Advice on my build!

[Starkaris]

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for advice on my build.
My playstyle is the semi-auto rifle without the VATS and without power armor.
I know it's not the most optimized but that's the way it is.
I would like you to advise me which weapon with which legendary effect to have because for the moment, my lever-action rifle is not effective in killing large mobs...

[m142]

if your tring to snipe there isn't much diffrence in dmg , so it's better to take handmade , fixer or asault rifle so you can switch them to automatic when needed or just burst mobs with serval rapid shots.

as for legendary efect there are two best options.
bloodied for low hp combinated with adrenaline reaction.

aristocratic for people who don't buy stuff to often.

other than those have drowbacks or are just inconvinient.

[slippingsnake]

Originally posted by Starkaris:

Hello everyone,
I'm looking for advice on my build.
My playstyle is the semi-auto rifle without the VATS and without power armor.
I know it's not the most optimized but that's the way it is.
I would like you to advise me which weapon with which legendary effect to have because for the moment, my lever-action rifle is not effective in killing large mobs...

yieks, your build sounds like it's not a build at all but you're more doing some role-playing-lone-wanderer stuff.

But there are options: when overrun by zombies a vampire wepon with high rate of atttack can be helpfull, maybe melee like a knife or auto-melee like ripper/ buzz-blade/ chainsaw/ auto-axe.
For guns: Love-Tap, 50% to be rewarded from the "Love-Tunnel" event, just change Magzaine, barrel, stock and add a silencer and you have the perfect sidearm.
Or a flamer or a plasma gun (Slugbuster)/ Enclave Plasm Gun with flamer barrel (wich benefits from rifleman perks because it lacks the "automatic" keyword, as Mooman explained)

Tesla-rifle is another great solution for mobs, I use it with the tank-killer perk.

Shotguns are little bit out of fashion, but proper combat shotgun could help you: they can cripple limbs very good and have a dedicted perk ("Enforcer") for that, so you can shoot the legs off of your enemies and down them, I think that is very nice strategy.

Another trick: throw a grenade (Plasm etc.) and shoot it in VATS mid-air, this lowers the chance that the explosion gets blocked by fences etc. or that the enmies run off. It is also fun:)

I can't resist to post some pics of my lever-action-rifles:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936237985
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936239241
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936239927

[insert food here]

Nothing wrong with semi auto sniper. I have just started another new character with this play style. It isn't amazing DPS like commando but it certainly is not rubbish. I easily get my damage in on the SBQ in a handful of shots and do not struggle with anything so far. This is my 7th character though so I do have some idea what i am doing. Hopefully..

You just have to realise that with regular sniping weapons and not using Vats, you are not always going to be able to deal with mobs if they aggro you. You need to either have great stealth to disengage and shoot them again and/or have a high DPS weapon to deal with them when they close in.

Plasma rifle with flamer barrel uses rifleman perks for damage and is a great weapon against enemies that get too close. I use one on my sniper. Downside is that it uses plasma rounds which can be heavy without the energy ammo perk. However if you ever want to use a plasma sniper rifle you can share the ammo anyway.

Vats is far superior to sniping manually but I do not always use Vats. I like to aim myself sometimes. Make sure you have one of your arm armour pieces with the stabilised mod. One piece will basically eliminate scope sway for much easier sniping. Makes the sniper perk redundant and frees up those points.

I use the lever action also amongst other weapons. I like it and have never had an issue with it but I get the feeling not many people like it.

I like crit damage legendary effects for rifleman. However crit damage does not work outside of vats. Faster fire is decent for some sniper weapons. +25% damage while aiming is ok too if you are going to be exclusively aiming yourself.

[SerialGamer]

Lever action has slow fire rate and is better suited for long to medium range sniping. Once enemies get close to you, it's game over. It's definitely not for the kind of hordes you see in public events.

To deal with large mobs, try minigun shredder. Here is my Tunnel Of Love gameplay, and my minigun shredder makes quick work of the hordes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBBmIDRf2Ek

Miniguns are easy to find, mostly from super mutants. To learn the shredder mod, scrap a few miniguns and you will get it, since there aren't that many mods for a minigun. Also install the accelerated barrel mod to increase the speed of the shredder.

It requires no ammo. And you don't really need a PA to use it. You just need the right defensive perks like Blocker and Serendipity so you can be close to enemies without dying.

Vampire effect will also protect you from dying.

The Basher perk card under Strength increases the shredder's damage, since it is considered gun-bashing. Action Boy, or any AP-boosting method is a must, because the shredder drains AP.

There is also a tier-2 legendary effect that adds +50% bashing damage. My gameplay above doesn't use that. But if you can get it, get it.

Bonus video. Here I am soloing Moonshine Jamboree, which has as big a horde as you can get. And my minigun shredder handles it with efficiency, alacrity, and overall badass-ery, if I may say so myself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZzfDDa_Tzw

If you must stick with semi-auto, try a gauss pistol, combat rifle, or handmade rifle. You need the two advantages that a lever action doesn't have: faster fire rate, and/or bigger magazine, and/or armor-piercing magazine (which lever action doesn't have). Here is my Expedition gameplay with a Two-Shot gauss pistol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4EVEz0Rwl0

[therussmeister]

Have you tried Western Spirit? Lever action with some nice perks, easy to get from the Nuka Most Wanted event.

[Mooman]

If you want to stay using free aim get used to using the escape artist perk. Stealth bonuses will be your main source of damage increase as you can't rely on headshots (game is wonky with movement) or crits.

It works by you being visible to the first enemy to spot you. You crouch and have a few seconds to get out of line of sight to get back to caution status. It won't work if you hide first then crouch, they have to see you do it.