thk47: As far I concerned, armor piercing didn't give a lot of benefit. I just spent my point level to Rifle (not the automatic rifle) and Sniper and almost could penetrate deatclaws and power armor riders in range with fully modded .50 caliber suppressor hunting rifle 2-3 head shot will do the trick. I intent to played F4 as sneaky as possible since i invest a lot of point to INT (leveling), CHA (tried to use diplomatic ways to solve quest), PER (for V.A.T.S.).

catpower1980: If you want to play sneaky then you're putting your points into the wrong categories as you'll need 7 points in Agility to unlock the Ninja perk (2x to 3.5x damage for sneak attacks). Coupled with a legendary two-shot sniper rifle, I was the boogeywoman of the commonwealth in previous playthrough :o)

SeduceMePlz: Yeah, buddy! The combat shotgun is awesome in this game. Real mutant-destroying power. That double-shot legendary must be beastly... I want one! Most of my legendary weapon drops have been melee weapons.

My favorite gun right now is the 10mm pistol with suppressor and reflex circle sight. Plentiful ammo, fast rate of fire with very little recoil, great for both V.A.T.S. and run-and-gun. And I got lucky and found one with the "freezing" legendary property (which does 10 cryo damage and freezes the target on critical hits). I call it Mr. Freeze. ;)

Also packing a .50 caliber sniper rifle, and I'm looking to make a good armor-piercing automatic for deathclaws, raiders in power armor, etc. Any recommendations? Is the armor-piercing effect worth the damage reduction in this game?

It does seem odd that certain effects (armor piercing, incendiary, etc) are attached to the guns rather than the ammo.

SeduceMePlz: Do settlers actually use the armor you give them? Early on, I tried giving a full set of leather to a settler wearing only basic clothing, but he didn't equip the armor... ?

Edit: Just watched a helpful vid. Didn't realize that you need to manually equip each item from the settler or companion inventory... That's an interesting change from the usual Bethesda convention.

A big chunk of my playtime has been spent building and managing settlements. I've developed Sanctuary into a well-defended center of commerce and built fortresses at Sunshine, Greygarden, and Hangman's Alley. The small 2-to-3 person farms get 5-6 turrets and a supply line if I can spare someone for it. Sanctuary and Sunshine are the only places always recruiting. Don't want the hassle at the others. I wish they had given us a decent interface for managing settlers instead of having to find them individually to issue orders.

Hopefully there's some reward or recognition for building a strong network of Minutemen.

LiquidOxygen80: Yup! I actually really like the fact that you can equip settlers/companions with weapons/armors/outfits. Of course, I didn't immediately realize that some outfits aren't compatible with armor, so for awhile, I had a bunch of heavily armed settlers and companions running around in armor and undies. I can only imagine the horror that poor raiders stumbling upon this sight would cause.

"There we were man, just out lookin' for food? Then outta nowhere, just outside of Concord, there was this BIGASS base, so we thought we'd check it out. We shoulda just turned around and gone home, man! We got to this broken down bridge, then outta nowhere, Johnny's head exploded. Then Bobby went down with a gut shot. Suze caught one that ripped 'er arm off. Caps gets mad and decided we were gonna charge that place...worst idea ever. Turrets popped up and tore up the front ranks. We tried throwin' molotovs and returnin' fire, but the worst? The worst? The people there were all naked! Pissed off, screamin' obscenities and tossing grenades and snipin' my buddies with laser rifles and combat rifles. I couldn't take it and I ran. I tell ya, I ran and I never looked back. I'll never go back, neither. Only a mutie would be dumb enough to try. Them people is crazed."