Exploits should be written with brevity and clarity in mind.
Please observe the editing guideline. In particular, do not use first-person or forum-style speech.
Videos should not be included unless the exploit cannot be explained without one.
Exploits are "holes" in the game programming which allow a player to do something that the developers did not intend and as such, alter the balance of the game in a way that benefits the player. These differ from the console commands created by developers to aid in testing and debugging the game. Information on console commands may be found at Fallout: New Vegas console commands.
Status: confirmed, 29 Mar 2012 Fixed, no long gives experience points, still counts towards speech challenges., 09 Jun 2013 Fixed, no long gives experience points, still counts towards speech challenges., 02 Jun 2013
Status:unconfirmed Patched, 27 Oct 2011 confirmed, 08 Jan 2011
When asking Bryce Anders about Vault 3, you can repeatedly ask him why he's there, the Speech check (25) can be exploited for infinite experience.
In the Vault 11 sacrificial chamber, one may access the mainframe in the room to the left after sitting through the presentation by Vault-Tec. Once accessed, every time the third option is selected, 550xp is gained. If the player chooses the Here and Now perk at any point after performing this exploit, any subsequent level-ups will not occur.
Status: fixed, 18 Dec 2010 fixed, 20 Jul 2011 fixed
Speaking to Mr. House yields a medicine check (Medicine 35) that repeatedly yields 35 XP.
Status: confirmed, 22 Jul 2012 confirmed, 14 May 2013 confirmed, 30 Nov 2013
Speaking to Mr. House about retrieving the platinum chip yields a barter check (Barter 50) that will provide 50xp every time the dialog path is completed.
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed, 31 Jan 2012 Patched, 21 Aug 2011
Prior to saving Deputy Beagle in Primm, the player must speak to Manny Vargas in Novac. The player will now be presented with a speech check (Speech 40) which may be repeated for 40 XP. Should the player speak to Beagle prior to talking to Vargas, the check will not be repeatable.
During Oh My Papa, speaking with Jack in the Red Rock Drug Lab will yield a repeatable speech check (Speech 60) that provides 60xp. This exploit may be used to "break" the level cap.
Status:unconfirmed fixed, 22 Nov 2013 unconfirmed
After returning the data for Dr. Hildern during There Stands the Grass, talking to Dr. Williams provides a speech check (Speech 25). This option appears after asking her "What do you think of Dr. Hildern?". The conversation may be repeated unlimited times.
Status: Confirmed, 05 Oct 2011 confirmed Confirmed, 30 Jul 2012
The player must first initiate the Run Goodsprings Run quest, and kill Ringo. Upon returning to Cobb, one must then agree to shake down Chet for supplies. The player must then fail the quest by damaging or killing any of the Powder Gangers present. The player may then go to Chet in the Goodsprings General Store and ask him to donate supplies to the Powder Gangers. The player may choose either the Barter check (Barter 25) or the Speech check (Speech 25). Both choices may be used repeatedly and each success provides 30 9mm ammo and a leather armor. This exploit may also be used with Doc Mitchell, but the spare medical supplies he gives the player cannot be sold or dropped. Note that you will have to perform these checks approximately 5600-5700 times to reach Level 50 with all 3 levels of the 'Swift Learner' perk, granting 33 experience per check.
Status: Confirmed, 27 Jul 2012 Confirmed, 25 Aug 2012 Confirmed, 01 Jun 2012
At Cottonwood Cove, there will be a man named Aurelius of Phoenix standing atop the balcony of a building. The building is the largest in the settlement. While talking to him, you can activate a speech check. To activate the speech check, one must have a speech skill of 35 or more. The speech check is about trading an NCR dogtag for supplies. The quest Render Unto Caesar must have been added to the quest list to say the speech check. Once the speech check is done once, it can be done as much as the player wants.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Experience Via Combat
The Mister Sandmanperk may be utilized on the children in Bitter Springs. The child will not die, but the player will still receive 50 xp.
Status:unconfirmed Fixed, 20 Jul 2011 fixed, 10 Jun 2012
The player will gain 60 to 90 xp when moving a mantis foreleg (Must at least be 6 of them stacked) from his/her inventory to a container, corpse, companion inventory. This may even happen when first removing the mantis foreleg from the mantis it-self. This can be done inside the tutorial area and is faster than Chet's Speech and Barter checks, therefore this can be used with the more perks exploit to do so faster but without the added benefit of a surplus of 9mm ammo.
Status: fixed, 30 May 2013 fixed, 30 May 2013 Fixed, 01 Jun 2013
After killing Big Sal during How Little We Know, the player may continue to gain experience by punching his corpse. Each punch earns 50xp.
Status: Fixed Fixed Fixed
Tipping brahmin counts towards the Knocked Up challenge. This challenge can be completed unlimited times by getting into sneak mode and activating a brahmin, ie: using the A button on an Xbox 360, thus knocking it down. Repeat 100 times for 75xp each time the challenge is completed. One suggested place to do this is in the little corral at the Crimson Caravan's office. Knock down a brahmin several times and push it up against a wall of some sort and repeat.
Status: confirmed, 13 Dec 2012 confirmed Confirmed, 20 Mar 2012
Notes
Beginning from level 1, 66700 XP is required to reach level 30.
Taking any leveling perk (IE: Swift Learner) increases the XP earned for any check, reducing the total number of checks needed to level up.
Add-ons
Dead Money
Complimentary Voucher Stacking
When dropped, Complimentary voucher remain in mid-air, ignoring gravity. Exploiting this permits the creation of "stairs" allowing access to many areas previously unreachable.
While playing slot machines in the Sierra Madre it appears that it is possible to manipulate the outcome by pressing buttons as each slot is about to stop. (Any button will do really. Yet to be tested out on The Strip)
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed confirmed, 03 Nov 2012
Agility Stat Boost
After finding the Sierra Madre Vending Machine codes needed to return casualwear (and related lightweight apparel that gives a +1 boost to Agility), you can raise your Agility well beyond normal limits. Simply equip the casualwear and then turn it in to the vending machine. The clothing will be removed from your inventory, but the +1 Agility boost will remain added to your stats. This exploit can be repeated any number of times, adding +1 with every equipped clothing item you return. This will not allow you to take perks requiring higher Agility. (If used several times this exploit will cause weapons to glitch through the characters shoulder if holstered whilst moving.)
If Christine is locked in the Switching Station for the Mixed Signals quest, she sets traps in the Executive Suites during Last Luxuries. On the west side of the floor she sets a tripwire and frag grenade trap. The grenades can be disarmed and collected an unlimited number of times.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed confirmed
Unlimited XP Gain
After completing the Gala Event, Dog/God provides a repeatable Speech check. When speaking to God, the player must ask why they are here and why the collars have not been set off. With a speech skill of 75, the player may speculate that the Pip-Boy is boosting the signal. This speech check is not marked as such but will provide 75xp. This dialogue path may be repeated an unlimited number of times.
By repeatedly dropping Sierra Madre chips and picking them back up, the player will quickly earn the achievement and additional XP bonus challenge without having to actually locate/win the required amount of chips.
Status: confirmed, 15 Mar 2011 Confirmed, 18 Feb 2012 confirmed, 26 Jul 2011
Puesta del Sol switching station tripwire exploit
The tripwire trap in the room with the terminal to shut down the shielded speaker can be avoided. This requires the player to save before going to the terminal and running into the trap detonating the explosives and killing your character. While the animation of your character dying is playing, the player now has to load the previous save tricking the game to activate the trap before going to the tripwire thus exploding the grenades without harming your character.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Easy "Dead Man's Hand" Achievment
Every time the player drops a Sierra Madre Card and picks it back up, it will count as if you found a new one.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Honest Hearts
War club glitch
When performing a forward power attack with a fully upgraded war club, the player is rocketed forward. If this is used repeatedly, one may actually move far faster than with a holstered weapon.
Status: confirmed, 12 Oct 2011 confirmed, 28 Oct 2011 confirmed, 13 Jul 2011
Using this same exploit, should a player charge into any form of ramp (IE: steps, curbs), the player may be launched into the air, possibly high enough to perish from the resulting fall damage.
Status: confirmed, 03 Feb 2013 confirmed, 28 Oct 2011 confirmed, 13 Jul 2011
Mantis EXP glitch
This glitch/exploit still works in Honest Hearts. Repeatedly transfer the mantis forelegs between your inventory and a dead creature's body. This should be done with Giant Mantis or Giant gecko for maximum XP.
Status: v1.4.0.525 Not working, 04 Apr 2013 unconfirmed
Old World Blues
Skilled trait glitch
When starting the game, one may choose the Skilled trait to gain +5 to every skill at the cost of earning 10% less XP throughout the game. When leaving the tutorial area, should the player rebuild their character and choose the Skilled trait again, one will gain an additional +5 to every skill (for a total of +10 total per skill) while still only suffering a 10% XP penalty. Note that you will lose 10% of your earned XP; at lower levels this may not be noticeable but a level 50 character that chooses Skilled when leaving the tutorial area will become level 47. The perk may be taken a third time during Old World Blues through the Auto-Doc's mental examination adding a further 5 points per skill, however your XP is not reset (e.g. you can't get extra perks).
Also note that if leveling a character to 50 within the tutorial area using an exploit taking the Skilled trait will slow the process by 10% - over 8000 25 point speech checks!
Status:unconfirmed confirmed, 08 Jul 2012 confirmed, 10 Mar 2012
At the X-13 Research Facility, after completing all of the stealth tests and the related Project X-13 quest, all of the testing area's Robobrain (Fallout: New Vegas) and Mark IV Turret can be destroyed for extra exp. After destroying all "hall monitors", the Advanced Infiltration Test can be replayed an infinite amount of times for 173exp and a randomized test reward (usually a small amount of energy weapon ammo). If the player also disables the laser trip wires (50 Repair or Science), which also provides a small amount of exp each time, he/she can simply walk through the halls without any need for sneaking or Lockpicking.
The Expert Test can be replayed instead in order to obtain a ¡La Fantoma! instead of ammo, but keep in mind that the proximity mines re-arm themselves each time (The Expert Test provides the same amount of exp as the Advanced).
The Robot Compliance Test can be chosen in order to re-spawn the robobrains (the turrets do not re-spawn). The re-spawned robobrains can be destroyed again for a small amount of exp and randomized loot. This method can also be used to grind for challenges/achievements/trophies such as Blast Mastery.
Due to the high rate at which robobrains drop Energy cell (Fallout: New Vegas), the Sonic emitter (weapon) is an excellent choice for this process, as the influx of Energy Cells often matches (or even exceeds) the rate at which ammo is spent defeating said enemies. A Robotics Expert can shut them down even more easily to destroy by melee/unarmed methods.
Status: confirmed, 19 Apr 2024 unconfirmed Confirmed, 05 Jan 2013
Level Cap Increase (PS3)
After beating Old World Blues and reaching the increased level cap of 35 the player appears to be unable to level up any more. On PS3 however, you can increase your level cap by deleting the game data utility of Fallout New Vegas, but not the DLC of Old World Blues. The player must then download the 236MB patch and allow it to install. There will then be a 22MB patch that needs to download, the player cancels this download and disables their PS3 internet connection. They can now enter Fallout New Vegas and load up their level 35 character. A message should appear stating that their level cap has been increased by 5 and they should even receive 100xp. The player's new level cap is now 40.
NOTE: The player may need to load up the game once before downloading the 236MB patch for this to work. It is also unknown at this point if this can be repeated multiple times to further increase the level cap beyond 40.
NOTE: The file size of the initial patch is 293MB at this point in time not 236MB. It works however it only appears to work once so you cannot get past the 40 level cap with this method alone.
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed, 05 Mar 2012 unconfirmed
Money
Upon recruiting Fisto to work for the Garrets as their "sexbot", the player may talk to the robot about provided services. Upon exiting the conversation, the player will be granted 10 caps. This may be repeated unlimited times.
Should the player drop more than 32,768 (2^15) of any casino's chips, the game's engine glitches. Upon retrieving them, the player receives a negative number of chips that may be traded for caps, NCR, or Legion money. The exploit may also be done with values higher than 32,768 but the number of "negative" chips received is inversely proportional to the number of chips dropped. Dropping 33,536 chips will give you exactly -32,000 chips. Every time the chips are turned in, the player will will gain that amount, only in positive numbers. Bear in mind: when picked up, the chips will not show up in the player inventory anymore, but may be turned in for money over and over.
Status: Confirmed, 03 Jul 2011 Confirmed, 30 Oct 2011 Confirmed, 10 Dec 2013
When cashing in chips from the Vikki and Vance Casino, the chips will not be removed from the player inventory but the currency (caps, NCR, or Legion money) will still be acquired. Using this method, the player may repeatedly "cash in" without ever losing any chips.Though deleting the title update allows this glitch to be done as with any other glitch but when deleting the title update if you have any DLC items such as GRA (gun runner's arsenal) then any items you have on you or stored in containers at your "hideout" will disappear and will not re-appear (with the exception of any DLC items that are added to your inventory as soon as the DLC is loaded)
Status: Fixed, 04 Feb 2012 Fixed, 04 Feb 2012 Fixed, 04 Feb 2012
In Lonesome Road, there are many commissary terminals with 6000 caps to trade. Sell the terminal two weapons that are the same. (I.E. thermic lance, the marked men use this weapon a lot so it is a prime example.) Make sure that they have a different condition rating. Sell both and the buy the cheapest. Then sell it back to the terminal, if the exploit worked then the weapon should be sold at a higher price than you had bought it for. If it did not work then try again it can be picky. What makes this vendor special is the fact that when it has less than 200 caps, you can exit the terminal and re-enter it and it will have 6000 caps again, but no new inventory.
Status: Unconfirmed Confirmed, 12 Jun 2013 Unconfirmed
The vendors listed are not necessary to use this technique properly, but are the vendors with the largest amount of caps on hand at any given time.
Another method is to exit the Sink to the Big MT, turn right and circle around the Sink/Think Tank clockwise. You should encounter 3-4 groups of 2-4 Lobotomites, 1 group on the west, 1 or 2 on the north and 1 more on the east under the large satellite dish. When you get back to the Sink entrance you can either enter to drop off the loot or simply repeat your trip around and the same groups will immediately respawn. You can do this indefinitely, building up a sizable amount of loot in a short amount of time. 1 trip typically nets you 25k-30k in weapons alone, when fully repaired, and takes only takes 2–3 minutes. Be cautious though, they have the tendency to spawn immediately in front of you.
Barter and Repair exploitation
Vendor exploit: 100% weapons and armor...as with Fallout 3, the player can sell damaged weapons and armor to vendors who already have at least one copy of same item in their inventory...after completing sale (i.e. getting caps) repurchase item (rinse and repeat) depending on how many of same items vendor started with, player will eventually be able to purchase item at low quality cost...then have 100% fully repaired item in their inventory which they can now either keep or sell back at 100% value. This exploit allows players to clean out vendors of their inventory without spending a cap i.e. ammunition shortages will rarely be a problem assuming player uses exploit whenever he/she gets a chance. Profit from the sale is the difference between the current condition of the weapon and the full 100% condition of the weapon so choose a very damaged weapon to buy/sell.
Note: appears to only work if player starts with only 1 copy of item in their own inventory...not working? Confirm you do not have a "stolen" item or hidden duplicate in your inventory.
To avoid glitches in Fallout 3 and New Vegas choose a lightweight, high value item (such as the Plasma Defender). Get 2 of them and repair one to 100% and break the other. This way you can carry your own items that few, if any, Merchants will glitch on and you won't have to hope they have a broken version of the good item you may be carrying. You can now sell the 100% item first then the broken one. Buy the broken one back and you will receive the fully repaired item, then buy the broken one again and you will receive that one. This can also be done with MULTIPLE fully repaired items, but it runs the risk of becoming glitched. Using this you can clean out any merchant, the Big MT Sink or Lonesome Road commissary units.
I've tested this on many different traders, and I've been able to make this glitch perform perfectly every time. Have 2 of the same weapon: one fully repaired (or near fully, the more it's worth, the faster you can get your caps back. It's also possible to use this glitch to heal weapons to 100%) and one completely broken weapon(to break a weapon easily, have a companion wield it and target it in VATS). Keep the trader in questions' caps below 30k to avoid glitches. Some traders appear to "consume" weapons and make them unavailable to buy back, like Samuel Kerr at 188 trading post. This could be due to the fact that he is a food merchant and not a weapons/general merchant. There are 2 possible situations in which all of these criteria are met:
SITUATION 1: The trader does not have a copy of the 2 weapons(in my example I'll use the 10mm SMG) that you have. In this situation, buy everything you want. Then, sell the repaired 10mm SMG, followed by the broken one. Buy the broken one back, and you will have the repaired one. Sell the repaired one back, then buy the broken one again. This time, you will receive the broken one. Just sell it back and buy it again to receive the repaired one. Repeat to drain the trader of items and caps. To get all your weapons back, just keep buying the broken one back.
Note that also in this situation, you can use multiple repaired weapons to make the process faster. Sell the repaired 10mm SMGs, then the broken one. Then buy the broken one back, giving you a repaired one, but leaving the broken one in the trader's inventory. You can buy this back AGAIN to get the other full repaired weapon. Sell them back, repeat.
SITUATION 2: The trader (I'll use the Vendortron) DOES have a 10mm SMG in his inventory(usually slightly less than fully repaired, about 2338 caps). Buy everything as usual, being conscious to keep his caps below 30k. Sell the repaired 10mm SMG, then the broken one. Now, every time you buy back the broken one, you will get the repaired one, being able to quickly sell and buy back. When you are finished, to get your 10mm SMGs AND the vendor's, just keep buying back the broken 10mm SMG. This DOES NOT work with multiple 10mm SMGs as it did in Situation 1.
IMPORTANT Note: There is a problem now, which is easily fixed (I have tested this). The vendor's 10mm SMG is glitched underneath the broken 10mm SMG in your Pip-Boy inventory. To fix this, drop the repaired 10mm SMG, then the broken one. You will see that you are still left with a fully repaired 10mm SMG in your inventory. Leave the Pip-Boy, move over a little to separate it from the other 2, and drop it as well. Now, pick up the first fully repaired 10mm SMG that you dropped and equip it. Then pick up the other full repaired 10mm SMG along with the broken one. You will see that the second fully repaired 10mm SMG has reverted back to the original 2338 caps worth that the vendor originally had. The weapons are now unglitched and free to use for more barter glitches.
Status: Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed, 28 Jun 2024
Resetting Vendor Inventory/Cash
If a player saves the game when in the same cell as a vendor and restarts the console, the vendor's caps will be reset. Inventory will not reset, however.
With the 1.02 patch, Cliff Briscoe, Johnson Nash, Lacey, and Quartermaster Mayes have been limited to five games of caravan a piece. However, the player can still reverse-pickpocket caps into the inventory of non-merchant non-player characters who play caravan (such as No-bark Noonan or Isaac). This allows the player to exploit the 'double caps' bug.
Any trader who plays Caravan can be exploited for caps. There seems to be a logic error that involves all the different types of currency, if you buy everything so that you have no caps you can still gamble with your NCR and Legion money, the game gives you back all the money in caps. If you continue to do this until the trader has 20 to 30k it never diminishes his/her total caps. You can keep feeding the trader more caps by buying and selling items.
You can reverse pick-pocket Dale Barton at The Fort and add caps to his inventory, and he will bet the caps, but they will not be removed from his inventory if you win. Using this method, money may be repeatedly duplicated. It has been reported that winning larger amounts of caps (around the area of 400,000 and up) causes the game to crash.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed Confirmed, 26 May 2011
Weapons
If a player enters and then exits VATS while wielding an anti-material rifle equipped with incendiary ammo, the target will be lit on fire as though they were shot at.
Status: Fixed Fixed Fixed
If a player loots an enemy's weapon while wielding the alien blaster, any ammo carried by the enemy will be converted to alien power cells.
Status: Fixed Fixed Fixed
When using round-by-round reloading weapons, the slow speed can be remedied by having more than one ammunition type and quickly tapping the change ammunition type button. This will instantly load the weapon with a single piece of ammunition.
Status: Confirmed, 01 May 2012 Confirmed, 24 Feb 2013 Confirmed, 03 Feb 2012
Break a missile launcher, but break it by your hand, when you fire the last missile and it says the message and takes away the weapon; now after the message appears and it takes the weapon go to pipboy, weapons, select a weapon depending on the ammunition you broke your launcher with.
If you had regular missiles equipped it will let you throw down as many placed explosives as you had regular missile ammunition.
If you choose to break if using HE or HV rounds, you will be able to throw the missiles by equipping a throwing spear or like weapon, even with C-4 plastic explosive.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed confirmed, 22 Jun 2012
During the Brotherhood of Steel quest line the player is informed that they may have some of the Brotherhood's recharged energy cells/microfusion cells. Every time the cell is reloaded, the container will be filled regardless of the amount of time passed.
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed post-patch 1.5, 11 Jun 2011 Confirmed, 25 Jun 2011
One may find any weapon that would otherwise be in bad condition, fully repaired. By saving prior to picking the weapon up and reloading the game, the game glitches and registers the weapon as fully repaired. This only works for weapons spawned on the ground, not weapons dropped by the player or NPCs.
Equip the weapon with the ammo type you wish to hotkey. Press and hold the hotkey button. While still holding the hot key button, navigate to the ammo page and hot key the ammo of your choice. Now equip any weapon and press the ammo's hotkey button. The weapon will remain equipped up the ammo will change. All effects from the ammo retained. Guns that run on microfusion breeders do not need ammo to fire, only the initial hot key. Loading a save disables the glitch. Most, but not all combinations will work (IE: a Laser Detonator with Tiny Tots). The ammo can be added to melee and unarmed weapons as well, and they will not consume ammo. Throwing weapons and mines are also effected, and will allow you to "throw" the ammo. By using 12ga, 4/0 buck will fire multiple shots from the weapon. When combined with placed explosives (IE: C-4 plastic explosive), multiple explosives will be created, and only the 12g, 4/0 buck will be consumed. This permits quick multiplication of said explosives. This exploit also works rather well for the Alien Blaster as its ammunition is limited to what you find when you receive the weapon.
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed, 13 Apr 2012 Confirmed, 03 Feb 2012
Loot
The following is a list of respawning characters that carry valuable equipment:
The two guards outside the Gun Runners factory wear combat armor and carry a hunting rifle, all in roughly 50% condition.
NCR veteran Rangers wear armor worth up to 7500 caps and spawn at Camp Forlorn Hope, Camp Golf, House Resort, and many of the Ranger Stations.
If you decide to not ally with Caesar's Legion at the Fort, you have a chance to gain an unlimited supply of Legion money, armor, and weapons, as well as a possible source of infinite 12.7mm ammunition and 12.7mm SMGs. After clearing out the main area of The Fort and searching the bodies, find the corpse of the Legion Decanus and carry it to the drawbridge where you entered the area from. Drop the body and activate the drawbridge, which takes you to the outer area of The Fort. Immediately turn around and go through the drawbridge again. Check the body of the Decanus and he should have his weapon, ammunition, armor, and the spent shell casings he was carrying even if you had already cleared off his body. Repeat as many times as desired. Also works with all other human non-player characters in the area with the exception of the Praetorian Guard.
On the quest Come Fly With Me after informing Jason Bright that you've gotten rid of the nightkin and everyone runs to the basement, a Bright follower in a Space Suit will walk instead of run when they're in the basement. If you kill him before he gets to the rockets you will be able to get a second Space Suit. When you comeback after finding the thrust modules and rocket fuel, and Jason gives his speech go back to the bright followers corpse and another space suit will have spawned on it.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
After you save Private Halford from the Lakelurks at Camp Guardian, ask him what he will do next. After that, ask him for his gun, this will get you a service rifle, 35 5.56mm rounds, and 15 Armor Piercing 5.56mm rounds. You can repeat this as much as you desire for virtually unlimited service rifles and ammunition.
Somehow there may be a way to duplicate items with the "take how many" screen. Though this happened at random and is unconfirmed to be a constant exploit. Using what is presumed atleast more than 6 items (as to bring up the "take how many" thing) and one of something under it, its possable to somehow get the take how many screen to come up for the one item underneath. For example, one service rifle under 30 rounds of 5.56, with some combination of keys (or maybe buttons, if on console) it may be possable to somehow get 30 service rifles, or the same number of X item that was over the rifle. This happened randomly, though, and was only duplicated 2 more times in the same container(the gun case in the Nipton Town Hall)
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Perks
If a perk has a required skill level which you can reach with one level's worth of skill points (e.g. Animal friend has a Survival requirement of 45 and your current Survival skill is 40), allocate your skill points to the number required, select the desired perk and return to the Skill point allocation screen. You can now reset your points and put them to whatever you want - the perk is still selected even though you no longer meet the requirement.
If a player chooses to rebuild their character upon leaving the tutorial boundaries surrounding Goodsprings, the player will be reset to level 1, but not all perks are reset. After rechoosing all stats, the player will return to level one but still have most of his/her perks. Also, if the player changes the character's sex during the rebuild, they can get gender-specific perks for both genders. A list of perks this glitch works with is found below.
In the middle of battle, talk to your companion. Select the "Stay at a Distance/Stay Close" option twice, then exit the companion wheel. When you exit, your companion's health should be fully restored (although sometimes it requires the command to be pressed rapidly four or five times).
Status: Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed
By giving a companion ammo in smaller portions of 2 or 3, one may place more ammo in a companions inventory than they would normally be able to carry.
When a companion is given the 1st Recon beret they are granted the normal 5% critical chance bonus. If the player then toggles between ranged and Melee attack modes in the companion wheel, the companion will gain an additional 5% bonus. This may be repeated 18 more times for a 100% critical strike chance. The effect remains until the beret is removed.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed Confirmed, 08 Aug 2011
Prior to one's visit to The Fort, a player can leave companions in wait mode. Upon exiting Caesar's tent, the companion will "teleport" to the player. The companion retains his/her inventory, allowing for an easier way to complete Challenges such as Historical Propriety, Against All Tyrants, and Even a God-King Can Bleed.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
By going into a casino with a companion and placing more items in their allocated item box, the companion can hold infinite amounts of weight upon exiting.
Recruit all humanoid companions at once
To perform this exploit, the player must recruit Veronica Santangelo and trigger her quest I Could Make You Care. When Veronica opens dialogue, one must tell her that you do not have time right now and then fire her. If the player then hires another companion and talks to her, she requests that the courier take her to Hidden Valley. If the player declines with the first negative response, they will get a notification saying Veronica's "Scribe Assistant" perk has been lost, opening an additional companion slot. The player then needs to recruit another companion and repeat.
Through use of this exploit, companions may be brought into add-ons and other areas that perform "companion checks".
Non-active companions will not be stripped of weapons when entering casinos.
There is a quick way to do the companion recruiting. Since Veronica goes to the Hidden Valley Bunker once you've done the exploit the first time you need to be quick with this exploit. For example, you used the exploit to get Arcade Gannon and Lily, but hadn't hired Cass yet, and you then went to Mojave Outpost and tried to recurit Cass. She won't follow as you don't have enough companion slots (if you have done the exploit, they are probably all filled. To recruit all 6 at one time quickly, but since the companion slots don't go up yet you must dismiss them to the Lucky 38. When you do this, you can create a slot to hire Veronica, and then fire her to the Lucky 38. This will make her reset walking out of the suite, and you can do the recruiting a second time (the current companions are not removed). You must have Raul, Lily, Veronica, Cass, Boone and Arcade Gannon in order to do this. This means you can do the recruiting not in a complicated way, but in an easy way. This means you can form a "Gang of Eight" (including yourself and either Rex or ED-E) This means you can have 7 followers at a time. Dismissing your companions to the Lucky 38 will also delete their companion slots and you will need to redo the exploit to get them back.
Status: Confirmed, 27 Nov 2011 Confirmed, 29 Aug 2011 Confirmed, 21 Jul 2011
Karma
Flame damage (damage over time) kills do not count against your Karma.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Just like in Fallout 3, if you attack an opponent but don't kill it then your companion finishes it off, no Karma will be lost. (most of the time)
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed, 31 Oct 2013 Confirmed, 31 Jul 2011
Achievements/Challenges
While in Freeside, the use of some doors (such as the Freeside's East Gate) will count as energy weapon kills upon loading the new area. This happens at random and cannot be controlled by the player.
Status: Confirmed Confirmed Confirmed
When pick-pocketed, the residents of Vault 21 will retain possession of their items regardless of a pickpocketing success. This bug may be exploited to quickly complete the pickpocketing challenge.
Status:unconfirmed Confirmed, 07 Aug 2011 Confirmed, 26 Jun 2011
Any ants killed with the sonic emitter during Ant Misbehavin' will count as being killed by the weapon that the Courier has currently equipped.
Status: Confirmed, 08 Apr 2012 Confirmed Confirmed, 16 Oct 2011
Any time the player steps on and kills a mantis it will count as being killed by the weapon that the Courier has currently equipped.
Status: Unconfirmed Unconfirmed Confirmed, 25 Nov 2013
Deathclaw Pro Hunter: A deathclaw will be considered killed by dynamite if a burning stick is en-route at the moment in time the deathclaw dies of other reasons, such as a companion shooting it or mines it walks into. This stick of dynamite needs to be in-flight and not have landed anywhere.
Status: Confirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Artificial Intelligence flaws
The artificial Intelligence governing deathclaws is unable to correctly determine when a player is within reach.
For example, deathclaws will not attack players if they are standing on the taller rocks or machinery, even when they are in reach. This flaw in the deathclaw AI can be exploited to safely kill these creatures at lower levels.
Barrel exploit
When a barrel is "squished" between two characters, the barrel will gain great speed and fly many yards away. In the process, both characters are damaged. When performed on NPCs by the player, the NPC will remain passive (assuming the character was passive to begin with).
Note: This seems to work with crates too. It is likely that other objects which react surprisingly violently when ran into by characters may also cause this effect.
Status: Confirmed, 28 May 2012 Confirmed, 06 Sep 2011 Confirmed
Gaining access to Legate's camp
This point of interest can be reached early (pre-endgame) by getting out of the map near Bloodborne cave and running around to the south/southwest side of Legate's Camp and its cliffs until you reach a sandy hillside which will pretty clearly lead to above Legate's Camp. Then follow the clifftops down to near the Legate's tent (the tent at the top of the winding staircase) & reach the cliff point as close to the center of the camp as possible. This will trigger your Pip-Boy as having discovered the location, allowing you to fast-travel to and from the camp as you wish. Traveling this route can make you get stuck because of the invisible walls.
Another way to enter this location early is to access it from the Dam directly. In order to do this you will need a lot of 5mm ammunition (this requires 5mm Staircases to be built). Walk across the dam along your left in the direction you would to the legate camp, until you come to a point where you can jump off the side (try to aim for the water). Once you hit the water, continue to proceed in that direction until you hit land again, and proceed along the wall until the wall meets a sloped surface and you can move no further. From here, you should build your first staircase out of the 5mm boxes. This is simple and should take no more than a minute. Once you get over this sloped surface, you'll see a huge drain. work your way down into that drain until you hit the bottom. Immediately looking to your left, you'll see a ladder. Go over to the ladder, climb it, and you will be on top of the drain across from where you originally were. From here, move along the outskirts of the top of the drain until you are at the road/bridge leading out of the dam. From here, just follow the main road uphill towards the legate camp. Keep moving until you hit the first of 3 gates. Use your 5mm boxes to hop all 3 (which is extremely frustrating and time consuming), and you'll be in. At the second gate, if you look to your right, you'll see a slope and to the left of it is a rock that you can get onto. Jump on the slope, drop a 5mm round and push it into the corner near the rock. Jump onto it and you will get onto the rock. You can get over the next two gates if you stick to the edge. You will most likely run into 3 legion soldiers, 2 on the other side of the wall, armed with a rifle and an axe. After that, outside the camp walls, you will run into a guard armed with a ballistic fist. By killing him and taking his attire, you will be disguised from the 15-20 legion soldiers, including the guards. Once you make it inside this camp, you will be able to fast travel in and out as you please. Unfortunately, you will not be able to kill the end boss as he is not present until the last mission.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmed Confirmed
In order to do this you will need at least one companion, lots of stimpaks, an unarmed weapon like the power fist or zap glove, and not be playing on hardcore mode. First take your companion to the location you want to get out of(must be an angled wall or cliff) then you push them as close to the wall as you can. Next you will use your power fist and punch them towards the wall making them slightly go up it. Then you will use your fists and go into V.A.T.S. and target your companion, hitting them once which should bring you right next to them (make sure to heal them after this step or they will get knocked out and you will have to start this exploit over again). Then you reequip your power fist again hitting them farther up the wall and repeat the V.A.T.S. step to get farther up the wall and continue doing those steps to get up over the wall. Works great on the east side right behind the main dam part of Hoover Dam to get to the Legate's Camp.File:2562877728 c93d6a89d3.jpg
The black circle roughly indicates where it is easy to get over.
Status:unconfirmedunconfirmedunconfirmed
Armor hopping
If you press grab just a few milliseconds after jump standing on a piece of armor you can jump on it repeatably to get high off the ground. This glitch can be used to get to out of bounds, or places you are not supposed to be able to, like Legate's Camp.
Any exploits that have been flagged as "Fixed" or "Patched" may still be used if the pertinent patches are deleted. Doing so, however, may also remove access to add-ons until the patches are re-installed.
confirmed, 29 Mar 2012 
confirmed, 29 Mar 2012 
Fixed, no long gives experience points, still counts towards speech challenges., 09 Jun 2013 
Fixed, no long gives experience points, still counts towards speech challenges., 02 Jun 2013 