Advices for weapons short/medium range?

[JB-emmanuel-Zorg]

Hi, i'm searching for advices, i'm level 36 and the game is too "easy", i know it's my fault because even if i'm playing in "survival" mode, i only attack with VATS, 10 mm, stealth playstyle...

I would like to begin a new playthrough, with a new playstyle and no VATS anymore...
I'm playing in VR and i want to have more sensations, to have more the ennemies "on me", i think you know what i mean.

Can you give me your thoughts about whant kind of weapons should i use to play more short/medium range? I thought about the shotgun because it's spectacular, but i imagine there is very low ammunition with this weapon and you must reload too frequently in combat?

PS: i don't have a big area to move very much ( VR) to play with melee weapons.

[The Inept European]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Originally posted by Pharnham:

If you're going to play "no VATS" you better invest heavily in the "Scrounger" perk. You're gonna need it...

I have never picked that perk since I started playing. And with range weapons, I seldom use Vats. Even when I have did Commando build runs. Not saying it is a bad choice. But I have never felt the need to pick it. But each to his own.

I have often desired it but rarely actually picked it. I find a little bit of pressure from ammo scarcity helps with immersion and 'meaningful choices' without being oppressive. Without Scrounger, ammo has sometimes been an interesting challenge but never a frustrating problem. On the few times I have taken Scrounger it makes ammo a non issue, it just goes away as a problem and in fact becomes an income source later in the game.

[The Inept European]

Originally posted by JB-emmanuel-Zorg:

Originally posted by The Inept European:

I need rapid fire (and big magazines) to compensate for being a terrible shot.

I think i'm the same than you!🤣
So i'm going to try with the assault rifles (and maybe take a look to the pipes, i don't know and don't understand well those weapons)

Assault rifles are really good. But you don't really get them until above level 20 or so.

But, start collecting 5.56mm ammo right from the beginning of the game, from every turret.

[matt]

Quick Hands can help if you're constantly reloading. Also, a gun with the "never ending" effect, such as UP77, can be fun. Sure, laser rifles aren't that great, but their ammo is plentiful, cheap, and light. Plus, you'll never need to reload, so you can put on a laser light show better than any Pink Floyd concert.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by The Inept European:

So this is why pipe weapons are good for me (at low levels) in a No VATS game. They are rapid firing, easy to mod, and the ammo is easy to obtain in large quantities, so you don't have to worry about "spam firing" or using full auto.

Then I save the better weapons, with rarer ammo, for the bosses or big monsters or life and death situations.

You know, I generally do not put much interest in pipe weapons. But in this run I am in now , at level 15, I got a 2 shot pipe pistol to drop and I have it modded to the point it has a large drum magazine ( non automatic ), silencer and short scope and the thing is better than my Deliverer.

Since I do not normally use Vats. it does more damage, much, much longer range ( 260 ) and ammo capacity ( 48 ) than the Deliver does. Fire rate is the same and this is in .38 cal. It can be upgraded to .45 cal.

Now I wish I had not sold all those .38 rounds I had found. :P

[ErzPaladin]

Originally posted by wtiger27:

Originally posted by The Inept European:

So this is why pipe weapons are good for me (at low levels) in a No VATS game. They are rapid firing, easy to mod, and the ammo is easy to obtain in large quantities, so you don't have to worry about "spam firing" or using full auto.

Then I save the better weapons, with rarer ammo, for the bosses or big monsters or life and death situations.

You know, I generally do not put much interest in pipe weapons. But in this run I am in now , at level 15, I got a 2 shot pipe pistol to drop and I have it modded to the point it has a large drum magazine ( non automatic ), silencer and short scope and the thing is better than my Deliverer.

Since I do not normally use Vats. it does more damage, much, much longer range ( 300+ ) and ammo capacity ( 48 ) than the Deliver does. Fire rate is the same and this is in .38 cal. It can be upgraded to .45 cal.

Now I wish I had not sold all those .38 rounds I had found. :P

300 m range with a silencer? How can this be?

[luther84695]

I like the idea of not committing to a particular playstyle or build until you get a certain drop that greatly benefits a playstyle.

[steventirey]

Originally posted by ErzPaladin:

Originally posted by wtiger27:

You know, I generally do not put much interest in pipe weapons. But in this run I am in now , at level 15, I got a 2 shot pipe pistol to drop and I have it modded to the point it has a large drum magazine ( non automatic ), silencer and short scope and the thing is better than my Deliverer.

Since I do not normally use Vats. it does more damage, much, much longer range ( 300+ ) and ammo capacity ( 48 ) than the Deliver does. Fire rate is the same and this is in .38 cal. It can be upgraded to .45 cal.

Now I wish I had not sold all those .38 rounds I had found. :P

300 m range with a silencer? How can this be?

Looks like it should be possible with a pipe pistol (83) with a long barrel attachment (+120), silencer (-30), scope (I'll assume he meant medium, so +23), for a total range of 196. Combine that with the Gunslinger perk, which ultimately increases pistol range by 50%, should give a range of 294.

Yeah, pistols have the highest range of all weapons in the game once you take their perk. A laser pistol with sniper barrel can reach 296, then add in Gunslinger to bring that to 444. Its because range comes from the barrel attachment (which is the same for pistols and rifles), and the scope attachment (which some pistols can have as well). Grip and stock options, which determine whether is classifies as a pistol or rifle, has no bearing on range.

[ErzPaladin]

Originally posted by steventirey:

Originally posted by ErzPaladin:

300 m range with a silencer? How can this be?

Looks like it should be possible with a pipe pistol (83) with a long barrel attachment (+120), silencer (-30), scope (I'll assume he meant medium, so +23), for a total range of 196. Combine that with the Gunslinger perk, which ultimately increases pistol range by 50%, should give a range of 294.

Yeah, pistols have the highest range of all weapons in the game once you take their perk.

Ah sry, forgot that Gunslinger can do that, too. I don't have Gunslinger skilled.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by ErzPaladin:

Originally posted by wtiger27:

You know, I generally do not put much interest in pipe weapons. But in this run I am in now , at level 15, I got a 2 shot pipe pistol to drop and I have it modded to the point it has a large drum magazine ( non automatic ), silencer and short scope and the thing is better than my Deliverer.

Since I do not normally use Vats. it does more damage, much, much longer range ( 300+ ) and ammo capacity ( 48 ) than the Deliver does. Fire rate is the same and this is in .38 cal. It can be upgraded to .45 cal.

Now I wish I had not sold all those .38 rounds I had found. :P

300 m range with a silencer? How can this be?

I was wrong. It is 260. Which is almost twice what the Deliverer is capable of.

Since I posted , it is now been upgraded to .45 cal. Which it's damage is now even more higher than the Deliverer. Of course the uniqueness of the Deliver, means you have to ether get the Gun Nut perk or rely on Tinker Tom to sell the mod to have it with the Powerful receiver. But even then, you can not mod it to the max for damage without ether rank 3 or 4 of Gun Nut.

The Two Shot Pipe pistol, I upgraded the receiver to .45 cal. ( max upgrade ) by removing the .45 cal receiver off of another .45 cal pipe pistol. Which makes them very easy to upgrade at early levels without any Perks in Gun Nut.

[JB-emmanuel-Zorg]

Originally posted by The Inept European:

Originally posted by JB-emmanuel-Zorg:

I think i'm the same than you!🤣
So i'm going to try with the assault rifles (and maybe take a look to the pipes, i don't know and don't understand well those weapons)

Assault rifles are really good. But you don't really get them until above level 20 or so.

But, start collecting 5.56mm ammo right from the beginning of the game, from every turret.

I'm going to begin a new playthrough, this week end, and test that. It will be like a new game because except for the snipe, i always used the 10 mm and with the VATS, so now, assault rifle and NO VATS. 😉

Originally posted by matt:

so you can put on a laser light show better than any Pink Floyd concert.

🤣

[JB-emmanuel-Zorg]

Now that i better aimed how i want to play, can you help me to choose and anticipate my build/perks and advices, for a playthrough on :
survival/NO vats/NO PA/assault rifle/NO companion and maybe stealth (if compatible?)?

[CRCGamer]

No VATS on survival? Then you are pretty much looking at Commando with a semi-auto weapon secondary option for when you need to conserve ammo. And staying out of melee builds because melee without VATS is just asking to be stagger locked in some fights.

I would highly suggest looking into a build with access to at least one rank of Chemist though. Since that will enormously simplify keeping healthy and give access to some extremely powerful chems to power through sections that are hazardous even with power armor.

[The Inept European]

The no VATS run I just started was something like:

S P E C I A L

1 1 9 3 4 9 1

(Maybe out by 1)

Endurance for HP and sprinting
Agility for sneaking and sprinting, Ninja
Charisma 3 for Lone Wanderer
Bump PER by 1 for Rifleman

Strength, Per and Luck are dump stats for No VATS. Especially Per and Luck.

Then in the course of the game you want to raise STR and INT probably. I agree with getting Chemist ASAP.

Just a suggestion

[The Inept European]

When you find (or build) the .45 receiver it breathes new life into the pipe weapons, making them useful for another ten levels of so.

It's worth carefully checking corpses, shops and new settlers to see if you get a .45 pipe receiver.

[luther84695]

For survival, just carry two weapons. The first is automatic with short scope for manual aim and the second is automatic scatter laser using VATS. Laser weapon can modded to function like a shotgun and it is a lot lighter than a combat shotgun. The short scope on the first weapon allows you to do head shots after head shots very easily. It is good for indoors and mid range outdoors. The first weapon can be something like overseer guardian until you get assault rifles. A fully modded assault rifle is just plain awesome until you get problem solver or splatter cannon.

I have done a couple playthroughs using semi-automatic weapons. After I figured out how to use automatic weapons, I cannot go back to semi-automatic. I just feel semi-automatic weapons lack DPS and are just very lame in general.