-SPECIAL STATS-

str:4 +1 +1
per:5 +1
end:6 +1
cha:1
int:10
agi:5 +1
luc:9 +1
(+4 DT)

---

-WEAPONS/REQUIREMENTS-

all american - str:4
anti-materiel rifle - str:8
hunting rifle - str:6

---

-PERKS/REQUIREMENTS-

built to destroy
good natured

1. intense training: strength
2. educated - int:4
3. bloody mess
4. commando
5. toughness - end:5
6. toughness - end:5
7. finesse
8. silent running - agi6, sneak 50
9. sniper - per:6, agi:6
10. jurry rigging - repair 90
11. action boy - agi:6
12. action boy - agi:6
13 better criticals - per:6, luc:6
14. hand loader - repair 70
15. weapon handling - str<10

so i've been updating this guide over time. this is my newest version and i think it's one i'm going to stick with.
you max out guns and distribute points to the rest of the skills excluding unarmed, melee, explosives and energy weapons.
barter and speech get just enough points to pass speech checks for whatever you need (followers) and have points put into them last.

the end result leaves you with an all-american that has 5 shots in vats with relatively good aim, and the ability to use the anti-materiel rifle and hunting rifle well for long range sniping. you also have a lot of bonus dt (+10). you also have superior ammo and the ability to tell what an opponents dt/life is, letting you adjust accordingly.

thoughts/comments welcomed.

You don't need an INT of 10 anymore it does not give a major boost of skill points anymore like it did in FO3

Put your special stats at

PER 6
AGI/LUCK 7

At the start of the game

I usually put my Int at 5 or lower since the difference between skill points isn't that great in NV.

I love the build, but my only question/comment is about your high luck and all the other VATS bonus items.

I usually do luck = 1 with my snipers, because the first shot is always a sneak attack critical. While that makes me unable to get the almost requisite 'better criticals' perk, I get along fine. I also don't do finesse, commando, and the 2nd action boy; but I do get the one-hand guns version of commando. In F3, I did get both, and finesse too. It's just that with the 1 perk per 2 levels, I've had to cut down.

I also use the Varmit Rifle with scope for most of the kills, I find its better than the hunting rifle (for me), on long range. I use This Machine however, for medium range.

Love the guide though. Thanks!

Looks pretty good to me, though if you use VATS I’d bump EW up to 60 for the Concentrated Fire perk

-the int is high so i can max out almost every non combat skill.
-also, not only does int give extra skillpoints per point invested into it, but it also gives more base skillpoints to 3 skills! at 10 thats 60 skillpoints out of thin air!
-i use vats with my assault rifle, it's my last line of defense and my only one when entering hostile buildings. the high crit is a life savor, and its the reason luck is 9+1
-also, yes a long range shot will usually leave you undetected but this isn't always an option. later in the game you'll take on groups of enemies at mid-close range areas and your hunting rifle/all-american's insane crit chance and good accuracy in vats will help a lot.
-i personally didn't find concentrated fire that useful in nv.. in fo3 it was great because, you know, vats actually worked at long range when i use vats its usually to hit a dodging opponent that's in melee range or just tap it and exit to line up my shots at range.

There are many "sniper" builds that could be created and effective...

hmm i never suggested this was the end all to be all sniper guide, if that's what you meant.

it's just something i've worked on and felt was good enough to share with the community. maybe it'll help some people or give them ideas for their own builds?

Mmm ok, well my only suggestion would be, if you were going for a character who relies heavily on critical hits then why not just use Energy Weapons as your main form of combat?

The anti-materiel rifle is overrated IMO... a fully modded sniper rifle (STR requirement of 6 and far lighter ammunition) is more than enough firepower to 1-2 shot almost any living creature in the game.

Best gun is Anti-Material Rifle. It comes with a built in scope and does 122 damage, more or less, depending on skills.

I could blow someone a mile away if they ran at me and i fired at there torso...

Ammo is expensive sadly...

Back to arming my companions.... 1250 caps for 100, 50 mm rounds! Come here rich man, let me robe you.

because i can modify the ammo to fit my needs, commonly repair my weapons, have insane range with huge initial damage and crit a lot making it easier to drop high hp opponents.

By Modifying ammo I am assuming you are talking about the reloading bench and the ability to break down and create different ammunitions?

If so then you can do the same thing with energy weapon ammunition, all you need is a work bench and high enough Science skill...

Also, Jury Rigging also works on Energy weapons if that is what you mean by "commonly repair my weapons"

Yeah, like mine, that IMO is much better.
S-4
P-2
E-3
C-5
I-9
A-8
L-9

Built to destroy
Small frame.Start AGI is 9.
2-Black widow
4-Educated
6-Travel Light
8-The Professional
10-The Vault Navigation
12 Finesse
14- I took H&N to jump to level 15, OR you can take anything that benefits your play style. Like S&S if you like boom sticks.
16-Weapon Handling
18-Grim Reaper's Sprint
20-Toughness
22-Toughness
24-Jury Rigging, oddly I find this not so useful, can sub other perk in here.
26-Nerves of Steel
28-Action Girl
30-Rad Absorption.

Honestly, any of the perks after level 18 is just gravy. I am level 16 right now and I crit like crazy. Every 2-3 shots is a crit. You get 16 points per level, in 20 levels that's 320 points. so by level 24 you should have at least three-four skills above 70.

No problems so far, I can back peddle (travel light) faster than some enemies can run, and that gives me breathing room. Rat slayer + .357 w/ HD cylinder and long barrel OR 9MM w/ mags and scope.
If pistols are not your thing (I then to use them inside often) you can sub out The pro at level 8 for something else.
No problems using ratslayer with 4 str, no problems hauling loot.

But, thats my play style, and might not bee god for everyone. guns skill can make up for a couple of points in STR until you get W.H at 16.

At first glance this build seems utterly ridiculous as a "sniper build" but to each his/her own I suppose.
I will say though, IMO, perks like Swift Learner or Here and Now are a complete waste of a perk slot since experience is a finite commodity AKA those perks are going to be completely useless when you hit level 30... and considering the amount of quests/locations, it's not very difficult to reach the cap long before you finish the game anyway.

When I play as a sniper I don't use VATS or my cross hairs.

and why exactly is it that you think this guide is better then mine? you didn't give any reason...

let me elaborate more on my guide.


---
skill------base-------book-------stats
barter ....14 .. = 14 [+12] = 26 (+**) = **
energy ....12 +2 = 14 [+12] = 26 (***) = 26
exp .......12 +2 = 14 [+9 ] = 23 (***) = 23
guns ......27 +2 = 29 [+12] = 41 (+59) = 100
lockpick ..17 +2 = 19 [+12] = 31 (+69) = 100
medicine ..32 .. = 32 [+12] = 44 (+56) = 100
melee .....10 +4 = 14 [+15] = 29 (***) = 29
repair ....47 .. = 47 [+12] = 59 (+41) = 100
science ...32 .. = 32 [+12] = 44 (+56) = 100
sneak .....32 +2 = 34 [+12] = 46 (+54) = 100
speech ....14 .. = 14 [+12] = 26 (+**) = **
survival ..19 +2 = 21 [+12] = 33 (+**) = **
unarmed ...14 +2 = 16 [+12] = 28 (***) = 28

copy and paste to notepad if you wish.

the +2 and +4 are skillpoints gained from advancing your attributes.

you gain 487 skillpoints. you use 335, effectively maxing all secondary skills and the combat skill guns.
you're left with 157 skillpoints, which you can then distribute to survival with a base of 33, barter at 26 or speech at 26.

now. this is the reason i have intelligence at 10, giving me a +20 to repair, science and medicine. it is ALSO the reason my trait, good natured, is selected. offering another +5 bonus to every other skill, and only dropping guns by 5 (seeing as its our only used skill)

onto the special distribution. in fallout: new vegas, there is a doctor that offers implants. these give you a permanent, one time bonus. this bonus is a +1 to any and all of the attributes, as well as a regenerative implant and a more important +4 to dt implant. they cost 4k caps for all attribute implants and 8k caps for the dt one. we're not going to worry about the regenerative one since the life gain is kind of useless for our build. (we aren't using health regen to tank, but instead stimpaks/food and of course keeping range)

now onto the important part, you need at LEAST a base of 6 endurance in order to get all of these implants. that is why that attribute is like that.

luck is very important. crit damage = +dps/alpha
(alpha is initial hit, which can include a sneak critical.)

i have stated above why luck is important to this, or any guide. most of the creatures in FO:NV have very high hp, and you will come in contact with them at ranges where you cannot remain hidden!
on top of this having 9+1 luck basically means you never have to worry about caps again, ever. the reason for this is because luck effects gambling. having +10 luck eliminates the houses edge, ontop of the fact that you can save and reload later.

having this ability means you can get all of your implants the moment you get to new vegas, and you'll still have more caps then you know what to spend on.

all of the other attributes are at the minimum in order to boost the important ones to maxing dmg. intense training is taken in order to use our weapon of choice, the ANTI-MATERIEL SNIPER RIFLE.
this rifle is a beast. ESPECIALLY when you optimize damage and use correct ammunition with it.

anywho i hope this helps confusion a bit. or adds to it, who knows?

Titan357: I was reading your guide, and hit line 4, before I did a double take. A "sniper" with perception of TWO?!?! I'm guessing one of your companions is ED-E, otherwise you'll be bumping into people before the tick shows. On the other hand, with ED-E... Perception is kinda useless.

From your stat distribution, I'm guessing that your implants are the +1 to INT, AGI, LCK ? You didn't specify.

As for the perks, I find toughness something that I avoid in NV, although I did use it in F3 (but that was because of the Cyborg combination).

For my next build, which I'm still thinking about, both of your guides have been helpful! Your travel light perk is something I've thought of, but I've never even considered that the bonus would allow me to run backwards faster than enemies running forwards! Great find, that one!

On the side note, I do agree with both the guides on the INT of 9, with the mod of +1 INT gotten ASAP. That's how I played F3. A starting character, with INT of 9, made it to Rivet City still on level 2! meaning I only had 1 less skill point than a 10 INT starting character

That's what I'll be trying to do with my next new game, although I see some problems. Namely how to get the money for the implant at a low level, while not leveling up any more than necessary. That would mean, for my style of play, going to the outpost first, to win the caps off of the bartender for the Implant, and then going to the Medical Clinic. I hope that I'll not be past level 4, hopefully at 2 still, when I make the clinic.

I 'd suggest Hunter perk and if you want Hand Loader , get it asap , so lvl 6.

I also stopped using AM rifle after a while . It 's heavy , high STR requirement , ammo is heavy and expensive , and special 0.50 ammo requires 100 repair and isn't that useful , I d rather use psycho .

An the most important thing , if you go for ( sneaky ) critical build , it doesn 't have any critical chance multiplier like regular sniper or Gobi .
AM rifle might have higher base hit chance in VATS but why would you want to use it for you first shot anyway .

Even fully modded hunting rifle with soft point 0.308 was usually enough for most fights , maybe some psycho now and then . And it has much higher durability.

very informative. as i'm progressing through this build i'm finding that the gobi is much better, seeing as my base crit is 18% x5 from the gobi = 90% crit.

verrry useful. will be further perfecting this build once i'm done my play through.

and i agree, the hunting rifle is pretty amazing. it's one of my mainstay weapons.

-having int at 9 with +1 requires that point from int to go into end for an extra implant.
-not only that, but you'll also have incredible difficulty accumulating caps without leveling up once or twice, possibly even more if you skip chunks of the main storyline. and this isn't including the run you'll be making with no armor/health to new vegas..
-now, unless you just dropped the 4%dt implant, this route only nets you a small amount of life/rad resist and an ungodly amount of effort, and you have to wonder to yourself is it worth more then 4% dt?

i don't want to piss on your idea, but honestly it's not worth it. just put 10 hardpoints in it.

FFS, you don't need 10 luck for a guns based sniper...ever. Energy weapon characters needs 10 luck. A sniper useing guns needs 5 starting luck and the implant before level 16 for better criticals. Sneak attacks are automatic and have nothing to do with the luck stat. If you are not getting sneak attack critical hits as a sniper your are doing it wrong. A .308 sniper rifle loaded with JSP ammo kills a deathclaw dead with one sneak attack headshot on normal difficulty that way.

Also, your perk list is too heavy on VATS related perks for a sniper build. No, sniping is not running up to point blank with the AMR and pressing the VATS key. Replace those perks with entomolgist, robotics expert, hunter, shotgun surgeon (Riot shotgun panic button). Perks that make your rounds hit harder and thus raise the number of one-shot kills. The default APs from 8-10 Agility combined with Jet, Steady and rebound is all the VATS you'll ever need if you have "This Machine" and/or a Riot Shotgun on hotkey.

Don't like the traits as well. "Trigger Discipline" goes without saying as it works in both free-aim and VATS while the penalty won't be noticed outside of VATS (that'll be rarely used). Since a sniper played right takes very little damage the "Small Frame" trait is the other winner.

I don't have my stats at hand, but they're something like

Strength is eight, so I can lift the [censored]..

Perception is maxed, because I took the four eyes trait and Boone's beret (It looks a lot like the one http://idesigndigitally.com/mp/wp-content/uploads/wpsc/product_images/BC8-M.jpg)

I tanked charisma, because we usually aren't nice people to be around. I know I can be a real ass hole

Agility is high, as well as Intelligence and luck -I've never know an unlucky sniper.. gee, I wonder why :shrug:

guns in the eighties (if you kneel, you're aim is steady enough for head shots, otherwise multiple body shots..)
sneak maxed out -If you can't be a sneaky git, don't even try..
repair also in the eighties -gotta know how to keep that weapon clean and in top condition. Needless to say, I've built LOTS of repair kits. No kidding, it's redonculous.
I'm still investing in lockpicking still
wilderness needs to be higher

My character is at level 20

Things like the commando and sniper perk are essential.. duh. But other than that, I'm out gunning Boone shot for shot now, and rarely do they close enough that I actually have to use VATS.
In which case I switch to my handgun back ups anyway :shrug:

you've got to remember that you're using companions.. on hardcoe they're not essential (when they go to 0 hp they die).
you'll rely more on vats without them.
honest to god i can't really think of any other perks warranting action boy/girl. seriously.

try the marksman carbine (all-american is corrupt file glitch)
it really is an amazing weapon.