#spoiler alert#

I'm on my first play-through, was finding some of the Hub quests a bit tough so I went and did the water chip stuff, took it back to the vault and set back out into the world somewhat tougher thanks to the XP

Back in the Hub, Slappy and Harold no longer seem to know anything about Deathclaws, so I can't get teleported to the cave. What gives? :(

Huh, starting the quest chain from the beginning seemed to do the trick. Still can't kill the damn thing though #sigh#

As I understand it, killing the Deathclaw is only necessary if you can't interview and search the body of the Supermutant without being caught and killed by the Deathclaw.
If you're not incredibly good at sneaking, more than a little lucky, and/or a few other factors, though, that may not be an option. I'm sure you've figured out most of why.

Sneaking hadn't occurred to me - though upon trying it, it would seem my character is fail at sneaking.

Perhaps I should sideline this quest for now. Thanks for the advice though mate :)

No problem. Bear in mind, one reason to kill this Deathclaw when you can, instead of sneaking around it, is that this is a few isolated XP you'll get for that kill that you can't go back and get later.
I mean, I know you can just go out and fight jerks out in the wastes, but this is XP almost on demand, and a one-on-one round with one of the big bastards of the setting. It feels different, somehow, to pass up this chance by being sneaky.
So take your time, get more experience under your belt, and then come back and stab him in the eyes!

I second Mackie on this...

Go for the eyes first and I found (after much trial and error) that it slows the bugger down a bit.

It is a VERY tough kill but it can be done, so don't give up!

Good Luck!

Took me a while, but I just remembered how I was able to beat the that Deathclaw...

If you are able to (that is if you have some points in Throw) hold on to a few Flares and lob them at it's eyes.

If you make the hit it does slow down to shake it off for a few seconds and that opens up a good window of opportunity to get some damage in and even up the fight.

In my opinion, the key is to make the Deathclaw use most of its AP in moving. For this, you'll really need a Super Sledge.
If you've got the character design for it, I confess a fondness for a combat style I call The Forge, wherein you wield a Super Sledge in one slot and a flame thrower in the other; scorch the bugger with a burst from the flame thrower; then swap slots and knock him flying with the hammer. Not only does the combination do scary damage, more than you could manage with the hammer alone, but you still get the benefit of sending him far enough away to keep at least one of his claws away from your throat.

Note: You get more mileage, literally, out of the Supersledge if you aim for the eyes. The character for whom I perfected The Forge, however, was unable to use aimed attacks.

Regrettably I wasn't able to target his eyes, since I took the Rapid Fire perk at the start. (I assume you require Targeted Shots for that, can't be sure though since I've never played without Rapid Fire).

However, I did kill him in the end :) Upgrading Tycho with a Combat Shotgun, and using Buffout, Mentats, NukaCola and Psycho on myself allowed me to tank him with relative ease - his hits were only doing 3-4 damage per swipe. At point blank I was able to let off two Bursts from the Assault Rifle every turn (woot for 10AP!) and he was dead (and decapitated!) within 3 turns.

The same strategy also worked on Kane, who has been giving me grief for days.

Isn't it great how we can all achieve the same goal by such different means? Gotta love Fallout.

O.O

Yes. Yes, it is wondrous that you managed to pull off that fight in that manner, and not only am I pleased for you, but I'm pleased you shared that battle with us.
Kudos.

'Nother quick question - I took the quest from Decker/Kain, then turned them in to the cops and helped with the arrest (without doing the murder - not my character's style!)

'Dispose of Merchant' is still on my quest log, and not crossed out. Is this normal? I'm guessing I'm stuck with it there on my quest log?

Sorry...can't help with that Quest. I actually have been playing through the Fallout series since the beginning of the summer and can't remember.

I did want to comment though, it really is the mark of a good game when the three of us can all have beaten that Deathclaw using 3 vastly different builds and methods.

Have you played any other FO games yet? If you plan on playing through the series, get used to Deathclaws...they just keep coming! lol

I've played through New Vegas twice (halfway through my third run, I want to get all four endings with different characters. I know you can do it with save juggling, but that's not my style.) - I only got into it due to the long wait for Skyrim, but after a few hours I was hooked.

Recently picked up FO3 GOTY and FO1 for that reason - logged about 20 hours on FO3 so far and loving it, and I'm just as hooked on FO1. Will pick up FO2 when I've finished those :)

Despite being a long-time Elder Scrolls fan (right back to Arena!), I'm starting to think FO has the edge. Of course Skyrim may change that since they're absorbing a lot of the Fallout mechanics, but for now FO is my #1 game.

And yeah, deathclaws make me rage lol. Still, nowhere near as bad as those damn Cazadores! (If you haven't played OWB, check it out - you can finally get Vengeance for those little blighters!)

I'm just finishing up OWB...it is a real Masterpiece as far as DLC's go! Can't wait for Lonesome Road after all we found out about Ulysess in OWB!

I was really lucky...I never got to play FO1 or 2 until they went on sale here on GoG... $6 USD for the two of them! Then, as I was close to finishing up FO2, New Vegas went on sale for $10 at one of the "Big Box" stores...then OWB was on sale for $5 on Steam! Kinda feel guilty...but not really ;)

I think that you will really enjoy the way FO1 ends. Hits you pretty hard!

Enjoy!