Is level 4 too early to take on cazadores
The question pretty much says it all. I decided to walkabout at level 4, since I don't want to fast-track the main quests and miss a bunch of good stuff. I'm playing without a game guide, and the Vault and Gamefaqs aren't quite up to speed yet.
So ... I've discovered a tribal village west-ish of Goodsprings, but it has a bunch of cazadores in it. When taking on cazadores, is level 4 too early? I have the following weapons (in decent shape):
- .357 Magnum Revolver with Long Barrel
- 10mm pistol (keeping it around for repair)
- 9mm pistol
- 9mm Submachine Gun
- Lots of dynamite (but low explosives skill and bad throwing aim without VATS)
- Laser Pistol
- Shovel
- Single Shotgun
- Varmint Rifle
- Weathered 10mm Pistol (the nice one you get from the Classic Pack)
I'm wearing the Armored Vault 13 Jumpsuit.
Am I too weak to take on a nest of about 8 cazadores -- maybe half of them "young" cazadores and the other half full-grown? If not, what's my best tactic for surviving this and having an opportunity to safely check out this camp?
Cazadors are mean mean MEAN. Trying to kill them at that level was an exercise in frustration for me. However, if you're determined to try then here are a few ideas.
- For individual cazadors, you can try shooting them while running backwards ("kiting" them) but they're usually much too fast. So shoot for the wings, then the legs. Once they're grounded and slow, they should be easier to kill.
Try using different ammo. The Vault claims that they don't have any DT; if so, then hollow point ammo should do much more damage to them.
For groups, splash damage is the way to go, but dynamite is too slow for Cazadors, as I'm sure you know already. Even normal grenades can't keep up with them. If you've got a ton of dynamite, you could try scavenging for the components to turn it into powder charges, which are like lower-damage frag mines. Then plant a bunch of them in a semi-circle and lure the group in.
Of course, there's no kill like overkill. My preferred method for dealing with Cazador nests (even at level 30) is orbital laser bombardment. With the right skills tagged, you might be able to complete the quest needed to activate the Helios One plant and also acquire the targeting device at level 4, but you'll need to run your way south around the mountains and then north all the way to Vegas. And then, the laser only works once per day. But I never get tired of raining blue fire from the sky onto unsuspecting monster wasps. Take that!
The trick to Cazadors: Shoot the wings.
Unless they're immobilized, they'll tear you a new one every time.
I found the 9mm submachine gun to work well on them. Level 4 might be a bit early though. I tried to take them on around level 5 or 6 and had a lot of trouble. I survived, but my companion robot died in the process. Not an easy critter to get rid off.