Seriously Folks. (Normal Diff- Cass with an AM Rifle in tow)
I am getting *Puh-hounded* at Caesars HQ after the Hoover Dam. Okay- in my Defence I am Level 20 but am toting some relatively serious stuff.
I have 1 mine, which I judiciously lay at the staircase before Lanius (I know he deserves many more-) Then I pump all the chems and books I have with no shame at all. (My body is an Amusemant Park, not a Temple...)
Forget talking to Lanius, I'm lining him up with the Matter Modulator/Hunting Shotgun/Incinerator - and he turnes to me with that look of implacable distaste that only his mask can give and rushes me. Six dudes pop out of the Tent to join the fun and I am smashed to pieces across the rocks of the lower Camp.
Q1: Am I too young to be messing with Lanius? (Level 20...)
Q2: Should I be packing a *lot* more mines?
Q3: The RCW RIfle. Should I endeavour with it?
So I throw the Problem Open - Whoever reads this is Awesome.
Who's Awesome? You're Awesome.

Q1: I did it at level 30. (wanted to be top level before exploring the more dangerous parts of the wastes IE deathclaws)
Q2: I didn't use any mines.
Q3: I used boone with an anti material rifle (armour peircing rounds) I bought myself one aswell (incidiery rounds)

I don't know if the NCR rangers helped me but when I passed the speech check to have the rangers advance I could have swore seing 4-5 of them helping me kill lenius.

Yeah i know im awesome but that besides the point. He is a hard [censored] to take down. Id def say your too low a level to take him on considering you got another 33% skills to add to yuor character which i would think would be a big factor. I didnt use mines myself when facing him but im sure it would of helped cause i was a lvl 30 on him and it was a pretty rough fight even then but not impossible. The RCW is a great idea but i never used it really so i cant say if that would help. I would say though any other explosives you got you should use to try and damage him. Try shooting him weapon also, that wll make him deal far less damage. Try turbo, i found as im sure u did that is helps immensly. Just try different combos. Sorry if this dont help any

Right, Right.... You can still have the NCR on your side? (They didn't let me in the Control Room so I got a little Assertive...)
I was escorted by the Securitrons to the Gate and then they were all "20 goto 10"
Now thinnking about it an extra 100 HP would certainly be useful - that and the Stonewall Perk (I was getting *Skittled!*)

Thankyou for your time.

Q1 - way too young
Q2 - never used them
Q3 - childs toy

Shooting his weapon... Right...Right. Yeah- Definately too young as well. Perhaps a little too much Bravado when bleaching the Tops Casino and Silver Rush with Cass. Hindsight still seems to be 20/20. And as for that Turbo...actually haven't tried it yet because Mum said it would make you old too fast.
Thankyou for your help, there's nothing like a second opinion when you have an itch that's probably Cancer!

I think part of the issue is you are too close to him. I was having a similar difficulty when trying to fight him on top of the hill. Instead get as far away as possible. I went back to the entrance gate and shot at him and his crew from there. Start by taking out the 2 guards in front of the tent. This should activate lannius but it should take a while for him to figure out where you are at. Take down he escort next. When its just you and him it will be a lot easier. Hopefully you have max guns, and companions too. So use extreme range and the sniper rifle or as someone else suggested in another thread try putting some c-4 on him lol.

Q1: I whooped him at 22. Make no mistake, that's not something I'm likely to ever try again, but you know how "first playthrough syndrome" is, right?
Q2: Probably. But then it also depends on how far he gets to move. I tried the fight repeatedly, waltzing him and his lackeys through a nice gauntlet of C-4.
Q3: Dunno. When I finally beat'im, it was with 4 headshots from a Brush Gun loaded with semi-wadcutters (SWC). With regard to Q2 above- that's without mines, too.

And yes...the 4-headshot drop and subsequent "onward through the rest of the endgame" was around the 24th try or maybe more- I lost count, and I'm reeeeeal stubborn.

Q1: i killed him at 15(tried 3 times), i was doing quick run though.. because i just hate yes man, Lanious was problem.. but NCR ranger was bigger problem..(solved by yes man though) you just need to run away really quick(that time i had broken leg with no doctors bag and it was .hardcoe too... i donno how the hell did i did it.....sorry about that)

Q2:i use like 4 plasma mines, i kill minions first while running away from Lanious, used Ranger take down alot (it just gives me whole alot of time to kill minions), on top of that .. i was eating like everything....

Q3:just a toy....if you have descent unarmed skill then just kill ligeonaires and take ballistic fist... that will help you alot....

Indeed. I thought about the 'From a Distance' Trick but found the majority of the Camp below the Rise Lanius was on. I scoped the surrounds and found the Area secure ala Sun Tzu's Ancient Art of War. From what I could see it was a Bottleneck, so I tried the Shock and Awe from over the fence with my grenade launcher...once they triangulated on me they did their drunken Frat Party Thing on my dignity. I don't ragdoll well...
So! What you're saying is that there is an elevated position somewhere I've neglected to find due to my apparent perceived immediacy to the middle distance? Respect.
Also a codpiece-shaped block of C-4 would be appropriate with my stealth.

Regards.

"First Playthrough Syndrome?" Represent!
I am of the mindset that this game is a *Whole* 'nother animal from F3 - People, leave your stacks of Pre-War Books and Conventions at the Door!
I am also seeing the potential of getting Hundreds and Hundreds of hours of entertainment out of the Code. Breakdown the initial price to hours of entertainment (Aussie Strain: 'Bahgahn')
I am going back to School (Age: 38) The School of the Mohave: (Or: If you're Barking Mad, stay away from Yellow Scorpions...)

Thanks, Mate.

You know, this version really does seem a little biased toward how many pounds of Force one can compress into a given direction per second. With F3 the melee was a little meh- but it seems with FNV the throttle has been opened quite substantially. Having played RPGs since the RedBox DND of Sir GG, I've learned to MinMax. Once again I'm going back to School to learn the intricacies of another Excellent, Detailed, Exacting, and Complex system. To be Zen is to approach everything in Life as if for the First TIme. And Apparently I'm a Virgin again... (`Virgin on the Ridiculous!!!)

Thankyou.

Bottom line OP:

You need to level up some more so you can get more perks oriented towards taking a big bad ass like that down or protecting yourself from him. Bigger, more damaging guns wouldn't hurt either.

I was able to see lanius from the entrance to to that area, granted just the top of his head is all. I think you have to walk up the hill for him to spawn though. Just dont talk to him once he pops up and retreat all the way back the entrance. From there i could see lanius and 2 soldiers flanking the entrance to the tent. I was able to snipe all 6 f the soldiers by the time lanius got to where i was at.

I thought his dialogue was HILARIOUS

Sir! Yes, Sir! (Check your Sarcasm Detector - Flatline...)

I beat him with almost no issues at level 16 on my first character who just rushed the main story, using a Sniper Rifle with no chems aside from a few Stimpacks on Normal difficulty, no followers. Don't get the fuss over how difficult he is.

You have a hunting shotgun. Where are your beanbag rounds?

Wouldn't a Fat Man be more of an eloquent touch?

I beat him on level 10, but I used the Speech Challenge because I wanted a fast-run through - in order to check something.

Reno

I hear ya! I went at him (no followers) at least 15 times (level 27) and got hammered - I tried chems, weapons, etc. I finally decided to go back and level to 30 to get my speech to 100. The only way I personally have a chance of getting by him. I'll be coming through with the NCR next time. Maybe that will help.

my advice is take your AM rifle, crouch and sneak up the ramp to lanius tent. when you get to the first u-turn, hop on the rocks to your right. wait until it says you're hidden, line up your shot and pop the legate in the cranium. if it doesn't kill him, he'll be badly wounded.

I killed him on my 2nd try at LV 24, you just need to make sure you get a sneak critical on him and take out his goons.

Q1: No. I took him on at level 21-22.
Q2: I did not use any. I used a Riot Shotgun and close to 60 12 Gauge shells on him alone.
Q3: I wouldn't.

I really, really don't understand what's giving you folks so much trouble.

I beat Lanius at level 16, on hardcoe, limbs crippled to all hell cause I ran out of doc's bags and hydra, and all my companions were dead and I had to walk uphill BOTH WAYS to get there (okay the last one's not true but everything else is).

Here's the gear:
Sniper rifle (not even modded) using AP ammo (makes a HUGE difference).
Hotkey'd stimpacks (remember I was on hardcoe so I couldn't just spam the hell out of them, but they still helped).
Salvaged power armor (I never got training on this character and just picked some of the armor up from some NCR folks I blasted).
1 Stealthboy.
Drugs

Here's the plan:
Clear the other goons before initiating contact with Lanius.
Position yourself behind the Legate, in the grass at the bottom of the winding path that leads up to him (don't get too close as to engage him in conversation).
The key here is that you want to get one perfect shot off before initiating dialogue with Lanius.
If you have a high enough sneak let the round fly and put one in the back of Lanius' head (this probably won't kill him).
If not, pop a stealthboy and initiate a sneak-attack on him (again, shooting for his head).
The goal is NOT to kill him right off the bat, if you do this it seems to end up bugged and you're stuck, you need to let him get a word with you (but by this point you should have shot him once bringing his overall health down to ~1/4).
Say whatever (this isn't a guide for talking your way out as that should be more self-explanatory).
As soon as combat reinitiates, pop as many drugs as you can (Psycho, Jet, maybe Turbo).
Enter VATs, put as many rounds as you can into the Legate's head (you should be close enough to not miss).
Win.

Seriously, he should be dead as a door-nail if you do all this. His goons stop spawning when he dies (I think you still need to kill them, but they don't hit anywhere near as hard as he does (did, hah!)).

If you can follow directions, you can kill Lanius. Unless you chose Energy weapons, cause they svck and you're probably screwed, I hope you have a high speech skill to go with it.

How to do it at low level without much effort:
Step 1: kill goons
Step 2: shoot him/set up mines etc before talking to him
Step 3 for ranged characters: Find a nice wide obstacle, jump over it and fill him with bullets. Flame based weaponry is a bonus since I noticed he has a knack for regenerating health. Everytime he gets close just jump over/on another rock.
Step 3 for melee characters: svck on buffout, med-X, turbo, psycho, and a whole bunch of food. Charge at him with golden gloves and strafe fight him. When he gets knocked out switch back to one of the many ballistic fists you should have found on a previous centurion and kick him while he's down.

The real hard part is if you sided with house/yes man since those securitrons are very slow at shooting the ncr rangers before they turn you into swiss cheese.