Anyone go straight melee yet?

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Has anyone gone with a straight melee/ninja character yet? I think my next game I'm going to make a stealthy melee character and try to sneak up and kill people rather than sniping/shooting.

Most of my skill points now go to small guns, energy weapons, lockpick, science, speech and stealth. Barter doesn't seem to do much for prices, but then again, my barter is low and I still have plenty o' caps.

 

Which one are we talking here?

I'm attempting an all melee run through of Fallout 1. With my laptop dying on me though it's more of an amble though.

 

Whoops - Fallout 3. I think it can be done in F1 & 2, but I wonder about F3.

 

It depends on the difficuly level actually.

In Fallout 1 there is a bug with Rapid Shot and brass or spiked knuckles (and even Power Fists...) which allow you to act like Kane in the Maltese Falcon and beat the crap out of anybody (1 attack for 1 AP with the perk).

In Fallout 2 Hit to Hit Evade is a great ability for an unarmed character but some enemies are going to be able to dish out some criticals that can be deadly if you play at a higher difficulty setting. A critical hit with a heavy gun (minigun for instance) at close range can be lethal no matter how many HPs your character may have (that is also true about some enemies, especially the Master, in Fallout 1).

Regarding melee I wouldn't suggest using bladed weapons in Fallout 1 and 2 because of the results of critical hits which don't reflect well on bladed weapons since you keep knocking people out.

I haven't tried in Fallout 3 but I'm not sure this is going to be a satisfying option. I enjoyed using my bat at the start but after that I rarely use melee except when I get cornered. It's easier to hit with a melee weapon someone who is attacking in close quarters with a melee weapon unless you use VATS to simulate a point blank shot (most enemies keep moving I can't get a shot at them which is a pain since a gun so close is deadly... It's ironic that supermutants are easier because they don't move so quickly). I guess using Power Fists or the Shishkebab could be viable options. I'd assume the perks that boost unarmed damage works with the Power Fist. Still I can think of a few situations in which a melee build is going to be in trouble (especially if you don't want to use guns at all). That being said the skill only increases the damage (the weapon condition is the other factor) so even if you don't put a single point in Small Guns you're going to be able to use them in a pinch. I haven't tried it yet but there is a schematics for a Deathclaw Fist to be used in melee, I guess that one would be pretty cool.

 

I tried it in Fallout 3...It was so boring. Seriously if you play with melee it really DOES feel like oblivion with guns (except you don't have the guns, they do.)

 

Yea, there was nothing exciting about melee in my last run through. I had max melee/big guns, I ended up using just the big guns.

 

Big guns number one! Big guns!!!

Sorry... Actually it should be "big gun" but I couldn't resist.

Unarmed could be nice if you had some kung fu moves that you could unlock with better skill levels and if you could target body parts in VATS.

 

HAH! VATS Kung Fu! I like the sound of that... plenty of action points, target the arm first for a break, move on to the head with a backfist, target the arm again and bring it behind the target, target the head and have some fun!

 

Actually, I did most of the early fights in melee with just 18 points in it and a Chinese sword, while I had even 60 in small guns. The melee was far more effective.

 

Big Guns is my worst weapon stat...I focused all my points on small guns and energy weapons. Laser or sniper rifle is my preferred gun, with nuka grenades a fun third pick!

 

I must disagree with The Magister and omnigodly. My favorite builds in all Fallout games including FO3 have been Melee; there's just something so satisfying about getting up close and personal to kill your enemies. My last run through FO3 was a Melee (not unarmed) / Big Guns / Stealth build, and I had a ton of fun with it. I didn't use Big Guns much aside from taking out crowds, turrets and the like when needed. Having a ranged skill to complement Melee is extremely handy.

As Melee, I do believe your best option is the Shishkebob along with the Pyromaniac perk. The Super Sledge is nice, but just not as effective.

Although closing the distance on a firing enemy can be troublesome at times especially when there was a lack of things to hide behind, it was still a fun and effective build at level 20.

 

Unarmed is pretty good actually if you take Iron Fist three times. Melee weapons are much weaker due to the lack of a similar perk. There is a mod that adds a similar perk but for melee weapons (+5 damage per level). It's pretty fun hacking people's arms off with a combat knife.

 

Melee is quite powerful in FO3. Guys that took 10-12 shots to kill with small guns fall to just 2-3 blows with a melee weapon (and I'm not even talking an uber-build here). Unfortunately, you have to wade through their gunfire, get up to them, and then you still sacrifice the ability to target (which stinks! I wanna kick someone in the groin, already!!). Anyway, it's perfectly feasible, but it's also kinda boring.

 

Has anyone tried the Deathclaw Fist yet?

IMO Melee can work rather well with grenades for crowd control and a sniper rifle for distance. Plus it allows you to save lots of ammo (which is always a good thing).

 

Strangely enough I played through F3 with an enormous amount of builds before completing the entire damn thing with 'Unarmed'.

I found fights a hell of alot more entertaining having to rush into things and beating the hell out of them with my fists rather than sit there and shoot. I used the powerfist through most of the game, and apart from the annoying audio of the weapon, it was extremely satisfying.

I did try the Deathclaw Hand towards the end, which pierces all armour save the target would have (From believe or not, armour) but apart from that I found it substandard.

On a side note, I completed both Fallout 1 and 2 with 'Unarmed' and Melee respectively and always found this the more satisfying option

 

I tried, but I got fed up with enemies shooting at me from bridges and the other side of the river, I returned the favour with a rifle

 

Since I only recently discovered that you can acquire the schematics for a Shishkebab fairly early in the game, and the components are found just about everywhere, I'm considering either a straight melee or a true ninja assassin (half sniping, half backstabbing/melee) for my next run. Shish is one of the highest damaging weapons in the game, sets the enemy on fire, and moves very quickly (despite how bulky it appears).

For my current (first) game, I'm keeping it as my permanent close-encounters weapon, and I collected enough components to make spares.

 

Amazingly, I have never played part 1 or 2. But I have read alot of good feedback about them on these forums. Would it be a mistake to jump right into part 3? Is there a lot of content from the earlier games that make them a necessity to play 1st?

 

Not at all. Jump away.

 

You see a continuance of the same themes, weapons and products from the originals in FO3, but it's an entirely different game and not tied in with the storyline of the Chosen One from 1 and 2.

You don't need to play the originals in order to enjoy FO3 per se, but you need to out of principle since they're so damn good. Please do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of FO2 at least.