There are four different special free Unarmed perks given by various NPCs, in addition to the combat perks that work for unarmed attacks such as Paralyzing Palm, Super Slam, Piercing Strike, Ninja, Slayer.

Has anyone obtained all four of the free perks? Is the Ranger takedown any different or better than Super Slam? Can you take down packs of deathclaws and cazadores with no problem using all these unarmed special moves?

Khan Trick
Legion Assault
Ranger Takedown
Scribe Counter

I only got the Ranger Takedown and I think I got the Scribe Counter, only used Ranger Takedown though since I sided with NCR that playthrough and wasn't the most welcome at Khans or Legion afterwards.

I've tried them all, but tbh I didn't fall in love with any of them. I probably used the Legion one the most.

I saw a cool video though of somebody stunlocking some tough enemies with the Khan Trick. I was lousy at aiming it myself.

Can't speak of the rest - only got the Ranger Takedown, didn't even know about the others lol. Except for the Legion one, but I didn't have the pre-requisite to learn it, as my unarmed was 15 .

But, as long as it can be knocked down, the ranger takedown rocks. Only reason I beat that ranger in the arena - I tried with the machete (even though I actually had melee skill at 30 or something) didn't work. Unarmed, with the takedown, it was a cake-walk. Well, not really, it took forever, but, it was a hell of a lot easier, that b!tch made my head spin (literally!)

Ranger Takedown - Paralyzes opponent for about 3-5 seconds.
Scribe Counter - Uppercut's an enemy whose melee/unarmed attack you blocked. (Helpful when fighting legion.)
Kahn Trick - Stuns an enemy for 2 seconds. (Cripples them alot too. heehe.)
Legion Assault - Like the regular Power attack when lunging forward without this, Except for increased damage.

Oh, And you can do an uppercut without Scribe counter if your Unarmed is 50+

But to answer your question, These moves are helpful if you have good Unarmed weapons, I used spiked knuckles almost the entire game and it took two hits to kill most things.

If you had a Balistic Fist or those weird Kamihamiha Gloves you could probably take on a few deathclaws.

Superslam (Is the one thats outside of VATS i think..) is also good with these moves, I think it increases the chance for it to happen if you use one.

EDIT: Ranger Takedown also is a good panic attack if you have a couple of people chasing you.

I have tried them all, but I have a really hard time getting the Ranger Takedown to work. Moving backward to activate it generally means I move out of range to actually hit with it...

Super Slam is more powerful than any of these, though. You can wander into practically any situation just spamming a high rate-of-swinging melee weapon and completely destroy everyone. I waltzed right up at level 8 without a problem with this thing, despite getting my [censored] handed to me with a higher-level Guns character my previous time through.

^ Had the same experience, to use the ranger takedown the enemy has to be charging at you and you still have to time it perfectly.

Wish you could use these moves in VATS.

yeah ranger td is cool but only looks good in 3rd person.especially when you kick somones leg off
and right after learning the khans throw sand in the face (stolen from ac2) i went to try it out but had the ballistic fist equipped and as i was trying it out a khan walked past me and it connected and took him out clean one hit..had to reload save cause i like the khans even tho they look like they have never washed their faces since birth

Actually in the Middle East and Phillipines people actually do this.. :nono:

I've lived in both for a few years...

Do you mean to say that you can only use the Ranger Takedown in VATS?

Unfortunately, when I met Boone, he wouldn't talk to me because I was vilified by NCR, so I had to secretly murder Ranger Andy for his armor so I could initiate the dialogue with Boone. didn't realize about the Ranger Takedown perk until it was too late.

Super Slam, however, has had the most dramatic effect on combat in the game for me. Since there are only very limited number of perks you can get, I was wondering if Ranger Takedown could be a replacement for Super Slam, but it sounds like it wouldn't have the same impact.

I think I also missed my chance to get the Khan Trick because I killed Motor-Runner before I visited Red Rock Canyon. At this point, there is no way to initiate that dialogue, right?

Yea um you just run up to a death claw and punch him in the nose then use the the special move he will fall over dead . :toughninja:

You still want Super Slam as a melee/unarmed focus character because you can combine it with other moves; but at the same time, Ranger Take Down offers a 100% knock out, makes it really useful against multiple non-Deathclaw charging you.

Does Ranger Takedown only work in VATS? (Unlike Super Slam, which does not require VATS?)

Ranger Takedown only works in real time afaik since it requires you to do powerattack and tap back.

No, Superslam which I THINK you can use out of vats too, Is helpful with Ranger Takedown because you can send someone flying away with a superslam strike with the takedown move.

Yes, with super slam you can take out crowds of enemies without using VATS at all.