that the alien blaster is the best sneaky V.A.T.S. head shot weapon * Created a new section at the end of the FAQ for user-submitted tips * Added Orvoc's tip about using the gauss rifle for sneaky shots VERSION 1.6 (6/7/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS: * Put a game version note in the above FAQ description * Added glitch note to the "Chinese Stealth Armor" section about wearing multiple headgear items * Added note to the V.A.T.S. advantages list that weapons don't really degrade faster in V.A.T.S. mode * Specified that you take 10% of normal damage while in V.A.T.S. VERSION 1.5 (5/31/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS: * Added note to "Chinese Stealth Armor" section about using the Pip-Boy's light * Expanded the paragraph about using noisy weapons in the "Other Useful Things" section to include info on non-V.A.T.S. sneak attacks with multiple-projectile weapons. * Added note at the end of the same section about Dogmeat and Sergeant RL-3 having mega-huge hit points, too. * Since using V.A.T.S. effectively is very important to this character build, I added a new V.A.T.S. reference section. It mainly contains specific advanced info, so check the game manual and the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/V.A.T.S. web page if you need detailed basic info. VERSION 1.1 (5/24/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS: For this update, I fixed an error in the level 22 thru 30 recommended perks (I'd left out Nerves of Steel), and I added a tip for getting the Lucky Shades while you're in the neighborhood of Tenpenny Tower. VERSION 1.0 (5/23/2010) NOTES AND CREDITS: This is the original version of this walkthru, so I have no one else to credit yet. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ******************************* *** THE SILENT RUNNING PERK *** ******************************* In Fallout 3, there are two things you must have for a super stealth character. The Silent Running perk, which starts being available at level 12, is one of them. It allows you to sneak-run without being any more detectable than when you're slowly sneak-walking. This eliminates a vast amount of tedium when it comes to sneaking up on or sneaking past enemies. In fact, if you're using something with a stealth field on it (see next section), you can sneak-run right up to enemies and whack them with a melee weapon for tremendous damage. Even if they aren't killed, they probably won't see you, and you can wait until your stealth indicator reads "hidden" again to get in another powerful sneak attack. If an enemy does detect you, you can stand up and run for a spot out of his sight, then crouch and wait for your stealth indicator to return to "caution" before going after him again. Try to get your Sneak skill up to 50 by the time you get to level 12 so you can take the Silent Running perk right away. If you don't want to spend a lot of level-up skill points on Sneak, hunt up the Sneak bobblehead and several Sneak skill books before you reach level 12. ***************************** *** CHINESE STEALTH ARMOR *** ***************************** The other thing you need for a super stealth character is the Chinese stealth armor. It's not as powerful a cloaking device as stealth boys are, but it is constant-effect, and you can always pay to have it repaired (or repair it yourself with recon armor) if it gets too damaged to use. As long as you're wearing it and crouched, you'll have a stealth field around you that's very hard for anyone to penetrate. The main ways to get yourself detected are crouch- running without the Silent Running perk, firing off noisy weapons like shotguns, and running right into people, so be careful to avoid doing any of that. To get the Chinese stealth armor, install the Operation: Anchorage game add-on and finish its quests, then check the shelves in the armory. NOTE: While you're sneaking around in the stealth armor, having the Pip-Boy's light on doesn't seem to increase your chances of being detected, so leave it on all the time in dark areas to help you see better. GLITCH NOTE: While wearing the stealth armor, you can equip several different headgear items and get the benefits of all of them, except for the DR bonuses -- usually only the DR bonus of the first headgear item you equip will count. So equip something with a good DR bonus first, then equip several other items to get attribute and skill increases. You can only have one of each type of headgear equipped at a time, but if you have two of the same type, you can equip one of them and then keep clicking on the other one to get the bonus increased. This is especially cool if you have two hockey masks. Equip one of them, then click on the other one a bunch of times to get your Unarmed skill increased by 5 every time. Also, even after your Unarmed skill is 100, you can keep on clicking to increase the damage that unarmed weapons like power fists will do. To completely remove a headgear glitch bonus, simply unequip the equipped headgear item. *************************** *** OTHER USEFUL THINGS *** *************************** The Silent Running perk and Chinese stealth armor are all you really need, but to take full advantage of them, you should build up some other skills and obtain certain weapons. Devastating sneak attacks with melee weapons will be by far your most powerful combat tactic, so get your Melee Weapons skill up high and get some powerful melee weapons to use. Jingwei's shocksword (also an Operation: Anchorage reward item) is a good one, but the shishkebabs that you can make at work benches are more powerful, especially if you get the Pyromaniac perk. The Ninja perk is also a good one, since it increases your critical chance and sneak-attack damage when using melee weapons. As great as your sneaky melee abilities will be, there are some other useful things to consider. One of them is quiet ranged weapons, which can be used on an enemy from a distance without him detecting you. Your stealth indicator will change to "caution," but it shouldn't go to "danger" even if you keep shooting your target. Two good weapons to do this with are the silenced 10mm pistol and the dart gun (another work-bench-made item). The dart gun will cripple an enemy's legs and do a bit of poison damage, so it's a good weapon to start with. After that, finish the enemy off with the silenced pistol or sneaky melee attacks. The auto axe and infiltrator weapons that you can get from the Pitt add-on game are also great stealth-friendly weapons. The infiltrators are particularly terrific, since they're basically a cross between assault rifles and sniper rifles, neither of which are stealth-friendly. For best results, get the unique infiltrator called the Perforator by retrieving 90 steel ingots for Everett in the mill. Explosives are also good for a stealthy character to use. Sure, they're very noisy, but the noise doesn't come from your position, so it won't give you away. You can toss grenades at enemies to damage them, or you can set mines for them to stumble onto. With enemies that are too powerful to take down with a single melee sneak attack, you can lay a line of mines, then go to the opposite end of the line and shoot your target once with a dart gun or silenced pistol. That should get him to run over to your position, setting off mines as he goes. If you want to use sneaky explosive attacks a lot, you should pump up your Explosives skill, and make lots of bottlecap mines and nuka-grenades at work benches. You might also want to consider taking the Demolition Expert perk at least once. Weapons that aren't stealth-friendly can also be useful, especially if they deal a lot of damage per shot. Their already-high damage will be greatly increased by the sneak-attack damage bonus, and even more by the head-shot damage bonus if you're sneak-shooting someone in the head. This can be useful when you're wanting to take down a single powerful enemy quickly -- sneakily head-shot him with a powerful weapon, then quickly finish him off if he isn't dead already. Just remember that your stealth will be compromised, and any other nearby hostiles will immediately start attacking you. The alien blaster is a good noisy sneak-shooting weapon since it does so much damage and always scores critical hits, but weapons that fire multiple projectiles (especially combat shotguns) are even better as long as you don't use V.A.T.S. for your sneaky shot. If you do use V.A.T.S., that'll ruin the projectile damage multiplier for some reason (a glitch, maybe). So sneak up next to a deathclaw or whatever and blast him point-blank with your combat shotgun to take him down in one shot, then run for cover if any other enemies detect you. For maximum effect, get the Terrible Shotgun from Smiling Jack at Evergreen Mills. You can really put down some toughies with it! The next best weapon is Paulson's Revolver from the Mothership Zeta add-on game. It does a little less damage, but also weighs less. And do go ahead and get the alien blaster too, since it's the best weapon for non-sneak attacks, and will be invaluable for when you're detected and can't run away or restore a save. It's also the best weapon for sneaky V.A.T.S. head shots, which you might want to do on occasion rather than get close enough for a good shotgun blast. Having a follower with you can also be useful. As with explosives, he'll be very noisy and attract a lot of attention, but won't (usually) compromise your stealth. Since it can often be hard to keep a weaker follower alive without using noisy weapons and coming under attack yourself, you should only try this with Fawkes. He's very tough to begin with, and if you have the Broken Steel expansion installed, he'll have a totally ludicrous number of hit points (up to 15,000 if you're level 30). Since he's essentially impossible to kill, you can let enemies focus on attacking him while you take your time sneak-attacking them. One disadvantage of doing this is that Fawkes will kill a lot of enemies without you getting any XP for them. Another disadvantage is that if you fast-travel somewhere, Fawkes will usually end up right next to you, and he'll probably detect you briefly. If there are any enemies nearby, they'll automatically detect you also, and will start attacking you. When that happens, quickly run to a spot out of their sight and crouch there until your stealth indicator goes back to "caution." Fawkes will be taking care of business while you wait. NOTE: In my latest playthru, I discovered that Dogmeat and Sergeant RL-3 also had huge hit points. The fact that I hadn't noticed this earlier made me curious, so I did a bit of investigating. It turns out that the whole idea behind this is that the Broken Steel add-on modifies all followers so that they'll gain a few more hit points every time you level up. There's apparently a glitch that causes Fawkes, Dogmeat, and RL-3 to get *waaay* more hit points than they're supposed to. Since it probably wasn't a deliberate design decision, it may be "fixed" in a patch someday. Until then, get Dogmeat and either RL-3 or Fawkes and put their vast toughness to good use! ********************************** *** ONE POSSIBLE STEALTH BUILD *** ********************************** As long as you get the Silent Running perk and the Chinese stealth armor, you can build your character just about any way you want to, and he can still be super sneaky. However, I recommend that you combine your sneak build with a V.A.T.S. fighter build. I did that with a couple of characters, and had great success with them both. When you exit Vault 101 and finalize your S.P.E.C.I.A.L. attributes and tag skills, choose the following: Strength: 7 Perception: 6 Endurance: 7 Charisma: 1 Intelligence: 6 Agility: 6 Luck: 7 Tag skills: Small Guns, Sneak, Lockpick When you level up, remember that your most important skills are Sneak, Melee Weapons, Small Guns, Repair, and Lockpick. Consider those your major skills. Your minor skills include Medicine, Science, and Explosives. On your first few level-ups, put most or all of your skill points into your major skills. Once they get to 50 or so, you can start putting more points into your minor skills. As for perks, I recommend the following: Level 2: Intense Training (Strength) Level 3: Intense Training (Luck) Level 4: Educated Level 5: Comprehension Level 6: Toughness Level 7: Gunslinger Level 8: Strong Back Level 9: Commando Level 10: Finesse Level 11: Intense Training (Agility) Level 12: Silent Running [Sneak 50+] Level 13: Sniper Level 14: Cyborg [Medicine 60+, Science 60+] Level 15: Pyromaniac [Explosives 60+] Level 16: Action Boy/Girl Level 17: Better Criticals Level 18: Concentrated Fire [Energy Weapons 60+, Small Guns 60+] Level 19: Bloody Mess Level 20: Ninja [Melee Weapons 80+, Sneak 80+] Note the skill requirements that are in square brackets after some of the perks. You'll want to make sure your skills are up high enough to take those perks when I have them listed. After you reach level 12 and get the Chinese stealth armor, spend some time sneaking around and grabbing up bobbleheads and skill books to prepare for upcoming perks like Cyborg and Pyromaniac. If you sneak constantly and avoid all combat, you shouldn't level up much or at all during the process. As a V.A.T.S. fighter, you'll be disappointed that you can't get Grim Reaper's Sprint at level 20. However, all you have to do is get the Broken Steel add-on game so you can level up to level 21 and get it then. (Or if you just can't wait for the reaper, you can take that perk at level 20 and Ninja at level 21.) As for further perks, the only really good new one is Nerves of Steel. A lot of people like Almost Perfect, especially in conjunction with the "wait until after level 30 to get all of the attribute bobbleheads" strategy, but having all 9's or 10's in your attributes isn't much better than a carefully planned, build- specific attribute set. Quantum Chemist can be good for getting more Nuka-Cola Quantums to make nuka-grenades with, but only if you really like nuka-grenades and start saving up Nuka-Colas at the beginning of the game. I'd advise making your level 22 thru 30 perks be Nerves of Steel, Demolition Expert (all three), Paralyzing Palm, Adamantium Skeleton, Mysterious Stranger, Life Giver, and Fast Metabolism (in whatever order, as long as Nerves of Steel is taken at level 26). If you really want Quantum Chemist and Almost Perfect, take them instead of Fast Metabolism and Adamantium Skeleton. ******************** *** STARTING OFF *** ******************** After you exit Vault 101, go straight to Megaton and do the misc. quest "The Power of the Atom" to get yourself a house, then loot Megaton and Springvale (including the school) to get lots of loot and XP. Then go to Tenpenny Tower and do its quest, opting to help the ghouls invade so you can reap lots more loot and XP. (Get the two available dart gun schematics while you're there, and get the Lucky Shades from the store that's a bit SW of the tower.) After that, do the Operation: Anchorage add-on's quests to get the stealth armor, then do more misc. quests and combats until you reach level 12. You'll then be ready to do some serious sneaking! ************************** *** V.A.T.S. REFERENCE *** ************************** --- THE FIVE V.A.T.S. ADVANTAGES --- * Increased critical chance: Every time you make an attack with any type of weapon, using V.A.T.S. will increase your chance of making a critical hit by 15%. Even if your Luck stat is high and you have the Finesse perk, this can be a big help in finishing off tough foes. (Note that your weapons' conditions don't degrade faster in V.A.T.S. mode, despite what you may have heard.) * Aim assistance: At long range, your chance to hit in V.A.T.S. will be so low that you might as well just take your best aim and shoot without it. However, V.A.T.S. is very useful for close-up shooting, especially with enemies who are moving around quickly. Hit the V.A.T.S. key to "freeze" them in place, then take your time choosing where to shoot them. Remember that head shots will do more damage, though it'll usually be a bit harder to hit the head than the other parts. Thankfully, being close to an enemy means that every part of him will be fairly easy to hit. Another good thing to target in V.A.T.S. is an enemy's weapon, especially if it's a big one like a missile launcher or minigun. It's pretty easy to shoot a big weapon out of an enemy's hands, especially if you're using a combat shotgun or assault rifle. You'll have a chance to grab the dropped weapon after the V.A.T.S. session is over, though you'll have to be quick to get it before its owner reclaims it. You can also disarm an enemy by targeting his arms, but shooting the weapon directly usually works better, and has the added effect of rapidly lowering the weapon's condition. You may end up breaking it so that it can't be used at all, which means you won't have to run to pick it up to keep your opponent from using it again. NOTE: If you're using unarmed or melee attacks (or grenades), you won't be able to target a specific body part, and therefore can't take advantage of the head- shot damage bonus or specifically target an enemy's weapon. * Near Invulnerability: While you're in V.A.T.S. mode, you only take 10% of normal damage from any attack. Unfortunately, V.A.T.S. doesn't always start up the instant you hit the V.A.T.S. key, so it's risky to try to time things so that you go into V.A.T.S. right before an attack hits you. Also, to get the attack to hit you while you're still in V.A.T.S., you'll need to have enough action points to do an attack or two of your own. This is one of the main reasons you should maximize your action points as much as you can. See the sections for perks, items, and chems. * Total LOS targeting: V.A.T.S. can always see any enemy that's within your line of sight (LOS), even if you can't due to factors such as distance or darkness. You can use that in conjunction with the red blips shown on your compass to pinpoint nearby hard-to-see enemies, and thereby make attacking them or sneaking past them much easier. Just remember that V.A.T.S. usually won't be able to target a nearby enemy if he's mostly or completely obscured from your LOS by an obstruction. * Gap-closing: To hit an enemy with a melee or unarmed attack without V.A.T.S., you'll have to get very close to him. With V.A.T.S., you don't have to be nearly so close. Experiment with it to see how far away V.A.T.S. will let you be while still doing melee and unarmed attacks. Also note that V.A.T.S. doesn't care if there are partial obstructions between you and your target as long as you've still got LOS. --- V.A.T.S.-RELATED PERKS --- (Note that some of what I say here contradicts what I recommend for perks in the above "One Possible Stealth Build" section. After reading through this list carefully, go over the recommended perk list and see if you want to replace any of the perks on it with something else. You probably shouldn't unless you have a really good idea of what you want instead.) * Gunslinger, Commando, Sniper, Concentrated Fire: These four perks all have to do with improving your aim in V.A.T.S. As stated above, V.A.T.S. is really only useful for close-up combat, where you'll always get good chance-to-hit percentages, so none of these perks are really all that useful. * Mysterious Stranger: This is a very quirky perk, and isn't really recommended, though it does have some useful features. If your target's health is less than 150 when a V.A.T.S. session ends, there's a 10% chance that a "mysterious stranger" guy will show up and use his super-powerful magnum to finish your target off. One problem is that the stranger is manifested as a physical person, which means he needs to be placed somewhere specific. Sometimes his placement prohibits his shooting the target because he won't have LOS with it. On the other hand, he can sometimes kill multiple targets for you, though don't count on this always happening. Other disadvantages include not always getting the XP for an enemy that he finishes off, and your action points not getting restored if you have Grim Reaper's Sprint. NOTE: If you want to maximize the chances that the stranger will show up and finish off a particular target, repeatedly V.A.T.S.-attack that target one time with a weak weapon -- preferably a ranged one, like a silenced 10mm pistol. This can be a good way to finish off a distant foe before he can get close to you, especially if you're sneaky enough to avoid his notice. * Action Boy / Action Girl: This perk permanently adds 25 to your action points, and is therefore highly recommended. Remember that it's not your aiming percentages in V.A.T.S. that you need to increase as much as possible -- it's your action points. * Paralyzing Palm: This perk has nothing directly to do with action points, but is still very useful to high-level characters due to the toughness of some of the enemies they'll be encountering. The worst three are the super mutant overlords, feral ghoul reavers, and albino radscorpions that the Broken Steel add-on introduces to the wasteland. Those guys have ridiculous numbers of hit points, and simply cannot be killed quickly in conventional ways. One good way to deal with them is to have this perk, which allows you to paralyze them by whacking them several times in V.A.T.S. with your fists or unarmed weapons. While they're paralyzed, quickly shoot them in the head with a powerful weapon like the Terrible Shotgun (a unique combat shotgun) or a tri-beam laser rifle (a new Broken Steel weapon). Having a powerful follower like Fawkes along will help a lot, too. * Grim Reaper's Sprint: This perk is very useful because it will instantly restore all of your action points when a V.A.T.S. session is over if you killed your target. This allows you to immediately start up another V.A.T.S. session, in which you'll hopefully be able to kill another target. This can be used to easily clear an area of weaker enemies, or of stronger enemies that were first softened up by explosives and/or sneaky melee attacks. * Nerves of Steel: This is a level 26 perk that will only be available if you have the Broken Steel add-on game. It doesn't add to your action points, but it makes them regenerate faster. That will help you get back into V.A.T.S. sooner in the all-too-frequent situations where you can't kill your target in one V.A.T.S. session, and therefore won't get the reaper to restore your action points. NOTE: On the PC version of the game, this perk only increases action point regeneration by a super-tiny amount. To fix this, use the G.E.C.K. construction set program to load up the BrokenSteel.esm file, then edit the script named DLC03APRegenScript. On the line that starts with "Set MicroRegen," change the number after the slash from 10 to something smaller. 0.75 will cause your action points to regenerate about 50% faster than normal, and 0.25 will make them regen at double the normal rate. * Almost Perfect: This is a level 30 perk that will only be available if you have the Broken Steel add-on game. It isn't technically a V.A.T.S.-related perk, but it is the best way to get your Agility attribute up to 10, which will give you the largest base number of action points (85). You'll need to create your character with an Agility of 6 or so in order to get by until you reach level 30, at which time you can take this perk and then go get the Agility bobblehead. * Wired Reflexes: This is a special perk that you can receive as a quest reward. All it does is improve your accuracy in V.A.T.S., but it's worth getting because you don't have to spend a level-up perk slot on it. Go to Rivet City near the SE corner of the world map and do its "The Replicated Man" misc. quest so you can get this perk from Dr. Zimmer. The Finesse perk is also recommended to increase your critical chance even more, and the Better Criticals perk will make each critical hit you score count for more. The Chemist and Chem Resistant perks can also be useful to characters who use chems to increase action points a lot (see the section on chems), but aren't recommended since chems should only be used in emergencies, and their regular durations are usually long enough. --- V.A.T.S.-RELATED APPAREL --- * Ledoux's Hockey Mask: This mask adds 25 to your action points when you're wearing it, and is therefore THE number one most important equipment item for V.A.T.S. users to obtain. The guy who has the mask will be at the Red Racer Factory (a ways south and a tiny bit east of Megaton) after you go through the Nuka-Cola Plant (a long ways directly south of Megaton) and get the Nuka-Cola Clear formula. The formula is in a key-required safe near the NW corner of the research room, which is just west of the room with the factory exit door. To get a key to the safe, find the robot named "Milo, Shipping Foreman" and either talk it into giving you the key, or trash it and take the key. After you sell the formula to Goalie Ledoux, kill him and his two hockey-fetish buddies to claim their items, including the wondrous mask. NOTE: The mask can be removed and put back on in inventory (or via hotkey) to instantly set your action points to 25 if they're less than 25. Also, you may occasionally have to remove and reequip the mask to get your bonus action points back, since they sometimes disappear. WARNING: Be sure to get the mask before you finish the misc. quest "The Nuka- Cola Challenge." Otherwise, Ledoux might never show up. * Lag-Bolt's Combat Armor: This unique combat armor adds 10 to your action points when you wear it. That's not much of a bonus, and you may prefer to wear other armor most of the time (like the Chinese stealth suit for sneaking around in). If you want it, get the Broken Steel add-on and do its main quests up to the point where you restore power to the metro car that can take you to the Adams AFB terminal. After restoring power, go up the stairs past the nearby EXIT sign and check the bench for a holotape. Pick it up and listen to it in the Data/Notes section of your Pip-Boy, then go up some more stairs to find an exit to the Capitol Building. Sneak or fight your way outside, then travel to the La Maison Beauregard Lobby area in the D.C. ruins' Georgetown interior region. Inside the lobby, kill the guy named Lag-Bolt to get his armor. * Ranger Battle Armor: This combat armor only increases your action points by a measly 5, so don't bother getting it unless you want it for other reasons (like its Small Guns +10 and Luck +1 effects). The way to get Ranger battle armor is to do the "Reilly's Rangers" misc. quest, which starts at the ghouls' Underworld area inside the Museum of History. After you finish the quest, Reilly will let you choose either Ranger battle armor or a unique minigun named Eugene as your reward. NOTE: All three of the Rangers that you rescue on the quest are wearing Ranger battle armor, so you could get three suits of it by letting them all get killed. Or since you only need one suit, you could let one of them get killed and rescue the other two. (If you get Brick killed, you can get both the battle armor and Eugene from her.) * Tribal Power Armor: This unique power armor adds 15 to your action points, but decreases your Agility by 1, so the net gain to action points is actually 13. That's still more than the other two armor suits listed above, but remember that you'll have to get power armor training from the Citadel or the Operation: Anchorage sim before you can wear it. To get it, turn in all 100 steel ingots to Everett in the Pitt add-on. There are also various outfits that boost your Agility by 1, which will increase your action points by 2. All pre-war apparel (excluding headgear) will increase Agility by 1, as will some other cheap and common clothing like brahmin-skin and wastelander outfits. There are also three unique outfits that will do the same thing: The AntAgonizer's Costume from the "The Superhuman Gambit" misc. quest, Maple's Garb from the "Oasis" misc. quest, and the Laborer Outfit that you can get by turning in 10 steel ingots to Everett in the Pitt add-on. The action point gain is so small that you won't want to wear any of those outfits unless you had another reason to (like the +1 to Strength and Endurance that the Laborer Outfit gives). --- V.A.T.S.-RELATED CHEMS --- * Jet: This is the most common action-point-increasing chem, and can be found and bought in many different places. Since it's weightless, you should keep all the ones you find so that you'll be sure to always have some on hand. Due to the risk of addiction each time you use one, you should save them for special combat situations where having 30 more action points for awhile will be a big help. In most combat situations, it's better to use a few stimpaks and run for cover while your action points regenerate. NOTE: You should finish Megaton's "The Power of the Atom" misc. quest as soon as you can and buy the "my first infirmary" item for your home. That way, you can always return home and detoxify yourself for free whenever you become addicted to jet or any other chem. * Ultrajet: This is the other weightless action-point-increasing chem, and is also good to have several of on hand. Since it's technically a different item from jet, its effect will stack with jet's effect, giving you a total of +70 temporary action points. The problem with ultrajet is that it's not widely available. You'll have to go to the Northwest Seneca Station (near Arefu, which is a ways NW of Megaton) and make a deal with the ghoul named Murphy. Go collect sugar bombs from the many places that have them, then turn them over to Murphy. He can make one ultrajet for every eight boxes you sell him. Whenever he has at least one ultrajet in his inventory, you can access his merchant services and buy them from him. NOTE: If your Lockpick skill is 75 or higher, you can sneakily pick open the footlocker that's on the floor next to the desk and steal ultrajets instead of paying for them. * Nuka-Cola Quantum & Miss. Quantum Pie: Bottles of Nuka-Cola Quantum will add 20 to your action points. This isn't the best option due to the facts that you get fewer action points than you can from jet or ultrajet, you get 10 rads added on, each bottle weighs a pound, and there are several better uses for quantums. One small advantage is that they're a bit less addictive than the chems. If you really want an extra +20 action points beyond the +70 that you can get from jet and ultrajet, you should finish the misc. quest "The Nuka-Cola Challenge" and have Sierra turn quantums into Miss. Quantum Pies. They also weigh a pound each, but they're not addictive at all, they only add on 5 rads, and they also give a +1 to Strength. The disadvantages include having to hunt up vodka and the very rare flour for the pie-making, having to go to Girdershade every time you want pies made, and the -1 to Intelligence. * Fire Ant Nectar: These special chems can only be gotten from the fire ants that are in and around Grayditch, which is a ways east and a bit south of Megaton. The whole fire-breathing ant problem is the subject of the "Those!" misc. quest. Fire ant nectar doesn't directly affect action points, but instead adds 4 to Agility. If your Agility is 6 or under, the nectar will add 8 to your action points, otherwise it'll only add (10 - Agility) X 2 to your action points. You'll probably prefer to save the nectar for its temporary +25 fire resistance or sell it to Dr. Lesko after the quest is over. * NukaLurk Meat: This is another very rare action-point-increasing item, though it at least gives you 10 temporary action points and restores 20 hit points. You can only get NukaLurk meat from NukaLurks, which can only be found in the Nuka- Cola Plant (a long ways directly south of Megaton). *************************** *** USER-SUBMITTED TIPS *** *************************** Orvoc wrote in to inform me that non-stealthy ranged weapons such as the gauss rifle can be used for sneaky shots if you stay out of an enemy's line of sight. While testing this out, I discovered that if you're far enough away from the nearest enemy, you won't be detected even if you don't duck out of sight after firing. If you're closer, fire from a position next to something that you can duck behind immediately after firing. This is rather tricky to pull off, especially if there are several enemies nearby, so always try to keep your distance. As for weapon choice, you should always use the gauss rifle from the Operation: Anchorage add-on for this, since it's the most powerful scoped weapon in the game, has a lot of health, has a blast radius, and always scores a knockdown on critical hits. When you find a powerful enemy alone, you can V.A.T.S-shoot him in the head at close range, back off a bit and wait for your stealth indicator to read "hidden" again, and repeat. If the enemy is an NPC rather than a creature, you can run up to him and steal his non-equipped inventory while he's down (just like with the Paralyzing Palm perk). With enemies that are in a group, either zoom-shoot them all from a safe distance or use a stealth-friendly weapon to lure them away from the group one at a time so you can deal with them individually.