Playing without buying anything?

[Aralvar]

Is this even possible? I love playing games like this while refusing to buy anything, it makes it more rewarding when you find the stuff you need. So far I'm seeing that this is not possible, which is okay with me but I wanted to make sure before I start buying items.

[LazyMonk]

I guess it will depend a lot on your character.
I wouldn't recommend if you are using ranged weapons, and you are expecting to have enough ammo just by savaging.
If you buy your own hypos and ammo, i would say its possible.

It sounds interesting, give it a go and then let me know.

[Aralvar]

Alright, I'll buy ammo and health items then. Maybe repair kits. What do you, or anyone else, think the minimum number of item types you'd have to buy would be? Like ammunition, repair kits, health items, etc.

[LazyMonk]

Hard to say. Depends a lot on what kind of character you play and to where are you going.
After you are finished with the GMS compound i am sure you wont have a problem with most of your necessities.

[UnLimiTeD]

Generally, for a playthrough like that, stealth is a sure bet.
A bit of hacking won't hurt, either, because you can't hide from turrets and they'd better be on your side.
Unless you go the PSI/Unarmed route, which is hard by itself, you'll have to occasionally buy repair or health stuff, which I think is less traitorous to the idea than savescumming every single container.
If you spread your skills a little, you should find weapons and grenades enough to always have something on hand.

[Aralvar]

So, to play without buying anything I'd want to use unarmed/melee and stealth? Doesn't sound too fun to me, I think I'll just save my money for ammo and such. I was just wondering how difficult it would be.

[Styg]

Theoretically you can play without buying anything, but unless you're character is very versatile you'll likely run out of the specific resource you need (such as certain ammo types). Also, it's probably going to be a lot harder since you won't be able to equip yourself with the right tools for the job.

[Eliasfrost]

This inspired me to try this out, sounds like a fun experiment. The hardest part would be the beginning I'd imagine, since looting corpses later on gives you lots of stuff to either equip or salvage to repair your stuff.