[Threadfin]

A survival run? Awesome, have fun, I sure did.

Yeah, I didn't apply a single mod, bone stock all the way through and while there were a few things I would have modded to tailor it to my tastes, the vanilla experience was still a lot of fun.

Survival mode ironically was not challenging due to the survival aspects. Matter of fact, I ended with just four points in Endurance (the other SPECIALS were all much higher at the end) and I only purchased one Endurance perk, spending an early point on Life Giver (+20 health). At the time that represented 20% of my health and probably saved me a few reloads. But by the end it was less than 5% of my health and I saw it as a wasted point really.

The only two points I regretted spending were that one and another in Mysterious Stranger, which I took at level 27 and by level 76 I had seen him three times. Three!

No the challenge in Survival mode is the boost to enemy strength. The fact they do +400% damage over normal is a big shift and that's primarily responsible for keeping the challenge level high enough to keep me engaged. That, and the restricted saves, which impart a sense of mortality that quick saves erase. Being an hour in to a long mission, knowing that any death now would render all that game time, XP and loot lost, does a great job of shifting me in to a self-preservation mode. Finally the weight restrictions, and ammo with weight, had a nice effect on inventory management, which I liked.

Good luck in your run, and I'll check to see if you've posted any updates as you go along.