All,

I kinda want to make a super cop / judge dredd kinda guy and carry the heavy explosives weapons like the grenade machine gun or something else nasty, but I've been hearing explosions are nerfed pretty hard.

I cheated up a grenade machine gun and tested it with demolitions expert x3 and it kinda seemed lack-luster.

Is there any point to basing a character around the various projectile explosive devices, including the perks like splash damage and pyromaniac? And does pyromaniac affect, for example, explosive or incendiary grenades? And if so, does that stack with Demolitions expert?

Or should I just not bother?

Thanks

For one, the Flamer/Incinerator is classified as an energy weapon in FO:NV. I'm not sure but I think all grenade/mine types are affected by the Explosives skill. Yes, explosive weapons have been nerfed fairly hard and I use them more for the novelty of just making things explode.

If anything at all, I'd recommend using Explosives as maybe a secondary weapon skill and not your main weapon skill.

It's only worth it if you are on the PC and can install mods.

Alrighty then. When I make my Judge Dredd character, I'll make it in Fallout 3. I never really used Big Guns or Explosives there.

Thanks!

As a side note 60 explosives is required for a quest and if you don't have 60 explosives you can't get the location's best ending for the NCR. Also explosives skill helps you gain rep in Nellis without having to complete Lucky Old Sun and also lets you disarm traps.

So it's not a total waste.

I put 60 points into it for the quest and I find that explosives are highly ineffective against heavily-armored mobs, because they have no AP ammo. I am fixing this in a mod, giving grenade launchers and missile launchers HEDP and HESH (also called HEP and cratering) warheads as ammo options, so you know.

Against poorly armored mobs, they are amazing. Even if you don't kill them outright against clustered enemies it just makes limb salad out of them, and you can pick off the dismembered and crippled survivors with a shotgun.

Unlike the other main weapon skills you will need a backup weapon, explosives are not your primary arm in all cases, but they make a fine situational backup that can help soften up tough clusters of low- and medium-DT enemies before you close to range. I find they pair well with unarmed. I have a build I love that at late-game is using the paladin toaster zap glove and the unique rocket launcher. I call it shake and bake.

Not worth it as far as I can tell, very rare and expensive early in the game, would have to be a secondary skill if at all.

None of the characters I've made would side with any of the factions, not even yes-man, so I will probably just never do the main quest.

Or if I decide I want to see the ending, I'll just make an explicit NCR or Caesar guy.

All of my characters, if they have one thing in common, is the sort of chaotic "don't tread on me" or "no gods, no masters" vibe, even though they are radically different in other ways. So stagnation (no resolution) between the big players would be their goal. It lets all the little guys either prosper under, or suffer under, my rule (albeit a simple type of rule where I just kill anyone or undermine anyone who would bring any kind of enforced control).

Anyway bottom line, I probably wont ever do the MQ.

If I do, tho, I'll go with a pro-NCR guy all the way and take explosives on the side maybe.

Or just play Fallout 3. I never did explosives there either.