So I'm thinking of an Explosives playthrough this time. I've wondered about it before and it seemed like a bad idea at the time, but after the recent patch I thought they might be worth a look.

Any productive input will be appreciated. However, "

Here's what I'm thinking so far.

The general strategy for an Explosives character would obviously hinge on "shock and awe" approach- engaging targets at maximum possible range, delivering maximum possible damage on first strike and switching to an alternative weapon for close-in work. Also, the companions should be used to keep the foes from getting close to you.

Traits: It's been said that Fast Shot does not affect Explosives weapons such as grenade launchers and missile launchers. I'd appreciate it being confirmed to denied, but if it's true, it doesn't leave a lot of choices. Built to Destroy is obviously out, as is Small Frame and Trigger Discipline. Good Natured's benefit is reduced by the need to take a second combat skill. Loose Cannon and Kamikaze seem like the most obvious combination; one adds speed to grenades, while the other helps mitigate, to some degree, the absurd AP cost of Explosives projectile weapons.


S.P.E.C.I.A.L:

Obviously, Luck can be disregarded completely as there's no benefit from critical hits. Explosives weapons are fairly slow to both shoot and reload, making high Agility essential. Strength requirements for top-tier Explosive weapons are modest (8 ST); however, if Dynamite and grenades are to be used, carrying capacity matters.

So approximate starting S.P.E.C.I.A.L distribution BEFORE implants looks to me as follows:

ST 6 (+1 implant +1 Power Armor =8 )
PE 6
EN 7
CH 4
IN 7
AG 9
LK 1

Perks: These can be divided into three groups: offensive, defensive (mitigating inevitable self-harm from splash damage) and utility. Assuming no DLCs, possible perks list is as follows:

2- Heave, Ho!
4- Educated
6- Comprehension
8- Demolition Expert 1
10- Demolition Expert 2
12- Hit the Deck
14- Jury Rigging
16- Demolition Expert 3
18- Pyromaniac
20- Toughness 1
22- Toughness 2
24- Intense Training
26- Adamantium Skeleton
28- Confirmed Bachelor/Black Widow
30- Bloody Mess

(The latter two are optional and can be replaced by Splash Damage, Rapid Reload, VATS perks or Nuka Chemist)

Endgame weapons: Annabelle + Grenade Machinegun

Backup skill: because Pyromaniac benefits both Incendiary grenades and Incinerator/Flamer class weapons, I'm thinking of taking Energy weapons as a backup and making a fire-and-brimstone character. Fire is not the most close combat-friendly skill, but its damage is easy to mitigate with Atomic Cocktails.

Thoughts?

You must sneak upon your opponent and push grenades into his pocket blowing him to bits.

A bit hard to pull that off with a Deathclaw. Their pockets are all buttoned up, usually.

I'd recommend higher perception.

A few thoughts for you...

1. You shouldn't rely on Explosives exclusively for a combat skill as it isn't suited to all situations. You're going to need some type of close combat skill when you get rushed by a big group (and you will), consequently Luck is not useless. I would never recommend a very low Luck on any character from a statistical standpoint (role-playing such a character is another matter) as no Enemy mishaps and lots of criticals vs you is not a good thing to have. Unless you intend to never EVER pick up and use anything but Explosives weapons and don't mind getting critically hit a lot, 1 Luck is a bad idea in my mind.

2. Fast Shot / Trigger Discipline is absolutely 100% restricted to Guns and Energy Weapons. All the entry points for the respective traits have an isWeaponSkillType conditional, if the weapon used does not require either skill it is not used for FS / TD - period. For traits to take - Heavy Handed and Kamikaze are probably the best of the limited options in the original game sans mods (which you don't mention so I assume they aren't an option for you). Heavy Handed is useful if you're not worrying about critical hits too much and you need a seconday combat skill - pick up Unarmed or Melee and you'll have that choice all set.

3. Recommended SPECIAL for you (+1's are implants):

S - 7 + 1 = 8
P - 5 + 1 = 6
E - 7 + 0 = 7
C - 4 + 0 = 4
I - 5 + 1 = 6
A - 8 + 1 = 9
L - 4 +1 = 5

You can tweak this to your liking of course, perhaps taking Luck down to 2 (+1, always leave the final Luck number odd) and Charisma down to 2 or even 1 to boost Intelligence or perhaps Perception if you'd rather have more of each. Up to you of course, but this SPECIAL distribution I've outlined is fairly well balanced without any glaring weaknesses.

4. Perk considerations:

- Hit the Deck is bugged AFAIK and doesn't work, skip it. Even if it did work you don't really need it
- Heave Ho! is only moderately useful, I've found with explosives you'll do most of your killing with the launcher weapons
- Splash Damage is not an optional perk for my Explosives characters, get it as soon as it's available in my view as it makes taking out clustered enemies much easier
- Pyromaniac is highly debatable when it comes to usefulness, not a lot of Incendiary ammo around with out mods that add crafting recipes
also, the Flamer type weapons and their ammo are both very heavy to lug around in addition to your Explosives ammo and weapons
- Rapid Reload is a good perk to choose for this type of build
- Quick Draw is something to consider if you go for Melee as a 2ndary combat skill, throw/launch grenades and charge whats left, drawing your weapon at the last instant
- You don't mention compaions, but if you're using Veronica, Rex, or Lily you might want to take Spray and Pray if you're in hardcoe and want them to live
- Pack Rat / Strong Back are worth a look if you're having carrying capacity issues
- Adamantium Skeleton is not required really, there's a challenge perk that gives you almost 1/2 its value that you can earn relatively easily

BTW, a grenade machine gun (not to mention Mercy) + Demo Expert 3 + Splash Damage = "I win" button for just about any fight you can think of. I went thru the final battle with barely a scratch on me with this combo on my last character.