I'm fussing over what to make in Fallout New Vegas. The Fallout 3 character I'm playing currently is a typical high int/boosted skill points build that's basically good at whatever I want to do.

• Fallout New Vegas Gun Build
• That Gun New Vegas

Version: 1.01
Written by: Matthew Leggatt

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my walkthrough for Fallout: New Vegas!!!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Matthew, I’m 30 and I live in the UK and work in a call centre. My job is not difficult, but I like it because it’s not physical. I advocate any task which doesn’t require any form of physical expenditure. I also love drinking tea. I’ve played both FO3 and F:NV to death and I know loads about them. If in the unlikely event that this walkthrough is finished and published by someone stupid enough to like my work, then feel free to mirror/post this but please credit me as you do so; hell, email me as well if the mood takes you. I would appreciate this greatly as this has been a labour of love and has taken quite considerable time to put together.
Right now with the formalities out of the way, I would like to take you through the walkthrough of one of the greatest games ever created. This walkthrough will give you loads of hints and tips and hopefully, a new perspective that other walkthroughs might not necessarily give. What you should expect from this is to get the most out of your character in terms of how you want them to be, and what you want them to do. I will also include what stats I would use when going through the game and my reasons for doing so. Ultimately though, the walkthrough should be used to help you with how you want to play the game, rather than copying what I do (you are welcome to do so, by the way).
Please note that just because you have a low level on one particular skill it does not necessarily mean that you will not be able to perform that action (i.e. guns, energy weapons, explosives, melee, unarmed). All this governs is the effectiveness of your use with that type of weapon. The times where an exact requirement for a skill is only really evident on the likes of Science & Lockpick. This WILL require a certain level to be able to hack terminals/unlock a door or box of varying difficulties. The rest of the stats dictate how effective you are with that aspect (i.e. higher barter skill – lower prices when buying and higher prices when selling).
What you will notice is when I have started to explain the skills, I will list all of the associated perks below them. My intentions for this is it will give you easy reference to choose what you think will be the best ones to compliment your gameplay. I have posted many times on the fallout forum under www.discussions.redstaffapps.com (a member for over 3 years) and one of the most FAQ’s asked was what perk goes best with what skill. So this should hopefully be of great help.

SPECIAL

So this is what you are going to have to modify when you first start the game. To those who are not familiar with Fallout, SPECIAL is an acronym: Strength, Perceptcion, Endurance, Charisma, Iintelligence, Agility and Luck. You’ll start off with 5 points accross all categories with another 5 points to add to each of them. You can reduce them down to a minimum of 1 giving you more points to allocate to others. Each of the categories in SPECIAL govern different skills. The number of points that category (E.g strength) will determine the points that the category looks after, further modified by the number of points against luck. For instance, a character wanting to specialise in using Melee weapons will want to have a high strength as that will then increase the Melee weapons skill. A character with a strength of 8 will have their Melee weapons skill at 23 (assuming that luck is kept at 5 – this has an effect on all skills. If the luck is an odd number, it is rounded up so having a luck of 5 will still mean an addition of 3 to the final total so having a luck of 6 will make no difference). The formula for stat modifiers is worked out at as such:

Initial level = 2 + (2 x strength) + [luck / 2]. So as above: 2 + (2 x 8) + [5 / 2] = 23

You will also get to ‘Tag’ three skills adding a total of 15 points to the chosen skills, meaning that if you go with the above strength, Melee weapons wil go from 21 to 36. You can also take a perk later on to add a fourth tag skill raising the total by 15 again. The change from Fallout 3 is there are no bobbleheads to increase these, instead being replaced by implants at the New Vegas Medical Clinic (+1 each stat) for 4k apiece or by using the ‘Intense Training’ perk. The amount of implants you can take is goverened by the Endurance aspect; so if you have an endurance of 5, you can have only 5 implants. The only exception to this are the implants that you can buy from the autodoc in the Old World Blues DLC, so if you have bought all the implants you can from the clinic, then it won’t stop you from having the other ones:

S is for Strength – Determines how much gear you can carry, how effective you are at using ALL weapons (weapons now have a strength requirement) and how much damage you deal when using melee weaponry.

Bonuses: Melee weapons.
Implant: Hypertrophy Accelerator

P is for Perception – You know those little red dots on the compass that mark where the enemies are? The higher this is, the sooner you see them!

Bonuses: Explosives, Lockpick and Energy weapons
Implant: Optics Enhancer

E is for Endurance – Grants bonuses to the environmental resistances (rad & poison resist as well as adding additional HP) and how effective your unarmed attacks are. This also determines how many ‘Implants’ you can purchase later in the game that will increase your SPECIALs (i.e Endurance at 5 means only 5 implants. And no, the endurance implant doesn’t enable you to take one more).

Bonus: Unarmed & Survival.
Implant: Nociception Regulator

C is for Charisma – Having a higher charisma will dictate people’s disposition towards you as well as affect the companions ‘nerve’.

Bonus: Speech and Barter.
Implant: Empathy Synthesizer

I is for Intelligence – A player with a high level of intelligence will get more skill points when levelling up.

Bonus: Medicine, Science & Repair.
Implant: Logic Co-processor

A is for Agility – This affects how many ‘action points’ you have to spend in that very unique combat system VATS (Vault Assisted Targeting System) and how quickly you regenerate the spent AP – the higher this is, the more you have and the quicker you get them back. Also has an impact on pickpocketing and whatnot.

Bonuses: Guns & Sneak.
Implant: Reflex Booster

L is for Luck – The higher this is the more chance you have of scoring a critical hit on an enemy (critical hits grant additional damage bonuses). Also having a high luck will determine how effective you are at gambling. If you are going to gamble then have luck of at least 7 otherwise, you’ll get nowhere slowly. Having a high luck grants small bonuses to EVERY skill. Luck also effects ‘enemy mishaps’. Having a high luck can be the difference to an enemy sending a bullet whizzing past your ear instead of hitting you right between the eyes.

Implant: Probability Calculator

Other Implants: NEMEAN Sub-dermal armour (Adds +4 to DT – cost 8k caps) and PHOENIX Monocyte Breeder (Regenerates HP throughout the course of the day – cost 12k caps).
Old Word Blues Autodoc implants (Does not count towards END limit of original perk implants) – Implant C13 – +10% damage to Cazadores (8k), Implant M5 – Sneak speed 10% faster (10k), Implant Y3 – removes radiation from and irradiated water source (12k), Implant Y7 – +5 health & +2 AP restored through eating food (20k).

GOT 1337 SKILLZORZ

When progressing through the game, completing quests, killing badguys and a host of other events will gain you XP (experience points) which will then be totalled up. Each level has a set number of XP which when met or exceeded will allow you to level up. When levelling up, you will then be asked to allocate a set number skill points (based on your intelligence level) to 13 seperate skills, making your character better. Every 2nd rank (2, 4, 6, 8 , 10 etc) you can take a ‘perk’ to enhance the skill. There are a few perks that can be taken that have no modifying effect on any of the SPECIAL stats or skills but give you bonuses to damage resistance (DR) or extra action points (AP) to use in VATS. Of course, this being the natural route of progression through New Vegas, there are other ways to modify the skills either temporarily or permanently through skill magazines/books and by wearing different types of apparel. The skill books increase the skill permanently, whereas the skill magazines have a temporary effect on the related perk. Using apparel for stat boosts is also a good way to go about increasing your stats because the apparel you’re wearing will provide a permanent increase in the stat for as long as you’re wearing it. In every category, I have included the perks that are available only when you have the associated DLC installed (DM – Dead Money, HH – Honest Hearts, OWB – Old World Blues, LR – Lonesome Road and GRA – Gun Runners Arsenal). As I stated in the introduction, I have done my best to include the perks under each category that relate most to that skill. This way, should make it easier for you to create a sucessful character build in you chosen category. The following perks listed by name, level availability, requirement, the number of times you can take the perk and effect (N.B. you may notice several of the perks appear in one or more categories. This is because they work with all the skills they are listed under):

No direct affect on the 13 skills.

Intense Training – 2 – N/a – 10 – Put a single point onto any of the SPECIAL attributes.
Retention – 2 -INT 5 – 1 – Effects of skill magazines last longer.
Swift Learner – 2 – INT 4 – 3 – You gain an additional 10% whenever experience points are earned.
Comprehension – 4 – INT 4 – 1 – Gain 1 additional skill point when reading skill books and double the points for reading skill magazines.
Educated – 4 – INT 4 – 1 – Gain 2 more skill points every time you advance in level.
Cannibal – 4 – N/a – 1 – When sneaking, you can eat a human corpse, but lose karma.
Ferocious Loyalty – 6 – CHA 6 – 1 – When you drop below 50% HP, companions gain DT.
Fortune Finder – 6 – LUCK 5 – 1 – Considerably more caps will be found in stockpiles.
Lead Belly – 6 – END 5 – 1 – 50% radiation taken from food & water sources.
Toughness – 6 – END 5 – 2 – +3 DT permanently.
Scrounger – 8 – LUCK 5 – 1 – Considerably more ammo in stockpiles.
Strong Back – 8 – STR 5, END 5 – 1 – +50 in carry weight.
Sneering Imperialist (HH) – 8 – N/a – 1 – +15% Damage and +25% accuracy in V.A.T.S. to various tribal and raider characters.
Here and Now – 10 – N/a – 1 – Instantly level up.
Miss Fortune/Mysterious Stranger – 10 – LUCK 6 – 1 – Chance that Miss fortune/ Mysterious stranger show up when attacking an enemy in VATS (both can be taken).
Night Person – 10 – N/a- 1 – +2 to INT & +2 to PER between 6pm and 6AM.
Fight the Power! (HH) – 10 – N/a – 1 – +2 Damage Threshold and +5% Critical chance against anyone wearing NCR, Legion or Brotherhood of Steel armor.
Ghastly Scavenger – 12 – Cannibal Perk – 1 – When sneaking, you can eat a super mutant and feral ghoul corpse, but lose karma.
Heavyweight (DM) – 12 – PER 7 – 1 – Weapons with a weight of 10 are cut in half. This does not affect weapons modded to under 10.
Fast Metabolism – 12 – N/a – 1 – +20% HP restored when using stimpaks.
Life Giver – 12 – END 6 – 1 – +30 HP
Alertness (LR) – 12 – PER between 6 and 9 – 1 – +2 Perception when crouched and still.
Adamantium Skeleton – 14 – N/a – 1 – Damage taken by limbs reduced by 50%.
Light Step – 14 – PER 6, AGI 6 – 1 – Floor traps or mines will not be set off.
TAG! – 16 – N/a – 1 – Permanent +15 to a fourth tagged skill.
Explorer – 20 – N/a – 1 – All locations are marked on the map.
Solar Powered – 20 – END 7 – 1 – +2 Strength and +1 HP every 10 seconds when outside from 6am to 6pm.
Eye for Eye (HH) – 20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb you have, you do an additional 10% damage.
Atomic!(OWB) – 20 – END 6 – 1 – In irradiated areas, +25% move and attack speed, +2 DT, +2 ST. With excess rad level, AP regen scales from 1.1 times to 1.5 times normal.Irradiated Beauty (LR) – 22 – END – 8 – 1 – Sleep removes all Rads (Hardcore: only -100 Rads).
Voracious Reader (LR) – 22 – INT 7 – 1 – Damaged books become blank magazines; can copy existing magazines into blank magazines.
Lessons Learned (LR) – 26 – INT 6 – 1 – +1% XP gain per player level.
Rad Absorption – 28 – END 7 – 1 – -1 Rad every 10 seconds.
Implant GRX (OWB) – 30 – END 8 – 2 – You gain a non-addictive subdermal turbo (chem) injector. This perk may be taken twice, with the second rank increasing the effect from 2 to 3 seconds and the uses per day from 5 to 10 (activated in the Pip-Boy inventory).
Burden to Bear (LR) – 30 – ST 6, EN 6 – 1 – +50 carry weight.
Certified Tech (LR) – 40 – N/a – 1 – +25% critical hit chance against robots, 85% chance of finding an extra crafting component on destroyed robots.
Just Lucky I’m Alive (LR) – 50 – Karma between -250 and 250 – 1 – +4 Luck for 3 minutes upon finishing a battle with less than 25% health; immunity to critical hits, +50% critical damage.
Thought You Died (LR) – 50 – Karma at least 250 – 1 – +10 Health per 100 Karma; Karma reset to 0, +10% damage, immunity to critical hits.
Ain’t Like That Now (LR) – 50 – Karma less than -250 1 Karma reset to 0, +25% AP regeneration rate, +20% attack speed, immunity to critical hits, 20% reduction in AP cost for all weapons.

Guns

Guns are more readily available than any other type of weapon and have a multitude of different types of ammo ranging from hollow point (soft unarmoured targets) to explosive rounds (anyone), making this the best combat skill for anyone new to this game. What is good about guns on this game is you can retain ‘shells’ of expended ammo and use them to make more of the same as long as you have the relevant components and associated repair skill. Guns range from hand, assault rifles, sniper, sub-machine, shotgun and heavy machine guns. Making a choice to play with either energy weapons or guns is a debate that has long raged on amongst Fallout afficianados. For me, I prefer to use guns; there’s more choice with ammo and is usually not as heavy as energy weapon ammo (hardcore mode only). Do bear in mind that weapons now have a ‘Strength requirement’, meaning that if you don’t meet it, then the gun will shake all over the place, making you less accurate. Melee or unarmed attacking speed will be affected as it won’t be as fast. You can find the weapon/strength requirement in the weapons section of your Pipboy. Highlight the weapon and it will tell you the skill & strength required.

Skill magazine: Millslurp Review
Skill Book: Guns n’ Bullets

Rapid Reload* – 2 – AGI 5, Guns 30 – 1 – Weapon reloads 25% quicker.
Run ‘n Gun* – 4 – Guns or Energy Weapons 45 – 1 – Reduces accuracy penalties with one handed or ranged weapons when running or walking.
Shotgun Surgeon – 6 – Guns 45 – 1 – Using shotguns, regardless of ammo you ignore 10 points of a targets DT.
Gunslinger* – 6 – N/A – 1 – More accuracy in VATS with one handed weapons.
Bloody Mess* – 6 – N/a – 1 – 5% more damage with all weapons and more violent death animations.
Quick Draw* – 8 – AGL 5 – 1 – Make weapons drawing/holstering 50% faster.
Cowboy – 8 – Guns 45, Melee 45 – 1 – Increases damage done by dynamite, hatchets, knives, revolvers & guns.
Grunt (HH) – 8 – Guns 45, Explosives 20 – 1 – 25% more damage with 9mm SMG’s, .45 pistols and SMG’s, service rifles, marksman carbines, LMG’s, frag grenades, grenade launchers, rifles and combat knives.
Commando* – 8 – N/a – 1 – More accuracy in VATS with two handed weapons.
Sneering Imperialist* – 8 – N/a – 1 – Against raiders and junkie types as well as Zion’s tribal’s you do +15% more damage.
And Stay Back(DM) – 10 – Guns 70 – 1 – Shotguns have a chance of knocking an enemy back.
Fight the Power!* – 10 – N/a – 1 Gain +2 DT and +5% critical chance against anyone wearing faction armour ofthe Legion, NCR and the Brotherhood.
Finesse – 10 – N/a – 1 – Higher chance to achieve a critical hit; equivalent to 5 extra points of luck.
Hobbler (DM) – 12 – PER 7 – 1 – Your chance to hit opponents’ legs in VATS is significantly increased.
Sniper – 12 – Per 6, AGI 6 – 1 – Chance to hit the targets head in VATS significantly increased.
Center of Mass – 14 – Guns 70 – 1 – No fancy trick shots here! Hitting an enemy in the mid-section will knock them down.
Action boy/girl – 16 – AGI 6 – 2 -+15 AP.
Better Criticals – 16 – PER 6, LUCK 6 -1 – +50% damage with critical hits.
Weapon Handling – 16 Strength <10 1 All weapon strength requirements reduced by 2.
Concentrated Fire – 18 – Energy Weapons & Guns 60 – 1 – More accuracy in VATS with every attack on a given body part queued.
Eye for Eye – 20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb, you do an additional +10% damage.
Grim Reaper Sprint – 20 – N/a – 1 – A kill in VATS restores 20 AP Immediately.
Spray ‘n Pray – 22 – N/a – 1 – Attacks do less damage to companions.
Nerves of Steel – 26 – AGI 7 – 1 – 10% faster AP regeneration.

Energy Weapons

This is for any weapon that shoots lasers, plasma or fire (flamethrowers only). Again, the higher the skill, the more damage you’re going to do with that type of weapon. There’s no shame in whacking up the skill as high as possible, as early as possible because what’s the harm in doing as much damage as you can as quickly as you can? I will say that this also has an effect on how you’re able to use a particular weapon so if you don’t meet the requirement (like the strength one), you won’t be able to use it as effectively. Also the chances of finding some decent weapons early on are slim and none (unless you know where all the unique weapons are), so the logical thing to do is to increase your weapon skill to the level of weapon you’re using at that particular time and upgrade them whenever you get better weapons later in the game. Another addition regarding energy weapons, is you can recycle those spent microfusion/energy cells, electron charge packs and flamer canisters at a workbench; as well as being able to make more powerful versions of them.

Skill magazines: Future Weapons Today
Skill book: Nikola Tesla & You

Finesse – 10 – N/a – 1 – Higher chance to achieve a critical hit. Equivalent to 5 extra points of luck.
Plasma Spaz – 10 – Energy weapons – 70 – 1 – AP cost in vats reduced by 10% for Plasma weapons.
Pyromaniac – 12 – Explosives 60 – 1 – +50% Damage with fire based weapons.
Sniper – 12 – Per 6, AGI 6 – 1 – Chance to hit the targets head in VATS significantly increased.
Hobbler – 12 – PER 7 – 1 – Your chance to hit opponents’ legs in VATS is significantly increased.
Action boy/girl – 16 – AGIL 6 – 2 – +15 AP
Better Criticals – 16 – PER 6, LUCK 6 – 1 – +50% damage with critical hits.
Meltdown – 16 – Energy Weapons 90 – 1 – Enemies killed with energy weapons emit a corona of harmful energy damaging anyone around.
Weapon Handling – 16 – Strength <10 – 1 – All weapon strength requirements reduced by 2.
Eye for Eye – 20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb, you do an additional +10% damage.
Grim Reaper Sprint – 20 – N/a – 1 – A kill in VATS restores 20 AP Immediately.
Laser Commander – 22 – Energy Weapons 90 – 1 – 15% damage & 10% extra chance to critically hit with Laser weapons.
Spray ‘n Pray – 22 – N/a – 1 – Attacks do less damage to companions.
Nerves of Steel – 26 – AGI 7 – 1 – 10% – faster AP regeneration.

Explosives

Very handy when dealing with groups of enemies, where one carefully aimed grenade will cause damage to everyone in the vicinity enabling you to take them down easier in closer quarters (that’s if they don’t die then & there of course). Plus, the variety of explosive based weaponry in NewVegas has increased massively so you now have grenade rifles/launchers/machine guns, wider variety of grenandes & mines, rocket & missile launchers and of course the iconic fat man makes a return. This all adds up to a lot of chaos, destruction and a boatload of fun. It maybe be worth complimenting this with another combat skill as this isn’t really something you’ll want to be using at close quarters.

Skill magazines: Patriot’s Cookbook
Skill book: Duck & Cover!

Heave Ho! – 2 – STR 5, Explosives 30 – 1 – All thrown weapons fly farther & faster.
Demolition Expert – 6 – Explosives 50 – 1 – +20% damage with explosives.
Finesse – 10 – N/a – 1 – Higher chance to achieve a critical hit; equivalent to 5 extra points of luck.
Hit the Deck! – 12 – Explosives 70 – 1 – +50 DT against explosive weapons.
Pyromaniac – 12 – Explosives – 60 -1 – +50% – Damage with fire based weapons.
Sniper – 12 – Per 6, AGI 6 – 1 – Chance to hit the targets head in VATS significantly increased.
Splash Damage – 12 – Explosives 70 – 1 – Explosives have a 25% larger area of effect.
Hobbler – 12 – PER 7 – 1 – Your chance to hit opponents’ legs in VATS is significantly increased.
Action boy/girl – 16 – AGIL 6 – 2 – +15 AP.
Better Criticals – 16 – PER 6, LUCK 6 – 1 – +50% damage with critical hits.
Weapon Handling – 16 – Strength <10 – 1 – All weapon strength requirements reduced by 2.
Eye for Eye – 20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb, you do an additional +10% damage.
Grim Reaper Sprint – 20 – N/a – 1 – A kill in VATS restores 20 AP Immediately.
Spray ‘n Pray – 22 – N/a – 1 – Attacks do less damage to companions.
Nerves of Steel – 26 – AGI 7 – 1 – 10% faster AP regeneration.

Melee weapons

Like explosives, we see a big improvement in the range of weaponry and perks available for this particular skillset. Most of the high-end melee weapons tend to ignore enemy damage resistance/threshold. When using these in VATS, they all have their own unique special move too, causing more damage than regular attacks. Also, you may be able to add poison to these weapons for an additional damage boost over time. Simply, equip the weapon and choose your poison!

Skill magazines: Tales of Chivalry
Skill book: Grognak the Barbarian

Super Slam – 8 – STR 6 – 1 – All Melee (except thrown) and unarmed attacks have a chance of knocking your target down.
Stonewall – 8 – STR 6, END 6 – 1 – +DT against melee & unarmed. Cannot be knocked down.
Finesse –10 – N/a – 1 – Higher chance to achieve a critical hit; equivalent to 5 extra points of luck.
Piercing Strike – 12 – Unarmed 70, Melee Weapons 45 – 1 – Unarmed & Melee attacks ignores 15 of the enemies DT.
Pyromaniac – 12 – Explosives 60 – 1 – +50% – Damage with fire based weapons.
Unstoppable Force – 12 – STR 7, Melee Weapons 90 – 1 – Additional damage through enemy blocks with Melee & Unarmed.
Purifier – 14 – N/a – 1 – 50% extra damage with melee & unarmed against Centaurs, Night Stalkers, Spore Plants & Carriers, Deathclaws, Super Mutants & Feral Ghouls.
Action boy/girl – 16 – AGI 6 – 2 – +15 AP.
Better Criticals – 16 – PER 6, LUCK 6 – 1 – +50% damage with critical hits.
Weapon Handling – 16 – Strength <10 – 1 – All weapon strength requirements reduced by 2.
Eye for Eye – 20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb, you do an additional +10% damage.
Grim Reaper Sprint – 20 – N/a – 1 – A kill in VATS restores 20 AP Immediately.
Ninja – 20 – Melee 80, Sneak 80 – 1 – +15% critical chance with melee & unarmed, +25% damage on sneak.
Slayer – 24 – AGI 7, Unarmed 90 – 1 – The speed of melee and unarmed attacks is increased by 30%.
Nerves of Steel – 26 – AGI 7 – 1 – 10% faster AP regeneration.

Unarmed

I feel like I’m repeating myself quite a bit here, but this too has had a face-lift. More weapons and more perks available, unarmed (like melee) presents to you probably the most viable combat type to use in hardcore mode, simply because you don’t have to carry any ammo with you, leaving your inventory space free of clutter and enabling you to carry more stuff. Depending on your unarmed skill, you have the ability to be able to perform uppercuts and crosses in VATS as well which cause more damage than your regular attacks. It has to be said that the risks associated with melee and unarmed is you have to be close to the enemy to hit them, however, with the associated perks they present to you a devastating combat choice. Like melee, you may be able to add poison to these weapons for an additional damage boost.

Skill magazines: Boxing Times
Skill book: Pugilism Illustrated

Stonewall – 8 – STR 6, END 6 – 1 – +DT against melee & unarmed. Cannot be knocked down.
Finesse – 10 – N/a – 1 – Higher chance to achieve a critical hit; equivalent to 5 extra points of luck.
Piercing Strike – 12 – Unarmed 70, Melee Weapons 45 – 1 – Unarmed & Melee attacks ignores 15 of the enemies DT.
Unstoppable Force – 12 – STR 7, Melee Weapons 90 – 1 – Additional damage through enemy blocks with Melee & Unarmed.
Purifier – 14 – N/a – 1 – 50% extra damage with melee & unarmed against Centaurs, Night Stalkers, Spore Plants & Carriers, Deathclaws, Super Mutants & Feral Ghouls.
Action boy/girl – 16 – AGI 6 – 2 – +15 AP.
Better Criticals – 16 PER 6, LUCK 6 – 1 – +50% damage with critical hits.
Weapon Handling – 16 – Strength <10 – 1 – All weapon strength requirements reduced by 2.
Paralyzing Palm – 18 – Unarmed 70 – 1 – Can paralyze an enemy for 30 secs with a VATS unarmed attack.
Eye for Eye -20 – N/a – 1 – For each crippled limb, you do an additional +10% damage.
Grim Reaper Sprint – 20 – N/a – 1 – A kill in VATS restores 20 AP Immediately.
Slayer -24 – AGI 7, Unarmed 90 – 1 – The speed of melee and unarmed attacks is increased by 30%.
Nerves of Steel – 26 – AGI 7 – 1 – 10% faster AP regeneration.

Repair

Repair has been altered fairly drastically in this game. In Fallout 3, you could only repair a weapon to a certain condition depending on the players’ level of repair skill. On New Vegas you can repair a weapon to 100% regardless, however, the lower your skill the quicker the weapon will degrade in condition with prolonged use. Not only for maintaining weapons, you can use the repair skill to unlock ammo and workbench recipes.

Skill Magazines: Fixin’ Things
Skill Book: Dean’s Electronics

In Shining Armour(DM)– 2 – Repair 20, Science 70 – 1 – +5 DT against energy weapons when wearing any metal armour, +2 while wearing any reflective eyewear.
Junk Rounds(DM) – 2 – LUCK 6, Repair 45 – 1 – You can craft ammo using Scrap metal and tin cans.
Light Touch(DM)– 2 – AGI 6, Repair 45 – 1 – While wearing light armour you gain +5% critical hit chance and your enemies suffer a -25% critical hit chance.
Hand Loader – 6 – Repair 70 – 1 – When using guns, you are more likely to recover hulls & cases. Unlocks all hand load recipes at reloading benches.
Jury Rigging – 14 – Repair 90 – 1 – Repair any item with a roughly similar one.

Science

There are terminals with varying degrees of difficulty that go something like this: Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard & Very hard. The difficulties of the terminals directly correlate to the skill levels of the individual. To unlock Very easy & Easy terminals, you need a skill of at least 25, Medium – 50, Hard – 75 and Very hard – 100. What I’m trying to get at is you only ever need them to be at 25, 50, 75 or 100.

Terminals can be quite arduous to unlock. A way to make this easier on yourself is to attempt to guess the password only three times as you get only four chances to get this right otherwise the terminal will lock you out – you’ll then need to waste a perk to get back in. If you haven’t got it right by the third guess, start scrolling your cursor through all of those random symbols. What we’re looking for here are open and closed brackets i.e. (!”£$$) or [&*(^] or even {&*(%&£}. When these have been found the cursor will cover the open/closed bracket much the same way it does when going from password to password. Select it. Now look on the screen at the passwords and you’ll find one of them has been removed and replaced with dots. Clever eh? This gets rid of all of the duds. You will even find that selecting one of these brackets thingy’s will replenish the allowance of guesses. If this doesn’t work, then just exit the terminal and restart it again. You will then be given another four guesses. With science I think it would be best to keep it at a steady 80/90 as the challenges which will require you to have 100 are few and far between; keeping it at this level means you can compensate with skill magazines. Science wil also unlock certain recipes at workbenches (e.g. recycling spent energy weapon cells or creating more powerful versions of them).

Skill Magazine: Programmers Digest
Skill Book: Big Book of Science

In Shining Armour (DM) – 2 – Repair 20, Science 70 – 1 – +5 DT against energy weapons when wearing any metal armour, +2 while wearing any reflective eyewear.
Vigilant Recycler – 6 – Science 70 – 1 – When using energy weapons, you are more likey to recover spent cells. More efficient recipes at workbenches.
Math Wrath – 10 – Science 70 – 1 – Reduces all AP costs by 10%.
Nerd Rage! – 10 – INT 5, Science 50 – 1 – +15% DT and strength increased to 10 when health drops to 20% or lower.
Robotics Expert – 12 – Science 50 – 1 – +25& damage to robots. Can shut down robots by sneaking up on them.
Computer Whiz – 18 – INT 7, Science 70 – 1 – Hack into any locked terminal with 4 more chances.
Nuka Chemist – 22 – Science 90 – 1 – Unlocks special Nuka Cola recipes at the workbench.

Lockpick

Two words. Bobby pins. You need these to pick locks. You can never have enough of these, and because they don’t have a carry weight you can has as much of these on you person as you please. You can attempt to force the lock, but I would only recommend this once you have this skill maxed up; and only then on Very Easy and Easy Locks which have a higher success rate. Medium locks present around a moderate success rate and with Hard & Very hard…. Well that speaks for itself. A good strategy to lock picking is to try the bobby pin at 12, 10 and 2 o’clock to see what gives the best result and work from there. Much like science, keep this skill around 80/90.

Skill Magazine: Locksmith’s Reader
Skill Books: Tumblers Today

Infiltrator – 18 – PER 7, Lockpick 70 – 1 – Pick a broken lock with 1 more bobby pin.

Medicine

Determines how effective stimpaks, radaway & Rad-X are. Helps in a few speech challenges in order for you to progress in certain quests i.e. fixing people up to get positive rep for that faction.

Skill Mags: Today’s Physician
Skill Book: D.C. Journal of Internal Medicine

Living Anatomy – 8 – Medicine 70 – 1 – Shows health and Damage Threshold of any target. +5% damage bonus against humans & non-feral ghouls.
Chemist – 14 – Medicine 60 – 1 – Chems last twice as long.
Chem resistant – 16 – Medicine 60 – 1 – Half as likely to get addicted.

Sneak

This is used if you don’t want to engage in combat with enemies and/or if you have low health, or you want to score a guaranteed critical hit. Use it for the latter. Why? I’ll tell you why:

1. Sneak. Notice the word [HIDDEN] at the top of the screen.
2. Find any enemy, preferably at a safe distance. If message changes to [CAUTION], hide until this changes back.
3. Draw your weapon (sniper rifles or scoped weapons are better for this).
4. Aim (preferably for the head).
5. Fire
6. Watch enemy die.
7. Laugh.

When attacking an enemy whilst sneaking GUARANTEES a critical hit as long as the sneak status remains as hidden. Critical hits deal more damage to enemies that regular hits do and will help you drastically in combat. It may not kill stronger enemies with one hit, but will damage them sufficiently (weapon & skill dependant). Doing this from miles away results in a low chance of hitting the enemy, but if you can sneak closer successfully, enter into VATS you’ll pretty much kill most assailants in the game (NOTE: If not sneaking, then your critical hit chance can be improved with a high luck, the Better Criticals, Sniper, Finesse and apparel that increase your critical chance). To sneak successfully take into consideration the following:

1. Enemy line of sight – You won’t sneak successfully if you come at them head on now will you (stealth boys help)?
2. Apparel worn – Wearing heavy and clunky apparel (power armour et al) will be noisier than wearing sexy sleepwear (or other light clothing).
3. Weapons equipped – Certain weapons are designed for sneak attack, such as silenced weapons and most unarmed/melee weapons (called holdout weapons – the type you can sneak into casinos).
4. Light – Is you pipboy light on? Are you in the shadows?
5. Radio – Turn the damn thing off!!!!

Skill Mags: !La Fantoma!
Skill Book: Chinese Army: Spec Ops Training Manual

Friend of the Night – 2 – PER 6, Sneak 30 – 1 – Eyes adapt quickly to low-light conditions.
The Professional – 6 – Sneak 70 – 1 – Sneak attack criticals with revolvers, pistols and sub-machineguns (guns & energy weapons) inflict an additional 20% damage.
Mister Sandman – 10 – Sneak 60 – 1 – Instantly kill any sleeping NPC and earn bonus XP.
Silent Running – 12 – AGI 6, Sneak 50 – 1 – Running no longer factors into a successful sneak attack.
Tunnel Runner (LR) – 26 – AGI 8 – 1 – +25% sneaking speed when wearing light or no armor.
Broad Daylight (LR) – 36 – N/a – 1 – No Sneak penalty for using Pip-Boy light.

Barter

For downloading images from different sites with ease. It is made for blocking and bypassing all the annoying ads and popups. Bulk image downloader mac. With this app, the user can download full image galleries. Also, you can integrate with different types of browsers for downloading as well. From different sources to your PC without dealing with any o annoying problems.Now it is a good and efficient program.

Will play a much more active role in the Mojave. There are far more scenarios (speech challenges) that will come in to play to either progress in a quest, or to get a higher monetary reward for quests. You can get away with having a low barter if you’re not too bothered about saving caps because the chances are you’ll be left with caps to spare at the end of the game anyway.

Skill Mags: Salesman Weekly
Skill Book: Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor

Pack Rat – 8 – INT 5, Barter 70 – 1 – Items with a weight of 2lbs or less weight half as much (does not include weapons that have mods reducing the weight).
Long Haul – 12 – END 6, Barter 70 – 1 – Being over encumbered no longer prevents fast travel.

Speech

Is massively important, and can make your in-game life A LOT easier with a high level. Make it your priority to get this to a reasonably high level fairly early on. I don’t think it necessary to max it out to 100 because the number of speech challenges that require this level is very minimal. As with science and lockpick, send it up to about 80/90 and use the skill magazines to compensate.

Skill Mags: Meeting People
Skill Book: Lying: Congressional Style

Black Widow/Lady Killer – 2 – N/a – 1 – +10% damage to the opposite sex and unique dialogue to certain characters.
Cherchez la Femme/Confirmed Batchelor – 2 – N/a – 1 – +10% damage to the same sex and unique dialogue to certain characters.
Terrifying Presence – 8 – Speech 70 – 1 – Can intimidate folk through dialogue. Closing dialogue results in the foe fleeing for 5 seconds.

Survival

A new introduction in the Fallout games, survival eanbles you to create foodstuffs at campfires. A high Survival skill will unlock additional, more potent food/drink/poison recipes at campfires. Survival also increases the benefit you get from food & drink too. This is an exceptional skill to have if you’re tackling the game on hardcore mode.

Skill Mags: Lad’s Life
Skill Book: Wasteland Survival Guide

Hunter – 2 – Survival 30 – 1 – +75% damage against animals & mutated animals.
Old World Gourmet (DM) – 2 – END 6, Survival 45 – 1 – +25% addiction resistance. +50% health bonus from snacks and foods. Scotch, vodka and wine now give you health in addition to their normal benefits.
Entomologist – 4 – INT 4, Survival 45 – 1 – +50% damage to mutated insects.
Rad Child – 4 – Survival 70 – 1 – The more irradiated you are, the bigger bonus to your healing.
Travel Light – 4 – Survival 45 – 1 – Wearing light or no armour, you run 10% faster.
Rad Resistance – 8 – END 5, Survival 40 – 1 – +25% Radiation resistance permanently.
Home on the Range (HH) – 8 – Survival 70 – 1 – Whenever you interact with a campfire, you have the option of sleeping, with all the benefits that sleep brings.
Tribal Wisdom (HH) – 8 – Survival 70 – 1 – -50% limb damage from animals & insects (mutated or otherwise), +25% to Poison resistance, eat mutated insects in sneak mode.
Animal Friend – 10 – CHA 6, Survival 45 – 2 – On the 1st rank, hostile animals become friendly. 2nd rank – they come to your aid; except against other animals.
Walker Instinct (LR) – 18 – Survival 50 – 1 +1 Perception and Agility when outside.
Mile In Their Shoes (OWB) – 20 – Survival 25 – 1 – Consuming night stalker squeezin’s now grants bonuses to Perception (+1 PER), Poison Resistance (+5), and Stealth (+5 Sneak)
Them’s Good Eatin’ (OWB) – 20 – Survival 55 – 1 Any living creature you kill has a 50% chance to have the potent healing items thin red paste or blood sausage when looted.
Roughin’ It (LR) – 28 – Survival 100 – 1 – Sleeping outside gives Well Rested benefit.

Traits

A new inclusion from Fallout 3 and the final aspect of the character build, traits are like perks in the sense that it will enhance certain aspects of your game, but unlike perks they can have a negative effect too. You can always have a play around with these and will have an opportunity to change them once you want to leave Goodsprings. After this, the only time you can change them is through the Old World Blues DLC by upgrading the autodoc in the Sink using the appropriate holotapes. You can take 1, 2 or none of these. They are as follows:

Built to Destroy – +3% Critical hit chance, but weapon decays 15% faster.
Fast Shot – While using guns and energy weapons you fire more quickly and the in VATS the AP cost for both is reduced by 20%, however, shots are 20% less accurate.
Four Eyes – +1 PER when wearing glasses. -1 Base PER when not. *
Good Natured – Increases Medicine, Repair, Speech & Science +5. Decreases Energy Weapons, Explosives, Guns, Melee & Unarmed -5.
Heavy Handed – Melee & Unarmed do more damage. Less chance of a critical hit using the afore-mentioned.
Kamikaze – +10 AP, -2 DT.
Loose Cannon – Attack speed with thrown weapons increased by 30%. Thrown weapons have 25% less range.
Small Frame – +1 Agility. Fragile limbs (25% more easily crippled).
Trigger Discipline – Guns & Energy Weapons 20% more accurate. Shots 20% slower & AP cost for both 20% higher.
Wild Wasteland – Adds additional wacky content and modifies existing content and encounters. Prevents access to more ‘sane’ content.
Claustrophobia(OWB) – +1 to SPECIAL attributes while outdoors. -1 to SPECIAL while indoors.
Early Bird(OWB) – +2 to SPECIAL between 6am *& 12pm. -1 to SPECIAL between 6pm to 6am.
Hoarder(OWB) – +25 to total carry weight, but -1 to SPECIAL if the total carry weight is less than 160.
Hot Blooded(OWB) – +15% damage increase when health is below 50%, but -2 to PER & AGI when in this state.
Logan’s Loophole(OWB) – Chems (drugs) last twice as long and addiction rate set to zero, but locks the level cap at 30.
Skilled(OWB) – Gain +5 to every skill. Suffer -10% to XP gained.

* The four eyes trait is bugged. Although stated in-game as giving a +2 to PER while wearing glasses, it only gives +1. For example: starting with base PER at 5, not wearing glasess reduces it to 4; wearing glasses will only increase it to 5 instead of 6, as advertised. I have amended it accordingly for the sake of this guide.

There are many, many, more perks available throughout the course of the game either through dialogue with specific NPC’s, passing speech checks or completing various challenges. I haven’t listed these because they are innumerous in their content. It would also give away certain plot twists in the quests you may do. I do not want to give these to you because they are, in effect, spoilers. And we all hate those people don’t we? The perks available through the ‘challenges’ are ones like ‘deal 10,000 damage using energy weapons’ giving you damage bonuses to those, ‘kill 50 robots’ for damage bonuses against that enemy; even things like constantly crippling your limbs will give you a bonus perk making your limbs (somehow) stronger!!! Again, there are rather a lot of those and you’ll find that any length of time spent playing this game, you’ll find that you’ll be unlocking them left & right; it’s fairly obvious when you do unlock them as a dialogue box will pop up right in the middle of the screen telling you that you’ve done it. You can also track the progress on the challenges by going into the ‘notes’ section in the Pipboy interface and pressing the appropriate button (according to your platform).

Hardcore Mode

Once you’ve choosen your SPECIAL skills & traits and are done with the character design, upon leaving Doc Mitchell’s house in Goodsprings you’ll be asked whether or not you want to try the game on hardcore mode or normal. Hardcore mode introduces a number of limiting factors to gameplay that are not present in the standard run through. This is not a factor on the overall difficulty on the gameplay, but does make you think twice before you go about things. To get the best possible experience out of the New Vegas world, I would strongly recommend you play in this mode as it makes things about as real as a videogame can possibly be. If you’ve never played any of the games before, then you’re probably best off trying your first run in the standard way. Here’s what’s different:
You must eat sleep and drink. The whole eating, sleeping and drinking thing should pose no more than a minor inconvenience. I know of no-one that has died on this game of this manner. The most frequent thing you’ll have to do is drink water, but with there being a ready supply of dirty & purified water, various water sources, crafting and the Vault 13 canteen (given with Courier’s Stash add-on) you’ll be fine. To make it easier on yourself, ‘hot-key’ the bottled water and/or food you’re carrying so you don’t have to constantly keep going into the pipboy menu every time you get dehydrated or hungry. I would advise not to overstock on the water though, because in every settlement there will be at least a wash basin or toilet for you to use so any bottled water should be used when out exploring the wastes or in-transit between settlements.

Sleeping & stimpaks no longer heals crippled limbs. You can only use doctors bags or visit doctors – Do try to keep a relatively steady supply of doctor’s bags with you if you’re going on quests because crippled limbs can seriously limit your combat & movement (duh). Use doctors in various settlements when not in immediate danger saving the bags for when you need them the most.

Companions can die instead of being rendered unconscious. Nothing more to be said here.

Ammo now has weight. Managing your inventory can be a little trickier as you have to remember that ammo has a weight factor now. Players using the melee or unarmed character build will benefit most from this as they don’t need it, so ammo can be treated as an extra source of income. It is still definitely advisable to pick up ammo whenever you find it, even if you know you aren’t going to use the weapon it goes with and stockpile it back at your home. That way, you can break the ammo down at reloading benches and make ammo for the weapons you know you will use.

Stimpaks, Radaway, food and drink heal over time instead of instantly. Radaway curing you over time is not a problem. Period. Mainly because there are very few instances in the game where you’ll be constantly irradiated (Vault 34 being one of them). In combat, I would advise being a little more clever than simply wading into groups of enemies. Stalk the area and find the best strategy to take them out. If you do mess up, and you’re taking damage from all sides then you can subsidize by piling on bunches of high end health replenishing goodies that give you more health than the damage the enemies are dealing out to you.

Followers Perks

Fallout New Vegas Gun Build

Throughout New Vegas there will be time where you’ll need a little company to while away the hours of destroying hordes of Fiends, Ghouls or whatever else is trying to kill you. These people will help you do that AND you’ll get XP when they kill them (the enemies, not the follower)! They’ll also give you another perk for as long as you keep them in your party, or for however long they stay alive, complimenting your character build. Each of them will have their own personal quest which, when completed in a certain way, will give them a perk of their own and will give them their own personal ending (depending on how you complete their quest and the main quest). You can have one humanoid and one non-humanoid follower, in your party at any one time, and you cannot take the permanent followers into any of the DLC’s. I have included a list of only the main-game companions:

Craig Boone (located in the Dino Bite gift shop – Novac)

Arguably the best companion in this game, Boone is an ex-NCR 1st Recon Sniper and will be the first human follower you are likely to come across. Boone will provide you with the ‘spotter’ perk’; especially handy for sniper/gun/ energy weapon type players as the enemy will flash red when looking through the scope/iron sights of your weapon making it easier to see far-off targets. Boone does NOT like Caesar’s Legion and WILL shoot them on sight. Completeing Boone’s quest will give him a set of 1st Recon Survival or Assault armour. Although it makes no difference which he gets as both have the same DR, the type of armour indicates whether or not he becomes bloodthirsty or repentant in his ending.

Arcade Gannon (Old Mormon fort, Freeside)

Arcade is a dcotor who hangs out with the Followers of the Apocalypse in the Old Mormon Fort in Freeside. Specializing in energy weapons, Arcade is a crack shot with his plasma pistol. A very handy follower too have around, his perk ‘Better Healing’ increases all forms of health recovery by 20%. He doesn’t like Caesar’s Legion either, but unlike Boone, will not shoot on sight. Completeing Arcade’s quest will unfortunately cause him to leave your party. As this is the case, he will not get an additional perk. Depending on how this is ended, you can get his set of Enclave Tesla Armour.

Raul Tejada (Black Mountain jail cell)

Raul is a ghoul, but not one of those feral types. He is very, very old. Handy with guns. His perk is ‘Regular Maintenance’. This will slow the decay of weapons by 50%, so you won’t be repairing items half as much (quite literally). Whether or not you take him on as a follower, he can be a ‘go to guy’ to repair weapons (at a cost of course), but only when he’s at his shack in the NE of the Mojave. Raul is neutral to all. You can take him anywhere without fear of him wrecking stuff. Depending on the way you complete Raul’s quest will give him a faster firing rate with handguns and lever action rifles (and a way cool Mexican Vaquero outfit replete with Sombrero) or give a bonus to his existing perk, slowing the decay of armour and weapons by 75%.

Lily Bowen (Jacobstown)

Easily the largest of all the companions, Lily is a massive hulking beast. She is a form of super mutant called a Nightkin. Nightkin have developed and additction to stealth boys at a cost of their own sanity so most Nightkin you come across you’ll find are quite insane, but she takes medication for her insanity, only occasionally suffering psychotic breaks during your partnership. Because of this addiction, Lily’s perk ‘Stealth Girl’ increases the longevity of Stealth Boys 200% and gives an additional 10% damage on sneak attacks. She’s pretty handy with Melee weapons too. Lily doesn’t have a quest to complete, disappointingly.

Rose of Sharon Cassidy (Mojave Outpost)

Straight talking Cass is one of the more amusing companions. She doesn’t mix her words and doesn’t mess around when it comes to drinking (whiskey that is). This in turn will give you the perk, ‘Whiskey Rose’ where the negative effects of whiskey are ignored and DT is increased by 2. The perk itself is useful because it doesn’t just confine itself to whiskey; you can also have the same effect drinking wasteland tequila or the large wasteland tequila. It’s handiness is derrived from the fact that you can drink all 3 of these and end up with +7 – 21 DT (level of survival skill dependant)!!! Cass doesn’t really give a shit who you align yourself to, but just have a good Karma or she may end up leaving you. Cass is great with guns. Completing her quest will give her a damage bonus or resistance depending on how you do it.
Veronica Santangelo (188 Trading Post)

After Boone, is the next nearest humanoid companion. Veronica is a scribe within the Brotherhood of Steel and she really, really, likes punching things. She’s also a lesbian too. Not that it makes a difference, but I thought it was worth mentioning. So as you could probably guess, she prefers using unarmed weaponry, but will also use energy weapons too. Her perk, ‘Scribe Assistant’ will enable her to make stuff without the need of a workbench, so long as you have the materials and the required skill. Like Cass, she will also provide quite entertaining dialogue. Veronica will gain a bonus to attack speed or DT, depending on how you complete her quest. You can also get her attack speed increased by a further 150% and give her a 25% chance to knock down enemies if you choose to give her Elijah’s holotape after completing Dead Money. As if that wasn’t enough, you can learned a special unarmed move called the ‘scribe counter’. All you have to do is give her a dress from the White Glove Society in the Vegas Strip or Vera Keyes dress from DM.

ED-E (Primm, Mojave Express)

The very first companion you come across, ED-E is an Enclave eybot. In order to recruit him, you’ll have to repair him first, but it’s definitely recommended you do so as he is very, very handy. As well as being able to carry stuff for you, he can repair weapons (once a day), make stuff (workbench and ammo recipes, again, you must have the components and required skill). All of these extras are earned through upgrading ED-E in the Lonesome Road DLC. His perk ‘Enhanced Sensors’ enables you to see enemies marked on the compass a lot sooner that you usually would. He is a robot, and does not have feelings. He is, therefore, neutral to everyone. Having both ED-E and Boone in your party is definitely recommended for Sniper type characters. Completing ED-E’s quest will enable him to have his armour upgraded (Brotherhood of Steel) or his weapon upgraded (Followers of the Apocalypse).

Rex (Kings School of Impersonation, Freeside)

A cyber dog, which in itself sounds cool, isn’t that much really. Like Raul, isn’t one of my personal favourite companions. In order to have Rex as a companion, you’ll have to pretty much complete the Kings questline in Freeside. But the good thing about that is the way you complete the quest has an effect on Rex’s combat (move faster, deal more damage or increase DT). His perk is ‘Search & Mark’ which highlights food, chems, ammo & firearms when zooming in.

THANK CHRIST THAT’S OVER WITH!

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, not quite.

It’s nearly over though, but as you’ve made it this far down, I thank you for taking your time into reading something which most people in the internet community might regard as being ‘TL;DR’, so it won’t hurt to hear my final ramblings. Like I said at the start, this guide is to help you build your character, not tell you how to do it. It’s your game and your character, your choice. I’ve tried to avoid telling you exactly how to play the game and what you should choose into making you a level 50 juggernaut. You’re only going to get there through dilligence as there is no shortcut, and there are no cheats. Nothing. As it is only a guide, there is no definitive bible to say what is the perfect build for a guns/energy weapons/melee/unarmed/explosives/stealth build. This guide is based on my opinions and as it is only an opinion, it cannot be classed as inherently true or false. I have used my experiences in the multitude of playthroughs of this game and how I found them to be the most effective.

Anyway, if you’re at all interested how I usually make a character on Fallout New Vegas, I found the following to be the most effective for me. This build is centred around getting the most skill points so I can get all of the skills right up to 100, rather than focusing on one or two combat skills. I like to make my character well rounded so they can use practically every weapon in the game:

That Gun New Vegas

Starting special skills (including bonuses from traits):

Strength – 5
Perception – 5
Endurance – 6
Charisma – 1
Intelligence – 9
Agility – 6
Luck – 9

Tagged skills: Guns, Speech & Barter
Traits: Four Eyes (+1 PER with glasses), Small Frame (AGI + 1)

SKILLS (tags highlighted bold):

Barter – 24
Energy Weapons – 19
Explosives – 19
Guns – 34
Lockpick – 19
Medicine – 25
Melee Weapons – 17
Repair – 25
Science – 25
Sneak – 19
Speech – 22
Survival – 19
Unarmed – 19

You may have noticed that I haved tagged barter & speech, despite taking a low charisma. I have done this purely to compensate for the reduction of charisma to 1. This is so I won’t be spending more skill points on them than absolutely necessary; I regard speech & barter to be relatively important despite the contradiction that reflects this in my SPECIAL stats.

These are the perks I would generally take:

Intense training (Intelligence +1)
Educated (+2 skill points per level)
Comprehension (+1 skill point for reading skill books and double when reading skill magazines)
Bloody Mess (+5% overall damage)
Shotgun Surgeon (shotguns ignore 10 DT)
Finesse (+5% critical chance)
Toughness (rank 1 – +3 DT)
Better criticals (+50% damage with critical hits)
Toughness (rank 1 – +3 DT)
Tag! (Energy Weapons +15)
Adamantium skeleton (to counteract the weaker limbs taken in the small frame trait)
Jury Rigging (repair any weapons or armour with similar)
Weapon Handling (-2 strength requirement to all weapons)
Long Haul (can fast travel when over-encumbered)
Strong Back (+50 carry weight)
Meltdown (enemies killed with energy weapons explode a corona of harmful energy)
Life Giver (+30 HP)
Burden to Bear (+50 extra carry weight)
Mad Bomber (GRA – create special explosive recipes at workbenches)
Splash damage (Explosives have 25% larger AoE)
Chem resistant (Half as likely to get addicted)
Chemist (Chems last twice as long)
Nerves of steel (AP regenerate 10% faster)
Piercing strike (unarmed & melee ignore 15 of enemy DT)
Thought you’d died (+10 Health per 100 Karma; Karma reset to 0, +10% damage, immunity to critical hits)

The perks above might not necesarily be in the correct order, because on every playthrough I’ve done I tend to vary which skills I level up. One thing for sure is the first 6 perks I do take in that order and I ALWAYS take Better Criticals the first chance I get. As we’re starting with PER at 5, you would be ineliglble to get the perk as you need it to be at 6. In order get it, I try to get up to the New Vegas Medical Clinic as early as I can to purchase the PERCEPTION implant raising the stat from 5 to 6. As Better Criticals is only available at level 16, it gives you plenty of time to save up 4k in caps to afford it. Oh, in terms of armour, I prefer carrying 1x Heavy armour (usually BoS power armour) and 1x light, non-faction armour (Joshua Graham’s Armour- +3% critical) always wearing eyeglasses (because of the four eyes trait) and always wearing NCR 1st Recon beret (+5 critical, +1 PER). Weapons? Usually ones that give bonus critical chance & damage (Gobi-campaign scout rifle, Christine’s CoS rifle, Fist of Rawr), and my most absolute trusted heavy hitters, the weapons I trust with my very life, the one’s I simply cannot do without, Riot Shotgun and the fully modded Assault Carbine.

Right, I am done now. Sorry for rambling on longer than I should have done, but trust me, it takes a long time to say anything about Fallout: New Vegas. And I never say anything unless it is worth taking a long time to say. I really hope you find this of any use, and again thank you for bearing with me.

Have fun!