Fallout NV guns+unarmed or melee?

[bononos]

Would a guns character build be more suitable in terms of skill/SPECIAL synergy to pair with unarmed or melee. The purpose is to save ammo(at least at the start when ammo is expensive or hard to come by) on low level monsters and to deliver finishing blows on weakened monsters after sniping at them.

 

[Rhezuss]

My last playthrough I tried to focus on melee and it was freaking awesome. It changed the whole feel of the game for me and combat was a lot more difficult but rewarding.

Melee+Range is an effective combo and works well, you just have to be more careful in melee though and must outmanoeuver your enemy to try to flank them.

 

[Fallen Kell]

I almost always went stealth+guns or energy (depended on what cache of gear/ammo I found first). I tried going melee once but ran into a deathclaw outside/guarding the supermarket which just destroyed me (along with all the raiders around the supermarket).

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Melee builds can be super effective however mixing them with guns I'm not convinced is a great idea, you're wasting a build based too much around combat, if you want to save ammo the best thing to do is use other skills to make up for the ammo you use.

Ammo for most combat builds shouldn't be a problem if you scavange and trade its generally really easy to become rich in the wasteland quite fast, learn where the traders are and ferry about expensive items.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can use a bat or similar on the first few roaches and rodents to save ammo without putting points into melee, especially if you use VATS.

To have enough ammo, just set the difficulty to hard. It's not really much harder for an experienced player but there will be much more loot, especially energy weapons. The rocket factory is almost a lifetime supply on hard

One thing I do is put a lot of points into repair and carry the +repair jumpsuit with me. That lets me take 5 near worthless raider armors and combine them into one high-priced armor to carry home with me to sell. It also lets me not need to spend much on repairs. More money = easier to buy ammo.

 

[sam_816]

Why keep it to one play style? Play on hardcore(so that u sleep regularly) and everytime you wake up just feel what's in the air!! Like 'today I feel like bashing some heads in' or 'today I will be a bitch and irritate some death claws with sniper rifles.' You know! Go with the flow.

 

[DigDog]

i always though fallout melee was ridiculously overpowered and unrealistic and always avoided it.

 

[shortylickens]

i always though fallout melee was ridiculously overpowered and unrealistic and always avoided it.

Did you know about that special rule?
You get double damage with melee while in VATS. That helps a lot while on Very Hard.


As for OP:

If you are new to the game this is the recommended order for weapons and weapon skills -

1. Guns
2. Energy
3. Explosives
4. Melee
5. Unarmed

For a first timer, I recommend selling energy weapons and ammo, and all explosives except hand grenades. You will need the money for a set of Combat Armor Mark II and repairs.

All skills work much better with Stealth. But its especially good with explosives if you wanna setup mines and remote C4. Make some traps, kill a bunch of enemies with the initial explosion, pick off the leftovers with a grenade or grenade launcher while sneaking.

Be careful of giving your companions explosives, they tend to go a little crazy and often hit you. And they also tend to spray ammo liberally so if you give them a weapon, consider something slow to fire and reload, like the sniper rifle, or even better the Gobi Campaign.
Lily has infinite ammo for her M-16 so just leave her alone.

 

[JujuFish]

I always use energy weapons. They feel a lot more sci-fi to me, and I love vaporizing enemies.

 

[DaveSimmons]

If you want to play energy, the recharge rifle / pistol are weak but have infinite ammo. They can be a little tricky because they only add new "bullets" over time, you can't reload them.

 

[futurefields]

going melee only just kills immersion

i mean who would ignore a bunch of guns laying around in favor of hand to hand combat?

 

[shortylickens]

If you want to play energy, the recharge rifle / pistol are weak but have infinite ammo. They can be a little tricky because they only add new "bullets" over time, you can't reload them.

The rechargers are good to start combat so you can save a bit of ammo. But in a big battle you will eventually have to switch to another weapon.

They are also good for picking off weak animals while wandering around. Again, saves ammo over the course of the game.

 

[DigDog]

if i recall correctly, my runthrough was mostly combat shotgun (way OP) and plasma later on. i saved the alien blaster for the final boss which in the end i just shotgunned in the face.(new vegas)

 

[werepossum]

You can use a bat or similar on the first few roaches and rodents to save ammo without putting points into melee, especially if you use VATS.

To have enough ammo, just set the difficulty to hard. It's not really much harder for an experienced player but there will be much more loot, especially energy weapons. The rocket factory is almost a lifetime supply on hard

One thing I do is put a lot of points into repair and carry the +repair jumpsuit with me. That lets me take 5 near worthless raider armors and combine them into one high-priced armor to carry home with me to sell. It also lets me not need to spend much on repairs. More money = easier to buy ammo.

I do that as well. It's the bomb, just make sure you are near a workbench to get the most bang for your buck. Of course, if you aren't near a workbench, then you're using something you otherwise would drop.

Did you know about that special rule?
You get double damage with melee while in VATS. That helps a lot while on Very Hard.

As for OP:

If you are new to the game this is the recommended order for weapons and weapon skills -

1. Guns
2. Energy
3. Explosives
4. Melee
5. Unarmed

For a first timer, I recommend selling energy weapons and ammo, and all explosives except hand grenades. You will need the money for a set of Combat Armor Mark II and repairs.

All skills work much better with Stealth. But its especially good with explosives if you wanna setup mines and remote C4. Make some traps, kill a bunch of enemies with the initial explosion, pick off the leftovers with a grenade or grenade launcher while sneaking.

Be careful of giving your companions explosives, they tend to go a little crazy and often hit you. And they also tend to spray ammo liberally so if you give them a weapon, consider something slow to fire and reload, like the sniper rifle, or even better the Gobi Campaign.
Lily has infinite ammo for her M-16 so just leave her alone.

I did not know that about melee and VATS, although I don't use VATS.

Don't all companions have unlimited ammo with their native weapons?

That's a good point about assigning slow-firing weapons. I gave Paladin Cross an M249 in Fallout 3 and she fired 200 rounds at a rather distant mole rat. I had to take it away while she reloaded.

Personally I find Unarmed to be largely useless and Melee useful only against the very weak monsters. But then, I don't use VATS.

 

[BFG10K]

Bethesda games don't need builds. If you keep playing long enough you'll be able to max out everything and play whatever style you please.

But for New Vegas, I do prefer guns.

 

[shortylickens]

Bethesda games don't need builds. If you keep playing long enough you'll be able to max out everything and play whatever style you please.

But for New Vegas, I do prefer guns.

If your weapon skills are low for your level then the enemies will feel tougher and tougher as you advance.

The easiest game is probably when you put a 10 in Intelligence and high scores in Agility and Luck, then every level put all your points into Guns. Choose Perks that give you bonus skill points, and then take the Perks that give you a better chance to hit with guns, and a higher chance at criticals.

The hardest game is a 1 in Intelligence and focus on Medicine. Sure you'll heal a few more points with Stimpaks, but you will also need to use them constantly as you can't fight worth a damn.

 

[BFG10K]

If your weapon skills are low for your level then the enemies will feel tougher and tougher as you advance.

Your level relative to the enemy is the biggest factor in effectiveness, not skills or perks. A level 55 gunfighter with 1 guns will be far more effective than a level 1 character with 100 guns. This is especially true in New Vegas where most enemies and zones have fixed levels.

So definitely focus early on (guns was my choice), but you should be trying to level as high as possible as your primary goal. As a side-effect, you'll be able to max out your stats, making character builds irrelevant.

After finishing all the side quests, for a while I actively hunted Deathclaws and Cazadors for extra XP, and also for satisfying revenge.

 

[bononos]

You can use a bat or similar on the first few roaches and rodents to save ammo without putting points into melee, especially if you use VATS.

To have enough ammo, just set the difficulty to hard. It's not really much harder for an experienced player but there will be much more loot, especially energy weapons. The rocket factory is almost a lifetime supply on hard
......

I found out NV has gimped VATs compared to FO3, sustain 75% damage vs 10% previously, less critical chance, enemies not slowed down as much which takes away some of the advantage of unarmed/melee in VATS.

Setting it hard also reduces your damage which means you need more ammo.

 

[bononos]

Melee builds can be super effective however mixing them with guns I'm not convinced is a great idea, you're wasting a build based too much around combat, if you want to save ammo the best thing to do is use other skills to make up for the ammo you use.

Ammo for most combat builds shouldn't be a problem if you scavange and trade its generally really easy to become rich in the wasteland quite fast, learn where the traders are and ferry about expensive items.

After finding out that the NV perks are only every other level, it looks like a unarmed/melee + guns might not be a good idea. The unarmed/melee perks would take up slots needed for the main guns build. Its probably better to pair guns+energy since they share some of the same perks, and lessen the burden of rationing ammo.

In FO3 I couldn't buy ammo even if I had the caps because traders don't have alot especially the .44. But in NV, there are more traders and its possible to recycle/convert ammo.

 

[bononos]

Bethesda games don't need builds. If you keep playing long enough you'll be able to max out everything and play whatever style you please.

But for New Vegas, I do prefer guns.

True but its less stressful when you've got a decent build thats doesn't clash.
And you can run out of levels to get relevant perks, like I did in FO3 and had to run the DLCs to increase the level cap to 30 and also deal with albino scorpions, tri-laser overlords and more reapers.

 

[shortylickens]

if i recall correctly, my runthrough was mostly combat shotgun (way OP) and plasma later on. i saved the alien blaster for the final boss which in the end i just shotgunned in the face.(new vegas)

You should not be able to get the combat shotgun until you're at a high level. What did you use until then?

 

[DigDog]

heck, i dont remember. all i remember is that the step between pre-CS and post-CS is huge.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Argh! Now I want to start a new playthough, despite my giant Steam backlog and pile of unplayed console games. Curse you Fallout thread!

 

[shortylickens]

heck, i dont remember. all i remember is that the step between pre-CS and post-CS is huge.

I wont argue that.

Its even better when you can make custom ammo like flechette and dragon breath.

 

[BFG10K]

And you can run out of levels to get relevant perks, like I did in FO3 and had to run the DLCs to increase the level cap to 30

Use the console command setgs iMaxCharacterLevel to increase your maximum character level. You'll need to enter it every time you launch the game, but extra XP/levels from last time will always be retained.

I use it in both games and I usually finish the base game with a character level of around 55.

and also deal with albino scorpions, tri-laser overlords and more reapers.

Fallout 3 auto-scales enemies more than New Vegas, so that's expected. It should still be very easy to dominate, unlike Oblivion where the wrong build makes you progressively weaker.

In FO3 I couldn't buy ammo even if I had the caps because traders don't have alot especially the .44.

A fast way to get to Rivet City is to run straight to the river from Megaton, then swim along the surface. You only need a few Radaways to survive trip.

Also when Sydney gets to Underworld, she becomes an ammo trader and has a lot of stock (and caps).

When I finished the game I had thousands and thousands of rounds for each of my primary guns.