Harder Barter Faster Stronger
⚪ Last updated 2023⚠️ Install Order · 5 steps
Install in this order, then this mod last — most mods fail to load without their framework and dependencies in place.
Preview

🔍 Analysis
- 👍 0.7% endorsement rate
- 🏆 #63 of 441 Gameplay Effects and Changes mods in this game by downloads
📋 About This Mod
This small set of GameSettings tweaks makes the economy harsher for characters with low barter, makes barter affect prices more, and slightly narrows the difference between max sell and min buy prices.
While the title of this mod is obviously a reference that I thought up at the last minute as a joke, it actually does make Harder to Barter for low skill characters, makes it Faster in affecting prices, and makes it (slightly) Stronger at max levels.
Other mods have probably done similar things, but I wanted a version of my own to tune myself and recommend to people.
Alongside this I strongly recommend TTW or Economy Overhaul with the F3 Economy ini. NV's economy is wack, and these settings won't mean jack without a better set of economy values.
Barter Formula:
fMyBarterBuyBase=2. 0
This is the base multiple of the item's value that you have to pay to buy it.
Default/Vanilla is 1. 55
fMyBarterBuyMult=-1. 0
This is the % of your skill that is added to the above value to get your final price.
Default/Vanilla is -0. 45
fMyBarterSellBase=0. 2
This is the base multiple of the item's value that you can get when selling an item.
Default/Vanilla is 0. 3
fMyBarterSellMult=0. 6
This is the % of your skill that is added to the above value to get your final price
Default/Vanilla is 0. 45
Formula Comparison:
Vanilla Formula:
You start being charged 155% of an item's value, and you can talk them down to 110% at max skill.
You start selling an item at 30% value, and can talk them up to 75% at max skill.
HBFS Formula:
You start being charged 200% of an item's value, and can talk them down to 100% at max skill.
You can sell an item for 20% value, and talk them up to 80% at max skill.
This basically doubles the value of barter skill in buying items and improves it's value in selling items by a third, while still maintaining a relatively-vanilla final buy/sell value over/under, and it makes the economy substantially harsher for characters with low barter skill.
Sicko Mode (Hard Mode):
fBarterBuyBase=2. 5
fBarterBuyMult=-1. 0
fBarterSellBase=0. 15
fBarterSellMult=0. 45
You start being charged 250% of an item's value, and can talk them down to 150% at max skill.
You can sell an item for 15% value, and talk them up to 60% at max skill.
This creates a much larger disparity of sell/buy prices, making the economy feel much harsher, and incentivizing going to vendors who you have any kind of discount with.
I recommend the standard dow
Harder Barter Faster Stronger is a small GameSetting tweak for Fallout: New Vegas that makes the economy harsher for characters with low Barter, increases the impact of Barter on prices, and narrows the gap between max sell and min buy prices. It's for players who want a more challenging trading experience without overhaul mods.
✨ Key Features
📊 Pros & Cons
✅ Pros
- Huge community trust with 3,416 endorsements and nearly half a million downloads.
- Lightweight tweak that changes only game settings, so it's compatible with most mods.
- Adds meaningful challenge to trading without requiring a full economy overhaul.
⚠️ Cons
- Last updated in December 2023, so it may not be tested with the latest game patches or mods.
- No detailed documentation or patch notes provided by the author.
- Effect on gameplay is subtle; players expecting a major overhaul will be disappointed.
For Fallout: New Vegas players who want a tougher economy and more meaningful Barter skill investment. Skip if you prefer vanilla trading or want a comprehensive economy overhaul.
💡 Beginner Tips
- This mod modifies game settings, so it should be placed in your load order after other gameplay mods to ensure its changes take effect.
- If you use a mod manager like Vortex or Mod Organizer 2, install it through the manager to keep your Data folder clean.
- Test the price changes early in a new game to see if the difficulty feels right; you can adjust or remove the mod if it's too harsh.
📊 Mod Details
- Game
- New Vegas Mods
- Author
- S6S
- Version
- 1
- Downloads
- 487,979
- Endorsements
- 3,416
- Category
- Gameplay Effects and Changes
- Created
- 3/10/2023
- Updated
- 12/22/2023
🧩 Commonly Used Together
Users add these mods to the same collections — a real compatibility signal, not an AI guess.
🔧 How to Install New Vegas Mods
Download from Nexus.
📖 Full step-by-step install guide for New Vegas →
Visit the official mod page for specific installation instructions for this mod.
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