So I finally decided I wanted to try out a "Cowboy" build and roleplay him as pretty much a John Marshton type character. Minus the family stuff, of course. I have a few questions pertaining to weapon choice and skill choice. Please note that I will be playing on hardcoe Mode and on Very Hard difficulty. If I can possibly make it through using the bare minimum I want too. Its more about being a Cowboy then making a good build.

1. My first question is about Melee verses Lever-action Shotgun. Since I could just use the shotgun for close distances, is there any point in melee? But then comes into play the poisons and everything with survival, so I'm really not sure.. I want this to be as Cowboyish as possible and I loved taking down enemies with tomahawks and knives in Red Dead: Redemption.

2. Does the superheated knife from Dead Money receive the Cowboy Bonus?

3. Also about melee weapons. Would throwing axes/knives be silent? So instead of charging in a room and blasting everyone, could I take them all down with well timed throwing knife attacks?

4. Does Ninja give the same bonus to thrown weapons as well?

5. I really couldn't find any information but is there a unique version of the hatchet?

6. My final question is what guns/melee weapons should I stick with in the late game? Right now I have the Brush Carbine, Ranger Sequoia, and Chances Knife/Lever-action Shotgun, throwing hatchets, some dynamite on my list.


Thanks for reading! Help is greatly appreciated!

1. I suppose if you like fighting with melee weapons more, you should just do that. Maybe shoot at the enemy while going from mid-range to close range with the lever-action, and then switch to a knife when you're in close range.

2. No, the weapons of Dead Money are bugged and aren't affected by perks. http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=40499's a mod that fixes it (witht this mod the Cosmic Knife Super-Heated is affected by Cowboy)

3. I don't know, you can try out for yourself. I think all sharp weapons (except things like the chainsaw) are silent.

4. Yes it does, but the Ninja perk is bugged: it multiplies the critical chance of melee weapons by 1.15 , instead of just adding 15% to the critical chance (all other perks simply add X amount of % to the critical chance). http://www.newvegasnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=36638's a fix.

5. Nope.

6. That's a pretty good list, you also may want to use time bombs and other revolvers. I only use the Ranger Sequoia when I'm on an anti-NCR playthrough because when I'm not it just doesn't feel right using it (but hey, that's just me). Another good revolver is the Mysterious Magnum, very cowboy-ish. And, if you're focussing on critical hits: Lucky.

This is entirely up to you. I find it more convenient to stick with a single combat skill throughout the game.

Re: Lever-action shotgun: it's a great little MID-game weapon, until you get Brush Gun, 100 Guns skill and the Hand Loader perk. Here's why. Shotguns only reduce DT if you have Shotgun Surgeon. No shotgun ammuniton lowers DT; slugs merely reduce the spread and concentrate the damage of 7 pellets into a single point. Now, Shotgun Surgeon reduces DT by 10. SWC rounds in .44 or in .45-70 caliber reduce DT by 6: a different of 4. Lever-action shotgun WITH maximized damage from all perks dishes out 63.84 per shot and has a DPS of 122.68. A Brush gun with maximized damage from all perks has the per-shot damage of 99.75 and the DPS of 184.53. Even after you factor in those 4DT, a Brush Gun with SWC ammo still leaves the lever-action shotgun in the dust even if you don't add Brush Gun's much lower spread into the equation.


To my knowledge, all thrown weapons are silent. At the user's end, anyhow.


Trail Carbine + Brush gun is all you really need. If you must have a revolver, go with the Mysterious Magnum until a Ranger Sequoia is available.

Since you would need 45 melee for the Cowboy perk, if you do found room for Super Slam it can be very effective. A warning about throwing weapons is that they have a very lengthly drawing animation instead of the niche one in RDR.

As for Lever-action shotgun, it is pretty handy because 20gauges are everywhere.


No, sadly. But there is always Chance's Knife.


Yes, throwing weapons are silent, however in indoor situation you will need very high Sneak to do that.


Yes, but remember the critical chance is a Multiplier, i.e. not +15% flat critical chance.


Not that I am aware of.


Brush gun for range kill, Ranger Sequoia for walking, Melee weapon (you should really look into Fire Axe)/Shotgun for close up, throwing Hatchets for stealth and dynamite for fun, sure.

As sweet I'm gonna be playing with MWs then, thanks for the help!