I've started over around five or more times trying different builds, and it seems like Sneak is pretty much required in the game. That's fine in a way, since I really enjoy Rogue type characters with sneak, crits, and stealing/lockpicking.

However, whether I try a melee guy, or a high health "tanky" type, they all become far to hard unless I have sneak. Of course, that means I'd sacrifice something else, like say Science or Speech or whatever.

Anyone else feel the same? My guy is now only lvl 4 or so and I am within points of having Sneak at 100, and that alone makes up for not investing in anything else (except lock pick), which is kinda off it seems.

Stop trying to punch people. Shoot them. It becomes a whole lot less necessary.

Having no weapon skills seems to be hurting your ability to fight.

I was sneaking around fine with 30 in sneak, while shooting people.

Sneak is less important for shooters and more important for melee. Look at the perk list, everything melee geared either does more damage, swings faster OR makes you hit harder from sneak.

Take a look at the ninja perk.

People who prefer to avoid combat could use followers.


If built right.
at range Guns>Melee.
Close up
Melee>guns.

After seeing all the perks and looking at many melee weapons, melee is more viable in N.V than in FO-3.

Slayer?


Slayer!
This perk increases the speed of all melee attacks by 30%,
[/spoiler]


Ninja?



Super Slam!

All melee (except thrown) and unarmed attacks have a chance of knocking your target down.
[/spoiler]

Piercing Strike

Wait for a silenced weapon, then you can have the best of both worlds, you can be a ninja and pwn mobs after you steal form them.

Not exactly. I have high sneak, and am taking all the perks for crits, silent running, those type things. I do use guns, my point is even though I've invested nothing in guns, endurance attribute etc, having high sneak mitigates not investing in anything else (so far of course). So I might be speaking too early.

My second run through I'm going to try a stealth melee for fun. I don't see me playing through this game on any type build unless it has high sneak though.

Often I can shoot a baddie in the face and just sit there in the shadows and they still can't find me, which makes me feel cool, like an assassin.

EDIT: I do have a silenced .22 and the silencer mod on my Varmint rifle, I like that.

Death claws, spelling ruin to EVERYTHING.

Shoot one from as far away as you can, and it will know EXACTLY where you are no matter what you used to shoot it with, suppressor or not.

Those giant blue bugs (cazadors?) do to.

Sneak is the premier support skill. It'll get you past more quests than anything except speech.
Hell, it'll get you past anything you want. I was just playing at a friend's and managed to make it from goodsprings to freeside by moving slowly at night past all of those ridiculous radscorpions who think they can stand between me and an Intelligence implant.

In that case I don't get you. Is the issue that since you dumped every other stat just to buff sneak, no other tactic works? Because it's not making sense. You're saying that sneak seems necessary, but don't appear to be giving anything else a serious try.

Playing my first character as a scout sniper, 60 points in sneak has been getting the job done. Throw in Hollow Point, AP and the other special ammo types sneaking is even more powerful in NV than it was in FO3.

I just wish we had functional chinese stealth armor.

So because at level 4 you can kill baby geckos with no guns/combat skill and 100 sneak you think it "mitigates" it?

No, I'm saying that with 98 in sneak, I have a pretty easy time (fun too) without guns or any other skill invested in. Without high sneak, I feel like I have a much weaker character even if I dumped stats into some other skills. I'm saying that buffing sneak has been several times more beneficial that buffing anything else, or other thing(s).

I'm not complaining here, just pointing out that I have found sneak is more valuable a skill than anything else so far. As I said, I have given other builds a try to lvl 7-8 but it got frustrating. Now I buffed sneak only, and I'm having a much easier time, much. Hope that's clear.

I just went with sneak ,guns and repair..
for my only play so far..