Forum:Making a good melee character?

After already beating the game with a character who is good with energy weapons, small guns/sniping, lock picking, and hacking, I decided to do a second run through with a melee character, but I cant decide on which way to go this time.

It seems like both lockpicking and hacking skills are not necessary, so I'm thinking of only picking one of these this time. What's your opinion on this? Also, what other skills would combine well with a melee character? I want to make a stealthy character based around a Chinese stealth suit, and small guns would seems like a logical addition, but I already have that on my 1st character, so I was thinking explosives or large guns, but large guns would be silly on such a character... Any interesting advice?

I am thinking of going into the Pitt with a new character to have a tough melee experience in the arena. Is this a bad idea? Would it be too hard?

Thanks very much.

-- Melee and Explosives combine very well, since both can make use of the pyromaniac perks (shishkebab). If you add Sneak 100/Stealth Boy/-Suit and Silent Running, you can lay mines without being detected, killing off patrols and so on. Grenades thrown while hidden will also often result in sneak criticals. This seems pretty costly considering the prices of grenades and mines, but you can still carry some other common-ammo-arms around, like the chinese assault rifle or, since pitt is out and you're stealthy, the Infiltrator.

I planned my 2nd Playthrough like this and it seems much more entertaining than just entering a building and poof headshots to everyone. 77.25.34.185 16:55, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

♠ I think it will be MORE difficult, but not difficult per se. But, just to tackle the issues one at a time: Bottomline, there's no reason a Stealth/Melee character can't rock. Hope you enjoy your 2nd playthrough. Cheers! Magnum101 01:42, 28 March 2009 (UTC)
 * 1) 1) There is no reason to NOT get BOTH science and lockpicking, since proper planning can let you max out both of these skill sets, and pretty much EVERY skill in the game can be made to reach 100 with proper planning. Add that to the fact that Bobbleheads and certain attire (*cough*Lesko's Lab Coat*) will mean that you don't even need to spend points in maxing them out entirely. No reason to not get both, I believe. But between the two, I'd go for lockpick, since you will use it more. (just check your stats, and you'll see you tackle nearly four times as many locks as you do terminals).
 * 2) 2) Melee is probably a more practical choice than explosives, since first off, you wont have to bring as much gear or ammo in the field. So between the two, melee is better, IMO. That said, explosives might be a good secondary choice. The problem with explosives is that grenades are highly unpredictable, and VATS isnt reliable when it calculates chance to hit with grenades. Nevertheless, you can simply plant LIVE grenades on lots of opponents, negating the need for such random chance. But if you're going to be laying mines (which result in sneak attack criticals if you remain in stealth mode when they detonate) and if you plan to plant live grenades instead of throwing them (of course this doesnt work on creatures and robots) then you don't need a high Explosives skill anyway. Keep it at an acceptable level (like 50 or whatever) and pour secondary skill points into small guns. (as a general rule, you want to have some skill in small guns, just as a backup, practically speaking)