Thinking of starting a new character. As the topic says a melee - sniper. My thinking is when roaming the wasteland using sniper rifles but when in confined spaces a melee warrior. Though i am unsure of which Stats,Perks and traits if any i should choose. Any advice is welcome.

Thanks for reading.

I know how to make a fairly bad ass sniper build that works in close quarters and long range combat... a melee sniper feels like a conflicting idea to me, perhaps someone a little less linear than me will make a more informative post for you. :mellow:

Ive made about 4 guys and 2 of those guys ive messed the stats up. So heres my take on each stat

Strength- Required to use snipers to their maximum potential. a strength of 6 is about how high it goes. Plus if your gonna use melee you might want it to go a little higher.

Perception- Wanna invest heavily into this because it affects accuracy.

Endurance- This is gonna be the hardest because you say your gonna be using melee for close combat and having a low endurance can be devestating. My sniper has 1 endurance which not only makes it so he cant have more than 1 implant but also he ides very very VERY quickly. I often quick save because i die alot.

Charisma- Not really needed if your not planning on having a companion or useing speech/barter skills

Intelligence- agian not needed unless you want the skills associated with it. Plus keep at at least 5 because it affects how many points you get for leveling up.

Luck- Really not needed unless you want the enemy mishaps( which i still am unsure wat it means) and high crits.

Agility- You want this high because you will be using guns and probably sneaking.

Sniping is most effective if your using a computer because you can maximize distance while turning the rest of the graphics down, this allows you to see enemies through props and at unimaginable ranges. You want to use silenced weapons as often as you can. Even know your sneaking thing might say caution, if your not using a sniper the enemies will just run right where your hiding.

I was thinking of something along those lines. The only thing I'd suggest, other than what was already said, would be about luck. On my builds, as I'm usually using the sniper hybrid, I put my luck on 1.

About strength and endurance, I would suggest both at 5, and then get the implants to put them to 6 - that way you don't have to waste a perk for lower strength requirements on weapons, and you can get the +50 lbs carry capacity when they're at 6. Otherwise, if you want to wait (while drinking a lot of whiskey) until a higher level perk for -2 to strength requirements on weapons, you can put your strength at 4.

Please keep us updated as to what your choices are, and how you're finding the game

Maximum potential? You need a STR of 6 to have optimal sniper rifle accuracy, nothing more or less... it's really not THAT crucial, however, since you're creating a melee hybrid the point is kind of moot anyway, isn't it?


Not entirely sure what you mean by "heavily" but a 6 or 7 is really all you need considering you can always get an implant and/or put a +1 PER hat on.


I apologize in advance if this comes off rude, but a 1 END is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard... dying a lot sort of speaks for itself.


Agreed.


I suppose this is a preference call here... do you want your character to have enough skill points to be good at a couple things or good at quite a few things... your call.


In my opinion, critical damage/rate is a key component to any "worthwhile" sniper build... you're going for that single shot kill, you want your sneak attack critical to hit HARD. Should you find yourself in a situation where you can't take advantage of your stealth, you're going to want your normal criticals to be a force to be reckoned with as well which applies to both melee and gun usage.


Agility affects how quickly you holster, unholster, reload, etc etc... it affects how many action points you have... it affects your STARTING skills, having 100 guns/sneak and a 10 agility won't have any additional benefits besides action points and weapon speed.

I'm going to say I completely disagree with you in terms of your sniper related recommendations... absolutely ridiculous IMO. :shakehead:

I'm not claiming to be the God of All Fallout Snipers, but I think I have a fairly good handle on the idea and how to maximize the effects of a single shot from stealth over 2000 yards away... just sayin'. I can't really offer you much advice in terms of melee as I rarely ever use it, but for the sniper side of your build I can offer you a great deal of information to work off of and I shall, let's begin.

Generally my starting S.P.E.C.I.A.L. looks something like 6.7.5.1.9.7.5. and by late/end game it looks like 6.9.5.1.10.8.6. You need at least 6 STR for your sniper rifle's accuracy to be optimal, but again as I said above, you're going melee also so you'll probably have higher. A starting PER of 6 or 7 should be fine, you really want it mostly for the red dot blips on your radar... your sniper skills aren't going to do much good if you crest a ridge and find yourself staring at a horde of deathclaws. You also need a base PER of at least 6 to attain the Better Criticals perk which, IMO, is rather important for a sniper build of any kind. Your END you can leave at 5 or maybe play around and drop to 4... your call, I prefer a 5 to keep it balanced and for future implants. As mentioned above, unless you're going to have companions or intend to pass barter/speech challenges you won't need CHA. Personally, I prefer a very high INT mostly for the skill points. By the end of the game I have roughly 6-7 skills at 100 and about 2-3 60+... however, if you just plan on shooting everything in the face and whatnot then by all means neglect your INT stat. AGI you're going to want if you intend on using V.A.T.S. honestly, I use V.A.T.S. so I put my AGI up a bit... you're also going to want it for some key "sniper" perks.

This is my perk list at Level 30:


Some of those perks (Educated, Toughness, Rapid Reload, Strong Back) are my personal preferences. However, some of those perks (Better Criticals, Finesse, Jury Rigging) are crucial sniper related perks. The V.A.T.S. related perks are, IMO, for a dedicated sniper build and not a melee hybrid.

For traits I chose Trigger Discipline and Kamikaze. Trigger Discipline is a must for your sniper/melee hybrid, you could probably choose something better though in place of Kamikaze.

My five implants of choice were AGI (action points), INT (skill points), PER (accuracy at range, compass), Damage Threshold, and Regeneration.

By level 30 I had a DT of 28 while wearing Combat Armor Mk. II, Reinforced and I had 129 action points to spend in V.A.T.S. but again I'm a dedicated sniper not a hybrid.

Anyway, that concludes my super rant... hopefully this information helps you and others out. Apologies in advance to anyone who is offended by anything I may have said, namely the quoted poster, was merely elaborating on the depth of my disagreement. :user: