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Fallout SeriesCombing Raned and Melee in One Build(8 posts)(8 posts)
(8 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 28, 2022
Melee's biggest weakness is the short range of your attacks when you're up against crowds of enemies with guns. You'd have to get close to your enemies in order to damage them and often you'll take too much damage. Some battles are just too difficult to win as a melee character no matter how powerful you are.

Early weapons in the Melee Weapons and Unarmed categories tend to be weaker than the early guns. And I've been told that Fallout Tactics is practically impossible later on in the game with Unarmed/Melee due to the difficulty spike of enemies in late game that can kill you easily.

In Fallout 3, due to the sheer numer of perks you can get thanks to the low perk rate, and the fact that you can max all your skills, and your stats if you pick a certain perk, it's practically encouraged to combine melee and ranged style. There's also practically no specialty perks for long range combat, but a few for melee range.

In New Vegas, there are tons of specialty perks, and from what I have seen, melee only builds can be incredibly powerful when you use certain consumables to buff yourself before combat, and it's probably better to focus on one style in that game due to all those specialty perks and others you'll be taking to benefit your build.

I've been told in 1, 2, and Tactics that you should focus on only one style, either melee or ranged and stick with it, picking perks that benefit it. The level cap in Fallout 1 is quite low, so it would be difficult to combine both into one build. Fallout 2 and Tactics have a higher level cap (especially Fallout 2) so would be easier to use both ranged and melee if it were a good idea.

Hey, why not? Many npcs have both ranged and melee weapons when they fight.

So should I combine both ranged and melee into one build? Or just stick to one style?
Posted February 28, 2022
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DwayneA: I've been told in 1, 2, and Tactics that you should focus on only one style, either melee or ranged and stick with it, picking perks that benefit it. The level cap in Fallout 1 is quite low, so it would be difficult to combine both into one build. Fallout 2 and Tactics have a higher level cap (especially Fallout 2) so would be easier to use both ranged and melee if it were a good idea.
To be honest, for the first two, the tactic is: Start with whatever you want. DON'T FORGET to put skills on big weapons or Energy weapon for the latest part of the game (or you are screwed).

At fallout 1, I noticed that most of the enemies run to me. The only problem are the mutants with big weapons. With them, you probably want to blind them or crippled their arms before going near to them. In Fallout 2, the enemies try to run away so, this may be tiresome to hunt them.
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DwayneA: And I've been told that Fallout Tactics is practically impossible later on in the game with Unarmed/Melee due to the difficulty spike of enemies in late game that can kill you easily.
Oh man... I'm in middle of my second playthroug on that game... and hell, freaking mutants. They already irritated me. Meeles become useless on those combat. Even with the best armor available at that moment.
Posted February 28, 2022
So basically, Melee and Unarmed are better used as secondary skills rather than making a build based around them for primary combat in any game?
Posted February 28, 2022
In Fallout 3, you have Feral Ghoul Reavers, Super Mutant Overlords, Aliens with Inertian Suppression Fields, Swampfolk, and Albino Scoripions, many of which would be too difficult to fight in melee range or without specific weapons such as Gatling Lasers. Not to mention the fact that the Swampfolk and Overlords deal an unblockable amount of damage, regardless of your armor and damage resistance!

It seems to me that the only game where melee combat can be viable by itselt is New Vegas due to all those specialty perks and the fact that you can close the gap between yourself and the enemy quickly due to lack of turn based combat. I've seen one build where the player used all these buffs and proceeded to kill the deathclaws at Quarry Junction with a Chainsaw! Another build had the player clear out Deathwind Cave, even killing the Legendary Deathclaw with the Blade of the West! Cowboys and Grunts could also add a melee weapon to their arsenal, though they wouldn't have enough perk slots to get all the perks to improve melee combat. That and Chance's Knife or Blood Nap wouldn't be powerful enough by themselves even with all those perks and buffs. You'd need really hard hitting weapons or automatic striking weapons such as Ballistic Fist, Thermic Lance, Oh Baby, etc.
Post edited February 28, 2022 by DwayneA
Posted February 28, 2022
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DwayneA: So basically, Melee and Unarmed are better used as secondary skills rather than making a build based around them for primary combat in any game?
The beauty of the Fallout games is that you can play any way you want. Some builds just take more creativity to pull off and some are a pain to pull off, but it's possible.

It's been too long for me to recall all my playstyles, but I know I've used hit-and-run tactics, used cover to force enemies to close in, disabled arm(s) to lower attacks, groin shots (males, maybe females too, can't recall) to knock them down and many other tactics when my options were few.

Problem with most games, we tend to take a more straight forward approach and I'm no different. In ranged combat for example, I just shoot it out until one of side is wiped out. I don't usually consider things like "let me move a square or two back to lower their to-hit-chance".

Ultimately you play the game and find out what you playstyles you like. I love ranged in most games, be it technology or magic. So I have a natural inclination towards those builds. But melee can be fun and challenging.

But the Fallout series is one of those types that make ranged playstyles just so damn fun! lol
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P.S. If memory serves, I think I've used either a Ripper or Power Fist to pop-out the eyeballs of a Deathclaw before. Likely after I already obtained Power Armor. Bloody Mess trait can be so damn satisfying when you explode parts of an enemy! I don't think I could ever use that setting in a VR game though, that sounds too horrifying.
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Post edited February 28, 2022 by gog2002x
Posted February 28, 2022
In the first two games, I start with Small Guns, then switch to either Big Guns or Energy Weapons depending on whether or not I use Targeted Shots. With aimed shots, Energy Weapons is the only option. Big Guns are Burst Fire only, though Energy Weapons has one option in the Gatling Laser, even if it doesn't fire off as many rounds as a Minigun (add both ranks of Bonus Ranged Damage), and enemy resistances can lower the damage of laser weapons, even when criticals are applied. I know, because in the past, I tested both the Minigun and the Gatling Laser against a Brotherhood of Steel paladin, and the Gatling Laser dealt much less damage than the Minigun. The Bozar also is cappable of dealing more than 100 points of damage in one attack to Frank Horrigan while the Gatling Laser did a little more than half that amount!

So I'm guessing that with Fast Shot, you'll need Big Guns. Without Fast Shot, use Energy Weapons.
Posted March 14, 2022
In FO1 melee is very strong if you take fastshot and bonus HtH attacks on lvl6. You can get the supersledge at the beginning of Hub (from Jake the merchant), which is fairly early into the game. In that portion of the game, a melee build is easily the strongest. 10 attacks per round with the supersledge = overkill. It retains its deadliness till the end, although technically in the very late stage, turbo plasma rifle + sniper is obviously even stronger. Still, melee has an easy time throughout the whole game.

Short range on melee is not a problem. You always want to setup the combat in such a way, where enemies come to you, not you to them. Identify a bottleneck on a map, aggro the enemies, hide and break the line of sight behind the bottleneck. Kill with the supersledge, easy. Only the Master is stationary, kill him with pulse grenades.

In FO2 melee is weaker and unarmed is stronger, but on a 1st playthrough I'd just play a small guns build. Gauss pistol > pulse/plasma stuff. Only the alien blaster is a competitive energy weapon.
Posted March 17, 2022
In the second game, you can get free bonuses to Unarmed and Melee Weapons from certain npcs. In the first game you can get some points to both watching the training at the Brotherhood. It's like the game creators want you to use both ranged and melee with your character.
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Fallout SeriesCombing Raned and Melee in One Build(8 posts)(8 posts)
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