can anyone recommend a strong survival build that doesn't depend on power amour?

[Tobias]

been a few years away from F4 and wanted to do a survival run that isn't too tedious or too much of a slow burn. my previous attempt at survival was replicating my build/stats exact to how i would go about my casual play through run. im not a huge fan of relying on power amour also but any tips or links to recommended builds would be greatly appreciated!

[kharille]

powered armour pieces for upper torso, sprinters legs, strong back and run around grabbing EVERYTHING.

I rely on VATS for combat. More into the hoarding and settlement building and moving the storyline along. I maxed out Charisma and looking to build up my settlements.

[wtiger27]

A sneak build, relying on pistols for taking out turrets and melee for most fighting up close. With the ultimate goal of getting Blitz maxed out. This will allow your char to carry less weight and bypass some strong enemies if you desire.

Using armor which is both lite weight and having mods on them to enhance them. Also invest in Chemist, to take advantage of chems, which are very important for Survival.

[EolSunder]

well even in survival offensive builds are the easiest, kill them before they kill you, and of course snipers are king to keep enemies dying at a distance.

I consider the most fun survival build as a merchant/crafter. No offensive weapon perks so its harder to kill stuff. Lets face it, hit level 50ish with a weapon build of some sort and it sort of gets laughable how easy it is. Get 10 con and max stimpack healing and its laughable how easy it is.

Get a merchant/crafter, and pick those perks that you normally don't pick in the normal game (aqua, leadbelly, ghoul, cannibal, etc) that actually do something a little in survival. You aren't that tough easy killing machine you normally achieve, you are actually not thinking of the enemies out there, but actual survival.

You level up much faster as a crafter/merchant earning experience from the safety of your settlements. Get high enough level and like before, everything is still easy especially once you find a couple good legendary weapons (i always suggest not using legendary items at all, makes it more fun). Really, my merchant chewed through mutant warlords in survival with just a revolver/assault rifle, or other such duo weapons. At some point nothing will kill you no matter what build you are.

As for your question, builds without power armor, ANY build works once you reach certain levels, i've only played through survival once using power armor (i never use it at all, but only used it for the brotherhood unarmed build), every other time power armor wasn't used at all, and it isn't needed in survival especially if you are a damage dealing character. The best defense is a good offense. Get good at killing stuff fast and hard and you can ignore armor completely if you want. There were many times i was out wasting stuff with my merchant and realized.. oh, i was wearing my charisma clothes instead of changing back into my armor, no wonder i actually was taking some damage.

[The Inept European]

VATS stealth sniper is the easiest (and cheeziest) way to do Survival. Agility and Luck, plus PER.

Then a toss up whether you want to go the INT route for levelling (if you want the INT perks) or the Idiot Savant route (if you want the Luck perks).

[The Inept European]

And yes you don't need to walk around in PA, ever. If you do use it, you can just use it for "set piece" missions when you know what you will be up against, and VATS stealth/sniper won't work well enough. An early example where you might want to take PA is for USAF Olivia (unless you are very good with grenades, including not hitting yourself with them).

[Zotliatlicor]

I think it is best to have Int over Luck. I would aim for 7 at start, to get access to Chemist. That perk takes the sting out of many early troubles. Antibiotic crafting, but more duration on chems is very nice to have in Survival. Couple this with Enduranc 4 and Chem Resistance Perk.

Don't bother leveling up specific weapon Perks until later in the game when you have found some nice ones or bought the good ones. Then you decide what weapons to level up. You get a lot more from having Gun Nut early, basically lets you improve almost every weapon.

In Survival, learn to live off the land, and stop picking up everything you see. Then you have no problem with a low STR character. I suggest having 3 STR for the Armourer Perk early on.

I always play with Companions, but CHA 3 Lone Wanderer is extremely good in Survival. So is CHA 6 Local Leader if you are into Settlements.

So STR 3, END 4, INT 7 or 8, CHA 3. Luck 1 or 2. Rest into Agility, get Sneak early.

Go with Pistols in the beginning. More Shots = More Kills = More levels. Carry the Pipe Sniper 0.308 for Sniping when you need to (this is a much lighter weapon than the other Sniper Rifles).

In Survival you get x2 the XP from any kills as default, so you get a lot of benefit from having higher INT.

[Tobias]

Originally posted by Zotliatlicor:

I think it is best to have Int over Luck. I would aim for 7 at start, to get access to Chemist. That perk takes the sting out of many early troubles. Antibiotic crafting, but more duration on chems is very nice to have in Survival. Couple this with Enduranc 4 and Chem Resistance Perk.

Don't bother leveling up specific weapon Perks until later in the game when you have found some nice ones or bought the good ones. Then you decide what weapons to level up. You get a lot more from having Gun Nut early, basically lets you improve almost every weapon.

In Survival, learn to live off the land, and stop picking up everything you see. Then you have no problem with a low STR character. I suggest having 3 STR for the Armourer Perk early on.

I always play with Companions, but CHA 3 Lone Wanderer is extremely good in Survival. So is CHA 6 Local Leader if you are into Settlements.

So STR 3, END 4, INT 7 or 8, CHA 3. Luck 1 or 2. Rest into Agility, get Sneak early.

Go with Pistols in the beginning. More Shots = More Kills = More levels. Carry the Pipe Sniper 0.308 for Sniping when you need to (this is a much lighter weapon than the other Sniper Rifles).

In Survival you get x2 the XP from any kills as default, so you get a lot of benefit from having higher INT.

Thank you for the detailed response. I am debating a current high int build such as yours suggested vs a 1 int idiots savant high luck build. what down sides would you say there are in comparison? idiots savant from what i have read seems to be the strong favorite among the consensus.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by Tobias:

Originally posted by Zotliatlicor:

I think it is best to have Int over Luck. I would aim for 7 at start, to get access to Chemist. That perk takes the sting out of many early troubles. Antibiotic crafting, but more duration on chems is very nice to have in Survival. Couple this with Enduranc 4 and Chem Resistance Perk.

Don't bother leveling up specific weapon Perks until later in the game when you have found some nice ones or bought the good ones. Then you decide what weapons to level up. You get a lot more from having Gun Nut early, basically lets you improve almost every weapon.

In Survival, learn to live off the land, and stop picking up everything you see. Then you have no problem with a low STR character. I suggest having 3 STR for the Armourer Perk early on.

I always play with Companions, but CHA 3 Lone Wanderer is extremely good in Survival. So is CHA 6 Local Leader if you are into Settlements.

So STR 3, END 4, INT 7 or 8, CHA 3. Luck 1 or 2. Rest into Agility, get Sneak early.

Go with Pistols in the beginning. More Shots = More Kills = More levels. Carry the Pipe Sniper 0.308 for Sniping when you need to (this is a much lighter weapon than the other Sniper Rifles).

In Survival you get x2 the XP from any kills as default, so you get a lot of benefit from having higher INT.

Thank you for the detailed response. I am debating a current high int build such as yours suggested vs a 1 int idiots savant high luck build. what down sides would you say there are in comparison? idiots savant from what i have read seems to be the strong favorite among the consensus.

Biggest downsides of companions? Getting in the way of your char, drawing attention to your position when sneaking, blocking a grenade you just threw, so you blow up instead.

The only reason I use companions in the game at any level, is for the max affinity perks some offer. Some are exceptionally good as companions at early levels however. Esp. Cogsworth.

But once my char has leveled and geared up well and got the affinity of the ones I want ( esp. Piper, Deacon and Danse ) I ditch them and go with Lone Wanderer.

[Zotliatlicor]

The INT 1 LUCK 5 Idiot Savant setup is very good for levelling on any game difficulty. I like it best on all games up to Very Hard Difficulty.

You need to Shop a lot more with a low INT, and with FAST TRAVEL this is no problem. In seconds you have visited like 10 different Traders. This you cannot do in SURVIVAL.

Since all kill XP is already Doubled in Survival, you level very fast with a HIGH INT in Survival, a lot faster than you would do on a Very Hard High Int play.

I Guess the Downside is the fact that there are so many Excellent Perks in the INT Tree. Some Builds are INT 1 for the first 20 or 30 levels with IDIOT SAVANT, Then they hold the perks until they can increase INT to 10 in one step. A bit booring.

Also, if you know the game inside and out like many of us here on the forums do, it is a lot easier to gear up on the low INT dude.

My Main got to lvl 117 and had not completed the game with High INT (9-11) and Luck 2. I use INT paints on all my Power Armours and run with a constant 15++ INT both in and out of PA. Outside of PA i have a Complete set of Sharp Armour (+6 to INT) and can have 20 INT for most situations. And that makes for super fast levelling.

So spend some time looking at the Perks. I favour INT Perks but the Critical Luck builds are crazy strong also, and very fun to play.

The Downside with Companions is already mentioned. I find no trouble when Sneaking, but others say they do. When i sneak my companion also sneak, and enemies never see my companion if they do not see Me. But i have blown myself up many times because the Companion got in the way of my grenade.

I use them to carry thousands of pounds of loot. And i aim for the Companion Perks, many are very Good. In the End i also go with Lone Wanderer and Dogmeat.

[hawkeye]

I don't use VATS or PA. I start with intelligence, charisma and endurance. Strategy is to identify the quick wins, which usually means taking out raider sites. I avoid concord and focus on taking out hangmans alley. Always take dogmeat as it can carry stuff and take the attention off you. HA is a good location as it is close to DC and a lot of raider sites and resources. Plus it has workbenches. I don't populate the settlement. It's just somewhere to recuperate.

The game is a lot easier with an automatic rifle called the overseers guardian which can be acquired for free, in addition making a good profit on the side. If you want to know how, ask.

The special build is to acquire good terminal hacking skills, get good prices buying and selling and survive a few hits before needing to flee.

Combat strategy is mostly long range from hard cover whenever possible. Aim for the head. Admittedly I know where the sites are that can be cherry-picked.

I don't use a human companion as I prefer the freedom and the added difficulty.

[Zotliatlicor]

Originally posted by hawkeye:

I don't use VATS or PA. I start with intelligence, charisma and endurance. Strategy is to identify the quick wins. I avoid concord and focus on taking out hangmans alley. Always take dogmeat as it can carry stuff and take the attention off you. HA is a good location as it is close to DC and a lot of raiders and resources. Plus it has workbenches. I don't build the settlement. It's just somewhere to recuperate.

The game is a lot easier with an automatic rifle called the overseers guardian which can be acquired for free, in addition making a good profit on the side. If you want to know how, ask.

The special build is to acquire good terminal hacking skills, get good prices buying and selling and survive a few hits before needing to flee.

Combat strategy is mostly long range from hard cover whenever possible. Aim for the head.

I don't use a human companion as I prefer the freedom and the added difficulty.

Curious as to how you get the Overseers Guardian for free.

I get it at a good discount after doing the Vault 81 quests, but i cant remember getting it for free. Plese tell.

[hawkeye]

Originally posted by Zotliatlicor:

Originally posted by hawkeye:

I don't use VATS or PA. I start with intelligence, charisma and endurance. Strategy is to identify the quick wins. I avoid concord and focus on taking out hangmans alley. Always take dogmeat as it can carry stuff and take the attention off you. HA is a good location as it is close to DC and a lot of raiders and resources. Plus it has workbenches. I don't build the settlement. It's just somewhere to recuperate.

The game is a lot easier with an automatic rifle called the overseers guardian which can be acquired for free, in addition making a good profit on the side. If you want to know how, ask.

The special build is to acquire good terminal hacking skills, get good prices buying and selling and survive a few hits before needing to flee.

Combat strategy is mostly long range from hard cover whenever possible. Aim for the head.

I don't use a human companion as I prefer the freedom and the added difficulty.

Curious as to how you get the Overseers Guardian for free.

I get it at a good discount after doing the Vault 81 quests, but i cant remember getting it for free. Plese tell.

My mistake - mental blockage as I don't play FO4 much any more. Waiting for sim settlements 2. This is what I do -

Charisma allows you to talk your way in, plus adjust prices. Perks and attire also do. So the normal entry fee can be traded to the merchant together with some high value items picked up on the way, which are worthless to me as I don't use them. That's the "free" I was thinking of. Armour pieces, ammo, a big gun or two.

Which is why knowing the location of the good stuff is a big advantage over the lack of knowledge of a new player. The hacking skills are for breaking electronic locks.

[EolSunder]

Idiot savant is only good in 2 situations. For all others its better to max out intelligence you'll gain way more experience over the game than low intelligence and idiot savant.

1) Turn in quests. Most abuse the perk to gain massive boosts during quest turn ins by reloading until it works. 500 exp suddenly 2500 exp. That is the main reason the perk is used.

2) Max intelligence AND idiot savant. The way idiot savant works you only gain better benefits if you are at 10+ intelligence and have the perk. Otherwise doesn't matter you won't gain more experience over having just high intelligence. If you really want the perk, and its pretty useless unless you abuse it with quests, or have 10+ intelligence to start, then take it, it's up to you. But don't substitute it instead of high intelligence, it doesn't work that way.

high intelligence = better experience over the game than low intelligence+idiot savant.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by hawkeye:

The game is a lot easier with an automatic rifle called the overseers guardian which can be acquired for free, in addition making a good profit on the side. If you want to know how, ask.

How do you get the Overseer's Guardian for "free" ?

Without resorting to cheat glitches or console commands.

[Plake]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Originally posted by hawkeye:

The game is a lot easier with an automatic rifle called the overseers guardian which can be acquired for free, in addition making a good profit on the side. If you want to know how, ask.

How do you get the Overseer's Guardian for "free" ?

Without resorting to cheat glitches or console commands.

Looking online a lot I cannot find how, so I am curious as well...