FO:NV Character build

[Monte Carlo]

Real-life rudely, even cruelly, interrupted my attempts at finishing New Vegas last year. I think I got about a third way through and was really enjoying it.

 

So now I am going to re-start and try again. I would like some views on character builds... I like the idea of a stealthy sniper type of character with good communication skills and perhaps a little bit of tech knowledge. But I'm not really a SPECIAL mentat so any advice would be welcome.

 

Secondly, I haven't really explored any of the DLC. What would you guys recommend?

 

Cheers,

MC

[Bendu]

That is my sniper build:

S: 5 P: 6 E: 5 C: 3 I: 8 A: 7 L: 6

Traits: Trigger Discipline and Built to Destroy

Tags: Weapons, Speech and Lockpick

Importent Perks: Educated, Comprehension, Finesse and Better Criticals.

 

And I would recommend all the story DLC (Dead Money, Honest Hearts, Old World Blues and Lonesome Read) and Sawyers mod. You also may want to wait for the Steam summer sales. They should start soon.

[Lexx]

I am never tagging weapon skills in the beginning. You get them high fast enough and they aren't really that important. My skills of choice are speech, science and repair. Then I am spending at least 5 skillpoints per levelup on one or two of them and the remaining points are going into lockpicking or my weapon skill of choice.

[Monte Carlo]

Sorry to sound dumb, but how does Science function in the big scheme of things? I tend to ignore comps / hacking for some reason and I especially loathe lock-picking minigames.

[Gorgon]

Helps energy weapons, lets you overcharge energy ammo, gives you access to a few munchkin perks that give you extra AP. One for all weapons and one for plasma only. Having a lockpick or Science of 100 helps you get into certain lesser 'plot doors', which can be a real help if you are stuck trying to find that blue access card.

[Enoch]

Yeah, getting Lockpick and Science up are usually among my highest priorities, as few things wound me more than leaving a locked door/safe/whatever behind, not knowing what was in it. (A Speech option in conversation that I don't qualify for is also heart-wrenching.) Some things can be opened with either, but there are more Lockpick-only stashes and locations than there are Science-only. Which is probably fair, given that Science has other benefits (what Gorgon said, plus a fair amount of in-dialogue use).

 

Getting Repair to 90 when you're in the mid-teens is worthwhile for the Jury Rigging perk (lets you repair items with similar-but-not-identical items, e.g., fix power armor with metal armor) and for the ability to make Weapon Repair Kits.

 

"Good Natured" is, I think, by far the most useful Trait (-5 in Combat skills, +5 in non-combat skills). You need points in a wide variety of non-combat skills, but you're probably only going to be putting points in 1 combat skill (maybe two). So it's a pretty big net gain. "Four Eyes" is also a nice one-- once you get further along than Primm, it's pretty easy to find plenty of eyeglasses, so the Trait works out to be +1 PE for the vast majority of the game, with the drawback that certain full-head helmets are off-limits. But if you're a sniper, you're wearing Boone's beret all the time anyway.

 

If you're playing Sawyer's mod (and I'm having fun with it so far), get Survival to 35. (Or at least to where a Lad's Life can raise it to 35.) You'll be doing some scrounging for food, and that level opens up a lot of basic-but-useful campfire recipes, like how to cook a steak.

[HoonDing]

 

+ Kamikaze

[Monte Carlo]

I took heavy-handed and am pleased with the pure power of my spiked knuckles.

[Gorgon]

 

+ Kamikaze

 

Finesse gives you +5 luck on determining criticals, you only need 5 luck to max out your combat bonuses. Of course having 10 luck has some funny dialouge in Vegas so it's not a complete loss.

Edited July 3, 2012 by Gorgon

[HoonDing]

Finesse gives you +5% critical chance which is equivalent with +5 luck. So with 10 luck you have 15% base critical chance.

 

Plus 10 luck means you can easily break the bank in every casino.

[Gorgon]

huh, I just assumed the maximum bonus for anything can't exceed a base score of 10. It certainly reads that way.

[HoonDing]

I believe Boone's beret gives an extra +5% too. Essentially I had 100% critical chance with the Ratslayer and 50% with Lucky.

[Gorgon]

How do you know, it doesn't add up, or list which bonuses stack anywhere.