Haha I started at level 1 and went right into main quest line. Level 32 now and just getting into side quests and events. I wanted to get used to the game while doing main quests to get the rewards.
That's exactly right. It also naturally takes you all over the map and into areas that should be safe for your level. It also gives you good level appropriate gear that is otherwise useless at level 50. That first gun from the Wayward quest, for example, saved me at level 11. Would be scrap essentially at level 50.
That's a fair point about the items that I didn't consider. I had been wishing that I had waited to be level 50 to do them for the unique items, but I can't think of anything I could've gotten from a quest that would be better than any of the main 4 guns I use at level 325.
I think maybe it makes sense to finish Beckett's quest for the Final Word at 50. That's a good gun for a level 50 character (or even later). But I am not trading my Vampire Fixer or Q/FFR Railway for anything else I got in a Main quest. I think part of it is at the time I got them, they seemed so great and so much better than the random crap that dropped. Now though, between crafting and vendors, I have much better.
Yep. I have been running the main quests and I just started playing a few weeks ago and started at level 1. Level 42 now and my camp has everything I need at this point. Water purifier, all the benches, vending machine, etc.
I'd definitely say to do the main questline, but if you aren't put out by waiting, it can be good to wait on the Skyline Valley questline til post 50.
The questline weapons are so good, but they only ever drop once per character. So if you want a level 50 Zweihander or Ticket to Revenge, you need to hold off on the questline, or do it again on a level 50 alt and trade it to yourself.
Pretty much all of the reasons for doing the main questline after level 50 did not apply to most people then, and there are basically no reasons left to follow it with the changes the game has seen. Getting access to quest related plans is vastly more important for new characters and even more so new players.
I started recently decided to just play it like a regular Fallout game. I started the main quest, saw something in the distance and went "oooh, neat!" And got sidetracked by bullshit for a while. Went back to the main quest and repeat. Only thing that screwed me up was I was lvl 20 heading to Whitespring approaching from the south. A lvl 30 scorchbeast was flapping over the road. First one I had seen. I thought maybe I could sneak by as long as I keep my distance. It sounded exactly like Sam Blackwell's account of being seen by one. That bastard laser focused on me and chased me halfway across the map before I escaped. Everything else has been fine
I don't remember a crater, but it could be because I was so focused on the sky and then panic screaming and backpedaling to escape certain death.
Edit: I checked the map and I ended up around Bleeding Kate's Grindhouse when I escaped
main quest is fine, but BoS quest should be done after 50. You're getting stuff like the plasma cutter, the best melee weapon outside of auto-melee, which plan is either a random daily OP drop, or bought from minerva at very specific dates. After 630 hours played i still don't have the plan. Doing the BoS questline after 50 ensures that you get it max level.
Thanks to that, i have a lvl 50 BSSS plasma cutter that can hit at over 3k damage.
So you did up to morgantown airport in wastelanders,.and the whole bos questline, and no events at allor and side stuff and you finished at lvl 37?! Not possible.
Yes. I have a character who doesn't join teams or use xp buffs or events and is 35 and just reached roses quests.
I think you're arguing in bad faith and trying to getaway away from my point that avoiding starting, and the word is starting, main quest til lvl 50 is bad advice.
I was overwhelmed with not understanding main quest vs side and daily quests. So I just run around and occasionally find myself near a black diamond and do whatever that is. I never thought to go back and do the storyline because I'm having fun exploring. I'm at level 90 BTW
Agreed to a point- it can be worth waiting until 50 to *complete* certain quests that drop great gear. Without getting too many spoilers, I saw some tips on certain quests and just waited until I dinged 50 to finish the final leg of those.
I'd recommend clearing the forest/Toxic Valley missions right off the bat. I'm talking Responders, Wayward, Grafton, Cold Case.
Ignoring whatever you might end up with from scavenging/killing enemies, knocking this stuff out doesn't take very long but nets you a lot of XP and supplies to build your kit, plus:
AA .44 revolver
AA 50 crit hunting rifle if that's what you choose at the end of one of the quests, furious aim laser pistol also not a bad option
10 mm SMG with fire damage bonus
Two chest pieces, leather and metal, with useful bonuses
Gas mask
Essential Camp plans
The plague vaccine, which sets the table for the rest of Wastelanders and needs to be done anyway
A lead on power armor/power armor crafting station.
That's a lot of utility for something that doesn't take all that long, is fun, and teaches the basics of the game as you go. Those weapons all punch well above their weight thanks to their effects, they can last you a while OR be replaced quickly depending on what you scavenge. No harm either way.
I pulled a classic fallout. Started the main quest line right away, got about half way through (I think? Still haven't finished it...), get distracted by my first public event around lvl20/30 and now I'm still not done the main quest line working on the new map expansion..
I am level 60, I started at level 1 doing the main quests and focused on them until around level 30ish and then I started joining event squads to get better weapons and gear and rank up faster. I still have a bunch of main quests to do even at level 60 (not to mention a crap ton of side quests that are piled up)
I was so caught up in all the exploring and side stuff I skipped the main quest until 75. Once those plans started coming in I was like "WHY DID I WAIT THIS LONG???" hahaha Fallout really has a way of grabbing you with side quests.
My take is this: if you're just exploring and doing some of the easier events you can easily go from level 1 to 50 in a matter of days. The real key to the game is maximizing your XP gains and there's about a dozen ways to do this right out of Vault 76 without any real effort. Sleeping, joining a casual group, using the Inspirational perk, different foods and magazines.....all of these can boost XP gains.
If you do things correctly you can get to level 50 well before you begin most of the main quests. I'd *maybe* do the very first one with the Overseer sooner rather than later because like you say it gives a lot of plans but if you also explore every POI you come across during the questline and do Events here and there you should be level 50 before you finish it. It also doesn't help that there's like 6 "Main Missions".
Iām level 102 and have yet to do a single quest (after going to the wayward at ~ 30)
I donāt even know which quests are the āmainā quests at this point. My main quest tab has like 15 of themšš¤·š¼āāļø
I have a L380 toon who's never done any main quests. I'm saving that one for sometime I'm really bored.
I could always just delete one of my toons and make a new one, but everyone but my mule has ground rep to max with Foundation and the Raiders (which is particularly hard if you haven't done any main quests). I'm not gong to do that again. F\*\*k Ward.
I played the main quests and also had fun doing CAMP stuff, Daily Ops, challenges, etc. and by level 50 I already had a full X01 Power Armor Set, Two 1-2-3 Star Legendary Gatling Plasmas and basically unlimited ammo, 30 Fusion Cores, and a decent Power Armor/Heavy Gunner build.
I couldnāt imagine how incredibly boring and confusing the game would be if you waited until Level 50 to do any main quests.
Even if the enemy leveling wasnāt equal to player level now it was always better to follow the main quest because it had decent progression, unlocked plans, taught you the areas around the map, the story, etc
Youāre basically gimping yourself if you purposely avoid the main quest just to level.
That being said thereās absolutely nothing wrong with doing side quests or just doing whatever you want if thatās what you want to do.
Telling people to wait just to wait is horrible advice
Kinda not really. After you get the plans which unlock early. You're better off using public events to level and unlock areas. Speedrun a section of the MQ in between.
Yeah, main quests are great for leveling and supplies.
Plus, like you said, if you play long enough to even care, you'll easily find better stuff down the road through events, vendors, crafting your own legendary weapons, etc.
The only reason that's usually suggested is so you get max levelled rewards, but as the game stands today it's so easy to get legendary loot, most of the quest reward weapons are out gunned by a lot of legendaries.
It's still best to do Beckett's at 50, but the rest don't matter much anymore.
I started the main quest up until flatwood, so basically 2 quests. However I played on console and this character was on PC so I sorta know what's up.
I have made a pistol build( yes I know pistols are bad) any I wanted the reveolver from the morganstown quest to be max level. I also started the BOS questline at max level so that the fact finder would be max too.
I wanted these at max level so I have okish weapons when doing my legendary western revolver grind.
Hey, I was a returning play, and I like collecting quest rewards at the highest level possible because there are just some days you wanna use whatever whacky weapon rather its good or not just for the funnies. So when I had to start freash on PC, I didn't do anything other than space station ladies' quest, which I regret. No one should be telling anyone how to play the game. If that is what they decide, then that's what they decide. I did just fine, and once you hit whitesprings crafting tables, it dont matter. Hell, I didn't use like any of my plans until about level 100. Plus, other peoples camps tend to have everything starting players need.
On my PC char I followed timeline installments. So I began wastelanders after launching a nuke and killing SBQ. I did events, bought plans at players vendors, used whitesprings mall for all, and didnāt spend a single cent on stations or vendor bots. Now with all quests made by strict order, my char is 304 and only bullions, stamps and those PA mod plans for Txx, excavator and x01 remaining. And some raresā¦ I started that char when Amazon gave PC version for free. Commando, full health, full crits, no PA. Only armor remaining, recon. PA union remaining, but I have 0 interest on it. Maybe when itāll be the last plans on Giuseppe Iāll do duties exp.
My advice: play as you want. Level shouldnāt be an issue. My wife is doing originals/wastelanders and is a 25.
Honestly, I feel like doing the main quest is mostly fine, as it's not like the fixed drops are endgame stuff you'll keep using forever anyway.
Honestly, I feel the most important lesson here is you should try to level to lvl 50 as fast as possible to be able to use all the gear you and and you don't get bad drops that are not max level . Start as a level lvl 20 character so you're already closer to that goal post, then it's totally fine to grind xp spots or whatever you want to reach the "max" gear level as fast as possible.
But don't stress it, truth is no matter what activity you get before you reach max level you'll be getting gear that "would have been better" if you were max level. Personally I'd rather have a bad main quest weapon than getting let's say a lvl 20 Holy Fire from an event, but that's just me... Then again I suppose you can rerun said even a gazillion times but you can't redo the quest.
There are several weapons you get as quest rewards that won't be max level, but most of them aren't that great anyway and you can always roll other legendries later that are just as good if not better. Unless you're an OCD collector, that is.
I honestly thought things were easier before lv 50 and then get easy again around lv 150.
Thereās a rough patch where youāre finding ur build and gear.
Level 43, started the other week. Iāve done some quests but mostly Iāve just joined world events and stuff. Now suffering from a lack of ammo for my main weapons, oops. Also might have spent all my caps on recipes/plans but some poor bugger was selling Ultracite Shocks for 200 caps and I spent about 5K caps on random stuff I wanted. Did some events again last night so Iām back to about 300caps but Iāve just been playing it my way and seeing what happens
i did most main quests right as i got them, but then i got the nuke quest. 100 lvls later i finnished all sidequests i can see and i just did it, it was underwhelmingly easy (if only i hadnt whiffed the drop location)
so now im sitting here like... what now
When the game was new, I took the approach on exploring and slowly leveling up. After playing for almost 6 years, every new character is started at L20 after the vault, leveled up quickly with say WesTek farming until L50, then start the main quest.
The issue is there are a number of named collectible items you get during the Main Quest. If you go about it organically, these will be awarded at very low levels. If you wait, they can be awarded at full (L45 or 50). Depends if you are a collector.
I helped power level one of my buddies he's about to hit 200 today and hasn't done a single quest. He started about 3 weeks ago. Once 200 he's gonna start his quests.
Haha I started at level 1 and went right into main quest line. Level 32 now and just getting into side quests and events. I wanted to get used to the game while doing main quests to get the rewards.
That's exactly right. It also naturally takes you all over the map and into areas that should be safe for your level. It also gives you good level appropriate gear that is otherwise useless at level 50. That first gun from the Wayward quest, for example, saved me at level 11. Would be scrap essentially at level 50.
That's a fair point about the items that I didn't consider. I had been wishing that I had waited to be level 50 to do them for the unique items, but I can't think of anything I could've gotten from a quest that would be better than any of the main 4 guns I use at level 325.
I think maybe it makes sense to finish Beckett's quest for the Final Word at 50. That's a good gun for a level 50 character (or even later). But I am not trading my Vampire Fixer or Q/FFR Railway for anything else I got in a Main quest. I think part of it is at the time I got them, they seemed so great and so much better than the random crap that dropped. Now though, between crafting and vendors, I have much better.
Yep. I have been running the main quests and I just started playing a few weeks ago and started at level 1. Level 42 now and my camp has everything I need at this point. Water purifier, all the benches, vending machine, etc.
I'd definitely say to do the main questline, but if you aren't put out by waiting, it can be good to wait on the Skyline Valley questline til post 50. The questline weapons are so good, but they only ever drop once per character. So if you want a level 50 Zweihander or Ticket to Revenge, you need to hold off on the questline, or do it again on a level 50 alt and trade it to yourself.
Pretty much all of the reasons for doing the main questline after level 50 did not apply to most people then, and there are basically no reasons left to follow it with the changes the game has seen. Getting access to quest related plans is vastly more important for new characters and even more so new players.
I did the same lol, I got so sidetracked with the game that I found the Overseer on lvl 50+ XD
Golden rule of the wasteland, thou shall get sidetracked by bullshit all the time.
I live and die by that rule. What quest line?!?! š¤£š
I think I was around 100-120 when I found them, and I started post-wastelanders. I just never followed the quest to find them and did everything else
I'd say do the main questline right off the getgo but to save the bullion quests till 50+. I'd be upset if my Slug Buster was low level
I started recently decided to just play it like a regular Fallout game. I started the main quest, saw something in the distance and went "oooh, neat!" And got sidetracked by bullshit for a while. Went back to the main quest and repeat. Only thing that screwed me up was I was lvl 20 heading to Whitespring approaching from the south. A lvl 30 scorchbeast was flapping over the road. First one I had seen. I thought maybe I could sneak by as long as I keep my distance. It sounded exactly like Sam Blackwell's account of being seen by one. That bastard laser focused on me and chased me halfway across the map before I escaped. Everything else has been fine
The one at the crater in the road?
I don't remember a crater, but it could be because I was so focused on the sky and then panic screaming and backpedaling to escape certain death. Edit: I checked the map and I ended up around Bleeding Kate's Grindhouse when I escaped
main quest is fine, but BoS quest should be done after 50. You're getting stuff like the plasma cutter, the best melee weapon outside of auto-melee, which plan is either a random daily OP drop, or bought from minerva at very specific dates. After 630 hours played i still don't have the plan. Doing the BoS questline after 50 ensures that you get it max level. Thanks to that, i have a lvl 50 BSSS plasma cutter that can hit at over 3k damage.
Yeah but even without doing events you naturally be lvl 50 by the time get anywhere near there
False I didnāt play events started at level 20 and completed all the bos stuff by level 37
You are straight up lying
I straight up am not. I like the missions so I focused it solely. I still have my level 30 somethin magnum you get from the one part of the story
So you did up to morgantown airport in wastelanders,.and the whole bos questline, and no events at allor and side stuff and you finished at lvl 37?! Not possible.
Is it really that crazy if you focus only on main quests, have low INT and no XP buffs?
Fr I didnāt know about int for xp until level 60-80 or something and I wasnāt playing on teams until after either
Same lol I literally just learned it yesterday!
Yes. I have a character who doesn't join teams or use xp buffs or events and is 35 and just reached roses quests. I think you're arguing in bad faith and trying to getaway away from my point that avoiding starting, and the word is starting, main quest til lvl 50 is bad advice.
Just fyi I am not the person you have been talking to, I just asked one question
Apologies then. There been a lot of people trying to argue something different actually wrote and it got a bit muddled
I was overwhelmed with not understanding main quest vs side and daily quests. So I just run around and occasionally find myself near a black diamond and do whatever that is. I never thought to go back and do the storyline because I'm having fun exploring. I'm at level 90 BTW
Agreed to a point- it can be worth waiting until 50 to *complete* certain quests that drop great gear. Without getting too many spoilers, I saw some tips on certain quests and just waited until I dinged 50 to finish the final leg of those.
This is the way. Hold off on a small few quests, but go right ahead on most.
Which quests? Saw becketts mentioned
The raider affinity quest as well, off the top of my head.
I'd recommend clearing the forest/Toxic Valley missions right off the bat. I'm talking Responders, Wayward, Grafton, Cold Case. Ignoring whatever you might end up with from scavenging/killing enemies, knocking this stuff out doesn't take very long but nets you a lot of XP and supplies to build your kit, plus: AA .44 revolver AA 50 crit hunting rifle if that's what you choose at the end of one of the quests, furious aim laser pistol also not a bad option 10 mm SMG with fire damage bonus Two chest pieces, leather and metal, with useful bonuses Gas mask Essential Camp plans The plague vaccine, which sets the table for the rest of Wastelanders and needs to be done anyway A lead on power armor/power armor crafting station. That's a lot of utility for something that doesn't take all that long, is fun, and teaches the basics of the game as you go. Those weapons all punch well above their weight thanks to their effects, they can last you a while OR be replaced quickly depending on what you scavenge. No harm either way.
Wait... The rewards at the Wayward quest ending are fix? I thought I was super lucky getting this AA/Crit Hunting Rifle.
Fixed! You lucked out by picking the best one. Some are undesirable. My first time I got a pretty ass pistol.
I pulled a classic fallout. Started the main quest line right away, got about half way through (I think? Still haven't finished it...), get distracted by my first public event around lvl20/30 and now I'm still not done the main quest line working on the new map expansion..
I agree with all you wrote.
I am level 60, I started at level 1 doing the main quests and focused on them until around level 30ish and then I started joining event squads to get better weapons and gear and rank up faster. I still have a bunch of main quests to do even at level 60 (not to mention a crap ton of side quests that are piled up)
Then there's me who got so sidetracked by everything that now I'm Rose's lackey at level 105.
Hello friend, me too, level 109 and I could kick myself, hours upon hours of camp building, wondering round and doing events :( had a blast though
Same, though for me its more trying to find the ideal spot than actually building yet.
I was so caught up in all the exploring and side stuff I skipped the main quest until 75. Once those plans started coming in I was like "WHY DID I WAIT THIS LONG???" hahaha Fallout really has a way of grabbing you with side quests.
I just kinda wandered around and accidently did quests that happened to be in my area at the time.
I got caught up in meat week so by the time it went away I was already lvl 75 lol. Couldnāt resist all that event loot. The main quests had to wait.
My take is this: if you're just exploring and doing some of the easier events you can easily go from level 1 to 50 in a matter of days. The real key to the game is maximizing your XP gains and there's about a dozen ways to do this right out of Vault 76 without any real effort. Sleeping, joining a casual group, using the Inspirational perk, different foods and magazines.....all of these can boost XP gains. If you do things correctly you can get to level 50 well before you begin most of the main quests. I'd *maybe* do the very first one with the Overseer sooner rather than later because like you say it gives a lot of plans but if you also explore every POI you come across during the questline and do Events here and there you should be level 50 before you finish it. It also doesn't help that there's like 6 "Main Missions".
I tried to tell'em
Iām level 102 and have yet to do a single quest (after going to the wayward at ~ 30) I donāt even know which quests are the āmainā quests at this point. My main quest tab has like 15 of themšš¤·š¼āāļø
I have a L380 toon who's never done any main quests. I'm saving that one for sometime I'm really bored. I could always just delete one of my toons and make a new one, but everyone but my mule has ground rep to max with Foundation and the Raiders (which is particularly hard if you haven't done any main quests). I'm not gong to do that again. F\*\*k Ward.
Whatās toon
Toon = character. It's an old term from early MMOs and other games.
Wait, there's quests? I thought the whole game was just killing stuff and inventory management.
That is terrible. It should be the first thing they do.
I played the main quests and also had fun doing CAMP stuff, Daily Ops, challenges, etc. and by level 50 I already had a full X01 Power Armor Set, Two 1-2-3 Star Legendary Gatling Plasmas and basically unlimited ammo, 30 Fusion Cores, and a decent Power Armor/Heavy Gunner build. I couldnāt imagine how incredibly boring and confusing the game would be if you waited until Level 50 to do any main quests.
Even if the enemy leveling wasnāt equal to player level now it was always better to follow the main quest because it had decent progression, unlocked plans, taught you the areas around the map, the story, etc Youāre basically gimping yourself if you purposely avoid the main quest just to level. That being said thereās absolutely nothing wrong with doing side quests or just doing whatever you want if thatās what you want to do. Telling people to wait just to wait is horrible advice
Kinda not really. After you get the plans which unlock early. You're better off using public events to level and unlock areas. Speedrun a section of the MQ in between.
Yeah, main quests are great for leveling and supplies. Plus, like you said, if you play long enough to even care, you'll easily find better stuff down the road through events, vendors, crafting your own legendary weapons, etc.
The only reason that's usually suggested is so you get max levelled rewards, but as the game stands today it's so easy to get legendary loot, most of the quest reward weapons are out gunned by a lot of legendaries. It's still best to do Beckett's at 50, but the rest don't matter much anymore.
I started the main quest up until flatwood, so basically 2 quests. However I played on console and this character was on PC so I sorta know what's up. I have made a pistol build( yes I know pistols are bad) any I wanted the reveolver from the morganstown quest to be max level. I also started the BOS questline at max level so that the fact finder would be max too. I wanted these at max level so I have okish weapons when doing my legendary western revolver grind.
It's a 1 star legendary. At lvl 50 you'll be wanting 3 stars
I would say with certain quest such as raiders you want to be level 50 for the Slug Buster. That can go for other quest items as well.
Yes I'd agree, but that's the last quest and you're gonna be lvl 50 by then
Level 196 and still only finished the 79 gold questline.
Well the first test is Craneās treasure. Do you get a lv 50 reward if you wait till then ?
An unnamed 1 star legendary that gets stripped doesn't matter if lvl 50. Plus those quest will.be boring as he'll at lvl 50
well some awards are scaling with level , especially weapons Mind over Matter during the bos questline is juicy at rad rumble
Hey, I was a returning play, and I like collecting quest rewards at the highest level possible because there are just some days you wanna use whatever whacky weapon rather its good or not just for the funnies. So when I had to start freash on PC, I didn't do anything other than space station ladies' quest, which I regret. No one should be telling anyone how to play the game. If that is what they decide, then that's what they decide. I did just fine, and once you hit whitesprings crafting tables, it dont matter. Hell, I didn't use like any of my plans until about level 100. Plus, other peoples camps tend to have everything starting players need.
Im level 170 and havent finished the main quests
I thought the generator plans could only be gotten by doing the power on events at the power plants.
On my PC char I followed timeline installments. So I began wastelanders after launching a nuke and killing SBQ. I did events, bought plans at players vendors, used whitesprings mall for all, and didnāt spend a single cent on stations or vendor bots. Now with all quests made by strict order, my char is 304 and only bullions, stamps and those PA mod plans for Txx, excavator and x01 remaining. And some raresā¦ I started that char when Amazon gave PC version for free. Commando, full health, full crits, no PA. Only armor remaining, recon. PA union remaining, but I have 0 interest on it. Maybe when itāll be the last plans on Giuseppe Iāll do duties exp. My advice: play as you want. Level shouldnāt be an issue. My wife is doing originals/wastelanders and is a 25.
Honestly, I feel like doing the main quest is mostly fine, as it's not like the fixed drops are endgame stuff you'll keep using forever anyway. Honestly, I feel the most important lesson here is you should try to level to lvl 50 as fast as possible to be able to use all the gear you and and you don't get bad drops that are not max level . Start as a level lvl 20 character so you're already closer to that goal post, then it's totally fine to grind xp spots or whatever you want to reach the "max" gear level as fast as possible. But don't stress it, truth is no matter what activity you get before you reach max level you'll be getting gear that "would have been better" if you were max level. Personally I'd rather have a bad main quest weapon than getting let's say a lvl 20 Holy Fire from an event, but that's just me... Then again I suppose you can rerun said even a gazillion times but you can't redo the quest.
I'm 130 and basically just getting going on actual storyline stuff haha
With me this might be a Oblivion thing where I didn't even deliver the amulet or go through one Gate and just fucked off for 40 plus hours.
There are several weapons you get as quest rewards that won't be max level, but most of them aren't that great anyway and you can always roll other legendries later that are just as good if not better. Unless you're an OCD collector, that is.
I honestly thought things were easier before lv 50 and then get easy again around lv 150. Thereās a rough patch where youāre finding ur build and gear.
I am level 108 and havenāt done the main quest yet lol
I just hit lvl 76 and Iāve only done 1 mainline quest. Just been building and doing public events all this time.
Level 43, started the other week. Iāve done some quests but mostly Iāve just joined world events and stuff. Now suffering from a lack of ammo for my main weapons, oops. Also might have spent all my caps on recipes/plans but some poor bugger was selling Ultracite Shocks for 200 caps and I spent about 5K caps on random stuff I wanted. Did some events again last night so Iām back to about 300caps but Iāve just been playing it my way and seeing what happens
I am leveling with the main.. only will do events on 50. I am refusing a lot ultraciste plans and that.. dont care.. Loving fallout 76. Its a mmo?
i did most main quests right as i got them, but then i got the nuke quest. 100 lvls later i finnished all sidequests i can see and i just did it, it was underwhelmingly easy (if only i hadnt whiffed the drop location) so now im sitting here like... what now
When the game was new, I took the approach on exploring and slowly leveling up. After playing for almost 6 years, every new character is started at L20 after the vault, leveled up quickly with say WesTek farming until L50, then start the main quest. The issue is there are a number of named collectible items you get during the Main Quest. If you go about it organically, these will be awarded at very low levels. If you wait, they can be awarded at full (L45 or 50). Depends if you are a collector.
I helped power level one of my buddies he's about to hit 200 today and hasn't done a single quest. He started about 3 weeks ago. Once 200 he's gonna start his quests.
Ok, well enjoy your level 10 rewards.
At lvl 10 I did.
You could enjoy them for a lot longer if you waited until 50.
Possibly, but that's very specific. The weapons people keep to use at the end of the questline. They are going to be lvl 50 by then