Fallout New Vegas Melee Brute Build & Guide by Xynth.
This is a short and hopefully effective guide to basically create a total homicidal maniac butcher, first time inspiration from me 8). This guy is never going to solve anything by Speech checks. Just complete and utter beating. If you're going to play this on very hard (as I always do), I'm warning you.
It can be a real pain at start. NPC's like Nightstalkers, Deathclaws and Cazadors are difficult and easily 2-4 shot you at the beginning of the game, so be pre- pared. Especially beware Deathclaws. They are not to be trifled with until you have what is needed. And that's very late in the game.
Where to start? Well bliss and heaven, there's a fallout.wikia.com and it's been hugely helpful for me. It shows all the weapons and armor you need for this character. Read it, it's a wise decision. You can't go around running with a baseball bat the entire game, especially on very hard difficulty.
Gameplay with this character can be tricky on hardest difficulty. But it gets more and more simple the better your character gets. Elite creatures, which provide 50xp/kill need a different type of approach. Sneaking is one option but often it isn't. Getting pure Sneak attacks IS difficult as a melee charac- ter. Most of all I can't tell how much you'll want to have Boone and Rex as your companions. Boone is an excellent damage dealer, Rex is an excellent tank.
He always gets the attention of hostiles and you can freely punch/hack/ whatever them to death. So being alone as a melee character isn't any way to go in my opinion. Imagine going to Dead Wind Cavern (Deathclaw nest) alone on very hard. Not good. Doesn't work even with best armor, weapons and all perks. Rely on companions. Their HP rejuvenates after combat. Yours will not. So back off and let them tank. When facing powerful ranged enemies, be sure to protect yourself with any object there is while running forward.
Skills
Tag Melee Weapons, Unarmed and Sneak. It's very important that you get Unarmed to at least 90, Sneak to at least 80, Melee Weapons to at least 90. Medici- ne is up to you but you'll be taking a lot of damage, so it's advisable to get it somewhere around 40-50, if possible. I'd still suggest that you get Un- armed and Melee Weapons straight to 100. If you don't want to gimp, get all 4 skill books. I might suggest getting survival to 30 for Hunter perk. Seems pretty useful.Traits
Built to Destroy, Small Frame or nothing. It's your call. Don't take Heavy Handed either. Small Frame is advisable for non-HC. That way you won't have to gimp AG at start to more than 5. You'll get 2 more AG from Implant and Small Frame, so don't worry about losing Slayer perk. Plus you get to have 1 extra SPECIAL for say, Luck? I didn't do this myself but it might be the best choi- ce. Don't know how easily your limbs will cripple 8(.SPECIAL
Below is my opinion of the best stats to start with. It's not gimped and Strength and Endurance will be maxed out in the end, as needed. If you want all the best perks right away, then those stats will be S8 P6 E7 C1 I5 A7 L6. If you want to make an even more powerful melee character, I GUESS it's ok to lower IN and increase LC. Don't know if there are any major consequences but I'm keeping it 5. Skill points are always useful anyhow. If you don't want to gimp and you're ready to do some more work with you character, here's what you need to do (DO it).ST 8 (10 after Implant and Power Armor)
PE 5 (6 after Implant, needed for Better Criticals)
EN 9 (10 after Implant)
CH 1 (2 after Implant, however completely unnecessary)
IN 5 (6 after Implant)
AG 6 (7 after Implant, needed for Slayer). Start with 5 if Small Frame
LC 6 (7 after Implant). Start with 7 if Small Frame.
Perks(in no particular order, it's up to you to choose what to take and when) lvl 2 Confirmed
lvl 6 Toughness or Bloody Mess
lvl 8 Super Slam (45 Melee Weapons)
lvl 10 Finesse or Toughness again
lvl 12 Silent Running (50 Sneak)
lvl 14 Purifier/Light Step
lvl 16 Better Criticals (PE 6 from Implant)
lvl 18 Piercing Strike (70 Unarmed)
lvl 20 Ninja (80 Melee Weapons, 80 Sneak)
lvl 22 Unstoppable Force (90 Melee Weapons). If you have nothing better to take.
lvl 24 Slayer (90 Unarmed)
lvl 26 Lifegiver
lvl 28 Paralyzing Palm (probably useless) or whatever is left.
lvl 30 Hunter (30 Survival) or whatever is left.