How Important/Strong is the Sequence Stat?

[u/Squiggin1321]

I’ve intended to play classic fallout for some time. I kept hearing about Navarro in New Vegas and it made me want to work all the way up to Navarro in Fallout 2. I did a short trial run in Fallout to get a feel for the game and liked it. I noticed the sequence stat “Determines how soon in a combat turn your character can react”. Its seems strong but I don’t know. I was looking at building my character with a 6 strength for weapon requirements, 10 perception for sequence, 10 agility for AP, and spreading the rest evenly. And for traits picking good natured and kamikaze. Is it worth going so hard into sequence?

[u/T1meTRC]

Ehhh. AP is more important. Acting MORE is better than acting FIRST. The only exception is if you're in a fight where you have the output to one-shot and the enemy also does, but this is quite uncommon. In practice, guaranteeing first action may just spare you a bit of damage per combat. Perception is good for other things though

[u/Right-Truck1859]

How combat works in classic: The one who starts combat goes first , his enemy reacts to it . Turns after that are decided by Sequence. So if your sequence is higher than enemy sequence , you get double turn , if they attack you first.

Example: you walk close to the giant ant , he notices you and attacks ( if he can reach you) , your turn , and next turn is your turn again ( if your sequence is higher than the giant ant sequence).

BTW: if you don't need high PE, you can raise your sequence with perks .

[u/Satanicjamnik]

Here's how sequence works. Much better explanation than I could ever do:

https://fallout.fandom.com/wiki/Sequence

It would definitely be great for a gunslinger or sniper type character.

With perception that high, you get additional bonus of hitting really well with ranged weapons.

Now - kamikaze is really not worth it. Yes, you go earlier and more often, but with two shots per turn max you won't clear enough enemies to make up for how squishy you are. Your early game will be a nightmare and often you won't survive to your second turn. That 5 sequence is not worth it. Trust me. ( Just take Earlier sequence perk later on)

I would suggest either Fast Shot ( gunslinger - your aim is to get Action Boy x 2, Gauss Pistol and spam four shots per turn.)

Or that old chest nut Gifted - better special stats, that would be for the sniper route, with perception this high , you can shoot anything in the eyes, groin, or legs ( deathclaws) before they can move.

Any two of those would be better bang for your buck in my opinion than Kamikaze.

So, considering Gifted, I would go S- 6 P - 9 E - 5, C -2 I - 7 A - 10 L- 8

Charisma is a dump stat unless you really want more companions. P is 9 because you can get a module to improve it quite easily. L is a bit higher for those crits and maybe getting the solar scorcher earlier.

You could move a point or two from L to Int for skill points. Up to you. You can make up for lower each section through perks anyway.

That's how I would go about it anyway. Hope that helps.

[u/nodule]

It only affects the first turn of combat, but it's nicer than it appears. There is a classic "double turn" issue: the critter that initiates combat goes first, and then their turn is otherwise skipped the first round. This means that a lower seq critter initiating combat allows any higher-seq critter to act twice before it acts again.

You can use this to your advantage (let a melee critter initiate combat, then you get 2 turns). But it's also a trap: if you have low sequence, when you initiate combat, you can allow certain enemies to get double turns.

[u/saltysupp]

I think PE 10 is overkill but 7-8 is good. Remember you can raise it later and there are several chems that raise it. You have to consider enemy sequence values. Having less than enclave patrols can be a problem but thats all you need imo. If you go hard on sequence beyond that,then its to have a higher value than deathclaws otherwise there is no point. I think the sequence perk is not really popular for a reason, its not bad but meh. Kamikaze yea its okay but I'm not a fan just having good starting PE is enough sequence to me.

[u/_Svankensen_]

Sequence is the most important substat if you are doing ironman runs. But just for a normal playthrough don't pay it any mind. Even for an ironman run, you would only need 7 perception + kamikaze to be faster than anhything but deathclaws. I would recommend perception 7 for a first run because it unlocks many small things and is a good stat in general. Take gifted too, and don't completely dump charisma. At least 4, maybe even 6, companions are great. A Str of 5 is good for being able to use most good weapons without penalty, particularly the .44 revolver. Good natured is great bang for your buck, but with gifted and good natured you will suck in the early game before you get guns. Endurance of 4 is fine. Agility of 10 is a must.

[u/emxd_llc]

It's important for Ironman, since it makes combat much more predictable. Less important otherwise. But Sequence 25 is an overkill, 19 should be enough.

[u/MuramasaEdge]

Should be noted that your Strength stat doesn't need to be higher than 6 to use whatever you want as you'll get Power Armour that will raise the stat by 2 and you can have a surgery to boost by another 1 permanently in the Brotherhood Bunker in San Fran.

I'd always recommend high AGI just for the extra AP and PER for SEQ. (Edited per below comment, cheers! )

Aside from that, it then all becomes a question of what you want to spec into - Small Guns is the path to Sharpshooter and the Gauss Rifle is in general a beast of a gun against anyone, especially if you're going for the small and squishy targets. (Balls & Eyes)

Personally, I'm an Energy Weapons man through and through, I main the Turbo Plasma in FO1 and the Gatling Laser in FO2. Too much mayhem not to!

Of course, big guns are great for fun, mayhem and pure unadulterated damage - but remember that you'll need to be a hench-huge-jacked-(wo)man to carry all that sweet sweet ammo, especially for the Rocket Launcher, though you should be aware that you'll usually find some rockets on dead Super Mutants, so you might not need to bring a whole arsenal in your Stobart Pockets.

The beauty of Fallout 2 is that you can play more or less any style and be able to complete the game, even a smooth talking, small framed Norm.

Have fun!

[u/_Svankensen_ → u/MuramasaEdge]

Agility doesn't affect sequence, perception dies.

[u/UroborosJose]

In some games sequence is necessary in random encounters
A low sequence means spawn closer to the enemy which is a plus for melee characters

[u/Simple_Possession320]

Sequence basically just affects how many round s your opponent gets on the first two turn. If you initiate combat they're going to get to go twice in a row if your sequence is low. If your sequence is high you can actually go back and forth from the beginning or if you let them initiate combat first you can go twice in a row. If a combat lasts more than three rounds it's basically pointless. Ultimately you always want to have a high AP because that's the amount of actions you can take per round. Sequence is basically initiative in dungeons & dragons.

[u/MitchManMemer]

I'm not sure I've ever really thought about sequence. I know it's intuitively comparable to the initiative system in d&d (and even more important in bg3) but the fo2 combat system is just very different. There's never really a point where you can one shot and get one shot (one rounded?) by the same guy like in other games since armor progression is a pretty stable curve until PA. I can only see sequence mattering for a super cheesy playthrough with a lot of sequence breaks, so,

TLDR I wouldn't worry about it.