Wasteland 2 Quick Tip Guide

General

• Having even one level of a skill is very useful, especially early in the game. Make sure your party starts with at least one skill rank in all of the utility skills (lockpicking, demolitions, computer science, etc.)
• Similarly, when you level up, save those skill points! Don't use them unless you're having trouble with combat (put them in your weapon skills) or face a skill challenge that you can't complete without a higher skill level (e.g. a high-level safe, tough toaster, complicated machinery).
• Looking at an object multiple times may yield different results. Examples include signs with writing on both sides, and robots with objects inside of their chest cavity.
• To find out if an object is trapped, select the demolitions skill (currently selected character needs to have that skill) and mouse over it. If you can interact with it, it's trapped.
• Ammo is expensive, especially for the more powerful weapons (e.g. sniper rifles). Conserve ammo by using blunt weapons to finish off injured or weak foes.
• Staying alive is more important than ammo, even. If there's any doubt whether you'll take a serious or fatal wound, don't be afraid to shoot.
• You cannot save in wasteland random encounters. Make sure to be ready ahead of time.
• The order of cost for healing items, from cheapest to most expensive, is
• first aid
• surgeon
• painkillers
• This means you should use first aid kids whenever possible, and save painkillers (which require no skills to use) only in emergencies.
• Surgeon kits can only be used for reviving characters.
• Perception is a skill that can be activated- this will automatically try to detect things of interest near you. You should always turn this on with any characters that have it when you load into a new area. It's especially useful for finding mines.
• Armor is your #1 priority for items. Your characters all start with none, so as soon as you find some or are able to buy any, do so. However, Armor 2 won't get you very far since many weapons have 2 armor penetration or better. You should really try to hold out for Armor 4 or Armor 5.
• Don't sell Broken Weapon Parts (you get them from stripping a weapon down for parts) to any old vendor. You can get a premium on them if you sell them in the Ranger Citadel to Sergeant Melson.
• Hard up for cash? Weaponsmithing can help. For cheap weapons, you can weaponsmith them into many broken weapon parts, which you can see very profitably in the Ranger Citadel (see above).
• However, if you have a high Weaponsmithing skill you might consistently get a mod instead of parts. Use a character with a low weaponsmithing skill as a solution.
• Also if the item has a high innate base value, you should probably just sell it as is.
• Similarly, save any guano you get (e.g. Bat Shit) and sell it TNT Tan in the Ranger Citadel for bonus scrap and experience.
• Angela Deth, who you start the game with as an NPC, has:
• Weaponmaster 2
• Brute Force 5
• Hard Ass 3
• Outdoors 2
• Thus, you may want to avoid picking up those skills in character creation.
• As soon as you finish either the Highpool or the Ag Center mission, go back to the Ranger Citadel. The gear selection there is excellent, you can sell Broken Weapon Parts for more, and you get some free equipment too.
• Use level ups strategically. In a mission you'll often have injured members that you don't want to spare resources healing- if you can wait till they rank up, their health will be restored. Note that this doesn't work in combat.
• Make sure to grab the shovel at the beginning of the game, next to Ace's grave. It'll be useful to dig up loot throughout the rest of the game.
• Unsyncing your group (by pushing spacebar) is very important. You can use it to set up your party in the right formation when starting an ambush. It can also be used to do multiple skill checks at once (e.g. one guy defuses land mines while another opens a safe).
• Sabot Rockets can be used to blow through metal doors. This is helpful when you can't open them through other means (e.g. lockpicking, computer science)
• Don't forget that Animal Whisperer can be used in combat to instantly dismiss an enemy animal.
• Early on, the ammo for weapons is a key factor in cost. The ammunition for a single magazine can be as expensive as the weapon itself. Later on this becomes much less of a factor.
• Once you go to LA, there is a new Ranger Locker in the big room outside of the radio room (with the Lieutenant). It will keep the same items it had before back in Arizona.
• The best "Outdoorsman" skill of any of your characters applies to the whole party. Thus you only need one person with the skill.
• "Base Rogue Chance" of your NPC followers makes a huge difference on combat. Some followers are far more of a liability than others.
• Corrain Cain: 15%
• Ralphy: 18%
• Angela Deth: 20%
• Vulture's Cry: 30%
• Scotchmo: 30%
• Chisel: 50%
• Ammo costs:
• $3 per 9mm (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $3 per .38cal (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $ per energy cell (energy weapons)
• $5 per 5.56mm (assault rifles, heavy machine guns)
• $8 per .30-06 (sniper rifles)
• $8 per 12 gauge (shotguns)
• $12 per .45cal (pistols, revolvers, SMGs)
• $12 per 7.62mm (assault/sniper rifles, heavy machine guns)

Weapons Advice

• Pistols
• Fire cheap ammo
• Good at close to medium distance
• Shotguns
• Useful for fighting groups at a time
• Can destroy cover quickly
• Require low AP to use
• The "double-barrel" shotguns do tremendous damage in a low amount of AP (but require reloading immediately after)
• Rifles
• Fires medium value ammo
• Most versatile, with widest optimal range of any of the guns
• Can be toggled between accurate single shots and high damage burst fire
• Good armor penetration
• Sniper Rifles
• Long range
• Excellent armor penetration
• Uses expensive ammo
• Poor accuracy up close
• High AP cost to fire
• Energy Weapons
• Very accurate
• Does exceptional damage against armor
• Can't jam
• Can't critical (dedicated Energy Weapon specialists shouldn't bother with Luck)
• Limited modification slots
• Blunt Weapons
• Best all-around melee weapons
• Typically high AP to use
• High damage, excellent armor penetration
• Very high critical modifiers
• Very high base accuracy (like all melee weapons)
• Bladed Weapons
• Attacks faster but with less damage and armor penetration than blunt weapons
• High critical chance
• Very high base accuracy (like all melee weapons)
• Best against poorly armored foes

Need Scrap? Tips for more!

• Sergeant Melson in the Ranger Citadel buys broken weapon parts for ~14/scrap. That's the best price you can get anywhere, and means that for some cheaper weapons it's better off stripping them for parts than selling them straight up.
• Buy TNT whenever you can and strip it for parts. It only costs 25 typically, and will always yield more value from its broken weapon parts (see above) than it costs.
• Pipe bombs are similar, but don't have quite as good a yield. You can't buy and resell for a profit, but you are better off stripping and selling than selling it straight up.
• Higher weaponsmithing skill yields more broken weapon parts, which compensates the increased rate of weapon mod successes (which will likely decrease your profit if that's what you care about).
• Dr Tildemann buys pain relievers at ~29 scrap/item (double normal sell price). It'll be tough to repurchase them elsewhere and sell it to him for a profit.
• Lieutenant Tan in the Ranger Citadel buys any form of manure (pig shit, bat shit, etc.) for $19/each.
• Prices can differ from vendor to vendor. Especially be wary of ones that offer you a discount after you help them, as they always have worse-than-average prices to start.

Character Creation

• Attributes come slowly (every ten levels) so pick wisely. Skill points come relatively quickly, so changing a decision you made early is not that difficult.
• Intelligence is the single most important attribute in the game. It determines how many skill points you get, and skill points are required to experience a huge part of the game.
• The next most important attribute is anything that gives you action points, since a character that has 10 AP is able to fire most weapons twice every round, while one with 7 AP can fire once every round and possibly fire twice every other round. Note that depending on your attribute level, either Speed, Strength or Coordination gives you more AP.
• A high Charimsa is not important for any character except for your "lead", but a low one can hurt your experience gain significantly.
• Energy weapons cannot critical, so Luck is far less useful on characters with them.
• The ideal party setup would contain something like this:
• At least two max intelligence character to act as skill specialists (splitting important, high-level-required skills like Lockpicking, Demolitions, Safecracking)
• One character with a high Leadership and Charisma (team-wide accuracy bonus plus it prevent rogue actions by your companions, also your conversation starter)
• Several characters with high Coordination and Strength [ranged] or Strength and Speed [melee] for combat specialists
• At least one character with a high Strength (for carrying items and tanking in combat) and for good melee damage against weak enemies or when out of ammo
• Skills by importance:
• At least one character needs a level in First Aid and Doctor to heal and revive. You probably should have at least two (if not three) with Doctor in case the primary Doctor goes down.
• (Critical) Lockpicking, Computer Science, Weaponsmithing
• (Important) Safecracking, Demolitions, Leadership
• (Nice) Brute Force, Leadership, Perception [doesn't need to be very high], Mechanical Repair
• (Luxury) Toaster Repair (gives you access to many unmarked quests), Animal Whisperer
• (Could live without) Alarm Disarming [much more important if you're playing a stealthier game], Barter [eventually you are very comfortable with your scrap], Outdoorsman (you honestly only need a skill level of about 3 to avoid encounters 75-100% of the time)
• (Random) Kiss Ass, Hard Ass, Smart Ass: these come up infrequently, but when they are useful they are usually EXTREMELY useful. However it's hard to predict them and you usually only get one shot (can't end the conversation, level the skill and try again), plus they often have fairly high requirements relative to other skills checks in the same area.

Plot stuff

• When you're in Highpool, after you get the power back on, don't forget to attach the radio repeater to the crane radio:

• The code for the safe in the Infected Village is MAYBERRY.
• Red's PWCS Store Code: ROSEBUD (answer courtesy of Joseph in the comments, a reference to Wasteland 1). You can't find it in the game, all codes given are expired. If you don't want to use the code you can get in using an alternate route that starts next to the sick woman, Anna Hegedus.
• How to save Ralphy (drowning)? Use Brute Force on the southeast totem (the one further from the bridge, without the bones on top). Doing it on the wrong one will kill him.
• I would strongly advise saving him, since it allows him to be recruited as a Ranger afterward.
• Looking for clues to H.R. (Hell Razor)'s death? There's a logbook hidden in the grass right next to his body. Just wait a few seconds and you'll see the glitter of an item.
• Trying to get through Darwin's Village without killing any of the Plague Victims?
• When you go downstairs, there are two paths. One is unlocked and leads to halls and halls of ghouls before finally reaching the purifier.
• The other is a locked door with a code lock. Without the code or a very high Computer Science (7+), you can use a Sabot Rocket to blow through it. Walk through that hallway, disarm an explosive trap, blow up a chemical (regular gunfire works) tank in your way, then unlock a final door (~60% success rate with Computer Science 4), go through a vent and it will lead you to the air purifier. Note that before the final door is a room with the "Night Terror" and three turrets. Killing the turrets is not particularly hard (concentrated fire or just ducking back and forth around a corner between turns with one character is fine. 
• Opening the Night Terror room is pointless. You can't interact with him and he doesn't do anything. He will follow you if you unlock his room, but this has no real effect. Killing him gives you negligible experience and loot.
• Alternatively, you can run past the ghouls. I suggest leaving all your characters at the entrance except one, the "runner". You will need to run through two explosive traps and a locked door (Lockpicking) so plan according. For example, if you had demolitions+lockpicking, you could just bypass it all yourself. However, high speed and action points are necessary to not get caught by the ghouls. You can also use a high health/speed character with either painkillers or the first aid skill to heal through the traps, then a Sabot Rocket to blow up the locked door.
• Note that you only need to save the majority (51%) of the mutants to get the better outcome.
• Healing Doc in the Canyon of the Titans...
• This requires the Surgeon skill. No items necessary.
• Skill level 4 gives you 28% chance of success
• Skill level 5 gives you 63% chance of success
• The injured cowboy on the ground nearby can also be healed in the same manner as above.
• Skill level6 gives you a 28% success chance.
• Skill level 7 gives you a 63% success chance.
• Healing him will give you 80 experience, with no other dialogue changes or rewards.
• If you have Ralphy with you when you go to the Canyon of the Titans, he will meet his father, Brother Rannel.
• Code to downstairs Temple of Titan door: 60845
• Saving Binh from Tinker: Use Computer Science on the main power generator (that's the big one). Then two terminals will activate. One of them will say "DISABLE WIRELESS RADIO" on it. Use Computer Science on that one and that will prevent the insta-kill on Binh. Trying to hack the wrong terminal will result in her death.
• Getting past Danforth's turrets: You can't. At least not at first. You need to continue on to Damonta (in the far east, past the Canyon of the Titan) and pick up a tank tread there. Your logbook will then update with a suggestion to come back and try the prison again.
• In the Angel Oracle, you can get the girl out of the tree by using some Rope. You find the Rope near the entrance of the map, next to the hanging men.
• Figuring out who took Fletcher in Angel Oracle:
• Walk behind the cell, on the other side of the wall. You'll see footprints that lead away from the area towards a sealed vent.
• Talk to Elizaveta. Get her to confess to breaking Fletcher out.
• Talk to the CE Captain, near the entrance of Angel Oracle in a room by himself. He'll mention that two CE uniforms went missing.
• Talk to Roger Yee down by the farms (he's the one next to a safe). He'll tell you he spotted two men, Gene Cronk and Nick Chavin, carrying Fletcher away.
• Confront Nick Chavin at the cafeteria. He'll send you to Gene.
• Confront Gene Cronk at the water pump (that's the area right behind the cell). He'll tell you where Fletcher was taken.
• (Side note) This is probably a bug (as of 10/11/2014), but when they return your character afterwards, you only get their inventory and not their held weapons. The weapons are stored in the special access room near the entrance with a guard in front and Matt "Zebe" Lee inside. You will get access to that room after you side with the Robbinsons, or after you complete Mr. Manners request in the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
• Fixing Mr. Manners' toaster: there is no actual toaster to fix. Also, you can't give him the Toast you have either (if you managed to pick that item up). Instead, you must go to the Los Angeles Aqueduct (if you complete the main storyline in Angel Oracle you will get there eventually). There is a broken toaster next to a sign in front of the last encounter, which contains a Toaster Heating Element. Bring that back to Mr. Manners.
• Beating Whittier:
• The CotC ambush at Whittier is probably one of the hardest fights in the game. You're clustered together, heavily outnumbered, attacked from all sides and have limited cover.
• However, winning is easier than you might think. The key is to remove all your armor before you begin the fight. The enemy uses predominately energy weapons, which can easily do 80-120 damage per shot if you're wearing heavy armor (likely at this point in the game). If you have low armor you can put that on (5 or lower), otherwise just go naked.
• Without armor the energy weapons will do negligible damage. Focus on the melee enemies, the heavy gunner and the lobber first.

Random Stuff

• There is a working nuclear warhead in the library at Ranger Citadel that, if detonated, will give you a special "end of game" splash screen.
• The special, uncrackable safe in Silo 7 can only be opened by typing "joshua" to the computer next to it. You must do so before you disarm the nuke.
• In Darwin's Village in the basement, you can find a computer with the original Wasteland 1 (and even get the floppy disk!)
• The SA-44 grenade "white item" that you get earlier has no purpose, but when you get to the Citadel at the end of the game, it'll explode (not inert after all!).
• There's a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) with the Wasteland 2 leads, and it's got some fun stuff in there.
• RPS interview with Brian Fargo on Wasteland 2
• RPS interview with Fargo on the dark days of business before Kickstarter
• Original vision document for Wasteland 2